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USAToday.com
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-02-13-2008-campaign-poll_x.htm
Poll shows Clinton, Giuliani pull ahead ias campaigns kick off
Updated 2/13/2007 9:12 PM ET
By Susan Page, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former New York mayorRudy Giuliani have widened leads over their rivals in recent weeks as theybegan to openly campaign for the Democratic and Republican presidentialnominations, according to the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.
The survey taken Friday through Sunday — nearly a year before the firstpresidential primaries are held — shows Clinton with a 19-percentage-pointedge over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama among Democrats and Giuliani with a16-point margin over Arizona Sen. John McCain among Republicans.
POLL RESULTS: 2008 presidential campaign
A month earlier, Clinton had led by 11 points and Giuliani by 4.
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Washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/13/AR2007021301225_pf.html
In 1993 Memo, Giuliani Staff Gave Harsh Assessment of Flaws
Aides Wrote of His 'Weirdness Factor'
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 14, 2007; A03
Sometimes in politics, the most damaging accusations come from your ownstaff.
Rudolph W. Giuliani learned that lesson again yesterday when a"vulnerability study," including warnings about his "weirdness factor" andother perceived liabilities, surfaced from his second campaign for New Yorkmayor, 14 years ago.
Last month, the New York Daily News obtained a secret blueprint forGiuliani's expected Republican presidential bid that detailed concerns suchas his liberal views on social issues and his messy divorce from his secondwife, Donna Hanover.
The 1993 report by two aides in Giuliani's mayoral campaign was obtained byVillage Voice reporter Wayne Barrett for a book on Giuliani and was postedon the Smoking Gun Web site. Giuliani went on to defeat incumbent David N.Dinkins (D) in a rematch that year and won a second term four years later.
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Chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4551974.html
Feb. 14, 2007, 9:28AM
Bush's concern for father offers a rare window
Don't pay mind to critics, he says, 'I'm doing fine'
By JIM RUTENBERG
New York Times
WASHINGTON — It was a moment of public sentimentality that seemed almostun-Bush-like.
Speaking Monday on C-Span, President Bush said of his father, "I am actuallymore concerned about him than I have ever been in my life, because he'spaying too much attention to the news."
Bush continued: "I understand how difficult it is for a person who lovessomebody to see them out in the political process and to kind of endure thecriticism. My answer to him is, 'Look, don't pay attention to it. I'm doingfine.' "
His comments were a rare window into a complicated father-son relationshipthat has been a source of endless fascination in Washington and promises tofascinate future historians no less.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/02/14/house_plunges_into_debate_on_iraq_war?mode=PF
Democrats, Republicans clash over Iraq
By Anne Flaherty, Associated Press Writer | February 14, 2007
WASHINGTON --Democrats argued that President Bush must be stopped fromcompounding the tragedies of Iraq while Republicans warned that this wouldsignal retreat as the House wrangled anew Wednesday over sending more U.S.troops into battle.
Entering the second of a four-day marathon debate on Iraq war policy, thepartisan lines were clearly drawn, with rare exceptions. Democrats backedthe nonbinding resolution disapproving the president's plan to increasetroop strength by more than 20,000. Republicans for the most part vehementlyopposed it.
"It sends a message of no confidence and no support to our troops in thefield, weakening their morale while encouraging and emboldening the enemy,"Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said Wednesday.
But Democrat Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who unsuccessfully sought his party'spresidential nomination four years ago, said the United States "illegallyattacked and invaded Iraq in a war based on lies. Now those same lies arebeing used to tell the American people we must escalate and continue to fundthe war in the name of the troops."
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Washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/13/AR2007021301363_pf.html
2003 Memo Says Iranian Leaders Backed Talks
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 14, 2007; A14
The Swiss ambassador to Iran informed U.S. officials in 2003 that an Iranianproposal for comprehensive talks with the United States had been reviewedand approved by Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei;then-President Mohammad Khatami; and then-Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi,according to a copy of the cover letter to the Iranian document.
"I got the clear impression that there is a strong will of the regime totackle the problem with the U.S. now and to try it with this initiative,"Tim Guldimann, the ambassador, wrote in a cover letter that was faxed to theState Department on May 4, 2003. Guldimann attached a one-page Iraniandocument labeled "Roadmap" that listed U.S. and Iranian aims for potentialnegotiations, putting on the table such issues as an end to Iran's supportfor anti-Israeli militants, action against terrorist groups on Iranian soiland acceptance of Israel's right to exist.
The cover letter, which had not been previously disclosed, was provided by asource who felt its contents were mischaracterized by State Departmentofficials. Switzerland serves as a diplomatic channel for communicationsbetween Tehran and Washington because the two countries broke off relationsafter the 1979 seizure of U.S. Embassy personnel.
Guldimann's two-page fax prompted a debate among foreign policyprofessionals on whether the Bush administration missed an opportunity fouryears ago to strike a "grand bargain" with Iran at a time when Washingtonappeared at the height of its power after the invasion of Iraq and Iran hadnot mastered uranium enrichment. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wasquestioned about the document on Capitol Hill last week. She said she didnot recall seeing it when she was national security adviser. "I just don'tremember ever seeing any such thing," she said.
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Washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/13/AR2007021301363_pf.html
2003 Memo Says Iranian Leaders Backed Talks
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 14, 2007; A14
The Swiss ambassador to Iran informed U.S. officials in 2003 that an Iranianproposal for comprehensive talks with the United States had been reviewedand approved by Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei;then-President Mohammad Khatami; and then-Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi,according to a copy of the cover letter to the Iranian document.
"I got the clear impression that there is a strong will of the regime totackle the problem with the U.S. now and to try it with this initiative,"Tim Guldimann, the ambassador, wrote in a cover letter that was faxed to theState Department on May 4, 2003. Guldimann attached a one-page Iraniandocument labeled "Roadmap" that listed U.S. and Iranian aims for potentialnegotiations, putting on the table such issues as an end to Iran's supportfor anti-Israeli militants, action against terrorist groups on Iranian soiland acceptance of Israel's right to exist.
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Washingtonpost.com
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/
Parsing the Polls: Answering the Mormon Question
The fact that Mitt Romney is a Mormon is no secret. Scads of stories havebeen written about that very fact, and it's a regular topic of conversationamong Washington's chattering class.
John F. Kennedy confronted the issue of voters' worries about hisCatholicism in the 1960 primaries and general election. Will Mitt Romney,pictured above at his campaign announcement Tuesday in Michigan, take a pagefrom the JFK playbook? (AP photo)
What effect Romney's religion will have on his chances at winning the 2008Republican presidential nomination is much less clear. Some argue thatevangelical voters, a core part of the GOP coalition, will never accept aMormon candidate as one of their own. Others believe Romney's religion willbecome a non-issue as the campaign wears on.
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Washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/13/AR2007021300589_pf.html
Oil Prices, Imported Goods Push Trade Gap to Record
Growth Forecasts Cut; Democrats Urge Action
By Peter S. Goodman and Nell Henderson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, February 14, 2007; A01
The U.S. trade deficit climbed to a record high for the fifth straight year,with 2006 imports exceeding exports by $764 billion, the Commerce Departmentreported yesterday. The gap reflects higher oil prices, which increased thenation's import bill, and American consumers' rising appetite for
foreign-made goods.
The figures raised tensions in Washington, unleashing criticism on CapitolHill of the Bush administration's pursuit of new trade deals. They alsoprovoked a fresh round of demands for action against China, whose tradesurplus with the United States swelled to a record $233 billion last year,according to the Commerce Department.
The data also prompted some economists to cut their economic growthprojections. Several private analysts said the trade figures, combined withother indicators such as the prolonged slump in the housing market, implythe economy grew at a modest annual rate of 2.2 percent in the last threemonths of 2006 -- well below the 3.5 percent pace estimated earlier thismonth by the Commerce Department in a preliminary report.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/business/14chrysler.html?pagewanted=print
February 14, 2007
Chrysler to Announce Job Cuts, Plant Closings
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Feb. 13 — The Chrysler Group is set to announce arestructuring plan Wednesday aimed at securing its place in the crowdedAmerican car market — and within DaimlerChrysler.
The plan is expected to include the elimination of about 11,000 blue- andwhite-collar jobs along with the closing of one and possibly two assemblyplants — in Delaware and Missouri — people with direct knowledge of the plansaid this week.
Chrysler may shut smaller plants elsewhere and announce other cost-cuttingmeasures to meet its stated goal of reducing costs by about $1,000 avehicle.
Along with those steps, Chrysler may announce a project to share more partsand engineering technology with Mercedes-Benz. It has largely avoided doingso since the DaimlerChrysler merger in 1998, even though other car companiesroutinely use the same underpinnings for their different brands.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-EU-CIA-Secret-Prisons.html?ei=5094&en=a9d5dee7240cd78f&hp=&ex=1171515600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
February 14, 2007
Europeans Approve Report on C.I.A.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:40 a.m. ET
STRASBOURG, France (AP) -- The European Parliament on Wednesday approved acontroversial report accusing Britain, Germany, Italy and other Europeannations of turning a blind eye to CIA flights transporting terror suspectsto secret prisons overseas in an apparent breach of EU human rightsstandards.
The report, concluding a yearlong high-profile investigation into CIAactivities in Europe, gives no direct proof that the intelligence agency ransecret prisons in Europe -- an allegation that prompted the inquiry inNovember 2005 -- but accuses some governments of complicity with the U.S.secret renditions program.
The report went through by a tighter-than-expected 382-256 majority, with 74abstentions, after the lawmakers clashed over its tone and content.
Socialist and Liberal lawmakers argued the report, based on the findings ofa special parliamentary committee, has exposed a string of abductions byU.S. agents and insufficient parliamentary oversight of European securityservices.
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Boston.com
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/02/14/statehood_for_palestine_take_a_good_look?mode=PF
Statehood for Palestine? Take a good look
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | February 14, 2007
THE TONG WAR between Fatah and Hamas was raging last month when PalestinianAuthority leader Mahmoud Abbas addressed a Fatah rally in Ramallah. "Thepriority for me is preserving national unity and preventing internalfighting," he told the crowd on Jan. 11. "Shooting at your brother isforbidden."
But Abbas made clear it was only intra-Palestinian bloodshed he opposed.Attacking Jews was still OK.
"We should put our internal fighting aside and raise our rifles only againstthe Israeli occupation," he said, according to a WorldNetDaily report. Hepraised archterrorist Ahmed Yassin, the co-founder of Hamas who was killedby Israel in 2004. For good measure, he threw in some anti-Semiticboilerplate: "The sons of Israel are mentioned as those who are corruptinghumanity on earth."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-McCain-Conservatives.html?pagewanted=print
February 14, 2007
McCain Courting Christian Conservatives
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:04 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- To forgive is divine. To forget may be asking too much ofreligious conservatives when it comes to Sen. John McCain.
The Republican presidential hopeful is working hard to repair relations withconservative Christian activists, whose support could be critical to winningthe GOP nomination. But they remain skeptical that he sincerely shares theirvalues.
While McCain has managed to pry open some of the doors that slammed shut inhis rift with the right during his bid for the presidency in 2000,conservatives' list of grievances against the Arizona senator issubstantial:
--They are dubious about his opposition to a federal amendment to ban gaymarriage. McCain opposes same-sex marriage, but says it should be regulatedby the states.
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The rise of the religious right in the UK
Talking With Tatchell
http://doughty.gdbtv.com/player.php?h=e2a1168c73cf4bb58eb3713f3a0da0f6
Religious fundamentalism is growing in strength and influence. It demands statefunding for faith schools and charities, the censorship of plays andoperas, and the exemption of religious bodies from equalitylegislation, such as the new sexual orientation regulations.
The government often colludes with the religious right. Conservativefaith leaders (not liberal, progressive ones) are granted privilegedaccess to 10 Downing Street. They are consulted on all major policyissues. Human rights and civil liberty groups get no such access tothe corridors of government.
Is the power of the religious right a threat to democracy and humanrights?
Why does the government often collude with its theocratic agenda?
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/13/AR2007021301094_pf.html
Putin's Moment To Seize
By David Ignatius
Wednesday, February 14, 2007; A19
MOSCOW -- Vladimir Putin made headlines last weekend when he blasted theBush administration for its "almost uncontained hyper-use of force" that hascreated a world where "no one feels safe." If he had been a Democraticpresidential candidate, it would have been a standard stump speech. Butcoming from a Russian president, his remarks had pundits ruminating about anew Cold War.
I was in the audience in Munich when Putin made his speech, and the toneseemed to me more one of resentment than belligerence. He was proud,prickly, defiant -- a leader with all the Russian chips on his shoulder. Youcould hear his inner voice: We let you dismantle the Berlin Wall. We foldedthe Warsaw Pact. We dissolved the Soviet Union -- all on your promises thatyou wouldn't take advantage of our weakness. And what did we get? Nothing!You surrounded us with NATO weapons.
Putin's comments may be jarring to Americans, but they express a bitternessthat's widespread here. His generation of Russians grew up in a country thatclaimed the status of "superpower," and they don't like being taken forgranted. Putin, a former KGB officer with a black belt in judo, has beenpugnacious in standing up for his country's interests, and Russians seem tolike that. In the latest opinion polls, his popularity is well above 70percent.
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/13/AR2007021301095_pf.html
The War She Hasn't Won
By Ruth Marcus
Wednesday, February 14, 2007; A19
CONCORD, N.H. -- Monique Cesna seemed ready to toss a softball to HillaryClinton. "I have to say, 'You go, girl!" Cesna said, and the capacity crowdin the high school gym here went wild.
But Cesna, 47, a nurse turned third-year law student, then bore down for thecross-examination: Candidate Clinton insists she wouldn't have taken thecountry to war in Iraq had she been president, yet Senator Clinton voted toauthorize President Bush to go to war.
"How can you then explain the seeming contradiction?" she asked -- and againthe crowd went wild.
Iraq was the throbbing toothache of Clinton's weekend visit here. The stateshe once took pains to avoid for fear of igniting presidential rumors -- shehadn't been here since 1996 -- will be key to her ambition to become thesecond President Clinton. But here and in Iowa, she faces a ferociouslyantiwar electorate unhappy with her positions, past and present, on Iraq.
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/13/AR2007021301091_pf.html
Welfare State Stasis
By Robert J. Samuelson
Wednesday, February 14, 2007; A19
Spend a moment studying the adjacent table. It illuminates why another ofour annual budget battles -- begun last week, when President Bush submittedhis fiscal 2008 proposal -- seems so fruitless and (yes) repetitious. Everyyear we hear complaints about accounting gimmicks and unrealisticassumptions. There's a ferocious crossfire of charges and countercharges.Hardly anything ever gets resolved. Budgets almost always remain in deficit(41 out of 47 years since 1960).
The table shows the rise of the American welfare state. In 1956, defensedominated the budget; the Cold War buildup was in full swing. The welfarestate, which is what "payments to individuals" signifies, was modest. Noweverything is reversed. Despite the war in Iraq, defense spending is only afifth of the budget; so-called entitlement payments to individuals arealmost 60 percent -- and rising. In fiscal 2006, the federal governmentspent almost $2.7 trillion. Social Security ($544 billion), Medicare ($374billion) and Medicaid ($181 billion) dominated. There was $199 billion morefor payments to the poor, including the earned-income tax credit and foodstamps.
Almost no one wants to slash these programs. They have huge constituencies;they're popular. Paradoxically, their invulnerability and size also protectmuch of the rest of the budget. Look again at the table. After payments toindividuals, defense spending and interest on the debt (which must be paid),only about a seventh of the budget remains. Many of these remaining programsare widely supported. Does anyone really want to end the National Institutesof Health at $28 billion? Or how about the $41 billion we spend to supportfederal courts, prosecutors and police (the FBI, DEA, Border Patrol)?
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/13/AR2007021300122_pf.html
Libby Defense to Rest Without Testimony by Him or Cheney
By Amy Goldstein and Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, February 14, 2007; A01
Attorneys for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby said yesterday that he and VicePresident Cheney, his former boss, will not testify in Libby's perjurytrial, leaving the defense preparing to rest its case today after barelymore than two days of testimony.
The defense's announcement in court, partway through the fifth week of thecelebrated trial of the vice president's former chief of staff, representedan abrupt shift from the witness strategy that Libby's lawyers laid out inhearings and court papers during the months leading up to the trial.
The defense's central theory is that Libby suffered from a notoriously badmemory and misspoke to investigators about his role in the Bushadministration's disclosure of the identity of undercover CIA officerValerie Plame. The decision to foreshorten the case means that jurors willhear little testimony and see scant evidence to back that contention.Yesterday, John Hannah, a former deputy to Libby for national securitymatters, provided the sole support for the idea, testifying that "on certainthings, Scooter just had an awful memory."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Sadr-Iran.html?pagewanted=print
February 14, 2007
Al - Sadr Associates Dispute U.S. Claim
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:24 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Associates of the anti-American cleric whose militia hastwice fought U.S. forces in Iraq insist that he has not left the country inadvance of a security crackdown, responding to a U.S. report that he hasfled Baghdad and is belived to be in Iran.
Muqtada al-Sadr is believed to be in Tehran, where he has family, a U.S.official said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss U.S.monitoring activities.
The official said fractures in al-Sadr's political and militia operationsmay be part of the reason for his departure. The move is not believed to bepermanent, the official said.
The U.S. report on al-Sadr's departure coincides with an announcement thatIraq will close its borders with Iran and Syria for 72 hours as part of thedrive to end the violence that has threatened to divide the capital alongsectarian lines.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/world/asia/14korea.html?pagewanted=print
February 14, 2007
Pact With North Korea Draws Fire From a Wide Range of Critics in U.S.
By HELENE COOPER and JIM YARDLEY
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 — The deal that could lead North Korea to shut its mainnuclear reactor came under criticism from both ends of the politicalspectrum immediately after it was announced on Tuesday.
From the right, hardliners argued that the United States should have heldout until North Korea agreed to fully declare and dismantle its entirenuclear program.
From the left, Democrats argued that the deal was no better than one theysaid the United States could have gotten four years ago, before North Koreatested a nuclear bomb.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/education/14education.html?pagewanted=print
February 14, 2007
On Education
On Different Pages With Bilingual Education
By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN
When Lafayette High School in Brooklyn was ordered last year to beginshutting down, condemned as an educational failure, Steve Chung stood readywith a plan for what might come next. The city Education Department haddecreed that Lafayette’s building, in Bensonhurst, would be converted intoseveral new, small schools, and Mr. Chung envisioned one of them serving theneighborhood’s large population of Chinese immigrants.
Lafayette, after all, had about 650 students, a majority of them Chinese,who were entitled to bilingual or English as a Second Language classes. Aconsent order from a federal court, the outcome of a lawsuit claiming biasagainst Asian-Americans at the school, had put pressure on Lafayette toprovide those services.
Several Lafayette administrators and teachers joined Mr. Chung, thepresident of a Chinese-American community association, in devising aproposal for a school specializing in international studies and submittingit to the department. At a public meeting, residents of the neighborhoodlauded it. Meetings with department officials, he said, went amicably andproductively.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/us/14military.html?ei=5094&en=c0cc079ae87389d4&hp=&ex=1171429200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
February 14, 2007
Army Giving More Waivers in Recruiting
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
The number of waivers granted to Army recruits with criminal backgrounds hasgrown about 65 percent in the last three years, increasing to 8,129 in 2006from 4,918 in 2003, Department of Defense records show.
During that time, the Army has employed a variety of tactics to expand itsdiminishing pool of recruits. It has offered larger enlistment cash bonuses,allowed more high school dropouts and applicants with low scores on itsaptitude test to join, and loosened weight and age restrictions.
It has also increased the number of so-called “moral waivers” to recruitswith criminal pasts, even as the total number of recruits dropped slightly.The sharpest increase was in waivers for serious misdemeanors, which make upthe bulk of all the Army’s moral waivers. These include aggravated assault,burglary, robbery and vehicular homicide.
The number of waivers for felony convictions also increased, to 11 percentof the 8,129 moral waivers granted in 2006, from 8 percent.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/opinion/14wed1.html?pagewanted=print
February 14, 2007
Editorial
The Lesson of North Korea
It is welcome news that North Korea has agreed to move toward dismantlingits nuclear weapons program in exchange for fuel oil and internationalacceptance — including the hope of eventual recognition by the UnitedStates. When dealing with Pyongyang (and for that matter, the Bushadministration), a lot can slip betwixt the cup and the lip. But if all goesas agreed, the world will be safer.
The obvious question to ask is: What took so long? And even more important:Will President Bush learn from this belated success? Will he finally allowhis diplomats to try negotiation and even compromise with other bad andundeniably dangerous governments?
Mr. Bush could probably have gotten this deal years ago, except that hedecided he didn’t have to talk to anyone he didn’t like. So long as theWhite House refused to talk, North Korea churned out plutonium. And onceAmerican negotiators were finally allowed to mix their sanctions with sanityand seriously negotiate, they struck a deal.
We’ll overlook the irony of this administration, which considers the wordmultilateral an epithet, insisting yesterday that Mr. Bush had notcompromised on anything because the Chinese, Japanese, South Koreans andRussians were also involved.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-usa-politics-romney.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
February 13, 2007
Republican Romney Calls for U.S. Innovation
By REUTERS
Filed at 11:16 a.m. ET
DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney, a former governor whowould be the first Mormon in the White House, launched his campaign onTuesday with a call for ''innovation and transformation'' to rejuvenate theeconomy and restore faith in government.
Standing in the Henry Ford museum in suburban Detroit, Romney said he couldreclaim the American spirit of ingenuity and questioned if his 2008presidential rivals in Washington were up to the job.
``It is time for innovation and transformation in Washington,'' said Romney,flanked by a new Ford hybrid and a classic AMC Rambler from his father's oldcar company.
``I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by a lifetimepolitician,'' he said. ``I do not believe Washington can be transformed bysomeone who has never tried doing such a thing before, in any setting, bysomeone who has never even managed a corner store.''
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-3694.html
COMMENT: End of the road for united Anglican communion
12th February 2007 17:41
Tony Grew
This week the senior primates of the Anglican church will meet in Africa.Many predict the outcome of this meeting will be an outright schism in thechurch over the issue of gay priests.
Tony Grew examines the nature of the Church of England and questions whetherit can ever be a home for radical evangelicals.
My dad used to tell me that the Anglican church is not really a religiousdenomination as such. It is more of a social club.
Unless clearly a member of another religion, people in England can beassumed to be C of E. Just assumed.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4532139.html
Feb. 6, 2007, 11:43PM
Chavez as Castro? It's not that simple in Venezuela
U.S. critics overlook the all-important details
By BART JONES
Alarm bells are sounding in Washington, on Wall Street and around the worldver President Hugo Chavez's latest moves to consolidate his BolivarianRevolution in oil-rich Venezuela. He is — we are told — shutting down atelevision station, creating a single-party state, nationalizing keyindustries icluding some major oil projects, threatening perpetualre-election and vowing to impose "21st century socialism."
On the surface, it seems to Chavez's critics that he is finally doing whatthey have long predicted — creating a totalitarian state in the image of hismentor, Fidel Castro. But the situation in Venezuela is a little morecomplex than what many in the media and the establishment make it out to be.Take, for example, Chavez's decision not to renew the license of RCTVtelevision network when it expires in May.
At first blush, this would certainly seem to be reason for alarm — agovernment shutting down a television station because it doesn't like itseditorial bent. But RCTV is not exactly your average television station. InApril 2002, it promoted and participated in a coup against Chavez in which ademocratically elected president was overthrown by military rebels anddisappeared for two days until large street protests and a counter-coupreturned him to power.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.freepress.net/news/print/20997
Imprisoned Journalist Josh Wolf Speaks Out from Jail
From Democracy Now!, February 12, 2007
Josh Wolf, 24, has spent almost six months in jail. More time than anyjournalist in US history for protecting his sources. He was jailed on August1st of last year when he refused to turn over video that he had shot of ananti-G8 demonstration in San Francisco to a federal grand jury. [includesrush transcript — partial]
Wolf had sold some of the footage to the nightly news as well as posted someon his website. The news broadcast attracted the attention of local andfederal law enforcement agents who were investigating clashes between thepolice and demonstrators at the protest. They later served Wolf a federalsubpoena requiring he turn over his unpublished video footage as well astestify about the protesters seen on the tape. When Wolf refused to comply,he was charged with contempt of court and incarcerated.
Wolf’s imprisonment has prompted outcries by advocates for freedom of thepress who say it is out of proportion to the scale of the investigation.Lucie Morrillon of Reporters without Borders has stated ”this is one moreexample of the increasing attacks on confidentiality of sources in theUnited States, one more blow to investigative journalism and, eventually, tothe right for American people to be informed. This is a bad signal sent tothe rest of the world.”
On Friday we spoke with Josh Wolf from his jail cell in Dublin California. Ibegan by asking him why he was in prison.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/printer_020907R.shtml
Gitmo Cover-Up?
By Vic Walter and Krista Kjellman
ABC News
Friday 09 February 2007
An investigation by the U.S. Southern Command into allegations ofprisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay detention center has concluded that"insufficient evidence exists to substantiate the paralegal's allegations."
But Lieutenant Colonel Colby Vokey, the superior officer to the Marinesergeant who filed the allegations, called the investigation "outrageous.""I am aware that the investigators interviewed only the suspects and somewitnesses but did not interview any detainees or potential victims," he toldABC News. "Failure to interview those who may have been subjected to abuseis indicative of an incomplete investigation."
As first reported on "The Blotter" on ABCNews.com, Heather Cerveny, 23,a Marine Corps sergeant, who spent a week on the base last September workingas a legal aide to Lt. Col. Vokey, said she was "shocked" to hear severalguards from different parts of the base openly speak of mistreatingprisoners.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.alternet.org/rights/47815/
Pot Prisoners Cost Americans $1 Billion a Year
By Paul Armentano, AlterNet
Posted on February 10, 2007, Printed on February 14, 2007American taxpayers are now spending more than a billion dollars per year toincarcerate its citizens for pot. That's according to statistics recentlyreleased by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics.
According to the new BJS report, "Drug Use and Dependence, State and FederalPrisoners, 2004," 12.7 percent of state inmates and 12.4 percent of federalinmates incarcerated for drug violations are serving time for marijuanaoffenses. Combining these percentages with separate U.S. Department ofJustice statistics on the total number of state and federal drug prisonerssuggests that there are now about 33,655 state inmates and 10,785 federalinmates behind bars for marijuana offenses. The report failed to includeestimates on the percentage of inmates incarcerated in county and/or localjails for pot-related offenses.
Multiplying these totals by U.S. DOJ prison expenditure data reveals thattaxpayers are spending more than $1 billion annually to imprison potoffenders.
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Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=18183
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
A Portable Refinery Powered by Garbage
Researchers have built and tested for the military a portable machine thatefficiently turns waste into electricity.
By Tyler Hamilton
An energy-from-waste project led by researchers at Purdue University isgiving new meaning to the term "military power." Scientists from theuniversity's department of agricultural and biological engineering havedeveloped a portable machine that turns a variety of food waste andinorganic trash into electricity, reducing the amount of diesel fuel andgarbage that soldiers in the field must carry with them.
Despite being small enough to transport in a 20-foot shipping container, the"tactical refinery" is three technologies in one: a bioreactor that usesenzymes and micro-organisms to turn food waste into ethanol; a gasificationunit that turns plastics, paper, and other residual waste into methane andlow-grade propane; and a modified diesel engine that can burn gas, ethanol,and diesel fuel in variable proportions. The engine powers a generator thatproduces electricity on site. "What's unique is the way the system isintegrated," says Michael Ladisch, lead researcher on the project.
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Local10.com
http://www.local10.com/education/11003975/detail.html?treets=mia&tid=2655619429813&tml=mia_8pm&tmi=mia_8pm_1_07000502132007&ts=H
Kansas Standards Evolve: Darwin's Back In
State Rejected Darwin In 2005
POSTED: 6:28 pm EST February 13, 2007
TOPEKA, Kan. -- New, evolution-friendly science standards for Kansas' publicschools were adopted Tuesday by the State Board of Education.
The new guidelines reflect mainstream scientific views of evolution andrepresent a political defeat for advocates of "intelligent design," who hadhelped write the older standards being jettisoned.
The state has had five sets of standards in eight years, with anti- andpro-evolution versions, each doomed by the seesawing fortunes of sociallyconservative Republicans and a coalition of Democrats and moderateRepublicans. The moderate bloc had a 6-4 majority after elections last year;conservatives prevailed when the board adopted anti-evolution guidelines inNovember 2005.
That back-and-forth brought Kansas international attention and ridiculewhenever evolution skeptics prevailed, even though other states have seensuch debates.
The board on Tuesday removed language suggesting that key evolutionaryconcepts - like a common origin for all life on Earth and change in speciescreating new ones - were controversial and being challenged by new research.Also approved was a new definition of science, specifically limiting it tothe search for natural explanations of what's observed in the universe.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/02/05/campaign_finance/print.html
How to fix campaign financing forever for $50
A radical proposal by two Yale professors goes far beyond any reformenvisaged by Feingold or McCain.
By Farhad Manjoo
Feb. 05, 2007 | We don't yet know whether the next president will be a man,a woman, white or black, but we know this much: On Inauguration Day, he orshe will be gravely indebted to many very wealthy people. Sen. HillaryClinton has already decided to fund her presidential campaign entirelythrough private donations, and her rivals are likely to follow thatapproach. The serious candidates are looking to raise $100 million this yearalone, and the two who win the primaries will take in substantially more.That's an average of at least $2 million a week, or $286,000 every day,including weekends, until the election -- greater than the median price of anew American home.
The news is dispiriting to anyone who cares about clean politics, but it'snot surprising. Today's campaign finance regulations are as effective asabstinence vows on prom night, and the leading proposals to fix the systemdo little more than impose some decorum on the bacchanalia. This week Sen.Russell Feingold, just about the last politician in the nation who can stillmuster any fervor on the issue, offered a plan that would modestly tweak thecurrent system, increasing some public funding here and eliminating somelimits there. The plan's prospects look uncertain. His former co-conspiratorin reform, John McCain, says he's not even familiar with Feingold's idea,perhaps because as a presidential candidate he now spends much of his timeasking rich people for money. But even if Feingold's plan did become law, itwould do nothing about the fundamental problem. Running for office takes anenormous amount of money, and even though "You" may be Person of the Year,drunk on the power of "your" blogs and "your" YouTube, politicians willalways be able to get more money from "Them," the fat cats.
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PC World
http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,128951/printable.html
U.S. Government Readying Massive Cybersecurity Test
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is planning a large-scale test ofthe nation's response to a cyberattack, to be held in early 2008.
Robert McMillan, IDG News Service
Monday, February 12, 2007 03:00 PM PST
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is planning a large-scaletest of the nation's response to a cyberattack, to be held in early 2008.
The test will be a follow-up to the February 2006 Cyber Storm test, whichwas billed as the largest-ever U.S. government online attack simulation.
Cyber Storm 2 will be conducted in March 2008, said Gregory Garcia,assistant secretary for cyber security and telecommunications with DHS,speaking at the RSA Conference in San Francisco last week. Like the firstCyber Storm, this exercise will evaluate the ability of the public andprivate sector to provide a coordinated response to a large-scalecyberevent, he said.
The second Cyber Storm test, which is in the planning stages right now, willinclude a greater number of participants than its predecessor, said TiffanyJones, senior regional manager for government relations with Symantec Corp.In particular, the number of international participants will be increased,she said.
Symantec was one of about 30 corporations that participated in the firstexercise, and will again be involved in Cyber Storm 2, she said.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/14/world/asia/14assess.html?ei=5094&en=f6c2a8fcbc3e97f6&hp=&ex=1171429200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
February 14, 2007
News Analysis
Outside Pressures Broke Korean Deadlock
By DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 — It is hard to imagine that either George W. Bush orKim Jong-il would have agreed even a year ago to the kind of deal they havenow approved. The pact, announced Tuesday, would stop, seal and ultimatelydisable North Korea’s nuclear facilities, as part of a grand bargain thatthe administration has previously shunned as overly generous to a repressivecountry — especially one that has not yet said when or if it will give upits nuclear arsenal.
But in the past few months, the world has changed for both Mr. Bush and Mr.Kim, two men who have made clear how deeply they detest each other. Both arebeset by huge problems, and both needed some kind of breakthrough.
For Mr. Bush, bogged down in Iraq, his authority undercut by the Novemberelections, any chance to show progress in peacefully disarming a countrythat detonated a nuclear test just four months ago could no longer be passedup. As one senior administration official said over the weekend, theprospect that Mr. Bush might leave Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and North Koreamore dangerous places than he found them “can’t be very appealing.”
Still, the accord came under fast criticism from right and left that it wasboth too little and too late.
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http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/02/14/romneys_new_venture?mode=PF
The Boston Globe
GLOBE EDITORIAL
Romney's new venture
February 14, 2007
MITT ROMNEY didn't use a PowerPoint presentation to announce hiscampaign for president yesterday, but the Harvard MBA's acumen was sharp asever. Romney chose to make his announcement in his native Michigan, wherehis family name is revered, avoiding his home state of Massachusetts, whichthese days serves him better as a punch line than a launch pad.
Indeed, Romney seemed almost to be repatriating yesterday. "I alwaysimagined I would come back to Michigan someday," he said in his announcementspeech. "That's why I took the bar exam here."
Romney's shifting loyalties also extend to Utah, where he became astar for turning around the scandal-plagued 2002 Olympics. He bought a $3.8million home there and took advantage of a tax break reserved for permanentresidents to the tune of $54,000. When that became an issue after heannounced for governor in Massachusetts -- which has a seven-year residencyrequirement -- Romney amended his tax returns to claim Massachusettsresidency and returned the $54,000.
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