NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST January 11, 2007

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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/10/opinion/printable2345834.shtml

Who Are The Real Neocons?


Jan. 10, 2007
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(The New Republic) This column was written by Peter Beinart
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Virtually no one still believes that the United States can quickly imposedemocracy in foreign lands. Almost everyone wants a pragmatic foreignpolicy, not a crusading one. Fewer and fewer Americans think our governmentcan fix Arab culture. In other words, neoconservatism is back.

First-generation neoconservatism, that is. In a historical irony, many ofthe people who most thunderously denounce neoconservatism actually sound alot like the original neocons themselves.

Liberal bloggers sometimes call themselves members of the "reality-basedcommunity." And that would have been a fitting motto for the first neoconjournal, The Public Interest, founded in 1965 by Irving Kristol and DanielBell. If The Public Interest had a bête noire, it was faith-based politics.The great danger to good government, argued its founding editorial, is "aprior commitment to ideology. ... For it is the nature of ideology topreconceive reality."



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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4462255.html

Text of President Bush's speech


Associated Press

Text of President Bush's address today, as prepared by the White House.

Good evening. Tonight in Iraq, the Armed Forces of the United States areengaged in a struggle that will determine the direction of the global war onterror - and our safety here at home. The new strategy I outline tonightwill change America's course in Iraq, and help us succeed in the fightagainst terror.

When I addressed you just over a year ago, nearly 12 million Iraqis had casttheir ballots for a unified and democratic nation. The elections of 2005were a stunning achievement. We thought that these elections would bring theIraqis together - and that as we trained Iraqi security forces, we couldaccomplish our mission with fewer American troops.



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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002713.html

Text of Joint Statement From Democrats

By The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 10:29 PM



-- Text of a joint statement from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate MajorityLeader Harry Reid, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Senate DemocraticWhip Richard Durbin following President Bush's address to the nationWednesday:

Last November, the American people delivered a strong message of noconfidence in the president's Iraq policy and clearly expressed their desirefor a new direction. The president had an opportunity tonight to demonstratethat he understood the depth of the concern in the country, make a longoverdue course correction, and articulate a clear mission for our engagementin Iraq. Instead, he chose to escalate our involvement in Iraq's civil warby proposing a substantial increase in the number of our forces there. Thisproposal endangers our national security by placing additional burdens onour already over-extended military thereby making it even more difficult torespond to other crises.



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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/10/opinion/meyer/printable2350063.shtml

A President Alone

Jan. 10, 2007
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(CBS) This commentary was written by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer.
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When President Bush delivered his speech from the White House Library onWednesday night, he was alone.

There was no audience - just a television crew, some staffers and thecameras. That was appropriate. Rarely in our history has a president made aspeech like this - an announcement that a large number of American soldierswill be sent to a foreign war - with less public, political andinternational support. The president really is alone.

In war and politics, an essential measure of power is allies. Bush has few,and they are not powerful.



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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4462536.html

Houston Chronicle
2008 presidential hopefuls take stands on troop increase


By JANET HOOK
Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON - President Bush's speech outlining his troop-increase plan inIraq provoked several potential presidential candidates to stake out aposition, including some Republicans who had avoided addressing acontroversial proposal that is likely to be a touchstone issue in 2008.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, ending weeks of dodging questions onthe issue, said Wednesday he would support a troop increase. But Sen. SamBrownback, R-Kan., announced he opposed it, a sign that Republicans may notbe as reluctant to distance themselves from Bush as they once were.

Divisions also opened among Democrats, as two - Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.,and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. - announced their support for Congressto cut off funds for a troop increase. That step goes farther than manyDemocrats want because they fear it will be seen as undermining U.S. troopsalready in Iraq.



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Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003517094&zsection_id=268883724&slug=dionne10&date=20070110


E.J. Dionne / Syndicated columnist
Shared goals, not lip service, lead to real bipartisanship

WASHINGTON - We are not even two weeks into the new year, and the nation'spoliticians are already caught up in a deep contradiction between words anddeeds. The incongruity involves "bipartisanship."

Few words have been repeated more often by leaders of both parties andPresident Bush since the new Congress took power. All of God's children arefor bipartisan solutions, bipartisan consultations, bipartisan civility.Commenting on Iraq in his Wall Street Journal op-ed piece last week, Bushwrote of building "a bipartisan consensus to fight and win the war."

That very phrase suggests how meaningless bipartisan talk can be. Thefundamental divide on Iraq is precisely over whether the United States hasan interest in fighting much longer, and whether there is any strategy thatcould, by a reasonable definition, "win" the war. That's especially truesince the president has been steadily defining victory down, to the pointwhere we don't really know what he means by win anymore.



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New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/world/10cnd-prexy.html?ei=5094&en=27c0101b6f21fdb4&hp=&ex=1168491600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print


January 10, 2007

Bush Adds Troops in Bid to Secure Iraq
By DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 - President Bush announced tonight that he was sendingmore than 21,000 American troops to Iraq to quell the sectarian violencethere, as he conceded for the first time that he had provided neither enoughtroops nor enough resources to halt the country's descent into chaos overthe past year.

Mr. Bush's speech to the nation differed sharply in tone and substance fromhis previous insistence that the United States was making progress towardbuilding a workable Iraqi democracy, and he acknowledged that his previousstrategy was based on fundamentally flawed assumptions about the power ofthe shaky Iraqi government.

The president described his new strategy as an effort to "change America'scourse in Iraq," and he gave no indication that the troop increase would beshort-lived. Mr. Bush also acknowledged that a renewed effort aimed atbringing security to Baghdad would also bring about more American and Iraqicasualties.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002074.html


Christian Groups Trade Barbs On Their Sources of Funding
Accusations Fly of Partisan Influence on Left, Right

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 11, 2007; A03



Two influential Christian nonprofit organizations questioned each other'sfinances yesterday, each suggesting that the other is beholden to big donorswith partisan political motives.

The clash between the National Council of Churches and the Institute onReligion and Democracy was a rarity in Washington, where liberal andconservative advocacy groups fight fiercely over issues but seldom digdeeply into each other's funding.

Both groups call themselves nonpartisan and are incorporated as tax-exemptcharitable organizations. But the council, a New York-based alliance of 35Christian denominations, is deeply involved in liberal social causes, suchas reducing poverty and making peace; it achieved a long-standinglegislative goal yesterday when the House voted to increase the minimumwage.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002605_pf.html


Apple Chief Benefited From Options Dating, Records Indicate

By Alan Sipress
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 11, 2007; A01

Apple Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs confirmed his place this week as thepremier impresario of the Internet age, taking the stage in San Francisco tounveil a smart phone that won a raucous endorsement from thousands of fansin the audience and sent Apple stock rocketing to a record high.

But his signature performance at the annual Macworld Conference and Expo didnot dispel the scandal swirling around Apple over its backdating of stockoptions. Despite the company's defense that Jobs never personally benefitedfrom a pair of stock option grants he received -- he gave them up in 2003,long before allegations of wrongdoing surfaced -- filings with theSecurities and Exchange Commission show that his options were exchanged for5 million shares of restricted Apple stock.

That stock was worth $75 million at the time, nearly the same as the valueof the options he relinquished, using a technique for calculating the valueof investments popular with financial analysts and used by Apple.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011001650_pf.html


Dodd to Enter 2008 Presidential Race

By BETH FOUHY and HOLLY RAMER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 9:56 PM

NEW YORK -- Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd, a veteran lawmaker who enteredCongress in the post-Watergate class of 1974, will announce his bid for thepresidency, Democratic officials said Wednesday.

Dodd, 62, will make the formal announcement in an interview Thursday morningon the "Imus in the Morning" radio show _ a curious bit of timing sincehe'll be forced to compete with heavy coverage of President Bush's speech onthe Iraq war.

Dodd will travel late Thursday to Iowa, which will host the firstpresidential nominating caucus next January. He heads to South Carolina, anearly primary state, on Sunday.

Kathy Sullivan, the chairwoman of the Democratic Party in New Hampshire,said in an interview that she had spoken to Dodd and he said, "'I'm notgoing to do the exploratory thing, I'm going to plunge right in.'"




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The Washington Post

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/shim_jae_hoon/2007/01/claim_your_own_agenda.html


Claim Your Own Agenda

Seoul, South Korea

Dear Mr. Ban Ki-moon,

Like so many South Koreans of my generation who grew up thanking the UnitedNations first for saving our country from North Korean invasion in 1950 andthen for giving us economically assistance so we could stand on our ownfeet, I am thrilled by the chance for you to serve the world organization.We Koreans were so grateful for the UN's peacekeeping role that we probablywere the only non-UN member nation to celebrate its birth by taking a dayoff on October 24 as our national holiday. Now with your election to the toplet me offer a few thoughts as you start on your new mission at a time ofmultiple crises:

1) Don't lose time establishing your own agenda and priorities, whatever thepressure from the Permanent Five. On the question of leadership, thedeparting Kofi Annan said, "I did it my way so he must find his own way." Iknow this is easier said than done, especially as you come from a culturethat places "consensus-building" and "harmony" above strong individualleadership.


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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010900765_pf.html


S.D. Sen. Johnson's Condition Improves

Wednesday, January 10, 2007; A11



Sen. Tim Johnson's condition has been upgraded from critical to fair, fourweeks after he was hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage, his office saidyesterday.

The South Dakota Democrat, who was taken to the hospital Dec. 13 andunderwent emergency surgery, remains in intensive care.

"The senator continues to make progress," spokeswoman Julianne Fisher said."The next step would be rehabilitation, and we hope that would happen withinthe week."

Johnson's office has said that his recovery is expected to take severalmonths. The surgery was done to correct a condition called arteriovenousmalformation, which involves tangled arteries.




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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/opinion/11thu1.html?pagewanted=print


January 11, 2007
Editorial
The Real Disaster


President Bush told Americans last night that failure in Iraq would be adisaster. The disaster is Mr. Bush's war, and he has already failed. Lastnight was his chance to stop offering more fog and be honest with thenation, and he did not take it.

Americans needed to hear a clear plan to extricate United States troops fromthe disaster that Mr. Bush created. What they got was more gauzy talk ofvictory in the war on terrorism and of creating a "young democracy" in Iraq.In other words, a way for this president to run out the clock and leave hismess for the next one.

Mr. Bush did acknowledge that some of his previous tactics had failed. Buteven then, the president sounded as if he were an accidental tourist inIraq. He described the failure of last year's effort to pacify Baghdad as ifthe White House and the Pentagon bore no responsibility.


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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/opinion/11thu2.html?pagewanted=print


January 11, 2007
Editorial

Tax Cuts and Consequences

The tax system in the United States is supposed to mitigate inequality. Buta recent report by Congress's budget agency provides fresh evidence thatBush-era tax cuts have done more to reinforce inequality than to redress it.

The agency found that in 2004, the latest year for which comprehensive datawere available, the top 1 percent of households pocketed 14 percent of totalafter-tax income in the United States, up from 12.2 percent in 2003. Thatincrease, the third largest in one year since the agency started keepingtrack in 1979, works out to an extra $128 billion. And yet despite thathefty gain, the effective federal tax rate of the top 1 percent decreasedslightly.



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The Nw York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/world/middleeast/11diplo.html?pagewanted=print


January 11, 2007
To Counter Iran's Role in Iraq, Bush Moves Beyond Diplomacy
By HELENE COOPER and MARK MAZZETTI


WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 - In promising to stop Iran from meddling in Iraq,President Bush returned Wednesday night to a strategy of confrontation indealing with Tehran, casting aside what had been a limited flirtation with amore diplomatic approach toward it.

Mr. Bush accused Iran of providing material support for attacks on Americantroops and vowed to respond. "We will disrupt the attacks on our forces," hesaid in his speech. "We will seek out and destroy the networks providingadvanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."

Mr. Bush said the United States would send another aircraft carrier and itssupporting ships to the Persian Gulf. Administration officials said thebattle group would be stationed within quick sailing distance of Iran, aresponse to the growing concern that Iran is building up its own missilecapacity and naval power, with the goal of military dominance in the gulf.



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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/us/11brfs-AFFIRMATIVE.html?pagewanted=print


January 11, 2007
Michigan: University to Comply With Ruling
By TAMAR LEWIN


The University of Michigan acceded to a federal appeals court decision andsaid it would immediately comply with the state's new ban on affirmativeaction in public education, employment or contracting. The Michigan ballotinitiative banning preferences based on race or gender passed overwhelminglyin November and was to go into effect on Dec. 23. But the University ofMichigan, together with Michigan State University and Wayne StateUniversity, went to court seeking a six-month delay, on the ground that theywere midway through an admissions cycle. A federal district judge grantedthe delay on Dec. 19, but on Dec. 29, a federal appeals court orderedimmediate compliance.




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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011100282_pf.html


Poll: Most Americans Opposed to Bush's Iraq Plan
Majority of Those Surveyed Are Skeptical That Surge Would Make Victory MoreLikely

By Jon Cohen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 11, 2007; 7:00 AM


Most Americans oppose President Bush's call to send additional U.S. militaryforces to Iraq and just over a third say the new plan makes victory theremore likely, an initial public rebuke of the strategy he unveiled last nightin a nationally televised address.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted following the President'sspeech finds broad and strong opposition to his call to send about 21,500more troops to Iraq: 61 percent oppose the force increase, with 52 percent"strongly" opposing the build-up. Thirty-six percent support the additionaltroops; only one-quarter of the public is strongly supportive.

Support for adding troops is somewhat higher among the 42 percent ofAmericans who tuned into Bush's speech. Forty-seven percent of viewers thinkthe increase is a good idea, but the President's supporters were more likelythan others to watch or listen to his remarks. (Seventy-two percent of thepublic said they saw or heard Bush's speech when the war began in March2003.)



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Boston.com

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/01/10/few_voices_pressing_bush_to_leave_iraq_immediately?mode=PF


Few voices pressing Bush to leave Iraq immediately
By David Alexander | January 10, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As President George W. Bush charted a new course forthe Iraq war, there were calls to add troops and withdraw troops, but fewvoices counseled the U.S. leader to pull American forces out now.

After weeks of study, Bush is due to announce on Wednesday a new Iraqstrategy that a defense official said would increase U.S. troops in Iraq byabout 20,000 with most going to violence-plagued Baghdad. The plan alsocalls for Iraqi forces to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's18 provinces by November, he said.




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LATimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-antiwar10jan10,1,4759270,print.story?coll=la-news-politics-national


THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ: THE POLITICS OF WAR

Democrats feel liberals' antiwar heat
Freshman and veteran lawmakers alike risk the ire of bloggers and otheractivists if they waver on an Iraq exit.

By Janet Hook
Times Staff Writer

January 10, 2007


WASHINGTON - It did not take long for Rep. Nancy Boyda, a freshman Democratfrom Kansas, to learn the price of defying her party's liberal base. Aftershe said she would support President Bush if he proposed an increase in U.S.troop levels in Iraq, antiwar bloggers fumed and MoveOn.org, the liberaladvocacy group, considered running a television ad attacking her.

"If a member of Congress is wrong on Iraq, that is not what we voted for,"said Tom Matzzie, MoveOn's Washington director. "There will be peoplewatching to make sure they do the right thing."

That kind of political pressure is already being applied, not just to juniorlawmakers, but also to Democratic leaders. It prodded them into making Iraqmore central to their first 100 hours in control of Capitol Hill than theyhad planned. And it is creating tension between many Democrats and theliberal activists who will be increasingly important as the 2008presidential campaign gets into gear.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002020_pf.html


Medicare And the Market
Government Shouldn't Be Negotiating Prescription Prices

By Mike Leavitt
Thursday, January 11, 2007; A25

We all want people with Medicare to get the prescription drugs they need atthe lowest possible prices. The issue before Congress this week is how bestto do that. Should consumer choice and private-sector competition determineprices -- or should government?

The success of the Medicare prescription drug benefit provides strongevidence that competition among private drug plans has contributedsignificantly to lowering costs. The average monthly premium has dropped by42 percent, from an estimated $38 to $22 -- and there is a plan availablefor less than $20 a month in every state. The net Medicare cost of the drugprogram has fallen by close to $200 billion since its passage in 2003.




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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002019_pf.html


Where '100 Hours' Will Hit the Brakes

By David S. Broder
Thursday, January 11, 2007; A25

The three rooms on the third floor of the Capitol, steps away from theSenate floor, have a storied past. They are called the LBJ Suite, becausethey were the domain of Lyndon B. Johnson, who as majority leader famouslyinstalled two wet bars and added a bathroom, from which he conductedmeetings and issued directives while taking care of his personal business.

The suite's new occupant is a man as anonymous as Johnson was flamboyant,Richard Durbin, the 62-year-old senior senator from downstate Illinois. Inthe next two years, however, a great deal of the Democrats' fate depends onDurbin. As assistant majority leader, or whip, it is up to him to figure outhow to corral enough votes in the narrowly divided Senate to pass at leastsome of the flood of bills that the energized House Democratic majority willsend over.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002022_pf.html


Unwitting Party to Genocide
The International Criminal Court Is Complicating Efforts to Save Darfur

By Stephen Rademaker
Thursday, January 11, 2007; A25


Over the past three years, more than 400,000 people have perished in theDarfur genocide. Fighting has intensified in recent months as diplomaticefforts to end the conflict have faltered. The government in Khartoum bearsprincipal responsibility for the continued killing, but recently anunexpected obstacle to ending the bloodshed has emerged: the InternationalCriminal Court (ICC).

Critics of the ICC predicted early on that it would be more a hindrance thana help to ending most conflicts. The threat of prosecution would rarelymotivate both parties to stop fighting, they argued, but in many cases itwould be powerful enough to convince at least one side that it was betteroff continuing to fight. Yet even the ICC's critics have been surprised bythe degree to which this is being borne out in Darfur.




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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002542_pf.html


Fairfax vs. 'No Child' Standoff Heats Up
County to Protest Mandate on English Tests for Immigrants

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 11, 2007; A01

Teenagers from Uzbekistan, Korea and Egypt huddled one recent morning in aFairfax County classroom, studying English words on slips of paper. Dozenswere familiar, but not "bitter," "nibble" or "wicked." Felobateer Hana, 13,held up another. An animated movie character came to mind: "Shrek?"

"That's a good guess, but Shrek doesn't have an 'i' in it," said teacherKaryn Niles at Liberty Middle School in Clifton. "This is 'shriek.' Shriekis kind of like yelling."

Students such as Felobateer and his eighth-grade classmates, all recentimmigrants who are learning English as a second language, are at the centerof an intensifying dispute between Virginia schools and the U.S. Departmentof Education over testing requirements under the federal No Child LeftBehind law.




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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002417_pf.html


Many Workers At Wal-Mart Don't Use Its Health Plans43% Covered Elsewhere

By Ylan Q. Mui and Amy Joyce
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 11, 2007; D01


About 90 percent of Wal-Mart employees have health-care coverage, but 43percent do not get it from the mammoth retailer, relying instead on benefitsfrom a spouse, federal programs or even their parents, according to aninternal survey the company made public yesterday.

Wal-Mart employs more than 1.3 million people in the United States, makingit one of the country's largest employers. The company surveyed more than200,000 workers during the fall open-enrollment period for health benefits,the retailer's first effort to capture such data as it faces criticism fromlabor unions that accuse it of paying low wages and skimping on healthbenefits.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002075_pf.html


A Smoking Tradition Snuffed Out By Pelosi

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 11, 2007; A07


Some fresh air blew into the Capitol yesterday, after House Speaker NancyPelosi banned smoking from the most venerable nicotine haven on the hill --the Speaker's Lobby outside the entrance to the House floor.

Pelosi, of smoke-free California, is known to detest the tobacco habit. Eversince her ascension as top Democrat with authority over the lobby and mostother space in the House, smokers have been bracing for the moment whenthey'd be ordered to extinguish their butts.



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Sun-Sentinel.com

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-08forum25jan08,0,5620326,print.story?coll=sfla-news-opinion

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Case for death doesn't hold up
By Taylor Mattis

January 8, 2007

The arguments in favor of capital punishment fail on factual and moralbases. The most common arguments are:

Deterrence: Capital punishment does not deter the commission of crimes forwhich it is imposed. (It might deter littering, overtime parking, andprobably shoplifting, if it were imposed with certainty and quickly afterthe crime. Even for petty, deliberate crimes, however, it is doubtful thatdeterrence is served. In old England where hanging was the penalty forpickpockets, the incidence of pickpocketing was high at the hangings.) Themurder rates in states with no capital punishment have not risen since itwas abolished. Murder is usually not a planned event as to which one wouldthink: "I'd kill her but for my fear of lethal injection."

The deterrence argument often adds: "Well, at least the criminal whom thestate kills would not do it again." True, but surely society could establishand enforce life imprisonment without possibility of parole if we had thewill. But why should taxpayers pay to house and feed these bad people forlife?



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The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16431743.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Posted on Thu, Jan. 11, 2007

RELIGION
Are Americans prepared to elect a Mormon as president?

BY SUSAN ESTRICH
www.creators.com



Is America ready for a Mormon president?

Earlier this week, on his last day as governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romneytook the ceremonial walk out of the Statehouse and into the biggest race ofhis life. As he was passing the baton to Massachusetts' first blackgovernor, his aides were filing papers in Washington to establish apresidential exploratory committee for the charismatic former head of theSalt Lake City Olympics.

Like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side, the Romneycandidacy is a challenge to our conventional definition of who gets to growup and become president. In his case, the issue is not race or sex, butreligion. Romney looks like every former president, but his faith is adifferent matter. He is a Mormon, and more people than you might think aremore open than you might expect about their problems with that fact.



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The Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/16431723.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp


Posted on Thu, Jan. 11, 2007

CHAVEZ INAUGURATION | S. FLORIDA REACTION

Some Venezuelan expatriates fear the worst
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's inauguration speech sent waves of concernthrough expatriate circles.

BY CASEY WOODS
cwoods@MiamiHerald.com

South Florida's Venezuelans are warily watching President Hugo Chávez, whoat his inauguration Wednesday extolled the virtues of his plan for an''accelerated'' push into socialism during his coming six-year term.

At Doral's El Arepazo restaurant, the patrons' predictions for those yearswere often far less glorious than Chávez's characterization of his plan asnew, improved socialism for the 21st century. To many, it will be athrowback to Fidel Castro's now 48-year-old government-controlled economy inimpoverished Cuba.




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PalmBeachPost.com

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/01/11/a22a_versteegcol_0111.html


No Misconception Left Behind
By Jac Wilder VerSteeg

Palm Beach Post Deputy Editorial Page Editor

Thursday, January 11, 2007

If it's impolite to say that No Child Left Behind doesn't work because it'sbased on lies, let's just say that the federal law suffers from fantasy andwishful thinking.

The bedrock fantasy is that every child in America will be able to read anddo math on grade level by 2014. Everybody knows that can't happen. Yet thefederal law, which has its five-year anniversary this month, is set up topunish schools, districts and states that don't make "adequate yearlyprogress" toward that impossible goal.

In her speech this week marking the anniversary and advocatingreauthorization of the law, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings toldthe typical whoppers about No Child Left Behind. The most egregious wasthis: "Before this act became law, kids often moved from grade to grade, andnobody knew whether or not they had learned to read, write, add, orsubtract. We invested billions of dollars and basically just hoped for thebest."



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PalmBeachPost.com

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/01/11/a22a_partd_edit_0111.html


Let Medicare bargain for better drug prices
Palm Beach Post Editorial

Thursday, January 11, 2007

One major fallacy of the Medicare drug plan repeatedly has shown itselfsince the benefit for seniors and disabled Americans took effect a year ago.Congress could make Part D the affordable drug benefit that was promised byallowing the federal government to negotiate prices with manufacturers.

To start lowering drug prices and moving toward closing the "doughnut hole"gap in coverage, the secretary of Health and Human Services - or federaldesignees - need the ability to negotiate discounts, rebates and other pricereductions on behalf of the 23 million Part D beneficiaries. That, andreports to Congress on such progress, would be enacted if lawmakers approvethe Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007, set for debatein the House on Friday.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002021_pf.html

The Mess at State

By Robert D. Novak
Thursday, January 11, 2007; A25

Members of the Senate intelligence committee, Republicans and Democratsalike, were alarmed last week that John Negroponte was leaving as directorof national intelligence after less than two years to become deputysecretary of state. By way of explanation, he informed one Republicansenator that he did not want to make the switch but that the White House hadprevailed on him to do so.

Just how career diplomat Negroponte came to be the new intelligence czar inthe first place is puzzling. But to pull him out just as his on-the-jobtraining was completed reflects a panicky desire to fill the deputysecretary post, which had been unfilled for an unprecedented six months.Five other key State Department positions are either vacant or are soon tobe vacant.



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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011002076_pf.html


On Stem Cell Legislation, a Reprise With TwistsPassage, Veto Likely as Supporters Wield New Power and Foes Cite NewAlternatives

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 11, 2007; A04

The House is expected to pass today, by a substantial margin, legislationthat would loosen President Bush's restrictions on human embryonic stem cellresearch -- a bill identical to the one it passed in 2005.

Next month, the Senate is expected to do the same, as it did last year.

And all indications are that soon after that, Bush will, for the secondtime, veto the bill.

But the final outcome of this year's emotional fight over the science andethics of stem cell research is not as predictable as it may seem, saidscientists and congressional strategists on both sides of the issue.




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http://select.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/opinion/11brooks.html

The New York Times



January 11, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist

The Fog Over Iraq
By DAVID BROOKS

If the Democrats don’t like the U.S. policy on Iraq over the next sixmonths, they have themselves partly to blame. There were millions ofdisaffected Republicans and independents ready to coalesce around somealternative way forward, but the Democrats never came up with anythingremotely serious.

The liberals who favor quick exit never grappled with the consequences ofthat policy, which the Baker-Hamilton commission terrifyingly described. Thecentrists who believe in gradual withdrawal never explained why that wouldn’tbe like pulling a tooth slowly. Joe Biden, who has the most intellectuallyserious framework for dealing with Iraq, was busy yesterday, at the crucialdecision-making moment, conducting preliminary fact-finding hearings,complete with forays into Iraqi history.

The Democrats have been fecund with criticisms of the war, but when it comesto alternative proposals, a common approach is social Darwinism on stilts:We failed them, now they’re on their own.



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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.sltrib.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=4969612&siteId=297


Pitts: I swear, what kind of country is this?
Leonard Pitts
Miami Herald
Salt Lake Tribune

Article Last Updated:01/07/2007 11:44:29 PM MST


Keith Ellison took his ceremonial oath of office last week as a Democraticrepresentative from Minnesota using Thomas Jefferson's Quran. From this, welearn the following surprising fact: Thomas Jefferson owned a Quran.

Which probably shouldn't surprise us at all. Jefferson was renowned forhis restless intellect and wide-ranging interests. Still, one hopes thetacit reminder that this Founding Father and author of American values didnot fear the Quran will silence those who have condemned Ellison's decisionto use that book for his swearing-in. One hopes, but one does not expect.

After all, the objections raised by the congressman's critics are notexactly steeped in logic.




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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/01/10/ddn011007priest.html?cxntnid=dlh-011007


Police & court headlines

Priest with Dayton ties busted on drug charges in Kentucky
By the Dayton Daily News

Wednesday, January 10, 2007



COVINGTON, Ky. - A Catholic priest with ties to Dayton was arrested Mondayin Covington by members of the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force.

Father Thomas Gaeke, 58, was charged with possession of crack cocaine and acrack pipe, according to officials of the anti-drug unit.

Archdiocese of Cincinnati officials said Gaeke has been on medical leave thepast six years and had been living in Tampa, Fla., although he also ownedproperty in Covington.

Before going on leave, Gaeke was pastor of parishes in Dayton, includingHoly Family, where he is still listed on a church Web site.

A Kenton County Jail official said Tuesday evening that Gaeke was releasedon bond at 8 p.m.




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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/10/10bushlibrary.html


SMU gets criticism for Bush library
University tries to calm fears
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, January 10, 2007


DALLAS - Mindful of reports that President Bush wants a conservative thinktank with his presidential library, Southern Methodist University's topofficial is trying to allay concerns that pro-Bush politics might spreadthrough campus.

Last month, SMU was named the sole finalist by the selection committeeexploring sites for the library throughout the state.

But since then, students and professors critical of Bush's administrationhave questioned the university's prospective relationship with the library.




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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com

http://www.daytondailynews.com/search/content/gen/ap/OH_Challenging_Celibacy.html


Gadfly priest challenges mandatory celibacy in new book
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press Writer

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio - A former seminary president who drew nationalattention to the number of gay Roman Catholic priests tackles mandatorycelibacy in a new book, calling it burdensome and unnecessary.

The Rev. Donald Cozzens says the requirement is hurting the church at a timeof priest shortages.

"Many, if not most, of the inactive priests would be serving in our parishesif it were not for the law of celibacy," Cozzens writes in "FreeingCelibacy."




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Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011001666_pf.html


House Approves Boost to Minimum Wage

By Bill Brubaker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 10, 2007; 6:08 PM



The House today approved Democratic-written legislation that would graduallyraise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, the first such hike in 10years.

In one of the Democrats' first victories since taking control of Congresslast week, House members voted 315 to 116 to raise the federal wage floor by$2.10 over two years.

The bill calls for the current $5.15 minimum wage to move to $5.85 an hour60 days after President Bush signs it into law, to $6.55 an hour a yearlater and to $7.25 an hour a year later.

The hike "is simply a matter of doing what's right, what's just and what'sfair," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said before the vote wastaken, adding he regretted the full increase could not be implementedimmediately.



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