**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.
=
Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/12/17/a16a_gaymarried_edit_1217.html
Traditional bigotry
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Monday, December 17, 2007
Your house might be losing value. Or you can't sell it for what you owe. Oryou can't afford the insurance. Not content with those problems, now there'sa group that thinks state government needs more power to dictate who canlive in that house as someone's spouse.
A group anointing itself the Florida Coalition to Protect Marriage has goneto the considerable trouble and expense (about $443,000) to collect enoughsignatures to put on next year's ballot a measure that would amend Florida'sConstitution to ban same-sex marriages. Last week, the group claimedsuccess. Apparently, though, that group and others like it have failed tonotice that, judging by rates of adultery and divorce, opposite-sex couplesalso pose a threat to traditional marriage. By the way, same-sex marriagealready is illegal under Florida law.
The real purpose of the campaign, which needs 60 percent to prevail,probably is to motivate like-minded voters to get to the polls, wherepresumably they will support Republican candidates. That's why the stateRepublican Party gave the group $300,000 of its total.
That was under Jeb Bush. When Gov. Crist came into office, he stopped thecontributions. "It's not an issue that moves me," he said last week. "I'mmore of a live-and-let live kind of guy."
Come to think of it, that attitude, practiced judiciously by couples, woulddo more to protect marriage than this hateful amendment.
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St. Petersburg Tiimes
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/17/State/Illegal_workers_on_st.shtml
Illegal workers on state agenda
Six bills target illegal immigration in Florida as national efforts stumble.
By JOSE CARDENAS, Times Staff Writer
Published December 17, 2007
In the two years since immigration reform legislation stalled in Congress,many states have passed their own laws targeting illegal immigrants.
And soon Florida could join them.
Legislators have filed six bills that would, among other things, penalizefarms and government contractors that hire undocumented immigrants orrequire local officials to report their arrests to federal authorities.
Come spring, legislators could debate whether to make it harder for anestimated 850,000 undocumented immigrants to live and work in Florida.
"Our federal government, in my opinion, has failed our citizens in dealingwith the crisis of illegal immigration," said state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-NewPort Richey, who filed two bills. "I went to an event today, and when Iasked for questions, it was about taxes, but it was also about illegalimmigration."
more . . . . .
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Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/orl-loclidportability17121707dec17,0,2013422.story
LOCAL IN-DEPTH: Keep tax break when moving to a new home?
Mary Shanklin
Sentinel Staff Writer
December 17, 2007
College Park homeowner Renee Maloney would like to move to a larger house.
"I am in an older home; the bedrooms are small," Maloney said.
But she's waiting.
If voters approve a property-tax amendment Jan.29, Maloney and other Floridahomeowners could transport the tax savings they now get on their homes totheir next address.
If the measure fails, moving will be a lot more expensive for Maloney.
more . . . . .
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/16/ST2007121601783.html?hpid=topnews
Giuliani Campaign Warms Up to Florida
Lagging in Early-Voting States, He Hopes State Will Propel Him Into GOP Lead
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 17, 2007; A04
TAMPA -- The current center of the political universe is Iowa, aspresidential candidates from both parties are spending millions and bravingthe winter weather in the struggle to win its first-in-the-nation caucuses.
But former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has been largely absent fromthe scrum of candidates there. On Saturday, he delivered a major speech tosupporters in balmy central Florida -- more than 1,300 miles from ice-packedDes Moines.
"I don't pray for miracles," he told the crowd in the speech, dubbed byaides as the "closing argument" for his presidential campaign. "I don't justhope for miracles. I expect miracles."
He was not referring to his White House bid, which appears to be movingbackward in the critical early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire andSouth Carolina. Nationally, his lead has dwindled from 30 points to two orthree in some recent polls.
Earlier this year, Giuliani vowed to compete vigorously in Iowa. An internalPowerPoint presentation prepared for his staff in the summer declared that"Iowans are just getting to know Rudy, and they like what they see."
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/sfl-flbweather1217sbdec17,0,7290954,print.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Cool days ahead in South Florida
9:29 AM EST, December 17, 2007
South Florida residents, get your sweaters out and turn your thermostats up.Meteorologists say it's going to be cool until Tuesday.
The winter storm that blanketed the Midwest and Northeast with snow causedtemperatures in South Florida to drop Sunday night, the National WeatherService said.
Palm Beach County saw temperatures in the upper 40s, and it was around 50degrees in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
The weather should warm up slightly to the 60s today but expect another coldnight, said meteorologist Barry Baxter. By Tuesday, temperatures should beback to normal, in the lower- to mid-70s, he said.
Elsewhere in the state, temperatures were recorded Monday morning at 46degrees in Fort Myers, 36 in Gainesville, 38 in Jacksonville, 62 in KeyWest, 55 in Miami, 37 degrees in Tallahassee and 43 in Tampa.
In Pasco County, north of Tampa, a tornado demolished a jail building earlySunday, according to the Associated Press. The tornado was from a cold frontand the remnants of Tropical Storm Olga.
At 7 a.m. Monday, the mercury hovered at 38 degrees in Lake County north ofOrlando, forecasters said, where the wind chill made it feel like 28.Orlando fared only slightly better: 39, with a wind chill of 31. In MarionCounty, temperatures dipped below freezing, and the wind chill dropped to 27degrees in Ocala.
That's a huge swing from the region's unseasonably warm Decembertemperatures, which hit 84 in Orlando on Saturday. Meteorologist Scott Kellyat the National Weather Service in Melbourne said that temperatures wouldnot climb out of the mid-fifties on Monday.
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Florida Today
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071217/NEWS01/712170326/1006
Crist still popular, not flashy: 'The people's governor'
BY BILL COTTERELL
FLORIDA TODAY
December 17, 2007
It's been a busy first year for Gov. Charlie Crist.
He doesn't have the big trophies some of his predecessors bagged in theirrookie seasons, nothing like former Gov. Reubin Askew's corporate income taxor former Gov. Jeb Bush's "A-Plus" education plan.
But Crist is optimistic about setting a new, bipartisan tone in stategovernment and seeing the state snap out of the economic doldrums thatcaused him to cut more than $1 billion out of the state budget -- with morecuts on the way.
He's created a commission on open government and told state agencies tocommunicate in clear, nonbureaucratic terms. He made two trade missions, toIsrael and Brazil, and convened a climate-change summit in Miami that drewsuch nationally known "green" advocates as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ofCalifornia and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
He's threatened to sue the insurance industry "back into the stone age." Heintroduces himself to strangers as "Charlie" and sprinkles the first namesof spectators through his off-the-cuff speeches. He never misses a chance tolavish praise on Bush but, in a seemingly calculated contrast to hispatrician predecessor, Crist models himself as "the people's governor."
more . . . . .
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St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/17/State/3_governors_to_tackle.shtml
3 governors to tackle plan to share water
By Times Staff Writer
Published December 17, 2007
Tallahassee
Gov. Charlie Crist will be hashing out water issues (or the lack of it)during a tri-state meeting today with the governors of Alabama and Georgia.U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne also will attend the meetingat the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee. The men will discuss short- andlong-term strategies for using the water in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa andthe Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basins.
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Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/orl-loccapview16121607dec16,0,7956452.story
Same-sex marriage and property taxes share the Jan. 29 primary ballot
December 16, 2007
With a same-sex marriage ban all but certain to share ballot space withpresidential candidates in Florida next year, Democrats and Republicans aretrying to sort out which side the measure helps.
Conventional wisdom says Republicans. But some election analysts say theissue may not be the magnet it once was for social conservatives.
"Times have changed," said independent pollster David E. Johnson, notingthat Arizona last year became the first state to reject a proposedconstitutional amendment defining marriage as a one-man, one-womaninstitution. Twenty-seven states now have a similar constitutional ban.
"But a lot in Florida is also going to depend on who the nominee of eachparty is," the Atlanta-based pollster said.
If Hillary Clinton grabs the Democratic nomination, Johnson predicted theFlorida measure could prove one more rallying point to get socialconservatives out against her.
more . . . . .
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Orlando Sentinel
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-classsize1707dec17,0,6844716.story
Critics will try to weaken Florida's rules on limiting school-class sizes
A move to give schools more flexibility on the state's rule about the numberof students allowed gains momentum.
Leslie Postal
Sentinel Staff Writer
December 17, 2007
Class sizes in Florida's public schools have shrunk considerably in thepast five years, thanks to a controversial measure voters approved in 2002.
But the toughest work comes in the next three years, and many schoolofficials say that will require money the cash-strapped state does not have,leave them no flexibility to handle enrollment changes and lead to moreportable classrooms.
Key Republican state lawmakers -- among a group that was never a fan of theclass-size amendment -- say they want to give schools more wiggle room. Inshort, they are looking to delete the strictest parts of the law.
Previous efforts to alter the law have failed, but the idea is gainingtraction this time. Even the state's teachers union, a strong supporter ofthe measure, said current requirements might be sufficient and more
flexibility might be welcome.
Rep. David Simmons, R-Maitland, said he will push for changes during the Legislature's spring session, hoping to "smooth out the rough edges and theinflexibility" of the current law.
more . . . . .
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Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/state/content/state/epaper/2007/12/17/m1a_VOUCHERS_1217.html
Jeb Bush aide strives to get vouchers in constitution
By S.V. DÁTE
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau
Monday, December 17, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - A year and a half after the state Senate shot down former Gov.Jeb Bush's plan to enshrine school vouchers in the state constitution, histop education aide is trying again through the state Taxation and BudgetReform Commission.
Patricia Levesque, a commission member who runs Bush's Foundation forFlorida's Future, is pushing two voucher-related proposals to undo courtrulings that found vouchers unconstitutional.
"I'm still trying to figure out the right language," said Levesque, who,according to e-mails obtained under open records law, is soliciting helpfrom the same pro-voucher groups that helped create, run and defend Bush'svouchers during his two terms as governor.
Levesque would need two-thirds of the commission's 25 members - 17 votes -to put either question on the November ballot. The measure would then need60 percent approval by voters for passage - a new threshold adopted byvoters last year.
"I don't think it's our job to be getting into fights with the courts," saidcommission member Les Miller, a former Democratic state senator from Tampaappointed to the group by Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie."The Supreme Court has spoken, and they have said it is unconstitutional."
more . . . . .
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Florida Times-Union
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/121707/met_226139223.shtml
Swing voters still up for grabs
By J. Taylor Rushing,
Capital Bureau Chief
December 17, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - Former Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reedremembers when he first realized that only one Republican in the worldcompletely agrees with his politics.
"There was a very famous politician who once told me, 'The only candidatewho will agree with you on everything is the one that's looking at you inthe mirror,' " says Reed, now an Atlanta-based consultant. "That's why thisyear is a very important and valuable learning experience for us. Because an80 percent friend is not a 20 percent enemy."
Six weeks from Florida's presidential primary, Republican voters are seeingthat pattern played out. A Quinnipiac University poll released last weekfound a wide open contest with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani leadingat only 30 percent. Twenty percent of the respondents did not identify afavorite or don't plan to vote and 59 percent were "very" or "somewhat"likely to change their minds.
The poll of 1,124 registered voters had a margin of error of 2.9 percentagepoints. Nearly a third of those surveyed were Republican, with a margin oferror of 4.7 percentage points.
Giuliani led among evangelical Republican voters, at 22 percent, followed byundecideds at 18 percent.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbdrugtrade1217sbdec17,0,238313.story?track=rss
Prescription drug abuse a growing problem in S. Florida
By Sofia Santana
December 17, 2007
The latest report on drug overdose deaths statewide and recent analysis byauthorities signal some changes in Florida's drug trade and drug abusepatterns, particularly in South Florida.
Among the growing trends authorities say they have noticed in recent years:
Drug dealers who sell powder cocaine and crack cocaine increasingly alsopeddle more-profitable prescription pain killers, such as oxycodone.
Groups involved in prescription drug trafficking are growing more organized.All the while, Florida remains one of the few states that does not trackprescriptions.
Marijuana grown in suburban homes fitted with hydroponics labs are producingplants that are three to 15 times as potent as the drug was two decades ago.Historically, the majority of these homes uncovered statewide have been inMiami-Dade and Broward counties.
more . . . . .
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
Monday, December 17, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
GLBT DIGEST December 16, 2007
**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.
=
NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/nyregion/16berube.html?pagewanted=print
Allan Bérubé Is Dead at 61; Historian of Gays in Military
By MARGALIT FOX
December 16, 2007
Allan Bérubé, a MacArthur Award-winning independent scholar whose history ofgay men and lesbians in the military in World War II is widely consideredthe definitive book on the subject, died on Tuesday in Liberty, N.Y. He was61. A former resident of Manhattan, Mr. Bérubé had lived in Liberty inrecent years.
The cause was complications of stomach ulcers, a friend, Wayne Hoffman,said.
"Coming Out Under Fire" (Free Press), published in 1990, explores the uneasybut at times surprisingly benign relationship between the United Statesmilitary and its gay members.
Mr. Bérubé's book was invoked frequently during the debate that simmered inthe 1990s around President Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy,which officially allowed gay people to serve in the military if they kepttheir sexual orientation secret.
"Coming Out Under Fire" was also the basis for a documentary film of thatname, released in 1994.
more . . . . .
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=15680
In stand for gay marriage, church cuts all unions
Straight couples must go to judge or justice of the peace for license
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) | Dec 14, 10:42 AM
It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight, you can't get legally marriedat Lyndale United Church of Christ.
The small, liberal church in south Minneapolis was the first of several TwinCities congregations last year to stop performing civil marriage ceremoniesas long as gay marriage is illegal. These churches, and a handful of othersaround the country that took the same step, will still hold a religiousceremony to bless the unions of straight and gay couples -- but straightcouples must go separately to a judge or justice of the peace for themarriage license.
"If you feel that gay and lesbian people are loved and credited by God, thenhow can we continue to discriminate against our brothers and sisters?" askedRev. Don Portwood, the reserved Nebraska native who's been lead pastor atthe 120-member Lyndale United Church of Christ for 27 years.
The churches in question minister to only a handful of the most liberalchurchgoers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and most have a large contingent ofgay members in the congregation.
"Go 20 miles out of the city and it will be a different story," said theRev. David Runnion-Bareford, executive director of Biblical WitnessFellowship, a New Hampshire-based conservative movement within the UnitedChurch of Christ.
more . . . . .
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071211/NEWS/712110309&emailAFriend=1&template=printart
Provincetown police to receive civil rights training
December 11, 2007 6:00 AM
The town's police officers will receive the Anti-Defamation League's civilrights training, following a spate of incidents this summer that drewcomplaints against the police for insensitive treatment of gay men.
The training, scheduled for February for full-time officers and May forsummer officers, is one of three activities the town's No Place For Hatecommittee will sponsor in 2008. A townwide survey will be conducted and apublic forum is planned.
At a committee meeting last week, Provincetown acting Police Chief WarrenTobias said he would not seek input from those who complained this summer,such as the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project in Boston and off-Caperesident Richard Hall.
Hall has said his condition after an alleged assault on Sept. 9 warrantedmore attention from officials. The committee may have been formed because ofthe summer's incidents "but I don't want it to stay focused on that," saidmember Cathy Reno Brouillet.
- MARY ANN BRAGG
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The Guardian - UK
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2224553,00.html
Children are targets of Nigerian witch hunt
Tracy McVeigh in Esit Eket
Sunday December 9, 2007
The Observer
Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign ofviolence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil arebeing abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money outof the fear of their parents and their communities
Watch the video: Child 'witches' in Africa, and click here to see a relatedgallery
The rainy season is over and the Niger Delta is lush and humid. Thissouthern edge of West Africa, where Nigeria's wealth pumps out of oil andgas fields to bypass millions of its poorest people, is a restless place. Inthe small delta state of Akwa Ibom, the tension and the poverty hasdelivered an opportunity for a new and terrible phenomenon that is leadingto the abuse and the murder of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children. Andit is being done in the name of Christianity.
Children are targets of Nigerian witch hunt
Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign ofviolence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil arebeing abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money outof the fear of their parents and their communities
Watch the video: Child 'witches' in Africa, and click here to see a relatedgallery
The rainy season is over and the Niger Delta is lush and humid. Thissouthern edge of West Africa, where Nigeria's wealth pumps out of oil andgas fields to bypass millions of its poorest people, is a restless place. Inthe small delta state of Akwa Ibom, the tension and the poverty hasdelivered an opportunity for a new and terrible phenomenon that is leadingto the abuse and the murder of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children. Andit is being done in the name of Christianity.
Almost everyone goes to church here. Driving through the town of Esit Eket,the rust-streaked signs, tarpaulins hung between trees and posters onboulders, advertise a church for every third or fourth house along the road.
Such names as New Testament Assembly, Church of God Mission, Mount ZionGospel, Glory of God, Brotherhood of the Cross, Redeemed, Apostalistic.Behind the smartly painted doors pastors make a living by 'deliverances' -exorcisms - for people beset by witchcraft, something seen to cause anythingfrom divorce, disease, accidents or job losses. With so many churches it's acompetitive market, but by local standards a lucrative one.
But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much moresinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming themas witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turnon the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buriedalive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.
more....
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Forwarded from Transgender Equality
Jacqui -jacquicharvet@tgirls.net
LEGISLATION TO OVERHAUL NEW JERSEY'S HATE CRIMES AND SCHOOL BULLYINGLAWS IS ON ITS WAY
The bill, approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee 8-0 yesterday,adds "gender identity or expression" to the state's hate crimes lawand strengthens the state's hate crimes law for all minority groups.
The bill also requires schools to post on the web, and widelydistribute, their anti-school bullying policies, and creates aCommission on Bullying in Schools to further strengthen the state'santi-bullying law.
The bill will become the 154th LGBT civil rights law enacted at thestate, county and local levels since Garden State Equality's foundingin 2004 -- a civil rights record.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Contact: Steven Goldstein, cell (917) 449-8918
By a unanimous 8-0 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterdayapproved S2975, chief-sponsored by Senators Barbara Buono and LorettaWeinberg, to strengthen New Jersey's hate crimes and anti-schoolbullying laws. Presenting testimony in favor of the bill were GardenState Equality and the New Jersey Anti-Defamation League -- both ofwhich conceived the bill -- as well as New Jersey EducationalAssociation, the Gender Rights Advocacy Association, and the AttorneyGeneral's office on behalf of the Corzine Administation.
There was no opposition testimony. Among those voting "yes" yesterdaywas Senator Gerald Cardinale, perhaps the most conservative member ofthe New Jersey legislature. The Assembly Judiciary Committee, andfull Assembly and Senate, are expected to pass the bill in January.The bill is A4591 in the Assembly, chief-sponsored by WilfredoCaraballo, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, Upendra Chivukula and John McKeon.
more....
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
The World's Sexiest Athletes: Andy Roddick
He just helped earn the United States their first Davis Cup victory in overa decade with his amazingly focused all court game and shockingly powerfulserves. The name Andy Roddick has become almost synonymous with Americantennis over the past few years as one of the top ranked men in the world whocan compete with the unstoppable Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He is atough, intense, aggressive competitor on the tennis court, but it is hischarm, charisma, comedic behavior and incredible cuteness that have made hima fan favorite and one of the world's sexiest athletes.
--
Some 3,800 Young People Homeless in New York-Study
An estimated 3,800 people under age 24 go homeless each night in New York
City, but they blend in so well they are hard for social workers to find,according to the city's first-ever census of homeless youth.
--
HIV Positive Contestant Jack Mackenroth Forced to Leave 'Project Runway'
It was a rather sad ending to his Project Runway experience as sexy man JackMackenroth became the first contestant ever to check himself out of the gamebefore the runway show off. The openly HIV positive contestant bid himselfauf wiedersehen after a bacterial infection caused his mouth to swell.Now inits fourth season, Project Runway has been dubbed by some as the gayest showon television with its numerous openly gay contestants and its flair for thedramatic.
--
For Gay Teenagers, Hope in Numbers
Michael Moreno, a 15-year-old 10th grader from Brewster, could not believewhat he was seeing as he walked into the big hall at the Westchester CountyCenter, and he grew quiet. There, for as far as the eye could see, werehundreds of boys and girls who belonged to gay-straight clubs at area middleschools and high schools. "This is a great moment for him," said hisstepfather, Hector Ramos. "He's always felt so isolated."
--
Gay Marriage Debate Intensifies
New Jersey's well organized gay rights advocates are finding theiradversaries are also getting prepared for a coming legislative debate overgay marriage.The National Organization for Marriage, established earlierthis year in Princeton, made itself known over the past few weeks with radioadvertisements urging people to call their lawmakers to tell them thatallowing gay couples to marry would undermine the institution.
--
Some Churches Cut Civil Wedding Ceremonies
It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight, you can't get legally marriedat Lyndale United Church of Christ. The small, liberal church in southMinneapolis was the first of several Twin Cities congregations last year tostop performing civil marriage ceremonies as long as gay marriage isillegal. These churches, and a handful of others around the country thattook the same step, will still hold a religious ceremony to bless the unionsof straight and gay couples - but straight couples must go separately to ajudge or justice of the peace for the marriage license.
=
Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2007/12/iran-logo-tv-fa.html
IRAN: LOGO TV FAILS MAKWAN--AGAIN!
by Doug Ireland
December 15, 2007
The following is a response to the letter written for Queerty by JasonBellini (right), news anchor of LOGO, the national gay TV network that isowned by Viacom/MTV, in response to a criticism of LOGO I'd written earlier:
Dear Jason,
I just caught a re-run of the December 10 news broadcast you hosted onLOGO in which you dealt with the execution of 21-year-old Makwan Moloudzadehin Iran -- the broadcast you boasted about in the letter you wrote forQueerty replying to my criticism of the half-hour, end-of-the-year newsreview for ignoring the persecution and execution of Iranian LGBTers,including Makwan, in its discussion of Iranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad. It's a slightly belated addition to my first rejoinder to yourletter, now that I've had a chance to see the Makwan piece to which youreferred.
There's nothing in that LOGO report on Makwan (left) that anyone should havethe chutzpah to boast about, however. You devoted about four sentences and15 seconds to Makwan, and confined your report to saying he was executed foran act of sodomy committed when he was 13. Period.
No mention of the fact that there was NO evidence presented against Makwan,or that the plaintiffs against him had all recanted, in court, theirstatements to police about Makwan, and said they were false and had beenextracted under pressure (under torture, reported the courageous Iranianjournalist who covered the case.)
No mention on your air that the verdict was based solely on the suppositionof the clerical judge who sentenced him to death, or of the other whoppingirregularities in his trial. And no mention that the verdict was a violationof international law. Not a word.
No mention, either, of the fact that the trial was denounced as a horrificmiscarriage of justice by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and theInternational Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission -- whose executivedirector, Paula Ettelbrick (left), had said (in a press release issued wellbefore your broadcast, as were the condemnations of the trial and verdict byAI and HRW), "This is a shameful and outrageous travesty of justice andinternational human rights law. How many more young Iranians have to diebefore the international community takes action?"
more....
=
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#####
=
NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/nyregion/16berube.html?pagewanted=print
Allan Bérubé Is Dead at 61; Historian of Gays in Military
By MARGALIT FOX
December 16, 2007
Allan Bérubé, a MacArthur Award-winning independent scholar whose history ofgay men and lesbians in the military in World War II is widely consideredthe definitive book on the subject, died on Tuesday in Liberty, N.Y. He was61. A former resident of Manhattan, Mr. Bérubé had lived in Liberty inrecent years.
The cause was complications of stomach ulcers, a friend, Wayne Hoffman,said.
"Coming Out Under Fire" (Free Press), published in 1990, explores the uneasybut at times surprisingly benign relationship between the United Statesmilitary and its gay members.
Mr. Bérubé's book was invoked frequently during the debate that simmered inthe 1990s around President Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy,which officially allowed gay people to serve in the military if they kepttheir sexual orientation secret.
"Coming Out Under Fire" was also the basis for a documentary film of thatname, released in 1994.
more . . . . .
=
ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=15680
In stand for gay marriage, church cuts all unions
Straight couples must go to judge or justice of the peace for license
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) | Dec 14, 10:42 AM
It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight, you can't get legally marriedat Lyndale United Church of Christ.
The small, liberal church in south Minneapolis was the first of several TwinCities congregations last year to stop performing civil marriage ceremoniesas long as gay marriage is illegal. These churches, and a handful of othersaround the country that took the same step, will still hold a religiousceremony to bless the unions of straight and gay couples -- but straightcouples must go separately to a judge or justice of the peace for themarriage license.
"If you feel that gay and lesbian people are loved and credited by God, thenhow can we continue to discriminate against our brothers and sisters?" askedRev. Don Portwood, the reserved Nebraska native who's been lead pastor atthe 120-member Lyndale United Church of Christ for 27 years.
The churches in question minister to only a handful of the most liberalchurchgoers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and most have a large contingent ofgay members in the congregation.
"Go 20 miles out of the city and it will be a different story," said theRev. David Runnion-Bareford, executive director of Biblical WitnessFellowship, a New Hampshire-based conservative movement within the UnitedChurch of Christ.
more . . . . .
=
ExpressGayNews.com
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071211/NEWS/712110309&emailAFriend=1&template=printart
Provincetown police to receive civil rights training
December 11, 2007 6:00 AM
The town's police officers will receive the Anti-Defamation League's civilrights training, following a spate of incidents this summer that drewcomplaints against the police for insensitive treatment of gay men.
The training, scheduled for February for full-time officers and May forsummer officers, is one of three activities the town's No Place For Hatecommittee will sponsor in 2008. A townwide survey will be conducted and apublic forum is planned.
At a committee meeting last week, Provincetown acting Police Chief WarrenTobias said he would not seek input from those who complained this summer,such as the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project in Boston and off-Caperesident Richard Hall.
Hall has said his condition after an alleged assault on Sept. 9 warrantedmore attention from officials. The committee may have been formed because ofthe summer's incidents "but I don't want it to stay focused on that," saidmember Cathy Reno Brouillet.
- MARY ANN BRAGG
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The Guardian - UK
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2224553,00.html
Children are targets of Nigerian witch hunt
Tracy McVeigh in Esit Eket
Sunday December 9, 2007
The Observer
Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign ofviolence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil arebeing abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money outof the fear of their parents and their communities
Watch the video: Child 'witches' in Africa, and click here to see a relatedgallery
The rainy season is over and the Niger Delta is lush and humid. Thissouthern edge of West Africa, where Nigeria's wealth pumps out of oil andgas fields to bypass millions of its poorest people, is a restless place. Inthe small delta state of Akwa Ibom, the tension and the poverty hasdelivered an opportunity for a new and terrible phenomenon that is leadingto the abuse and the murder of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children. Andit is being done in the name of Christianity.
Children are targets of Nigerian witch hunt
Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign ofviolence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil arebeing abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money outof the fear of their parents and their communities
Watch the video: Child 'witches' in Africa, and click here to see a relatedgallery
The rainy season is over and the Niger Delta is lush and humid. Thissouthern edge of West Africa, where Nigeria's wealth pumps out of oil andgas fields to bypass millions of its poorest people, is a restless place. Inthe small delta state of Akwa Ibom, the tension and the poverty hasdelivered an opportunity for a new and terrible phenomenon that is leadingto the abuse and the murder of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children. Andit is being done in the name of Christianity.
Almost everyone goes to church here. Driving through the town of Esit Eket,the rust-streaked signs, tarpaulins hung between trees and posters onboulders, advertise a church for every third or fourth house along the road.
Such names as New Testament Assembly, Church of God Mission, Mount ZionGospel, Glory of God, Brotherhood of the Cross, Redeemed, Apostalistic.Behind the smartly painted doors pastors make a living by 'deliverances' -exorcisms - for people beset by witchcraft, something seen to cause anythingfrom divorce, disease, accidents or job losses. With so many churches it's acompetitive market, but by local standards a lucrative one.
But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much moresinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming themas witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turnon the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buriedalive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.
more....
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Forwarded from Transgender Equality
Jacqui -jacquicharvet@tgirls.net
LEGISLATION TO OVERHAUL NEW JERSEY'S HATE CRIMES AND SCHOOL BULLYINGLAWS IS ON ITS WAY
The bill, approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee 8-0 yesterday,adds "gender identity or expression" to the state's hate crimes lawand strengthens the state's hate crimes law for all minority groups.
The bill also requires schools to post on the web, and widelydistribute, their anti-school bullying policies, and creates aCommission on Bullying in Schools to further strengthen the state'santi-bullying law.
The bill will become the 154th LGBT civil rights law enacted at thestate, county and local levels since Garden State Equality's foundingin 2004 -- a civil rights record.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Contact: Steven Goldstein, cell (917) 449-8918
By a unanimous 8-0 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterdayapproved S2975, chief-sponsored by Senators Barbara Buono and LorettaWeinberg, to strengthen New Jersey's hate crimes and anti-schoolbullying laws. Presenting testimony in favor of the bill were GardenState Equality and the New Jersey Anti-Defamation League -- both ofwhich conceived the bill -- as well as New Jersey EducationalAssociation, the Gender Rights Advocacy Association, and the AttorneyGeneral's office on behalf of the Corzine Administation.
There was no opposition testimony. Among those voting "yes" yesterdaywas Senator Gerald Cardinale, perhaps the most conservative member ofthe New Jersey legislature. The Assembly Judiciary Committee, andfull Assembly and Senate, are expected to pass the bill in January.The bill is A4591 in the Assembly, chief-sponsored by WilfredoCaraballo, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, Upendra Chivukula and John McKeon.
more....
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National Gay News
http://nationalgaynews.com/
Go to the website, above, for the following articles:
--
The World's Sexiest Athletes: Andy Roddick
He just helped earn the United States their first Davis Cup victory in overa decade with his amazingly focused all court game and shockingly powerfulserves. The name Andy Roddick has become almost synonymous with Americantennis over the past few years as one of the top ranked men in the world whocan compete with the unstoppable Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. He is atough, intense, aggressive competitor on the tennis court, but it is hischarm, charisma, comedic behavior and incredible cuteness that have made hima fan favorite and one of the world's sexiest athletes.
--
Some 3,800 Young People Homeless in New York-Study
An estimated 3,800 people under age 24 go homeless each night in New York
City, but they blend in so well they are hard for social workers to find,according to the city's first-ever census of homeless youth.
--
HIV Positive Contestant Jack Mackenroth Forced to Leave 'Project Runway'
It was a rather sad ending to his Project Runway experience as sexy man JackMackenroth became the first contestant ever to check himself out of the gamebefore the runway show off. The openly HIV positive contestant bid himselfauf wiedersehen after a bacterial infection caused his mouth to swell.Now inits fourth season, Project Runway has been dubbed by some as the gayest showon television with its numerous openly gay contestants and its flair for thedramatic.
--
For Gay Teenagers, Hope in Numbers
Michael Moreno, a 15-year-old 10th grader from Brewster, could not believewhat he was seeing as he walked into the big hall at the Westchester CountyCenter, and he grew quiet. There, for as far as the eye could see, werehundreds of boys and girls who belonged to gay-straight clubs at area middleschools and high schools. "This is a great moment for him," said hisstepfather, Hector Ramos. "He's always felt so isolated."
--
Gay Marriage Debate Intensifies
New Jersey's well organized gay rights advocates are finding theiradversaries are also getting prepared for a coming legislative debate overgay marriage.The National Organization for Marriage, established earlierthis year in Princeton, made itself known over the past few weeks with radioadvertisements urging people to call their lawmakers to tell them thatallowing gay couples to marry would undermine the institution.
--
Some Churches Cut Civil Wedding Ceremonies
It doesn't matter if you're gay or straight, you can't get legally marriedat Lyndale United Church of Christ. The small, liberal church in southMinneapolis was the first of several Twin Cities congregations last year tostop performing civil marriage ceremonies as long as gay marriage isillegal. These churches, and a handful of others around the country thattook the same step, will still hold a religious ceremony to bless the unionsof straight and gay couples - but straight couples must go separately to ajudge or justice of the peace for the marriage license.
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Forwarded from Kenneth Sherrill - Ken's List
Kenneth.Sherrill@hunter.cuny.edu
kenslist@groups.queernet.org
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2007/12/iran-logo-tv-fa.html
IRAN: LOGO TV FAILS MAKWAN--AGAIN!
by Doug Ireland
December 15, 2007
The following is a response to the letter written for Queerty by JasonBellini (right), news anchor of LOGO, the national gay TV network that isowned by Viacom/MTV, in response to a criticism of LOGO I'd written earlier:
Dear Jason,
I just caught a re-run of the December 10 news broadcast you hosted onLOGO in which you dealt with the execution of 21-year-old Makwan Moloudzadehin Iran -- the broadcast you boasted about in the letter you wrote forQueerty replying to my criticism of the half-hour, end-of-the-year newsreview for ignoring the persecution and execution of Iranian LGBTers,including Makwan, in its discussion of Iranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad. It's a slightly belated addition to my first rejoinder to yourletter, now that I've had a chance to see the Makwan piece to which youreferred.
There's nothing in that LOGO report on Makwan (left) that anyone should havethe chutzpah to boast about, however. You devoted about four sentences and15 seconds to Makwan, and confined your report to saying he was executed foran act of sodomy committed when he was 13. Period.
No mention of the fact that there was NO evidence presented against Makwan,or that the plaintiffs against him had all recanted, in court, theirstatements to police about Makwan, and said they were false and had beenextracted under pressure (under torture, reported the courageous Iranianjournalist who covered the case.)
No mention on your air that the verdict was based solely on the suppositionof the clerical judge who sentenced him to death, or of the other whoppingirregularities in his trial. And no mention that the verdict was a violationof international law. Not a word.
No mention, either, of the fact that the trial was denounced as a horrificmiscarriage of justice by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and theInternational Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission -- whose executivedirector, Paula Ettelbrick (left), had said (in a press release issued wellbefore your broadcast, as were the condemnations of the trial and verdict byAI and HRW), "This is a shameful and outrageous travesty of justice andinternational human rights law. How many more young Iranians have to diebefore the international community takes action?"
more....
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[Send your comments about articles to Rays.List@Comcast.net]
#####
NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST December 16, 2007
**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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NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/books/review/Scheiber-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
It's the Politics, Stupid
By NOAM SCHEIBER
December 16, 2007
This July, when the Democrats John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clintonall proposed closing a tax loophole that saves hedge fund managers hundredsof millions of dollars each year, it wasn't immediately clear what to makeof it. On the one hand, it was the sort of proposal you'd expect from theparty of working people. On the other, these three presidential candidateshad stayed silent on the issue for months - while raising gobs of money fromwealthy financiers. Why would they turn on them now?
Only later did we get some hint of an explanation. The New York Timesreported that Charles Schumer, the Senate's third-ranking Democrat, hadspent June assuring Wall Street donors that the loophole would remainintact. This made the pronouncements a victory for everyone involved. TheDemocratic candidates could take the high road publicly, while theircontributors could rest easy knowing those tax breaks were safe.
In "The Squandering of America," Robert Kuttner says financial elites havetoo much sway over the Democratic Party - and, as a result, over publicpolicy. Judging from the tax-loophole episode, it's hard to disagree.
Kuttner, co-editor of The American Prospect and a columnist for The BostonGlobe, won't wow you with the novelty of his arguments. Liberals like himspent most of the 1990s groaning about Wall Street's grip over the ClintonWhite House, and about the "neoliberal" agenda that resulted. (In his ownbook, Gene Sperling, once an economic adviser to Bill Clinton, recallsfacing off against "the Three Bobs" - one of them Kuttner - during thebruising internecine fights of that decade.) The strength of Kuttner'slatest effort is that, with seven years' distance from the Clinton era, hisarguments now look emphatically right.
Kuttner takes on four pillars of neoliberalism: the preference for balancedbudgets and modest-size government; free trade; economic austerity as acondition for development aid; and financial-market deregulation. In eachcase, the evidence suggests neoliberal policies were either irrelevant ordownright disruptive.
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NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/us/politics/16debates.html?pagewanted=print
The Latest Reality Show: Die-Hard, Freeze-Frame Politics With a Life ofTheir Own
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
December 16, 2007
Of the thousands of minutes the 2008 presidential candidates have spent indebate, maybe four stand out.
Primary debates have become the raw footage of political discourse; hoursand hours of well-scripted disquisition about troop withdrawal, taxes,immigration law, trade rules, farm subsidies and gay marriage pile up on adigital cutting room floor; only a few highlights - a snappy comeback or atelling fumble - are culled and showcased on newscasts, YouTube and otherWeb sites.
There is a kind of paradox beneath it all: candidates, ever desperate toattract voter attention, feel obliged to surrender more and more time to thestraitjacket of televised debate, while technology conspires to allow votersto see as much as they want - or as little.
If this pre-election season that is almost over is to be remembered at all -in Iowa last week the debates buckled to a close like a Depression-era dancemarathon - it will stand out as the careful-what-you-wish-for contest. Ahuge field of Democratic and Republican candidates plodded through a recordnumber of televised showdowns, and voters were allowed to question thecandidates directly in two CNN/YouTube debates, some of them via homemadevideos that included puppets, musical scores and loony outfits.
But even the dedicated viewers (rarely more than two million each time) whowatched 90-minute debates unfurl in full on Fox or CNN this year are morelikely to remember the YouTube clip or NBC News montage better than theirown first impressions.
Television is the ultimate recovered-memory therapy, imposing an orderednarrative to diverse, dispersed moments. An isolated segment, shown over andover again, can distill, oversimplify and in some cases distort.
more . . . . .
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NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/16Rparenting.html?pagewanted=print
Parenting: For Gay Teenagers, Hope in Numbers
By MICHAEL WINERIP
December 16, 2007
WHITE PLAINS
MICHAEL MORENO, a 15-year-old 10th grader from Brewster, could not believewhat he was seeing as he walked into the big hall at the Westchester CountyCenter, and he grew quiet. There, for as far as the eye could see, werehundreds of boys and girls who belonged to gay-straight clubs at area middleschools and high schools.
"This is a great moment for him," said his stepfather, Hector Ramos. "He'salways felt so isolated."
Michael had so been looking forward to the daylong PrideWorks conferencethat he'd jumped out of bed that morning at 5:30. He was so happy andnervous, he kept forgetting basic pieces of information. "Dad, what's mycellphone number?" he asked at one point.
The boy has felt different forever, long before he had a name for it, atleast since age 5, he said. He told his mom when he was in the eighth grade,and she wasn't surprised. "She figured how I was," said Michael.
"He'd hang out with the girls, not the boys," said Anna Trejo, his mother, acourt worker.
more . . . . .
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501095_pf.html
McCain Calls for a Stop to Push Polling
By JIM DAVENPORT
The Associated Press
Sunday, December 16, 2007; 12:48 AM
NEWBERRY, S.C. -- White House hopeful John McCain on Saturday called onRepublican rival Mike Huckabee to end push polling in New Hampshire tied tohis presidential campaign's supporters, but Huckabee denied any involvement.
McCain said he learned Saturday afternoon of calls made Friday on Huckabee'sbehalf in New Hampshire.
If an ally of his was doing that, "I would ask him to stop it immediatelyand take those things down. And I hope that Mike Huckabee will do the same,"McCain said by phone as he traveled between campaign stops in SouthCarolina.
McCain said his campaign had told him Common Sense Issues had been makingcalls on behalf of the former Arkansas governor. He described it asnonprofit "supporter of Huckabee's for soft money."
"I don't have that hard information, but that's what I've been told it is,"McCain said. It "is one of those organizations funded by Huckabee supportersand I would ask him to have them take it down just as if somebody was doingthose things on my behalf I would have them take them down."
more . . . . .
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MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/692/v-print/story/346051.html
McCain calls for a stop to push polling
By JIM DAVENPORT
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
White House hopeful John McCain on Saturday called on Republican rival MikeHuckabee to end push polling in New Hampshire tied to his presidentialcampaign's supporters, but Huckabee denied any involvement.
McCain said he learned Saturday afternoon of calls made Friday on Huckabee'sbehalf in New Hampshire.
If an ally of his was doing that, "I would ask him to stop it immediatelyand take those things down. And I hope that Mike Huckabee will do the same,"McCain said by phone as he traveled between campaign stops in SouthCarolina.
McCain said his campaign had told him Common Sense Issues had been makingcalls on behalf of the former Arkansas governor. He described it asnonprofit "supporter of Huckabee's for soft money."
"I don't have that hard information, but that's what I've been told it is,"McCain said. It "is one of those organizations funded by Huckabee supportersand I would ask him to have them take it down just as if somebody was doingthose things on my behalf I would have them take them down."
more . . . . .
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Forwarded from Susan Frishkorn
frishkorn@bellsouth.net
Note: The people of Israel do not want war. The people of the US do not wantwar. The governments of both want a war with Iran. S
Israel: US report on Iran may spark war
By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 55 minutes ago
Israel's public security minister warned Saturday that a U.S. intelligencereport that said Iran is no longer developing nuclear arms could lead to aregional war that would threaten the Jewish state.
In his remarks - Israel's harshest criticism yet of the U.S. report - AviDichter said the assessment also cast doubt on American intelligence ingeneral, including information about Palestinian security forces' crackdownon militant groups. The Palestinian action is required as part of aU.S.-backed renewal of peace talks with Israel this month.
Dichter cautioned that a refusal to recognize Iran's intentions to buildweapons of mass destruction could lead to armed conflict in the Middle East.
He compared the possibility of such fighting to a surprise attack on Israelin 1973 by its Arab neighbors, which came to be known in Israel for the YomKippur Jewish holy day on which it began.
"The American misconception concerning Iran's nuclear weapons is liable tolead to a regional Yom Kippur where Israel will be among the countries thatare threatened," Dichter said in a speech in a suburb south of Tel Aviv,according to his spokesman, Mati Gil. "Something went wrong in the Americanblueprint for analyzing the severity of the Iranian nuclear threat."
Dichter didn't elaborate on the potential scenario but seemed to imply thata world that let its guard down regarding Iran would be more vulnerable toattack by the Islamic regime.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had disputed the U.S. intelligenceassessment this month, saying that Iran continues its efforts to obtaincomponents necessary to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran still poses a majorthreat to the West and the world must stop it, Olmert said.
Israel has for years been warning that Iran is working on nuclear weaponsand backed the United States in its international efforts to exert pressureon Iran to stop the program. Israel considers Iran a significant threatbecause of its nuclear ambitions, its long-range missile program andrepeated calls by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for the disappearanceof Israel.
more....
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/346580.html
On global warming, `there is a high price to delay'
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
The faster U.S. policy makers move to deal with global warming, the cheaperthe cost will be.
''We need a price on carbon,'' Jim Rogers of Duke Energy told a tradeconference. ``And the sooner we get a price on carbon, the better off weare, because then we can make decisions about what technology to use.''
Knowing the price of pollution allows companies to make sensible decisionsabout the future: about phasing out, say, coal plants and replacing themwith nuclear, wind or solar, whichever makes the most economic sense.
The more lead time that companies have to make changes, the easier thetransition will be. Less lead time means drastic, expensive programs to dothings like trying to capture the carbon that coal plants produce, ratherthan slowly phasing out carbon-spewing coal plants in favor of other formsof energy.
As it is, power companies are racing to get more than 100 coal plants goingbefore Congress passes climate-change legislation.
more . . . . .
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/12/15/missed_1216.html
Georgia's water crisis: How did we get here?
Cycle of plan, fail and repeat has left region high and dry
By MATT KEMPNER
Published on: 12/16/07
No one has ever been fishing in the West Georgia Regional Reservoir thatofficials first planned in the 1980s to help quench the region's thirst.
That's because despite millions of dollars set aside by three Georgiagovernors, the state never built the reservoir. It never inundated thousandsof acres of woods and pastures along the now drought-stricken TallapoosaRiver in Haralson County, just a few miles from the Alabama line.
Nor did the state build the rest of the network of at least a dozen regionalreservoirs that were supposed to drought-proof North Georgia. Nor didofficials erect a proposed dam on the Chattahoochee River six milesdownstream of Lake Lanier to pool more drinking water for metro Atlanta. Nordid they win approval to lock in dibs for more drinking water from Lanier.
Despite ample warnings and dire predictions over the last four decades,metro Atlanta has continued to grow even as it repeatedly failed toguarantee it would have enough water to satisfy its long term needs.
Every drought - including the current one - reminds officials how risky thearea's water future is.
more . . . . .
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/692/story/346788.html
Democrats poised for some soul-searching
By CHARLES BABINGTON
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
Congressional Democrats will have plenty to ponder during the Christmas andNew Year's break. For instance, why did things go so badly this fall and howwell did their leaders serve them?
Partisan players will quarrel for months, but objective analysts say thedebate must start here: An embattled president made extraordinary use of hisveto power, backed by GOP lawmakers who may have put their political
fortunes at risk.
Also, a new Democratic leadership team overestimated the impact of the Iraqwar and the 2006 elections, learning too late they had no tools to forceBush and his allies to compromise on the most contested issues.
Both parties seem convinced that voters will reward them in next November'selections. They agree that Congress' gridlock and frustration probably willcontinue until then - and possibly beyond - unless the narrow party marginsin the House and Senate change appreciably.
In a string of setbacks this past week, Democratic leaders yielded to Bushand his allies on Iraq war money, tax and health policies, and spendingdecisions affecting billions of dollars throughout the government.
more . . . . .
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-ciatapes16dec16,1,2805736.story?coll=la-news-politics-national&track=crosspromo
Legal fight breaks out over destroyed CIA tapes
The attorney general refuses congressional demands for information and urgesa federal judge not to start his own investigation.
From the Associated Press
December 16, 2007
WASHINGTON - The controversy over destroyed CIA interrogation tapes isshaping up as a turf battle involving the courts, Congress and the WhiteHouse, with the Bush administration telling its constitutional equals tostay out of the investigation.
The Justice Department says it needs time and the freedom to investigate thedestruction of hundreds of hours of recordings of two suspected terrorists.After Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey refused congressional demands forinformation Friday, the Justice Department filed late-night court documentsurging a federal judge not to begin his own inquiry.
The administration argued it was not obligated to preserve the videotapesand told U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy that demanding informationabout them "could potentially complicate the ongoing efforts to arrive at afull factual understanding of the matter."
The documents represent the first time the government has addressed theissue in court. In the papers, Acting Assistant Atty. Gen. Jeffrey S.Bucholtz said Kennedy lacked jurisdiction, and he expressed concern that thejudge might order CIA officials to testify.
Congressional inquiries and criminal investigations frequently overlap, andit is not uncommon for the Justice Department to ask lawmakers to ease off.The request for the court to stand down is more unusual. Judges takeseriously even the suggestion that evidence was destroyed, but they also arereluctant to wade into political debates.
more . . . . .
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/16/nh_catholic_diocese_issues_voting_guide/
N.H. Catholic diocese issues voting guide
By Associated Press | December 16, 2007
MANCHESTER, N.H. - New Hampshire's Roman Catholic Diocese is asking votersto pick the presidential candidate whose leadership would cause the leastharm to life.
The diocese is distributing a six-page pamphlet to parishioners with themessage, but not endorsing any candidate or siding with a political party.The pamphlet asks parishioners to weigh church teachings when consideringcandidates' positions on such issues as abortion, embryonic research, andthe death penalty.
The diocese has spoken out against abortion and the death penalty before thestate Legislature over the years.
Bishop John McCormack said this is the first such pamphlet issued before apresidential primary.
"The church says that there are social issues in society that have moraldimensions and that Catholics should form their consciences on those socialissues and then vote for a candidate who supports those issues the best waypossible," he said.
more . . . . .
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Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5380823.html
ANALYSIS
CEO-like approach could cost Bush later
He's winning tactical fights by refusing to budge, but loyalties suffer
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
New York Times
Dec. 15, 2007, 5:15PM
WASHINGTON - With Democrats beginning to cave to the White House on energyand spending bills, and with their hopes of expanding a popular children'shealth program all but dashed, President Bush scored three politicalvictories last week on Capitol Hill.
As with earlier battles over the war in Iraq, the victories underscore thesurprising amount of clout that Bush still wields against a Democratic-runCongress.
Late in his presidency, with his poll numbers stuck at record lows, he hasbeen able to persuade Republicans to stick with him.
But winning may have come at a price.
Unlike presidents before him, Bush has not used the power of the Oval Officeto hammer out a compromise with his legislative foes. Instead, he has vetoedbills he does not like, refused to budge on spending limits and let hisunderlings do the negotiating - a strategy that has his critics, includingsome Republicans, wondering why the most powerful dealmaker in Washington isnot practicing the art of the deal.
more . . . . .
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Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/chi-edwards_bddec16,0,5927392.story
NATION
CAMPAIGN 2008
Edwards cuts sharper edge in Iowa trail speeches
By Tim Jones
Tribune national correspondent
December 16, 2007
IOWA CITY
The Chevy truck song -- John Mellencamp's "Our Country" -- blared fromoverhead speakers as the once and former Democratic beacon of sunshine andhope prepared to drop some red meat on the carpeted floor of the normallyplacid Iowa City Public Library.
"The few, the powerful, the well-financed, they now control the government,"John Edwards told a tight crowd of about 350 last week. "They've taken overyour democracy. And it affects everything that happens in this country."
"Everything," he emphasized.
During an 18-minute span, the former North Carolina senator took aim andfired freely at insurance, oil and drug companies and failed chiefexecutives rewarded with golden parachutes. He described the Republicanfield as "George Bush on steroids" and said his Democratic competitors aretalkers, not fighters.
In what has often been portrayed as a two-Democrat battle -- between Sens.Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York -- the populistEdwards is making an eight-day blitz across the frozen fields of Iowa, asort of red-meat express to convince the middle class that he is the one whowill wrest the country from the clutches of "corporate power and greed."
more . . . . .
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/12/16/the_truth_about_honesty/
The truth about honesty
By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist
December 16, 2007
MAYBE American voters are ready for the truth.
Maybe they finally understand if they don't get it from a presidentialcandidate about their personal life, they are unlikely to get it from apresident about anything.
George W. Bush, presidential candidate, refused to answer specific questionsabout his early years. "When I was young and irresponsible, I was young andirresponsible, " he famously said. Candidate Bush acknowledged being a heavydrinker in the past, but declined to answer questions about whether he everused marijuana or cocaine. "When I get asked pointed questions, I'm going toremind people that I made mistakes in the past and the question is, 'Have Ilearned from those mistakes?' " said Bush in a 1999 interview with Globereporter Michael Kranish.
Is it any coincidence that Bush's White House tenure is marked by a refusalto confront the truth, or tell it to the American people on a host ofissues, most notably the invasion of Iraq and ongoing conflict there?
Presidential candidate Bill Clinton sidestepped questions about marijuanause, with the classic retort, "I didn't inhale." Candidate Bill Clintondidn't come clean about his efforts to avoid the military draft and hedenied an extramarital affair even when confronted with explicit details. Atthe time, Hillary Clinton, his wife and a current presidential candidate,went along with her husband's dodges. Clinton's presidency was also markedby a refusal to confront the truth or tell it to the American people, mostnotably regarding his sexual escapades with White House intern MonicaLewinsky.
more . . . . .
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/12/16/for_republicans_john_mccain/
PRIMARY ENDORSEMENTS | GLOBE EDITORIAL
For Republicans: John McCain
December 16, 2007
CONVENTIONAL wisdom among political handlers used to hold that a candidateneeded to capture the political center. The last two presidential campaignsproved that wrong. The Republicans scraped out victories by pressing justenough buttons and mobilizing just enough voters. But such wins breedpolitical polarization and deprive a president of the political capitalneeded to ask Americans to sacrifice in difficult times.
The antidote to such a toxic political approach is John McCain. Theiconoclastic senator from Arizona has earned his reputation for straighttalk by actually leveling with voters, even at significant politicalexpense. The Globe endorses his bid in the New Hampshire Republican primary.
McCain is a conservative whose views differ from those of this editorialpage in a variety of ways. He opposes abortion rights. At least in thecurrent election cycle, he has shown no particular quarrel with his party'sknee-jerk view of tax cuts as the cure to the nation's economic problems.
Also unlike this page, McCain has strongly supported the current war inIraq, including the troop surge. Yet the Arizona senator has never been anuncritical booster of President Bush's policies. Early on, he accuratelypredicted that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wasn't sending enoughtroops to maintain order after Saddam Hussein fell. Today, hestraightforwardly acknowledges the fragility of the Iraqi government and thecorruption that pervades that country. He understands that US failures inIraq, along with President Bush's torpid response to Hurricane Katrina, havedamaged the nation's credibility abroad and at home.
McCain's honesty has served him well on other issues. As a longtime publicofficial from a border state, he recognizes that illegal immigration is acomplex problem - for which better border control is only part of thesolution. His thoughtful stance may be a tough sell politically at a timewhen many Republicans (and many Democrats) are anxious about the number ofpeople living and working in the United States illegally. But his opponents'get-tough poses are unlikely to close the gap between immigration law andimmigration practice; McCain's comprehensive approach is far more likely tobring the two back in line.
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/12/16/for_democrats_barack_obama/
PRIMARY ENDORSEMENTS | GLOBE EDITORIAL
For Democrats: Barack Obama
December 16, 2007
THE FIRST American president of the 21st century has not appreciated theintricate realities of our age. The next president must. The most soberingchallenges that face this country - terrorism, climate change, diseasepandemics - are global. America needs a president with an intuitive sense ofthe wider world, with all its perils and opportunities. Senator Barack Obamaof Illinois has this understanding at his core. The Globe endorses hiscandidacy in New Hampshire's Democratic presidential primary Jan. 8.
Many have remarked on Obama's extraordinary biography: that he is thebiracial son of a father from Kenya and a mother who had him at 18; that hewas raised in the dynamic, multi-ethnic cultures of Hawaii and Indonesia;that he went from being president of the Harvard Law Review to the grittyand often thankless work of community organizing in Chicago; that, at 46, hewould be the first post-baby-boom president.
What is more extraordinary is how Obama seals each of these experiences tohis politics. One of the lessons he took from organizing poor families inChicago, he says, was "how much people felt locked out of their government,"even at the local level. That experience anchors his commitment totransparency and accountability in Washington.
Similarly, his exposure to foreign lands as a child and his own complexracial identity have made him at ease with diversity - of point of view aswell as race or religion. "I've had to negotiate through different culturesmy whole life," he says. He speaks with clarity and directness, and he isalso a listener, a lost art in our politics.
In what looks like prescience today, Obama was against the Iraq war from thestart. But his is not the stereotypical 1960s antiwar reflex. "I don'toppose all wars," he said in the fall of 2002. "I'm opposed to rash wars."
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CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/15/ap/politics/main3622849.shtml
Iowa Paper Endorses McCain, Clinton
DES MOINES, Iowa
Dec. 15, 2007
(AP) The Des Moines Register's editorial board is endorsing Republican Sen.John McCain and Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton ahead of the state's Jan. 3residential caucuses, contending they top the field in competence andreadiness to lead in a time of dissension at home and distrust and perilabroad.
Weighing in on a tight Democratic race, the statewide paper's board said inits endorsement Saturday night that Democratic challenger Barack Obama"inspired our imaginations. But it was Clinton who inspired our confidence."
McCain, an opponent of ethanol and crop subsidies important to Iowa, has notmounted a serious challenge in the state's close GOP contest, pinning hishopes on New Hampshire's Jan. 8 leadoff primary and elsewhere. But the boardcited his deep knowledge of national-security and foreign-policy issues, andhis honesty.
"The force of John McCain's moral authority could go a long way towardrestoring Americans' trust in government and inspiring new generations tobelieve in the goodness and greatness of America," the board wrote on thepaper's Web site.
The editorial board of The Boston Globe, closely watched in the NewHampshire campaign, came out in favor of Obama and McCain in itsendorsements Saturday.
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Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama_finaldec16,1,5078851.story
Any surprises from my past?
Don't bet on it, Obama says
By John McCormick
Tribune staff reporter
December 16, 2007
WATERLOO, Iowa
Sen. Barack Obama said Saturday that he has been so heavily covered by thenews media in recent years that suggestions that there might be surprises inhis background are off-base.
"I've probably been more reported on than any political figure in thecountry over the last year," he said during a news conference. "I hardlythink that I've been underexposed during the course of this race."
The Illinois Democrat, in a campaign sprint across northern Iowa, wasresponding to recent suggestions from Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, whohas said there would be "no surprises" about her past if she were picked asthe Democratic nominee.
Obama, meanwhile, said he doubts voters will punish him for use of marijuanaand cocaine when he was in high school, an issue raised late last week by aClinton campaign official who later resigned.
"What somebody does when they were a teenager, 30 years ago, is probably notrelevant," he said. "I think people have pretty good judgment about that."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/opinion/16friedman.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Columnist: It's Too Late for Later
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
December 16, 2007
Bali, Indonesia
The negotiators at the United Nations climate conference here in Bali camefrom almost 200 countries and spoke almost as many languages, but drivingthem all to find a better way to address climate change was one widelyshared, if unspoken, sentiment: that "later" is over for our generation.
"Later" was a luxury for previous generations and civilizations. It meantthat you could paint the same landscape, see the same animals, eat the samefruit, climb the same trees, fish the same rivers, enjoy the same weather orrescue the same endangered species that you did when you were a kid - butjust do it later, whenever you got around to it.
If there is one change in global consciousness that seems to have settled inover just the past couple of years, it is the notion that later is over.Later is no longer when you get to do all those same things - just on yourtime schedule. Later is now when they're gone - when you won't get to do anyof them ever again, unless there is some radical collective action tomitigate climate change, and maybe even if there is.
There are many reasons that later is over. The fact that global warming isnow having such an observable effect on pillars of our ecosystem - like thefrozen sea ice within the Arctic Circle, which a new study says coulddisappear entirely during summers by 2040 - is certainly one big factor. Butthe other is the voracious power of today's global economy, which hascreated a situation in which the world is not just getting hot, it's gettingraped.
Throughout human history there was always some new part of the ocean toplunder, some new forest to devour, some new farmlands to exploit, notedCarl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, who came to observe theBali conference. But "now that economic development has become theprerogative of every country," he said, we've run out of virgin oceans andlands "for new rising economic powers to exploit." So, too many countriesare now chasing too few fish, trees and water resources, and are eitherdevouring their own or plundering those of neighbors at alarming rates.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/weekinreview/16revkin.html
The World: As China Goes, So Goes Global Warming
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
December 16, 2007
GIVEN the accelerated melting these days in Greenland, it's probably nolonger appropriate to use the adjective "glacial" to describe treatynegotiations aimed at curbing dangerous human interference with the climate.
The talks in Bali over the last two weeks were just the latest baby step intrying to make that happen. The Bali achievement? Two more years of talks.In the meantime, concentrations of carbon dioxide, the main climate-heatingemission, continue the climb that began 250 years ago, as industrializationsurged on a diet of fossil fuels.
So, presuming the industrialized and industrializing nations are serious,who or what can realistically turn the carbon tide?
As always, the fingers of many experts on energy and the environment pointboth west and east - to the United States and China.
The established superpower arose riding a wave of fossil-fueled prosperity.The emerging one, sitting on a wealth of coal, sees few reasons not tofollow suit; after all, it has only just caught its wave (with India andothers in hot pursuit).
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401520.html
A Gates-Style Thaw
By Jim Hoagland
Sunday, December 16, 2007; B07
"We are going to do something terrible to you," one Kremlin insiderfrequently told Americans in the 1980s as the Soviet Union was crumblingbefore the unbelieving eyes of U.S. intelligence. "We are going to depriveyou of an enemy."
He turned out to be more prophetic than he realized. Today -- to myslack-jawed astonishment -- a senior U.S. official is pursuing a similarapproach toward a newly hostile Kremlin by making subtle overtures onballistic missile defense and other contentious security issues and thenwooing world opinion.
Big deal. Diplomats get paid to do that, right? But this is the astonishingpart. The official is Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The same Robert Gateswho under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush helped shape hard-lineintelligence judgments -- which he later admitted were behind the curve --and cultivated an image as a leading CIA hawk in the Washington politicalaviary.
Under George W. Bush, Gates has emerged as a steady, reasoned voice onpolicy in an administration struggling to keep its head above water. He hastraveled the globe this year to argue that the United States has not becomethe evil empire and is a trustworthy, caring ally. Making an art of notbeing Donald Rumsfeld, Gates has deflected angry broadsides from VladimirPutin and others with unsuspected reserves of irony.
At home, he urges Congress to provide more resources for public diplomacyand the State Department's other traditional activities. On Washington'sEmbassy Row, he is seen as "the only one left in this administration withcredibility," as one impressed diplomat puts it. Gates has, in short,eclipsed in many ways the other PhD in Soviet and Russian studies in Bush'sCabinet, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401523.html
Contrast Before the Caucuses
By David S. Broder
Sunday, December 16, 2007; B07
DES MOINES -- In the space of 24 hours, the nine lecterns occupied byRepublican presidential candidates in the auditorium of the Iowa PublicTelevision studios were replaced by six assigned to their potentialDemocratic rivals. You could hardly believe the candidates were discussingthe same country.
The Iraq war was not on the agenda for either debate, but every Democratpromised to end it and bring home most or all of the troops -- whileRepublicans looked past Iraq and focused on distant challenges from risingChinese power or Iranian nukes. Islamic terrorism was much on the minds ofthe Republicans; not one Democrat appeared to take it as an imminent threat.
At home, Democrats vied with each other in decrying the influence ofcorporations and industries -- especially oil, gas and pharmaceuticals -- onpublic policy and vowed to fight their power in the nation's capital. Theonly organization that was identified by any of the Republicans as a threatto the public welfare was the National Education Association, the largestteachers union.
The Republicans promised to keep or expand the tax cuts of the Bush years,with most of them pledging to go much further. The Democrats said those cutsshould be rolled back, at least for the wealthy, and the funds used to payfor new domestic programs. By contrast, the Republicans promised to wieldthe budget ax, cutting government payrolls and slashing domestic spending.
When it comes to education and health care, the Republican plans rely on themagic of the marketplace -- competition and consumer choice -- to improvequality and reduce costs. The Democrats would increase government leverageon drug prices and expand public education funding from pre-kindergartenthrough college. They are silent on the issue of school choice.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401333.html
The Right Road to America?
By Amy Chua
Sunday, December 16, 2007; B01
If you don't speak Spanish, Miami really can feel like a foreign country. Inany restaurant, the conversation at the next table is more likely to beSpanish than English. And Miami's population is only 65 percent Hispanic. ElPaso is 76 percent Latino. Flushing, N.Y., is 60 percent immigrant, mainlyChinese.
Chinatowns and Little Italys have long been part of America's urbanlandscape, but would it be all right to have entire U.S. cities where mostpeople spoke and did business in Chinese, Spanish or even Arabic? Are toomany Third World, non-English-speaking immigrants destroying our nationalidentity?
For some Americans, even asking such questions is racist. At the other endof the spectrum, the conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly fulminatesagainst floods of immigrants who threaten to change America's "complexion"and replace what he calls the "white Christian male power structure."
But for the large majority in between, Democrats and Republicans alike,these questions are painful, with no easy answers. At some level, most of uscherish our legacy as a nation of immigrants. But are all immigrants reallyequally likely to make good Americans? Are we, as the Harvard politicalscientist Samuel Huntington warns, in danger of losing our core values anddevolving "into a loose confederation of ethnic, racial, cultural, andpolitical groups, with little or nothing in common apart from their locationin the territory of what had been the United States of America"?
My parents arrived in the United States in 1961, so poor that they couldn'tafford heat their first winter. I grew up speaking only Chinese at home (forevery English word accidentally uttered, my sister and I got one whack ofthe chopsticks). Today, my father is a professor at Berkeley, and I'm aprofessor at Yale Law School. As the daughter of immigrants, a gratefulbeneficiary of America's tolerance and opportunity, I could not be morepro-immigrant.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401332.html
It's Time for Muslim Comedians to Stand Up
By Sarfraz Manzoor
Sunday, December 16, 2007; B01
Woody Allen is my God. Nothing strange about that, you might think -- exceptthat he is an Upper East Side New York Jew, and I am a British PakistaniMuslim from the working class. His characters are moneyed intellectualswhose only contact with dark-skinned people comes through the jazzsoundtrack playing in the background while they agonize over theirrelationships. I grew up with a father who worked in a car factory, and theonly white person who came near our home was the newspaper delivery boy.
And yet, when I first saw "Annie Hall" as a teenager, I knew I had found akindred spirit. It didn't matter that I had never set foot in the UnitedStates or that I missed some of the cultural references. (Who is thisMarshall McLuhan character, anyway?) I saw myself in Woody Allen. Self-doubtcloaked in self-deprecation? Check. Existential dread rubbing up againstcarnal desire? Check. He was so much like me that I almost forgot that Iwasn't, in fact, Jewish.
Woody Allen isn't the only comedian who uses humor to take the audiencewhere it might otherwise fear to tread. Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor alsoharnessed comedy's power to expose fears and challenge prejudices. Today,Chris Rock uses humor as therapy, self-expression and social commentary. Butwhile Jewish and African American comedians have learned to universalizetheir experience and laugh at themselves, we Muslims sometimes struggle justto convince the world that we have a sense of humor.
What comes to mind when you hear the word "Muslim"? It's more likely to bebeards, bombs and burqas than stand-up comedians. Muslims aren't exactlyfamous these days for lightheartedness. Sudanese Muslims weren't laughingwhen a British schoolteacher, Gillian Gibbons, recently allowed her pupilsto name a teddy bear "Muhammad." She narrowly escaped a prison sentence forthat transgression. But I think my fellow Muslims in Sudan went too far withthat one. Wouldn't it have been funny if British Muslims had demonstratedagainst her arrest with a "Spartacus"-inspired mass march to the Sudaneseembassy, each person carrying a teddy bear?
Consider some other examples of over-earnestness. In January, two Moroccanjournalists dodged five-year prison sentences after publishing a featurearticle called "Jokes: How Moroccans Laugh at Religion, Sex and Politics."According to the Moroccan government, they had insulted Islam and offendedpublic morality. And, of course, there were the global protests and killingslast year after a Danish newspaper published caricatures of the prophetMuhammad. The cartoons offended many Muslims because depicting the prophetis prohibited by our religion. The cartoons were particularly provocative,since some of them conflated Muhammad and terrorism; one even depicted theprophet with a bomb in his turban and a lit fuse. I can understand whyMuslims were offended, but I do not understand how a series of cartoons, nomatter how offensive, should lead to protests that ended up killing morethan 100. Talk about a disproportionate response. No wonder Albert Brookscould title his 2005 movie "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501508.html?hpid=topnews
'Best-Kept Secret' For HIV-Free Africa
Birth Control Better Than Drugs, Researchers Say
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, December 16, 2007; A26
NDORI, Kenya -- Giving antiretroviral drugs to pregnant women has long beencelebrated as one of the few successful tactics in the war against AIDS inAfrica. A single pill for a woman in labor, followed by a sip of syrup forher newborn baby, cuts HIV transmission rates by more than half, potentiallysaving the lives of millions of children.
But despite sustained financial and political support for the effort,studies show that only about one in 10 infected African mothers has accessto the drugs.
As these programs falter across the continent, researchers increasinglyagree that far more cases of pediatric AIDS could be prevented with acheaper, easier and more effective alternative: birth control.
"It tends to be the best-kept secret in HIV prevention," said Ward Cates,head of research for Family Health International, a nongovernmentalorganization based in North Carolina that has extensive experience inAfrica.
The group has found that programs providing antiretroviral drugs to pregnantwomen prevented 101,000 cases of pediatric HIV between 1999 and 2006.
Contraception, meanwhile, averts the births of 173,000 infected babies eachyear, the group says.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501849.html?hpid=topnews
Radomski Was Man in the Middle
Mets Employee Sold Steroids to Many
By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2007; D01
When the New York Mets arrived in Port St. Lucie, Fla., for spring trainingin late February 1993, trying to forget their 72-90 record from the seasonbefore, they were greeted by an old friend with new muscles.
Kirk J. Radomski, who was beginning his seventh season as the Mets' homeclubhouse attendant, had spent much of the offseason in a Bronx gym, tryingto make himself into a competitive bodybuilder. Players commented on hisenhanced physique. They asked him about his workout regimen. He told them hewas using steroids.
The questions soon turned into requests for steroids. Within months,Radomski was dealing steroids and other substances to friends andacquaintances on major league rosters, helping to push baseball into itsbiggest scandal in almost 90 years. The sport's performance-enhancing drugcrisis was exposed in a report released Thursday by George J. Mitchell andhis law firm DLA Piper.
The report implicated 92 current and former players. Radomski, the reportsaid, provided steroids or other drugs to more than half of them. And one ofRadomski's customers, personal trainer Brian McNamee, allegedly gaveperformance-enhancing drugs to three other players, including legendarypitcher Roger Clemens, who has vehemently denied the allegations through hisattorney.
Even though Mitchell's report concluded that the use ofperformance-enhancing drugs poses a "serious threat to the integrity of thegame," former Baltimore Orioles infielder and designated hitter David Segui,one of the players named in the report, told Mitchell during a recentinterview that he still thought highly of Radomski. The drugs he providedwere safe, Segui said, and he never pushed substances on anybody.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501594.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Destruction of CIA Tapes Defended
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2007; A06
The Bush administration has told a federal judge that its 2005 destructionof CIA interrogation videotapes did not violate a court order because thecaptives in question were being kept in secret prisons at the time, not atthe military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In court papers, the government also urged U.S. District Judge Henry H.Kennedy Jr. not to seek further information about the tapes to avoidinterfering with the inquiries of the Justice Department and the CIA'sinspector general.
"In light of the current inquiries by the political branches into thedestruction of the tapes that occasioned petitioners' motion, it would notbe appropriate to institute a judicial inquiry," according to the filing byActing Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey S. Bucholtz and two federalprosecutors.
The motion, which was filed late Friday night, is the first courtroomstatement by the Bush administration since the CIA disclosed that videotapesof coercive interrogation techniques used on two "high-value detainees" weredestroyed in November 2005.
The filing follows the Justice Department's request that Congress delay itsinquiries into the tapes, saying the administration cannot provide witnessesor documents without jeopardizing its own investigation. Attorney GeneralMichael B. Mukasey also told lawmakers that he could not provide any detailsabout the probe or the Justice Department's role in the tapes' destruction.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501553.html?hpid=sec-education
Columbia Still Roiled by Iranian's Visit
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2007; A12
NEW YORK -- When the head of Columbia University suggested that free speechwas banned in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not onlydisagreed, he also invited Lee C. Bollinger to come and see for himself.
The retort won Ahmadinejad applause on the New York campus and accoladesback home. For Bollinger, the sharp remarks he made in introducingAhmadinejad were meant to kick off a lively debate. But three months later,they have kept Columbia roiling.
The remarks, faculty members said in interviews, have exacerbated an alreadytense climate that is increasingly pitting Muslim and Middle East studiesprofessors against positions held by Jewish colleagues, particularly on theissue of tenure for two Arab professors.
"There have been an accumulation of events since Bollinger arrived that havepeople riled up. I have never seen a situation quite like this one, and I'vebeen here for 32 years," said Richard Bulliet, a professor of Islamicstudies who helped negotiate Ahmadinejad's appearance at the university.
A new source of angst is Bollinger's refusal to take up Ahmadinejad'sinvitation and his ban on official visits to Iran by Columbia facultymembers.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/345317.html
Why I quit as chief prosecutor at Guantánamo
BY MORRIS D. DAVIS
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
I was the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantánamo Bay,Cuba, until Oct. 4, the day I concluded that full, fair and open trials werenot possible under the current system. I resigned on that day because I feltthat the system had become deeply politicized and that I could no longer domy job effectively or responsibly.
In my view -- and I think most lawyers would agree -- it is absolutelycritical to the legitimacy of the military commissions that they beconducted in an atmosphere of honesty and impartiality. Yet the politicalappointee known as the ''convening authority'' -- a title with nocounterpart in civilian courts -- was not living up to that obligation.
In a nutshell, the convening authority is supposed to be objective -- notpredisposed for the prosecution or defense -- and must make importantdecisions at various stages in the process. The convening authority decideswhich charges filed by the prosecution go to trial and which are dismissed,chooses who serves on the jury, decides whether to approve requests forexperts and reassesses findings of guilt and sentences, among other things.
. Earlier this year, Susan Crawford was appointed by the U.S. secretary ofdefense to replace Maj. Gen. John Altenburg as the convening authority.
Altenburg's staff had kept its distance from the prosecution to preserve itsimpartiality. But Crawford had her staff assessing evidence before thefiling of charges, directing the prosecution's pretrial preparation of cases(which began while I was on medical leave), drafting charges against peoplewho were accused and assigning prosecutors to cases, among other things.
How can you direct someone to do something -- use specific evidence to bringspecific charges against a specific person at a specific time, forinstance -- and later make an impartial assessment of whether they behavedproperly? Intermingling convening authority and prosecutor roles perpetuatesthe perception of a rigged process stacked against the accused.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-will06decsbdec16,0,4222137.story
Ignoring 'No child' makes good sense
December 16, 2007
No Child Left Behind, supposedly an antidote to the "soft bigotry of lowexpectations," has instead spawned lowered standards. The law will bereauthorized because doubling down on losing bets is what Washington does.But because NCLB contains incentives for perverse behavior, reauthorizationshould include legislation empowering states to ignore it.
NCLB was passed in 2001 as an extension of the original mistake, PresidentLyndon Johnson's Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which became law in1965.
NCLB was supported by Republicans reluctant to vastly expand that intrusionbut even more reluctant to oppose a new president's signature issue. Thisexpansion of Washington's role in the quintessential state and localresponsibility was problematic, for three reasons.
First, most new ideas are dubious, so federalization of policy increases theprobability of continentwide mistakes. Second, education is susceptible topedagogic fads and social engineering fantasies - schools of educationincubate them - so it is prone to producing continental regrets. Third,America always is more likely to have a few wise state governments than awise federal government.
With mandated data collections - particularly tests of "adequate yearlyprogress" in reading and math - NCLB was supposed to generate informationthat would enable schools to be held accountable for cognitive outputscommensurate with federal financial inputs.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum16arabsbdec16,0,1321378.story
Arab-American disputes quotation from 'American Conversation Series'
By James Zogby
December 16, 2007
I am an Arab-American and proud of it. My family has been in the UnitedStates for over 100 years. During that time, we have served in every branchof government, and fought in every war in the service of our nation.
Like many other Arab Americans I'm proud of my heritage, and work to defendit. At the same time, I am imbued with American values, and work to projectthem.
Last month, I was honored to have been invited by our nation's archivist,Allen Weinstein, to speak as part of the National Archives' "AmericanConversation Series." My appearance was part of the Archives' Arab AmericanHeritage Month, declared in recognition of the role played by my communityin American life. In my remarks, I spoke about our immigrant history, thecontributions we have made to America, and the bridge role we play betweenAmerica and out countries of origin.
At one point during an exchange with the audience, I was asked to comment onhow Arabs and Muslims have been defamed in the media, and by some politicaland religious leaders. I replied by criticizing those who ignore suchbehavior or take it too lightly. As an example, I cited Pat Robertson, whohas often made inflammatory and bigoted remarks about Arabs and Muslims, andwho seems to delight at the prospect of a nuclear Armageddon. What troubledme, I noted, was that just a few days before my appearance at the Archives,Robertson's endorsement of a presidential candidate was given front-pagetreatment as a major political story in most U.S. newspapers.
I went on to say that if a Muslim religious leader who had made similarlyinsulting comments toward Christians or Jews were as close to the politicalleadership in his country as Robertson has been in ours, we would denouncethat individual and demand that his views be repudiated. I argued that, justas we would be correct in demanding this from a foreign leader, the samestandard should apply here at home. That is what I said.
Given this, I was troubled when I read a column in the South FloridaSun-Sentinel by a certain Mr. Abdul-Hussain, who claimed to report on myNational Archives remarks. He begins his column, quoting me as saying, "Youdo not find the equivalent of Pat Robertson on Arab channels." That, I didnot say, since I know better. Mr. Adbul-Hussain either was not there, didnot understand me, or deliberately misrepresented my comments in order touse me as a foil for his argument that "Arab Americans can't talk for theArab world."
I thank the Sun-Sentinel for giving me this opportunity to correct therecord.
Dr. James Zogby is President of the Arab American Institute
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum12sorensonpndec12,0,7986667.story
Sudanese incident shows why religion, politics don't mix
By James L. Sorenson
December 12, 2007
The episode earlier this month in which a teacher was jailed and threatenedwith a long sentence and a flogging because a stuffed bear in her room endedup being named "Muhammad" points to a serious matter, as far as ourunderstanding of what is, in truth, an enemy culture is concerned. Iremember hearing my folks discuss our lack of understanding of the variousreligio-military codes of the Japanese during WWII and what amounted totheir lack of respect for human life.
In this case, as I understand the problem, a teacher in Sudan let herstudents propose names for a stuffed bear as a sort of mascot for the class.It seems that the most popular kid in class is named Mohammad, and theyvoted. The class voted to name the bear after their classmate, rejecting themore Anglicized names suggested by the teacher.
This is sacrilege in that country, and the penalty is horrible. Imprisonmentin that nation would be bad enough, but a flogging on top of it could wellprove fatal.
What we don't understand, though, is how the actions of the kids became aproblem for the teacher. It seems that if the parents of these kids, andtheir "Sunday school" teachers, the same mullahs who sit on the court, weredoing what they need to do, then the kids would know better than to name astuffed bear after "the Prophet." On the other hand, they obviously likedthe bear and wished to honor him with the name of a beloved classmate, whowas, coincidentally named for the "beloved Prophet."
That's the problem with legalistic religions like Islam, particularly whenthey mix with politics.
Our problem is that we don't understand this and, now write this down, if weever see an increase in the United States of Islamic influence in politics,this is what we can expect. Here.
James L. Sorensen is a resident of Boca Raton.
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NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/books/review/Scheiber-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
It's the Politics, Stupid
By NOAM SCHEIBER
December 16, 2007
This July, when the Democrats John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clintonall proposed closing a tax loophole that saves hedge fund managers hundredsof millions of dollars each year, it wasn't immediately clear what to makeof it. On the one hand, it was the sort of proposal you'd expect from theparty of working people. On the other, these three presidential candidateshad stayed silent on the issue for months - while raising gobs of money fromwealthy financiers. Why would they turn on them now?
Only later did we get some hint of an explanation. The New York Timesreported that Charles Schumer, the Senate's third-ranking Democrat, hadspent June assuring Wall Street donors that the loophole would remainintact. This made the pronouncements a victory for everyone involved. TheDemocratic candidates could take the high road publicly, while theircontributors could rest easy knowing those tax breaks were safe.
In "The Squandering of America," Robert Kuttner says financial elites havetoo much sway over the Democratic Party - and, as a result, over publicpolicy. Judging from the tax-loophole episode, it's hard to disagree.
Kuttner, co-editor of The American Prospect and a columnist for The BostonGlobe, won't wow you with the novelty of his arguments. Liberals like himspent most of the 1990s groaning about Wall Street's grip over the ClintonWhite House, and about the "neoliberal" agenda that resulted. (In his ownbook, Gene Sperling, once an economic adviser to Bill Clinton, recallsfacing off against "the Three Bobs" - one of them Kuttner - during thebruising internecine fights of that decade.) The strength of Kuttner'slatest effort is that, with seven years' distance from the Clinton era, hisarguments now look emphatically right.
Kuttner takes on four pillars of neoliberalism: the preference for balancedbudgets and modest-size government; free trade; economic austerity as acondition for development aid; and financial-market deregulation. In eachcase, the evidence suggests neoliberal policies were either irrelevant ordownright disruptive.
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NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/us/politics/16debates.html?pagewanted=print
The Latest Reality Show: Die-Hard, Freeze-Frame Politics With a Life ofTheir Own
By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
December 16, 2007
Of the thousands of minutes the 2008 presidential candidates have spent indebate, maybe four stand out.
Primary debates have become the raw footage of political discourse; hoursand hours of well-scripted disquisition about troop withdrawal, taxes,immigration law, trade rules, farm subsidies and gay marriage pile up on adigital cutting room floor; only a few highlights - a snappy comeback or atelling fumble - are culled and showcased on newscasts, YouTube and otherWeb sites.
There is a kind of paradox beneath it all: candidates, ever desperate toattract voter attention, feel obliged to surrender more and more time to thestraitjacket of televised debate, while technology conspires to allow votersto see as much as they want - or as little.
If this pre-election season that is almost over is to be remembered at all -in Iowa last week the debates buckled to a close like a Depression-era dancemarathon - it will stand out as the careful-what-you-wish-for contest. Ahuge field of Democratic and Republican candidates plodded through a recordnumber of televised showdowns, and voters were allowed to question thecandidates directly in two CNN/YouTube debates, some of them via homemadevideos that included puppets, musical scores and loony outfits.
But even the dedicated viewers (rarely more than two million each time) whowatched 90-minute debates unfurl in full on Fox or CNN this year are morelikely to remember the YouTube clip or NBC News montage better than theirown first impressions.
Television is the ultimate recovered-memory therapy, imposing an orderednarrative to diverse, dispersed moments. An isolated segment, shown over andover again, can distill, oversimplify and in some cases distort.
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NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/16Rparenting.html?pagewanted=print
Parenting: For Gay Teenagers, Hope in Numbers
By MICHAEL WINERIP
December 16, 2007
WHITE PLAINS
MICHAEL MORENO, a 15-year-old 10th grader from Brewster, could not believewhat he was seeing as he walked into the big hall at the Westchester CountyCenter, and he grew quiet. There, for as far as the eye could see, werehundreds of boys and girls who belonged to gay-straight clubs at area middleschools and high schools.
"This is a great moment for him," said his stepfather, Hector Ramos. "He'salways felt so isolated."
Michael had so been looking forward to the daylong PrideWorks conferencethat he'd jumped out of bed that morning at 5:30. He was so happy andnervous, he kept forgetting basic pieces of information. "Dad, what's mycellphone number?" he asked at one point.
The boy has felt different forever, long before he had a name for it, atleast since age 5, he said. He told his mom when he was in the eighth grade,and she wasn't surprised. "She figured how I was," said Michael.
"He'd hang out with the girls, not the boys," said Anna Trejo, his mother, acourt worker.
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WashingtonPost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501095_pf.html
McCain Calls for a Stop to Push Polling
By JIM DAVENPORT
The Associated Press
Sunday, December 16, 2007; 12:48 AM
NEWBERRY, S.C. -- White House hopeful John McCain on Saturday called onRepublican rival Mike Huckabee to end push polling in New Hampshire tied tohis presidential campaign's supporters, but Huckabee denied any involvement.
McCain said he learned Saturday afternoon of calls made Friday on Huckabee'sbehalf in New Hampshire.
If an ally of his was doing that, "I would ask him to stop it immediatelyand take those things down. And I hope that Mike Huckabee will do the same,"McCain said by phone as he traveled between campaign stops in SouthCarolina.
McCain said his campaign had told him Common Sense Issues had been makingcalls on behalf of the former Arkansas governor. He described it asnonprofit "supporter of Huckabee's for soft money."
"I don't have that hard information, but that's what I've been told it is,"McCain said. It "is one of those organizations funded by Huckabee supportersand I would ask him to have them take it down just as if somebody was doingthose things on my behalf I would have them take them down."
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MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/692/v-print/story/346051.html
McCain calls for a stop to push polling
By JIM DAVENPORT
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
White House hopeful John McCain on Saturday called on Republican rival MikeHuckabee to end push polling in New Hampshire tied to his presidentialcampaign's supporters, but Huckabee denied any involvement.
McCain said he learned Saturday afternoon of calls made Friday on Huckabee'sbehalf in New Hampshire.
If an ally of his was doing that, "I would ask him to stop it immediatelyand take those things down. And I hope that Mike Huckabee will do the same,"McCain said by phone as he traveled between campaign stops in SouthCarolina.
McCain said his campaign had told him Common Sense Issues had been makingcalls on behalf of the former Arkansas governor. He described it asnonprofit "supporter of Huckabee's for soft money."
"I don't have that hard information, but that's what I've been told it is,"McCain said. It "is one of those organizations funded by Huckabee supportersand I would ask him to have them take it down just as if somebody was doingthose things on my behalf I would have them take them down."
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Forwarded from Susan Frishkorn
frishkorn@bellsouth.net
Note: The people of Israel do not want war. The people of the US do not wantwar. The governments of both want a war with Iran. S
Israel: US report on Iran may spark war
By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 55 minutes ago
Israel's public security minister warned Saturday that a U.S. intelligencereport that said Iran is no longer developing nuclear arms could lead to aregional war that would threaten the Jewish state.
In his remarks - Israel's harshest criticism yet of the U.S. report - AviDichter said the assessment also cast doubt on American intelligence ingeneral, including information about Palestinian security forces' crackdownon militant groups. The Palestinian action is required as part of aU.S.-backed renewal of peace talks with Israel this month.
Dichter cautioned that a refusal to recognize Iran's intentions to buildweapons of mass destruction could lead to armed conflict in the Middle East.
He compared the possibility of such fighting to a surprise attack on Israelin 1973 by its Arab neighbors, which came to be known in Israel for the YomKippur Jewish holy day on which it began.
"The American misconception concerning Iran's nuclear weapons is liable tolead to a regional Yom Kippur where Israel will be among the countries thatare threatened," Dichter said in a speech in a suburb south of Tel Aviv,according to his spokesman, Mati Gil. "Something went wrong in the Americanblueprint for analyzing the severity of the Iranian nuclear threat."
Dichter didn't elaborate on the potential scenario but seemed to imply thata world that let its guard down regarding Iran would be more vulnerable toattack by the Islamic regime.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had disputed the U.S. intelligenceassessment this month, saying that Iran continues its efforts to obtaincomponents necessary to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran still poses a majorthreat to the West and the world must stop it, Olmert said.
Israel has for years been warning that Iran is working on nuclear weaponsand backed the United States in its international efforts to exert pressureon Iran to stop the program. Israel considers Iran a significant threatbecause of its nuclear ambitions, its long-range missile program andrepeated calls by its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for the disappearanceof Israel.
more....
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/346580.html
On global warming, `there is a high price to delay'
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
The faster U.S. policy makers move to deal with global warming, the cheaperthe cost will be.
''We need a price on carbon,'' Jim Rogers of Duke Energy told a tradeconference. ``And the sooner we get a price on carbon, the better off weare, because then we can make decisions about what technology to use.''
Knowing the price of pollution allows companies to make sensible decisionsabout the future: about phasing out, say, coal plants and replacing themwith nuclear, wind or solar, whichever makes the most economic sense.
The more lead time that companies have to make changes, the easier thetransition will be. Less lead time means drastic, expensive programs to dothings like trying to capture the carbon that coal plants produce, ratherthan slowly phasing out carbon-spewing coal plants in favor of other formsof energy.
As it is, power companies are racing to get more than 100 coal plants goingbefore Congress passes climate-change legislation.
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/12/15/missed_1216.html
Georgia's water crisis: How did we get here?
Cycle of plan, fail and repeat has left region high and dry
By MATT KEMPNER
Published on: 12/16/07
No one has ever been fishing in the West Georgia Regional Reservoir thatofficials first planned in the 1980s to help quench the region's thirst.
That's because despite millions of dollars set aside by three Georgiagovernors, the state never built the reservoir. It never inundated thousandsof acres of woods and pastures along the now drought-stricken TallapoosaRiver in Haralson County, just a few miles from the Alabama line.
Nor did the state build the rest of the network of at least a dozen regionalreservoirs that were supposed to drought-proof North Georgia. Nor didofficials erect a proposed dam on the Chattahoochee River six milesdownstream of Lake Lanier to pool more drinking water for metro Atlanta. Nordid they win approval to lock in dibs for more drinking water from Lanier.
Despite ample warnings and dire predictions over the last four decades,metro Atlanta has continued to grow even as it repeatedly failed toguarantee it would have enough water to satisfy its long term needs.
Every drought - including the current one - reminds officials how risky thearea's water future is.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/692/story/346788.html
Democrats poised for some soul-searching
By CHARLES BABINGTON
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
Congressional Democrats will have plenty to ponder during the Christmas andNew Year's break. For instance, why did things go so badly this fall and howwell did their leaders serve them?
Partisan players will quarrel for months, but objective analysts say thedebate must start here: An embattled president made extraordinary use of hisveto power, backed by GOP lawmakers who may have put their political
fortunes at risk.
Also, a new Democratic leadership team overestimated the impact of the Iraqwar and the 2006 elections, learning too late they had no tools to forceBush and his allies to compromise on the most contested issues.
Both parties seem convinced that voters will reward them in next November'selections. They agree that Congress' gridlock and frustration probably willcontinue until then - and possibly beyond - unless the narrow party marginsin the House and Senate change appreciably.
In a string of setbacks this past week, Democratic leaders yielded to Bushand his allies on Iraq war money, tax and health policies, and spendingdecisions affecting billions of dollars throughout the government.
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-ciatapes16dec16,1,2805736.story?coll=la-news-politics-national&track=crosspromo
Legal fight breaks out over destroyed CIA tapes
The attorney general refuses congressional demands for information and urgesa federal judge not to start his own investigation.
From the Associated Press
December 16, 2007
WASHINGTON - The controversy over destroyed CIA interrogation tapes isshaping up as a turf battle involving the courts, Congress and the WhiteHouse, with the Bush administration telling its constitutional equals tostay out of the investigation.
The Justice Department says it needs time and the freedom to investigate thedestruction of hundreds of hours of recordings of two suspected terrorists.After Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey refused congressional demands forinformation Friday, the Justice Department filed late-night court documentsurging a federal judge not to begin his own inquiry.
The administration argued it was not obligated to preserve the videotapesand told U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy that demanding informationabout them "could potentially complicate the ongoing efforts to arrive at afull factual understanding of the matter."
The documents represent the first time the government has addressed theissue in court. In the papers, Acting Assistant Atty. Gen. Jeffrey S.Bucholtz said Kennedy lacked jurisdiction, and he expressed concern that thejudge might order CIA officials to testify.
Congressional inquiries and criminal investigations frequently overlap, andit is not uncommon for the Justice Department to ask lawmakers to ease off.The request for the court to stand down is more unusual. Judges takeseriously even the suggestion that evidence was destroyed, but they also arereluctant to wade into political debates.
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/16/nh_catholic_diocese_issues_voting_guide/
N.H. Catholic diocese issues voting guide
By Associated Press | December 16, 2007
MANCHESTER, N.H. - New Hampshire's Roman Catholic Diocese is asking votersto pick the presidential candidate whose leadership would cause the leastharm to life.
The diocese is distributing a six-page pamphlet to parishioners with themessage, but not endorsing any candidate or siding with a political party.The pamphlet asks parishioners to weigh church teachings when consideringcandidates' positions on such issues as abortion, embryonic research, andthe death penalty.
The diocese has spoken out against abortion and the death penalty before thestate Legislature over the years.
Bishop John McCormack said this is the first such pamphlet issued before apresidential primary.
"The church says that there are social issues in society that have moraldimensions and that Catholics should form their consciences on those socialissues and then vote for a candidate who supports those issues the best waypossible," he said.
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Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5380823.html
ANALYSIS
CEO-like approach could cost Bush later
He's winning tactical fights by refusing to budge, but loyalties suffer
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
New York Times
Dec. 15, 2007, 5:15PM
WASHINGTON - With Democrats beginning to cave to the White House on energyand spending bills, and with their hopes of expanding a popular children'shealth program all but dashed, President Bush scored three politicalvictories last week on Capitol Hill.
As with earlier battles over the war in Iraq, the victories underscore thesurprising amount of clout that Bush still wields against a Democratic-runCongress.
Late in his presidency, with his poll numbers stuck at record lows, he hasbeen able to persuade Republicans to stick with him.
But winning may have come at a price.
Unlike presidents before him, Bush has not used the power of the Oval Officeto hammer out a compromise with his legislative foes. Instead, he has vetoedbills he does not like, refused to budge on spending limits and let hisunderlings do the negotiating - a strategy that has his critics, includingsome Republicans, wondering why the most powerful dealmaker in Washington isnot practicing the art of the deal.
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Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/chi-edwards_bddec16,0,5927392.story
NATION
CAMPAIGN 2008
Edwards cuts sharper edge in Iowa trail speeches
By Tim Jones
Tribune national correspondent
December 16, 2007
IOWA CITY
The Chevy truck song -- John Mellencamp's "Our Country" -- blared fromoverhead speakers as the once and former Democratic beacon of sunshine andhope prepared to drop some red meat on the carpeted floor of the normallyplacid Iowa City Public Library.
"The few, the powerful, the well-financed, they now control the government,"John Edwards told a tight crowd of about 350 last week. "They've taken overyour democracy. And it affects everything that happens in this country."
"Everything," he emphasized.
During an 18-minute span, the former North Carolina senator took aim andfired freely at insurance, oil and drug companies and failed chiefexecutives rewarded with golden parachutes. He described the Republicanfield as "George Bush on steroids" and said his Democratic competitors aretalkers, not fighters.
In what has often been portrayed as a two-Democrat battle -- between Sens.Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York -- the populistEdwards is making an eight-day blitz across the frozen fields of Iowa, asort of red-meat express to convince the middle class that he is the one whowill wrest the country from the clutches of "corporate power and greed."
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/12/16/the_truth_about_honesty/
The truth about honesty
By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist
December 16, 2007
MAYBE American voters are ready for the truth.
Maybe they finally understand if they don't get it from a presidentialcandidate about their personal life, they are unlikely to get it from apresident about anything.
George W. Bush, presidential candidate, refused to answer specific questionsabout his early years. "When I was young and irresponsible, I was young andirresponsible, " he famously said. Candidate Bush acknowledged being a heavydrinker in the past, but declined to answer questions about whether he everused marijuana or cocaine. "When I get asked pointed questions, I'm going toremind people that I made mistakes in the past and the question is, 'Have Ilearned from those mistakes?' " said Bush in a 1999 interview with Globereporter Michael Kranish.
Is it any coincidence that Bush's White House tenure is marked by a refusalto confront the truth, or tell it to the American people on a host ofissues, most notably the invasion of Iraq and ongoing conflict there?
Presidential candidate Bill Clinton sidestepped questions about marijuanause, with the classic retort, "I didn't inhale." Candidate Bill Clintondidn't come clean about his efforts to avoid the military draft and hedenied an extramarital affair even when confronted with explicit details. Atthe time, Hillary Clinton, his wife and a current presidential candidate,went along with her husband's dodges. Clinton's presidency was also markedby a refusal to confront the truth or tell it to the American people, mostnotably regarding his sexual escapades with White House intern MonicaLewinsky.
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/12/16/for_republicans_john_mccain/
PRIMARY ENDORSEMENTS | GLOBE EDITORIAL
For Republicans: John McCain
December 16, 2007
CONVENTIONAL wisdom among political handlers used to hold that a candidateneeded to capture the political center. The last two presidential campaignsproved that wrong. The Republicans scraped out victories by pressing justenough buttons and mobilizing just enough voters. But such wins breedpolitical polarization and deprive a president of the political capitalneeded to ask Americans to sacrifice in difficult times.
The antidote to such a toxic political approach is John McCain. Theiconoclastic senator from Arizona has earned his reputation for straighttalk by actually leveling with voters, even at significant politicalexpense. The Globe endorses his bid in the New Hampshire Republican primary.
McCain is a conservative whose views differ from those of this editorialpage in a variety of ways. He opposes abortion rights. At least in thecurrent election cycle, he has shown no particular quarrel with his party'sknee-jerk view of tax cuts as the cure to the nation's economic problems.
Also unlike this page, McCain has strongly supported the current war inIraq, including the troop surge. Yet the Arizona senator has never been anuncritical booster of President Bush's policies. Early on, he accuratelypredicted that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wasn't sending enoughtroops to maintain order after Saddam Hussein fell. Today, hestraightforwardly acknowledges the fragility of the Iraqi government and thecorruption that pervades that country. He understands that US failures inIraq, along with President Bush's torpid response to Hurricane Katrina, havedamaged the nation's credibility abroad and at home.
McCain's honesty has served him well on other issues. As a longtime publicofficial from a border state, he recognizes that illegal immigration is acomplex problem - for which better border control is only part of thesolution. His thoughtful stance may be a tough sell politically at a timewhen many Republicans (and many Democrats) are anxious about the number ofpeople living and working in the United States illegally. But his opponents'get-tough poses are unlikely to close the gap between immigration law andimmigration practice; McCain's comprehensive approach is far more likely tobring the two back in line.
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Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/12/16/for_democrats_barack_obama/
PRIMARY ENDORSEMENTS | GLOBE EDITORIAL
For Democrats: Barack Obama
December 16, 2007
THE FIRST American president of the 21st century has not appreciated theintricate realities of our age. The next president must. The most soberingchallenges that face this country - terrorism, climate change, diseasepandemics - are global. America needs a president with an intuitive sense ofthe wider world, with all its perils and opportunities. Senator Barack Obamaof Illinois has this understanding at his core. The Globe endorses hiscandidacy in New Hampshire's Democratic presidential primary Jan. 8.
Many have remarked on Obama's extraordinary biography: that he is thebiracial son of a father from Kenya and a mother who had him at 18; that hewas raised in the dynamic, multi-ethnic cultures of Hawaii and Indonesia;that he went from being president of the Harvard Law Review to the grittyand often thankless work of community organizing in Chicago; that, at 46, hewould be the first post-baby-boom president.
What is more extraordinary is how Obama seals each of these experiences tohis politics. One of the lessons he took from organizing poor families inChicago, he says, was "how much people felt locked out of their government,"even at the local level. That experience anchors his commitment totransparency and accountability in Washington.
Similarly, his exposure to foreign lands as a child and his own complexracial identity have made him at ease with diversity - of point of view aswell as race or religion. "I've had to negotiate through different culturesmy whole life," he says. He speaks with clarity and directness, and he isalso a listener, a lost art in our politics.
In what looks like prescience today, Obama was against the Iraq war from thestart. But his is not the stereotypical 1960s antiwar reflex. "I don'toppose all wars," he said in the fall of 2002. "I'm opposed to rash wars."
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CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/15/ap/politics/main3622849.shtml
Iowa Paper Endorses McCain, Clinton
DES MOINES, Iowa
Dec. 15, 2007
(AP) The Des Moines Register's editorial board is endorsing Republican Sen.John McCain and Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton ahead of the state's Jan. 3residential caucuses, contending they top the field in competence andreadiness to lead in a time of dissension at home and distrust and perilabroad.
Weighing in on a tight Democratic race, the statewide paper's board said inits endorsement Saturday night that Democratic challenger Barack Obama"inspired our imaginations. But it was Clinton who inspired our confidence."
McCain, an opponent of ethanol and crop subsidies important to Iowa, has notmounted a serious challenge in the state's close GOP contest, pinning hishopes on New Hampshire's Jan. 8 leadoff primary and elsewhere. But the boardcited his deep knowledge of national-security and foreign-policy issues, andhis honesty.
"The force of John McCain's moral authority could go a long way towardrestoring Americans' trust in government and inspiring new generations tobelieve in the goodness and greatness of America," the board wrote on thepaper's Web site.
The editorial board of The Boston Globe, closely watched in the NewHampshire campaign, came out in favor of Obama and McCain in itsendorsements Saturday.
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Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama_finaldec16,1,5078851.story
Any surprises from my past?
Don't bet on it, Obama says
By John McCormick
Tribune staff reporter
December 16, 2007
WATERLOO, Iowa
Sen. Barack Obama said Saturday that he has been so heavily covered by thenews media in recent years that suggestions that there might be surprises inhis background are off-base.
"I've probably been more reported on than any political figure in thecountry over the last year," he said during a news conference. "I hardlythink that I've been underexposed during the course of this race."
The Illinois Democrat, in a campaign sprint across northern Iowa, wasresponding to recent suggestions from Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, whohas said there would be "no surprises" about her past if she were picked asthe Democratic nominee.
Obama, meanwhile, said he doubts voters will punish him for use of marijuanaand cocaine when he was in high school, an issue raised late last week by aClinton campaign official who later resigned.
"What somebody does when they were a teenager, 30 years ago, is probably notrelevant," he said. "I think people have pretty good judgment about that."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/opinion/16friedman.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Columnist: It's Too Late for Later
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
December 16, 2007
Bali, Indonesia
The negotiators at the United Nations climate conference here in Bali camefrom almost 200 countries and spoke almost as many languages, but drivingthem all to find a better way to address climate change was one widelyshared, if unspoken, sentiment: that "later" is over for our generation.
"Later" was a luxury for previous generations and civilizations. It meantthat you could paint the same landscape, see the same animals, eat the samefruit, climb the same trees, fish the same rivers, enjoy the same weather orrescue the same endangered species that you did when you were a kid - butjust do it later, whenever you got around to it.
If there is one change in global consciousness that seems to have settled inover just the past couple of years, it is the notion that later is over.Later is no longer when you get to do all those same things - just on yourtime schedule. Later is now when they're gone - when you won't get to do anyof them ever again, unless there is some radical collective action tomitigate climate change, and maybe even if there is.
There are many reasons that later is over. The fact that global warming isnow having such an observable effect on pillars of our ecosystem - like thefrozen sea ice within the Arctic Circle, which a new study says coulddisappear entirely during summers by 2040 - is certainly one big factor. Butthe other is the voracious power of today's global economy, which hascreated a situation in which the world is not just getting hot, it's gettingraped.
Throughout human history there was always some new part of the ocean toplunder, some new forest to devour, some new farmlands to exploit, notedCarl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, who came to observe theBali conference. But "now that economic development has become theprerogative of every country," he said, we've run out of virgin oceans andlands "for new rising economic powers to exploit." So, too many countriesare now chasing too few fish, trees and water resources, and are eitherdevouring their own or plundering those of neighbors at alarming rates.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/weekinreview/16revkin.html
The World: As China Goes, So Goes Global Warming
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
December 16, 2007
GIVEN the accelerated melting these days in Greenland, it's probably nolonger appropriate to use the adjective "glacial" to describe treatynegotiations aimed at curbing dangerous human interference with the climate.
The talks in Bali over the last two weeks were just the latest baby step intrying to make that happen. The Bali achievement? Two more years of talks.In the meantime, concentrations of carbon dioxide, the main climate-heatingemission, continue the climb that began 250 years ago, as industrializationsurged on a diet of fossil fuels.
So, presuming the industrialized and industrializing nations are serious,who or what can realistically turn the carbon tide?
As always, the fingers of many experts on energy and the environment pointboth west and east - to the United States and China.
The established superpower arose riding a wave of fossil-fueled prosperity.The emerging one, sitting on a wealth of coal, sees few reasons not tofollow suit; after all, it has only just caught its wave (with India andothers in hot pursuit).
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401520.html
A Gates-Style Thaw
By Jim Hoagland
Sunday, December 16, 2007; B07
"We are going to do something terrible to you," one Kremlin insiderfrequently told Americans in the 1980s as the Soviet Union was crumblingbefore the unbelieving eyes of U.S. intelligence. "We are going to depriveyou of an enemy."
He turned out to be more prophetic than he realized. Today -- to myslack-jawed astonishment -- a senior U.S. official is pursuing a similarapproach toward a newly hostile Kremlin by making subtle overtures onballistic missile defense and other contentious security issues and thenwooing world opinion.
Big deal. Diplomats get paid to do that, right? But this is the astonishingpart. The official is Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The same Robert Gateswho under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush helped shape hard-lineintelligence judgments -- which he later admitted were behind the curve --and cultivated an image as a leading CIA hawk in the Washington politicalaviary.
Under George W. Bush, Gates has emerged as a steady, reasoned voice onpolicy in an administration struggling to keep its head above water. He hastraveled the globe this year to argue that the United States has not becomethe evil empire and is a trustworthy, caring ally. Making an art of notbeing Donald Rumsfeld, Gates has deflected angry broadsides from VladimirPutin and others with unsuspected reserves of irony.
At home, he urges Congress to provide more resources for public diplomacyand the State Department's other traditional activities. On Washington'sEmbassy Row, he is seen as "the only one left in this administration withcredibility," as one impressed diplomat puts it. Gates has, in short,eclipsed in many ways the other PhD in Soviet and Russian studies in Bush'sCabinet, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401523.html
Contrast Before the Caucuses
By David S. Broder
Sunday, December 16, 2007; B07
DES MOINES -- In the space of 24 hours, the nine lecterns occupied byRepublican presidential candidates in the auditorium of the Iowa PublicTelevision studios were replaced by six assigned to their potentialDemocratic rivals. You could hardly believe the candidates were discussingthe same country.
The Iraq war was not on the agenda for either debate, but every Democratpromised to end it and bring home most or all of the troops -- whileRepublicans looked past Iraq and focused on distant challenges from risingChinese power or Iranian nukes. Islamic terrorism was much on the minds ofthe Republicans; not one Democrat appeared to take it as an imminent threat.
At home, Democrats vied with each other in decrying the influence ofcorporations and industries -- especially oil, gas and pharmaceuticals -- onpublic policy and vowed to fight their power in the nation's capital. Theonly organization that was identified by any of the Republicans as a threatto the public welfare was the National Education Association, the largestteachers union.
The Republicans promised to keep or expand the tax cuts of the Bush years,with most of them pledging to go much further. The Democrats said those cutsshould be rolled back, at least for the wealthy, and the funds used to payfor new domestic programs. By contrast, the Republicans promised to wieldthe budget ax, cutting government payrolls and slashing domestic spending.
When it comes to education and health care, the Republican plans rely on themagic of the marketplace -- competition and consumer choice -- to improvequality and reduce costs. The Democrats would increase government leverageon drug prices and expand public education funding from pre-kindergartenthrough college. They are silent on the issue of school choice.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401333.html
The Right Road to America?
By Amy Chua
Sunday, December 16, 2007; B01
If you don't speak Spanish, Miami really can feel like a foreign country. Inany restaurant, the conversation at the next table is more likely to beSpanish than English. And Miami's population is only 65 percent Hispanic. ElPaso is 76 percent Latino. Flushing, N.Y., is 60 percent immigrant, mainlyChinese.
Chinatowns and Little Italys have long been part of America's urbanlandscape, but would it be all right to have entire U.S. cities where mostpeople spoke and did business in Chinese, Spanish or even Arabic? Are toomany Third World, non-English-speaking immigrants destroying our nationalidentity?
For some Americans, even asking such questions is racist. At the other endof the spectrum, the conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly fulminatesagainst floods of immigrants who threaten to change America's "complexion"and replace what he calls the "white Christian male power structure."
But for the large majority in between, Democrats and Republicans alike,these questions are painful, with no easy answers. At some level, most of uscherish our legacy as a nation of immigrants. But are all immigrants reallyequally likely to make good Americans? Are we, as the Harvard politicalscientist Samuel Huntington warns, in danger of losing our core values anddevolving "into a loose confederation of ethnic, racial, cultural, andpolitical groups, with little or nothing in common apart from their locationin the territory of what had been the United States of America"?
My parents arrived in the United States in 1961, so poor that they couldn'tafford heat their first winter. I grew up speaking only Chinese at home (forevery English word accidentally uttered, my sister and I got one whack ofthe chopsticks). Today, my father is a professor at Berkeley, and I'm aprofessor at Yale Law School. As the daughter of immigrants, a gratefulbeneficiary of America's tolerance and opportunity, I could not be morepro-immigrant.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121401332.html
It's Time for Muslim Comedians to Stand Up
By Sarfraz Manzoor
Sunday, December 16, 2007; B01
Woody Allen is my God. Nothing strange about that, you might think -- exceptthat he is an Upper East Side New York Jew, and I am a British PakistaniMuslim from the working class. His characters are moneyed intellectualswhose only contact with dark-skinned people comes through the jazzsoundtrack playing in the background while they agonize over theirrelationships. I grew up with a father who worked in a car factory, and theonly white person who came near our home was the newspaper delivery boy.
And yet, when I first saw "Annie Hall" as a teenager, I knew I had found akindred spirit. It didn't matter that I had never set foot in the UnitedStates or that I missed some of the cultural references. (Who is thisMarshall McLuhan character, anyway?) I saw myself in Woody Allen. Self-doubtcloaked in self-deprecation? Check. Existential dread rubbing up againstcarnal desire? Check. He was so much like me that I almost forgot that Iwasn't, in fact, Jewish.
Woody Allen isn't the only comedian who uses humor to take the audiencewhere it might otherwise fear to tread. Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor alsoharnessed comedy's power to expose fears and challenge prejudices. Today,Chris Rock uses humor as therapy, self-expression and social commentary. Butwhile Jewish and African American comedians have learned to universalizetheir experience and laugh at themselves, we Muslims sometimes struggle justto convince the world that we have a sense of humor.
What comes to mind when you hear the word "Muslim"? It's more likely to bebeards, bombs and burqas than stand-up comedians. Muslims aren't exactlyfamous these days for lightheartedness. Sudanese Muslims weren't laughingwhen a British schoolteacher, Gillian Gibbons, recently allowed her pupilsto name a teddy bear "Muhammad." She narrowly escaped a prison sentence forthat transgression. But I think my fellow Muslims in Sudan went too far withthat one. Wouldn't it have been funny if British Muslims had demonstratedagainst her arrest with a "Spartacus"-inspired mass march to the Sudaneseembassy, each person carrying a teddy bear?
Consider some other examples of over-earnestness. In January, two Moroccanjournalists dodged five-year prison sentences after publishing a featurearticle called "Jokes: How Moroccans Laugh at Religion, Sex and Politics."According to the Moroccan government, they had insulted Islam and offendedpublic morality. And, of course, there were the global protests and killingslast year after a Danish newspaper published caricatures of the prophetMuhammad. The cartoons offended many Muslims because depicting the prophetis prohibited by our religion. The cartoons were particularly provocative,since some of them conflated Muhammad and terrorism; one even depicted theprophet with a bomb in his turban and a lit fuse. I can understand whyMuslims were offended, but I do not understand how a series of cartoons, nomatter how offensive, should lead to protests that ended up killing morethan 100. Talk about a disproportionate response. No wonder Albert Brookscould title his 2005 movie "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501508.html?hpid=topnews
'Best-Kept Secret' For HIV-Free Africa
Birth Control Better Than Drugs, Researchers Say
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, December 16, 2007; A26
NDORI, Kenya -- Giving antiretroviral drugs to pregnant women has long beencelebrated as one of the few successful tactics in the war against AIDS inAfrica. A single pill for a woman in labor, followed by a sip of syrup forher newborn baby, cuts HIV transmission rates by more than half, potentiallysaving the lives of millions of children.
But despite sustained financial and political support for the effort,studies show that only about one in 10 infected African mothers has accessto the drugs.
As these programs falter across the continent, researchers increasinglyagree that far more cases of pediatric AIDS could be prevented with acheaper, easier and more effective alternative: birth control.
"It tends to be the best-kept secret in HIV prevention," said Ward Cates,head of research for Family Health International, a nongovernmentalorganization based in North Carolina that has extensive experience inAfrica.
The group has found that programs providing antiretroviral drugs to pregnantwomen prevented 101,000 cases of pediatric HIV between 1999 and 2006.
Contraception, meanwhile, averts the births of 173,000 infected babies eachyear, the group says.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501849.html?hpid=topnews
Radomski Was Man in the Middle
Mets Employee Sold Steroids to Many
By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2007; D01
When the New York Mets arrived in Port St. Lucie, Fla., for spring trainingin late February 1993, trying to forget their 72-90 record from the seasonbefore, they were greeted by an old friend with new muscles.
Kirk J. Radomski, who was beginning his seventh season as the Mets' homeclubhouse attendant, had spent much of the offseason in a Bronx gym, tryingto make himself into a competitive bodybuilder. Players commented on hisenhanced physique. They asked him about his workout regimen. He told them hewas using steroids.
The questions soon turned into requests for steroids. Within months,Radomski was dealing steroids and other substances to friends andacquaintances on major league rosters, helping to push baseball into itsbiggest scandal in almost 90 years. The sport's performance-enhancing drugcrisis was exposed in a report released Thursday by George J. Mitchell andhis law firm DLA Piper.
The report implicated 92 current and former players. Radomski, the reportsaid, provided steroids or other drugs to more than half of them. And one ofRadomski's customers, personal trainer Brian McNamee, allegedly gaveperformance-enhancing drugs to three other players, including legendarypitcher Roger Clemens, who has vehemently denied the allegations through hisattorney.
Even though Mitchell's report concluded that the use ofperformance-enhancing drugs poses a "serious threat to the integrity of thegame," former Baltimore Orioles infielder and designated hitter David Segui,one of the players named in the report, told Mitchell during a recentinterview that he still thought highly of Radomski. The drugs he providedwere safe, Segui said, and he never pushed substances on anybody.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501594.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Destruction of CIA Tapes Defended
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2007; A06
The Bush administration has told a federal judge that its 2005 destructionof CIA interrogation videotapes did not violate a court order because thecaptives in question were being kept in secret prisons at the time, not atthe military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In court papers, the government also urged U.S. District Judge Henry H.Kennedy Jr. not to seek further information about the tapes to avoidinterfering with the inquiries of the Justice Department and the CIA'sinspector general.
"In light of the current inquiries by the political branches into thedestruction of the tapes that occasioned petitioners' motion, it would notbe appropriate to institute a judicial inquiry," according to the filing byActing Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey S. Bucholtz and two federalprosecutors.
The motion, which was filed late Friday night, is the first courtroomstatement by the Bush administration since the CIA disclosed that videotapesof coercive interrogation techniques used on two "high-value detainees" weredestroyed in November 2005.
The filing follows the Justice Department's request that Congress delay itsinquiries into the tapes, saying the administration cannot provide witnessesor documents without jeopardizing its own investigation. Attorney GeneralMichael B. Mukasey also told lawmakers that he could not provide any detailsabout the probe or the Justice Department's role in the tapes' destruction.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501553.html?hpid=sec-education
Columbia Still Roiled by Iranian's Visit
By Dafna Linzer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 16, 2007; A12
NEW YORK -- When the head of Columbia University suggested that free speechwas banned in Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not onlydisagreed, he also invited Lee C. Bollinger to come and see for himself.
The retort won Ahmadinejad applause on the New York campus and accoladesback home. For Bollinger, the sharp remarks he made in introducingAhmadinejad were meant to kick off a lively debate. But three months later,they have kept Columbia roiling.
The remarks, faculty members said in interviews, have exacerbated an alreadytense climate that is increasingly pitting Muslim and Middle East studiesprofessors against positions held by Jewish colleagues, particularly on theissue of tenure for two Arab professors.
"There have been an accumulation of events since Bollinger arrived that havepeople riled up. I have never seen a situation quite like this one, and I'vebeen here for 32 years," said Richard Bulliet, a professor of Islamicstudies who helped negotiate Ahmadinejad's appearance at the university.
A new source of angst is Bollinger's refusal to take up Ahmadinejad'sinvitation and his ban on official visits to Iran by Columbia facultymembers.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/345317.html
Why I quit as chief prosecutor at Guantánamo
BY MORRIS D. DAVIS
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
I was the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantánamo Bay,Cuba, until Oct. 4, the day I concluded that full, fair and open trials werenot possible under the current system. I resigned on that day because I feltthat the system had become deeply politicized and that I could no longer domy job effectively or responsibly.
In my view -- and I think most lawyers would agree -- it is absolutelycritical to the legitimacy of the military commissions that they beconducted in an atmosphere of honesty and impartiality. Yet the politicalappointee known as the ''convening authority'' -- a title with nocounterpart in civilian courts -- was not living up to that obligation.
In a nutshell, the convening authority is supposed to be objective -- notpredisposed for the prosecution or defense -- and must make importantdecisions at various stages in the process. The convening authority decideswhich charges filed by the prosecution go to trial and which are dismissed,chooses who serves on the jury, decides whether to approve requests forexperts and reassesses findings of guilt and sentences, among other things.
. Earlier this year, Susan Crawford was appointed by the U.S. secretary ofdefense to replace Maj. Gen. John Altenburg as the convening authority.
Altenburg's staff had kept its distance from the prosecution to preserve itsimpartiality. But Crawford had her staff assessing evidence before thefiling of charges, directing the prosecution's pretrial preparation of cases(which began while I was on medical leave), drafting charges against peoplewho were accused and assigning prosecutors to cases, among other things.
How can you direct someone to do something -- use specific evidence to bringspecific charges against a specific person at a specific time, forinstance -- and later make an impartial assessment of whether they behavedproperly? Intermingling convening authority and prosecutor roles perpetuatesthe perception of a rigged process stacked against the accused.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-will06decsbdec16,0,4222137.story
Ignoring 'No child' makes good sense
December 16, 2007
No Child Left Behind, supposedly an antidote to the "soft bigotry of lowexpectations," has instead spawned lowered standards. The law will bereauthorized because doubling down on losing bets is what Washington does.But because NCLB contains incentives for perverse behavior, reauthorizationshould include legislation empowering states to ignore it.
NCLB was passed in 2001 as an extension of the original mistake, PresidentLyndon Johnson's Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which became law in1965.
NCLB was supported by Republicans reluctant to vastly expand that intrusionbut even more reluctant to oppose a new president's signature issue. Thisexpansion of Washington's role in the quintessential state and localresponsibility was problematic, for three reasons.
First, most new ideas are dubious, so federalization of policy increases theprobability of continentwide mistakes. Second, education is susceptible topedagogic fads and social engineering fantasies - schools of educationincubate them - so it is prone to producing continental regrets. Third,America always is more likely to have a few wise state governments than awise federal government.
With mandated data collections - particularly tests of "adequate yearlyprogress" in reading and math - NCLB was supposed to generate informationthat would enable schools to be held accountable for cognitive outputscommensurate with federal financial inputs.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum16arabsbdec16,0,1321378.story
Arab-American disputes quotation from 'American Conversation Series'
By James Zogby
December 16, 2007
I am an Arab-American and proud of it. My family has been in the UnitedStates for over 100 years. During that time, we have served in every branchof government, and fought in every war in the service of our nation.
Like many other Arab Americans I'm proud of my heritage, and work to defendit. At the same time, I am imbued with American values, and work to projectthem.
Last month, I was honored to have been invited by our nation's archivist,Allen Weinstein, to speak as part of the National Archives' "AmericanConversation Series." My appearance was part of the Archives' Arab AmericanHeritage Month, declared in recognition of the role played by my communityin American life. In my remarks, I spoke about our immigrant history, thecontributions we have made to America, and the bridge role we play betweenAmerica and out countries of origin.
At one point during an exchange with the audience, I was asked to comment onhow Arabs and Muslims have been defamed in the media, and by some politicaland religious leaders. I replied by criticizing those who ignore suchbehavior or take it too lightly. As an example, I cited Pat Robertson, whohas often made inflammatory and bigoted remarks about Arabs and Muslims, andwho seems to delight at the prospect of a nuclear Armageddon. What troubledme, I noted, was that just a few days before my appearance at the Archives,Robertson's endorsement of a presidential candidate was given front-pagetreatment as a major political story in most U.S. newspapers.
I went on to say that if a Muslim religious leader who had made similarlyinsulting comments toward Christians or Jews were as close to the politicalleadership in his country as Robertson has been in ours, we would denouncethat individual and demand that his views be repudiated. I argued that, justas we would be correct in demanding this from a foreign leader, the samestandard should apply here at home. That is what I said.
Given this, I was troubled when I read a column in the South FloridaSun-Sentinel by a certain Mr. Abdul-Hussain, who claimed to report on myNational Archives remarks. He begins his column, quoting me as saying, "Youdo not find the equivalent of Pat Robertson on Arab channels." That, I didnot say, since I know better. Mr. Adbul-Hussain either was not there, didnot understand me, or deliberately misrepresented my comments in order touse me as a foil for his argument that "Arab Americans can't talk for theArab world."
I thank the Sun-Sentinel for giving me this opportunity to correct therecord.
Dr. James Zogby is President of the Arab American Institute
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-forum12sorensonpndec12,0,7986667.story
Sudanese incident shows why religion, politics don't mix
By James L. Sorenson
December 12, 2007
The episode earlier this month in which a teacher was jailed and threatenedwith a long sentence and a flogging because a stuffed bear in her room endedup being named "Muhammad" points to a serious matter, as far as ourunderstanding of what is, in truth, an enemy culture is concerned. Iremember hearing my folks discuss our lack of understanding of the variousreligio-military codes of the Japanese during WWII and what amounted totheir lack of respect for human life.
In this case, as I understand the problem, a teacher in Sudan let herstudents propose names for a stuffed bear as a sort of mascot for the class.It seems that the most popular kid in class is named Mohammad, and theyvoted. The class voted to name the bear after their classmate, rejecting themore Anglicized names suggested by the teacher.
This is sacrilege in that country, and the penalty is horrible. Imprisonmentin that nation would be bad enough, but a flogging on top of it could wellprove fatal.
What we don't understand, though, is how the actions of the kids became aproblem for the teacher. It seems that if the parents of these kids, andtheir "Sunday school" teachers, the same mullahs who sit on the court, weredoing what they need to do, then the kids would know better than to name astuffed bear after "the Prophet." On the other hand, they obviously likedthe bear and wished to honor him with the name of a beloved classmate, whowas, coincidentally named for the "beloved Prophet."
That's the problem with legalistic religions like Islam, particularly whenthey mix with politics.
Our problem is that we don't understand this and, now write this down, if weever see an increase in the United States of Islamic influence in politics,this is what we can expect. Here.
James L. Sorensen is a resident of Boca Raton.
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-flbparade1216sbdec16,0,831363,print.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
80 glittering vessels light up New River for boat parade
By Robert Nolin and Jennifer Gollan s
December 16, 2007
High on the bow of the majestic, 130-foot Grand Floridian, Lorraine Braccolet loose with a fitting greeting from an actress who portrayed a TV mobpsychiatrist:
"Hello jailhouse! Hello inmates!"
For the first time in its 36-year history, Fort Lauderdale's signatureholiday event, the Winterfest Boat Parade, made stately passage Saturdaynight down the New River. Vessels adorned in all manner of holiday whimsy,both traditional and playful, cast glittering reflections in the dark water.
Some 80 boats glided past the county lockup, past the AutoNation Buildingwhose roof spewed fireworks, and past thousands of hooting, cheering, waving
spectators.
"The nice thing about this is we're close," said Marc Sternberg, 56, of Fort Lauderdale. "You can see the boats really close, all the music, the lights, everything."
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-1216women,0,7369713,print.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Number of women and girls killed in Broward rises sharply
By Brian Haas
9:18 PM EST, December 15, 2007
Wives, mothers, sisters and daughters are dying violently in alarmingnumbers in Broward County.
Twenty-eight women and girls have been killed so far this year, an 87percent increase over 2006 and a total surpassed only twice in the pastdecade.
In at least 15 cases, police said they were killed by relatives orboyfriends. A few were slain after asking the courts for protection. Theirages range from newborn girls to an 87-year-old retiree, and they came fromdiverse backgrounds.
Homicides overall are up: 113 this year compared with 96 in 2006.
The deaths of females made up a bigger part of the increase than males,though no one in law enforcement has been able to explain why.
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=4257
Some activists say Broward rights ordinance lacks teeth
Sexual orientation claims usually dismissed or settled, records show
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Dec. 13, 2007
Passing an amendment to the Broward County Human Rights Ordinance that wouldadd transgender men and women and pregnant women as protected classes may begetting more complicated.
Support for the amendment appears to have gained momentum in the wake ofsuccesses passing transgender ordinances in municipalities and counties suchas Oakland Park, Wilton Manors and Palm Beach County. Changes to theproposed transgender amendment will be addressed at the Human Rights Boardmeeting on Monday, Dec. 17, at 1 p.m.
But as Broward's county-wide amendment inches forward, some supporters areonce again calling for a slow down.
This time, they are asking the amendment's chief sponsor, Commissioner KenKeechl, and the county's Human Rights Board to take time to refine thelanguage of the overall ordinance and simplify the legalese in order tocreate a more effective and user-friendly law.
George Castrataro, senior attorney for Legal Aid Service of Broward County,has been meeting with Keechl to improve the legislation. Castrataro headsthe Broward Human Rights Initiative, an arm of Legal Aid that focuses onGLBT rights. In a chain of e-mails and conversations with Keechl,Castrataro says that while the commission considers expanding theprotections, it should take the opportunity to improve the ordinance.
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-1216taxsuit,0,7863609.story
New lawsuit alleges Florida's property tax laws hurt recent buyers
By Mark Hollis
10:07 PM EST, December 15, 2007
A new lawsuit challenges existing and proposed state property tax laws,alleging they discriminate against recent homeowners.
The case concerns top policymakers because it seeks to unravel a popular taxcap enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of Floridians.
Attorneys from Alabama and Florida have been trying for months to eliminatethe Save Our Homes tax cap that only permanent Florida residents enjoy. Theyhave been blocked in lower courts, but are back at it again.
The new lawsuit seeking class-action status claims all recent homesteadersin Florida -- specifically, those who have bought homes in the last fouryears -- are discriminated against to the advantage of longtime homeowners.
The lawsuit filed this month in Tallahassee focuses on Save Our Homes, thevoter-approved constitutional amendment that limits annual assessmentincreases to 3 percent a year.
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Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/12/16/m1a_GANG_SPEAK_OUT_1216.html
Keeping teenagers in school called pivotal in keeping them out of gangs
By JOHN LANTIGUA
Sunday, December 16, 2007
WEST PALM BEACH - How do you keep teenagers from joining violent streetgangs?
How do you convince poor kids that the American system offers them a betterfuture than local gang leaders armed with AK-47s and wads of drug money?
And how do you stop the spilling of more young blood?
A state grand jury studying gang violence in Florida, meeting behind closeddoors in Palm Beach County since late summer, delivered its first 10indictments Thursday.
All of those arrested, alleged members of the Sur 13 gang in Palm BeachCounty, were charged with racketeering and conspiracy and face maximumsentences of 60 years. They are all between 17 and 25.
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Tampa Tribune
http://www.tbo.com/news/opinion/editorials/MGBTUZZE8AF.html
Florida Joins Clean-Energy Uprising
Published: Dec 17, 2007
Cheerfully envisioning a brighter energy future for Florida, Gov. CharlieCrist last week led a group of three other governors in challenging thewhole nation to follow their lead toward using less foreign oil andproducing lower amounts of heat-trapping emissions.
Crist hosted a roundtable discussion on alternate fuels at a Tampa hotel,where he reminded a group of energy experts that the nation's founderssigned the Declaration of Independence, not a declaration of dependence.Instead of citing scientific reports and issuing dire warnings, Crist urgedthe group to use common sense and do the right thing.
He threw the weight of the fourth-largest state behind an initiative called"securing a clean energy future." The useful idea comes from fellowRepublican Tim Pawlenty, governor of Minnesota and chairman of the NationalGovernors Association.
Crist and Pawlenty, along with the Democratic governors of Kansas andMontana, said their plan is to get 40 to 45 governors to sign energyagreements that set state goals for renewable energy, research, conservationand lower emissions, along the lines of executive orders Crist signedearlier this year.
When enough states sign on, Congress will have no choice but to follow withoverdue federal energy standards.
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Tallahassee Democrat
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071216/BUSINESS/712160325/1003
Water talks could have Florida focus: Three states prepare for meeting
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
When Gov. Charlie Crist meets with the governors of Alabama and Georgia onMonday, Crist may find that Georgia officials also want to talk about waterissues in Florida.
The three are scheduled to meet at the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee todiscuss the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system. The states havebeen battling in federal court since 1990 over water use in the rivers andhow to allocate the resource equitably.
Crist said last month Florida is committed to a long-term solution thatfocuses on water conservation in Georgia. But Carol Couch, director ofGeorgia's Environmental Protection Division, says such a solution also mustinvolve water use in Florida to help Apalachicola Bay.
"There are many things that have to be on the table for solutions forimproving the ecological resilience of that bay," she said during aninterview in Atlanta last month.
Among the issues that should be considered are Bob Sikes Cut at St. GeorgeIsland and wetlands such as Tate's Hell Swamp, Couch said.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/346566.html
Cleaning up the climate
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
Now that virtually everyone agrees global warming is a problem ofpotentially catastrophic dimensions, powerful forces are beginning to battleabout what to do and how much money to spend.
No one questions who will pay. Not surprisingly, it's you.
Still, the clear message from experts is that the price tag will not be ashigh as many people have feared. Florida Power & Light, the biggest emitterof greenhouse gases in the state and now a supporter of decisive action,believes the cost could be as low as an extra $5 or $7.50 a month on yourelectric bill to start, eventually climbing to maybe $15 to $50 a month overthe next several decades.
If you include car emissions and other steps, the most respected estimate,from a British study group, says that reversing climate change might costAmericans $140 billion a year -- about how much this country spent on theIraq War this year. That's a big bite, but manageable.
The vast majority of scientists, the American public and even the captainsof industry believe the nation needs to act quickly, but that's all theyagree on. Action in Congress has stalled as the politicians consider sevenproposals.
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St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/16/State/Sales_taxes_stir_a_fi.shtml
Sales taxes stir a fight: This time, the battle is in the budget reformcommission
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published December 16, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - The battle lines have been drawn once again on the future ofFlorida's sales tax system, and they look very familiar.
On one side is John McKay, a Bradenton real estate broker and former Senatepresident who has argued for years that Florida's sales tax base is much toonarrow for such a big state.
McKay wants to expand the sales tax base by closing exemptions and taxingsome services, using the new money to eliminate local property taxes thatpay for schools, reducing property owners' tax bills by 40 percent or more.
On the other side are many of the same business interests who have foughtMcKay in the past, mobilizing once more to stop him and his allies in theirtracks. They say taxing services or closing exemptions would shift a biggerchunk of the sales tax burden to businesses, put Florida at a competitivedisadvantage with neighboring states and create a bureaucratic nightmare.
The battleground for these clashing forces is the Taxation and Budget ReformCommission, a panel of 25 prominent citizens formed every two decades tocomprehensively study the state's tax system. McKay, a Republican who servedas Senate president from 2000 to 2002, is one of its members.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-flbparade1216sbdec16,0,831363,print.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
80 glittering vessels light up New River for boat parade
By Robert Nolin and Jennifer Gollan s
December 16, 2007
High on the bow of the majestic, 130-foot Grand Floridian, Lorraine Braccolet loose with a fitting greeting from an actress who portrayed a TV mobpsychiatrist:
"Hello jailhouse! Hello inmates!"
For the first time in its 36-year history, Fort Lauderdale's signatureholiday event, the Winterfest Boat Parade, made stately passage Saturdaynight down the New River. Vessels adorned in all manner of holiday whimsy,both traditional and playful, cast glittering reflections in the dark water.
Some 80 boats glided past the county lockup, past the AutoNation Buildingwhose roof spewed fireworks, and past thousands of hooting, cheering, waving
spectators.
"The nice thing about this is we're close," said Marc Sternberg, 56, of Fort Lauderdale. "You can see the boats really close, all the music, the lights, everything."
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Sun-Sentinel.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-1216women,0,7369713,print.story?coll=sofla_tab01_layout
Number of women and girls killed in Broward rises sharply
By Brian Haas
9:18 PM EST, December 15, 2007
Wives, mothers, sisters and daughters are dying violently in alarmingnumbers in Broward County.
Twenty-eight women and girls have been killed so far this year, an 87percent increase over 2006 and a total surpassed only twice in the pastdecade.
In at least 15 cases, police said they were killed by relatives orboyfriends. A few were slain after asking the courts for protection. Theirages range from newborn girls to an 87-year-old retiree, and they came fromdiverse backgrounds.
Homicides overall are up: 113 this year compared with 96 in 2006.
The deaths of females made up a bigger part of the increase than males,though no one in law enforcement has been able to explain why.
more . . . . .
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ExpressGayNews.com
http://expressgaynews.com/print.cfm?content_id=4257
Some activists say Broward rights ordinance lacks teeth
Sexual orientation claims usually dismissed or settled, records show
By JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
Dec. 13, 2007
Passing an amendment to the Broward County Human Rights Ordinance that wouldadd transgender men and women and pregnant women as protected classes may begetting more complicated.
Support for the amendment appears to have gained momentum in the wake ofsuccesses passing transgender ordinances in municipalities and counties suchas Oakland Park, Wilton Manors and Palm Beach County. Changes to theproposed transgender amendment will be addressed at the Human Rights Boardmeeting on Monday, Dec. 17, at 1 p.m.
But as Broward's county-wide amendment inches forward, some supporters areonce again calling for a slow down.
This time, they are asking the amendment's chief sponsor, Commissioner KenKeechl, and the county's Human Rights Board to take time to refine thelanguage of the overall ordinance and simplify the legalese in order tocreate a more effective and user-friendly law.
George Castrataro, senior attorney for Legal Aid Service of Broward County,has been meeting with Keechl to improve the legislation. Castrataro headsthe Broward Human Rights Initiative, an arm of Legal Aid that focuses onGLBT rights. In a chain of e-mails and conversations with Keechl,Castrataro says that while the commission considers expanding theprotections, it should take the opportunity to improve the ordinance.
more . . . . .
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-1216taxsuit,0,7863609.story
New lawsuit alleges Florida's property tax laws hurt recent buyers
By Mark Hollis
10:07 PM EST, December 15, 2007
A new lawsuit challenges existing and proposed state property tax laws,alleging they discriminate against recent homeowners.
The case concerns top policymakers because it seeks to unravel a popular taxcap enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of Floridians.
Attorneys from Alabama and Florida have been trying for months to eliminatethe Save Our Homes tax cap that only permanent Florida residents enjoy. Theyhave been blocked in lower courts, but are back at it again.
The new lawsuit seeking class-action status claims all recent homesteadersin Florida -- specifically, those who have bought homes in the last fouryears -- are discriminated against to the advantage of longtime homeowners.
The lawsuit filed this month in Tallahassee focuses on Save Our Homes, thevoter-approved constitutional amendment that limits annual assessmentincreases to 3 percent a year.
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Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2007/12/16/m1a_GANG_SPEAK_OUT_1216.html
Keeping teenagers in school called pivotal in keeping them out of gangs
By JOHN LANTIGUA
Sunday, December 16, 2007
WEST PALM BEACH - How do you keep teenagers from joining violent streetgangs?
How do you convince poor kids that the American system offers them a betterfuture than local gang leaders armed with AK-47s and wads of drug money?
And how do you stop the spilling of more young blood?
A state grand jury studying gang violence in Florida, meeting behind closeddoors in Palm Beach County since late summer, delivered its first 10indictments Thursday.
All of those arrested, alleged members of the Sur 13 gang in Palm BeachCounty, were charged with racketeering and conspiracy and face maximumsentences of 60 years. They are all between 17 and 25.
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Tampa Tribune
http://www.tbo.com/news/opinion/editorials/MGBTUZZE8AF.html
Florida Joins Clean-Energy Uprising
Published: Dec 17, 2007
Cheerfully envisioning a brighter energy future for Florida, Gov. CharlieCrist last week led a group of three other governors in challenging thewhole nation to follow their lead toward using less foreign oil andproducing lower amounts of heat-trapping emissions.
Crist hosted a roundtable discussion on alternate fuels at a Tampa hotel,where he reminded a group of energy experts that the nation's founderssigned the Declaration of Independence, not a declaration of dependence.Instead of citing scientific reports and issuing dire warnings, Crist urgedthe group to use common sense and do the right thing.
He threw the weight of the fourth-largest state behind an initiative called"securing a clean energy future." The useful idea comes from fellowRepublican Tim Pawlenty, governor of Minnesota and chairman of the NationalGovernors Association.
Crist and Pawlenty, along with the Democratic governors of Kansas andMontana, said their plan is to get 40 to 45 governors to sign energyagreements that set state goals for renewable energy, research, conservationand lower emissions, along the lines of executive orders Crist signedearlier this year.
When enough states sign on, Congress will have no choice but to follow withoverdue federal energy standards.
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Tallahassee Democrat
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071216/BUSINESS/712160325/1003
Water talks could have Florida focus: Three states prepare for meeting
By Bruce Ritchie
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
When Gov. Charlie Crist meets with the governors of Alabama and Georgia onMonday, Crist may find that Georgia officials also want to talk about waterissues in Florida.
The three are scheduled to meet at the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee todiscuss the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system. The states havebeen battling in federal court since 1990 over water use in the rivers andhow to allocate the resource equitably.
Crist said last month Florida is committed to a long-term solution thatfocuses on water conservation in Georgia. But Carol Couch, director ofGeorgia's Environmental Protection Division, says such a solution also mustinvolve water use in Florida to help Apalachicola Bay.
"There are many things that have to be on the table for solutions forimproving the ecological resilience of that bay," she said during aninterview in Atlanta last month.
Among the issues that should be considered are Bob Sikes Cut at St. GeorgeIsland and wetlands such as Tate's Hell Swamp, Couch said.
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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/346566.html
Cleaning up the climate
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
Posted on Sun, Dec. 16, 2007
Now that virtually everyone agrees global warming is a problem ofpotentially catastrophic dimensions, powerful forces are beginning to battleabout what to do and how much money to spend.
No one questions who will pay. Not surprisingly, it's you.
Still, the clear message from experts is that the price tag will not be ashigh as many people have feared. Florida Power & Light, the biggest emitterof greenhouse gases in the state and now a supporter of decisive action,believes the cost could be as low as an extra $5 or $7.50 a month on yourelectric bill to start, eventually climbing to maybe $15 to $50 a month overthe next several decades.
If you include car emissions and other steps, the most respected estimate,from a British study group, says that reversing climate change might costAmericans $140 billion a year -- about how much this country spent on theIraq War this year. That's a big bite, but manageable.
The vast majority of scientists, the American public and even the captainsof industry believe the nation needs to act quickly, but that's all theyagree on. Action in Congress has stalled as the politicians consider sevenproposals.
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St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/16/State/Sales_taxes_stir_a_fi.shtml
Sales taxes stir a fight: This time, the battle is in the budget reformcommission
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published December 16, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - The battle lines have been drawn once again on the future ofFlorida's sales tax system, and they look very familiar.
On one side is John McKay, a Bradenton real estate broker and former Senatepresident who has argued for years that Florida's sales tax base is much toonarrow for such a big state.
McKay wants to expand the sales tax base by closing exemptions and taxingsome services, using the new money to eliminate local property taxes thatpay for schools, reducing property owners' tax bills by 40 percent or more.
On the other side are many of the same business interests who have foughtMcKay in the past, mobilizing once more to stop him and his allies in theirtracks. They say taxing services or closing exemptions would shift a biggerchunk of the sales tax burden to businesses, put Florida at a competitivedisadvantage with neighboring states and create a bureaucratic nightmare.
The battleground for these clashing forces is the Taxation and Budget ReformCommission, a panel of 25 prominent citizens formed every two decades tocomprehensively study the state's tax system. McKay, a Republican who servedas Senate president from 2000 to 2002, is one of its members.
more . . . . .
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