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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401048_pf.html
Message From A Megachurch
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; A29
American politics took an important turn last week at a church in thefoothills of Southern California's Santa Ana Mountains.
When Rick Warren, one of the nation's most popular evangelical pastors,faced down right-wing pressure and invited Sen. Barack Obama to speak at agathering at his Saddleback Valley Community Church about the AIDS crisis,he sent a signal: A significant group of theologically conservativeChristians no longer wants to be treated as a cog in the Republicanpolitical machine.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401148_pf.html
A Precarious Shelter in Afghanistan
New Refuges for Women Face Permanent Danger of Attack
By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; A01
KABUL -- The room was carpeted and cozy, warm from the wood stove and filledwith the chatter of children. But the tales their mothers and older sisterstold recently, speaking hesitantly even in the safety of a guarded privateshelter, were bone-chilling.
Sahara, an angelic-looking young woman, said she was forcibly married at 11,widowed at 12 and kept as a virtual slave by her in-laws for the next eightyears. Unable to endure more beatings, she slipped away early one morning,walked for two days and nights and finally ventured into a police station toask for help.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401049_pf.html
Sins of the Father
By Michael Kinsley
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; A29
It is not the fault of Jenna or Barbara Bush that their father a war thathe doesn't know how to get us out of.
And, although you can blame parents for almost anything, George W. andLaura Bush are no longer responsible for the behavior of their twindaughters, who are in their mid-20s. Presidents, like the rest of us, don'tget to choose their relatives. Remember Billy Carter?
Anyway, Jenna and Barbara are far from George W. Bush's biggest familialproblem. The law of averages has given him at least one ne'er-do-wellbrother -- Neil. The biggest familial thorn in the president's side isprobably his father, always ready (or so it seems) to send out a BrentScowcroft or a James Baker with some patronizing and excruciatingly publicadvice for the young pup.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401051_pf.html
How's Your War?
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; A29
I am of two minds about what Virginia Sen.-elect James Webb did at a WhiteHouse reception for new members of Congress. After first trying to avoidspeaking to George W. Bush altogether, he was forced to respond when thepresident approached him and asked, "How's your boy?" Webb replied, "I'dlike to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President." (Webb's son is a Marineserving there.) "That's not what I asked you," Bush said. "How's your boy?"
"That's between me and my boy, Mr. President," Webb said, ending theconversation right there. Bad manners? Yes. Understandable? Yes, again.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/us/politics/05caucus.html?ei=5094&en=5f9e184e941e5aec&hp=&ex=1165381200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 5, 2006
Black Lawmakers Set to Take Crucial Posts Face Pressure
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 - The impending Democratic takeover of Congress willelevate more blacks to positions of power in the Capitol than ever: 4 majorHouse committee chairmen, as many as 16 subcommittee chairmen, thethird-ranking House Democratic leader and a senator considered a crediblecandidate for his party's presidential nomination.
It is so much power that Representative Charles B. Rangel, the New YorkDemocrat set to be chairman of the pivotal Ways and Means Committee, said hehesitated to speak about it publicly. "I don't want to scare the hell out ofpeople," Mr. Rangel said, "that blacks are now in charge of the committeesand so, therefore, watch out."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/world/05nations.html?pagewanted=print
December 5, 2006
At the U.N., a Mixed View of Bolton's Tenure
By WARREN HOGE
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 4 - The announcement on Monday of John R. Bolton'sdecision to step down was greeted by United Nations officials with relief,while diplomats from other nations offered mixed assessments of hiseffectiveness during his 17 months as the American envoy.
" 'No comment,' he said with a smile," Mark Malloch Brown, the deputysecretary general, said over his shoulder to reporters as he hustled to ameeting.
Mr. Malloch Brown had angered Mr. Bolton during the summer by accusing theUnited States of "stealth diplomacy" - turning to the United Nations whenWashington needed it while showing public disdain for the institution.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/science/05law.html?pagewanted=print
December 5, 2006
Commentary
When Questions of Science Come to a Courtroom, Truth Has Many Faces
By CORNELIA DEAN
Idealistic lawyers and idealistic scientists often describe themselves asengaging in a search for truth.
The scientists follow the scientific method. They state their hypotheses,describe the ways they test them, present their findings - and wait foranother researcher to prove them wrong. Lawyers' practice is built on theidea that the best way to shake the truth out of a complex dispute is foradvocates on each side to argue it, as vigorously as they can, in front ofan impartial judge or jury.
These approaches work more or less well on their own. But when a legal issuehinges on questions of science, they can clash. And the collision canresound all the way up to the Supreme Court.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401089_pf.html
House to Consider Abortion Anesthesia Bill
Conservatives Vow More Tests for Democrats on Social Issues When CongressReturns
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; A05
In a parting gesture by social conservatives before Republicans relinquishcontrol, House leaders plan to bring up a bill tomorrow that would declarethat fetuses feel pain and require abortion providers to offer pregnantpatients anesthesia for their unborn child.
The scheduled vote may be the last on abortion-related legislation foryears. That's because Democratic leaders hope to avoid confrontations overhot-button social issues that divide their caucus, and focus instead onmilitary and pocketbook issues.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/opinion/05pritchard.html?pagewanted=print
December 5, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
When Iraq Went Wrong
By TIM PRITCHARD
London
OF the many tasks that faced the Iraq Study Group, which is to release itsreport tomorrow, perhaps the most vexing was pinpointing the exact momentwhen everything in Iraq started to go wrong. How did scenes of joyful Iraqispulling down Saddam Hussein's statue so quickly turn into images of carbombings, grieving mothers and burning helicopters?
Some of those who appeared before the panel argued that it had been amistake to disband the Iraqi Army after the military victory. Others saidthere had not been enough troops on the ground to secure and stabilize Iraq.The problem with such analyses is their tendency to treat the invasion andthe post-invasion period as separate entities.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
The Democratic Strategist releases post-election issue
Today, The Democratic Strategist-- the new and innovative political strategymagazine edited by William Galston, Stan Greenberg, and RuyTeixeira--released its post-election issue
(www.thedemocraticstrategist.org).
The issue examines how national
security, the economy, and immigration affected the historic election thatgave Democrats gains across the board. It also assesses theget-out-the-vote efforts of the Party and the lessons learned from pollingin swing districts.
In addition to essays by the three editors, the issue features pieces by AriBerman of The Nation, Jim Kessler of Third Way, Celinda Lake & Daniel Gotoffof Lake Research Partners, Thomas Riehle of RT Strategies, and Jeremy Rosnerof Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/03/AR2006120300809_pf.html
Who's Afraid of a Higher Minimum Wage?
Most Area Jobs Already Surpass Proposed Rate, but Some Predict a Trickle Up
By Michael S. Rosenwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 4, 2006; D01
Nomey Druskin, manager of the Rainbow Hair Designers at the White FlintMall, employs six shampooers. Mostly Hispanic immigrants, they are paid atthe low end of the wage scale. Druskin should be particularly interested inthe Democrats' intention to raise the minimum wage when they take overCongress, right?
She's not. Druskin pays her shampooers at the North Bethesda salon a baserate of more than $8 an hour. That's higher than the federal minimum wage($5.15), higher than Maryland's minimum wage ($6.15) and higher than whatthe Democrats are proposing federally ($7.25). In fact, the median hourlyrate for all shampooers in the Bethesda-Gaithersburg area, according tofederal statistics, is $7.48 -- above all mandated minimums.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/04/world/05nationscnd.html?ei=5094&en=085c276f00daf688&hp=&ex=1165294800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 4, 2006
At U.N., Mixed Views of Bolton's Tenure
By WARREN HOGE
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 4 - The announcement today of John R. Bolton's imminentdeparture was greeted by United Nations officials with relief and bydiplomats with mixed assessments of his effectiveness during his 17 monthsas the United States ambassador.
"No comment, he said with a smile," Mark Malloch Brown, the deputy secretarygeneral, said over his shoulder to reporters who pursued him as he hustledthrough the corridors of U.N. headquarters on his way to a meeting.
Mr. Malloch Brown angered Mr. Bolton this summer by accusing the UnitedStates of "stealth diplomacy" - turning to the United Nations whenWashington needed it, while continuing to publicly disdain the institution'svalue and to encourage its harshest detractors.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/04/washington/04cnd-scotus.html?ei=5094&en=f9c5a2ab9b422a5b&hp=&ex=1165294800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
December 4, 2006
Supreme Court Case Focuses on Race and Schools
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 - Seattle's "open choice" program to promote racialbalance in its high schools encountered skepticism in the Supreme Courttoday in arguments of great interest to educators across the country.
Michael Madden, the school district's lawyer, insisted that the Seattle planwas so "narrowly tailored" as to be acceptable, even though some studentsare admittedly assigned, based on race, to schools they did not choose. Mr.Madden told the justices that Seattle students who do not get the schoolsthey want are "not being denied admissions" but are rather being"redistributed."
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/opinion/05edsall.html
December 5, 2006
Guest Columnist
Risk and Reward
By THOMAS B. EDSALL
Washington
The G.O.P. is the party of risk, aggression, military assertion anddominance - an approach that led to the implosion in Iraq and theRepublicans' defeat in November. Now the Democrats have a chance todemonstrate a core difference in how the two parties calculate and managerisk.
In "Fiasco," Thomas Ricks describes the results of the Republican approach:"Bush's decision to invade Iraq ... ultimately may come to be seen as one ofthe most profligate actions in the history of American foreign policy. ...The U.S.-led invasion was launched recklessly, with a flawed plan for warand a worse approach to occupation."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.consortiumnews.com/Print/2006/120406a.html
Robert Gates: Realist or Neo-con?
By Peter W. Dickson
December 4, 2006
The nomination of Robert Gates to replace Don Rumsfeld as Secretary ofDefense has fueled claims that Gates is part of the realist-pragmatic groupof advisors that served Bush the Older and now are being called upon to helpBush the Younger extricate the United States from a quagmire in Iraq.
It is also not lost on many Washington insiders that, according to BobWoodward, author of the bestseller State of Denial, that President Bush hasturned to Henry Kissinger (the personification of Realpolitik) to assess thedire situation in Iraq which he remarked two weeks ago on the BBC wastotally hopeless in terms of Washington's various objectives.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_politics15dec04,0,3760113.story
Iraq Study Group Findings Due Wednesday
By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY
Associated Press Writer
December 4, 2006, 5:22 PM EST
WASHINGTON -- The Iraq Study Group's long-awaited report on how the U.S.should overhaul its effort in Iraq will be released online on Wednesday,with members of the panel expected to testify on Capitol Hill the followingday.
The recommendations will be posted to the Web sites of four organizationsthat have been involved in the effort: the U.S. Institute of Peace(http://www.usip.org); the Baker Institute for Public Policy at RiceUniversity (http://www.bakerinstitute.org); the Center for Strategic andInternational Studies (http://www.csis.org); and the Center for the Study ofthe Presidency (http://www.thepresidency.org).
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PADILLA_TERROR_CHARGES?SITE=NJASB&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 4, 3:24 PM EST
Images show Padilla in chains, goggles
By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press Writer
MIAMI (AP) -- Photographs of alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla wearingchains, noise-blocking headphones and blacked-out goggles have been seizedon by his lawyers as evidence he was subjected to harsh treatment while inmilitary custody as an enemy combatant.
The still video images were filed late Friday in federal court in Miami aspart of an effort by his lawyers to get terrorism-related charges againstPadilla thrown out because of "outrageous government conduct" during the 31/2 years he was jailed without charges.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news/publish/What_Price_Freedom__22/Outrage_grows_over_terror_screening_system_printer.shtml
From Capitol Hill Blue
What Price Freedom?
Outrage grows over terror screening system
By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
Dec 2, 2006 - 4:25:56 AM
A leader of the new Democratic Congress, business travelers and privacy
advocates expressed outrage Friday over the unannounced assignment of
terrorism risk assessments to American international travelers by a
computerized system managed from an unmarked, two-story brick building in
Northern Virginia.
Incoming Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont pledgedgreater scrutiny of such government database-mining projects after readingthat during the past four years millions of Americans have been evaluatedwithout their knowledge to assess the risks that they are terrorists orcriminals.
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