Democrats Abroad New Zealand
2.28.2005
The Way We Live Now: What Dean Means (NYTimes.com)
By MATT BAI
Published: February 27, 2005
Two weeks ago, on the eve of Howard Dean's election as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, his old rival John Kerry -- the same John Kerry who had once been caught hissing ''Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean'' into an open microphone, in what sounded like an imitation of Jan Brady's ''Marcia, Marcia, Marcia'' -- sent an e-mail message to his supporters. ''Let's welcome Howard Dean and give him the groundswell of grass-roots support he needs,'' Kerry wrote enthusiastically, urging his followers to contribute to the party. The turnabout here, if anyone really stopped to think about it, was mind-bending. It was Dean, after all, who pioneered the Internet campaign, and it was Dean who had to urge his supporters, the most motivated in the Democratic universe, to accept Kerry as their nominee. And although Kerry emerged as the safer, consensus choice for president, it was Dean, alone among Democrats, who retained the personal loyalty of street-level activists and millionaire donors. Kerry urging his fans to give it up for Dean was like the leader of a warm-up band begging the audience to wait around for U2.
Somehow, at the end of the day, Dean managed to triumph over his rivals after all. Lashing out at Washington Democrats as timid and feckless during the primaries, he vowed to ''take back our party,'' and he did exactly that. The party's Congressional leaders could talk all they wanted about how Dean would be a mere functionary -- ''I think Dean knows his job is not to set the message,'' Harry Reid lectured -- but, like Kerry's welcoming e-mail message, such statements had the ring of self-delusion. The moment the votes for chairman were counted, Howard Dean became the de facto voice of the Democratic Party.
Dean would seem to be better suited to the chairman's office than he was to the White House. Up close, there was always something a little disconcerting about Dean's presidential campaign; he seemed to derive too much enjoyment from his followers' rage and idolatry. Dean's work after his campaign imploded, however, was more ennobling and, arguably, more important. Under the guise of his political action committee, Democracy for America, Dean ventured deep into Republican states where national Democrats rarely trod, raising money and campaigning not just for Senate hopefuls but also for candidates seeking offices as lowly as soil-and-water commissioner. Rural Democrats fear, perhaps with good reason, that Dean is the wrong messenger for the party in much of America, and yet not one of them has spent the time and capital Dean has on reviving the party in those sparsely populated states and counties where Democrats are fast disappearing.
(More ... The New York Times > Magazine > The Way We Live Now: What Dean Means) ¶ 20:08 0 comments
Published: February 27, 2005
Two weeks ago, on the eve of Howard Dean's election as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, his old rival John Kerry -- the same John Kerry who had once been caught hissing ''Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean'' into an open microphone, in what sounded like an imitation of Jan Brady's ''Marcia, Marcia, Marcia'' -- sent an e-mail message to his supporters. ''Let's welcome Howard Dean and give him the groundswell of grass-roots support he needs,'' Kerry wrote enthusiastically, urging his followers to contribute to the party. The turnabout here, if anyone really stopped to think about it, was mind-bending. It was Dean, after all, who pioneered the Internet campaign, and it was Dean who had to urge his supporters, the most motivated in the Democratic universe, to accept Kerry as their nominee. And although Kerry emerged as the safer, consensus choice for president, it was Dean, alone among Democrats, who retained the personal loyalty of street-level activists and millionaire donors. Kerry urging his fans to give it up for Dean was like the leader of a warm-up band begging the audience to wait around for U2.
Somehow, at the end of the day, Dean managed to triumph over his rivals after all. Lashing out at Washington Democrats as timid and feckless during the primaries, he vowed to ''take back our party,'' and he did exactly that. The party's Congressional leaders could talk all they wanted about how Dean would be a mere functionary -- ''I think Dean knows his job is not to set the message,'' Harry Reid lectured -- but, like Kerry's welcoming e-mail message, such statements had the ring of self-delusion. The moment the votes for chairman were counted, Howard Dean became the de facto voice of the Democratic Party.
Dean would seem to be better suited to the chairman's office than he was to the White House. Up close, there was always something a little disconcerting about Dean's presidential campaign; he seemed to derive too much enjoyment from his followers' rage and idolatry. Dean's work after his campaign imploded, however, was more ennobling and, arguably, more important. Under the guise of his political action committee, Democracy for America, Dean ventured deep into Republican states where national Democrats rarely trod, raising money and campaigning not just for Senate hopefuls but also for candidates seeking offices as lowly as soil-and-water commissioner. Rural Democrats fear, perhaps with good reason, that Dean is the wrong messenger for the party in much of America, and yet not one of them has spent the time and capital Dean has on reviving the party in those sparsely populated states and counties where Democrats are fast disappearing.
(More ... The New York Times > Magazine > The Way We Live Now: What Dean Means) ¶ 20:08 0 comments
Deadly Ignorance (WashingtonPost.com)
Sunday, February 27, 2005; Page B06
THE BUSH administration is quietly extending a policy that undermines the global battle against AIDS. It is being pushed in this direction by Congress, notably by Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.). But some administration officials zealously defend this policy error, claiming scientific evidence that doesn't exist.
The administration's error is to oppose the distribution of uncontaminated needles to drug addicts. A large body of scientific evidence suggests that the free provision of clean needles curbs the spread of AIDS among drug users without increasing rates of addiction. Given that addicts are at the center of many of the AIDS epidemics in Eastern Europe and Asia, ignoring this science could cost millions of lives. In Russia, as of 2004, 80 percent of all HIV cases involved drug injectors, and many of these infections occurred because addicts share contaminated needles. In Malaysia, China, Vietnam and Ukraine, drug injectors also account for more than half of all HIV cases. Once a critical mass of drug users carries the virus, the epidemic spreads via unprotected sex to non-drug users.
(More ... Deadly Ignorance (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:40 0 comments
THE BUSH administration is quietly extending a policy that undermines the global battle against AIDS. It is being pushed in this direction by Congress, notably by Rep. Mark Edward Souder (R-Ind.). But some administration officials zealously defend this policy error, claiming scientific evidence that doesn't exist.
The administration's error is to oppose the distribution of uncontaminated needles to drug addicts. A large body of scientific evidence suggests that the free provision of clean needles curbs the spread of AIDS among drug users without increasing rates of addiction. Given that addicts are at the center of many of the AIDS epidemics in Eastern Europe and Asia, ignoring this science could cost millions of lives. In Russia, as of 2004, 80 percent of all HIV cases involved drug injectors, and many of these infections occurred because addicts share contaminated needles. In Malaysia, China, Vietnam and Ukraine, drug injectors also account for more than half of all HIV cases. Once a critical mass of drug users carries the virus, the epidemic spreads via unprotected sex to non-drug users.
(More ... Deadly Ignorance (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:40 0 comments
Bush: Governor Experience Invaluable for President (Reuters.com)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Sunday told a group of governors, some of whom may be thinking of running for president, that their experience at the state level would be invaluable if elected to the White House.
"Many of our presidents have first served as governors," said Bush, who was Texas governor before he became president. Similarly, his predecessor, Bill Clinton, was governor of Arkansas before being elected to the White House.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 19:34 0 comments
"Many of our presidents have first served as governors," said Bush, who was Texas governor before he became president. Similarly, his predecessor, Bill Clinton, was governor of Arkansas before being elected to the White House.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 19:34 0 comments
Governors Keep 2008 Presidential Race in Mind (USATODAY.com)
Posted 2/27/2005 3:04 PM Updated 2/27/2005 6:10 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — For governors thinking about running for the White House in 2008, a formal dinner with President Bush at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. provides a glimpse of what the future could hold.
Even for those who dismiss — at least publicly — such talk.
"Presidential talk is way too speculative and way too early," said Republican Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. "Now is the time for policy and progress. Not presidential ambitions."
Presidential pageantry was to be on display Sunday night in the State Dining room as Bush and first lady Laura Bush welcome the governors, who are in town for their annual winter meetings.
Speculation already has started about the next White House race, less than four months after the election that narrowly sent Republican Bush to a second term.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Governors keep 2008 presidential race in mind) ¶ 19:29 0 comments
WASHINGTON (AP) — For governors thinking about running for the White House in 2008, a formal dinner with President Bush at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. provides a glimpse of what the future could hold.
Even for those who dismiss — at least publicly — such talk.
"Presidential talk is way too speculative and way too early," said Republican Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. "Now is the time for policy and progress. Not presidential ambitions."
Presidential pageantry was to be on display Sunday night in the State Dining room as Bush and first lady Laura Bush welcome the governors, who are in town for their annual winter meetings.
Speculation already has started about the next White House race, less than four months after the election that narrowly sent Republican Bush to a second term.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Governors keep 2008 presidential race in mind) ¶ 19:29 0 comments
Biden: Hillary Clinton Likely as 2008 Presidential Nominee (USATODAY.com)
Posted 2/27/2005 11:32 AM Updated 2/28/2005 12:52 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joseph Biden says any Democrat who wants to run for president in 2008 should keep in mind these three words: Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"I think she'd be incredibly difficult to beat," the Delaware Democrat said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I think she is the most difficult obstacle for anyone being the nominee."
The former first lady and Democratic senator from New York insists that she plans to run for re-election in 2006. But speculation persists that she might run for president in 2008.
"She is likely to be the nominee," Biden said. "She'd be the toughest person and I think Hillary Clinton is able to be elected president of the United States."
Biden said he is thinking about running again, 20 years after his first failed bid for the White House because "there's a lot at stake."
(More ... USATODAY.com - Biden: Hillary Clinton likely as 2008 presidential nominee) ¶ 19:26 0 comments
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joseph Biden says any Democrat who wants to run for president in 2008 should keep in mind these three words: Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"I think she'd be incredibly difficult to beat," the Delaware Democrat said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I think she is the most difficult obstacle for anyone being the nominee."
The former first lady and Democratic senator from New York insists that she plans to run for re-election in 2006. But speculation persists that she might run for president in 2008.
"She is likely to be the nominee," Biden said. "She'd be the toughest person and I think Hillary Clinton is able to be elected president of the United States."
Biden said he is thinking about running again, 20 years after his first failed bid for the White House because "there's a lot at stake."
(More ... USATODAY.com - Biden: Hillary Clinton likely as 2008 presidential nominee) ¶ 19:26 0 comments
Thousands Died in Africa Yesterday (NYTimes.com)
EDITORIAL
Published: February 27, 2005
When a once-in-a-century natural disaster swept away the lives of more than 100,000 poor Asians last December, the developed world opened its hearts and its checkbooks. Yet when it comes to Africa, where hundreds of thousands of poor men, women and children die needlessly each year from preventable diseases, or unnatural disasters like civil wars, much of the developed world seems to have a heart of stone.
Not every African state is failing. Most are not. But the continent's most troubled regions - including Somalia and Sudan in the east, Congo in the center, Zimbabwe in the south and Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the west - challenge not only our common humanity, but global security as well. The lethal combination of corrupt or destructive leaders, porous and unmonitored borders and rootless or hopeless young men has made some of these regions incubators of international terrorism and contagious diseases like AIDS. Others are sanctuaries for swindlers and drug traffickers whose victims can be found throughout the world.
In many of these places, poverty and unemployment and the desperation they spawn leave young men vulnerable to the lure of terrorist organizations, which, beyond offering two meals a day, also provide a target to vent their anger at rich societies, which they are led to believe view them with condescension and treat them with contempt. Training camps for Islamic extremists are now thought to be sprouting like anthills on the savanna.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Thousands Died in Africa Yesterday) ¶ 19:15 0 comments
Published: February 27, 2005
When a once-in-a-century natural disaster swept away the lives of more than 100,000 poor Asians last December, the developed world opened its hearts and its checkbooks. Yet when it comes to Africa, where hundreds of thousands of poor men, women and children die needlessly each year from preventable diseases, or unnatural disasters like civil wars, much of the developed world seems to have a heart of stone.
Not every African state is failing. Most are not. But the continent's most troubled regions - including Somalia and Sudan in the east, Congo in the center, Zimbabwe in the south and Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the west - challenge not only our common humanity, but global security as well. The lethal combination of corrupt or destructive leaders, porous and unmonitored borders and rootless or hopeless young men has made some of these regions incubators of international terrorism and contagious diseases like AIDS. Others are sanctuaries for swindlers and drug traffickers whose victims can be found throughout the world.
In many of these places, poverty and unemployment and the desperation they spawn leave young men vulnerable to the lure of terrorist organizations, which, beyond offering two meals a day, also provide a target to vent their anger at rich societies, which they are led to believe view them with condescension and treat them with contempt. Training camps for Islamic extremists are now thought to be sprouting like anthills on the savanna.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Thousands Died in Africa Yesterday) ¶ 19:15 0 comments
W.'s Stiletto Democracy (NYTimes.com)
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: February 27, 2005
WASHINGTON
It was remarkable to see President Bush lecture Vladimir Putin on the importance of checks and balances in a democratic society.
Remarkably brazen, given that the only checks Mr. Bush seems to believe in are those written to the "journalists" Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Karen Ryan, the fake TV anchor, to help promote his policies. The administration has given a whole new meaning to checkbook journalism, paying a stupendous $97 million to an outside P.R. firm to buy columnists and produce propaganda, including faux video news releases.
The only balance W. likes is the slavering, Pravda-like "Fair and Balanced" coverage Fox News provides. Mr. Bush pledges to spread democracy while his officials strive to create a Potemkin press village at home. This White House seems to prefer softball questions from a self-advertised male escort with a fake name to hardball questions from journalists with real names; it prefers tossing journalists who protect their sources into the gulag to giving up the officials who broke the law by leaking the name of their own C.I.A. agent.
W., who once looked into Mr. Putin's soul and liked what he saw, did not demand the end of tyranny, as he did in his second Inaugural Address. His upper lip sweating a bit, he did not rise to the level of his hero Ronald Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Instead, he said that "the common ground is a lot more than those areas where we disagree." The Russians were happy to stress the common ground as well.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: W.'s Stiletto Democracy) ¶ 19:09 0 comments
Published: February 27, 2005
WASHINGTON
It was remarkable to see President Bush lecture Vladimir Putin on the importance of checks and balances in a democratic society.
Remarkably brazen, given that the only checks Mr. Bush seems to believe in are those written to the "journalists" Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher and Karen Ryan, the fake TV anchor, to help promote his policies. The administration has given a whole new meaning to checkbook journalism, paying a stupendous $97 million to an outside P.R. firm to buy columnists and produce propaganda, including faux video news releases.
The only balance W. likes is the slavering, Pravda-like "Fair and Balanced" coverage Fox News provides. Mr. Bush pledges to spread democracy while his officials strive to create a Potemkin press village at home. This White House seems to prefer softball questions from a self-advertised male escort with a fake name to hardball questions from journalists with real names; it prefers tossing journalists who protect their sources into the gulag to giving up the officials who broke the law by leaking the name of their own C.I.A. agent.
W., who once looked into Mr. Putin's soul and liked what he saw, did not demand the end of tyranny, as he did in his second Inaugural Address. His upper lip sweating a bit, he did not rise to the level of his hero Ronald Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Instead, he said that "the common ground is a lot more than those areas where we disagree." The Russians were happy to stress the common ground as well.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: W.'s Stiletto Democracy) ¶ 19:09 0 comments
2.27.2005
Liberal groups Watching Dean (CNN.com)
Friday, February 25, 2005 Posted: 7:47 AM EST (1247 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A year ago, an activist group from the Seattle area gave Howard Dean a thin, golden statue of a backbone.
The Oscar-like award honored the former Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont governor for standing up against the Iraq war and other Bush administration policies.
Now, as Dean settles into his new role as head of the Democratic Party, that golden spine has come to represent, for many liberal Democrats, Dean's potential to develop a tougher, take-no-prisoners attitude among the party faithful.
"There's no gut-check required for Dean. Dean just needs to be Dean," said Dal LaMagna, founder of the Progressive Government Institute. "He's the kind of person who's a collaborator, a facilitator. He's not someone who has a clique or who will only talk to people in his clique."
(More ... CNN.com - Liberal groups watching Dean - Feb 25, 2005) ¶ 15:17 0 comments
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A year ago, an activist group from the Seattle area gave Howard Dean a thin, golden statue of a backbone.
The Oscar-like award honored the former Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont governor for standing up against the Iraq war and other Bush administration policies.
Now, as Dean settles into his new role as head of the Democratic Party, that golden spine has come to represent, for many liberal Democrats, Dean's potential to develop a tougher, take-no-prisoners attitude among the party faithful.
"There's no gut-check required for Dean. Dean just needs to be Dean," said Dal LaMagna, founder of the Progressive Government Institute. "He's the kind of person who's a collaborator, a facilitator. He's not someone who has a clique or who will only talk to people in his clique."
(More ... CNN.com - Liberal groups watching Dean - Feb 25, 2005) ¶ 15:17 0 comments
2.26.2005
U.S. Counts Cost of Sacked Gay Soldiers (TheAge.com.au)
By Bryan Bender
Washington
February 26, 2005
The military's ban on gays has stripped the defence force of some of its most valuable personnel.
The Pentagon has spent more than $200 million ($A254 million) to replace more than 9488 service members forced out of the US military because they were gay.
Of those, 300 were foreign language specialists considered critical in the war on terrorism.
The revelation was made in the first government study to assess the fighting and financial impact of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prohibits openly gay servicemen and women.
These soldiers had "some skills in an important foreign language such as Arabic, Farsi and Korean," according to a report by the Government Accountability Office to be published next month.
At least 54 of the 322 language specialists spoke Arabic - more than twice as many as previous estimates. At the same time, more than 400 additional soldiers discharged had what the Pentagon considers "critical occupations", including navy code-breakers, army intelligence specialists and interrogators, air force air traffic controllers, and marine corps counter-intelligence specialists.
(More ... US counts cost of sacked gay soldiers - World - www.theage.com.au) ¶ 19:33 0 comments
Washington
February 26, 2005
The military's ban on gays has stripped the defence force of some of its most valuable personnel.
The Pentagon has spent more than $200 million ($A254 million) to replace more than 9488 service members forced out of the US military because they were gay.
Of those, 300 were foreign language specialists considered critical in the war on terrorism.
The revelation was made in the first government study to assess the fighting and financial impact of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prohibits openly gay servicemen and women.
These soldiers had "some skills in an important foreign language such as Arabic, Farsi and Korean," according to a report by the Government Accountability Office to be published next month.
At least 54 of the 322 language specialists spoke Arabic - more than twice as many as previous estimates. At the same time, more than 400 additional soldiers discharged had what the Pentagon considers "critical occupations", including navy code-breakers, army intelligence specialists and interrogators, air force air traffic controllers, and marine corps counter-intelligence specialists.
(More ... US counts cost of sacked gay soldiers - World - www.theage.com.au) ¶ 19:33 0 comments
America Needs a Voice Abroad (WashingtonPost.com)
By Leonard H. Marks, Charles Z. Wick, Bruce Gelb and Henry E. Catto
Saturday, February 26, 2005; Page A19
When President Bush visited Canada shortly after his reelection, thousands protested on the streets of Ottawa. In mocking reference to the fate of Saddam Hussein a year earlier, a statue-sized effigy of the president was hoisted to a rostrum above the crowd and then pulled down to loud cheers. That such things should occur in the capital of a friendly neighbor, echoing similar demonstration in capitals around the world, reveals how deep-seated anti-Americanism has come to be.
Obviously the United States will not and should not shape its policies to suit the preferences of other nations and peoples. But it can and should explain those policies directly and openly in ways calculated to promote better and more widespread appreciation of why we do what we do.
For nearly 50 years such a program was a priority for presidents from Harry S. Truman to George H.W. Bush -- all nine of them. Principally charged with carrying it out was the United States Information Agency, an arm of the White House responsible directly to the president. Throughout those years the USIA assigned a public affairs officer experienced in journalism or public relations to nearly every U.S. embassy. He -- occasionally she -- was always a full member of the country team yet sufficiently independent to advise the ambassador as an outside counsel might advise, rather than simply report to, a corporate chief executive.
(More ... America Needs a Voice Abroad (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:18 0 comments
Saturday, February 26, 2005; Page A19
When President Bush visited Canada shortly after his reelection, thousands protested on the streets of Ottawa. In mocking reference to the fate of Saddam Hussein a year earlier, a statue-sized effigy of the president was hoisted to a rostrum above the crowd and then pulled down to loud cheers. That such things should occur in the capital of a friendly neighbor, echoing similar demonstration in capitals around the world, reveals how deep-seated anti-Americanism has come to be.
Obviously the United States will not and should not shape its policies to suit the preferences of other nations and peoples. But it can and should explain those policies directly and openly in ways calculated to promote better and more widespread appreciation of why we do what we do.
For nearly 50 years such a program was a priority for presidents from Harry S. Truman to George H.W. Bush -- all nine of them. Principally charged with carrying it out was the United States Information Agency, an arm of the White House responsible directly to the president. Throughout those years the USIA assigned a public affairs officer experienced in journalism or public relations to nearly every U.S. embassy. He -- occasionally she -- was always a full member of the country team yet sufficiently independent to advise the ambassador as an outside counsel might advise, rather than simply report to, a corporate chief executive.
(More ... America Needs a Voice Abroad (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:18 0 comments
Bush's Uncle Profits from Sale of Military Contractor's Stock (USATODAY.com)
Posted 2/23/2005 7:41 PM Updated 2/23/2005 7:48 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush's uncle made more than $450,000 last month by selling stock in a defense contractor whose profits are growing because of the Iraq war, records show.
William H.T. Bush made the money by exercising stock options in St. Louis-based Engineered Support Systems, Inc. Bush is a member of ESSI's board of directors and therefore had to report the sale to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bush, the youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush, did not return a telephone message seeking comment Wednesday afternoon. He told the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the stock sale Wednesday, that he had not pulled any strings in Washington for the company.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Bush's uncle profits from sale of military contractor's stock) ¶ 11:59 0 comments
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush's uncle made more than $450,000 last month by selling stock in a defense contractor whose profits are growing because of the Iraq war, records show.
William H.T. Bush made the money by exercising stock options in St. Louis-based Engineered Support Systems, Inc. Bush is a member of ESSI's board of directors and therefore had to report the sale to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bush, the youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush, did not return a telephone message seeking comment Wednesday afternoon. He told the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the stock sale Wednesday, that he had not pulled any strings in Washington for the company.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Bush's uncle profits from sale of military contractor's stock) ¶ 11:59 0 comments
US Army Doles Out $12m Bonus to Halliburton (SMH.com.au)
February 26, 2005
The US Army has approved $US9.4 million ($12 million) in bonus payments to a Halliburton subsidiary on more than $US1 billion of work supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though the Government has not approved the costs and terms of the contracts.
The Army Field Support Command said on Thursday that Kellogg Brown & Root's performance had been rated as excellent or very good on 14 task orders and it had therefore authorised interim "award fees". These amounted to $US5 million on $US392 million of logistics work in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, and $US4.4 million on $US758 million of logistics work in Kuwait for the war in Iraq.
Democrats in Congress have been critical of the Halliburton subsidiary's war effort contracts because they were awarded mainly without bidding. Dick Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive before he stood for the vice-presidency in 2000.
This month the army said it was going against the advice of auditors, who cited $US1.8 billion in "unsupported costs", refusing to withhold 15 per cent of Kellogg Brown & Root's payments on the contract for which it has now awarded bonus payments.
(More ... US Army doles out $12m bonus to Halliburton - After Saddam - www.smh.com.au) ¶ 11:52 0 comments
The US Army has approved $US9.4 million ($12 million) in bonus payments to a Halliburton subsidiary on more than $US1 billion of work supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though the Government has not approved the costs and terms of the contracts.
The Army Field Support Command said on Thursday that Kellogg Brown & Root's performance had been rated as excellent or very good on 14 task orders and it had therefore authorised interim "award fees". These amounted to $US5 million on $US392 million of logistics work in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, and $US4.4 million on $US758 million of logistics work in Kuwait for the war in Iraq.
Democrats in Congress have been critical of the Halliburton subsidiary's war effort contracts because they were awarded mainly without bidding. Dick Cheney was Halliburton's chief executive before he stood for the vice-presidency in 2000.
This month the army said it was going against the advice of auditors, who cited $US1.8 billion in "unsupported costs", refusing to withhold 15 per cent of Kellogg Brown & Root's payments on the contract for which it has now awarded bonus payments.
(More ... US Army doles out $12m bonus to Halliburton - After Saddam - www.smh.com.au) ¶ 11:52 0 comments
2.24.2005
The Case of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali (NYTimes.com)
EDITORIAL
Published: February 24, 2005
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the American citizen accused of plotting with Al Qaeda to assassinate President Bush, will have his guilt judged in an American court. What we can say now is that his case seems to be another demonstration of what has gone wrong in the federal war on terror.
Mr. Abu Ali, 23, was arrested by Saudi officials in a crackdown after terrorist bombings in Riyadh in 2003. But the Saudis have never shown much interest in actually charging him with a crime. His parents claimed that he was being held at the behest of the United States, and sued in court to get him returned to this country. A federal judge has said that "there has been at least some circumstantial evidence that Abu Ali has been tortured during interrogations with the knowledge of the United States."
The Justice Department says Mr. Abu Ali, who went to Saudi Arabia to continue his religious studies, got Al Qaeda training and money from terrorist associates to buy a laptop computer and books. The indictment also says Mr. Abu Ali talked about assassinating Mr. Bush either by getting "close enough to the president to shoot him on the street" or figuring out a way to kill him with a car bomb.
If the Justice Department believed that Mr. Abu Ali was a serious terrorist, he should have been brought back here long ago for trial. Instead, he became part of an unknown number of prisoners who were swept up by American officials or foreign governments working with Americans and questioned in the wake of Sept. 11. Many were then held indefinitely and, in some cases, tortured in hopes that they would provide information.
The civil liberties issues have always been evident, but now the practical consequences are becoming clearer as well.
In an undisciplined attempt to wring statements out of any conceivable suspect, American officials have worked with countries like Saudi Arabia, a nation whose attitude toward human rights is deplorable, and Syria, which is counted by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism. And now these officials are faced with the problem of what to do with these prisoners, most of whom have proved to be no use to interrogators, but who remain on America's conscience.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: The Case of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali) ¶ 22:23 0 comments
Published: February 24, 2005
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, the American citizen accused of plotting with Al Qaeda to assassinate President Bush, will have his guilt judged in an American court. What we can say now is that his case seems to be another demonstration of what has gone wrong in the federal war on terror.
Mr. Abu Ali, 23, was arrested by Saudi officials in a crackdown after terrorist bombings in Riyadh in 2003. But the Saudis have never shown much interest in actually charging him with a crime. His parents claimed that he was being held at the behest of the United States, and sued in court to get him returned to this country. A federal judge has said that "there has been at least some circumstantial evidence that Abu Ali has been tortured during interrogations with the knowledge of the United States."
The Justice Department says Mr. Abu Ali, who went to Saudi Arabia to continue his religious studies, got Al Qaeda training and money from terrorist associates to buy a laptop computer and books. The indictment also says Mr. Abu Ali talked about assassinating Mr. Bush either by getting "close enough to the president to shoot him on the street" or figuring out a way to kill him with a car bomb.
If the Justice Department believed that Mr. Abu Ali was a serious terrorist, he should have been brought back here long ago for trial. Instead, he became part of an unknown number of prisoners who were swept up by American officials or foreign governments working with Americans and questioned in the wake of Sept. 11. Many were then held indefinitely and, in some cases, tortured in hopes that they would provide information.
The civil liberties issues have always been evident, but now the practical consequences are becoming clearer as well.
In an undisciplined attempt to wring statements out of any conceivable suspect, American officials have worked with countries like Saudi Arabia, a nation whose attitude toward human rights is deplorable, and Syria, which is counted by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism. And now these officials are faced with the problem of what to do with these prisoners, most of whom have proved to be no use to interrogators, but who remain on America's conscience.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: The Case of Ahmed Omar Abu Ali) ¶ 22:23 0 comments
Report Faults Bush Initiative on Education (NYTimes.com)
By SAM DILLON
Published: February 24, 2005
Concluding a yearlong study on the effectiveness of President Bush's sweeping education law, No Child Left Behind, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers drawn from many states yesterday pronounced it a flawed, convoluted and unconstitutional education reform initiative that had usurped state and local control of public schools.
The report, based on hearings in six cities, praised the law's goal of ending the gap in scholastic achievement between white and minority students. But most of the 77-page report, which the Education Department rebutted yesterday, was devoted to a detailed inventory and discussion of its flaws.
It said the law's accountability system, which punishes schools whose students fail to improve steadily on standardized tests, undermined school improvement efforts already under way in many states and relied on the wrong indicators. The report said that the law's rules for educating disabled students conflicted with another federal law, and that it presented bureaucratic requirements that failed to recognize the tapestry of educational challenges faced by teachers in the nation's 15,000 school districts.
"Under N.C.L.B., the federal government's role has become excessively intrusive in the day-to-day operations of public education," the National Conference of State Legislatures said in the report, which was written by a panel of 16 state legislators and 6 legislative staff members.
(More ... The New York Times > Education > Report Faults Bush Initiative on Education) ¶ 22:05 0 comments
Published: February 24, 2005
Concluding a yearlong study on the effectiveness of President Bush's sweeping education law, No Child Left Behind, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers drawn from many states yesterday pronounced it a flawed, convoluted and unconstitutional education reform initiative that had usurped state and local control of public schools.
The report, based on hearings in six cities, praised the law's goal of ending the gap in scholastic achievement between white and minority students. But most of the 77-page report, which the Education Department rebutted yesterday, was devoted to a detailed inventory and discussion of its flaws.
It said the law's accountability system, which punishes schools whose students fail to improve steadily on standardized tests, undermined school improvement efforts already under way in many states and relied on the wrong indicators. The report said that the law's rules for educating disabled students conflicted with another federal law, and that it presented bureaucratic requirements that failed to recognize the tapestry of educational challenges faced by teachers in the nation's 15,000 school districts.
"Under N.C.L.B., the federal government's role has become excessively intrusive in the day-to-day operations of public education," the National Conference of State Legislatures said in the report, which was written by a panel of 16 state legislators and 6 legislative staff members.
(More ... The New York Times > Education > Report Faults Bush Initiative on Education) ¶ 22:05 0 comments
2.23.2005
Post-Scream Strategizing (NYTimes.com)
EDITORIAL
Published: February 22, 2005
As the Democrats' newly chosen party chairman, Howard Dean has a fresh opportunity to be remembered as someone other than that presidential candidate who yelped defiantly in the face of defeat. The Democrats' fortunes are obviously at a low point. But Mr. Dean, in his surprising victory in the contest for chairman, showed a revivalist's energy and a new talent for working across the political spectrum in winning over state party leaders.
Mr. Dean's task is to build concretely on that base while disappointing Republican expectations that he will prove to be a radioactive chairman, given to upstaging his party's candidates with fresh variations on The Scream.
To calm doubters, Mr. Dean talks more as the party's ranking machinist than its chief ideologue. He vows, for example, to "grow" the party in each state and knit it more closely together by having the national committee pay state executive directors' salaries. The party's organizing and fund-raising powers were upgraded in the last elections, but the G.O.P. still outhustled Democrats in critical areas.
Ultimately, Mr. Dean will be judged on the presidential election of 2008. The first benchmark in this task comes next month, when a 40-member party commission begins studying what is right and wrong about the primary process that produced Senator John Kerry as the nominee. The helter-skelter process clearly needs fixing, starting with its overemphasis on front-loading contests. The tight calendar of winner-take-all bouts allows scant opportunity for shopper's remorse.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Post-Scream Strategizing) ¶ 17:40 0 comments
Published: February 22, 2005
As the Democrats' newly chosen party chairman, Howard Dean has a fresh opportunity to be remembered as someone other than that presidential candidate who yelped defiantly in the face of defeat. The Democrats' fortunes are obviously at a low point. But Mr. Dean, in his surprising victory in the contest for chairman, showed a revivalist's energy and a new talent for working across the political spectrum in winning over state party leaders.
Mr. Dean's task is to build concretely on that base while disappointing Republican expectations that he will prove to be a radioactive chairman, given to upstaging his party's candidates with fresh variations on The Scream.
To calm doubters, Mr. Dean talks more as the party's ranking machinist than its chief ideologue. He vows, for example, to "grow" the party in each state and knit it more closely together by having the national committee pay state executive directors' salaries. The party's organizing and fund-raising powers were upgraded in the last elections, but the G.O.P. still outhustled Democrats in critical areas.
Ultimately, Mr. Dean will be judged on the presidential election of 2008. The first benchmark in this task comes next month, when a 40-member party commission begins studying what is right and wrong about the primary process that produced Senator John Kerry as the nominee. The helter-skelter process clearly needs fixing, starting with its overemphasis on front-loading contests. The tight calendar of winner-take-all bouts allows scant opportunity for shopper's remorse.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Post-Scream Strategizing) ¶ 17:40 0 comments
Tackling Election Reform (NYTimes.com)
EDITORIAL
Published: February 22, 2005
After a second consecutive presidential election marred by significant flaws in the mechanics of voting, it's time for Congress to take a hard look at fixing the system. Two Senate bills aim to do that. A Republican-sponsored bill is narrowly tailored around making electronic voting more reliable. A more ambitious bill, sponsored by the Democrats, would take on a broad array of problems, from long lines at the polls to odious maneuvers aimed at keeping people from voting. Both bills would greatly improve the functioning of American democracy.
The Republican bill, introduced by Senator John Ensign of Nevada, would focus on the most critical weakness in the system by requiring that electronic voting machines produce voter-verifiable paper records of the votes cast. The paper records would take precedence when there were inconsistencies.
Mr. Ensign's bill does not go as far as another paper-trail bill that has been introduced in the House by Representative Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat. That bill is preferable because it includes other safeguards, like requiring an audit of some paper records as a spot-check for the electronic totals. Still, Mr. Ensign's bill would be a good step, and its Republican sponsorship and narrow focus could give it real momentum in this Congress.
The Democratic Senate bill, introduced last week by Senators Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry and Frank Lautenberg, is now the gold standard for election reform. It would require not only paper records, but recounts in 2 percent of all polling places or precincts, and restrictions on political activity by voting machine manufacturers.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Tackling Election Reform) ¶ 17:38 0 comments
Published: February 22, 2005
After a second consecutive presidential election marred by significant flaws in the mechanics of voting, it's time for Congress to take a hard look at fixing the system. Two Senate bills aim to do that. A Republican-sponsored bill is narrowly tailored around making electronic voting more reliable. A more ambitious bill, sponsored by the Democrats, would take on a broad array of problems, from long lines at the polls to odious maneuvers aimed at keeping people from voting. Both bills would greatly improve the functioning of American democracy.
The Republican bill, introduced by Senator John Ensign of Nevada, would focus on the most critical weakness in the system by requiring that electronic voting machines produce voter-verifiable paper records of the votes cast. The paper records would take precedence when there were inconsistencies.
Mr. Ensign's bill does not go as far as another paper-trail bill that has been introduced in the House by Representative Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat. That bill is preferable because it includes other safeguards, like requiring an audit of some paper records as a spot-check for the electronic totals. Still, Mr. Ensign's bill would be a good step, and its Republican sponsorship and narrow focus could give it real momentum in this Congress.
The Democratic Senate bill, introduced last week by Senators Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry and Frank Lautenberg, is now the gold standard for election reform. It would require not only paper records, but recounts in 2 percent of all polling places or precincts, and restrictions on political activity by voting machine manufacturers.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Tackling Election Reform) ¶ 17:38 0 comments
Wag-the-Dog Protection (NYTimes.com)
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: February 22, 2005
The campaign against Social Security is going so badly that longtime critics of President Bush, accustomed to seeing their efforts to point out flaws in administration initiatives brushed aside, are pinching themselves. But they shouldn't relax: if the past is any guide, the Bush administration will soon change the subject back to national security.
The political landscape today reminds me of the spring of 2002, after the big revelations of corporate fraud. Then, as now, the administration was on the defensive, and Democrats expected to do well in midterm elections.
Then, suddenly, it was all Iraq, all the time, and Harken Energy and Halliburton vanished from the headlines.
I don't know which foreign threat the administration will start playing up this time, but Bush critics should be prepared for the shift. They must curb their natural inclination to focus almost exclusively on domestic issues, and challenge the administration on national security policy, too.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Wag-the-Dog Protection) ¶ 17:34 0 comments
Published: February 22, 2005
The campaign against Social Security is going so badly that longtime critics of President Bush, accustomed to seeing their efforts to point out flaws in administration initiatives brushed aside, are pinching themselves. But they shouldn't relax: if the past is any guide, the Bush administration will soon change the subject back to national security.
The political landscape today reminds me of the spring of 2002, after the big revelations of corporate fraud. Then, as now, the administration was on the defensive, and Democrats expected to do well in midterm elections.
Then, suddenly, it was all Iraq, all the time, and Harken Energy and Halliburton vanished from the headlines.
I don't know which foreign threat the administration will start playing up this time, but Bush critics should be prepared for the shift. They must curb their natural inclination to focus almost exclusively on domestic issues, and challenge the administration on national security policy, too.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Wag-the-Dog Protection) ¶ 17:34 0 comments
2.22.2005
New Course by Royal Navy: A Campaign to Recruit Gays (NYTimes.com)
NZDEMS--All together now ... "In the Navy ..."
By SARAH LYALL
Published: February 22, 2005
LONDON, Feb. 21 - Five years after Britain lifted its ban on gays in the military, the Royal Navy has begun actively encouraging them to enlist and has pledged to make life easier when they do.
The navy announced Monday that it had asked Stonewall, a group that lobbies for gay rights, to help it develop better strategies for recruiting and retaining gay men and lesbians. It said, too, that one strategy may be to advertise for recruits in gay magazines and newspapers.
Commodore Paul Docherty, director of naval life management, said the service wanted to change the atmosphere so that gays would feel comfortable working there.
"While some gays were confident to come out, others didn't feel that the environment was necessarily accepting of them," Commodore Docherty said in an interview.
The partnership with Stonewall, Commodore Docherty said, will help "make more steps toward improving the culture and attitude within the service as a whole, so gays who are still in the closet feel that much more comfortable about coming out."
Gays in Britain have benefited from a number of new laws, including one that makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of workers' sexuality.
(More ... The New York Times > International > Europe > New Course by Royal Navy: A Campaign to Recruit Gays) ¶ 20:14 0 comments
By SARAH LYALL
Published: February 22, 2005
LONDON, Feb. 21 - Five years after Britain lifted its ban on gays in the military, the Royal Navy has begun actively encouraging them to enlist and has pledged to make life easier when they do.
The navy announced Monday that it had asked Stonewall, a group that lobbies for gay rights, to help it develop better strategies for recruiting and retaining gay men and lesbians. It said, too, that one strategy may be to advertise for recruits in gay magazines and newspapers.
Commodore Paul Docherty, director of naval life management, said the service wanted to change the atmosphere so that gays would feel comfortable working there.
"While some gays were confident to come out, others didn't feel that the environment was necessarily accepting of them," Commodore Docherty said in an interview.
The partnership with Stonewall, Commodore Docherty said, will help "make more steps toward improving the culture and attitude within the service as a whole, so gays who are still in the closet feel that much more comfortable about coming out."
Gays in Britain have benefited from a number of new laws, including one that makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of workers' sexuality.
(More ... The New York Times > International > Europe > New Course by Royal Navy: A Campaign to Recruit Gays) ¶ 20:14 0 comments
Airliner Said to Fuel CIA Ghost Jail System (SMH.com.au)
February 22, 2005
Washington: The CIA allegedly whisked foreign terrorism suspects to clandestine interrogation facilities using a Boeing 737 dedicated for that purpose, according to Newsweek magazine.
The allegation, if proven, is "further evidence that a global 'ghost' prison system, where terror suspects are secretly interrogated, is being operated by the CIA", Newsweek reported.
The magazine wrote that it had obtained the aircraft's flight plans, indicating that the CIA had used the plane "as part of a top-secret global charter servicing clandestine interrogation facilities used in the war on terror".
It said US Federal Aviation Administration records showed the plane was owned by Premier Executive Transport Services, a now-defunct company based in Massachusetts.
US intelligence sources told the magazine the company fitted the profile of a suspected CIA front. The plane's records date to December 2002 and show flights up until February 7, the magazine said.
Newsweek also noted previously disclosed flight plans of a smaller Gulfstream V jet used for similar purposes.
(More ... Airliner said to fuel CIA ghost jail system - World - www.smh.com.au) ¶ 19:41 0 comments
Washington: The CIA allegedly whisked foreign terrorism suspects to clandestine interrogation facilities using a Boeing 737 dedicated for that purpose, according to Newsweek magazine.
The allegation, if proven, is "further evidence that a global 'ghost' prison system, where terror suspects are secretly interrogated, is being operated by the CIA", Newsweek reported.
The magazine wrote that it had obtained the aircraft's flight plans, indicating that the CIA had used the plane "as part of a top-secret global charter servicing clandestine interrogation facilities used in the war on terror".
It said US Federal Aviation Administration records showed the plane was owned by Premier Executive Transport Services, a now-defunct company based in Massachusetts.
US intelligence sources told the magazine the company fitted the profile of a suspected CIA front. The plane's records date to December 2002 and show flights up until February 7, the magazine said.
Newsweek also noted previously disclosed flight plans of a smaller Gulfstream V jet used for similar purposes.
(More ... Airliner said to fuel CIA ghost jail system - World - www.smh.com.au) ¶ 19:41 0 comments
Talking With the Enemy (TIME.com)
A TIME EXCLUSIVE
Inside the secret dialogue between the U.S. and insurgents in Iraq--and what the rebels say they want
By Michael Ware
Sunday, February 20, 2005
The secret meeting is taking place in the bowels of a facility in Baghdad, a cavernous, heavily guarded building in the U.S.-controlled green zone. The Iraqi negotiator, a middle-aged former member of Saddam Hussein's regime and the senior representative of the self-described nationalist insurgency, sits on one side of the table. He is here to talk to two members of the U.S. military. One of them, an officer, takes notes during the meeting. The other, dressed in civilian clothes, listens as the Iraqi outlines a list of demands the U.S. must satisfy before the insurgents stop fighting. The parties trade boilerplate complaints: the U.S. officer presses the Iraqi for names of other insurgent leaders; the Iraqi says the newly elected Shi'a-dominated government is being controlled by Iran. The discussion does not go beyond generalities, but both sides know what's behind the coded language.
The Iraqi's very presence conveys a message: Members of the insurgency are open to negotiating an end to their struggle with the U.S. "We are ready," he says before leaving, "to work with you."
In that guarded pledge may lie the first sign that after nearly two years of fighting, parts of the insurgency in Iraq are prepared to talk and move toward putting away their arms--and the U.S. is willing to listen. An account of the secret meeting between the senior insurgent negotiator and the U.S. military officials was provided to TIME by the insurgent negotiator. He says two such meetings have taken place. While U.S. officials would not confirm the details of any specific meetings, sources in Washington told TIME that for the first time the U.S. is in direct contact with members of the Sunni insurgency, including former members of Saddam's Baathist regime. Pentagon officials say the secret contacts with insurgent leaders are being conducted mainly by U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers. A Western observer close to the discussions says that "there is no authorized dialogue with the insurgents" but that the U.S. has joined "back-channel" communications with rebels. Says the observer: "There's a lot bubbling under the surface today."
(More ... TIME.com: Talking with the Enemy -- Feb. 28, 2005) ¶ 08:02 0 comments
Inside the secret dialogue between the U.S. and insurgents in Iraq--and what the rebels say they want
By Michael Ware
Sunday, February 20, 2005
The secret meeting is taking place in the bowels of a facility in Baghdad, a cavernous, heavily guarded building in the U.S.-controlled green zone. The Iraqi negotiator, a middle-aged former member of Saddam Hussein's regime and the senior representative of the self-described nationalist insurgency, sits on one side of the table. He is here to talk to two members of the U.S. military. One of them, an officer, takes notes during the meeting. The other, dressed in civilian clothes, listens as the Iraqi outlines a list of demands the U.S. must satisfy before the insurgents stop fighting. The parties trade boilerplate complaints: the U.S. officer presses the Iraqi for names of other insurgent leaders; the Iraqi says the newly elected Shi'a-dominated government is being controlled by Iran. The discussion does not go beyond generalities, but both sides know what's behind the coded language.
The Iraqi's very presence conveys a message: Members of the insurgency are open to negotiating an end to their struggle with the U.S. "We are ready," he says before leaving, "to work with you."
In that guarded pledge may lie the first sign that after nearly two years of fighting, parts of the insurgency in Iraq are prepared to talk and move toward putting away their arms--and the U.S. is willing to listen. An account of the secret meeting between the senior insurgent negotiator and the U.S. military officials was provided to TIME by the insurgent negotiator. He says two such meetings have taken place. While U.S. officials would not confirm the details of any specific meetings, sources in Washington told TIME that for the first time the U.S. is in direct contact with members of the Sunni insurgency, including former members of Saddam's Baathist regime. Pentagon officials say the secret contacts with insurgent leaders are being conducted mainly by U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers. A Western observer close to the discussions says that "there is no authorized dialogue with the insurgents" but that the U.S. has joined "back-channel" communications with rebels. Says the observer: "There's a lot bubbling under the surface today."
(More ... TIME.com: Talking with the Enemy -- Feb. 28, 2005) ¶ 08:02 0 comments
2.21.2005
Injustice, in Secret (WashingtonPost.com)
EDITORIAL
Monday, February 21, 2005; Page A26
ATTORNEYS FOR the Justice Department appeared before a federal judge in Washington this month and asked him to dismiss a lawsuit over the detention of a U.S. citizen, basing their request not merely on secret evidence but also on secret legal arguments. The government contends that the legal theory by which it would defend its behavior should be immune from debate in court. This position is alien to the history and premise of Anglo-American jurisprudence, which assumes that opposing lawyers will challenge one another's arguments.
Ahmed Abu Ali was arrested in June 2003 in Saudi Arabia. He and his family claim the arrest took place at the behest of U.S. officials who, though unable to bring a case against him, have encouraged the Saudis to keep him locked up. The facts are murky, and Judge John D. Bates refused in December to dismiss the case, writing that he needed more information before he could decide whether a U.S. court has jurisdiction.
Since then, the U.S. government has acted to frustrate all reasonable searches for answers. It has moved to stay discovery based on secret evidence. It has proposed adding to the facts at Judge Bates's disposal by submitting secret evidence that Mr. Abu Ali's attorneys would have no opportunity to challenge. Most recently, it urged that the case be dismissed on the basis, yet again, of secret evidence -- this time supplemented with what a Justice Department lawyer termed "legal argument [that] itself cannot be made public without disclosing the classified information that underlies it."
Judge Bates is cautious and generally deferential to government concerns. Yet he was evidently disturbed by this argument, at one point asking whether the government could identify "any case in which . . . even the legal theory for dismissal is not known to the other side?" The government could not.
(More ... Injustice, in Secret (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 20:30 0 comments
Monday, February 21, 2005; Page A26
ATTORNEYS FOR the Justice Department appeared before a federal judge in Washington this month and asked him to dismiss a lawsuit over the detention of a U.S. citizen, basing their request not merely on secret evidence but also on secret legal arguments. The government contends that the legal theory by which it would defend its behavior should be immune from debate in court. This position is alien to the history and premise of Anglo-American jurisprudence, which assumes that opposing lawyers will challenge one another's arguments.
Ahmed Abu Ali was arrested in June 2003 in Saudi Arabia. He and his family claim the arrest took place at the behest of U.S. officials who, though unable to bring a case against him, have encouraged the Saudis to keep him locked up. The facts are murky, and Judge John D. Bates refused in December to dismiss the case, writing that he needed more information before he could decide whether a U.S. court has jurisdiction.
Since then, the U.S. government has acted to frustrate all reasonable searches for answers. It has moved to stay discovery based on secret evidence. It has proposed adding to the facts at Judge Bates's disposal by submitting secret evidence that Mr. Abu Ali's attorneys would have no opportunity to challenge. Most recently, it urged that the case be dismissed on the basis, yet again, of secret evidence -- this time supplemented with what a Justice Department lawyer termed "legal argument [that] itself cannot be made public without disclosing the classified information that underlies it."
Judge Bates is cautious and generally deferential to government concerns. Yet he was evidently disturbed by this argument, at one point asking whether the government could identify "any case in which . . . even the legal theory for dismissal is not known to the other side?" The government could not.
(More ... Injustice, in Secret (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 20:30 0 comments
Military Offering More, and Bigger, Bonuses (USATODAY.com)
By Dave Moniz, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Faced with a persistent demand for personnel in Iraq and elsewhere, the Army and some of the military's elite commando units have dramatically increased the size and the number of cash bonuses they are paying to lure recruits and keep experienced troops in uniform.
Last month, the Pentagon said it would begin offering bonuses of up to $150,000 for long-serving Army, Air Force and Navy special operations troops who agree to stay in the military for up to six more years. The bonuses are the largest ever paid to enlisted troops. They reflect the difficulty in replacing highly valued troops such as Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs, whose training takes years and costs about $300,000 per person.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is using cash bonuses on an unprecedented scale to try to boost re-enlistments, recruiting and morale among active-duty and reservist troops. The bonuses come as the demands of three years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq have raised questions in Congress about whether the U.S. military has enough troops to fight two major wars simultaneously.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Military offering more, and bigger, bonuses) ¶ 20:26 0 comments
WASHINGTON — Faced with a persistent demand for personnel in Iraq and elsewhere, the Army and some of the military's elite commando units have dramatically increased the size and the number of cash bonuses they are paying to lure recruits and keep experienced troops in uniform.
Last month, the Pentagon said it would begin offering bonuses of up to $150,000 for long-serving Army, Air Force and Navy special operations troops who agree to stay in the military for up to six more years. The bonuses are the largest ever paid to enlisted troops. They reflect the difficulty in replacing highly valued troops such as Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs, whose training takes years and costs about $300,000 per person.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is using cash bonuses on an unprecedented scale to try to boost re-enlistments, recruiting and morale among active-duty and reservist troops. The bonuses come as the demands of three years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq have raised questions in Congress about whether the U.S. military has enough troops to fight two major wars simultaneously.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Military offering more, and bigger, bonuses) ¶ 20:26 0 comments
Experts Decry Bush Science Policies (USATODAY.com)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The voice of science is being stifled in the Bush administration, with fewer scientists heard in policy discussions and money for research and advanced training being cut, according to panelists at a national science meeting.
Speakers at the national meeting of the American Association for Advancement of Science expressed concern Sunday that some scientists in key federal agencies are being ignored or even pressured to change study conclusions that don't support policy positions.
The speakers also said that Bush's proposed 2005 federal budget is slashing spending for basic research and reducing investments in education designed to produce the nation's future scientists.
And there also was concern that increased restrictions and requirements for obtaining visas is diminishing the flow to the U.S. of foreign-born science students who have long been a major part of the American research community.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Experts decry Bush science policies) ¶ 20:24 0 comments
Speakers at the national meeting of the American Association for Advancement of Science expressed concern Sunday that some scientists in key federal agencies are being ignored or even pressured to change study conclusions that don't support policy positions.
The speakers also said that Bush's proposed 2005 federal budget is slashing spending for basic research and reducing investments in education designed to produce the nation's future scientists.
And there also was concern that increased restrictions and requirements for obtaining visas is diminishing the flow to the U.S. of foreign-born science students who have long been a major part of the American research community.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Experts decry Bush science policies) ¶ 20:24 0 comments
The Americans Are Coming (IHT.com)
Rarely has a visit to Europe by a U.S. president generated as much anticipation as the one by George W. Bush that starts Monday. The reason is obvious: Trans-Atlantic discord has escalated over the past four years, raising doubts about the validity of the North Atlantic alliance, and even over whether the term "Western" still connotes a shared vision of the world. We believe that it does, and that NATO can remain the premier instrument for guaranteeing the security and freedom of countries that buy into the values that bind Europe and America. But it will take a lot of hard work to undo the damage of these four years. Banquets and speeches about shared histories are good, but there's also Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea, China, Africa and a host of other places that need joint attention.
The choreography of the visit is, indeed, impressive. Bush will spend quality time with three active opponents of the war in Iraq: France's Jacques Chirac, Germany's Gerhard Schröder and Russia's Vladimir Putin, and he will visit both the European Council and the European Commission to prove that he is all for European unity.
Several factors explain the yearning on both sides to make so public a show of camaraderie. One is simply that Bush is there for four more years, whether the Europeans like it or not. Another is that America would dearly like Europe to become more involved in Iraq. The American military is overstretched. Of course, the Europeans believe that means Bush is therefore not likely to attack Iran or anyone else anytime soon. So the Europeans believe they have a window to advocate the "soft power" they favor in resolving conflicts.
(More ... The Americans are coming ¶ 18:28 0 comments
The choreography of the visit is, indeed, impressive. Bush will spend quality time with three active opponents of the war in Iraq: France's Jacques Chirac, Germany's Gerhard Schröder and Russia's Vladimir Putin, and he will visit both the European Council and the European Commission to prove that he is all for European unity.
Several factors explain the yearning on both sides to make so public a show of camaraderie. One is simply that Bush is there for four more years, whether the Europeans like it or not. Another is that America would dearly like Europe to become more involved in Iraq. The American military is overstretched. Of course, the Europeans believe that means Bush is therefore not likely to attack Iran or anyone else anytime soon. So the Europeans believe they have a window to advocate the "soft power" they favor in resolving conflicts.
(More ... The Americans are coming ¶ 18:28 0 comments
Democrats: Bush plans loaded with debt (CNN.com)
Saturday, February 19, 2005 Posted: 1:15 PM EST (1815 GMT)
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- President Bush's budget for 2006 fails to include the costs of the Iraq war and his plan to partially privatize Social Security leads the country deeper into debt, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee said Saturday.
"Tax cuts, terrorism and recession have all taken their toll," and surpluses built during the Clinton administration "are now gone, vanished, replaced by deficits totaling almost $4 trillion," Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina said in the Democrats' weekly radio address.
"Although this reversal was evident three years ago, the administration's budgets have yet to change course," he said.
Spratt said the Republican-run Congress has raised the debt ceiling three times in four years, by a total of $2.2 trillion, to make room for Bush's budgets.
(More ... CNN.com - Democrats: Bush plans loaded with debt - Feb 19, 2005) ¶ 18:22 0 comments
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- President Bush's budget for 2006 fails to include the costs of the Iraq war and his plan to partially privatize Social Security leads the country deeper into debt, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee said Saturday.
"Tax cuts, terrorism and recession have all taken their toll," and surpluses built during the Clinton administration "are now gone, vanished, replaced by deficits totaling almost $4 trillion," Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina said in the Democrats' weekly radio address.
"Although this reversal was evident three years ago, the administration's budgets have yet to change course," he said.
Spratt said the Republican-run Congress has raised the debt ceiling three times in four years, by a total of $2.2 trillion, to make room for Bush's budgets.
(More ... CNN.com - Democrats: Bush plans loaded with debt - Feb 19, 2005) ¶ 18:22 0 comments
Army Having Difficulty Meeting Goals In Recruiting (WashingtonPost.com)
Fewer Enlistees Are in Pipeline; Many Being Rushed Into Service
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 21, 2005; Page A01
The active-duty Army is in danger of failing to meet its recruiting goals, and is beginning to suffer from manpower strains like those that have dropped the National Guard and Reserves below full strength, according to Army figures and interviews with senior officers.
For the first time since 2001, the Army began the fiscal year in October with only 18.4 percent of the year's target of 80,000 active-duty recruits already in the pipeline. That amounts to less than half of last year's figure and falls well below the Army's goal of 25 percent.
Meanwhile, the Army is rushing incoming recruits into training as quickly as it can. Compared with last year, it has cut by 50 percent the average number of days between the time a recruit signs up and enters boot camp. It is adding more than 800 active-duty recruiters to the 5,201 who were on the job last year, as attracting each enlistee requires more effort and monetary incentives.
(More ... Army Having Difficulty Meeting Goals In Recruiting (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:20 0 comments
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 21, 2005; Page A01
The active-duty Army is in danger of failing to meet its recruiting goals, and is beginning to suffer from manpower strains like those that have dropped the National Guard and Reserves below full strength, according to Army figures and interviews with senior officers.
For the first time since 2001, the Army began the fiscal year in October with only 18.4 percent of the year's target of 80,000 active-duty recruits already in the pipeline. That amounts to less than half of last year's figure and falls well below the Army's goal of 25 percent.
Meanwhile, the Army is rushing incoming recruits into training as quickly as it can. Compared with last year, it has cut by 50 percent the average number of days between the time a recruit signs up and enters boot camp. It is adding more than 800 active-duty recruiters to the 5,201 who were on the job last year, as attracting each enlistee requires more effort and monetary incentives.
(More ... Army Having Difficulty Meeting Goals In Recruiting (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:20 0 comments
Edwards Says Aim Is to Get Wife Well, Not 2008 Bid (Reuters.com)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Sen. John Edwards, the Democratic Party's 2004 vice presidential pick, said his main goal was to help his wife overcome breast cancer and he was not yet considering a presidential bid for 2008.
Asked in an interview aired on Sunday whether he was looking to making his own run for the White House, Edwards said the well-being of his family came first.
"Since this election, I have been so focused on Elizabeth and on doing the work that I'm going to be doing here, I haven't even made a decision about what I'm going to do," Edwards told ABC News "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 08:04 0 comments
Asked in an interview aired on Sunday whether he was looking to making his own run for the White House, Edwards said the well-being of his family came first.
"Since this election, I have been so focused on Elizabeth and on doing the work that I'm going to be doing here, I haven't even made a decision about what I'm going to do," Edwards told ABC News "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 08:04 0 comments
2.20.2005
Tunnel Vision on Corruption (WashingtonPost.com)
By Moisés Namm
Sunday, February 20, 2005; Page B07
About a decade ago, the world witnessed a corruption eruption. As democratic winds swept the world, the dirty deals of once unaccountable dictators and bureaucrats came out into the open. During the Cold War, kleptocratic dictatorships often traded their allegiance to one of the two superpowers for that superpower's countenance of their thievery. With the superpower contest over, such corrupt bargains dried up. And, thanks to the information revolution, if there was even a hint of corruption at the highest levels, it quickly became global news.
Once people learned that so many politicians had been on the take -- often in cahoots with business leaders -- it was only natural that there would be a public outcry for a "war on corruption." Countries enacted anti-corruption legislation, corporations adopted stern codes of conduct and nongovernmental organizations such as Transparency International were launched to "name and shame" countries into action. National watchdog agencies, complete with powerful anti-corruption czars, sprouted everywhere.
[Snip]
Unfortunately, the recent reports from the front lines are not encouraging. "The last 10 years have been deeply disappointing," says Daniel Kaufmann, one of the leading experts on anti-corruption efforts. "Much was done, but not much was accomplished. What we are doing is not working."
In fact, it may be hurting. Today the war on corruption is undermining democracy, helping the wrong leaders get elected and distracting societies from facing urgent problems.
(More ... Tunnel Vision on Corruption (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:48 0 comments
Sunday, February 20, 2005; Page B07
About a decade ago, the world witnessed a corruption eruption. As democratic winds swept the world, the dirty deals of once unaccountable dictators and bureaucrats came out into the open. During the Cold War, kleptocratic dictatorships often traded their allegiance to one of the two superpowers for that superpower's countenance of their thievery. With the superpower contest over, such corrupt bargains dried up. And, thanks to the information revolution, if there was even a hint of corruption at the highest levels, it quickly became global news.
Once people learned that so many politicians had been on the take -- often in cahoots with business leaders -- it was only natural that there would be a public outcry for a "war on corruption." Countries enacted anti-corruption legislation, corporations adopted stern codes of conduct and nongovernmental organizations such as Transparency International were launched to "name and shame" countries into action. National watchdog agencies, complete with powerful anti-corruption czars, sprouted everywhere.
[Snip]
Unfortunately, the recent reports from the front lines are not encouraging. "The last 10 years have been deeply disappointing," says Daniel Kaufmann, one of the leading experts on anti-corruption efforts. "Much was done, but not much was accomplished. What we are doing is not working."
In fact, it may be hurting. Today the war on corruption is undermining democracy, helping the wrong leaders get elected and distracting societies from facing urgent problems.
(More ... Tunnel Vision on Corruption (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:48 0 comments
It's Been a Privilege (LATimes.com)
By Michael Kinsley
February 20, 2005
American democracy is a conspiracy of special interests against the general interest, but every special interest thinks that it is the general interest. Journalists often see this firsthand. They talk to a farmer about farm price supports and report back amazed at the ferocity and self-righteousness of the farmer's views. Farmers really believe that large government checks to farmers make the nation a better place, and they can get very annoyed if you suggest otherwise.
Most farmers, like most journalists, are patriotic and well meaning. And not stupid, either. So how can they believe that their special interest in receiving large checks from the general taxpayer coincides with the general taxpayer's interest? Partly, it's self-deception — one of the more enjoyable human capabilities. Partly, though, it is self- selection. Farmers believe in the nobility of farming because people who believe in the nobility of farming become farmers.
And people who believe in journalism become journalists. Belief in journalism is not widespread these days. People think journalists are biased, that they make things up, that they are arrogant, self-involved, and self-important. But the folks who become journalists (including me) are more likely to regard journalism as a noble calling that serves the nation, its values and the world. That is why, even at this low point in public esteem, many journalists are unembarrassed to assert that they are above the law.
That is essentially what the journalistic profession is claiming in the current controversy over the special prosecutor's investigation of White House leaks. Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matt Cooper of Time magazine have refused to testify about who may have leaked to them the identity of an undercover intelligence agent. Last week, a federal appeals court ruling upheld a lower-court order that Miller and Cooper must testify or go to jail.
That is a travesty. These two public-spirited journalists promised anonymity to sources at a time when the law about "journalist's privilege" was unclear. Having made that promise, they feel obligated to keep it. If they shouldn't have made that promise, society should have sent them a clearer message to that effect. Before we start jailing journalists for keeping a promise, we need to decide when such a promise should or should not be made.
(More ... It's Been a Privilege) ¶ 19:45 0 comments
February 20, 2005
American democracy is a conspiracy of special interests against the general interest, but every special interest thinks that it is the general interest. Journalists often see this firsthand. They talk to a farmer about farm price supports and report back amazed at the ferocity and self-righteousness of the farmer's views. Farmers really believe that large government checks to farmers make the nation a better place, and they can get very annoyed if you suggest otherwise.
Most farmers, like most journalists, are patriotic and well meaning. And not stupid, either. So how can they believe that their special interest in receiving large checks from the general taxpayer coincides with the general taxpayer's interest? Partly, it's self-deception — one of the more enjoyable human capabilities. Partly, though, it is self- selection. Farmers believe in the nobility of farming because people who believe in the nobility of farming become farmers.
And people who believe in journalism become journalists. Belief in journalism is not widespread these days. People think journalists are biased, that they make things up, that they are arrogant, self-involved, and self-important. But the folks who become journalists (including me) are more likely to regard journalism as a noble calling that serves the nation, its values and the world. That is why, even at this low point in public esteem, many journalists are unembarrassed to assert that they are above the law.
That is essentially what the journalistic profession is claiming in the current controversy over the special prosecutor's investigation of White House leaks. Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matt Cooper of Time magazine have refused to testify about who may have leaked to them the identity of an undercover intelligence agent. Last week, a federal appeals court ruling upheld a lower-court order that Miller and Cooper must testify or go to jail.
That is a travesty. These two public-spirited journalists promised anonymity to sources at a time when the law about "journalist's privilege" was unclear. Having made that promise, they feel obligated to keep it. If they shouldn't have made that promise, society should have sent them a clearer message to that effect. Before we start jailing journalists for keeping a promise, we need to decide when such a promise should or should not be made.
(More ... It's Been a Privilege) ¶ 19:45 0 comments
The Risks in Personal Accounts (WashingtonPost.com)
Sunday, February 20, 2005; Page B06
NEWLY ELECTED to a second term and possessed of a mandate to cut the "nanny state," Margaret Thatcher set out in 1984 to privatize Britain's state pension system. The result stands as a warning to the Bush administration. The Thatcher reforms empowered unscrupulous salesmen to press inappropriate savings accounts on unsophisticated workers; regulators ultimately required payment of some $24 billion in compensation to the victims. Last year 500,000 Britons who had opted out of the government pension system in favor of private accounts returned ruefully to nanny.
Social Security reform, in short, is risky. Individual retirement accounts can suffer not only from aggressive salesmen but also from high management fees (Chile), disappointing investment returns (Sweden), irresponsible subsidization at the expense of taxpayers (Britain, again) and the danger that workers might seek early access to their money to meet medical emergencies or other expenses, leaving them impoverished in retirement (Singapore). So, despite the significant likely gains from investing in equities via personal accounts, reform doesn't cross the threshold of plausibility unless it is designed to avoid these pitfalls.
(More ... The Risks in Personal Accounts (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:39 0 comments
NEWLY ELECTED to a second term and possessed of a mandate to cut the "nanny state," Margaret Thatcher set out in 1984 to privatize Britain's state pension system. The result stands as a warning to the Bush administration. The Thatcher reforms empowered unscrupulous salesmen to press inappropriate savings accounts on unsophisticated workers; regulators ultimately required payment of some $24 billion in compensation to the victims. Last year 500,000 Britons who had opted out of the government pension system in favor of private accounts returned ruefully to nanny.
Social Security reform, in short, is risky. Individual retirement accounts can suffer not only from aggressive salesmen but also from high management fees (Chile), disappointing investment returns (Sweden), irresponsible subsidization at the expense of taxpayers (Britain, again) and the danger that workers might seek early access to their money to meet medical emergencies or other expenses, leaving them impoverished in retirement (Singapore). So, despite the significant likely gains from investing in equities via personal accounts, reform doesn't cross the threshold of plausibility unless it is designed to avoid these pitfalls.
(More ... The Risks in Personal Accounts (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:39 0 comments
Democrats' Grass Roots Shift the Power (WashingtonPost.com)
Activists Energized Fundraising, but Some Worry They Could Push Party to Left
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 20, 2005; Page A04
The bloggers have been busy on the Democratic National Committee Web site since Howard Dean was elected party chairman a week ago.
"Paul in OC" and "Steviemo in MN" wrote that they had made their first-ever contributions to the national committee. Someone identified as "J" pleaded with Dean to come to Florida, "home of Baby Bush," to "heal the irritating red and help us become a cool blue state again." "Donna in Evanston" wrote, "It's sad, but it is up to the grassroots to set the example for our representatives in Washington. Howard gets it. Maybe some day the beltway bunch will get it too."
Those sentiments square neatly with Dean's call for "bottom-up reform" of the Democratic Party and the further empowerment of grass-roots activists who flexed their political muscle in his unsuccessful presidential campaign. They later became the backbone of organizing and fundraising efforts by John F. Kerry's campaign and the DNC's election-year efforts.
But the rising of this grass-roots force also signals a shift in the balance of power within the party, one that raises questions about its ultimate impact on a Democratic Party searching for direction and identity after losses in 2002 and 2004.
At a minimum, say party strategists, the shift will mean a more confrontational Democratic Party in battles with President Bush and the Republicans. But some strategists worry that the influence of grass-roots activists could push the party even further to the left, particularly on national security, reinforcing a weakness that Bush exploited in his reelection campaign.
(More ... Democrats' Grass Roots Shift the Power (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:30 0 comments
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 20, 2005; Page A04
The bloggers have been busy on the Democratic National Committee Web site since Howard Dean was elected party chairman a week ago.
"Paul in OC" and "Steviemo in MN" wrote that they had made their first-ever contributions to the national committee. Someone identified as "J" pleaded with Dean to come to Florida, "home of Baby Bush," to "heal the irritating red and help us become a cool blue state again." "Donna in Evanston" wrote, "It's sad, but it is up to the grassroots to set the example for our representatives in Washington. Howard gets it. Maybe some day the beltway bunch will get it too."
Those sentiments square neatly with Dean's call for "bottom-up reform" of the Democratic Party and the further empowerment of grass-roots activists who flexed their political muscle in his unsuccessful presidential campaign. They later became the backbone of organizing and fundraising efforts by John F. Kerry's campaign and the DNC's election-year efforts.
But the rising of this grass-roots force also signals a shift in the balance of power within the party, one that raises questions about its ultimate impact on a Democratic Party searching for direction and identity after losses in 2002 and 2004.
At a minimum, say party strategists, the shift will mean a more confrontational Democratic Party in battles with President Bush and the Republicans. But some strategists worry that the influence of grass-roots activists could push the party even further to the left, particularly on national security, reinforcing a weakness that Bush exploited in his reelection campaign.
(More ... Democrats' Grass Roots Shift the Power (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 19:30 0 comments
Administration Is Warned About Its 'News' Videos (NYTimes.com)
By ANNE E. KORNBLUT
Published: February 19, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 - The comptroller general has issued a blanket warning that reminds federal agencies they may not produce newscasts promoting administration policies without clearly stating that the government itself is the source.
Twice in the last two years, agencies of the federal government have been caught distributing prepackaged television programs that used paid spokesmen acting as newscasters and, in violation of federal law, failed to disclose the administration's role in developing and financing them.
And those were not isolated incidents, David M. Walker, the comptroller general, said in a letter dated Thursday that put all agency heads on notice about the practice.
In fact, it has become increasingly common for federal agencies to adopt the public relations tactic of producing "video news releases" that look indistinguishable from authentic newscasts and, as ready-made and cost-free reports, are sometimes picked up by local news programs. It is illegal for the government to produce or distribute such publicity material domestically without disclosing its own role.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Administration Is Warned About Its 'News' Videos) ¶ 11:39 0 comments
Published: February 19, 2005
WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 - The comptroller general has issued a blanket warning that reminds federal agencies they may not produce newscasts promoting administration policies without clearly stating that the government itself is the source.
Twice in the last two years, agencies of the federal government have been caught distributing prepackaged television programs that used paid spokesmen acting as newscasters and, in violation of federal law, failed to disclose the administration's role in developing and financing them.
And those were not isolated incidents, David M. Walker, the comptroller general, said in a letter dated Thursday that put all agency heads on notice about the practice.
In fact, it has become increasingly common for federal agencies to adopt the public relations tactic of producing "video news releases" that look indistinguishable from authentic newscasts and, as ready-made and cost-free reports, are sometimes picked up by local news programs. It is illegal for the government to produce or distribute such publicity material domestically without disclosing its own role.
(More ... The New York Times > Washington > Administration Is Warned About Its 'News' Videos) ¶ 11:39 0 comments
Time for an Accounting (NYTimes.com)
EDITORIAL
Published: February 19, 2005
Of all the claims of an electoral mandate made by President Bush's supporters, none were as bizarre as the one offered by John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer who helped draft the cynical justifications for the illegal detention and torture of "unlawful combatants." "The debate is over," Mr. Yoo told The New Yorker, adding: "The issue is dying out. The public has had its referendum."
It's hard to know what is most outrageous about those comments - that Mr. Yoo actually believes Americans voted for torturing prisoners or that an official at the heart of this appalling mess feels secure enough to say that. Certainly the worst possibility is that the public has, indeed, lost interest.
The White House has done everything it can to bury the issue. Nearly a year after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, the administration still drags its feet on public disclosure, stonewalls Congressional requests for documents and suppresses the results of internal investigations.
But the issue is as urgent as ever. Hundreds of men remain imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, years after any information they had might have been useful and in defiance of two Supreme Court decisions. American soldiers hold thousands of Afghan and Iraqi prisoners under rules that remain murky, to put it charitably.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Time for an Accounting) ¶ 10:34 0 comments
Published: February 19, 2005
Of all the claims of an electoral mandate made by President Bush's supporters, none were as bizarre as the one offered by John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer who helped draft the cynical justifications for the illegal detention and torture of "unlawful combatants." "The debate is over," Mr. Yoo told The New Yorker, adding: "The issue is dying out. The public has had its referendum."
It's hard to know what is most outrageous about those comments - that Mr. Yoo actually believes Americans voted for torturing prisoners or that an official at the heart of this appalling mess feels secure enough to say that. Certainly the worst possibility is that the public has, indeed, lost interest.
The White House has done everything it can to bury the issue. Nearly a year after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, the administration still drags its feet on public disclosure, stonewalls Congressional requests for documents and suppresses the results of internal investigations.
But the issue is as urgent as ever. Hundreds of men remain imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, years after any information they had might have been useful and in defiance of two Supreme Court decisions. American soldiers hold thousands of Afghan and Iraqi prisoners under rules that remain murky, to put it charitably.
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: Time for an Accounting) ¶ 10:34 0 comments
Letter from Washington
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON
To Democrats Abroad
February 18, 2005
Tom Fina, Executive Director Emeritus
With the the seating of the 109th Congress on January 4, inauguration of the President on January 21, his State of the Union address on February 2, the submission of his budget on February 7, and the February 12 election of Howard Dean as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, a fierce political struggle has begun that will mark the entire Bush second term.
Both parties have serious problems although those of the winner may seem easier to manage than those of the loser. I will leave details of the growing problems of the winner to another letter.
The Democrats face the most obvious difficulties. There is widespread demoralization and some finger pointing after losing an election that they had good reason to expect to win. The loss of the White House and diminished power in both the Senate and House weigh heavily on the ability of the party to defend the principles for which it stands. Deprived of a clearly acknowledged national spokesman-leader, Democrats are unable to match the ability of the President to drum his message into the public consciousness - not only from his own bully-pulpit but from the enormous Federal bureaucracy that echoes his arguments. And, Democrats are without a concise unified message defining what they stand for as contrasted with the Bush Administration which has perfected “message control.”.
The first step in Democratic regrouping has now been taken with the election, by acclaim, of Howard Dean to be the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. This was a significant departure from past practice. He was elected despite the opposition of the Democratic congressional leadership, of much of the Democratic establishment, some big donors and some of the trade union movement. He comes to office, in short, with few obligations to traditional Democratic power centers. Those who elected him were actually the 447 members of the Democratic National Committee rather than the usual power-brokers. While the members of the DNC are somewhat to the left of the Democratic establishment and the Democratic congressional delegation, they are probably more representative of the grass roots of the Democratic constituency. In that sense, Dean assumes his position with greater legitimacy than many of his predecessors.
As his campaign for the job rolled along, one competitor after another dropped out because Dean aggressively went after the individual DNC members who were sold on his charisma and his approach. Above all, it would appear that they wanted someone who would be a clear-spoken opponent ready to go toe-to-toe with George Bush. In the end, the establishment embraced him. President Clinton called for party unity behind him and Senator Kerry and outgoing Chair McAuliffe laid on their hands as well. Only Senator Minority Leader Reid and House Minority Leader Pelosi were slow to come aboard.
The Democratic congressional leadership wants to keep policy formulation in its hands rather than have a competing power center in the DNC chair. Dean, obligingly, has assured it that he will leave policy up to the elected members of Congress. But, even if this is his intention, the political dynamics of the contest between the Administration and the Minority may dictate another scenario.
Dean comes to the DNC with the potential for real power that none of his predecessors within recent memory could command. He is his own man, beholden to no one but the 447. He inherits a national party organization that, if not rich, is not in debt and which comes with a greatly improved small-donor fund-raising system as well as a degree of direct contact with activists and voters that no previous chair has ever had. Moreover, Dean has already proven that he knows how to use the new internet world not only to raise money but also to rally supporters.
This is especially important since the various state parties are relatively weak links in the federal election process. They are underfunded, often poorly organized and led. Yet, they are also jealous of their independence. The Republican solution to this problem some years ago was to get control of its state parties by paying for their Executive Directors - a promise made by earlier Democratic chairmen but never kept. And not kept, in part, because state parties want the money but are very jittery about the inevitable conditions that must accompany it.
Now, there is general recognition that one condition for a Democratic come-back is to build the party from the grassroots up. That idea resonates among Democrats like motherhood and apple-pie. Dean has promised that this will be his approach. It will be a Herculean task because it will mean a profound change in the culture of the state parties as well as costing big bucks.
Dean also arrives on the scene with a new set of powerhouses that have been in competition with the old powerhouses - the trade unions and the state parties. MoveOn, American Coming Together and the Media Fund, plus his own Democrats for America, for example, have shown that they can raise significant money and organize significant numbers of activists and voters across the entire nation in support of Democratic candidates. To the extent that he can work with them, he will have added new muscle to the Democratic coalition.
Right now, Republicans are salivating, and worried Democrats are fidgeting, as they await what they are sure will be one Dean gaff or another that will rocket launch the Republican calumny machine (it learned at the skirts of Don Bazilio). So far, Dean has disappointed the vultures. But, if he fails to provide the red meat they expect, it can always be invented.
In substantive terms, Democrats are already rethinking their message on issues that have cost them votes. Senator Clinton has made a much remarked first move by trying to shift the political debate from defending legal abortion to reducing recourse to it by emphasizing the prevention of unwanted pregnancies. That will never win the right which is mostly hostile to contraception, but it could make sense to swing voters. There is also rethinking of terminology and how to show that Democratic goals are not only consistent with religious values but derive from them. Another perceived problem is Democratic “softness” on national security. That is a much harder nut to crack. It was fear of looking weak that led so many Democrats to vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq. Should Democrats now rattle louder swords, be more confrontational with our allies, demand a bigger ABM program, demand intervention in Iran, Syria and North Korea, beard China on Taiwan and embrace laws punishing flag burning? Can, should, must Democrats be more hawkish than the Bush Administration? Don’t envy Reid, Pelosi and Dean trying to get this part of the message right.
Both parties have serious problems as they face 2006 and 2008. But the Democrats have now taken a major step to overcome theirs.
Thomas W. Fina
Executive Director Emeritus
Democrats Abroad
Comments: demsabrd@bellatlantic.net ¶ 10:25 0 comments
To Democrats Abroad
February 18, 2005
Tom Fina, Executive Director Emeritus
With the the seating of the 109th Congress on January 4, inauguration of the President on January 21, his State of the Union address on February 2, the submission of his budget on February 7, and the February 12 election of Howard Dean as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, a fierce political struggle has begun that will mark the entire Bush second term.
Both parties have serious problems although those of the winner may seem easier to manage than those of the loser. I will leave details of the growing problems of the winner to another letter.
The Democrats face the most obvious difficulties. There is widespread demoralization and some finger pointing after losing an election that they had good reason to expect to win. The loss of the White House and diminished power in both the Senate and House weigh heavily on the ability of the party to defend the principles for which it stands. Deprived of a clearly acknowledged national spokesman-leader, Democrats are unable to match the ability of the President to drum his message into the public consciousness - not only from his own bully-pulpit but from the enormous Federal bureaucracy that echoes his arguments. And, Democrats are without a concise unified message defining what they stand for as contrasted with the Bush Administration which has perfected “message control.”.
The first step in Democratic regrouping has now been taken with the election, by acclaim, of Howard Dean to be the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. This was a significant departure from past practice. He was elected despite the opposition of the Democratic congressional leadership, of much of the Democratic establishment, some big donors and some of the trade union movement. He comes to office, in short, with few obligations to traditional Democratic power centers. Those who elected him were actually the 447 members of the Democratic National Committee rather than the usual power-brokers. While the members of the DNC are somewhat to the left of the Democratic establishment and the Democratic congressional delegation, they are probably more representative of the grass roots of the Democratic constituency. In that sense, Dean assumes his position with greater legitimacy than many of his predecessors.
As his campaign for the job rolled along, one competitor after another dropped out because Dean aggressively went after the individual DNC members who were sold on his charisma and his approach. Above all, it would appear that they wanted someone who would be a clear-spoken opponent ready to go toe-to-toe with George Bush. In the end, the establishment embraced him. President Clinton called for party unity behind him and Senator Kerry and outgoing Chair McAuliffe laid on their hands as well. Only Senator Minority Leader Reid and House Minority Leader Pelosi were slow to come aboard.
The Democratic congressional leadership wants to keep policy formulation in its hands rather than have a competing power center in the DNC chair. Dean, obligingly, has assured it that he will leave policy up to the elected members of Congress. But, even if this is his intention, the political dynamics of the contest between the Administration and the Minority may dictate another scenario.
Dean comes to the DNC with the potential for real power that none of his predecessors within recent memory could command. He is his own man, beholden to no one but the 447. He inherits a national party organization that, if not rich, is not in debt and which comes with a greatly improved small-donor fund-raising system as well as a degree of direct contact with activists and voters that no previous chair has ever had. Moreover, Dean has already proven that he knows how to use the new internet world not only to raise money but also to rally supporters.
This is especially important since the various state parties are relatively weak links in the federal election process. They are underfunded, often poorly organized and led. Yet, they are also jealous of their independence. The Republican solution to this problem some years ago was to get control of its state parties by paying for their Executive Directors - a promise made by earlier Democratic chairmen but never kept. And not kept, in part, because state parties want the money but are very jittery about the inevitable conditions that must accompany it.
Now, there is general recognition that one condition for a Democratic come-back is to build the party from the grassroots up. That idea resonates among Democrats like motherhood and apple-pie. Dean has promised that this will be his approach. It will be a Herculean task because it will mean a profound change in the culture of the state parties as well as costing big bucks.
Dean also arrives on the scene with a new set of powerhouses that have been in competition with the old powerhouses - the trade unions and the state parties. MoveOn, American Coming Together and the Media Fund, plus his own Democrats for America, for example, have shown that they can raise significant money and organize significant numbers of activists and voters across the entire nation in support of Democratic candidates. To the extent that he can work with them, he will have added new muscle to the Democratic coalition.
Right now, Republicans are salivating, and worried Democrats are fidgeting, as they await what they are sure will be one Dean gaff or another that will rocket launch the Republican calumny machine (it learned at the skirts of Don Bazilio). So far, Dean has disappointed the vultures. But, if he fails to provide the red meat they expect, it can always be invented.
In substantive terms, Democrats are already rethinking their message on issues that have cost them votes. Senator Clinton has made a much remarked first move by trying to shift the political debate from defending legal abortion to reducing recourse to it by emphasizing the prevention of unwanted pregnancies. That will never win the right which is mostly hostile to contraception, but it could make sense to swing voters. There is also rethinking of terminology and how to show that Democratic goals are not only consistent with religious values but derive from them. Another perceived problem is Democratic “softness” on national security. That is a much harder nut to crack. It was fear of looking weak that led so many Democrats to vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq. Should Democrats now rattle louder swords, be more confrontational with our allies, demand a bigger ABM program, demand intervention in Iran, Syria and North Korea, beard China on Taiwan and embrace laws punishing flag burning? Can, should, must Democrats be more hawkish than the Bush Administration? Don’t envy Reid, Pelosi and Dean trying to get this part of the message right.
Both parties have serious problems as they face 2006 and 2008. But the Democrats have now taken a major step to overcome theirs.
Thomas W. Fina
Executive Director Emeritus
Democrats Abroad
Comments: demsabrd@bellatlantic.net ¶ 10:25 0 comments
2.19.2005
Poorest Face Most Risk on Social Security (WashingtonPost.com)
Bush Plan's Success May Hinge on Perceived Safety
By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 19, 2005; Page A01
No group of Americans would be affected more by President Bush's Social Security plan than those earning the least. Just ask 46-year-old Brent Allen.
Allen, who recently lost his job at a Massachusetts paper mill, faces a retirement financed exclusively by the money he has been paying into the Social Security system for the better part of 30 years. Like nearly half the U.S. population, he has no pension or savings to speak of. And his brief flirtations with the stock market have largely flopped.
So Allen, who lives on less than $15,000 a year in disability payments from Social Security and income from his live-in girlfriend, is distrustful of Bush's plan to allow workers to divert a portion of their payroll taxes into personal investment accounts.
"I have had stocks, and have had them for six years, and I have lost money continually," Allen said this week. "What's going to happen to people when they retire when the market is down? There is no guarantee [Bush] can make. There is a guarantee now," under the current system.
(More ... Poorest Face Most Risk on Social Security (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 20:00 0 comments
By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 19, 2005; Page A01
No group of Americans would be affected more by President Bush's Social Security plan than those earning the least. Just ask 46-year-old Brent Allen.
Allen, who recently lost his job at a Massachusetts paper mill, faces a retirement financed exclusively by the money he has been paying into the Social Security system for the better part of 30 years. Like nearly half the U.S. population, he has no pension or savings to speak of. And his brief flirtations with the stock market have largely flopped.
So Allen, who lives on less than $15,000 a year in disability payments from Social Security and income from his live-in girlfriend, is distrustful of Bush's plan to allow workers to divert a portion of their payroll taxes into personal investment accounts.
"I have had stocks, and have had them for six years, and I have lost money continually," Allen said this week. "What's going to happen to people when they retire when the market is down? There is no guarantee [Bush] can make. There is a guarantee now," under the current system.
(More ... Poorest Face Most Risk on Social Security (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 20:00 0 comments
Humans Causing Global Warming (Stuff.co.nz)
19 February 2005
WASHINGTON: A parcel of studies looking at the oceans and melting Arctic ice leave no room for doubt that it is getting warmer, people are to blame, and the weather is going to suffer, climate experts say.
New computer models that look at ocean temperatures instead of the atmosphere show the clearest signal yet that global warming is well underway, said Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Speaking at an annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Barnett said yesterday that climate models based on air temperatures are weak because most of the evidence for global warming is not even there.
"The real place to look is in the ocean," Barnett told a news conference.
His team used millions of temperature readings made by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to calculate steady ocean warming.
"The debate over whether or not there is a global warming signal is now over, at least for rational people," he said.
(More ... THE PRESS : WORLD NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website) ¶ 12:10 0 comments
WASHINGTON: A parcel of studies looking at the oceans and melting Arctic ice leave no room for doubt that it is getting warmer, people are to blame, and the weather is going to suffer, climate experts say.
New computer models that look at ocean temperatures instead of the atmosphere show the clearest signal yet that global warming is well underway, said Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Speaking at an annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Barnett said yesterday that climate models based on air temperatures are weak because most of the evidence for global warming is not even there.
"The real place to look is in the ocean," Barnett told a news conference.
His team used millions of temperature readings made by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to calculate steady ocean warming.
"The debate over whether or not there is a global warming signal is now over, at least for rational people," he said.
(More ... THE PRESS : WORLD NEWS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website) ¶ 12:10 0 comments
Producer Price Jump, Biggest in 6 Years (Reuters.com)
By Tim Ahmann
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. producer prices, excluding food and energy, shot up at their fastest pace in six years in January as tobacco, auto and alcohol costs spiked, the government said on Friday in a report that fanned inflation fears.
A separate report showing U.S. consumer sentiment softened this month failed to ease financial market worries on inflation and profits, fueled by the broad-based price gains, which also raised expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes.
Overall, the producer price index, which measures prices received by farms, factories and refineries, rose just 0.3 percent last month as energy prices tumbled 1 percent and food costs slipped 0.2 percent, the Labor Department said.
But the core index, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, shot up 0.8 percent, the biggest gain since December 1998. Over the past year, core producer prices climbed 2.7 percent -- the largest 12-month gain in nine years.
Wall Street had expected core prices to rise just 0.2 percent and the surprisingly big jump weighed on markets.
(More ... Latest Business News and Financial Information | Reuters.com) ¶ 12:07 0 comments
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. producer prices, excluding food and energy, shot up at their fastest pace in six years in January as tobacco, auto and alcohol costs spiked, the government said on Friday in a report that fanned inflation fears.
A separate report showing U.S. consumer sentiment softened this month failed to ease financial market worries on inflation and profits, fueled by the broad-based price gains, which also raised expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes.
Overall, the producer price index, which measures prices received by farms, factories and refineries, rose just 0.3 percent last month as energy prices tumbled 1 percent and food costs slipped 0.2 percent, the Labor Department said.
But the core index, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, shot up 0.8 percent, the biggest gain since December 1998. Over the past year, core producer prices climbed 2.7 percent -- the largest 12-month gain in nine years.
Wall Street had expected core prices to rise just 0.2 percent and the surprisingly big jump weighed on markets.
(More ... Latest Business News and Financial Information | Reuters.com) ¶ 12:07 0 comments
'Global Warming Real' Say New Studies (FT.com)
By Clive Cookson in Washington
Published: February 18 2005 14:18 | Last updated: February 18 2005 14:18
A leading US team of climate researchers on Friday released “the most compelling evidence yet” that human activities are responsible for global warming. They said their analysis should “wipe out” claims by sceptics that recent warming is due to non-human factors such as natural fluctuations in climate or variations in solar or volcanic activity.
Scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California have been working for several years with colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to analyse the effects of global warming on the oceans. They combined computer modelling with millions of temperature and salinity readings, taken around the world at different depths over five decades.
The researchers released their conclusions on Friday at the American Association of the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington. They found that the “warming signals” in the oceans could only have been produced by the build-up of man-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Non-human factors would have produced quite different effects.
(More ... FT.com / World / Brussels briefing - 'Global warming real' say new studies) ¶ 12:00 0 comments
Published: February 18 2005 14:18 | Last updated: February 18 2005 14:18
A leading US team of climate researchers on Friday released “the most compelling evidence yet” that human activities are responsible for global warming. They said their analysis should “wipe out” claims by sceptics that recent warming is due to non-human factors such as natural fluctuations in climate or variations in solar or volcanic activity.
Scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California have been working for several years with colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to analyse the effects of global warming on the oceans. They combined computer modelling with millions of temperature and salinity readings, taken around the world at different depths over five decades.
The researchers released their conclusions on Friday at the American Association of the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington. They found that the “warming signals” in the oceans could only have been produced by the build-up of man-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Non-human factors would have produced quite different effects.
(More ... FT.com / World / Brussels briefing - 'Global warming real' say new studies) ¶ 12:00 0 comments
Bush Signs Class-Action Changes Into Law (WashingtonPost.com)
By John F. Harris and William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 18, 2005; 12:40 PM
President Bush today signed legislation that rewrites the rules for class-action lawsuits, opening a second-term campaign he said was aimed at "ending the lawsuit culture in our country."
In a ceremony to sign the Class Action Fairness Act, which was passed by the House yesterday and became the first bill to be signed by the president in 2005, Bush vowed to work for passage of "meaningful legal reforms" to curb medical malpractice and asbestos lawsuits.
"There's more to do," Bush said, arguing that medical liability lawsuits are driving up the cost of health care and that asbestos litigation has bankrupted dozens of companies and eliminated thousands of jobs. "I'm confident that this bill will be the first of many bipartisan achievements in the year 2005."
The class-action law is a measure Bush has sought for years. Its swift passage in the new Congress illustrates the expanded influence of Republicans and their business supporters. It is designed to funnel most such lawsuits from state courts to the federal system, a procedural change that could have substantive implications. Business groups sought the change because federal courts traditionally have been less sympathetic to class-action cases brought by plaintiffs who claim to have been victimized by corporate fraud or negligence.
(More ... Bush Signs Class-Action Changes Into Law (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 11:10 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 18, 2005; 12:40 PM
President Bush today signed legislation that rewrites the rules for class-action lawsuits, opening a second-term campaign he said was aimed at "ending the lawsuit culture in our country."
In a ceremony to sign the Class Action Fairness Act, which was passed by the House yesterday and became the first bill to be signed by the president in 2005, Bush vowed to work for passage of "meaningful legal reforms" to curb medical malpractice and asbestos lawsuits.
"There's more to do," Bush said, arguing that medical liability lawsuits are driving up the cost of health care and that asbestos litigation has bankrupted dozens of companies and eliminated thousands of jobs. "I'm confident that this bill will be the first of many bipartisan achievements in the year 2005."
The class-action law is a measure Bush has sought for years. Its swift passage in the new Congress illustrates the expanded influence of Republicans and their business supporters. It is designed to funnel most such lawsuits from state courts to the federal system, a procedural change that could have substantive implications. Business groups sought the change because federal courts traditionally have been less sympathetic to class-action cases brought by plaintiffs who claim to have been victimized by corporate fraud or negligence.
(More ... Bush Signs Class-Action Changes Into Law (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 11:10 0 comments
Rehnquist to Miss Oral Arguments Next Week (WashingtonPost.com)
By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 18, 2005; 3:29 PM
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist will not be present when the Supreme Court resumes oral argument sessions next week but will continue to participate in decisions from home as he battles thyroid cancer, the court announced today.
The Supreme Court returns Tuesday for the second half of its current term after a four-week recess. It is to hold two weeks of oral arguments on such issues as the rights of owners of condemned property, the ability of farmers to sue the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the display of the Ten Commandments on government property.
A spokeswoman for the court, Kathy Arberg, said Rehnquist, 80, will not attend the oral arguments but will read transcripts of them and continue to vote on decisions. This will mark the fourth month that Rehnquist has missed argument sessions, having skipped the ones in November, December and January.
(More ... Rehnquist to Miss Oral Arguments Next Week (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 11:07 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 18, 2005; 3:29 PM
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist will not be present when the Supreme Court resumes oral argument sessions next week but will continue to participate in decisions from home as he battles thyroid cancer, the court announced today.
The Supreme Court returns Tuesday for the second half of its current term after a four-week recess. It is to hold two weeks of oral arguments on such issues as the rights of owners of condemned property, the ability of farmers to sue the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the display of the Ten Commandments on government property.
A spokeswoman for the court, Kathy Arberg, said Rehnquist, 80, will not attend the oral arguments but will read transcripts of them and continue to vote on decisions. This will mark the fourth month that Rehnquist has missed argument sessions, having skipped the ones in November, December and January.
(More ... Rehnquist to Miss Oral Arguments Next Week (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 11:07 0 comments
2.18.2005
Pain at Home (WashingtonPost.com)
Friday, February 18, 2005; Page A28
ONE NEED NOT embrace the incendiary rhetoric of the mayor of Baltimore, Martin O'Malley, who likened the Bush administration's proposed budget cuts to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to agree that their impact will be felt in counties, cities and neighborhoods -- in some cases severely. Under President Bush's fiscal 2006 budget plan, non-Medicaid grants to state and local governments would decline by $10.7 billion, or 4.5 percent, to $225 billion. In the Washington region as elsewhere, what is hidden in the abstraction of those numbers are the effects on communities of reducing or eliminating funding for programs in job training, adult education and affordable housing.
In this region there is particular concern about proposed reductions in Community Development Block Grants, which have attracted bipartisan support as a means of helping rejuvenate older, poorer and struggling neighborhoods, in part by providing affordable housing. In Arlington, for instance, the grants account for more than 12 percent of the county's $18 million annual housing budget -- this in a jurisdiction where the stock of affordable housing units is being rapidly depleted. The grants have provided aid to Arlington's Columbia Heights West neighborhood, home to a melting pot of immigrants from Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The Nauck neighborhood of South Arlington, a historically African American enclave, also has benefited.
(More ... Pain at Home (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 23:31 0 comments
ONE NEED NOT embrace the incendiary rhetoric of the mayor of Baltimore, Martin O'Malley, who likened the Bush administration's proposed budget cuts to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to agree that their impact will be felt in counties, cities and neighborhoods -- in some cases severely. Under President Bush's fiscal 2006 budget plan, non-Medicaid grants to state and local governments would decline by $10.7 billion, or 4.5 percent, to $225 billion. In the Washington region as elsewhere, what is hidden in the abstraction of those numbers are the effects on communities of reducing or eliminating funding for programs in job training, adult education and affordable housing.
In this region there is particular concern about proposed reductions in Community Development Block Grants, which have attracted bipartisan support as a means of helping rejuvenate older, poorer and struggling neighborhoods, in part by providing affordable housing. In Arlington, for instance, the grants account for more than 12 percent of the county's $18 million annual housing budget -- this in a jurisdiction where the stock of affordable housing units is being rapidly depleted. The grants have provided aid to Arlington's Columbia Heights West neighborhood, home to a melting pot of immigrants from Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The Nauck neighborhood of South Arlington, a historically African American enclave, also has benefited.
(More ... Pain at Home (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 23:31 0 comments
What Does Alan Greenspan Want? (NYTimes.com)
EDITORIAL
Published: February 18, 2005
It was inevitable that Alan Greenspan would make news when he testified before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday that he supported private accounts in Social Security. "So if you're going to move to private accounts, which I approve of," he said, "I think you have to do it in a cautious, gradual way."
But Mr. Greenspan said so much more that, by any measure of logical consistency, could hardly be read as approval.
He said repeatedly that the crucial underlying problem for the United States economy was a lack of national savings - the sum of government and individual savings, an important aspect of the nation's overall standard of living. Under questioning, he also said, repeatedly and quite rightly, that moving to private accounts within Social Security would not add to national savings. That's because every dollar that went into a private account would be offset by the money that the government would need to borrow upfront to establish the private system.
Mr. Greenspan also stressed the importance of closing Social Security's long-term funding gap - an estimated $3.7 trillion hole that will develop over 75 years, the usual span of time used by Social Security's trustees to gauge the system's soundness. Then he pointed out that money accumulating in private accounts would do nothing to close the long-term funding gap in Social Security. The only way to do that is to increase taxes or cut benefits, or to adopt some combination of the two. Unlike the president, Mr. Greenspan acknowledged the huge benefit cuts that would be inherent in a private system. Speaking of Mr. Bush, he said, "I gather what he has in mind is that the amounts that go into the private accounts are offset, after discount, with benefits that would have been paid with those monies in the Social Security system." That's Greenspan-ese for this: "Every dollar you put into a private account, plus interest, would be subtracted from your traditional Social Security benefit."
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: What Does Alan Greenspan Want?) ¶ 23:16 0 comments
Published: February 18, 2005
It was inevitable that Alan Greenspan would make news when he testified before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday that he supported private accounts in Social Security. "So if you're going to move to private accounts, which I approve of," he said, "I think you have to do it in a cautious, gradual way."
But Mr. Greenspan said so much more that, by any measure of logical consistency, could hardly be read as approval.
He said repeatedly that the crucial underlying problem for the United States economy was a lack of national savings - the sum of government and individual savings, an important aspect of the nation's overall standard of living. Under questioning, he also said, repeatedly and quite rightly, that moving to private accounts within Social Security would not add to national savings. That's because every dollar that went into a private account would be offset by the money that the government would need to borrow upfront to establish the private system.
Mr. Greenspan also stressed the importance of closing Social Security's long-term funding gap - an estimated $3.7 trillion hole that will develop over 75 years, the usual span of time used by Social Security's trustees to gauge the system's soundness. Then he pointed out that money accumulating in private accounts would do nothing to close the long-term funding gap in Social Security. The only way to do that is to increase taxes or cut benefits, or to adopt some combination of the two. Unlike the president, Mr. Greenspan acknowledged the huge benefit cuts that would be inherent in a private system. Speaking of Mr. Bush, he said, "I gather what he has in mind is that the amounts that go into the private accounts are offset, after discount, with benefits that would have been paid with those monies in the Social Security system." That's Greenspan-ese for this: "Every dollar you put into a private account, plus interest, would be subtracted from your traditional Social Security benefit."
(More ... The New York Times > Opinion > Editorial: What Does Alan Greenspan Want?) ¶ 23:16 0 comments
The Thinker (LATimes.com)
President Bush's thought appears to be evolving. Who knows where this may lead?
By Michael Kinsley
February 6, 2005
The strangest aspect of President Bush's new War on Tyranny is the connection he draws between tyranny and terrorism. It's not the connection you would suspect, or the one Bush was making during his first term. When Saddam Hussein was still in charge of Iraq, it was enough to say that bad guys are bad guys. A sadistic dictator is just the type of person who would also harbor terrorists and stockpile weapons of mass destruction.
But now Bush says that terrorists are actually the victims of tyranny. In his inaugural, this seemed like a bit of transitory, use-once-and-discard hifalutinism. But Bush returned to the theme in his State of the Union on Wednesday. "In the long term," he said, "the peace we seek will only be achieved by eliminating the conditions that feed radicalism and ideologies of murder. If whole regions of the world remain in despair and grow in hatred, they will be the recruiting grounds for terror, and that terror will stalk America."
The anarchist Emma Goldman said much the same thing in a 1917 essay, "The Psychology of Political Violence." It is "the despair millions of people are daily made to endure" that drives some of them to acts of terror. "Can one question the tremendous, revolutionizing effect on human character exerted by great social iniquities?" She quotes a pamphlet from British-ruled India: "Terrorism … is inevitable as long as tyranny continues, for it is not the terrorists that are to be blamed, but the tyrants who are responsible for it."
Bush does not say that tyranny excuses terrorism. But he does say that tyranny explains terrorism. This is new. One of Bush's big themes in the months after Sept. 11 was that terrorism is "evil," pure and simple. Former Commissioner of Virtue William Bennett ground out a quickie bestseller on this theme, criticizing efforts to understand why someone might become a suicide bomber as a refusal to look evil in the face.
Conservative thought has long rated the notion of "root causes" — explaining antisocial behavior as a consequence of social conditions — as a major heresy. Neoconservatives have especially enjoyed burning witches over this doctrinal deviation. This makes it especially remarkable that a president thought to be in the thrall of neocons should sink so eloquently into doctrinal error.
(More ... The Thinker) ¶ 22:51 0 comments
By Michael Kinsley
February 6, 2005
The strangest aspect of President Bush's new War on Tyranny is the connection he draws between tyranny and terrorism. It's not the connection you would suspect, or the one Bush was making during his first term. When Saddam Hussein was still in charge of Iraq, it was enough to say that bad guys are bad guys. A sadistic dictator is just the type of person who would also harbor terrorists and stockpile weapons of mass destruction.
But now Bush says that terrorists are actually the victims of tyranny. In his inaugural, this seemed like a bit of transitory, use-once-and-discard hifalutinism. But Bush returned to the theme in his State of the Union on Wednesday. "In the long term," he said, "the peace we seek will only be achieved by eliminating the conditions that feed radicalism and ideologies of murder. If whole regions of the world remain in despair and grow in hatred, they will be the recruiting grounds for terror, and that terror will stalk America."
The anarchist Emma Goldman said much the same thing in a 1917 essay, "The Psychology of Political Violence." It is "the despair millions of people are daily made to endure" that drives some of them to acts of terror. "Can one question the tremendous, revolutionizing effect on human character exerted by great social iniquities?" She quotes a pamphlet from British-ruled India: "Terrorism … is inevitable as long as tyranny continues, for it is not the terrorists that are to be blamed, but the tyrants who are responsible for it."
Bush does not say that tyranny excuses terrorism. But he does say that tyranny explains terrorism. This is new. One of Bush's big themes in the months after Sept. 11 was that terrorism is "evil," pure and simple. Former Commissioner of Virtue William Bennett ground out a quickie bestseller on this theme, criticizing efforts to understand why someone might become a suicide bomber as a refusal to look evil in the face.
Conservative thought has long rated the notion of "root causes" — explaining antisocial behavior as a consequence of social conditions — as a major heresy. Neoconservatives have especially enjoyed burning witches over this doctrinal deviation. This makes it especially remarkable that a president thought to be in the thrall of neocons should sink so eloquently into doctrinal error.
(More ... The Thinker) ¶ 22:51 0 comments
No Political Motives Found in IRS Probes (WashingtonPost.com)
By Albert B. Crenshaw
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 18, 2005; Page A27
The Internal Revenue Service followed "established procedures" in deciding which tax-exempt entities to investigate for possible improper involvement in last year's political campaign, and there is no evidence that the agency's decisions were politically motivated, according to an inspector general's report released yesterday.
The IRS attracted headlines last fall when the NAACP announced that the agency was threatening to revoke its tax-exempt status because its chairman, Julian Bond, had given a speech attacking the Bush administration.
Bond called the IRS investigation "Nixonian," and the civil rights group has since said it would not cooperate with the probe.
But the office of the Treasury inspector general for tax administration (TIGTA), after a probe of its own that was requested by IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson and other senior agency officials in November, found that the IRS had set up proper procedures and followed them.
"We were alert for any indications that inappropriate actions, such as political influence, may have been taken with regard to the handling of" the activities of tax-exempt organizations, but "we did not identify any," Deputy Inspector General Pamela J. Gardiner of TIGTA wrote in a memorandum accompanying the report.
But the probe did find that there were delays that pushed the IRS's first contact with the affected organizations into September, six weeks before the election. "We believe contacting organizations so close to the election and the late publicity about this project contributed to the allegations of improper motivation on the part of the IRS," Gardiner said.
(More ... No Political Motives Found in IRS Probes (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 22:42 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 18, 2005; Page A27
The Internal Revenue Service followed "established procedures" in deciding which tax-exempt entities to investigate for possible improper involvement in last year's political campaign, and there is no evidence that the agency's decisions were politically motivated, according to an inspector general's report released yesterday.
The IRS attracted headlines last fall when the NAACP announced that the agency was threatening to revoke its tax-exempt status because its chairman, Julian Bond, had given a speech attacking the Bush administration.
Bond called the IRS investigation "Nixonian," and the civil rights group has since said it would not cooperate with the probe.
But the office of the Treasury inspector general for tax administration (TIGTA), after a probe of its own that was requested by IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson and other senior agency officials in November, found that the IRS had set up proper procedures and followed them.
"We were alert for any indications that inappropriate actions, such as political influence, may have been taken with regard to the handling of" the activities of tax-exempt organizations, but "we did not identify any," Deputy Inspector General Pamela J. Gardiner of TIGTA wrote in a memorandum accompanying the report.
But the probe did find that there were delays that pushed the IRS's first contact with the affected organizations into September, six weeks before the election. "We believe contacting organizations so close to the election and the late publicity about this project contributed to the allegations of improper motivation on the part of the IRS," Gardiner said.
(More ... No Political Motives Found in IRS Probes (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 22:42 0 comments
Kerry, Clinton Offer Bill to Revamp Election Laws (Reuters.com)
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Failed U.S. presidential nominee John Kerry and fellow congressional Democrats offered a bill on Thursday to address voting problems like those reported last November in the pivotal state of Ohio.
President Bush won the state by less than 120,000 votes among the more than 5.5 million cast as he captured a second term amid a crush of claimed irregularities in Ohio.
Complaints included ones of partisan election officials, voter intimidation, long lines and an inadequate number of voting machines in neighborhoods that favored Kerry.
Kerry rejected calls to challenge the results, but has vowed to make upgrading elections laws a top priority even as he keeps open his options of running again in 2008.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 22:39 0 comments
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Failed U.S. presidential nominee John Kerry and fellow congressional Democrats offered a bill on Thursday to address voting problems like those reported last November in the pivotal state of Ohio.
President Bush won the state by less than 120,000 votes among the more than 5.5 million cast as he captured a second term amid a crush of claimed irregularities in Ohio.
Complaints included ones of partisan election officials, voter intimidation, long lines and an inadequate number of voting machines in neighborhoods that favored Kerry.
Kerry rejected calls to challenge the results, but has vowed to make upgrading elections laws a top priority even as he keeps open his options of running again in 2008.
(More ... Politics News Article | Reuters.com) ¶ 22:39 0 comments
Army Destroyed Mock Execution Pictures (Yahoo! News--AP)
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Pictures of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan (news - web sites) posing with hooded and bound detainees during mock executions were destroyed after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq to avoid another public outrage, Army documents released Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union show.
The results of an Army probe of the photographs were among hundreds of pages of documents released after the ACLU obtained a federal court order in Manhattan to let it see documents about U.S. treatment of detainees around the world.
The ACLU said the probe shows the rippling effect of the Abu Ghraib scandal and that efforts to humiliate the enemy might have been more widespread than thought.
"It's increasingly clear that members of the military were aware of the allegations of torture and that efforts were taken to erase evidence, to shut down investigations and to humiliate the detainees in an effort to silence them," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said.
The Army did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
(More ... Yahoo! News - Army Destroyed Mock Execution Pictures) ¶ 21:39 0 comments
NEW YORK - Pictures of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan (news - web sites) posing with hooded and bound detainees during mock executions were destroyed after the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq to avoid another public outrage, Army documents released Friday by the American Civil Liberties Union show.
The results of an Army probe of the photographs were among hundreds of pages of documents released after the ACLU obtained a federal court order in Manhattan to let it see documents about U.S. treatment of detainees around the world.
The ACLU said the probe shows the rippling effect of the Abu Ghraib scandal and that efforts to humiliate the enemy might have been more widespread than thought.
"It's increasingly clear that members of the military were aware of the allegations of torture and that efforts were taken to erase evidence, to shut down investigations and to humiliate the detainees in an effort to silence them," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said.
The Army did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment.
(More ... Yahoo! News - Army Destroyed Mock Execution Pictures) ¶ 21:39 0 comments
2.17.2005
Secretary On the Offensive (WashingtonPost.com)
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 17, 2005; Page A01
Two dozen members of the House Armed Services Committee had not yet had their turn to question Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at yesterday's hearings when he decided he had had enough.
At 12:54, he announced that at 1 p.m. he would be taking a break and then going to another hearing in the Senate. "We're going to have to get out and get lunch and get over there," he said. When the questioning continued for four more minutes, Rumsfeld picked up his briefcase and began to pack up his papers.
The chairman, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), apologized to his colleagues for a rather "unusual" situation.
With the Bush administration asking Congress this month to write checks for half a trillion dollars for the Pentagon, you might think the secretary of defense would set an accommodating posture on Capitol Hill. But, to paraphrase Rumsfeld's remark in December about the Army, you go to budget hearings with the defense secretary you have, not the defense secretary you might want or wish to have at a later time. And Donald Rumsfeld doesn't do accommodating very well.
(More ... Secretary On the Offensive (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:42 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 17, 2005; Page A01
Two dozen members of the House Armed Services Committee had not yet had their turn to question Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at yesterday's hearings when he decided he had had enough.
At 12:54, he announced that at 1 p.m. he would be taking a break and then going to another hearing in the Senate. "We're going to have to get out and get lunch and get over there," he said. When the questioning continued for four more minutes, Rumsfeld picked up his briefcase and began to pack up his papers.
The chairman, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), apologized to his colleagues for a rather "unusual" situation.
With the Bush administration asking Congress this month to write checks for half a trillion dollars for the Pentagon, you might think the secretary of defense would set an accommodating posture on Capitol Hill. But, to paraphrase Rumsfeld's remark in December about the Army, you go to budget hearings with the defense secretary you have, not the defense secretary you might want or wish to have at a later time. And Donald Rumsfeld doesn't do accommodating very well.
(More ... Secretary On the Offensive (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:42 0 comments
A Shield for a Free Press (WashingtonPost.com)
Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page A18
THE U.S. COURT of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit yesterday affirmed a lower-court ruling that holds two reporters in contempt for refusing to testify in the federal investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame's identity as a covert CIA operative. The decision, which was expected, ups the ante in what has become a dangerous confrontation between prosecutorial needs and the ability of journalists to do their jobs without being threatened with imprisonment. Unless the full appeals court or the Supreme Court intervenes, Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine will face a terrible choice: be jailed or break the solemn promise of confidentiality that underlies much essential journalism. Either the Supreme Court or Congress should relieve them of that burden.
The three-judge panel rejected arguments that the First Amendment creates a privilege against compelling reporters to reveal their sources in criminal investigations. And while the judges split on whether to recognize a more limited privilege as matter of judicial policy, they all agreed that, as Judge David B. Sentelle put it, "if such a privilege applies here, it has been overcome" by evidence submitted in secret by special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald. The decision, therefore, offers the Supreme Court a chance to reconsider its 1972 decision in Branzburg v. Hayes or to recognize a privilege under federal court rules. In Branzburg, the court declined to recognize a reporter's right under the First Amendment to remain silent about sources before a grand jury. Lower courts, relying on the narrow split in the case and on the separate opinion of the justice whose vote gave the Supreme Court its majority, have often recognized the privilege in other contexts. But Branzburg considerably ties the hands of any lower court. The Supreme Court, by contrast, is free to rethink the question, as Judge David S. Tatel pointed out in a separate opinion. We don't underestimate Mr. Fitzgerald's investigative needs, but the alarming proliferation of civil and criminal cases in which reporters are being forced to reveal their sources begs for a fresh look.
(More ... A Shield for a Free Press (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:41 0 comments
THE U.S. COURT of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit yesterday affirmed a lower-court ruling that holds two reporters in contempt for refusing to testify in the federal investigation of the leak of Valerie Plame's identity as a covert CIA operative. The decision, which was expected, ups the ante in what has become a dangerous confrontation between prosecutorial needs and the ability of journalists to do their jobs without being threatened with imprisonment. Unless the full appeals court or the Supreme Court intervenes, Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine will face a terrible choice: be jailed or break the solemn promise of confidentiality that underlies much essential journalism. Either the Supreme Court or Congress should relieve them of that burden.
The three-judge panel rejected arguments that the First Amendment creates a privilege against compelling reporters to reveal their sources in criminal investigations. And while the judges split on whether to recognize a more limited privilege as matter of judicial policy, they all agreed that, as Judge David B. Sentelle put it, "if such a privilege applies here, it has been overcome" by evidence submitted in secret by special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald. The decision, therefore, offers the Supreme Court a chance to reconsider its 1972 decision in Branzburg v. Hayes or to recognize a privilege under federal court rules. In Branzburg, the court declined to recognize a reporter's right under the First Amendment to remain silent about sources before a grand jury. Lower courts, relying on the narrow split in the case and on the separate opinion of the justice whose vote gave the Supreme Court its majority, have often recognized the privilege in other contexts. But Branzburg considerably ties the hands of any lower court. The Supreme Court, by contrast, is free to rethink the question, as Judge David S. Tatel pointed out in a separate opinion. We don't underestimate Mr. Fitzgerald's investigative needs, but the alarming proliferation of civil and criminal cases in which reporters are being forced to reveal their sources begs for a fresh look.
(More ... A Shield for a Free Press (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 18:41 0 comments
US Lawmakers Urge Free-trade Pact with NZ (Stuff.co.nz)
17 February 2005
WASHINGTON: US lawmakers have urged the Bush administration to begin free-trade talks with New Zealand, a deal that could boost US exports to NZ by 25 per cent.
New Zealand has long been interested in such a pact with Washington, but was forced to sit on the sidelines while the United States negotiated a free-trade agreement with New Zealand's neighbour and close economic partner, Australia.
A group of 54 lawmakers, split nearly evenly between Republicans and Democrats, launched a campaign to persuade the Bush administration to begin negotiations.
The United States is one of the largest investors in the New Zealand economy, covering sectors ranging from agriculture to finance, chemicals and elecommunications.
Business groups estimate a free-trade pact would boost US exports to New Zealand by 25 per cent. The National Association of Manufacturers has put New Zealand on its list of top five potential free-trade partners for the United States.
Trade between the United States and New Zealand totalled about $US5 billion ($NZ7.07 billion) in 2004, with New Zealand enjoying close to a $US892 million surplus.
In contrast to Australia, New Zealand opposed the US invasion of Iraq. A 1980s-era disagreement over New Zealand's anti-nuclear policies and the expected strong opposition of many US farmers to an agreement also contributed to the Bush administration's reluctance to begin free-trade talks.
(More ... STUFF - STORY - HOME : New Zealand's leading news and information website) ¶ 12:14 0 comments
WASHINGTON: US lawmakers have urged the Bush administration to begin free-trade talks with New Zealand, a deal that could boost US exports to NZ by 25 per cent.
New Zealand has long been interested in such a pact with Washington, but was forced to sit on the sidelines while the United States negotiated a free-trade agreement with New Zealand's neighbour and close economic partner, Australia.
A group of 54 lawmakers, split nearly evenly between Republicans and Democrats, launched a campaign to persuade the Bush administration to begin negotiations.
The United States is one of the largest investors in the New Zealand economy, covering sectors ranging from agriculture to finance, chemicals and elecommunications.
Business groups estimate a free-trade pact would boost US exports to New Zealand by 25 per cent. The National Association of Manufacturers has put New Zealand on its list of top five potential free-trade partners for the United States.
Trade between the United States and New Zealand totalled about $US5 billion ($NZ7.07 billion) in 2004, with New Zealand enjoying close to a $US892 million surplus.
In contrast to Australia, New Zealand opposed the US invasion of Iraq. A 1980s-era disagreement over New Zealand's anti-nuclear policies and the expected strong opposition of many US farmers to an agreement also contributed to the Bush administration's reluctance to begin free-trade talks.
(More ... STUFF - STORY - HOME : New Zealand's leading news and information website) ¶ 12:14 0 comments
Mixed Feelings as Treaty on Greenhouse Gases Takes Effect (NYTimes.com)
By MARK LANDLER
Published: February 16, 2005
LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany - From the day that Jürgen F. Strube joined BASF in 1969, his company has been cleaning up its act. At that time, it was making plans for a wastewater treatment plant at its chemical production complex here, which stretches for nearly five miles along the Rhine.
The plant helped purify the river, which sparkles these days as it flows past a tidy forest of pipes and smokestacks. Downstream from the factory is a vineyard that produces a crisp Riesling wine - which BASF, the world's largest chemical maker, buys in bulk to stock its million-bottle wine cellars.
That is why Mr. Strube, chairman of BASF's supervisory board, responds with a hint of impatience when asked how European industry plans to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, requiring Germany and 34 other nations to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
As the agreement takes effect on Feb. 16, worries about its fairness are mixed with mild resentment. Europeans have set some of the most stringent targets for reducing greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the earth's atmosphere and have been linked by climate experts to global warming.
(More ... The New York Times > Business > World Business > Mixed Feelings as Treaty on Greenhouse Gases Takes Effect) ¶ 07:57 0 comments
Published: February 16, 2005
LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany - From the day that Jürgen F. Strube joined BASF in 1969, his company has been cleaning up its act. At that time, it was making plans for a wastewater treatment plant at its chemical production complex here, which stretches for nearly five miles along the Rhine.
The plant helped purify the river, which sparkles these days as it flows past a tidy forest of pipes and smokestacks. Downstream from the factory is a vineyard that produces a crisp Riesling wine - which BASF, the world's largest chemical maker, buys in bulk to stock its million-bottle wine cellars.
That is why Mr. Strube, chairman of BASF's supervisory board, responds with a hint of impatience when asked how European industry plans to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, requiring Germany and 34 other nations to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
As the agreement takes effect on Feb. 16, worries about its fairness are mixed with mild resentment. Europeans have set some of the most stringent targets for reducing greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the earth's atmosphere and have been linked by climate experts to global warming.
(More ... The New York Times > Business > World Business > Mixed Feelings as Treaty on Greenhouse Gases Takes Effect) ¶ 07:57 0 comments
2.16.2005
Judicial Nominee Criticized (WashingtonPost.com)
Actions at Interior Dept. Questioned by Inspector General
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page A04
The Interior Department's inspector general has criticized the actions of a judicial nominee who is seen by some Republicans as the best hope of breaking Senate Democrats' long-standing resistance to some of President Bush's choices for federal judgeships.
The judicial nominee, former Interior Department solicitor William G. Myers III, bypassed normal procedures in dealing with a Wyoming rancher who repeatedly violated federal grazing laws, according to a letter from the inspector general.
Opponents of Myers's nomination -- one of several filibustered by Democrats last year -- say the complaint adds new arguments against the appointee. Yesterday, they urged senators to look into the complaint during a Judiciary Committee hearing to be held in about two weeks.
Myers is an Idaho-based lawyer whom Bush has tapped for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Last July, Senate Republicans did not get the 60 votes needed to stop a filibuster led by Democrats, who criticized Myers's environmental record.
(More ... Judicial Nominee Criticized (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 23:34 0 comments
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page A04
The Interior Department's inspector general has criticized the actions of a judicial nominee who is seen by some Republicans as the best hope of breaking Senate Democrats' long-standing resistance to some of President Bush's choices for federal judgeships.
The judicial nominee, former Interior Department solicitor William G. Myers III, bypassed normal procedures in dealing with a Wyoming rancher who repeatedly violated federal grazing laws, according to a letter from the inspector general.
Opponents of Myers's nomination -- one of several filibustered by Democrats last year -- say the complaint adds new arguments against the appointee. Yesterday, they urged senators to look into the complaint during a Judiciary Committee hearing to be held in about two weeks.
Myers is an Idaho-based lawyer whom Bush has tapped for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Last July, Senate Republicans did not get the 60 votes needed to stop a filibuster led by Democrats, who criticized Myers's environmental record.
(More ... Judicial Nominee Criticized (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 23:34 0 comments
Judges Order 2 Reporters to Testify on Leak (WashingtonPost.com)
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page A01
Reporters at the New York Times and Time magazine may be jailed if they continue to refuse to answer questions before a grand jury about their confidential conversations with government sources regarding the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
The decision upholds a trial court's finding last year that Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine are in contempt of court and should be compelled to testify as part of an investigation into whether Bush administration officials knowingly leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame in the summer of 2003.
The unanimous opinion was an expected but still painful blow for the reporters, their news organizations, other media and advocates of free speech. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled there is no First Amendment privilege that allows reporters to conceal information they gather from a criminal inquiry.
(More ... Judges Order 2 Reporters to Testify on Leak (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 23:21 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 16, 2005; Page A01
Reporters at the New York Times and Time magazine may be jailed if they continue to refuse to answer questions before a grand jury about their confidential conversations with government sources regarding the leak of a covert CIA officer's identity, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.
The decision upholds a trial court's finding last year that Judith Miller of the New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine are in contempt of court and should be compelled to testify as part of an investigation into whether Bush administration officials knowingly leaked the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame in the summer of 2003.
The unanimous opinion was an expected but still painful blow for the reporters, their news organizations, other media and advocates of free speech. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled there is no First Amendment privilege that allows reporters to conceal information they gather from a criminal inquiry.
(More ... Judges Order 2 Reporters to Testify on Leak (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 23:21 0 comments
2.15.2005
Bush Tries Luck Again With Judicial Nominees (WashingtonPost.com)
12 Candidates For Federal Courts Blocked in 1st Term
By Michael A. Fletcher and Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A05
Following through on a promise he has made repeatedly since his victory in November, President Bush yesterday renominated 12 candidates for federal appeals court seats whose confirmations were blocked by Senate Democrats during his first term.
The renomination of the judicial candidates promises to once again ignite an intense partisan battle with Senate Democrats. They have vowed to thwart Bush's nominees, whom they consider too conservative.
The battle over the makeup of the federal bench is also a key issue for conservative evangelicals and others at the core of the president's political base who see judges as crucial to their efforts to outlaw abortion, allow for a broader religious presence in daily life and limit the influence of the federal government.
(More ... Bush Tries Luck Again With Judicial Nominees (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 21:19 0 comments
By Michael A. Fletcher and Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A05
Following through on a promise he has made repeatedly since his victory in November, President Bush yesterday renominated 12 candidates for federal appeals court seats whose confirmations were blocked by Senate Democrats during his first term.
The renomination of the judicial candidates promises to once again ignite an intense partisan battle with Senate Democrats. They have vowed to thwart Bush's nominees, whom they consider too conservative.
The battle over the makeup of the federal bench is also a key issue for conservative evangelicals and others at the core of the president's political base who see judges as crucial to their efforts to outlaw abortion, allow for a broader religious presence in daily life and limit the influence of the federal government.
(More ... Bush Tries Luck Again With Judicial Nominees (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 21:19 0 comments
Frustrated Democrats Find a Voice (WashingtonPost.com)
Lawmakers Use Policy Committee to Investigate Issues They Say GOP Ignores
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A03
C-SPAN viewers tuning in yesterday morning might have thought they misread the results of November's elections.
There was Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (N.D.) -- a Democrat -- wielding a gavel and calling to order a hearing on Iraq contracts. Dorgan presided over a wood-paneled Senate hearing room, complete with water pitchers on the witness table, nameplates for the committee members, and C-SPAN 1 -- live!
But, paying closer attention, the viewers might have noticed that there were no Republicans on the panel, no administration officials at the witness table, and only two Democratic senators in the room. Then, the viewer might have surmised, correctly, that this was not a real committee hearing.
These are frustrating times for the Democratic Party, shut out of power in the White House, the House and the Senate. Democrats don't have power to call hearings, to subpoena witnesses or to move legislation.
But they still have the power to raise a ruckus. And one of their best vehicles for raising a ruckus is the Democratic Policy Committee, a taxpayer-funded entity established by law and given the power to hold meetings, pay for witnesses' travel and, on a good day, get coverage from C-SPAN.
(More ... Frustrated Democrats Find a Voice (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 21:15 0 comments
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A03
C-SPAN viewers tuning in yesterday morning might have thought they misread the results of November's elections.
There was Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (N.D.) -- a Democrat -- wielding a gavel and calling to order a hearing on Iraq contracts. Dorgan presided over a wood-paneled Senate hearing room, complete with water pitchers on the witness table, nameplates for the committee members, and C-SPAN 1 -- live!
But, paying closer attention, the viewers might have noticed that there were no Republicans on the panel, no administration officials at the witness table, and only two Democratic senators in the room. Then, the viewer might have surmised, correctly, that this was not a real committee hearing.
These are frustrating times for the Democratic Party, shut out of power in the White House, the House and the Senate. Democrats don't have power to call hearings, to subpoena witnesses or to move legislation.
But they still have the power to raise a ruckus. And one of their best vehicles for raising a ruckus is the Democratic Policy Committee, a taxpayer-funded entity established by law and given the power to hold meetings, pay for witnesses' travel and, on a good day, get coverage from C-SPAN.
(More ... Frustrated Democrats Find a Voice (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 21:15 0 comments
Ex-Aide Questions Bush Vow To Back Faith-Based Efforts (WashingtonPost.com)
By Alan Cooperman and Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A01
A former White House official said yesterday that President Bush has failed to deliver on his promise to help religious groups serve the poor, the homeless and drug addicts because the administration lacks a genuine commitment to its "compassionate conservative" agenda.
David Kuo, who was deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives for much of Bush's first term, said in published remarks that the White House reaped political benefits from the president's promise to help religious organizations win taxpayer funding to care for "the least, the last and the lost" in the United States. But he wrote: "There was minimal senior White House commitment to the faith-based agenda."
Analyzing Bush's failure to secure $8 billion in promised funding for the faith-based initiative during his first term, Kuo said there was "snoring indifference" among Republicans and "knee-jerk opposition" among Democrats in Congress.
"Capitol Hill gridlock could have been smashed by minimal West Wing effort," Kuo wrote on Beliefnet.com, a Web site on religion. "No administration since [Lyndon B. Johnson's] has had a more successful legislative record than this one. From tax cuts to Medicare, the White House gets what the White House really wants. It never really wanted the 'poor people stuff.' "
Kuo's remarks were a rare breach of discipline for an administration that places a high premium on unity among current and former officials, and they mark the second time a former high-ranking official has criticized Bush's approach to the faith-based issue.
(More ... Ex-Aide Questions Bush Vow To Back Faith-Based Efforts (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 21:12 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; Page A01
A former White House official said yesterday that President Bush has failed to deliver on his promise to help religious groups serve the poor, the homeless and drug addicts because the administration lacks a genuine commitment to its "compassionate conservative" agenda.
David Kuo, who was deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives for much of Bush's first term, said in published remarks that the White House reaped political benefits from the president's promise to help religious organizations win taxpayer funding to care for "the least, the last and the lost" in the United States. But he wrote: "There was minimal senior White House commitment to the faith-based agenda."
Analyzing Bush's failure to secure $8 billion in promised funding for the faith-based initiative during his first term, Kuo said there was "snoring indifference" among Republicans and "knee-jerk opposition" among Democrats in Congress.
"Capitol Hill gridlock could have been smashed by minimal West Wing effort," Kuo wrote on Beliefnet.com, a Web site on religion. "No administration since [Lyndon B. Johnson's] has had a more successful legislative record than this one. From tax cuts to Medicare, the White House gets what the White House really wants. It never really wanted the 'poor people stuff.' "
Kuo's remarks were a rare breach of discipline for an administration that places a high premium on unity among current and former officials, and they mark the second time a former high-ranking official has criticized Bush's approach to the faith-based issue.
(More ... Ex-Aide Questions Bush Vow To Back Faith-Based Efforts (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 21:12 0 comments
Missile Defense System Flunks Another Test (USATODAY.com)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A test of the national missile defense system failed Monday when an interceptor missile did not launch from its island base in the Pacific Ocean, the military said. It was the second failure in months for the experimental program.
A statement from the Missile Defense Agency said the cause of the failure was under investigation.
A spokesman for the agency, Rick Lehner, said the early indications was that there was a malfunction with the ground support equipment at the test range on Kwajalein Island, not with the interceptor missile itself.
If verified, that would be a relief for program officials because it would mean no new problems had been discovered with the missile. Previous failures of these high-profile, $85 million test launches have been regarded as significant setbacks by critics of the program.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Missile defense system flunks another test) ¶ 08:19 0 comments
A statement from the Missile Defense Agency said the cause of the failure was under investigation.
A spokesman for the agency, Rick Lehner, said the early indications was that there was a malfunction with the ground support equipment at the test range on Kwajalein Island, not with the interceptor missile itself.
If verified, that would be a relief for program officials because it would mean no new problems had been discovered with the missile. Previous failures of these high-profile, $85 million test launches have been regarded as significant setbacks by critics of the program.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Missile defense system flunks another test) ¶ 08:19 0 comments
Bush to Ask Congress for $82 billion for War Costs (USATODAY.com)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush was poised to officially ask Congress Monday for an estimated $82 billion to cover the costs of continuing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and a myriad of other internationally related expenses, including training Iraqi security forces and aiding victims of the tsunami.
The White House was to send the supplemental budget request to Capitol Hill late Monday, White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters.
Included in the request is $74.9 billion for the Defense Department, including $5 billion for transforming Army divisions and brigades and $5.7 billion for training and equipping Iraqi military and police, according to a federal official familiar with the supplemental.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Bush to ask Congress for $82 billion for war costs) ¶ 08:15 0 comments
The White House was to send the supplemental budget request to Capitol Hill late Monday, White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters.
Included in the request is $74.9 billion for the Defense Department, including $5 billion for transforming Army divisions and brigades and $5.7 billion for training and equipping Iraqi military and police, according to a federal official familiar with the supplemental.
(More ... USATODAY.com - Bush to ask Congress for $82 billion for war costs) ¶ 08:15 0 comments
After Bush Leaves Office, His Budget's Costs Balloon (WashingtonPost.com)
By Jonathan Weisman and Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 14, 2005; Page A01
For President Bush, the budget sent to Congress last week outlines a painful path to meeting his promise to bring down the federal budget deficit by the time he leaves office in 2009. But for the senators and governors already jockeying to succeed him, the numbers released in recent days add up to a budgetary landmine that could blow up just as the next president moves into the Oval Office.
Congress and the White House have become adept at passing legislation with hidden long-term price tags, but those huge costs began coming into view in Bush's latest spending plan. Even if Bush succeeds in slashing the deficit in half in four years, as he has pledged, his major policy prescriptions would leave his successor with massive financial commitments that begin rising dramatically the year he relinquishes the White House, according to an analysis of new budget figures.
Bush's extensive tax cuts, the new Medicare prescription drug benefit and, if it passes, his plan to redesign Social Security all balloon in cost several years from now. His plan to partially privatize Social Security, for instance, would cost a total of $79.5 billion in the last two budgets that Bush will propose as president and an additional $675 billion in the five years that follow. New Medicare figures likewise show the cost almost twice as high as originally estimated, largely because it mushrooms long after the Bush presidency.
(More ... After Bush Leaves Office, His Budget's Costs Balloon (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:13 0 comments
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 14, 2005; Page A01
For President Bush, the budget sent to Congress last week outlines a painful path to meeting his promise to bring down the federal budget deficit by the time he leaves office in 2009. But for the senators and governors already jockeying to succeed him, the numbers released in recent days add up to a budgetary landmine that could blow up just as the next president moves into the Oval Office.
Congress and the White House have become adept at passing legislation with hidden long-term price tags, but those huge costs began coming into view in Bush's latest spending plan. Even if Bush succeeds in slashing the deficit in half in four years, as he has pledged, his major policy prescriptions would leave his successor with massive financial commitments that begin rising dramatically the year he relinquishes the White House, according to an analysis of new budget figures.
Bush's extensive tax cuts, the new Medicare prescription drug benefit and, if it passes, his plan to redesign Social Security all balloon in cost several years from now. His plan to partially privatize Social Security, for instance, would cost a total of $79.5 billion in the last two budgets that Bush will propose as president and an additional $675 billion in the five years that follow. New Medicare figures likewise show the cost almost twice as high as originally estimated, largely because it mushrooms long after the Bush presidency.
(More ... After Bush Leaves Office, His Budget's Costs Balloon (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:13 0 comments
Bush Urges Patriot Act Renewal (WashingtonPost.com)
Gonzales Sworn-In as Attorney General
By Nedra Pickler
The Associated Press
Monday, February 14, 2005; 11:17 AM
President Bush on Monday urged Congress to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, the Justice Department's widely criticized anti-terrorism law.
"We must not allow the passage of time or the illusion of safety to weaken our resolve in this new war" on terrorism, Bush said at a swearing-in ceremony for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the Justice Department.
The president also argued that the Senate must give his nominees for the federal bench up-or-down votes without delay to fill vacancies in the courts.
The Patriot Act, passed in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, bolstered FBI surveillance and law-enforcement powers in terror cases, increased use of material witness warrants to hold suspects incommunicado for months, and allowed secret proceedings in immigration cases.
Civil liberties groups and privacy advocates lambasted the law because they said it undermines freedom. But Bush said the act "has been vital to our success in tracking terrorists and disrupting their plans." He noted that many key elements of the law are set to expire at the end of the year and said Congress must act quickly to renew it.
(More ... Bush Urges Patriot Act Renewal (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:10 0 comments
By Nedra Pickler
The Associated Press
Monday, February 14, 2005; 11:17 AM
President Bush on Monday urged Congress to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, the Justice Department's widely criticized anti-terrorism law.
"We must not allow the passage of time or the illusion of safety to weaken our resolve in this new war" on terrorism, Bush said at a swearing-in ceremony for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the Justice Department.
The president also argued that the Senate must give his nominees for the federal bench up-or-down votes without delay to fill vacancies in the courts.
The Patriot Act, passed in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, bolstered FBI surveillance and law-enforcement powers in terror cases, increased use of material witness warrants to hold suspects incommunicado for months, and allowed secret proceedings in immigration cases.
Civil liberties groups and privacy advocates lambasted the law because they said it undermines freedom. But Bush said the act "has been vital to our success in tracking terrorists and disrupting their plans." He noted that many key elements of the law are set to expire at the end of the year and said Congress must act quickly to renew it.
(More ... Bush Urges Patriot Act Renewal (washingtonpost.com)) ¶ 08:10 0 comments
