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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-senate-southwick,0,1513590.story
Controversial Judge Confirmed by Senate
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer
4:37 PM EDT, October 24, 2007
WASHINGTON
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Judge Leslie Southwick to the federalappeals court in New Orleans after Republicans overpowered objections byDemocrats who said he wasn't sensitive enough to the region's history ofrace relations.
The 59-38 vote, a rare Republican victory in a Democratic-led Senate, wassealed after the nomination survived its main obstacle, a test tally momentsearlier in which a dozen Democrats sided with Republicans to thwart afilibuster. That left Democrats without the power to block Southwick'sconfirmation, even after a heated debate that raised the pain of civilrights struggles in the 5th Circuit, which serves Mississippi, Louisiana andTexas.
Southwick's record as a state appeals court judge in Mississippi drewopposition from traditionally left-leaning groups who warned Democrats thathis confirmation could mean consequences come Election Day.
"We regard this as a test," said District of Columbia Delegate EleanorHolmes Norton, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"This vote for Leslie Southwick is a vote against the dignity and safety ofour families," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-scotus-spurned-spouse,0,3306027.story
Court Urged to Enter Spurned Spouse Case
By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press Writer
12:58 PM EDT, October 24, 2007
WASHINGTON
A plumber and a millionaire squared off in Mississippi over a woman. Thewoman chose the rich guy. The plumber sued the millionaire and won more than$750,000.
Now Jerry Fitch Sr., a businessman from Holly Springs, Miss., wants theSupreme Court to step in and limit what a spurned spouse can collect througha lawsuit that claims "alienation of affection."
Fitch said he shouldn't have to pay $112,000 in punitive damages, citing anearlier high court decision overturning state criminal laws against gay sexto bolster his case. He is not contesting the rest of the judgment.
The Mississippi Supreme Court called the matter a classic case of "hesaid/she said/the paramour said."
Mississippi is one of only seven states that still allows lawsuits by peoplewho claim someone stole their wife or husband. The others are Hawaii,Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102407A.shtml
War Supplemental Makes Room for Iran
By Maya Schenwar
Wednesday 24 October 2007
The Bush administration's $196.4 billion war supplemental spendingrequest, released Monday, has Democrats reeling. Senate AppropriationsCommittee Chairman Robert Byrd called the supplemental "short-sighted atbest," while House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey remarked in astatement, "It's amazing to me that the president expects to be takenseriously." Yet beyond the request's mind-boggling size, its open-ended aimspoint to the potentially vast scope of the "war on terror" for years tocome - including an undiminished presence in Iraq and the possibility ofaction against Iran.
In the newly revised supplemental, more money than ever has beenappropriated for procurement - the production of new materials, which maytake three years to actually reach the battlefield, according to Departmentof Defense estimates in 2006. Moreover, that battlefield may change. The2008 supplemental's title, the Global War on Terror Request, isappropriately broad, as the majority of the request's appropriations do notrefer exclusively to Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, according to a reportthis morning in Congressional Quarterly Today, the Bush administration'srequest for a "Massive Ordnance Penetrator for the B-2 aircraft in responseto an Urgent Operational Need from theater commanders" could be gearedtoward bombing underground targets in Iran.
Policy experts say that, as it stands, the supplemental contains noprovisions that would prevent its funds from being used to strike Iran.
"With money allocated generally for the global war on terror and thedefense department, if the military is ordered to bomb Iran, theadministration could use those funds to pay for it," said Anita Dancs,research director of the National Priorities Project, in an interview. Ifthe supplemental passes in its current form, even funds originally allottedto Iraq- or Afghanistan-specific activities might be funneled elsewhere.Dancs noted the Department of Defense has been granted such leeway in thepast; earlier in the Iraq War, monies originally designated forreconstruction were transferred to military operations.
The supplemental request comes at a time when the Bush administrationand its allies have Iran on high alert. Two months ago, a McClatchyNewspapers report indicated Vice President Dick Cheney was urging airstrikeson Iran; and in late August, President George W. Bush said in an address, "Ihave authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran'smurderous activities."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102407C.shtml
Senate Reverses Bush's Budget Cuts
By Andrew Taylor
The Associated Press
Tuesday 23 October 2007
Washington - Senate Democrats on Tuesday reversed President Bush's cutsto education, health research and grants to local communities as they girdfor Bush's first-ever veto of a regular appropriations bill.
By a 75-19 vote, the Senate gave bipartisan approval to a huge healthand education spending bill that will likely be the first of the fiscal 2008spending bills Democrats will ship to the White House to start a veto battleinvolving the budget for almost every domestic agency.
It promises to be a protracted battle, and Bush has a decided advantage,but Democrats have seized on the massive health and education measure as thebest measure with which to challenge Bush and his GOP allies in Congress.The measure totals over $600 billion and reverses a raft of cuts sought byBush to health research, special education and funding for grants tocommunity groups that help the poor, among others.
The confrontation with Bush over domestic programs - many of which arealso popular with Republicans, as demonstrated by the margin of passage -will come on the heels of the bruising veto battle over a children's healthinsurance bill. Programs funded by the health and education bill affectschoolchildren, workers, the poor and disabled, the unemployed and thosewith special needs or drug and alcohol problems, among others.
"In passing this bill, Democrats in Congress will say that the presidentdoesn't care about children or education or health research," said WhiteHouse press secretary Dana Perino. "We've all heard these tired old linesbefore. The facts demonstrate the president's strong and consistentcommitment to children, education and health research - and the Americanpeople are smart enough to know that there is no such thing as a freelunch."
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Forwarded from Victoria Lavin
Daily Queer News
dailyqueernews@yahoo.com
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102407F.shtml
Will the GOP Election Theft Machine Do It Again in 2008?
By Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman
The Free Press
Friday 19 October 2007
With record low approval ratings for the Bush/Cheney regime and thealbatross of an unpopular war hanging from the GOP's neck, do you think thata Democratic presidential candidate will win the White House, get us out ofIraq, and end our long national nightmare?
Think again - the mighty election theft machine Karl Rove used to stealthe US presidency in 2000 and 2004 may be under attack, but it is still inplace for the upcoming 2008 election.
With his usual devious mastery, Rove has seized upon the nationaloutrage sparked by his electoral larceny and used it as smokescreen while hemakes the American electoral system even MORE unfair, and even EASIER torig. Thus the administration has fired federal attorneys when they would notparticipate in a nationwide campaign to deny minorities and the poor theiraccess to the polls. It has spent millions of taxpayer dollars to installelectronic voting machines that can be "flipped" with a few keystrokes. Andunder the guise of "reforming" our busted electoral system, it is setting usup for another presidential theft in 2008.
Thus it should come as no surprise that our exclusive investigationsinto the firings of eight federal prosecutors who refused to execute Rove'splans for massive disenfranchisement of Democratic voters reveal a patternof illegalities and fraud aimed at reducing the number of minority, poor andyoung voters at the core of Democratic support. In the wake of major newsbreaks, two felony convictions have come from the rigging of the illegalOhio 2004 vote count and recount that gave George W. Bush a secondillegitimate term. Stunning new admissions from county election boards thatillegally destroyed voter records will almost certainly lead to newconvictions. And the multi-million-dollar electronic voting machine scamthat made possible the biggest electoral frauds in US history is undermassive new attack, with key states moving to scrap the machines altogetherin a desperate attempt to restore American democracy - but with the job farfrom done.
Rove, Ney and the Undead
Indeed, the Rovian theft engine is far from dead. The media groundworkhas already been laid out for the Republicans to claim that hordes ofillegal aliens have registered to vote. The Bush administration has beencaught ordering public agencies - possibly in violation of the law - tocease registering voters. In an April 2006 speech to the Republican NationalLawyers Association, Rove openly alluded to the strategy of demanding photoID and purging voter roles of poor, minority voters just as had been done in2000 and 2004. And, as always with Bush/Rove, there is much more beneath thesurface.
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Inside Higher Education
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/25/health
Making Higher-Risk Health Plans Palatable
Oct. 25
With health care costs rising, colleges are seeking creative strategies toencourage employees to consider switching to plans that feature lowermonthly premiums and higher employee-paid deductibles.
"It changes behaviors," says Susan A. Carkeek, vice president and chiefhuman resources officer at the University of Virginia, which just boostedbenefits and lowered employee contributions for what it calls the "lowpremium" option.
"People incur lower health expenses who are on the low plan than on the highplan," says Carkeek - who adds that while one likely explanation could bethat younger, healthier employees tend to choose the lower-premium option, ahigh-deductible plan also encourages employees to "be more mindful" inmaking choices about health care.
The costs of services aside, it's generally in the employers' interest todrive down the cost of premiums - which they tend to cover the brunt of -and transfer a greater proportion of costs to the employee in the form ofdeductibles (although, in Virginia's case, the university's contributiontoward the premium doesn't vary based on whether employees opt for the lowor high option).
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Huckabees-Move.html
Iowa Gives Huckabee a Second Look
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 25, 2007
Filed at 3:39 a.m. ET
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Mike Huckabee, who strums a bass guitar and cracksjokes at campaign stops, is quietly establishing himself with Iowa voters asa serious candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.
''I think he's the sleeper candidate this year,'' said Steve Roberts, a DesMoines lawyer who sits on the Republican National Committee. ''He makes avery positive impression in his public appearances and in the debates.''
Huckabee's success thus far in this early voting state has raised thequestion: Can he overcome his rivals' advantages? He doesn't have the moneyof Mitt Romney, the celebrity of Rudy Giuliani or the personal history ofJohn McCain.
But the former Arkansas governor has a message that resonates with manyIowans. He is an ordained Baptist minister whose opposition to abortion andgay rights appeals to social and religious conservatives, and he has apersonal story of losing more than 100 pounds that has helped form his standon health care.
Huckabee often delivers his conservative message while poking fun at himselfand others -- at times while performing with his rock band, Capitol Offense.
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Sun -Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/custom/consumer/sfl-fljjpsbook1023jjbnoct25,0,2735587.story
Author spends a year 'Living Biblically'
October 25, 2007
The Year of Living Biblically. By A. J. Jacobs. New York: Simon andSchuster, 2008. 389 Pages. $25.
Deftly combining levity and gravity, A. J. Jacobs, an Esquire editor, haswritten an instructive account of his attempt to spend a year following thebehavioral prescriptions set forth in the Bible. This project followed the2004 publication of "The Know-It-All," in which Jacobs described the year hedevoted to trying to become "the smartest person in the world" by readingall 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Seeking a follow-up to thatbest-selling venture, Jacobs came up with the idea of exploring the Bibleand living for a year in accordance with its precepts.
To begin his project, Jacobs spent a month reading the Bible and recording"every rule, every guideline, every suggestion, every nugget of advice." Hewound up with 72 pages and more than 700 rules. He then decided to spendeight months, following the "Old Testament" and four months on the "NewTestament." He explains this division by describing himself as "officiallyJewish" and, in any event, most of the rules are in the "Old Testament."Finally, Jacobs assembled "a board of spiritual advisers: rabbis, ministers,and priests" and he decided to visit some of the groups that take the Bibleliterally.
Perhaps the greatest effect of Jacobs's effort to follow all the rules inthe Bible was on his wife, Julie, and their two-year old son, Jaspar. Thelong beard, the white garb, the ten-string harp, and the shepherd's staffall mark Julie's husband and Jaspar's father as an eccentric. Fortunatelyfor them, Manhattan, where they live, is used to strange sights andidiosyncrasies. However, human relationships generally create problems asJacobs insists on telling the truth and using pebbles to "stone anadulterer."
Some of the biblical rules defy explanation. For example, the Bible bansclothing of mixed fibers. Jacobs finds Mr. Berkowitz who makes home visitsto test whether or not one's clothes are made of mixed fibers. He tellsJacobs that some Biblical rules, such as this one, need to be obeyed simplyas a manifestation of faith. Jacobs concludes, "I have to adjust my brain tothis."
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Bible Belt Blogger
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/blogs/bible-blog/2007/oct/24/claim-romn/
Claim: Romney's money isn't pro-family
Posted October 24, 2007
Bible Belt Blogger: Claim: Romney's money isn't pro-familyFrank Lockwood
The candidate's financial disclosure form shows ties to gambling, alcoholand tobacco companies, critics say.
Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris, is listed. So is Coca-Cola,Boyd Gaming, Harrah's, MGM Mirage and a slew of others.
"CHARLOTTE WORLD
Romney's money not where his mouth is
Charlotte, North Carolina
October 24, 2007
By Warren Cole Smith
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has had trouble explaining hispast views on abortion, pornography, and homosexuality to religiousconservatives. While he was governor of Massachusetts, a number ofgay-friendly laws were enacted. And his close ties to the MarriottCorporation - as a shareholder and board member - have brought criticismfrom Phil Burress with Citizens for Community Values. Burress said, "Thefact that Marriott hotel chain was dealing in the worst kind of hard corepornographic material and Mr. Romney was sitting on the board at the time isextremely disturbing."
Rusty Leonard, president of Stewardship Partners, says Romney might have yetmore explaining to do. According to Leonard's analysis of Romney's financialdisclosure statement, the Republican - who is aggressively courting"religious right" voters - owns stock in at least a dozen companies withactive ties to abortion, pornography, and (alcohol sales).
"Romney's financial holdings are much worse than the other presidentialcandidates," Leonard said. "That's partly because he is far richer than theother candidates and has more holdings, but it's also because he apparentlyuses no screening process whatsoever."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/washington/25tehran.html?hp
New Steps by U.S. Against Iranians
By HELENE COOPER
October 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 - The Bush administration will announce a long-debatedpolicy of new sanctions against Iran on Thursday, accusing the elite Qudsdivision of the Revolutionary Guard Corps of supporting terrorism,administration officials said Wednesday night.
The administration also plans to accuse the entire Revolutionary Guard Corpsof proliferating weapons of mass destruction, the officials said. While theUnited States has long labeled Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism, thedecision to single out the Guard reflects increased frustration in theadministration with the slow pace of diplomatic negotiations over Tehran'snuclear program.
Both designations will put into play unilateral sanctions intended to impedethe Revolutionary Guard and those who do business with it. This is the firsttime that the United States has taken such steps against the armed forces ofany sovereign government.
The action against the Revolutionary Guard, first reported by The WashingtonPost, would set in motion a series of automatic sanctions that would make iteasier for the United States to block financial accounts and other assetscontrolled by the Guard. In particular, the action would freeze any assetsthe Guard has in the United States, although it is unlikely that the Guardmaintains much in the way of assets in American banks or other institutions.
The decision will be announced jointly on Thursday by Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the administrationofficials said. "This is going to be a broad and wide-ranging effort," asenior administration official said. "We will be freezing assets, and therewill be ripple effects of where we can go from there."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/world/middleeast/25blackwater.html?hp
Under Siege, Blackwater Takes On Air of Bunker
By PAUL von ZIELBAUER and JAMES GLANZ
October 25, 2007
BAGHDAD, Oct. 24 - The Blackwater USA compound here is a fortress within afortress. Surrounded by a 25-foot-high wall of concrete topped by achain-link fence and razor wire, the compound sits deep inside the heavilydefended Green Zone, its two points of entry guarded by Colombian Armyveterans carrying shotguns and automatic rifles.
In the mazelike interior, Blackwater employees live in trailers stacked oneon top of the other in surroundings that one employee likens to a"minimum-security prison."
Since Sept. 16, when Blackwater guards opened fire in a crowded Baghdadsquare, the compound has begun to feel more like a prison, too. On that day,employees of Blackwater, a private security firm hired to protect Americandiplomats, responded to what they called a threat and killed as many as 17people and wounded 24.
Richard J. Griffin, the State Department official who oversaw Blackwater USAand other private security contractors in Iraq, resigned Wednesday.
For weeks, not a word has emerged publicly from the compound, as the F.B.I.,the American military and the Iraqi government investigate the Sept. 16 andearlier Blackwater shootings in Iraq.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/business/25autos4.html?hp
Workers at 4 Michigan Plants Back Chrysler Pact
By MICHELINE MAYNARD
October 25, 2007
DETROIT, Oct. 24 - The tentative agreement between Chrysler and the UnitedAutomobile Workers union appears headed for approval, after four big unionlocals in the Detroit area voted strongly in favor of the contract tonight.
The likely approval of the Chrysler contract is a victory for union leaders,who put on a last-minute lobbying push after the agreement appeared to be injeopardy last weekend.
The four Detroit area factories - two assembly and two stamping plants inWarren and Sterling Heights, Mich. - each approved the contract tonight bywide margins. Together, the plants have more than 9,000 workers.
The Sterling Heights assembly plant voted in favor of the agreement eventhough the local union president, Bill Parker, who headed the U.A.W.bargaining team at Chrysler, opposed the contract. Mr. Parker declinedcomment tonight.
The latest votes mean the contract is passing by 56 percent, with about4,000 more votes in favor than those opposed, according to a person withdirect access to vote totals. That yes vote, though enough to pass, is farsmaller than U.A.W. contracts normally would receive.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25thur1.html?ref=opinion
Another $200 Billion
Editorial
October 25, 2007
President Bush waited until he had vetoed a relatively inexpensive children's health insurance bill before asking for tens of billions of dollars more forhis misadventure in Iraq. The cynicism of that maneuver is only slightlyless shameful than the president's distorted priorities. Despite a pretenseof fiscal prudence, Mr. Bush keeps throwing money at his war, regardless ofthe cost in blood, treasure or children's health care.
Mr. Bush is threatening to veto most of the 12 domestic spending bills nowbefore Congress because Democrats want to provide $22 billion more than the$933 billion he has requested. His argument? Something about the president'sresponsibility to rein in lawmakers' "temptation to overspend."
This from a leader who turns federal surpluses into deficits, believes thatthe Iraq and Afghanistan wars can be financed on a separate set of bookswith borrowed money, and keeps having to go back to Congress for "emergencyfunding" because he cannot or will not tell the truth about what it iscosting to fight these wars.
Mr. Bush's latest emergency request is for $46 billion. That would bring the2008 price tag for Iraq and Afghanistan to $196.4 billion. Starting at Sept.11, 2001, war-fighting expenses total a staggering $800 billion or more. Thenonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments says that by theend of the year spending on Iraq will probably surpass that on the VietnamWar.
Mr. Bush has said most of the new money would go for "day-to-day" militaryoperations and "basic needs" like bullets, body armor and mine-resistantambush-protected vehicles, which are designed to withstand bomb attacks, arising threat to American forces in Iraq. The troops need safer vehicles andbetter armor, but it is beyond our ken why Mr. Bush could not cover this inhis original budget submission, unless he wanted to confuse the public andlimit Congressional oversight.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25collins.html?ref=opinion
Who Doesn't ? Huckabee?
Op-Ed Columnist
By GAIL COLLINS
October 25, 2007
Chuck Norris has spoken.
I know many of you were waiting to hear who the star of "Walker, TexasRanger" has decided to endorse in the presidential race. Well, the winner is... Mike Huckabee.
"It's time to quit choosing our leaders based solely upon charisma or onestrong suite," said Norris, in a statement that was rich in historicalreferences, if a little weak on copy editing.
Norris has a side career as a columnist for a conservative news Web site, soperhaps his opinion carries more weight than your average action star whohas not yet been elected to public office. (It would help, though, if the"Current Events" section of the Chuck Norris home page was not devoted tothe schedule for the World Combat League.) But the question we want toconsider today is why he is virtually the only prominent name backingHuckabee, who is this season's likable presidential candidate. This is thevenerable, if not particularly rewarding role once held by Morris Udall andJohn McCain2000, and it involves having reporters appreciate you much morethan the politicians and donors do.
Like Bill Clinton, Huckabee was born in a town called Hope and became apretty good governor of a state that doesn't make it all that easy. (Plus,you have to love the fact that he lived for a while in a mobile home on theArkansas Statehouse grounds.) He's extremely inclusive, defending minoritieswho are illegal immigrants as well as the ones registered to vote. He can beboth funny and convincing on the stump.
On the downside, I think he'd be a terrible president. He doesn't know beansabout foreign affairs, he wants to replace the income tax with a nationalsales tax, and his positions on social issues are far to the right of thegeneral populace. But why aren't the social conservatives rallying aroundthis guy? Unlike any of the major candidates, he's still on his first wifeand first position on abortion. Once we start getting into the inevitablepersonal stories of redemption, Americans would have a much better timelistening to Huckabee tell how he lost 110 pounds than sitting through Rudy's 9/11 story again or looking at pictures of Mitt's 10 grandchildren.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25cohen.html?ref=opinion
Time for the Bundesmacht
By ROGER COHEN
KABUL, Afghanistan
October 25, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
Remember the Wehrmacht? It was a formidable fighting force. The modernGerman army, the Bundeswehr, is also very effective. Thing is, it isreluctant to fight or even place itself in danger.
Given history, that may seem just fine. The United States helped frame theinstitutions of today's Germany precisely to guarantee peace over war. Butin Afghanistan, where 3,200 Germans serve in a hard-pressed NATO force, atouch of "Bundesmacht" would be welcome.
Afghanistan is a divided country. The south and east are dangerous becauseTaliban forces are resurgent there; NATO casualties have been significant.The north and west are quieter; peacekeeping prevails. Tensions have grownbetween front-line alliance states fighting a war and those that are not.
The former group, battling the Taliban in Helmand Province and elsewhere,includes the United States, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. The latteris dominated by Germany, Spain and Italy. The split gives a rough guide toparts of the world that still see military force as inextricable frominternational security and others that are now functionally pacifist.
"In Afghanistan, NATO solidarity collapses at the point of danger," saidJulian Lindley-French, a military expert at the Netherlands Defense Academy."There's no point planning robust operations worldwide if the burden is notshared. A lot of the German troops are little more than heavily armedtraffic cops."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25thur3.html?ref=opinion
Rational Sentencing
Editorial
October 25, 2007
New York sparked a disastrous national trend during the 1970s with laws thatoften penalized first-time drug felons more severely than rapists ormurderers. Imitated throughout the country, New York's so-called Rockefellerlaws drove up the prison population tenfold and cost the states a fortune,but did nothing to curb the drug trade. Worse still, they tied the hands ofjudges - and destroyed countless young lives - by requiring long prisonterms in cases where leniency and drug treatment were clearly warranted.
New York has made incremental changes to the Rockefeller laws in recentyears, but has stopped short of restoring judicial discretion. Gov. EliotSpitzer seemed to be pushing in that direction this year when he appointed acommission to study the range of state sentencing practices.
The commission's preliminary report contains many valuable recommendationsfor fixing the sentencing system as a whole. But the superficial treatmentgiven the Rockefeller laws has raised fears among fair- sentencing advocatesthat the commission intends to duck the issue in its final report, due nextspring. That cannot be allowed to happen. Voters deserve a thorough airingof this issue and a full menu of options for reforming the most draconiandrug laws the country has yet seen.
The report rightly calls for ending New York's byzantine system of"indeterminate sentencing," under which a judge imposes a minimum and amaximum sentence and the Parole Board decides when to release an offender.It calls for sentencing certain nonviolent offenders to community-basedtreatment instead of prison. It also recommends restoring prison-basededucational and training programs, which have been shown to cut recidivismby giving inmates marketable skills.
Most important, the report calls for the state to establish a permanent,independent sentencing commission to advise legislators. Already working inseveral states, such commissions have independence and statutory authority.At their best, they help legislatures make rational decisions and avoiddisastrous policies that have failed elsewhere, like New York.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/opinion/25thur4.html?ref=opinion
The Rural Life: Two Pigs
By VERLYN KLINKENBORG
October 25, 2007
Very soon, a farmer and his son will come to the farm to kill our two pigs.If that sentence bothers you, you should probably stop reading now - and youshould probably also stop eating pork. The pigs weigh nearly 300 poundsapiece, and killing them is the reality of eating meat. I talk to the pigswhenever I'm in their pen, and ever since June I've been slowly taming them,getting them used to being scratched. There are two reasons. I truly lovebeing with the pigs. And taming them means it will be that much easier forthe farmer and his son to kill them swiftly, immediately. If I had no moreforeknowledge of my death than these two pigs will have of theirs, I'dconsider myself very lucky.
The questions people ask make it sound as though I should be morallyoutraged at myself, as if it's impossible to scratch the pigs behind theears and still intend to kill them. If I belonged to a more coherent,traditional rural community - one that comes together for pig-butchering inthe fall - I would get to celebrate the ritual in it all, the suddenabundance a well-fed pig represents. It's hard to act that out when the castis a gruff farmer and son, and my wife and me, who have been silenced by thesolemnity of what we're watching.
Because we do watch. That's part of the job. It's how we come to understandwhat the meat itself means. And to me, the word "meat" is at the root of thecontradictory feelings the pig-killing raises. You can add all the extravalue you want - raising heritage breed pigs on pasture with organic grain,all of which we do - and yet somehow the fact that we are doing this formeat, some of which we keep, most of which we trade or sell, makes the wholething sound like a bad bargain. And yet compared with the bargain mostAmericans make when they buy pork in the supermarket, this is beauty itself.
Knowing that you're doing something for the last time is a uniquely humanfear. I thought that would be the hardest thing about having pigs. In fact,it's not so hard, though it does remind me that humans have trouble thinkingcarefully about who knows what. One day soon I'll step into the pen and givethe pigs a thorough scratching, behind the ears, between the eyes, down thespine. Their tails will straighten with pleasure. It will be the last time.I will know it, and they simply won't.
VERLYN KLINKENBORG
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/world/europe/25russia.html
Russia Working to Limit Election Observers
By C. J. CHIVERS
October 25, 2007
MOSCOW, Oct. 24 - Russia has opened a diplomatic campaign to curtail theactivities of election observers in the states of the former Soviet Union,proposing to cut the size of the missions sharply and to prohibit thepublication of their reports immediately after an election.
The proposals, circulated confidentially last month by Russia at theheadquarters in Vienna of the Organization for Security and Cooperation inEurope, would also forbid observers to make any public statements about agovernment's electoral conduct in the days after citizens voted.
Taken together, the proposals would severely undermine the activities of theorganization's election-monitoring arm before two important elections inRussia: the parliamentary election planned for Dec. 2 and presidentialelections next spring.
They are also the latest Kremlin effort to renegotiate standards forgoverning and international cooperation that it accepted after the SovietUnion's collapse, and seem certain to lead to another impasse with the West.
The monitoring arm, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,or O.D.I.H.R., sends long-term and short-term observation teams, oftennumbering in the hundreds of people, to elections throughout the states ofthe former Soviet Union.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402345.html
A New Front in the Abortion Wars
By Robert D. Novak
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A25
National antiabortion leaders put the finishing touches yesterday on aletter to be sent to all members of Congress, urging suspension of more than$300 million in federal funding of Planned Parenthood until a massivecriminal case brought in Kansas against the abortion rights organization issettled. That launches an attack against the nation's largest purveyor of"reproductive health care" -- including abortions.
On Oct. 17, Johnson County District Judge James F. Vano in suburban KansasCity spent eight hours reviewing a 107-count grand jury indictment againstPlanned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. He decided there was"probable cause" to proceed. Allegations of unlawful late-term abortions andother abortion-connected crimes were brought by Johnson County DistrictAttorney Phill Kline, a pro-life hero nationally who is viewed as a fanaticby advocates of abortion rights. The prosecution alleges violation of stateand federal laws and falsification of documents to justify those acts.
This opens a new front in the endless abortion wars. No change in the statusquo had seemed possible for pro-lifers. The 5 to 4 Supreme Court advantagefor abortion is frozen, and a Democratic-controlled Congress will not passnew antiabortion legislation, much less a constitutional amendment. Theoffensive against abortion now takes dead aim at Planned Parenthood andattempts to expand a Kansas criminal prosecution into a nationwide assault.
"Bloody Kansas" was the battleground between pro- and anti-slavery forcesnearly 150 years ago, and today it is a center of abortion conflict. Thoughpolls show that 60 percent of Kansas voters are pro-life, antiabortionactivists call the state "the abortion capital of the world" -- mainlybecause of George Tiller. At his Wichita clinic, Tiller is one of the fewdoctors still performing late-term abortions in this country.
The struggle has ripped asunder Kansas's dominant Republican Party, withKline at the heart of it. He won passage of antiabortion legislation duringeight years in the state House of Representatives, before his narrow 2002election as state attorney general. Kline's vigorous prosecution of allegedabortion offenses made him the principal national target of the abortionindustry.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402336.html
Trying Times for the Obama Faithful
By David S. Broder
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A25
CHICAGO -- These are difficult days for supporters of Barack Obama. Thiscity is filled with people who have voted for, worked for, contributed toand, in many cases, prayed for the success of the young senator fromIllinois. The struggle he has had in trying to overtake Hillary Clinton forthe Democratic presidential nomination is wearing on their morale.
Last weekend, I heard them tell each other that while the race startedmonths ago, it is still the early going; that the crucial days in Iowa andNew Hampshire are still ahead; and that there is time for Obama to closewith a rush, as he did when he came from behind to capture the nominationfor his Senate seat in 2004.
But the steady drumbeat of polls showing Clinton with more support than allthe other Democrats combined -- and twice as much as Obama -- is taking atoll. In their private moments, they wonder whether even Obama, gifted as heis, can pull off this feat.
Such doubts can afflict any trailing candidate's campaign, but they areparticularly pronounced -- and poignant -- in this case. Obama burst ontothe national stage with such high expectations, fueled by his remarkablespeech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, that nothing,including the presidency, seemed beyond his reach.
The elevated stature he enjoyed nationally was nothing compared with thenear reverence he commands among his friends here. Those who have workedclosely with him through the past decade, in politics, community affairs orthe antiwar movement, exhaust the list of superlatives in speaking about himand his wife, Michelle.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402061.html
How Not to Promote Democracy in Cuba
By Vicki Huddleston
Thursday, October 25, 2007; 12:00 AM
President Bush yesterday made a case for bringing democracy to Cuba. Yet bytelling the Cuban people not to expect help from the U.S. until they havemade Cuba free, and by refusing to make any substantive change to U.S.policy, he is actually forestalling democratization.
In his speech at the State Department, Bush offered several carrots to theCuban people: computers and Internet access; scholarships through thePartnership for Latin American Youth; and, most significant, access togrants, loans and debt relief provided by a multibillion-dollar "FreedomFund for Cuba." But he conditioned all these on evidence of reform. He wantsto see "opposition parties have the freedom to organize, assemble and speakwith equal access to the airwaves," "a free and independent press [that] hasthe power to operate without censors," and removal of the government"stranglehold on private economic activity."
Those are admirable goals. But evidence from democratic transitions aroundthe world shows that dictators fall only when the people they oppress areempowered with the help of governments, non-governmental organizations andindividuals from outside their country. For instance, of the former Sovietcountries, the ones that became democratic and joined the European Union hadthe most contact with their neighbors in Western Europe. It's unrealistic toexpect Cubans to magically transform their authoritarian government into ademocracy on their own. We won't see a viable political opposition orvibrant free press until we help build up Cuban civil society.
We also won't see meaningful movement toward democracy without changes tothe U.S.'s rigid travel restrictions. These prevent the person-to-personcontact and exchange of ideas that could build support for democracy andcompetition within Cuba.
At the same time, the U.S. provides a safety valve that allows the mostdisillusioned Cubans and their families to escape rather than press forchange at home. Bush was joined by many Cuban-born,could-have-been-reformers at the State Department yesterday, includingCommerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and former Sen. Mel Martinez, Rep.Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402757.html?hpid=topnews
White House Feels Waxman's Oversight Gaze
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A01
For months, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House oversight committee,has been threatening, subpoenaing and just plain badgering Secretary ofState Condoleezza Rice to come before his panel to answer questions aboutthe run-up to the Iraq war, corruption and State Department contracting.
Today, Rice will finally appear. But Waxman (D-Calif.) has not spent theweek on a victory lap. He has found time to produce evidence accusing StateDepartment security contractor Blackwater Worldwide of tax evasion, to fireoff a letter to Rice demanding information about alleged mismanagement of a$1 billion contract to train Iraqi police, and to hold a hearing on uraniumpoisoning on Navajo land.
Waxman has become the Bush administration's worst nightmare: a Democrat inthe majority with subpoena power and the inclination to overturn rocks. Butin Waxman the White House also faces an indefatigable capital veteran --with a staff renowned for its depth and experience -- who has been waitingfor this for 14 years.
These days, the 16-term congressman is always ready with a hearing, a freshcrop of internal administration e-mails or a new explosive report. And hehas more than two dozen investigations underway, on such issues as thepoliticization of the entire federal government, formaldehyde in FederalEmergency Management Agency trailers, global warming, and safety concernsabout the diabetes drug Avandia.
"We have to let people know they have someone watching them after six yearswith no oversight at all," said Waxman, 68. "And we've got a lot oflow-hanging fruit to pick."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402408.html?hpid=topnews
House Democrats Set For Vote on New Version Of Children's Health Bill
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A03
Just one week after failing to override President Bush's veto, HouseDemocrats will put a new version of their $35 billion expansion of the StateChildren's Health Insurance Program to a vote today, hoping that minorchanges will win enough Republicans to beat Bush this round.
The new version will underscore that illegal immigrants will not have accessto the expanded program. It will ease adults off the program in one year,rather than the two in the vetoed version. And it establishes a firmereligibility cap at 300 percent of the federal poverty line, just more than$60,000 for a family of four.
The move took Republican leaders by surprise. Bush administration officialsyesterday voiced conciliation, suggesting the president could acceptlegislation that would expand the program by about $20 billion over fiveyears, far bigger than the $5 billion expansion that Bush initiallyproposed. At the same time, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitthas been meeting with House and Senate Republicans, urging them to hold theline against an even larger bill. And Bush continues to oppose the tobaccotax increase that Democrats want to fund the measure.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) has been meeting all week withsome of the 45 House Republicans who voted for the first bill, looking forways to win the dozen or so votes that supporters needed to override anotherveto. But Democratic leaders have yet to reach out to the Republicans whovoted against the measure.
"When they need my vote, they don't even have the courage to ask me for it,"complained Rep. Ric Keller (R-Fla.), who has suffered through a barrage ofadvertisements from Democratic allies accusing him of forsaking children.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/25/AR2007102500383.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Nobel Laureate Talks With Myanmar Aide
The Associated Press
Thursday, October 25, 2007; 10:00 AM
YANGON, Myanma -- (AP) _ Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi _ under housearrest for 12 of the last 18 years _ met for about an hour with a Myanmargovernment official Thursday, state-run television reported.
The Nobel peace laureate was driven from her home to a nearby governmentguest house, where she held talks with newly appointed "minister forrelations" Aung Kyi, state-run television reported.
A retired major general, Aung Kyi was appointed to the post on Oct. 8 tohold talks with Suu Kyi.
It is not clear if this is Suu Kyi's first meeting with Aung Kyi.
His exact duties have not been detailed, but it appeared Aung Kyi wouldcoordinate all of Suu Kyi's contacts with both the regime and the UnitedNations, which is seeking to end the political deadlock between democracyadvocates and the junta.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402568.html?hpid=sec-tech
Self-Appointed Traffic Cop
By Rob Pegoraro
Thursday, October 25, 2007; D01
Is the company you pay to bring you the Internet blocking parts of itinstead?
That's been a fear of some Internet users for a long time. Now many Comcastcustomers are anxious after reading the Associated Press report last weekthat the cable-modem service interferes with the BitTorrent file-sharingprogram.
The news has put the Philadelphia-based corporation in an awkward spot andbrought the network neutrality debate back to life, just when it seemed thatthe issue was dead in Washington.
"Network neutrality" describes what most Internet service providers say theyalready do: treat all non-malicious Internet traffic equally.
But some of the largest telecom companies, such as AT&T, have said they'dlike to charge some Internet sites more for faster delivery of theircontent. They propose the Internet equivalent of building toll lanesalongside a busy freeway, then inviting some drivers to pay more for thatfaster access.
Regulators responded by requiring a few newly-merged telecoms, such as AT&T,to follow network-neutrality rules. Public pressure has kept other companiesfrom changing the terms of their broadband services. Most mobile-phonecarriers forbid receiving streaming audio or video feeds not provided by thecompanies.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402759.html?hpid=sec-education
Lifting the Veil From A Deadly Disease
Laura Bush Speaks With Saudi Women About Breast Cancer
By Faiza Saleh Ambah
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A13
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 24 -- When gynecologist Samia al-Amoudi was foundlast year to have breast cancer, a disease that still carries an intensestigma in this conservative country where women are forced to cover inpublic, she decided to share the details in her newspaper column, shockingmany Saudis.
But the 50-year-old single mother insisted on telling her story in more than30 television, magazine and newspaper interviews, trying to force aspotlight, she said, on a disease believed to be the leading cause of deathamong Middle Eastern women.
This week's visit to Saudi Arabia by first lady Laura Bush, who is on aregional tour to raise awareness about breast cancer, is a windfall toAmoudi's battle to bring the issue to the public, she said.
"The fact that there is a lot of media coverage of your visit, and peopleknow you are here only for the purpose of spreading breast cancer awareness,that gives it importance and will really help our campaign," Amoudi toldBush at a "Break the Silence" coffee meeting Wednesday with other breastcancer survivors.
Bush is visiting the Persian Gulf region as part of the U.S.-Middle EastPartnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research, launched in 2006 withJordan and the United Arab Emirates, and this week in Saudi Arabia. Shedescribed the initiative at its launch last year as "the very best kind ofpublic diplomacy."
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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-broder19octnboct24,0,137157.story
Despite SCHIP veto, progress is possible
October 24, 2007
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.
For most of the American public, Secretary of Health and Human ServicesMichael Leavitt is best defined by his role defending Pres. George Bush'scontroversial veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Leavitt, along with the president, has argued that the bipartisan bill istoo ambitious and too expensive, encroaching on the private insurancemarket. For his pains, he has been characterized as an ogre, standing in theway of better treatment for millions of youngsters in cash-strappedfamilies.
That is not the man I got to know and admire in his years as governor ofUtah and a leader in the National Governors Association. And it is not theman I heard address a conference of health care insurers and providers herelast week.
Leavitt, who on this occasion said not a word about the SCHIP veto overrideattempt then looming before Congress, instead described what he and hiscolleagues are doing to prepare for the coming revolution in health care inthis country. It is a story that, while less publicized than the SCHIPfight, holds promise of a better day not just for children, but for allAmericans.
What I learned about Leavitt in his years as governor is that he is blessedwith vision that sees future policy challenges and developments more clearlythan most politicians. In this case, he is visualizing a radically differentkind of medical marketplace, where families armed with specific informationabout the treatment success and prices of hospitals and doctors can shop atwill for the best quality and most affordable care.
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The Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/10/24/lawsuit_filed_challenging_michigan_presidential_primary/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+New+Hampshire+news
Lawsuit filed challenging Michigan presidential primary
By Kathy Barks Hoffman, AP Political Writer | October 24, 2007
LANSING, Mich. --A lawsuit was filed Wednesdasy asking a judge to keepMichigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary from going forward until issues areresolved over who will have access to voting records.
Mark Grebner, head of an East Lansing political consulting company thatsells voter lists, filed the lawsuit along with former Detroit Free Presspolitical columnist Hugh McDiarmid, alternative newspaper publisher BerlSchwartz and several other plaintiffs.
They're unhappy the state Democratic and Republican parties will be allowedto keep track of voters' names and whether they took a Democratic or GOPballot in the primary. No public record of that information will be kept,however.
Grebner wants a judge to prevent Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land fromrefusing FOIA requests for the information. He also wants a judge to orderLand to determine the fair market value of the voter list and require thestate parties to pay that amount once an agreement is reached with themrestricting how the information is used.
"It's just frightening to suggest that the records of a public election arethe private property of the political parties for their profit," Grebnersaid Wednesday.
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-immig25oct25,1,6179098.story?coll=la-news-politics-national
Senate rejects kids citizenship measure: Opponents call the Dream Act'amnesty' for immigrant children.
By Nicole Gaouette and Johanna Neuman
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 25, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday rejected a bill offering the childrenof illegal immigrants a path to citizenship if they serve in the military orcomplete two years of higher education. The defeat of the measure, which hadattracted bipartisan support, underscored the difficulty of enacting even anarrowly tailored proposal in the polarizing atmosphere surroundingimmigration reform.
The vote on the proposal was 52 to 44, short of the 60-vote margin needed toprevent a filibuster and begin debate. It was one small piece of acomprehensive immigration bill that collapsed in the Senate earlier thisyear, and it sparked a brief but heated debate.
Opponents called the bill a form of amnesty and argued that it would createincentives for illegal immigrants to cross the border with their children.But Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who supported the measure, said that"to turn on these children and treat them as criminals is an indication ofthe level of emotion and, in some cases, bigotry and hatred that is involvedin this debate."
His remarks were directed at Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who on Tuesdaysuggested that immigrants who had attended a meeting in Durbin's office wereillegal and should have been arrested.
Tancredo, a presidential candidate who has staked his campaign on toughimmigration enforcement, dismissed Durbin's understanding of the issue: "Idon't expect Dick Durbin to be able to tell the difference between legalresidents and illegal aliens."
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-ed-mukasey25oct25,1,3919880.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Mukasey's take on torture
His evasive testimony hinders what was supposed to be a breezy confirmationprocess
October 25, 2007
Michael B. Mukasey, who once seemed headed to confirmation as attorneygeneral by acclamation, may now be facing a narrower and more contentiousvote. That's the price the retired federal judge from New York will have topay unless he reconsiders some evasive testimony about torture.
Mukasey remains infinitely preferable to Alberto R. Gonzales, thepresidential crony he would succeed. At hearings before the Senate JudiciaryCommittee last week, he promised to depoliticize the Justice Department andsaid he would resign rather than acquiesce in illegal behavior. In anadministration that too often has been blind to the requirements of the ruleof law, even a one-eyed attorney general would be an improvement.
Still, we were disappointed that Mukasey hedged when asked whether thesimulated drowning known as "water-boarding" violates domestic andinternational prohibitions on torture. Mukasey said that "it would beirresponsible of me to discuss particular techniques with which I am notfamiliar."
As the 10 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee noted in a letter to thenominee, water-boarding "has been the subject of much public discussion."What isn't clear is whether the CIA reserves the right to resort to thatappalling practice to elicit information, reliable or otherwise, fromsuspected terrorists.
Some members of Congress believe that water-boarding is off the table; theBush administration has been less explicit. It declines to describe what itcalls "enhanced" interrogation techniques -- Mukasey calls them "coercive" techniques -- encouraging speculation that water-boarding, like sleepdeprivation, extreme temperatures, shaking, slapping and placing prisonersin uncomfortable "stress" positions, will still be permitted.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/us/politics/25torture.html?ex=1193976000&en=8f549f4966a9d13f&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVERNEWS
Giuliani Questioned on Torture
By MICHAEL COOPER
October 25, 2007
DAVENPORT, Iowa, Oct. 24 - Rudolph W. Giuliani told a group of Iowans onWednesday night that he favors the "aggressive questioning" of terroristsbut that he does not know whether waterboarding, a simulated drowningtechnique, is torture.
Asked at a community meeting here whether he considered waterboardingtorture, Mr. Giuliani said: "It depends on how it's done. It depends on thecircumstances. It depends on who does it."
He went on to say that the way the practice had been described in newsreports - "particularly in the liberal media" - he did not believe it shouldbe allowed. But he expressed doubts about whether it had been describedaccurately.
"America should not allow torture," Mr. Giuliani said. "But America shouldengage in aggressive questioning of Islamic terrorists who are arrested orwho are apprehended."
"The line between the two is very delicate and very difficult," he said."But we can't abandon aggressive questioning of people who are intent oncoming here to kill us."
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USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-10-24-obama_N.htm?csp=34
Obama fights to overcome view he's inexperienced
By Martha T. Moore, USA TODAY
BOSTON - Democrats Barack Obama and Deval Patrick share a friendship,similar résumés, a political consultant and the complicated expectationsthat come with being African-American politicians.
Patrick, the governor of Massachusetts, this week left behind his past as aformer Justice Department official under President Clinton and threw hissupport to Obama, who is battling for votes against Sen. Hillary RodhamClinton. Patrick promised to mobilize his political network to canvass forObama in next-door New Hampshire, site of the nation's first primary.
The two friends sat down with USA TODAY late Tuesday for a joint interview,in which they talked about their belief in an inspirational and inclusiveapproach to politics and their conviction that a lengthy political résumé isunnecessary and even counterproductive.
Obama and Patrick have each faced charges of political inexperience and theassumption that their appeal will be primarily to black voters, the governorsaid. Both, however, won their current offices with broad-based support.
"People made a mistake . by supposing, presuming, that our appeal would bein certain discrete corners of people who looked like us and thought likeus," Patrick said. "The whole point was to reach across divides and invitepeople who had checked out to check back in. And they did."
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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402712.html
Iran Becomes an Issue In Democratic Contest
Clinton Moves to Counter Rivals' Criticism
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A07
In the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, Iran has becomethe new Iraq.
Iran is now the front line in a foreign policy debate that has found Sen.Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) defending a vote that her rivals said couldembolden President Bush to once again launch unilateral military actionagainst a Middle Eastern nation.
The discussion is almost identical to one that took place earlier in thecampaign over Clinton's 2002 vote for the resolution authorizing Bush to goto war in Iraq, except that, in this case, she finds herself on the oppositeside of all her leading rivals for the nomination.
The focus on Iran highlights the extent to which national security remainsthe key fault line in the Democratic race as Clinton's opponents seek toslow her momentum. With the administration now preparing to designate abranch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terroristorganization and to impose sanctions on Iran, the debate is only likely tointensify.
Clinton has moved aggressively to contain any possible damage. Over theweekend, her campaign flooded Iowa -- the most competitive state in theDemocratic contest -- with a mailer that included a lengthy letter from thecandidate explaining why she supported a Senate measure urging theadministration to label the IRGC a terrorist organization.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402424.html
110th Congress Eclipses Voting Pace
By Paul Kane
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A23
The 110th Congress under Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been calledlots of things: Historic, do-nothing, ethical, overbearing and much more,based on one's political views. But now Pelosi can add one more moniker tothe list: record-setting.
On a bill dealing with reorganizing Hawaiian governments yesterday, theHouse conducted its 1,000th roll-call vote this year, something never beforeachieved in a single year in the history of recorded House votes.
Democratic leaders and aides, many of whom initially confessed to not evenbeing aware of the achievement, spun the matter as if it were akin to theDow Jones Industrial Average crossing the 10,000 barrier. They claimed the1,000th vote as a sign that the chamber is busy passing the agenda theyvowed to pass a year ago when they won the majority for the first time in adozen years.
"I'll do 1,000 roll-call votes if we raise the minimum wage; I'll do 1,000roll-call votes if it increases veterans' benefits. I'll do 2,000," saidRep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the Democratic caucus.
But Republicans, who were just as unaware of the record-breaking pace, sawit as the perfect symbol for a lack of achievement almost 10 months intoPelosi's reign. They said it's something more akin to Congress on votingsteroids, leading to popularity ratings that are in line with baseballslugger Barry Bonds.
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Forwarded from George Broadhead
EuroQueer
The latest Euro-Letter of the International Lesbian and Gay Association(ILGA) reports that in seven countries of the world the death penalty isapplied for consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex.
These countries are:
. Iran
. Mauritania
. Saudi-Arabia
. Sudan
. United Arab Emirates
. Yemen
. Nigeria (death penalty applies to 12 Northern provinces with Sharia law)
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the religion practised in allthese countries is Islam, yet when Humanists and Secularists point this (andother examples of Islamic homophobia) out, they are invariably castigatedfor being Islamophobia.
George Broadhead
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