NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST November 14, 2007

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NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/health/14diseases.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Sex Diseases Still Rising; Chlamydia Is Leader

By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN
November 14, 2007

The incidence of gonorrhea, which had declined sharply, has risen in thelast two years in this country while the number of chlamydia and syphiliscases continue to rise, federal health officials said yesterday.

Chlamydia and gonorrhea are the two most common diseases among those doctorsmust report in the United States. And the 1,030,911 cases of chlamydia in2006 are the highest ever recorded for any nationally reported disease inany year, the officials said in releasing their annual report on sexuallytransmitted diseases. They said that because of underreporting, a moreaccurate estimate is 2.8 million new chlamydia cases annually.

About 19 million new cases of all kinds of sexually transmitted diseasesoccur in this country each year, but only the three are nationally reported.Genital herpes, papillomavirus and trichomonas infections account for thevast majority of cases, but doctors are not required to report themnationally.

Different reasons account for the rise of each of the three reportable andcurable diseases, and for each a different approach is needed to reduce itsincidence, Dr. John M. Douglas Jr., head of the division of sexuallytransmitted diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, toldreporters by telephone.

The three reported sexually transmitted diseases affect African-Americansdisproportionately. The black to white ratios are gonorrhea 18 to 1,syphilis 6 to 1 and chlamydia 8 to 1, Dr. Douglas said in an interview. Thereasons for the disparities are not clear. Lack of access to health care maybe one problem.

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NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/us/politics/14poll.html?pagewanted=print

Polls Find Voters Weighing Issues vs. Electability

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
November 14, 2007

This article was reported by Adam Nagourney, Marjorie Connelly and DaliaSussman and written by Mr. Nagourney.

Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire - the states that begin thepresidential nominating battle - say Senator Barack Obama and John Edwardsare more likely than Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to say what theybelieve, rather than what they think voters want to hear, according to thelatest New York Times/CBS News Polls. But they also view Mrs. Clinton as thebest prepared and most electable Democrat in the field, the polls found.

Republican voters in those two states say that Mitt Romney, a formergovernor of Massachusetts, shares their values and views on immigration, ared-hot issue for Republicans in Iowa especially. But they are divided overwhether Mr. Romney or Rudolph W. Giuliani, who Republican voters say doesnot share their values, would be the party's strongest general-electioncandidate - and electability looms as a crucial factor for Republican votersin those states.

These are some of the findings in twin polls conducted by the New York Timesand CBS News in the two states, which will begin the nominating process inless than two months. The polls found that the electorates in the two stateshad different perceptions of the candidates and concerns about issues, whilesuggesting that the outcome was far from settled in either place.

The Democratic contest is essentially tied in Iowa, among Mrs. Clinton, Mr.Obama and Mr. Edwards, while Mrs. Clinton has a substantial lead in NewHampshire, according to The Times/CBS News Polls.

Mr. Romney is running relatively strongly in New Hampshire, but many of hissupporters say they are open to changing their mind. In Iowa, where Mr.Romney has built a big network of supporters and invested heavily inadvertisements, he appears to be in a tight race with Mike Huckabee, aformer governor of Arkansas.

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NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/us/politics/14poll.html?pagewanted=print

Polls Find Voters Weighing Issues vs. Electability

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
November 14, 2007

This article was reported by Adam Nagourney, Marjorie Connelly and Dalia Sussman and written by Mr. Nagourney.

Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire - the states that begin thepresidential nominating battle - say Senator Barack Obama and John Edwardsare more likely than Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to say what theybelieve, rather than what they think voters want to hear, according to thelatest New York Times/CBS News Polls. But they also view Mrs. Clinton as thebest prepared and most electable Democrat in the field, the polls found.

Republican voters in those two states say that Mitt Romney, a formergovernor of Massachusetts, shares their values and views on immigration, ared-hot issue for Republicans in Iowa especially. But they are divided overwhether Mr. Romney or Rudolph W. Giuliani, who Republican voters say doesnot share their values, would be the party's strongest general-electioncandidate - and electability looms as a crucial factor for Republican votersin those states.

These are some of the findings in twin polls conducted by the New York Timesand CBS News in the two states, which will begin the nominating process inless than two months. The polls found that the electorates in the two stateshad different perceptions of the candidates and concerns about issues, whilesuggesting that the outcome was far from settled in either place.

The Democratic contest is essentially tied in Iowa, among Mrs. Clinton, Mr.Obama and Mr. Edwards, while Mrs. Clinton has a substantial lead in NewHampshire, according to The Times/CBS News Polls.

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WashingtonPost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111302078_pf.html

Trial Begins in Clash Over Va. Church Property

By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; B01

Tens of millions of dollars of Virginia real estate are at stake in a trialthat began yesterday in Fairfax County Circuit Court, where priests, membersof bitterly divided churches and lawyers filled the pews. It is one of thelargest property disputes in Episcopal Church history.

The trial comes almost a year after the majority of congregants in 15traditional Episcopal churches voted to leave the national church because ofdisagreements about the nature of God and salvation and about whether gaymen and lesbians should be fully accepted. Northern Virginia has sincebecome one of the most active areas in the country for the conservative,breakaway movement, and clergy around the country are watching this trial tosee what happens to Episcopalians who want to leave -- and take churchproperties with them.

The land issue is a manifestation of a larger debate within the AnglicanCommunion, of which the Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch. TraditionalAnglicans are frustrated with decades of what they see as watered-downChristianity, and the dispute threatens to split the Communion.

Although traditionalists are a minority in the United States -- members ofthe 15 Virginia breakaway churches represent about 7 percent of theEpiscopal Diocese of Virginia -- they dominate in large swaths of thedeveloping world, including in Africa and Asia.

Only 11 of the original 15 congregations are involved in the litigationcurrently in court, including the grand, historic Truro Church in FairfaxCity and The Falls Church in the city of Falls Church. Officials with theVirginia diocese said the property in dispute is worth at least $30 million.

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Forwarded by Ron Mills
For News And Commentary:
http://www.RonMills.us

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/tucker/stories/2007/11/09/tucked_1111.html

Democrats must lead way on immigration

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/11/07

Sen. Hillary Clinton's illegal immigration dilemma has drawn widespreadattention since a Democratic debate in Philadelphia last month. By wafflingon the issue of driver's licenses for undocumented workers, she opened acontentious conversation that she and her rivals had been trying to avoid.

Some consultants, fearing a backlash, have cautioned Democrats againstspeaking out on behalf of illegal immigrants, suggesting a blurred stanceless easily dismissed as "amnesty."

They know that many voters - even Democrats and independents - are uneasyabout the huge number of illegal immigrants, estimated at 12 million,already in the country. They also know that Republicans will prey on thatunease and use it as a wedge as they desperately seek a winning issue in anelection that looks grim for the GOP.

Still, here's some counterintuitive advice for the Democratic ranks: Don'thedge. Lead. Do the right thing. Come out clearly and forcefully for puttingillegal immigrants already in the country on a path to citizenship. This isno time to trim or triangulate. Show some spine. America is ready forreasoned leadership on this issue.

With a couple of notable exceptions, Republican presidential candidates havemade it clear where they stand on illegal immigrants: Four-square against.Faced with a nativist voting base, GOP contenders have chosen to ratchet upthe animosity against undocumented workers rather than tamp down theirconstituents' feverish hostility. Even former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani,who once praised illegal workers for the entrepreneurial vibrancy theybrought his city, has found his inner Know-Nothing.

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Pew Research Center

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/634/black-public-opinion

Blacks See Growing Values Gap Between Poor and Middle Class
Optimism About Black Progress Declines

November 13, 2007

African Americans see a widening gulf between the values of middle class andpoor blacks, and nearly four-in-ten say that because of the diversity withintheir community, blacks can no longer be thought of as a single race, a newPew Research Center survey has found.

The survey also finds blacks less upbeat about the state of black progressnow than at any time since 1983. Looking backward, just one-in-five blackssay things are better for blacks now than they were five years ago. Lookingahead, fewer than half of all blacks (44%) say they think life for blackswill get better in the future, down from the 57% who said so in a 1986survey.

Whites have a different perspective. While they, too, have grown lesssanguine about black progress, they are nearly twice as likely as blacks tosee black gains in the past five years. Also, a majority of whites (56%) saylife for blacks in this country will get better in the future.

Similar race-based gaps in perception emerge on several other key topicsexplored in this survey. For example, blacks have much less confidence thanwhites in the fairness of the criminal justice system. Also, blacks say thatanti-black discrimination is commonplace in everyday life; whites disagree.

But there are also areas where the two groups largely see eye to eye. Forexample, blacks and whites agree that there has been a convergence in thepast decade in the values held by blacks and whites. On the issue ofimmigration, blacks and whites agree that most immigrants work harder thanmost blacks and most whites at low-wage jobs. And on the popular culturefront, large majorities of both blacks and whites say that rap and hip hop -two music styles with roots in the black community that have gainedmainstream popularity in recent years - have a bad influence on society.

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Pew Research Center

http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=398

38% - Rating Pope Benedict's Performance

A minority of the U.S. public ( 38%) expresses the view that Pope BenedictXVI is doing an excellent or good job at promoting good relations with othermajor religions; nearly half (46%) of US adults who have heard at least alittle about the pope say he is doing only a fair or poor job at this in arecent Pew poll. Catholics themselves are divided ideologically over thepope's performance in fostering ties with other religions: 63% ofself-identified conservative Catholics say the pope has done well inpromoting good interfaith relations, but just 50% of moderate Catholics and45% of liberal Catholics agree. People who have heard at least a littleabout Pope Benedict are in general agreement about the pope's ownideological leanings: 56% say he is either very conservative (20%) orconservative (36%); 17% say the pope is a moderate, while just 5% view himas a liberal. And among Catholics, fully 68% say Pope Benedict is aconservative. Read more



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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/world/middleeast/14blackwater.html?hp

F.B.I. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause

By DAVID JOHNSTON and JOHN M. BRODER
November 14, 2007

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 - Federal agents investigating the Sept. 16 episode inwhich Blackwater security personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians havefound that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified and violateddeadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according tocivilian and military officials briefed on the case.

The F.B.I. investigation into the shootings in Baghdad is still under way,but the findings, which indicate that the company's employees recklesslyused lethal force, are already under review by the Justice Department.

Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek indictments, and someofficials have expressed pessimism that adequate criminal laws exist toenable them to charge any Blackwater employee with criminal wrongdoing.Spokesmen for the Justice Department and the F.B.I. declined to discuss thematter.

The case could be one of the first thorny issues to be decided by Michael B.Mukasey, who was sworn in as attorney general last week. He may be facedwith a decision to turn down a prosecution on legal grounds at a time when afuror has erupted in Congress about the administration's failure to holdsecurity contractors accountable for their misdeeds.

Representative David E. Price, a North Carolina Democrat who has sponsoredlegislation to extend American criminal law to contractors serving overseas,said the Justice Department must hold someone accountable for the shootings.

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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/opinion/14friedman.html?ref=opinion

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
November 14, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist

Two dates - two numbers. Read them and weep for what could have, and shouldhave, been. On Sept. 11, 2001, the OPEC basket oil price was $25.50 abarrel. On Nov. 13, 2007, the OPEC basket price was around $90 a barrel.

In the wake of 9/11, some of us pleaded for a "patriot tax" on gasoline of$1 or more a gallon to diminish the transfers of wealth we were making tothe very countries who were indirectly financing the ideologies ofintolerance that were killing Americans and in order to spur innovation inenergy efficiency by U.S. manufacturers.

But no, George Bush and Dick Cheney had a better idea. And the Democratswent along for the ride. They were all going to let the market work and notlet our government shape that market - like OPEC does.

You'd think that one person, just one, running for Congress or the Senatewould take a flier and say: "Oh, what the heck. I'm going to lose anyway.Why not tell the truth? I'll support a gasoline tax."

Not one. Everyone just runs away from the "T-word" and watches our wealthrun away to Russia, Venezuela and Iran.

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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/opinion/14wed4.html?ref=opinion

The Prince and the Plane

Editorial
November 14, 2007

On Monday, a Saudi billionaire, Prince Walid bin Talal, placed an order withAirbus for his new private plane, the A380. That superjumbo will be thelargest private jet on the planet. No hard figures were mentioned, but theasking price for an A380, which weighs 200 tons more than a Boeing 747 andhas a floor space of about 6,000 square feet, is around $300 million. Thatis for the raw plane itself, hull, wings, engines, etc. - nothing todistinguish its interior from the hold of a cargo plane. But evenunfurnished, the purchase of this Airbus offers some interesting numbers tothink about.

For instance, the average-size house in America - about 2,300 square feet -
could cost $106,812,000 at the price per square foot that Prince Walid paid.Even in California, this is a lot. Or think of it a different way. Accordingto recent figures, a Manhattan apartment costs, on average, $1,013 a squarefoot. (Somehow that's depressing enough in its own right.) At that rate, theprince's $300 million would buy an apartment just under 300,000 square feetin size, a little more than six football fields. Throw in another $100million or more to finish the interior of the plane to princely standards,and you're talking real money.

All this, and what you get is a plane parked on the tarmac. When Airbusdescribes the fuel consumption of the A380 - reportedly lower than that of a747 - it says that it's better "than a small car," per passenger. But keepyour eye on the "per passenger" number. Airbus assumes that the plane willbe carrying 555 passengers. Prince Walid likes to travel with an entourageof 50. It's safe to say that fuel consumption per passenger on theseprincely voyages will be astronomical - and, in terms of the prince'spocketbook, inconsequential.

Somehow, what we're left with is the image of a plane that is meant to takeoff - into its own ever-warming atmosphere of unreality.



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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-afghan-rights.html

NATO Has No Evidence Of Systematic Afghan Torture

By REUTERS
November 14, 2007
Filed at 8:21 a.m. ET

KABUL (Reuters) - NATO said on Wednesday it had no evidence of systematictorture of detainees it had handed to Afghan authorities after a rightsgroup accused the force of breaking its own rules by not ensuring prisoners'safety.

Amnesty International said the NATO-led International Security AssistanceForce (ISAF) was in effect complicit in the mistreatment of detainees ithanded to Afghan authorities, particularly the National Directorate ofSecurity (NDS), and should suspend prisoner transfers until safeguards werein place.

"NATO-ISAF has no evidence of systematic mistreatment and torture ofdetainees handed over to Afghan authorities by ISAF," Nicholas Lunt, thecivilian spokesman for the force, told a news conference.

But Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week ordered authorities to stoptorturing suspects in a tacit admission that the practice had been carriedout.

Lunt said monitoring of detainees was the responsibility of individualnations, not ISAF, and was governed by memoranda of understanding betweenthe individual states and Afghanistan.

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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/lifestyle-egypt-usa-students.html

American Students Seek True View Of Middle East

By REUTERS
November 14, 2007
Filed at 8:19 a.m. ET

CAIRO (Reuters) - Professors at the American University in Cairo call them"September 11 kids." In the heart of Egypt's capital the university with itsarabesque buildings and gardens of palm trees is a new hot spot forAmericans studying abroad.

Drawn by curiosity about the September 11 attacks on New York's World TradeCenter in 2001, hundreds of American students are venturing to the MiddleEast, eager to learn Arabic, study Islam and cut through media stereotypesas they prepare for careers in intelligence or diplomacy.

The number of American students at the University, known as AUC, has abouttripled since 2002 and reached a record of more than 400 this year.

"They come from all persuasions and all ages," said Kim Jackson, AUCassociate vice president for international student affairs. "We havestudents from the U.S. Naval and Air Force academies and we have a couple ofguys in the Marines."

AUC is one of the region's most popular destinations but other languageinstitutes in the most populous Arab country, whose government is friendlyto the United States, are also benefiting from an influx of students.

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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/education/14students.html

Study Compares States' Math and Science Scores With Other Countries'

By SAM DILLON
November 14, 2007

American students even in low-performing states like Alabama do better onmath and science tests than students in most foreign countries, includingItaly and Norway, according to a new study released yesterday. That's thegood news.

The bad news is that students in Singapore and several other Asian countriessignificantly outperform American students, even those in high-achievingstates like Massachusetts, the study found.

"In this case, the bad news trumps the good because our Asian economiccompetitors are winning the race to prepare students in math and science,"said the study's author, Gary W. Phillips, chief scientist at the AmericanInstitutes of Research, a nonprofit independent scientific research firm.

The study equated standardized test scores of eighth-grade students in eachof the 50 states with those of their peers in 45 countries. Experts said itwas the first such effort to link standardized test scores, state by state,with scores from other nations.

Gage Kingsbury, a director at the Northwest Evaluation Association, a groupin Oregon that carries out testing in 1,500 school districts, praised thestudy's methodology but said "a flock of difficulties" made it hazardous tocompare test results from one country to another and from one state toanother. "Kids don't start school at the same age in different countries,"he said. "Not all kids are in school in grade eight, and the percentagediffers from country to country."

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The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/business/media/14murdoch.html

Murdoch Said to Stress Free Access to Wall St. Journal's Web Site

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
November 14, 2007

Rupert Murdoch says he plans to abolish subscription fees at The Wall StreetJournal's Web site, according to news accounts from Australia. Thisapparently was news to executives at his company and The Journal, whocautioned that the decision might not be final.

Mr. Murdoch made his statements in an address to shareholders in the SouthAustralian center of Adelaide on Tuesday - late Monday night in New York -and in an interview carried in the Tuesday issue of his national newspaper,The Australian. News agencies reported that he said of The Journal's Website, "We are studying it and we expect to make that free."

The Journal, one of very few large newspapers to charge for access to mostof its Web site, has one million paying online subscribers. The fees theypay have been widely reported at $50 million a year, but a Dow Jonesexecutive has said the figure is closer to $70 million.

Mr. Murdoch also said he intended to expand the size of the weekday Journalby 15 to 20 percent and to double the Saturday edition as he expands itscoverage of national and international affairs. Mr. Murdoch's NewsCorporation has agreed to buy Dow Jones & Company, The Journal's parent, for$5.6 billion; the deal is expected to close next month.

Mr. Murdoch has repeatedly said he is inclined to make access to all or mostof The Journal site free to draw many more readers and more ad revenue. Hetold Australian shareholders that he envisioned, "instead of having onemillion, having at least 10-15 million in every corner of the earth,"according to Reuters.

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111202008.html

'Hidden Costs' Double Price Of Two Wars, Democrats Say

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 13, 2007; A14

The economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistanso far total approximately $1.5 trillion, according to a new study bycongressional Democrats that estimates the conflicts' "hidden costs"--including higher oil prices, the expense of treating wounded veterans andinterest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars.

That amount is nearly double the $804 billion the White House has spent orrequested to wage these wars through 2008, according to the Democratic staffof Congress's Joint Economic Committee. Its report, titled "The Hidden Costsof the Iraq War," estimates that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have thusfar cost the average U.S. family of four more than $20,000.

"The full economic costs of the war to the American taxpayers and theoverall U.S. economy go well beyond even the immense federal budget costsalready reported," said the 21-page draft report, obtained yesterday by TheWashington Post.

The report argues that war funding is diverting billions of dollars awayfrom "productive investment" by American businesses in the United States. Italso says that the conflicts are pulling reservists and National Guardsmenaway from their jobs, resulting in economic disruptions for U.S. employersthat the report estimates at $1 billion to $2 billion.

The committee, which includes House and Senate members from both parties andis chaired by Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), is expected to present thereport this morning on Capitol Hill. Democratic leaders plan to use thereport as evidence that the wars are far costlier than most realize and thata change of course could save taxpayers billions of dollars in the comingdecade.

"What this report makes crystal clear is that the cost to our country inlives lost and dollars spent is tragically unacceptable," Schumer said in astatement last night.

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URGENT ACTION ALERT: UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS ON STATES' HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS:
NOVEMBER 20, 2007

· The human rights records of all 192 United Nations member Stateswill be reviewed on an ongoing, regular basis by the UN Human Rights Councilunder a new mechanism called the Universal Periodic Review.

· 48 States will be subject to review in 2008, of which one thirdwill be considered in each of three sessions, in April, May and December.

· The first 16 countries up for review in April 2008, in the orderof consideration, are: Bahrain, Ecuador, Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia,Finland, the United Kingdom, India, Brazil, the Philippines, Algeria,Poland, the Netherlands, South Africa, the Czech Republic and Argentina.

· Organisations, human rights advocates and others have theopportunity to bring international attention to the human rights situationin the countries under review by submitting a short memo by November 20,2007 to UPRsubmissions@ohchr.org (preferably with a copy toarc@arc-international.net to help us with monitoring and follow-upadvocacy).

· Although the deadline for submissions is coming up very soon,submissions need not be long or complicated. The recommended maximum is 5pages, but you can send in even a single page or an e-mail of a fewparagraphs outlining key concerns. You can also attach a more detailedreport to your submission.

What exactly is the Universal Periodic Review?

The Universal Periodic Review (or "UPR") is a new mechanism of the UN HumanRights Council, set up as part of the reform of the UN human rights system.It was designed to respond to criticisms that consideration of countries'human rights records had become politicised and selective, focusing only oncertain countries, while allowing more politically influential States toescape scrutiny.

As a result, the UPR will ensure that the human rights records of all 192member States will be regularly reviewed on a 4-year cycle. This means that48 States will be reviewed per year, 16 at each of three sessions annually.The UPR is intended to be a cooperative mechanism, designed to assist Statesin fulfilling their international commitments and improving their humanrights situation.

Why does the UPR matter to advocates working on sexual orientation andgender identity issues?

In countries around the world, human rights violations based on sexualorientation and gender identity are all too common. These include use ofthe death penalty, criminal sanctions, torture, disappearances, denials offreedom of expression and assembly, denial of refugee or asylum claims, anddiscrimination in access to health care, employment, education and housing.

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111301948.html

Republicans Seek Retraction of Report on Wars' 'Hidden Costs'

By Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; A03

Senior Republicans on Congress's Joint Economic Committee called yesterdayfor the withdrawal of a report by the committee's Democratic staff thatargues that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost more than $1.5trillion.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Rep. H. James Saxton (R-N.J.) attacked thereport on "hidden costs" of the wars, calling its methodology flawed andasserting factual errors. The report, issued yesterday, said the war hascost nearly double the $804 billion in appropriations and requests for warfunding thus far.

In a joint statement, the committee's Republicans called the report "anotherthinly veiled exercise in political hyperbole masquerading as academicresearch."

"All wars involve costs, and the war on terror is no exception," Brownbackand Saxton said. "The Democrats' report would have benefited from moreanalysis and quality control, and less political content. We call on SenatorSchumer and the Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate towithdraw this defective report." Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) chairs thecommittee.

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111302250.html?hpid=topnews

GOP Primary Story Stars a Democratic Antagonist

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; A01

They mock her proposals, utter her name with a sneer and win standingovations by ridiculing her ideas as un-American, even socialistic. She hasbecome the one thing the Republican candidates for president can agree on.

Hillary Clinton.

Earlier this year, the senator from New York was the subject of anoccasional laugh line from former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. Now,the trickle has become a torrent as the leading GOP candidates seek toone-up one another in a Clinton-bashing contest aimed at energizing theirparty faithful.

"The competition inside the GOP for who's the most anti-Hillary is going topay dividends," said Greg Strimple, a GOP pollster and consultant who is notworking with any presidential campaign. "Looking for that piece ofanti-Hillary energy is what you're seeing right now."

The attacks have come during the GOP debates, on the stump, in televisioninterviews, and in campaign commercials traditionally reserved for criticismof primary-season rivals.

In an ad unveiled yesterday, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) again criticizesClinton for seeking $1 million for a Woodstock museum. An ad from formerMassachusetts governor Mitt Romney airing now in New Hampshire slams her forhaving "not run a corner store" and adds: "She hasn't run a state. . . . Shehas never run anything."

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111301832.html

Musharraf's Electoral Farce

By Benazir Bhutto
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; A19

LAHORE, Pakistan -- All through the years of the Soviet empire, itsPolitburo held "elections." Of course, calling something an election andactually having it be an election are different things.

I am under house arrest in Lahore, barricaded in by Pakistani police withbayonets. Despite Gen. Pervez Musharraf's announcement of a date forparliamentary elections, I doubt that we are in for a change.

I cautioned the general earlier this year that his election as president bythe present parliament was illegal. He insisted otherwise.

We agreed to disagree and decided that we both would accept a ruling by theSupreme Court regarding eligibility.

Yet when the court was on the brink of deciding, Musharraf imposed martiallaw by suspending the constitution, and he removed several of the SupremeCourt justices. Today the nation is paying for his mistake.

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111301831.html

One Race, Divisible

By Juan Williams
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; A19

Conventional wisdom about black America is being turned on its head. Nearlytwo out of five black people (37 percent) surveyed in a new Pew poll, donein association with NPR, said that blacks "can no longer be thought of as asingle race." Only half of all black people in the country (53 percent) sayit is possible to think of blacks as one race. And young black Americans --ages 18 to 29 -- are more likely than older blacks to say that blacks are nolonger a single race.

The growing perception of two races is really a divide over values.

Over half of all Americans -- people of all colors -- believe that thevalues of poor and middle-class blacks are becoming more different. When thequestion is limited to black people, the answer is even more definitive: 61percent say values are now more different between middle-class and poorblacks. The perception of a class divide in black America has increasednearly 20 points since a similar question was asked of black people in 1986.

There is a clear break with the historic convention that black people areone race. Racism, stereotypes and segregation laws long enforced the idea ofa single black race by keeping down black people no matter their educationand class. But just over 50 years after the Brown v. Board of Educationdecision set in motion the modern civil rights movement, with a unifiedblack America pressing for political and social equality, there aresignificant numbers of people with dark skin, and racial discriminationbattles, who say black people do not have enough common experiences andvalues to be thought of as one race.

This phenomenon is occurring inside black America as values held by blackand white Americans are becoming more similar, according to 72 percent ofwhites and 54 percent of blacks. But the people who share values aremiddle-class blacks and whites. The black poor are the ones being left out,and they know it.

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111301833.html\

What's on the Line In the Writers' Strike

By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; A19

In its initial stages, the strike of television and screenwriters hasgenerated so much lighthearted copy you could conclude, wrongly, that it'sfun for the whole family. On one entertainment news Web site, 3,000"Battlestar Galactica" cultists, in Los Angeles for their convention, havepledged to join the picket line at Universal Studios on Friday. And on asite for striking writers for David Letterman's show, I read that beforetalks broke down "both sides briefly agreed that Marie Osmond is fabulous inthis season's 'Dancing with the Stars.' " Samuel Gompers, meet SheckyGreene.

But even a gag-writers' strike can be serious business, as Leno, Letterman,Stewart and Colbert can attest. In fact, the writers' strike is really aboutwhether collective bargaining can withstand the creation of new media onwhich entertainment can be seen -- or, more accurately, whether it canwithstand the studios' efforts to block writers from bargaining collectivelywhen their work is shown on or through new media.

"New media" is a catchall term for the Internet, digital broadcast channelsand wireless systems such as cellphones. Not all made-for-big-screen contentplays well on small screens, of course: "Lawrence of Arabia," I fear, wouldlose something if viewed on my cell, even if my mother didn't call duringthe attack on Aqaba. But already television programming is recycled throughthe Internet to be viewed on computers. On many networks' Web sites, recentepisodes of current series are there for the watching. Within a couple ofyears, the technogeeks tell us, instead of having a cable box on ourtelevisions, our TVs will be hooked up directly to the Internet, which willdeliver all the new shows to our HDTVs.

How much this will add to the gaiety of nations is anybody's guess.

The problem for the people who write the shows is that, at present, thestudios aren't bound to pay them anything for material that goes out on theInternet, and the studios are pretty much trying to keep it that way.

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111301466.html

High Achievers, Left Behind

By Ryan Streeter
Special to washingtonpost.com's Think Tank Town
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; 12:00 AM

Except for a few outliers, observers and analysts agree that incomeinequality in America has grown markedly in the past generation. Since 1979,household income in America has grown 29 percent in the 80th percentile and37 percent in the 90th percentile, while families in the 20th and 50thpercentiles have seen have seen growth of only 10.5 and 13 percent,respectively. Perhaps the least doubtful of the many theories about whatdrives this growing gap is the role of education. The difference in earningsbetween a college and a high school graduate is greater now than it has beenin 90 years. And as our economy continues to create jobs that rewardpost-secondary education with higher pay, the odds are that faster upwardmobility will continue to be linked with education.

Congress has posited solutions involving minimum wage increases, expandedincome subsidies, universal healthcare, and an end to outsourcing. Whateverthe effects of these policies, it is difficult to find evidence that theywould reduce income inequality by much. What will lessen inequality overtime is an improvement in the educational prospects of young people inmiddle and lower income families.

The urgency of this reality is underscored in a report recently released byCivic Enterprises and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. It shows thathigh-achieving students from lower-income families -- the most likely groupof poorer students to improve their economic condition through education --are falling through the cracks of our educational institutions.

They are not a small lot: 3.4 million students fit this description. Theyare diverse, spread out across America in numbers proportionate by race andgender to the nation's population as a whole. Also, they live in urban,suburban, and rural areas in roughly the same percentages as the generalAmerican population. They achieve academically in the nation's top 25percent while their families earn less than median income of about $48,000.

And for most of these students, more than race or geography, their economicstarting point will influence their fate. As the report shows, nearly 70percent of high-achieving first-graders from higher-income homes remain topperformers through the end of elementary school, compared with only 56percent of their peers from lower-income homes. Also, higher-income studentsare more than twice as likely as lower-income students to rise into the topacademic tier during their K-12 experience. Then, in college, the conditionworsens. Only 59 percent of these lower-income achievers who go to collegeactually graduate, compared to 77 percent of their more affluent peers.

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111301068.html?hpid=topnews

FCC Chief Offers New Plan on Cross-Ownership

By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; D01

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission yesterday proposedrelaxing an agency rule to allow big-city newspapers to buy the smallertelevision stations in their markets, a move designed as a compromise in theongoing issue of corporate control of the airwaves.

The proposal put forward by Chairman Kevin J. Martin appeared to pleasealmost no one -- the newspaper industry said it stopped short of helping theailing print media and anti-consolidation groups said it went too far, withone calling it "yet another massive giveaway to big media."

Under Martin's plan, set for a commission vote Dec. 18, newspapers in thenation's 20-largest media markets could buy one radio or television stationin their cities, if certain conditions apply. The station could not be amongthe four most-watched in the market, essentially preventing newspapers frombuying popular stations affiliated with ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox.

The proposal would partially lift a 35-year-old ban on the "cross-ownership"of newspapers and broadcast stations. Although Martin's plan would notautomatically ban cross-ownership in the nation's smaller 190 media markets,it is unlikely such purchases would be approved by the FCC, he said.

The ban was enacted in 1972, when newspapers and television stationsdominated news and information and the FCC feared concentration of localmedia ownership.

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111302078.html?hpid=sec-religion

Trial Begins in Clash Over Va. Church Property

By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; B01

Tens of millions of dollars of Virginia real estate are at stake in a trialthat began yesterday in Fairfax County Circuit Court, where priests, membersof bitterly divided churches and lawyers filled the pews. It is one of thelargest property disputes in Episcopal Church history.

The trial comes almost a year after the majority of congregants in 15traditional Episcopal churches voted to leave the national church because ofdisagreements about the nature of God and salvation and about whether gaymen and lesbians should be fully accepted. Northern Virginia has sincebecome one of the most active areas in the country for the conservative,breakaway movement, and clergy around the country are watching this trial tosee what happens to Episcopalians who want to leave -- and take churchproperties with them.

The land issue is a manifestation of a larger debate within the AnglicanCommunion, of which the Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch. TraditionalAnglicans are frustrated with decades of what they see as watered-downChristianity, and the dispute threatens to split the Communion.

Although traditionalists are a minority in the United States -- members ofthe 15 Virginia breakaway churches represent about 7 percent of theEpiscopal Diocese of Virginia -- they dominate in large swaths of thedeveloping world, including in Africa and Asia.

Only 11 of the original 15 congregations are involved in the litigationcurrently in court, including the grand, historic Truro Church in FairfaxCity and The Falls Church in the city of Falls Church. Officials with theVirginia diocese said the property in dispute is worth at least $30 million.

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The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111300547.html?hpid=sec-religion

Prominent Myanmar Activists Arrested

The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 13, 2007; 9:59 PM

YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar security forces have arrested two prominentanti-government activists _ a Buddhist monk and a labor rights advocate,fellow dissidents said Tuesday.

The United States and other Western countries deplored the arrests during aU.N. Security Council meeting, saying they raised doubts about the rulingjunta's sincerity in moving toward democracy and cooperating with the UnitedNations.

News of the arrests came as U.N. human rights investigator Paulo SergioPinheiro was on the third day of a five-day mission to investigate humanrights conditions in the wake of the government's violent crackdown onpro-democracy protests in September.

U Gambira, a Buddhist monk who helped lead demonstrations in Yangon thatwere crushed by the military junta, was arrested several days ago, exiledMyanmar dissidents in Thailand said.

Su Su Nway, a prominent female activist who has been on the run for morethan two months, was arrested Tuesday morning in Yangon, they said.

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Miami Herald

http://www.miamiherald.com/418/story/307104.html

In politics, authenticity counts

By LEONARD PITTS
Posted on Wed, Nov. 14, 2007

People say believe half ofwhat you see and none of what you hear.''
-- Gladys Knight & the Pips,

I Heard It Through The Grapevine, 1967

``Trust none of what youhear and less of what you see.'' -- BruceSpringsteen, Magic, 2007

It's what you'd expect from President Bush. He is, after all, the fellowwhose spokesman once fielded questions from a GOP stooge pretending to be areporter, whose deputy FEMA chief was caught conducting a fake pressconference, whose functionaries routinely screen the crowds and preselectthe questioners at public events lest, God forbid, some ordinary citizen askthe president of the United States a tough question.

So yeah, this was precisely what you'd expect W. to do. Thing is, he didn'tdo it.

Rather, it was Hillary Clinton whose campaign admitted last week that itplanted a question at a campaign stop in Iowa. It seems a college studentwas approached by a Clinton staffer and asked to ask the candidate aboutglobal warming. The young woman asked the requested question, but she alsotold people about it and the news, as news is wont to do, got out.

Clinton's rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination clucked piousreproach, but campaign reporters tell us it is actually standard procedurenowadays for campaigns to plant friendly questions.

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Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-edwards14nov14,1,1173111.story?coll=la-news-politics-national&track=crosspromo

Iowans are seeing a different Edwards

In 2004, the Democratic presidential hopeful said he wasn't the guy toattack his rivals. Now, he is crossing the state and throwing punches.

By Seema Mehta
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 14, 2007

DES MOINES - John Edwards still speaks with a honeyed Southern cadence, buthe's showing sharper elbows and a willingness to jab at opponents in histravels through Iowa in pursuit of the Democratic presidential nomination.

Looking out at a raucous crowd of union carpenters at a weekend rally, theformer senator from North Carolina sounded his tough populist line: Americangovernment has become corrupt, and he is the one Democratic candidate whocan fix it. "Nothing will change if we trade a crowd of corporateRepublicans for a crowd of corporate Democrats," he said.

That crowd clearly includes New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

When Edwards first ran for president in 2004, he told Iowans that if theywere looking for a candidate who would attack fellow Democrats, "I'm notyour guy." But in a series of recent appearances in Iowa, Edwards pepperedhis speeches with barbs about his primary competitors, particularlyfront-runner Clinton.

Iowans embraced Edwards in the 2004 race, pushing him to a second-placefinish in the caucuses that helped him land the nomination for vicepresident. Now, most analysts agree that Edwards must win Iowa's caucuses onJan. 3 to have a shot at the 2008 nomination

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Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/13/AR2007111301927.html

That FEMA Thing? It Was a Setup. Any More Questions?

By Al Kamen
Wednesday, November 14, 2007; A17

FEMA's internal investigation into its infamous phony news conference isover, but the topic is sure to come up when acting Deputy AdministratorHarvey Johnson goes to the Senate for his confirmation hearing. (His namemysteriously failed to make the Senate hearing list last week, however.)Administrator R. David Paulison has strongly defended Johnson, saying he was"set up" by horrific staff work.

Johnson himself has said he could not recall whether he was told thatstaffers would ask him questions. But two career employees signed statementssaying that press secretary Aaron Walker said he told Johnson or was goingto tell Johnson beforehand. And during the news conference, Johnson calledon questioners by name.

Asked about this by our colleague Spencer Hsu, Paulison praised Johnson'swork at FEMA and said former agency external affairs chief John P. Philbin"literally grabbed Harvey and took him into the press room." Paulison added:"There was no time for Harvey to know anything. . . . It was notintentional, but he was set up and he walked in there and he didn't knoweveryone in the room."

It might be instructive to look at things from Johnson's perspective. He'sin a very small briefing room, looking out at perhaps a dozen people, allfrom FEMA. He sees several whom he knows by first name because they workdirectly for him. Most are conveniently sitting in the front row as they lobone softball after another so he can praise FEMA's work.

How could he know anything was amiss?

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CBS News

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/13/politics/main3496586.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics_3496586

Do Campaigns Routinely Plant Questions?

(CBS) This story was written by CBSNews.com political reporter BrianMontopoli.
Nov. 13, 2007

At an event in New Hampton, Iowa last month, Democratic presidential hopefulHillary Clinton was asked about her Senate vote in favor of calling theIranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

"Why should I support your candidacy . . . ," Randall Rolph asked, "if itappears you haven't learned from your past mistakes?"

Clinton answered the question - and suggested that "somebody obviously sent"it to him, since she had "been asked the very same question in three otherplaces." Rolph said he was offended by the implication and that the questioncame from his own research.

Now Clinton is once again dealing with the concept of planted questions,though this time it is her own campaign that is coming under fire.

A sophmore at Grinnell College named Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff told CNN she wasencouraged by a Clinton staffer in Newton, Iowa to ask the candidate aquestion about climate change - and was discouraged from asking the questionshe had come up with.

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Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-immunity14nov14,1,4986845.story?track=rss

Telecom companies still seek immunity
AT&T, others fear lawsuits stemming from federal anti-terror eavesdroppingmoves

By James Oliphant
Washington Bureau
10:07 PM CST, November 13, 2007

WASHINGTON-They won't say whether they have ever helped the governmentmonitor the conversations of millions of Americans, but the nation's largesttelecom companies still want blanket protection from lawsuits stemming fromthe government's anti-terror eavesdropping efforts.

Whether corporate giants like AT&T and Verizon Communications should begiven that immunity is part of a raging debate on Capitol Hill over thescope of the Bush administration's wiretapping powers. More than three dozenlawsuits have already been brought and consolidated in federal court in SanFrancisco claiming that the telecom giants have illegally listened to andcollected data on domestic phone calls.

"Basically it's dragnet surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans,"said Kevin Bankston, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, acivil liberties group that has filed a class-action suit against AT&T.

But the telecoms say they need the legislative shield. They argue that theycannot defend themselves in court because much of their defense wouldinvolve using classified information they can't obtain from the government.

The debate comes as Congress works to update the Protect America Act, whichwas hurriedly passed in August to preserve the government's surveillancepowers to combat terrorism. Critics say that lawmakers, especiallyDemocrats, caved to the administration's demands for sweeping wiretappingauthority without the need for a warrant, fearful of appearing soft onnational security.

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