**IF YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE, CONTACT US AT rays.list@comcast.net and we'll be happy to send the full article.
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From Sen. John Kerry
Martin Luther King said, "The time is always right to do what is right." SoI'm choosing this time to share an important decision I've made, one Ibelieve is right for this country.
The JohnKerry.com community has been very important to me and very importantto the Democratic resurgence over the last couple of years, so I wanted tolet all of you know my decision before I confirm it with anyone else. I wantto share with you my conviction that in a field of fine Democraticcandidates, the next President of the United States can be, should be, andwill be Barack Obama. Each of our candidates would make a fine President,and we are blessed with a strong field. But for this moment, at this time inour nation's history, Barack Obama is the right choice.
Please join me in supporting Barack Obama's candidacy.
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/onevoice
I'm proud to have helped introduce Barack to our nation when I asked him tospeak to our national convention, and there Barack's words and vision burstout. On that day he reminded Americans that our "true genius is faith insimple dreams, an insistence on small miracles." And with his leadership wecan build simple dreams, and we can turn millions of small miracles intoreal change for our country.
At this particular moment, with our country faced with great challenges inour economy, in our environment, and in our foreign policy, and with ourpolitics torn by division, Barack Obama can bring transformation to ourcountry. With Barack, we can build a new majority of Americans from allregions who can turn the page on the politics of Karl Rove and begin a newpolitics, one worthy of our nation's history and promise. We can bringmillions of disaffected people - young and old - to the great task ofgoverning and making a difference, child to child, community to community.
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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/11/black
Diversifying Through Football
Jan. 11
You'd be hard pressed to find a college or university now that has not madethe ethnic and socioeconomic diversification of its student body a highpriority. Institutions have stepped up their recruitment efforts, reachingout more aggressively to students from underrepresented racial and othergroups, expanding their financial aid offerings to low-income students, andbolstering as well their strategies for retaining academically underpreparedstudents. Gone, presumably, are the days when the primary way an AfricanAmerican male could catch the eye of a college was with a sweet jump shot orthrowing a football 60 yards.
Right? Not so fast.
Data drawn from the National Collegiate Athletic Association's annual surveyof graduation rates, analyzed by Inside Higher Ed, show that scholarshipathletes make up at least 20 percent of the full-time black maleundergraduates at 96 of the nearly 330 colleges that play sports in DivisionI, the NCAA's top competitive level. At 46 of those colleges, according tothe data, which are from 2005-6, at least a third of the black malepopulation play a sport. And at 31 one of them, football players alone makeup at least a quarter of the black undergraduate men.
All told, male athletes make up about 3 percent of full-time male studentsat Division I institutions.
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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/01/11/wiles
The Huckster's Artful Dodging on Evolution
By Jason R. Wiles
Jan. 11
In a January 8 article, Inside Higher Ed profiled former Arkansas GovernorMike Huckabee's record on issues important to education. While Andy Guessgave a sterling summary of his record on issues specifically related tohigher education, professors need to take a closer look at Huckabee's recordon the teaching of evolution in the public schools - an issue that is notspecific to higher education, but that ultimately can have a major impact onscience education policy and the nature of intellectual debate in the UnitedStates.
During Huckabee's tenure as Governor, evolution education in Arkansaslanguished in an environment of general hostility and insufficiency. Twoanti-evolution bills were introduced in the state's House ofRepresentatives; textbooks in the Beebe, Arkansas public high school carrieddisclaimer stickers denigrating evolution; the state's science curriculumearned a grade of "D" overall and an abysmal "zero" for its treatment ofevolution; a creationist "museum" enjoyed state-funded advertising; andevolution was systematically and broadly squeezed out of schools and othereducational institutions across the state. Huckabee did nothing to deter anyof this - in fact, some of his public statements might indicate his tacitsupport.
To avoid potential labeling of this analysis as a mere partisan drubbing ofa GOP front-runner, it bears mention that I have written favorably on theevolution education positions of prominent Republican Rudy Giuliani andindependent Michael Bloomberg, the latter having commendably affirmed thevalidity of evolutionary theory and decried the creationist attack on theteaching of evolution saying it "...devalues science, it cheapens theology.As well as condemning these students to an inferior education, it ultimatelyhurts their professional opportunities."
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Pew Research center
http://pewresearch.org/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
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Getting It Wrong in New Hampshire
Several factors that may explain the discrepancy between pre-primary pollsand the final vote deserve exploration. But one should not ignore thepossibility of the longstanding pattern of pre-election polls overstatingsupport for black candidates among white voters, particularly white voterswho are poor. Read more
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A Lesson for the News Media
It wasn't quite "Dewey Defeats Truman," but after the Jan. 8 Granite Stateprimary confounded many pollsters and pundits, a key story in coverage ofthe McCain and Clinton victories was the media's proclivity to predict andpre-analyze the results. Read more
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States Share National Spotlight in 2008
While attention is focused on this year's presidential election, races withequal or even greater power to impact folks' everyday lives will be decidedat the state level, including 11 governors' contests, key legislative racesand numerous ballot initiatives. Read more
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Many Complain of Too Much Media Coverage
While only about half of the public can name both Iowa winners, 40% now saythe media has devoted too much coverage to the campaign. After his Iowavictory, Barack Obama for the first time supplanted Hillary Clinton as themost visible presidential candidate. Read more
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The Govs' Picks for Prez
Candidates covet endorsements by state chief executives, and so far 22governors have announced their choices. Here's a rundown. Read more
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Online Video Audience Surges
A new survey finds a sharp rise in the number of viewers of YouTube andother internet video sites over the past year. Nearly half of online adultsnow say they have visited such sites. Read moreState of the Nation
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The Public's Not-So-Happy New Year
Americans begin 2008 with a highly negative view of national conditions andPresident Bush, and with tempered expectations for the coming year. MoreDemocrats look forward to elections, but Republicans are more optimisticabout the year ahead. Read moreReligion and Public Life
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Religion and Secularism: The American Experience
At a Pew Forum event, Professor Wilfred McClay argues that America'sparticular brand of secularism, together with some features of Christianity,have produced a unique if imperfect mingling of religion and government inthe country's public life. Read more In the States
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The Nation's Poorly Paid Teachers
In 40 states, public school teachers fail to make as much as workers incomparable professions, such as reporters and insurance underwriters,according to a new report by the Education Research Center. Read moreTheDaily Number
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50% - Tempered Optimism about 2008
Half of Americans say that as far as they are concerned, 2008 will be abetter year than 2007, while 34% say it will be worse. Check back everyweekday for another number in the news. Read more
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/opinion/11krugman.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Columnist: The Comeback Continent
By PAUL KRUGMAN
January 11, 2008
Today I'd like to talk about a much-derided contender making a surprisingcomeback, a comeback that calls into question much of the conventionalwisdom of American politics. No, I'm not talking about a politician. I'mtalking about an economy - specifically, the European economy, which manyAmericans assume is tired and spent but has lately been showing surprisingvitality.
Why should Americans care about Europe's economy? Well, for one thing, it'sbig. The G.D.P. of the European Union is roughly comparable to that of theUnited States; the euro is almost as important a global currency as thedollar; and the governance of the world financial system is, for practicalpurposes, equally shared by the European Central Bank and the FederalReserve.
But there's another thing: it's important to get the facts about Europe'seconomy right because the alleged woes of that economy play an importantrole in American political discourse, usually as an excuse for theinsecurities and injustices of our own society.
For example, does Hillary Clinton have a plan to cover the millions ofAmericans who lack health insurance? "She takes her inspiration fromEuropean bureaucracies," sneers Mitt Romney.
Or are top U.S. executives grossly overpaid? According to a Times report,Michael Jensen, a professor emeritus at Harvard's Graduate School ofBusiness whose theories helped pave the way for gigantic paychecks,considers executive excess "an acceptable price to pay for an Americaneconomy that he believes has outstripped Japan and Europe in growth andprosperity."
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/opinion/11fri2.html?ref=opinion
Editorial: No Immunity Deal
January 11, 2008
We suppose we shouldn't be surprised. Yet another player in the Bushadministration's break-all-the-rules war against terrorism is trying toevade accountability.
Jose A. Rodriguez Jr. was head of the Central Intelligence Agency'sclandestine operations in November 2005 when he ordered the destruction ofvideotapes of the harsh interrogation of prisoners - including, it isbelieved, the technique of simulated drowning - at one of the secret foreignjails that President Bush had the C.I.A. set up after Sept. 11, 2001.
Mr. Rodriguez ordered the tapes destroyed after consulting with two agencylawyers and after an extensive debate within the Bush administration thatinvolved top officials at the White House. The decision to destroy themappears to be a cynical attempt to shield interrogators and their bossesfrom public and legal scrutiny over what may well have been an illegal act:torture.
He has now been summoned to Congress to testify about his decision at aclosed hearing on Wednesday. John A. Rizzo, the C.I.A.'s acting generalcounsel, has agreed to testify, but The Times reported that Mr. Rodriguez'sattorney informed the House Intelligence Committee that his client would nottestify unless he was granted immunity. The Justice Department is alsoinvestigating the destruction of the tapes, and Mr. Rodriguez does not wanthis testimony used against him.
We hope the House resists this request. If Mr. Rodriguez refuses to appear,he should be cited for contempt and punished appropriately. It would be hisright to exercise his Fifth Amendment protections. But he should not beallowed to testify under conditions that would make it impossible to finisha thorough criminal investigation and bring charges against him or others ifthey prove to be justified.
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/opinion/11hartley.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Contributor: Democracy by Other Means
By AIDAN HARTLEY
Laikipia, Kenya
January 11, 2008
AS I write this, the crackle of gunfire is audible from the veranda of ourfarmhouse. Warriors of the Pokot and Samburu tribes are fighting a mileaway. A bush fire engulfs the horizon. I hear the tally in blood so far isthree Samburu warriors killed, while the Pokot have rustled 750 of theircattle.
Today I hope our farm and its workers will be spared the violence. But thiswas not the case two weeks ago on Boxing Day, the eve of Kenya's elections,when Samburu rustlers armed with AK-47's made off with 22 steers. The policewere unable to respond, as they had to guard ballot boxes. So our neighborCharles saved our cattle by charging his car at the raiders in a hail ofbullets, which forced them to cut and run.
The world knows of Kenya's vote-rigging scandal - of the rioting in Nairobi;the police assaults on the supporters of the opposition leader, RailaOdinga; the pogroms against traders and farmers of President Mwai Kibaki'sKikuyu tribe. But we've watched it unfold in real time in our corner ofcentral Kenya.
When the Kikuyus fled the village up the road from us, local food suppliesquickly dried up, hunger set in among the mob and rioting flared again. Thena Samburu witch doctor announced that it was time for his warriors,supporters of Mr. Odinga, to advance on the Pokot tribesmen, who had backedMr. Kibaki. He said he had found a way to turn Pokot bullets into rain - apromise that evidently precipitated the clashes erupting around me.
Over the last two weeks, we've stuck to our daily routines, as if it somehowmight make the nightmare of what was unfolding over the horizon recede.Still, I devised an evacuation plan for our workers who were from the "wrong" tribes. We dug up the lawn to plant extra vegetables, not knowinghow much livestock we'll have down the road.
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/us/politics/11bloomberg.html?hp
Calls Grow for Bloomberg to Make Up His Mind
By DIANE CARDWELL and RAY RIVERA
January 11, 2008
Nearly every day a tiny new development trickles out from the stealthpresidential campaign of Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor of NewYork.
He has talked with Chuck Hagel and Sam Nunn, potential running mates. He hasdelivered a tart critique of the presidential field. He is conductingintricate polling to test his appeal in all 50 states.
Mr. Bloomberg's dalliance with the idea of running for president hasstretched on and on, with his enthusiastic approval despite the publicdenials. But even before actually entering the contest, Mr. Bloomberg mayhave already risked losing something: people's patience.
The political parlor game - Will he run? When will he decide? How much couldhe spend? - that has so delighted Mr. Bloomberg is suddenly sparking abacklash. Editorial pages from The Wall Street Journal to The New York Post,The Village Voice and The New Yorker have taken him to task. Members of theadministration have been rolling their eyes and referring to Kevin Sheekey,Mr. Bloomberg's political architect, as the deputy mayor for presidentialpolitics.
And a recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac University found that 61 percentof New Yorkers thought Mr. Bloomberg had a "moral obligation" to serve outhis full term. The survey, of 1,162 New York City voters, with a margin oferror of plus or minus three percentage points, also found that while 16percent wanted to see him run for president rather than for governor, 32percent did not want him to run for either office.
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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html
U.S. Bombs Iraqi Insurgent Hideouts
By SOLOMON MOORE
January 11, 2008
BAGHDAD - American bombers and fighter aircraft dropped 40,000 pounds ofbombs on suspected militant hide-outs, storehouses and defensive positionsin the southern outskirts of Baghdad on Thursday, the United States militarysaid.
In one of the largest airstrikes in recent months, two B-1 and four F-16aircraft dropped 38 bombs within 10 minutes near the Latifiya district southof Baghdad, the military said. The airstrikes were accompanied by a largeIraqi and American ground assault.
The air attack was part of a nationwide joint offensive that includes acontinuing sweep in Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, and raids Thursday inSalahuddin Province, northwest of the capital, between Samarra and Ramadi.
The offensive took place as attacks against Iraqi security forces, Americansoldiers and Sunni Arab militias allied with the United States increased inthe last few weeks. A series of suicide bombings, assassinations and carbombings has threatened to reverse the downward trend in violence,especially in Baghdad, where dozens of people have been killed since the newyear.
Sixteen Americans have died this year, nine of them on Tuesday and Wednesdayas soldiers tried to drive Sunni Arab insurgents out of their sanctuaries inDiyala Province. Despite the high death toll, American soldiers have metsurprisingly little overall resistance during the sweep, and militaryofficials suspect that insurgents were tipped off beforehand.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011003273.html
Who's Ready For a Female President?
By Madeleine M. Kunin
Friday, January 11, 2008; A17
Times have changed since I was first elected governor of Vermont in 1984.When I walked into the executive office the morning after the election, Iscanned the portraits of somber governors with names like Ebenezer, Erastusand Ezra. They stared down at me as if to say, "What are you doing here?"When 9-year-old Melissa Campbell visited the Vermont State House in 2006 andcame upon my portrait, she exclaimed, "Finally, a woman -- it's about time!"
Is it about time for a woman to be president? Are we ready? The answer isthat some parts of the country are more ready than others. And it may haveto do with the number of women who have been elected to high office in thosestates.
Forget the pollsters' predictions and apologies for getting it all wrong inNew Hampshire. Iowa and New Hampshire have different political histories andcultures with regard to electing women, and it showed in how they voted.Similar differences among states may play out in the voting to come thismonth and on Super Tuesday in February.
New Hampshire elected a popular female governor three times, and it has thenation's second-highest percentage of women in its legislature -- 35.8percent. (My state ranks first, at 37.8 percent.) Iowa hovers near thenational average, at 22.7 percent, but it is one of two states (the other isMississippi) that have never elected a woman to Congress or the governor'sseat. Women in high office are not visible to Iowa's electorate.
Women came out in droves for the recent Democratic voting in both NewHampshire and Iowa. The numbers in the two states were nearly identical --57percent women and 43 percent men. But in New Hampshire those womensupported Sen. Hillary Clinton over Sen. Barack Obama 46 to 29 percent,while in Iowa they backed Obama 35 to 30 percent.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011003245.html
A Sneer, a Tear, a Comeback
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, January 11, 2008; A17
Was it the tears in the New Hampshire coffee shop? Whenever there is apolitical upset, everyone looks for the unscripted incident, theI-paid-for-this-microphone moment that can account for it. Hillary Clinton'simprobable victory in New Hampshire is being widely attributed to her raredisplay of emotion when asked how she was holding up. This "Hillary cried,Obama died" story line is satisfying, but it overlooks an earlier momentplayed to a national television audience of 9 million that was even morerevealing.
It showed a side of Barack Obama not seen before or since. And it wasn'tpretty. Asked in the Saturday Democratic debate about her dearth of"likability," Clinton offered an answer both artful and sweet -- firstdemurely saying her feelings were hurt and mock-heroically adding that shewould try to carry on regardless, then generously conceding that Obama isvery likable and "I don't think I'm that bad."
At which point, Obama, yielding to some inexplicable impulse, gave the othermemorable unscripted moment of the New Hampshire campaign -- the gratuitousself-indicting aside: "You're likable enough, Hillary." He said it lookingdown and with not a smile but a smirk.
Rising rock star puts down struggling diva -- an unkind cut, deeplyungracious, almost cruel, from a candidate who had the country in a swoonover his campaign of grace and uplift. The media gave that moment littleplay, but millions saw it live, and I could surely not have been the onlyone who found it jarring.
It is fitting that New Hampshire should have turned on a tear or an aside.The Democratic primary campaign has been breathtakingly empty. What passesfor substance is an absurd contest of hopeful change (Obama) vs. experiencedchange (Clinton) vs. angry change (John Edwards playing Hugo Ch¿vez inEnglish).
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011003243.html
To Blunt a Recession
Fiscal stimulus may eventually be needed, but there are pitfalls.
Friday, January 11, 2008; A16
AN ALARMING number of Americans got pink slips for Christmas. Unemploymentjumped from 4.7 percent to 5 percent in December, the strongest sign yetthat the economy is slowing and could soon slip into reverse. Goldman Sachspredicts a recession this year, echoing earlier assessments by PresidentBill Clinton's Treasury secretary, Lawrence Summers, and President RonaldReagan's top economic adviser, Martin Feldstein.
The Federal Reserve Board has already cut interest rates to prop up theeconomy, and Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday that it is "ready totake substantive additional action as needed." The question is what, ifanything, Congress and the president should do on top of the Fed's efforts.Some economists who are predicting a recession, including Mr. Feldstein andMr. Summers, are also calling for tax cuts and spending increases to givethe economy a short-term fiscal stimulus. The Bush administration is said tobe developing ideas for such a package.
In an election year, the political pressure for a stimulus is bound to beespecially strong. And an appropriate fiscal stimulus could take some of theburden of recession-fighting off the Fed and the already weakening dollar.But first, a few words of caution: There is not yet any proof of arecession, defined as two straight quarters of negative growth; Mr. Bernankesaid yesterday that the economy probably grew "at a moderate pace" in thepast three months. Nor is there any consensus that a recession, if onecomes, will be severe; Goldman Sachs thinks it's likely to be short andmild. The slowdown is being counteracted, to some extent, by "automaticstabilizers" such as increased spending on unemployment benefits and lowertax receipts. As a result, the fourth-quarter 2007 federal deficit grew by$27 billion over the same period a year ago, according to the CongressionalBudget Office. And as Mr. Bernanke noted, the Fed has hardly exhausted itsrate-cutting capacity.
Any stimulus package would have to kick in just when economic data confirmeda recession and would have to deliver dollars quickly to those people mostlikely to spend them on new goods and services. It would also have to beoffset by future spending cuts or revenue increases to avoid adding to thelong-term deficit. Congress does not usually work with this degree ofprecision, which is why it's preferable to rely on the fast-acting Fed andits independent experts. Politicians hardly need an excuse for pork andwasteful tax breaks, but recession fighting is a perfect one. The Bushadministration might well use the gloomy economic forecasts as yet anotherrationale for making its 2001 tax cuts, which expire in 2010, permanent. Mr.Feldstein suggests that Congress enact a quick tax rebate or other tax cutfor households to go into effect only if three straight months of shrinkingemployment confirmed that it was needed. It's a clever and potentiallyeffective idea whose only flaw is that it counts on Congress to showpatience and restraint.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011003239.html
Ron Paul's Appeal
Assessing a grass-roots phenomenon, and the strange ideology behind it
Friday, January 11, 2008; A16
NEW HAMPSHIRE did not produce a breakthrough for Republican presidentialaspirant Ron Paul. The libertarian congressman from Texas got only 8 percentof the vote in the Granite State, despite its "live free or die" tradition.This was slightly worse than his showing in the Iowa caucuses. Still, theenthusiasm of Mr. Paul's supporters -- one of the more remarkable phenomenaof the campaign -- seemed undiminished. There they were Tuesday night,cheering as he promised to continue his long-shot bid and his demand forimmediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Having raised $28 million, mostly onthe Internet, Mr. Paul can afford to soldier on -- possibly on a third-partyticket in November.
Mr. Paul's campaign illustrates the political power of new technology, andsome are inclined to stand back and admire it. Jay Leno, for example, hostedMr. Paul on his show, using the time to commiserate about his exclusion froma recent Republican debate on the Fox News network. But when journaliststake Mr. Paul seriously enough to actually probe his ideas, what they findis pretty strange. On Dec. 23, Tim Russert of "Meet the Press" elicited Mr.Paul's view that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an affront to privateproperty rights, and that Abraham Lincoln started the Civil War to "get ridof the original intent of the republic." The New Republic recently reviewedback issues of newsletters published under Mr. Paul's name during the 1980sand '90s; it discovered crude attacks on gays, blacks and Jews, includingthe observation that the 1992 Los Angeles riot ended because "it came timefor the blacks to pick up their welfare checks." Mr. Paul has said that thenewsletters do not represent his beliefs, because they were ghost-writtenproducts he "did not edit."
Though his campaign may owe its energy to 21st-century technology, Ron Paulis no innovator. To all the difficult questions of a complicated,interdependent world, he offers pretty much the same prescription that suchright-wing American isolationists as Patrick J. Buchanan have offered in thepast: The nation must disengage from international affairs so as toconcentrate on the real enemies at home. To be sure, Mr. Paul, who would endthe war on drugs, does not seem to want a Buchanan-style culture war. Hisdemonology, inspired by idiosyncratic economic theories, centers on theFederal Reserve Board, as well as "elites" who might be plotting somethinghe calls "the NAFTA superhighway" across Texas. Mr. Paul proposes a "goldenrule" for foreign policy -- treat other countries as we would have themtreat us. But as Mr. Russert forced him to admit, this bromide offers nohelp in such real-world scenarios as a North Korean invasion of South Korea,a democratic country with which we trade $72 billion worth of goods eachyear. Mr. Paul implied that it would be none of our business.
Mr. Paul goes so far as to express understanding of Osama bin Laden'santipathy toward U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia, which, Mr. Paul says,created the "incentive" for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "It's sort oflike if you step in a snake pit and you get bit," he told Mr. Russert. "Whocaused the trouble?" During the Cold War, the late Jeane Kirkpatrick chidedDemocrats for "blaming America first" in foreign policy. That may or may nothave been apt. But in 2008, there is one candidate to whom her wordsdefinitely apply: Republican Ron Paul.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011000692.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Iranian Boats May Not Have Made Radio Threat, Pentagon Says
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 11, 2008; A13
The Pentagon said yesterday that the apparent radio threat to bomb U.S.warships in the Persian Gulf last weekend may not have come from the fiveIranian Revolutionary Guard speedboats that approached them -- and may noteven have been intended against U.S. targets.
The communication Sunday was made on radio channel 16, a common marinefrequency used by ships and others in the region. "It could have been athreat aimed at some other nation or a myriad of other things," said RearAdm. Frank Thorp IV, a spokesman for the Navy.
In the radio message recorded by the Navy, a heavily accented voice said: "Iam coming to you. You will explode after a few minutes." But Farsi speakersand Iranians told The Washington Post that the accent did not sound Iranian.
In part because of the threatening language, the United States has elevatedthe encounter into an international incident. Twice this week, PresidentBush criticized Iran's behavior as provocative and warned of "seriousconsequences" if it happens again. He is due to head today to the Gulf area,where containing Iran is expected to be a major theme of his talks in fiveoil-rich sheikdoms.
Pentagon officials insist that they never claimed Iran made the threat. "Noone in the military has said that the transmission emanated from thoseboats. But when they hear it simultaneously to the behavior of those boats,it only adds to the tension," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell. "Ifthis verbal threat emanated from something or someone unrelated to the fiveboats, it would not lessen the threat from those boats."
The warning was picked up on a bridge-to-bridge communication received bymany ships in the region about seven minutes after the five Iranian patrolboats first appeared on the horizon, Thorp said. The main threat, Pentagonofficials said, was the way the five boats swarmed erratically around theUSS Port Royal, an Aegis cruiser, and its accompanying frigate anddestroyer, and then dropped small, white, box-like items in the water.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/11/AR2008011100327.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Myanmar's detained Suu Kyi taken to state guesthouse
Reuters
Friday, January 11, 2008; 3:19 AM
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was taken to agovernment guesthouse on Friday where she is believed to have met a seniorjunta official, witnesses said.
"I saw the car enter the guesthouse and leave an hour later," one witnesstold Reuters.
There was no immediate word from the military government or Suu Kyi's party,but she probably met Aung Kyi, a senior member of the ruling military junta.
If confirmed, it would be their fourth meeting since Aung Kyi was appointedgo-between after last September's crackdown on pro-democracy proteststriggered global outrage.
They last met on November 19 when diplomats speculated their talks mighthave focused on the junta's preconditions for negotiations between Suu Kyiand regime leader Senior General Than Shwe.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011001971.html?hpid=sec-nation
Lab Cites Stem Cell Advance
Method of Harvest Could Leave Embryos Undamaged
By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 11, 2008; A04
Scientists in Massachusetts said yesterday that they had created severalcolonies of human embryonic stem cells without harming the embryos fromwhich they were derived, the latest in a series of advances that could speeddevelopment of stem-cell-based treatments for a variety of diseases.
In June, scientists in Japan and Wisconsin said they had made cells verysimilar to embryonic stem cells from adult skin cells, without involvingembryos. But that technique so far requires the use of gene-altered virusesthat contaminate the cells and limit their biomedical potential.
By contrast, the new work shows for the first time that healthy, normalembryonic stem cells can be cultivated directly from embryos withoutdestroying them.
That means the work should be eligible for federal financing under PresidentBush's six-year-old policy of funding only stem cell research that does notharm embryos, said study leader Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer atAdvanced Cell Technology in Worcester.
But that is not likely, said Story Landis, who heads the National Institutesof Health Stem Cell Task Force, which oversees grants for studies on themedically promising cells.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011002733.html?hpid=sec-religion
Huckabee Aims for Evangelicals in SC
By ERIC GORSKI
The Associated Press
Thursday, January 10, 2008; 6:58 PM
-- Propelled in Iowa by evangelicals' support, Mike Huckabee is trying for arepeat victory in South Carolina, where religion is woven even more tightlyinto the fabric of life.
A win there in the Jan. 19 primary would keep the former Southern Baptistminister and Arkansas governor in strong contention for the Republicanpresidential nomination, no matter how he does in the Michigan voting thatcomes first.
"He is tailor-made for South Carolina voters, better so than Bush in 2000,"contends former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, a Huckabee backer. ButHuckabee's hardly alone in seeking _ and gaining _ support fromevangelicals.
Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson have won important endorsements. John McCainis trying to mend fences after a difficult primary experience in SouthCarolina in 2000.
As in Iowa, where he won the Republican caucuses, the cash-strapped Huckabeeis relying on pastors to help get out the vote. And he also has the supportof some in the political establishment _ Beasley is one _ giving himorganizing power he lacked in other early voting states. That could make adifference to pragmatic evangelical voters, who want a candidate who couldactually win the nomination.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011003726.html?hpid=sec-artsliving
For Young Voters In a Media Jungle, A Study Guide
Created by Students, VoteGopher.com Aims to Educate About the Issues
By Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 11, 2008; C02
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- It's "taxing," "daunting," "overwhelming," EugeniaGarcia is saying. So many candidates: five in total, and that's just herDemocrats. And so many issues to think about: Iraq, health care, globalwarming and immigration, the one she cares about most.
But online, where the 21-year-old political junkie follows the presidentialcampaign, "there's just too much information," she says. "I'm taking thiselection very seriously. I don't want to make the wrong decision."
Garcia, who's studying politics at Harvard, is living in a tech-savvy,hyper-connected world in which a monsoon of political information rains downon her each day. Four years ago, it was all about blogging, e-mail chainsand MeetUp groups. Now add YouTube, Facebook and MySpace, each with its ownpolitical hub, and Garcia, already an overstuffed info consumer, faces aperplexing online gumbo. Where to go? What to read? Whom to trust?
On a recent evening inside Quincy House, one of the Harvard dorms, Garcia'smaking her customary rounds on the Web -- skimming through BBC.com ("Myparents are from Argentina. I care a lot about Latin American news"),chatting with friends on Skype ("It's an international thing. You can chatand make semi-free long-distance calls") -- but also checking out a newpolitical site she heard about from friends: VoteGopher.com. It's created bystudents for students, or anyone else curious about where candidates standon the issues. It promises political literacy for young people trying tobecome educated voters.
Founded by a 20-year-old Harvard sophomore named Will Ruben, VoteGopherstrives to focus comprehensively and authoritatively on issues facing thecandidates, says Ruben. It's a unique effort to fill an information void foryoung voters trying to connect with electoral politics.
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011001066.html?hpid=sec-world
Chinese Envoy Denounces Efforts to Link Darfur Concerns, Beijing Olympics
By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 11, 2008; A10
BEIJING, Jan. 10 -- China on Thursday rejected any attempts to connecthumanitarian concerns about Darfur to the upcoming Beijing Olympics, sayingthey come from people unwilling to view objectively China's role in thatembattled region of Sudan.
China's defense, given by Liu Guijin, special envoy for Darfur, came asWestern governments and U.N. officials intensified criticism of the Sudanesegovernment for throwing up obstacles to the deployment of a jointU.N.-African Union peacekeeping force that is supposed to field 26,000troops but so far has only 9,000 on the ground.
Liu's comments reflected a newfound determination by the Chinese ForeignMinistry to respond to critics of its policy in Sudan. In particular, theChinese government has urgently sought to fend off suggestions that thissummer's Beijing Olympics should be boycotted. Chinese widely regard theGames as an international celebration of their country's swift progress overthe last quarter-century; any boycott would be a political blow to theruling Communist Party.
Some U.S. and European activists, including legislators and entertainmentfigures, have threatened to call for a boycott unless China exerts morepressure on the Sudanese government to cooperate with the peacekeepingforces and end the almost five-year-old Darfur conflict. But Liu said Chinashould not be held responsible for everything Sudan's government does justbecause the two countries have flourishing trade relations, including oildeals, infrastructure projects and weapons sales.
Moreover, he said, China has already used what influence it has to helpresolve the Darfur conflict. For instance, he said, President Hu Jintaoplayed a key role in persuading the Sudanese government to accept the ideaof United Nations involvement in a peacekeeping force during a visit toKhartoum, the Sudanese capital, last February.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editnbscoutcapsbjan11,0,4791523.story
Boy Scouts bolsters its motto with anti-bullying efforts
January 11, 2008
Scouting for bullies gets a badge
If a Boy Scout wants to advance through the program, it's going to take morethan starting a fire with sticks or learning the honor pledge. He'll alsohave to know how to handle himself if he gets picked on, how to respond toname-calling, even how to avoid engaging a cyber-bully's provocations.
In a welcome salute to anti-bullying efforts from the nation's largest youthgroup, the Boy Scouts of America has tweaked its 472-page handbook torequire Scouts to defend themselves and combat bullying in order to risethrough the ranks. Not just in the schoolyard, but on the home computer,too.
Since today's Scouts are often considered tomorrow's leaders, making bullyawareness and education a dedicated part of the esteemed program will onlyhelp Scouts better live up to their famous motto: "Be prepared."
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/wireless/avantgo/la-na-econ11jan11,0,7482700.story
From the Los Angeles Times:
January 11, 2008
Public senses an economy going south
Table talk among average Americans mirrors the anxiety reflected on thecampaign trail and in Washington: Times are getting tougher.
By Stephanie Simon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
SEDALIA, COLO. - The numbers stopped adding up some time ago, and everymonth, Shane Covelli gets angrier.
He sells heavy equipment on commission, and construction firms aren'tbuying. Covelli has sold his Corvette, stopped taking his wife out todinner, pulled his son from the ski team. He has withdrawn nearly $50,000from his retirement accounts and started taking extra work, laying carpetand pouring concrete evenings and weekends. Still, he owes more than heearns, and he can't seem to fix it.
"It'll take the country four or five years to dig out of this," saidCovelli, 44. "By then, I'll be bankrupt."
President Bush this week set aside months of sunny talk to warn that thenation's economy faces challenges. "Many Americans are anxious," he said.
Exit polls from the New Hampshire primary Tuesday confirm that: 97% ofDemocrats and 80% of Republicans are worried about where the economy isheaded. Only 14% of Democrats -- and about half of Republicans -- considerthe current state of the economy good.
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/11/giuliani_banks_on_winning_in_florida/
Giuliani banks on winning in Florida: Touts leadership in new TV spot
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff | January 11, 2008
In a television ad that began airing yesterday, Rudy Giuliani's campaignurged Florida voters to ignore the political pundits when they vote in theRepublican presidential primary and to "show the world that leadership iswhat really matters."
Titled "Super Bowl," the 30-second spot features banks of television screenswith commentators as a narrator says, "With pundits and politicoshandicapping the campaign like the Super Bowl, it's easy to lose sight ofwhat's at stake."
As images of gasoline prices spinning higher, US troops in Iraq, and aparent and child appear, the announcer says: "An economy in peril. A countryat war. A future uncertain."
Over more video of commentators, the narrator says: "The media lovesprocess. Talking heads love chatter." Then, over footage of Giulianispeaking at a microphone, the announcer concludes: "But Florida has a chanceto turn down the noise and show the world that leadership is what reallymatters."
The ad is an affirmation of the former New York mayor's highlyunconventional strategy that targets the Jan. 29 primary in the SunshineState as his best chance to move past his GOP rivals, even with a half-dozenprimaries and caucuses before Florida
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-edwards9jan09,1,7899000.story?coll=la-politics-campaign
Edwards' chances continue to diminish
The Democrat puts a positive spin on his third-place finish in NewHampshire, but his fundraising continues to lag behind Clinton's andObama's.
By Seema Mehta and Scott Martelle
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
January 9, 2008
MANCHESTER, N.H. - While John Edwards sought to put a positive spin on histhird-place finish in Tuesday's New Hampshire Democratic primary, hisfailure to stay close to rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obamaraised doubts about whether his campaign could mount a credible challengegoing into the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday caucuses and primaries.
"Two races down, 48 states left to go," Edwards, a former North Carolinasenator, told supporters after the polls closed. "I am in this race to theconvention, and I intend to be the nominee of my party."
But Edwards' campaign has not been able to raise the kind of money that histop rivals, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama ofIllinois, have pulled in. With every failure to win a primary, he diminisheshis chances of overtaking his opponents, said political analyst Bruce Cain,director of UC Berkeley's Washington Center.
"My view is that normally this would be the end, but I think it comes downto what labor wants," said Cain, referring to the organized labor movement."If they think it's good having his voice, bringing up the issues that forcethe other candidates to respond, they may see it as worth their while tokeep him in it until Feb. 5. It really depends on whether the money isthere."
Both Iowa and New Hampshire are states that can be won the old-fashionedway: with door-knocking, handshaking and a grueling pace of publicappearances. Edwards has a disadvantage in large states like California, NewYork and Illinois. Those states are usually won by gaining attention in thenews media, which often focus on which candidate has momentum and hascaptured the voters' interest, and by airing expensive television ads.
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Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080111/POLITICS01/801110406
Romney attacks McCain's Mich. 'pessimism'
Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Friday, January 11, 2008
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Mitt Romney, badly in need of a primary victory inMichigan next Tuesday and eager for an opening against John McCain, thinkshe has found one in the Arizona senator's "straight talk."
By latching onto McCain's proclamation that some of Michigan's lostautomotive jobs are gone forever, Romney's camp believes it may have a wedgeissue he can use against McCain in Michigan.
Or McCain's partisans believe the Arizona senator may have hit on anotherissue on which he can accuse Romney of stretching the truth.
The issue took center stage in Thursday night's televised debate on FoxNews, where Romney hit McCain from the start on comments McCain made inMichigan this week.
McCain said the next president's job is not to restore lost auto jobs, butto help displaced workers with training and financial assistance. Romney'scampaign seized on the comments, first in a press release Thursday afternooncharacterizing them as "McCain's pessimism about Michigan's future." Romneythen continued to bang away with the criticism during the debate, andafterward.
"I'm not going to be one of those who writes off jobs in Michigan," Romneytold reporters after the debate. "The domestic auto industry can come backin a big way in that state and I'm not willing to run anyone off."
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/10/AR2008011004055.html?hpid=topnews
Economy Slumps To the Top of the Campaign Agenda
By Peter Baker and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 11, 2008; A01
As the presidential campaign got underway a year ago, the candidates faced avolatile political environment dominated by the Iraq war, illegalimmigration and terrorism. A year later, the campaigns are rewriting theirplaybooks as it appears that the race may actually be shaped by the economy.
The virtual halt in job growth, the climb of oil prices above $100 a barrel,the New Year's stock market tumble and the continuing mortgage crisis havefueled fears of recession and crystallized the nation's growing economicanxiety. Nowhere was that clearer this week than in New Hampshire, whereexit polls showed that the economy has overtaken all other issues as the topconcern for Democrats and Republicans alike.
While the Federal Reserve indicates that it will move to spur growth andPresident Bush and Congress consider stimulus packages, economic worry hasalready forced the presidential candidates to retool their messages.
Republican Rudolph W. Giuliani proposed a new tax-cut package yesterday asrival Mike Huckabee prepared to take his populist message to economicallydistressed Michigan with a major address today. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton(D-N.Y.), who did best among New Hampshire voters worried about the economy,plans to unveil today what her campaign calls a "plan to jump-startAmerica's ailing economy."
"The economy's number one," said Scott Paul, director of the Alliance forAmerican Manufacturing, a coalition of manufacturers and the UnitedSteelworkers that has found deep apprehension about the economy at town hallmeetings in early-primary states. "It's organic. It's not an organizedeffort. But it's something the voters, Republicans and Democrats, arefretting about."
Austan Goolsbee, a University of Chicago economist advising the campaign ofSen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), said his travels through Iowa in recent monthsbrought home just how powerful the concern has become. "Everywhere I went,there were people all over the issue, asking a whole lot of economicquestions -- as many questions as they were asking about Iraq," he said."The conditions in the economy have only soured since then."
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Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080111/OPINION03/801110301/1031
Froma Harrop: N.H. women had enough insults
Friday, January 11, 2008
You could feel the swell of female angst. It wasn't even about HillaryClinton. It was about what she was put through. It was about running whilefemale.
The Democratic race for president was supposed to herald a new era forblacks and women in politics. What became clear was that for theAfrican-American, it is the 21st century. For the woman, it is 1955.
The media had declared open season on Clinton, who being middle age, wassomehow deemed an easy target for special savagery. On Slate, ChristopherHitchens slimed Clinton as "an aging and resentful female." The DrudgeReport simply displayed a photo of Clinton's face looking puffy, lined andfatigued. No caption necessary.
I won't even bother with Rush Limbaugh.
On New Hampshire primary day, the host at C-SPAN's Washington Journal readfrom a news story explaining Clinton's show of emotion. The reporter hadwritten that she choked up "because the other woman expressed concern forher feelings." But the host misread the phrase "other woman" as "olderwoman" (a subconscious slip, no doubt).
It was during this same program, however, that I first suspected the pollspredicting a Barack Obama coast might be off. An early female caller, aDemocrat, took umbrage at the sexist carnival, noting that she has two growndaughters. That was to be expected. But then a Republican woman called in todefend Clinton. Clearly, this was no longer just about politics.
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Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080111/OPINION03/801110349/1031
Commentary: Dems, GOP have left Michigan behind
Daniel Howes
Friday, January 11, 2008
During a campaign stop in Waterford Township, Republican presidentialcontender John McCain said: "I'm here to look you in the eye and tell youthat we are a nation that doesn't leave our people behind."
Really? I don't know where to start.
Here's the Arizona senator instrumental in turning GOP attitudes inWashington against Detroit's automakers, who allied himself with that closefriend of Motown -- Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. -- to push for sharp increasesin federal fuel economy rules. They lost that battle, but last month won awar that will cost cash-strapped automakers billions and billions.
Who, exactly, in that crowd is worried about leaving behind Michigan, whichhas more unemployed citizens (370,000) than Iowa sent to its caucuses(334,000) last week?
You want a fat slice of America, its domestic problems distilled, come tothe Big Mitten. We've got them all -- highest unemployment, lowest jobcreation, imploding public finances, steadily declining home values, risingforeclosures, a dysfunctional governor and Legislature, the poorest majorcity in America and a major job-providing sector wrestling with a massivedomestic restructuring and global expansion at the same time.
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/11/clinton_to_lay_out_plans_for_boosting_economy/
Clinton to lay out plans for boosting economy
January 10, 2008
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton saidshe would lay out her plans on Friday for jump-starting the U.S. economy,repeating that she believed it was heading into a recession.
"I think we're slipping toward a recession," the New York senator and formerfirst lady said on Thursday after campaigning door-to-door in a Las Vegasneighborhood, where homeowners expressed concern about the economy and theU.S. housing crisis. Clinton's comments echoed those she made in aDemocratic debate in New Hampshire last Saturday.
"I'm going to do everything I can to promote what I think would be the bestway to stimulate the economy," Clinton said. She plans to detail her plansin a speech in a Los Angeles-area suburb at 11:15 a.m. PST (1915 GMT).
A weakening U.S. job market and manufacturing sector downturn last month hasraised concerns the economy was near or perhaps already in recession, butU.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday the Fed sawcontinued, but slow, growth.
Clinton said her economic proposals would include helping people pay theirenergy bills and ensuring the country was better prepared to help theunemployed
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