Reason has an article titled No Way Out, subtitled The No Child Left Behind Act provides only the illusion of school choice.

You school choice advocates should read it.

It starts out listing a bunch of horror stories about what kids in the most troubled schools face. Follows with some stories about school districts not trying all that hard to tell folks they can transfer out (though that's a specific spin) And bad parenting…a lot of y'all like those, you'll find them fun to read.

But you better stop there.

Pentagon, analysts hit anti-U.S. bias at Red Cross
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES [P6: of course…]

The International Committee of the Red Cross is breaking with tradition by publicly criticizing the United States for the way it handles terror suspects, say Pentagon officials and outside experts.
On at least two occasions in recent months, the ICRC overtly criticized the Bush administration for detaining suspected Taliban and al Qaeda fighters without giving them access to judicial proceedings. The administration has deemed them "enemy combatants" and not members of a formal military organization that would give them the rights of prisoners of war.

Quote of note:

"Hamas has announced that it accepts a Palestinian independent state within the 1967 borders with a long-term truce," Sheik Hassan Yousef, the top Hamas leader in the West Bank, told The Associated Press, referring to lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

Yousef said the Hamas position was new and called it a "stage." In the past, Hamas has said it would accept a state in the 1967 borders as a first step to taking over Israel. Yousef did not spell out the conditions for the renewable cease-fire nor did he say how long it would last.

"For us a truce means that two warring parties live side by side in peace and security for a certain period and this period is eligible for renewal," Yousef said. "That means Hamas accepts that the other party will live in security and peace."

Blog ethics movement afoot

A movement is under way to introduce ethical guidelines to blogging. Gawker Media publisher Nick Denton says it's time "someone stands up, calls people out, and keeps the blogosphere honest" and suggests his rival blog publisher Jason Calacanis and Jeff Jarvis lead the effort. Calacanis followed up by registering BlogEthics.org and asking Denton to join in.

I guess the word "blogger" officially refers only to what I've been calling editorial bloggers, though there's an argument to be made that tech bloggers are still bloggers.

You know, considering that blogs are just personal web sites from my perspective I felt there was hubris in the suggestion, much less the registration of the domain name.

Not that I'm complaining. I haven't been writing like I want someone's approval anyway. And last year I got nominated twice.

But this year…the year Little Green Footballs won the Washington Post best group blog award…I'm having a hard time wanting that kind of approval. And Norbizness is a sick (happy furry) puppy but he's right too.

I mean, who can compete with Michelle Maglalang?

Cobb

You see, the lesson I learned in interdependency was that, anybody who doesn't mind to see you fail is, by definition, your enemy. I didn't understand that - I thought that people had to dislike you and consciously plot against you. But in fact, all people have to do is know you, and ignore or discount those who actually do plot against you. These are those who won't let you know that the truck is about to hit you. They want to see a crash, and it doesn't matter to them that it's you. It doesn't matter how many episodes of Seinfeld you have discussed over lunch at the food court, they are your enemy nonetheless.

In the course of trying to shape the world such that all loose change rolls downhill into their pockets, Senate Republicans are considering trying to eliminate the filibuster. The Weekly Standard has an article just chock-a-block full of false memory syndrome:

Republicans say judicial gridlock was a big loser for Democratic Senate candidates this year. They point especially to the unseating of outgoing minority leader Tom Daschle.

"Tom Daschle's defeat was very instructive," says Texas Republican John Cornyn. "Until then, the Democrats had calculated that all of this was beneath the radar of most of the electorate, and that there wasn't any penalty to be paid. . . . But I think that one of the reasons Daschle was defeated was because of obstructing the president's judicial nominees." Cornyn believes this may chasten Daschle's colleagues.

Quote of note:

The capital made available under the act has helped to rebuild entire communities - in rural Maine as well as in the South Bronx. At the same time, banks have learned that lending, investing and providing basic services in low-income communities can be good business. A 2002 Harvard University study found that the law significantly changed the way banks do business in and relate to the communities they serve. As a result, the report stated, "The lower-income mortgage market has become demonstrably mainstream and more competitive over the last decade." The Federal Reserve Board, too, has deemed this lending to be safe and profitable.

Low-income families can be part of the mainstream economy only if they can buy homes, start businesses and live in stable, vibrant communities. If the United States is to compete globally, we need everyone to contribute. In these uncertain economic times, keeping the Community Reinvestment Act strong is in the interest of all Americans.

Don't Let Banks Turn Their Backs on the Poor
By ROBERT E. RUBIN and MICHAEL RUBINGER

FOR more than 25 years, a little known federal law has helped low-income communities get the bank loans and services they need to rebuild their neighborhoods. But that law, the Community Reinvestment Act, is being threatened by proposals from two federal bank regulators.

Quote of note:

The situation was this: After the Persian Gulf war, the Security Council had imposed sanctions on Iraq until it could verify that Saddam Hussein had disposed of all his weapons of mass destruction. He refused to cooperate, so sanctions remained, impoverishing and starving ordinary Iraqis, but not the Baathist elite.

Um…no.

Saddam disarmed years ago, remember?

And he said so years ago. Complained that he'd shown everyone everything and they were just using the sanctions as a political club.

Anyway…

America's Man at the United Nations
By WILLIAM SHAWCROSS

London

THE growing demands that Kofi Annan resign as secretary general of the United Nations are preposterous. For him to do so would be extremely damaging not only to his organization but also to the United States.

Lift a Pint for Coalitions
By DAVID BROOKS

I spent much of last week talking with Republicans about Social Security reform, but I didn't expect to find myself salivating over the phone. I was in a hotel room in St. Paul when I connected with Senator Lindsey Graham. As he spoke, I could hear Irish music in the background. I could hear laughter and conviviality. It turned out that he was calling me from a pub in Dublin.

In a pub. Well, that explains his support for destroying the "security" part of "Social Security."

Graham added that he would love to embrace the sort of bill that his New Hampshire colleague John Sununu is proposing, which would create private accounts and wouldn't reduce benefits or raise taxes to pay the transition costs. But like most smart Republicans I spoke with this week, Graham realizes that you can't pass a major entitlement reform without significant Democratic support.

Too many people can't afford cars. Even though the monthly payments are less than monthly parking fees.

Quote of note:

The cuts in social services are largely the result of the financial problems in state government, which faces a $6 billion deficit in its $100 billion budget for the next fiscal year. But many lawmakers say there is also a more specific reason why the social service programs are being hurt: the state's decision to use federal welfare money indirectly for non-welfare spending; the pot of money is now running out.

I'm actually having a problem being less than cynical this morning. Side effect of getting enough sleep, I think.

Anyway…

Social Services in City to Lose $100 Million

I can't say you're stepping on the newspaper's first amendment rights by refusing to talk to specific employees of the newspaper.

On the other hand, Ehrlich goes for the "liberal bias" bullshit because he knows how many people's brains shut off as soon as the hear (or say!) the term.

The quote of note:

In subsequent radio appearances, Mr. Ehrlich contended that Mr. Nitkin and Mr. Olesker had "no credibility" and had fabricated quotes. He said his ban was "meant to have a chilling effect" on their reporting.

Maryland Governor Is Sued Over Step Against Journalists
By JAMES DAO

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - The Baltimore Sun filed suit against Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. of Maryland on Friday, asserting that he violated the paper's First Amendment rights by prohibiting state employees from talking to two Sun journalists.

There's never been a monopoly that kept prices low…except AT&T, which brings me to my second point: there's never been a case where deregulation of an industry resulted in lower prices…except the airline industry, and how often does THAT benefit you? Two, maybe three times a year?

Anyway…

Supreme Court to Hear Case on Cable as Internet Carrier
By LINDA GREENHOUSE

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - The Supreme Court on Friday stepped into one of the most heated debates over the future of the Internet: how to classify high-speed Internet cable service for purposes of federal regulation and, ultimately, for the question of whether competing Internet service providers are entitled to use the cable companies' networks to reach their subscribers.

The quote of note isn't from the New York Times article I'm linking:

"So many individual investors have no idea they're losing possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars," Bhagat said. "It begs the question of what aspects of the financial marketplace and which consumer traits are responsible for this phenomenon."

Where does it come from? One of the four links below.

One State Talks About Shifting Out of Pensions
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

Just days after the president of a huge California pension fund was ousted, some California officials are proposing that the state get out of the pension business and give state and municipal workers a 401(k) plan instead.

The title of this post is an example of the sort of reasoning we'd do if we weren't so damn…theoretical.

Anyway…

M.T.A. Seeks Tax Increases Over 5 Years
By CHARLES V. BAGLI and MICHAEL LUO

Moving to address its financial crisis, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is proposing to increase a half-dozen business, real estate and fuel taxes to raise $900 million a year to help pay for the transit network's five-year rebuilding program.

The proposal by the authority's chairman, Peter S. Kalikow, is being presented to the Pataki administration and the State Legislature as a way to deal with the authority's crushing debt and capital costs, a financial burden that has forced the authority to consider a mix of transit fare increases and service cuts when the authority's board meets Dec. 16. Mr. Kalikow is an appointee of Gov. George E. Pataki, and his plan presents a challenge to the Republican governor, an ardent opponent of higher taxes who has yet to come up with his own plan to meet the expenses.

Congo Tells Rwanda Troops to Stay Out
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KINSHASA, Congo, Dec. 3 (AP) - President Joseph Kabila accused Rwanda on Friday of trying to cause a confrontation with Congo in an effort to disrupt Congolese moves to secure the country and move toward elections next year.

It was Mr. Kabila's first public statement since Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame, began warning last week that his country would act against 8,000 to 10,000 Rwanda Hutu rebels taking shelter in eastern Congo. Rwanda's warnings have raised fears of renewed war in Central Africa.

Mr. Kagame insists that a five-month-old disarmament program led by the United Nations has so far failed to neutralize the Rwandan Hutu rebels.

Worried Merchants Throw Discounts at Shoppers
By TRACIE ROZHON

Got a credit card ready? The markdowns have begun.

America's merchants, shocked by a mediocre post-Thanksgiving weekend, are rushing to mark down their merchandise - way before the majority of holiday shoppers have even seen it.

At the beginning of November, merchants had reduced prices on 5 percent fewer of their goods than last year, according to John D. Morris, a retail analyst with Harris Nesbitt who keeps an annual holiday markdown index. "There's been a complete about-face," he said yesterday, speaking from the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, N.J. "By the end of Sunday, markdowns were 5 percent higher than last year - and judging by what I see tonight, that figure is accelerating."

I'll be blogging normally next week (or lose my traffic, I'm sure). Meanwhile, The Niggerati Network is just about set. Here are the categories that are set up:

• Africa and the African diaspora
• Art, music and culture
• Books and writers
• Civil rights
• Eastasia
• Economics
• Education
• Eurasia
• Health and health care
• Ideology
• Latin and South America
• Law and justice
• Ocenia
• Politics
• Race and Identity
• Religion
• Technology
• The media
• War

There's a few test posts there now.

Both sites are now of a pretty solid technological footing. This weekend I finish writing some explanatory material, see if I can arrange for the comment forms to remember anonymous commenters' name, email and websites and Monday it's back to my old verbose annoying self.

Officials criticize commissioner's e-mail
Updated: 12/3/2004 7:47 AM
By: Lisa Reyes, News 14 Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A vehement e-mail from Mecklenburg County Commissioner Bill James has created a stir among local leaders and educators who said his criticism of the urban black community was racially insensitive.

James sent the e-mail Tuesday to 1,300 constituents and city leaders, writing:

"Most people know why CMS can't teach kids within the urban black community. They live in a moral sewer with parents who lack the desire to act properly. That immorality impacts negatively the lives of these children and creates an environment where education is considered 'acting white' and lack of education is a 'plus' in their world."

Rebels return to 'cleared' areas

In Fallujah, US forces are going through 50,000 houses one by one. But Iraqi insurgents are coming back.

By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

…Iraqi civilians are not expected to be permitted to begin returning to the badly damaged city until mid-December, and extensive damage to virtually every house and building across Fallujah means that detailed US and Iraqi government plans for rebuilding will take months, at least, to realize.

But the original problem persists: US forces sweep through one neighborhood after another, only to find insurgents popping up in "cleared" areas.

The battle Monday killed one marine and wounded three others - a high cost against three insurgents, who had moved into a house 50 feet across the street from a newly established marine position at a Fallujah fire station. That house and several others nearby had been cleared just two days earlier.

The Cost of Congressional Caprice

The pork-stuffed omnibus spending bill that Congress rushed to passage without reading largely remains a $388 billion national secret. But laugh lines are gradually leaking out. For instance, why not spend $100,000 for the Punxsutawney Weather Museum in Pennsylvania, considering the annual drollery of Groundhog Day? And once the lawmakers put the taxpayers in for $25,000 to finance mariachi music in Nevada, hey, why not go for $350,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland? As for that $50,000 for wild hog control in Missouri, it's in the same spirit as the $335,000 to protect sunflowers from blackbirds in North Dakota.

Americans Relying More on Prescription Drugs, Report Says
By ROBERT PEAR

ASHINGTON, Dec. 2 - More than 40 percent of Americans take at least one prescription drug, and 17 percent take three or more, the government said Thursday in a comprehensive report on the nation's health.

The report documented the growing use of medications in the last decade, a trend that it attributed to the growth of insurance coverage for drugs, the discovery and marketing of new products, and clinical guidelines that recommend greater use of drugs to treat high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and other conditions.

Health spending shot up 9.3 percent in 2002, to $1.6 trillion, but Americans seem to be getting some benefits from it, the report said. Life expectancy at birth increased to 77.3 years in 2002, a record, and deaths from heart disease, cancer and stroke - the nation's leading killers - declined.

Music Industry Turns to Napster Creator for Help
By JEFF LEEDS

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 2 - As a teenager, Shawn Fanning brought free music to the masses, creating the Napster file-swapping program and unleashing a technological genie that granted the wishes of fans seeking virtually any song at any time - gratis. Now, the recording industry is turning to the college dropout turned cult hero, with dreams of putting the genie back in its bottle.

The major record corporations, who accused Mr. Fanning's Napster of ravaging CD sales and weakening the underpinnings of the industry, now say that a licensed file-sharing system could bolster their position in their legal fight against piracy as well as increase digital music sales.

Yesterday I linked to a really clumsy attempt to spin the latest unemployment numbers. Here's the real deal.

Job Growth Is Well Below Wall Street Forecasts
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - The economy added 112,000 payroll jobs in November, the Labor Department reported today, far fewer than the month before and not enough to keep up with growth in the adult population.

The gain was well below Wall Street forecasts for an increase of about 200,000 jobs, and employment in manufacturing remained stagnant for the third month in a row.

The overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.4 percent and has essentially been flat ever since July, the Labor Department said.

News: 'Black' PAC misleads public

In our continuing probe of the National Center for Public Policy Research and its offspring, our next stop is with one of its political action committees, the Black America's PAC. As you may have guessed already, many of the candidates supported by the 'black' PAC are white conservatives. The black candidates who get backing from the group seek succor from the far Right. Two black candidates from BAMPAC's 2002 and 2004 lists are representative.

Now that you have the conclusion, read the analysis.

The Culture War in Alabama: A Theory

…So let me put it all together: The christian coalition and the republican party have been endoctrinating Alabama voters for months with this ridiculous clap-trap about judges and taxes, which actually has nothing to do with race. They know, though, when the rest of the country hears that Alabama wouldn't get rid of the racist language in its constitution, they'll assume, not unreasonably, that it's a purely race-related matter. They also know that there are many Southerners (and yes, Zell Miller is their poster boy) who resent being called racists by Yankees [sic].

So the christian coalition gets to make the blue states hate Alabama even more, because the blue states think Alabama is racist. Alabama will hate the blue states even more, because they're sick of the Yankees in New York telling them how to run their state. And who wins when there's a lot of anger and resentment in the air? The people that play politics with really emotional issues. The Christian Coalition, in a nutshell. They get to perpetuate the culture war, reinforce stereotypes, and make sure the possibly vulnerable Republican governor of Alabama has a easier time in '06 (is it '06? I might be wrong), maybe help keep the South solid in '08 for Guiliani or McCain, who might be having problems against Edwards.

Not really complaining, though. Thunderbird has been berry, berry good to me.

---

Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0 Release Candidate 1 Available
Wednesday December 1st, 2004

Scott MacGregor
writes: "I'm excited to announce that our first Thunderbird 1.0 Release Candidate is now available for testing. 1.0RC1 includes lots of bug fixes and improvements for features like saved search folders, the RSS reader, mail migration, and message grouping. The default themes have both been updated with new improved artwork as well."

Scott's post to the Thunderbirds Builds forum about 1.0RC1 has more information. The release candidate can be downloaded from the 1.0rc directory on ftp.mozilla.org.

Harley Sorenson's column in the San Francisco Chronicle wove in a couple of letters which deserve to be individually noted. Here's the second.

A second e-mailer, who said he was from Europe, had an unusual point of view: He is a liberal happy that Bush won reelection. Read on:

"As I am against the American empire, I am happy that George W. Bush won the election, whatever frauds there might have been.

"The U.S. seems to be going the same way the U.S.S.R. did. If, hopefully Bush will be followed by someone like Perle or Cheney, it will not take very long.

"It is only sad to see all the ones tortured and murdered in Iraq, Palestine and other places, but hopefully the U.S.

Harley Sorenson's column in the San Francisco Chronicle wove in a couple of letters which deserve to be individually noted. Here's the first.

"I read your column about Bush's four more years. I agree with all of it. I, too, lament the scuttling of the greatest successful experiment in human free spirit. But I think there is another side to it.

"Regardless of what Mr. Bush did in office or to get reelected, he did not vote himself in. And irrespective of the rigging that probably did happen in Ohio, Florida and elsewhere, roughly 59 million people voted for him. Alarmingly, many of these voted based on their faith.

"That is scary. They said in essence that while there was looting of taxpayer money to repay campaign contributors, an untruly reasoned war killing thousands abroad and allowing millions to starve at home, and robbing millions more of health care, it was consistent with their faith-based value system.

Lynch Mob's Real Target Is the U.N., Not Annan
By James Traub
James Traub is writing a book about Kofi Annan and the U.N.

December 3, 2004

Kofi Annan must be wondering whose dog he shot. A right-wing mob is gathering around him, howling for his head. And why? Because the gentle and generally accommodating leader of the United Nations has, as New York Times columnist William Safire recently put it, "brought dishonor on the Secretariat of the United Nations" through mismanagement of the U.N.'s "oil-for-food" scandal. The secretary-general must have been surprised indeed to learn that Safire and the anti-U.N. crowd hold the organization's honor so dearly.

Fallouja Fight Among Deadliest in Years for U.S.
Last month's battle left 71 American troops dead and 623 injured. But the numbers are low for such urban warfare, a commander says.
By Patrick J. McDonnell and John Hendren
Times Staff Writers

December 2, 2004

BAGHDAD — Seventy-one U.S. troops died in the November battle to retake the city of Fallouja, according to the top Marine commander in Iraq, a toll significantly higher than the previous count of 51 deaths.

An additional 623 American troops were wounded, said Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, up from an injury count of 425 issued more than two weeks ago.

The Fallouja offensive made November one of the two most deadly months for American military personnel since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Quote of note:

Marnie Funk, a spokeswoman for Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), said her boss put the language into the bill "to bring clarity to a situation in California that has been fraught with uncertainty and conflict." Domenici aides drafted the language for a bill overhauling national energy policy, she said, and when that bill stalled, Domenici added it to the spending measure.

Carl W. Wood, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission, said the language "shows a complete contempt for the people of California and their representatives."

Congress Fuels Fire Between FERC, States
By Richard Simon

Quote of note:

Attorneys for the prisoners argued that some were held solely on evidence gained by torture, which they said violated fundamental fairness and U.S. due process standards. But Boyle argued in a similar hearing Wednesday that the detainees "have no constitutional rights enforceable in this court."

U.S. Can Use Evidence Gained by Torture
By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN
Associated Press Writer

12:48 AM PST, December 3, 2004

WASHINGTON — Evidence gained by torture can be used by the U.S. military in deciding whether to imprison a foreigner indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as an enemy combatant, the government concedes.

Statements produced under torture have been inadmissible in U.S. courts for about 70 years. But the U.S. military panels reviewing the detention of 550 foreigners as enemy combatants at the U.S. naval base in Cuba are allowed to use such evidence, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Brian Boyle acknowledged at a U.S. District Court hearing Thursday.

Cultural Divide on Campus
At Montebello High, as elsewhere in the state, Latinos split between the more Americanized and those more drawn to their immigrant roots.
By Erika Hayasaki
Times Staff Writer

December 3, 2004

During lunch, there is a line at Montebello High School that students on either side rarely cross. Part gravel, part grass, it runs between a row of bungalows and buildings, lopping off the short end of the L-shaped quad.

They call this the border.

It separates rock music from ranchero. Cheerleaders from folklorico dancers. English from Spanish.

To outsiders, students at Montebello High are mostly the same: 93% Latino, 70% low-income. But the 2,974 Latino students on campus know otherwise. As at many schools in California, students here are delicately split — in classes, sports and clubs, at social events and at lunch — between those who seem more Americanized and those who feel more connected to their Latino immigrant roots.

With One Swing (of the Gavel), Ruth's Bat Hits $1.26 Million
By Josh Getlin
Times Staff Writer

December 3, 2004

NEW YORK — Minutes after he entered newly built Yankee Stadium in 1923, Babe Ruth shared a dream with reporters gathered around him: "I'd give a year of my life if I can hit a home run in the first game."

The Bambino delivered on opening day, smacking the first home run at the new ballpark. On Thursday, an East Coast collector paid $1.26 million for the bat Ruth used that day. It's one of the most famous pieces of memorabilia in baseball history.

These guys manage God's bank account (something Fallwell never forgave them for).

Quote of note:

The settlement will be paid without bankrupting the diocese or requiring any of its 56 parishes to be closed, church officials said.

Maria Schinderle, general counsel for the diocese, said the sale of some property, as well as cash reserves, staff cuts and loans secured with church assets would raise the funds for the diocese's share of the settlement. The one major piece of property that is not a parish or school and is eligible to be sold is the diocese's 17-acre headquarters in Orange.

O.C. Diocese Settles Abuse Cases
The Roman Catholic Church reaches a deal with 87 plaintiffs. The undisclosed amount, reportedly a record, could affect L.A. talks.

Since it lay fallow so long, I didn't try to pick up where it left off.

As you may know. the site itself is built around Drupal 4.5. Drupal can deliver all the functionality of Scoop, but I understand the code. So not only do I get to build on the same foundation CivicSpace is built on I can tweak, and even add functionality to it, via the official contributed module or my own minor creations.

Of course, this means I can take very little credit for all this. I've made small hacks in two places (the most recent poll only shows while it is active and the Trackback module ignores internal links) and written a couple of small modules. One, a "fortune cookie" program, is just a toy. One is invisible but useful because it automatically closes comments for specified content types of configurable age a processing cycle of my choosing. And both the recently commented threads and weekly archive sidebar boxes are mine (those the built-in pager doesn't like me very much).

Michael says:

Civil Rights is Civil Rights. I don't think there is much work to be done. For American citizens the bar is the same, and it's reasonable to say that the Congressional Black Caucus has done all that needs to be done with regards to providing leadership, which is to say not a whole lot. I don't see what little meat on the bones is worth splitting amongst those few organizations if their concern is truly Civil Rights. Which illustrates my point, it's not. They are ethnic poltical organzations. To the extent that is true, I think it is a failure of the legacy of the NAACP, and if the IRS thinks so too, good.

So make it one civil rights organzation for everyone, or drop the pretense and be the Black Left Coalition.

You should go to the Chicago Tribune to read it. I only plagiarized the whole thing because I'm trying to figure out what Mr. Page is saying. I think something about it bothers me.

Persistent civil rights wounds
Published December 1, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Kweisi Mfume's sudden departure after nine years as president and chief executive officer of the NAACP signals a seismic quake that rattles far beyond the doors of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.

Reports have been leaking out for months that Mfume and Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP board, have not been getting along, although both men displayed nothing but unity after Mfume's announcement Tuesday.

Quote of note:

The admissions office already uses some nonacademic criteria to evaluate applicants, including students' creativity, community involvement and integrity.

Admissions officials stressed that the majority of admissions would be based solely on superior academic performance, and all admitted students would be qualified.

UGA: Let race count
Diversity would be one factor in admissions policy
By KELLY SIMMONS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/01/04

ATHENS — The University of Georgia could return to using race as a factor in freshman admissions as early as next fall.

A faculty committee has recommended adding diversity criteria, including race and ethnicity, to its admissions policy in time for selecting the fall 2005 freshman class.

Disappearing for hours on end…

I've been setting up the revival of The Niggerati Network. It's like, enough experimenting, already.

Note to memer: I haven't done the list of powers registered users here have because you're going to want to use them there. I have a single user list between the two sites so if you're registered here you'll be registered there.

Judge Questions Sweep of Bush's War on Terrorism
Pentagon Says 550 'Enemy Combatants' Are Confined Properly, Seeks Benefit of Doubt on Detentions

By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 2, 2004; Page A04

…"If a little old lady in Switzerland writes checks to what she thinks is a charitable organization for Afghanistan orphans, but it's really supporting . . . al Qaeda, is she an enemy combatant?" the judge asked.

Boyle said the woman could be, but it would depend on her intentions. "It would be up to the military to decide as to what to believe," he said.

And she sits in Gitmo until they decide?

That previous post, about the misleading abstinence programs…the Washington Post delivered that story in the Politics RSS feed.

There's way too diverse a set of articles in that feed.

Some Abstinence Programs Mislead Teens, Report Says
By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 2, 2004; Page A01

Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy," a congressional staff analysis has found.

Those and other assertions are examples of the "false, misleading, or distorted information" in the programs' teaching materials, said the analysis, released yesterday, which reviewed the curricula of more than a dozen projects aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.

Jobless Claims Up but Still Show Recovery
By JEANNINE AVERSA
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 2, 2004; 9:27 AM

WASHINGTON -- The number of new people signing up for unemployment benefits rose sharply last week but the overall level of applications still points to a recovering job market.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new filings for unemployment insurance increased by a seasonally adjusted 25,000 to 349,000 for the week ending Nov. 27, which included the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Some analysts were expecting a smaller rise -- of around 7,000.

Private economists and Labor Department analysts say claims around Thanksgiving and other holidays are typically more volatile -- meaning that they can bounce around a lot more from week to week in part because of seasonal adjustment difficulties.

The Speaker Who Would Be Maître D'

The speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, has reached a dangerous new level of partisan zealotry to bolster the Republicans' control of government. For the new Congress, Mr. Hastert intends to cater to what he calls "the majority of the majority" in deciding which bills will get a vote and which won't. He has little use for the bipartisan majorities idealized in civics classes and once seen even in the House.

Mr. Hastert first enunciated his approach last year in a speech. "The job of speaker is not to expedite legislation that runs counter to the wishes of the majority of his majority," he said. At the time, it sounded like mere grandstanding.

Bush, in Canada, Declares He'll 'Reach Out' to Friends
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Dec. 1 - President Bush said Wednesday that a "new term in office is an important opportunity to reach out to our friends," but he remained uncompromising about the American-led invasion of Iraq and his insistence that the United Nations be focused on "collective security, not endless debate."

In a speech at Pier 21, the entry point in this blustery Nova Scotia port for nearly one million immigrants to Canada in the 20th century, Mr. Bush made clear that diplomacy would be a theme of his second four years. But he described a diplomacy that appeared to be based largely on his terms, with a heavy emphasis on "the nightmare world of danger" that will befall future generations if the United States eases up in its struggle against terrorism.

Key Antigun Program Loses Direct Financing
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 - Congress has eliminated direct financing for a Justice Department program that has been the centerpiece of the Bush administration's efforts to prosecute black-market gun crimes.

The move, which Congressional officials attributed to competing budget priorities, cuts federal grants to local and state law enforcement agencies in investigating and prosecuting crimes committed with guns. It also raises questions about the administration's ability to persuade the Republican-controlled Congress to support its legislative priorities, after Republicans last month blocked an intelligence overhaul backed by the White House.

Quote of note:

"You start with a relatively small number of sounds you have to distinguish with high accuracy - gunshots, for example; or diesel engines for border patrol crossings; or chainsaws to listen for outlaw loggers. This vocabulary is quite manageable," said Berger.

Waiting for the Gun

A USC engineer uses his expertise with nerve cells to create a surveillance system that can recognize the sound of a nearby gunshot - and identify the shooter. In a unique pilot program, L.A. and Chicago will deploy test units in high-crime areas.

By Eric Mankin

A USC biomedical engineer's pioneering brain cell research has led directly to a patented system that is now being rolled out to stem gun violence on the streets of Chicago and Los Angeles.

Army to deploy robots that shoot
By Michael Kanellos

Next year, the U.S. Army will give robots machine guns, although humans will firmly be in control of them.

The Army next March will begin to deploy Talon robots from Waltham, Mass.-based Foster-Miller. The robots will be mounted with M240 or M249 machine guns, said a Foster-Miller spokesman. The units also can be mounted with a rocket launcher. Defense agencies have been testing an armed version of the Talon since 2003.

Putting guns on robotic vehicles is a natural evolution of the technology, which is being adopted to decrease risks to personnel in the field, the company said. Several robots, including the Talon and the PackBot from iRobot, have been used to conduct surveillance missions such as taking pictures inside the caves of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, during the conflict. Other robots have been mounted with "distruptors," guns that disable bombs and mines.

Widening the College Gap

December 2, 2004

With all the talk about not leaving children behind and the necessity of a college education to survive in the Information Age economy, it's hard to fathom why Congress and the Bush administration would cut back on Pell grants, a form of college aid for truly needy students.

In passing the omnibus spending bill, Congress gave the go-ahead to the U.S. Department of Education to "adjust" its formulas for calculating financial aid. Last year, Congress had held back the adjustment because it would reduce grants for 1.2 million students and cut off aid completely to about 90,000.

On the surface, the change seems like a reasonable update. The government uses a complex formula comparing a family's expenses — including taxes — with its income to determine its financial need. Education officials want to stop using old state tax rates that date back to 1990 and replace them with rates from 2000, which are generally lower. But most states have been raising taxes since 2000, so the 1990 rates are now probably more accurate than the newer ones.

Anti-Syphilis TV Message Finds Few Takers
Many stations reject public service spot aimed at gay men as inappropriate.
By Jia-Rui Chong
Times Staff Writer

December 2, 2004

A public service ad paid for by the Los Angeles County public health agency to raise awareness about the dangers of syphilis has been rejected by local television stations that consider the content inappropriate.

Weak pun. Shoot me.

---

Panel to Review Drug for Low Female Sex Drive
By ANDREW POLLACK

Men have Viagra and other pills to fight sexual impotence. Now women might soon have something roughly equivalent.

Procter & Gamble will try today to persuade a federal advisory panel to recommend approval of the first drug to increase a woman's sex drive.

The company plans to tell the committee, which advises the Food and Drug Administration, that the drug Intrinsa increases the sexual desire of women and the frequency with which they have "satisfying" sex. Some experts say approval of Intrinsa would bring a new era in the handling of women's sexual problems.

Dollar's Fall Drains Profit of European Small Business
By MARK LANDLER

FRANKFURT, Dec. 1 - To get a sense of how fast the falling dollar can ruin a European businessman's day, talk to Udo Pfeiffer, the chief executive of a small German machinery maker in the industrial Ruhr Valley.

Mr. Pfeiffer's company, SMS Elotherm, builds machines that forge crankshafts for cars. He exports many to the United States and Mexico, selling them for dollars to manufacturers like DaimlerChrysler.

In recent weeks, the euro has been rising so rapidly against the dollar that Mr. Pfeiffer lost $10,000 in profit in the three days between shaking hands on a $1.5 million deal for a machine and signing the contract. The profit on these machines, he said, will be no more than $30,000.

Not.

U.S. to Increase Its Force in Iraq by Nearly 12,000
By ERIC SCHMITT and THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 - The American military presence in Iraq will grow by nearly 12,000 troops by next month, to 150,000, the highest level since the invasion last year, to provide security for the Iraqi elections in January and to quell insurgent attacks around the country, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.

The Pentagon is doing this mainly by ordering about 10,400 soldiers and marines in Iraq to extend their tours - in some cases for the second time - for up to two months, even as their replacement units begin to arrive. The Pentagon is also sending 1,500 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division in the next two weeks for a four-month tour.

Company Hopes to Take Outsourcing to a New Level: Africa
By Mary Ellen Slayter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 29, 2004; Page E05

Many large companies have reaped the economic benefits of outsourcing in recent years. Karim Morsli is trying to make money bringing those same advantages to small and medium-sized businesses -- while also spurring economic growth in Africa.

His company, Rising Data Solutions, opened the first outsource call center in Ghana, a West African nation of about 20 million people. The company circumvents the country's limited telephone infrastructure by relying on voice-over-Internet protocol.

"Outsourcing is here to stay. Period," said Morsli, the Gaithersburg company's chief information officer. "But we give people an option to India."

Quote of note:

Richard Grenell, a spokesman to the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said the Bush administration will withhold comment on the report until it is formally released Thursday. "We will review this report with an eye towards how, if at all, the recommendations will improve the workings of the Security Council."

U.N. Panel Rejects Bush Stance on Military Action
By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 1, 2004; Page A15

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 30 -- An influential U.N.-appointed panel challenged the Bush administration's right to use military force against an enemy that does not pose an imminent military threat. The 16-member panel, which was appointed by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, said in a long-awaited report that only the U.N. Security Council has the legal standing to authorize such a "preventive war."

AIDS in India, China and Russia Nears 'Tipping Point,' U.N. Says
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 1, 2004; Page A17

The head of the United Nations' AIDS program warned yesterday that India, China and Russia are "perilously close to a tipping point" that could turn their small, localized AIDS epidemics into gigantic ones capable of disrupting the world's response to the disease.

The situation in those three countries "bears alarming similarities to the situation we faced 20 years ago in Africa," Peter Piot, a Belgian physician and epidemiologist, told policymakers in Washington. It could transform "from a series of concentrated outbreaks and hot spots into a generalized explosion across the entire population -- spreading like a wildfire from there."

Why AIDS keeps spreading in Africa
A new UN report, marking Wednesday's World AIDS day, estimates that 5 million people this year got HIV.
By Mike Crawley | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

ABANSE, GHANA – Messages about how to prevent HIV have been spread to all corners of Africa. AIDS education programs take place in schools in Kenya, churches in Uganda, workplaces in Botswana, and even bus stations here in Ghana. Yet the stark numbers in a new United Nations report suggests these efforts are failing to persuade millions of Africans to change their sexual behavior.

…Here in sub-Saharan Africa some of those cultural stumbling blocks include male dominance, a reluctance to talk openly about sex, and a tradition of polygamy that today manifests itself in tacit acceptance of married men having multiple sexual partners. African men who have become disempowered through a history of colonialism, racism, and poor economic prospects are unwilling to give up the power they hold over women, says Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala, head of anthropology at South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Bill Frist's reelection campaign…not Frist himself, mind you…took out a loan for over a third of a million dollars.

To invest it in the stock market.

After having lost over half a million dollars in the market over the last four years.

Paid back about three percent when it was due in August because they lost another 32 grand this summer (should have sold Halliburton before the investigations like Cheney and Bush likely did).

And the bank lets them roll the loan over.

Nick Smith, a spokesman for the Tennessee Republican, referred questions yesterday to the senator's financial consultant, Linus Catignani, who said the idea that Frist has received any preferential treatment is ''absurd.''

Big Media Clamps Down on Free Speech

CBS and NBC are refusing to air an ad produced by the United Church of Christ because it advocates religious inclusion. The ad shows bouncers turning away a variety of people at the door of a church – including ethnic minorities and two men who may be a homosexual couple. The announcer says, "Jesus doesn't turn people away. Neither do we. No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey you are welcome here." (You can watch the advertisement here).

In a letter to the UCC, CBS is refusing to air the advertisement because the commercial "touches on the exclusion of gay couples and other minority groups by other individuals and organizations." Also, CBS found the ad "unacceptable" because "the Executive Branch has recently proposed a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman." NBC similarly declared the ad "too controversial." The ad has been accepted and will air on a number of networks, including ABC Family, AMC, BET, Discovery, Fox, Hallmark, History, Nick@Nite, TBS, TNT, Travel and TV Land.

There's something about the delirium that comes from a lack of sleep that makes me insanely productive. Or being insanely productive makes me unable to sleep. Fortunately it only happens in spurts.

I think I got enough of a grip on PHP4 to use it productively. PHP 5 is up though…

And Delphi 2005 is out. I need to upgrade, probably as a birthday present for myself. It's a Win32 and .Net development environment, and a C# environment as well…a move that quashed any concern I had they might abandon Object Pascal. Since Win XP's service pack 2 includes the .NET framework I lose all excuses to avoid C#. Oh, well…

My coding efforts are shifting back to the desktop because the website issues are coming down to configuration. One of the more annoying things about testing the vast number of scripts I've messed with over the last year was keeping all the administration methods straight. Drupal gave me the potential of running multiple sites from a single pile of code and and API I could grok immediately. But the multiple site thing took a leeeeeetle more shell skills than I possessed until, oh, two hours ago. Two separate installations that were almost identical was almost as bad as four-five totally different administrative UIs. If I got the grip I think I got, it gets interesting.

Surprise Shift in Prop. 72 Vote Tally
Late ballots appear to make measure requiring health insurance coverage a winner. But a clerical error may be responsible, officials say.
By Jordan Rau and Tim Reiterman
Times Staff Writers

December 1, 2004

SACRAMENTO — The fate of a statewide proposition mandating health insurance coverage — assumed to have been defeated in the Nov. 2 election — was thrown into confusion Tuesday night after the secretary of state's office reported that late-counted ballots had given Proposition 72 a narrow margin of victory.

But state elections officials, who had posted the results on the secretary of state's website after the close of business Tuesday, removed them a few hours later, fearing that a clerical error was responsible for the surprising turnaround.

PR Meets Psy-Ops in War on Terror
The use of misleading information as a military tool sparks debate in the Pentagon. Critics say the practice puts credibility at stake.
By Mark Mazzetti
Times Staff Writer

December 1, 2004

WASHINGTON — On the evening of Oct. 14, a young Marine spokesman near Fallouja appeared on CNN and made a dramatic announcement.

"Troops crossed the line of departure," 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert declared, using a common military expression signaling the start of a major campaign. "It's going to be a long night." CNN, which had been alerted to expect a major news development, reported that the long-awaited offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Fallouja had begun.

Via Pandagon I see this:

His name is Steve Gardner. He's also known as "The 10th Brother," as in Band of Brothers. He's one of two members of Sen. John Kerry's 12 Vietnam swift boat crew members who refused to stand with Kerry at the Democratic Convention. The other man remained silent.

"They said I had a political agenda. I had no and have no political agenda whatsoever. I saw John Kerry on television saying he was running for the Democratic nomination for president, and I knew I couldn't ever see him as commander in chief -- not after what I saw in Vietnam, not after the lies I heard him tell about what he says he did and what he says others did."

OooooKAY!

What does "political" mean? What does "agenda" mean? And in what language?

Though I think she classes me as an opponent of the first type, Ambra hasn't actually annoyed me yet. And frankly for this one she gets much respect (for the across-the-board distancing of self from stupid). I'm impressed enough to let her piss me off once with no repercussions.

The Requisite Monthly Rant: for the record, Republican doesn't equal "Moral" or "Righteous"

Throughout the course of my brief time as a writer, I've generally been able to pin "opponents" by brand. There's the "You're Too Young to Know Anything So Go Back and Finish College First" brand of people. There's also the "I Think You're an Uncle Tom, Coon, Sell-out Because You Talked Bad About Jesse Jackson And it Rubbed Me the Wrong Way" brand of people. Lastly, there's my personal favorite: the "I'm An Atheist and A Democrat and I Think You're Stooopid" brand of people. I am quite familiar with all these schools of thought. However, just when you think you're on top of your game, a new brand emerges. Well, somewhat new to me at least. Earlier this summer, I was introduced to what appears to be the most dangerous of all the brands of opposition: the "I'm a Republican and Am Therefore by Default Righteous and Moral" people. Boy does this one open up a can of worms. These people are dangerous because they are deceived.

Must've Hit Close to the Mark

To get 'em all riled up like this - from the comments:

Fuck you mouthy niggers! What the hell are you doing on the internet? computers are for white people! Niggers are just too stupid for computers!

No, my friend, clearly it is YOU who are too stupid. If you could read, you would discover that this blog is written and maintained by an Asian Indian American. If you know anything about the Internet and computers, then you might recognize that it's Indians that pretty much own anything computer-related. You're just lucky we let you have an AOL account...

I guess hate mail is better than none...

He remembers Mr. Peabody. NOBODY remembers Mr. Peabody.

Somebody's Idea of Black Culture
Baldilocks is meditating on an old meditation. I thought I'd bring back some flavor to that discussion that we've discussed here and there.

The way I see it, there are two bogus arguments that fuel such problematic discussions and and one shady argument. The first bogus argument is the racist one. Blacks are genetically predisposed to be blockheads, so ugliness is inevitable. Second bogus argument is a slippery version of the first, racist, but trying not to sound racist: Black *culture* is predisposed to ugliness and so such behavior is to be expected. The third argument is the shady one which suggests that Black culture *should* have ugly elements in it because it's appropriate to the political struggle of African Americans.

And, of course, some folks approve…

GERALD WALKER COMMENTARY: Jesse Jackson Vs. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The 17-year-old conservative Republican recounts a recent church discussion where he expressed disapproval of today's black 'leadership' — and was called a sellout — and vociferously took issue with another person's claim that Rev. Jackson was the greatest U.S. black leader since Dr. King: "No black leader has done more things for the African American community than Dr. King. Dr. King was a real activist, a national figure, and he sent civil rights in new directions.

After I ragged on the NAACP while praising the Legal Defense and Education Fund the other day, Ruthie asked what was up with the division of the two organizations.

There's but so much I can tell you. The NAACP started out as something of a cheerleading organization. The intent was to influence public opinion, make people think well enough of negroes to support their admission into society as full members. That was one of the things DuBois tasked the "Talented Tenth" with, the motivation behind the Harlem Renaissance, it was even behind Booker T. Washington's approach. At the time Black Americans…and there was dispute about this, no question, but overall we felt all we need do is show we were their peers.

And that almost because a whole 'nother essay.

President of N.A.A.C.P. Is Resigning
By MARIA NEWMAN

The president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Kweisi Mfume, said today that he was stepping down as head of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights group.

Mr. Mfume, 56, a former congressman from Baltimore who became the N.A.A.C.P.'s president in 1996, said he wanted to spend more time with his family.

"I just need a break," he said at a televised news conference in Baltimore. "I need a vacation. I'm just not going to do anything for a while."

The group's legal counsel, Dennis Hayes, will serve as interim president while the organization conducts a national search for replacement for Mr. Mfume, who is to depart on Jan. 1.

Bush Nominates Kellogg Executive for Commerce Secretary
By RICHARD W. STEVENSON

Published: November 30, 2004

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 - President Bush on Monday nominated Carlos M. Gutierrez, among the most prominent Hispanic business executives in the United States, to be his commerce secretary, as the president continued with what Republicans said would be a broad overhaul of his cabinet.

Mr. Gutierrez, 51, has been chief executive of the Kellogg Company, the cereal maker, for more than five years, and has built a reputation as an innovative and forceful business leader with broad international experience. But he has little background in public policy, leaving him largely unknown in political circles and untested by the demands of a high-profile job in Washington.

Merck Offering Top Executives Rich Way Out
By ALEX BERENSON

Published: November 30, 2004

With its stock plunging and its ability to thrive as an independent company uncertain, the drug giant Merck has adopted a plan that could give its top executives big bonuses if the company is taken over.

Merck has been reeling since it withdrew its arthritis treatment Vioxx from the market on Sept. 30 after acknowledging that studies have found a higher incidence of heart problems in people taking the drug.

Yesterday, Merck said in a federal securities filing that its board had decided to give its top 230 managers the opportunity for a one-time payment of up to three years of salary and bonus if another company bought Merck - or merely bought over 20 percent of its shares. Any executive who was fired or resigned for good cause would receive the payment.

A Steamroller That May Lose Its Steam
By TODD S. PURDUM

Published: November 28, 2004

…From the rapacious capitalism of the Gilded Age to the cronyism of Teapot Dome, from the corruption of Tammany Hall to the cultural and fiscal excesses of the Great Society, American history is replete with examples of the price of one-party rule. At the moment, Democrats on Capitol Hill lack even the power to call a committee meeting, issue a subpoena or do anything much more active than complain.

But history also suggests a perilous twist on an adage as old as Athens: Whom the Gods would destroy they first give control of both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. With responsibility for all of government comes accountability for all of government, and the picture is not always pretty.

New Social Security Plan Allows Workers To Put Portion Of Earnings On Favorite Team

WASHINGTON, DC—President Bush signed an ambitious Social Security plan into law Monday that will allow citizens to bet a third of their payroll taxes on their favorite sports teams.

"It's time we gave the American people the chance to make some real money for retirement," Bush said, speaking from the new Office of Social Security and Pari-mutuel Wagering Building. "Some naysayers think the average citizen doesn't know how to handle his own money. When spring training starts next year, it's up to you to prove them wrong."

"It's your money," Bush added. "You earned it. You should be able to bet it on whatever team you want."

Tuesday, November 30th, 2004
Red Cross Finds Detainees Intentionally Tortured in
Guantanamo as Lawyers in Germany Charge Rumsfeld, Tenet With War Crimes
in Iraq

Listen to Segment || Download Show mp3 || Watch 128k stream ||Watch 256k stream || Read Transcript

The report also concluded that the military had a set up a system at Guantanamo devised to break the will of the prisoners , and make them wholly dependent on their interrogators through "humiliating acts, solitary confinement, temperature extremes, use of forced positions." The U.S. has rejected the charges.

 

Said to Al Sharpton:

DR. FALWELL: To answer your question, Reverend, I do not think we have the right to impose our religious beliefs on people that disagree with you.

Be very clear what he's saying.

---

On the creator of Desperate Housewives:

DR. FALWELL: Well, the fact that he's a gay Republican means he should join the Democratic Party.

MR. RUSSERT: Conservative, gay Republican.

DR. LAND: Obviously a fiscally conservative gay Republican, not a socially. Not socially. Not socially.

---

Scariest statement possible from an Eveangelical (who by definition wants to convert everyone):

REV. SHARPTON: But at--I think that's important. But I think, Reverend, what you've got to do is convert people, not force them. If we were spending more time preaching the conversion, we wouldn't have to worry about...

DR. LAND: If we wanted to convert everyone, we wouldn't have the civil rights laws. When a critical mass of the society believes something is immoral and is imposing something on someone else...

Sunday's duscussion on "religion and public life," according to David Brooks.

MR. RUSSERT: If abortion is outlawed in the state and abortions are performed by a doctor in that state, who's prosecuted? The doctor?

DR. LAND: The doctor.

MR. RUSSERT: The mother?

DR. LAND: I see mothers as victims. I've worked in crisis pregnancy centers. I've counseled women who'd had post-abortion traumatic stress syndrome. When an abortion takes place, there are at least two victims, the mother and the unborn child. I would prosecute the doctors. And we're ready to battle that out in every state and let the people's elected representatives make those decisions, not people in black robes.

REV. SHARPTON: I think that they will. Let me say this first. I think that we have the debate over civil liberties that may not, in my opinion, be given the kind of airing that we should. I may agree. You know, Reverend Falwell and I talk. I have two daughters. My marriage just ended a couple of years ago, we've changed, but I'm very much involved with my daughters, and I talk to both of my daughters. If my daughters had an unwanted pregnancy, I would probably advise, under any circumstances, not to get an abortion. But I don't want the state to make that decision for them. There's a difference in values and imposed values.

Who Is John Stott?
By DAVID BROOKS

Tim Russert is a great journalist, but he made a mistake last weekend. He included Jerry Falwell and Al Sharpton in a discussion on religion and public life.

Inviting these two bozos onto "Meet the Press" to discuss that issue is like inviting Britney Spears and Larry Flynt to discuss D. H. Lawrence. Naturally, they got into a demeaning food fight that would have lowered the intellectual discourse of your average nursery school.

The discussion was religion, politics, law and judicial appointments…a small, highly distorted fragment of public life. That made Falwell and Sharpton perfect choices. And Rev. Sharpton flung no food. He showed well, as usual;stiffs like Falwell are perfect foils for his style.

Quote on note

Given the weak performance of Iraqi forces, any major withdrawal of American troops for at least a decade would invite chaos, a senior Interior Ministry official, whose name could not be used, said in an interview last week.

U.S. Officials Say Iraq's Forces Founder Under Rebel Assaults
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and JAMES GLANZ

Published: November 30, 2004

MOSUL, Iraq, Nov. 29 - Iraqi police and national guard forces, whose performance is crucial to securing January elections, are foundering in the face of coordinated efforts to kill and intimidate them and their families, say American officials in the provinces facing the most violent insurgency.

You know, the complaint tells a subtly different story than has been presented up until now. Given the gossipy nature of the news media, that's probably legitimate. And I'll likely watch this one but the verdict is a forgone conclusion.

One of the survivors has said yes, they used profanity but did not threaten Vang. I can't say, of course, but there's doubt in the very phrasing of this statement…for good reason, I think.

Vang was an experienced hunter. A marksman and veteran that earned his U.S. visa by rescuing downed U.S. pilots in Viet Nam. This is not a coward that is likely to panic.

And the first story I heard had Vang claiming he was shot at as he was leaving, that the shot hit the dirt near him. And I totally believe it possible a shot was fired with no intent of hitting him. Sort of a "Scoot, varmint" sentiment. I mean, we did it as kids…you get in a fight and people holler and throw rocks as the loser slinks away.

Canadian Inventor Lets Everyone Be an Armchair Spy
Mon Nov 29, 2004 06:55 PM ET

By Larissa Liepins
TORONTO (Reuters) - New Internet-based technology could soon turn regular computer users into armchair spies, a Canadian inventor said on Monday.

Vincent Tao, an engineer at Toronto's York University said he has invented a mapping and surveillance tool called SAME (see anywhere, map anywhere), that produces images so sharp that geographic co-ordinates typed into a Web site can reveal the make of a car parked on the street.

Tao said SAME works by taking satellite images of the Earth and combining them with real-time remote sensors that monitor traffic and weather.

Today is the last day you can vote in my little attitude adjustment poll. It's also the last day I can pay my cell phone bill without incurring late charges. I admit, I'm conflicted…

I, like President Bush, voted for myself to be more aggressive. So at this point the exit poll (which, by coincidence, is also the actual poll) gives me a clear mandate for greater aggression, with 55% of the vote vs. 18% for the next most popular option.

There's a book of speculative fiction by James Halperin titled The Truth Machine that explored the possibility of an affordable absolutely accurate lie detector. The book has it's flaws (all books written to make a point instead of tell a story has flaws) but it was correct in this: the wide-spread ability to flawlessly detect lies whose shake human society to its roots.

Not to mention eliminate all advertising.

All of it.

Anyway…
Brain Scan Shows Differences in Truth, Lying
Mon Nov 29, 2004 02:17 PM ET
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

Tiny Fuel Particles Cause Heart Attacks, Group Says
Mon Nov 29, 2004 04:43 PM ET

GENEVA (Reuters) - Tiny air-born particles released by burning fossil fuels are reducing the average human life span across Europe and North America by eight months, a leading research body said on Monday.

Studies showed that the particles are a major cause of heart attacks, one of the world's biggest killers, a scientist from an Austrian-based research body told a U.N. news conference. [P6:emphasis added]

"We always knew that they had an effect on the respiratory system, but now we know that they spark cardiovascular disease by inflaming the heart membranes," said Markus Amann of IAASA, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

Power stations, road traffic, steel and cement plants and even wood-burning in country areas contribute to the build-up of the particles, he added.

To think that this could have been a book if I were inclined to unnecessary verbiage.

Anyway…

Erosion of Rights a Long U.S. War Tradition-Author
Mon Nov 29, 2004 06:25 PM ET

By Ellen Wulfhorst
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Bush administration uses "Gestapo tactics" to clip civil liberties in its war on terror but the author of a new book said on Monday that today's climate pales compared to other times of war in U.S. history.

While prisoner detentions or the Patriot Act may spark criticism about an erosion of constitutional rights, the United States has seen far more worrisome violations practically since its inception, said Geoffrey Stone, author of "Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime."

Buchanan's idea of closing off all the borders sounds good if we could do it while Bush is out of the country.

---

Bush Makes First Official Visit to Canada Tuesday
Tue Nov 30, 2004 04:01 AM ET
By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will assure Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on Tuesday that a U.S. regulatory process is well under way that could end a ban on Canadian beef imports, White House officials said.

Bush, elected to a second term on Nov. 2, goes to Ottawa on Tuesday in what will be his first official trip to Canada since taking office in January 2001.

U.S.-Canadian relations were strained by the U.S.-led war on Iraq, but both governments have been trying to move ahead in the months after Martin replaced Jean Chretien, who made little secret of his distaste for Bush.

You know, because I didn't vote in my latest poll I never saw the results until just now.

Ten folks voted: five say I should be more aggressive, two say less aggressive, two say more tolerant and one STFU.

Reminds me a lot of the last Presidential election.

Quote of note:

Yes, that's right: letter writers from across the nation are united in their outrage - not that the steely-eyed, smoking soldier makes mass killing look cool, but that the laudable act of mass killing makes the grave crime of smoking look cool.

Smoking while Iraq burns
Its idolisation of 'the face of Falluja' shows how numb the US is to everyone's pain but its own
Naomi Klein
Friday November 26, 2004
The Guardian

Iconic images inspire love and hate, and so it is with the photograph of James Blake Miller, the 20-year-old marine from Appalachia, who has been christened "the face of Falluja" by pro-war pundits, and the "the Marlboro man" by pretty much everyone else. Reprinted in more than a hundred newspapers, the Los Angeles Times photograph shows Miller "after more than 12 hours of nearly non-stop, deadly combat" in Falluja, his face coated in war paint, a bloody scratch on his nose, and a freshly lit cigarette hanging from his lips.

Quote of note:

Perversely, American and British strategic analysts pin their hopes for Iraq on the unpopularity of their own troops. If we leave after elections, goes the thinking, then Iraqi relief and exultation will give the country a chance. It will almost certainly end up controlled by some new strong man, dependent on the reconstituted army, but he will be "our" strong man, and not Saddam Hussein.

Iraq is not Bush's Vietnam. But it is becoming Blair's
Public wrath is growing, and the prime minister can do nothing about it
Max Hastings
Monday November 15, 2004

The Guardian
There is a long-standing British belief that we are more robust about war, and its human cost, than are Americans. Yet compare and contrast current national attitudes to what is happening in Iraq. A reverse image is apparent. The British people are very unhappy. Many Americans think everything is going fine.

Lawyer: FDA May Reassign Vioxx Whistleblower
Mon Nov 29, 2004 01:20 PM ET

By Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviewer who criticized the agency's handling of Merck & Co. Inc.'s now-withdrawn Vioxx painkiller may be forced to another position at the agency, a lawyer for the scientist said on Monday.

FDA efforts to move David Graham, the associate director for science in the Office of Drug Safety, have stepped up since he accused the agency at a Nov. 18 Senate hearing of failing to protect the public, said his lawyer, Thomas Devine.

"We were wondering if he was going to be reassigned today," but that had not happened as of Monday morning, said Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project. Devine added that talks with other FDA scientists indicate Graham's "exile from drug safety work is imminent."

Quote of note

"Any member of the United Nations may bring to the attention of the Security Council any situation that might endanger the maintenance of international peace and security."

Sanders also issued a stern warning to companies, including multinationals, against exporting weapons-related equipment to Iran. The United States "will impose economic burdens on them and brand them as proliferators," she said.

Thwarted U.S. May Seek Lone Push on Iran Sanctions
Nov 29, 2004 — By Louis Charbonneau and Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran escaped U.N. censure over its nuclear program but Washington, which accuses it of seeking an atomic bomb, said Monday it reserved the right to take the case to the Security Council on its own.

Quote of note:

"It is a long standing case of Not In My Back Yard. Where people have knowledge they give support. In this case familiarity breeds content," she said.

Wind Industry Bids to Win Over Doubters
Fri Nov 26, 2004 08:24 AM ET

By Jeremy Lovell
LONDON (Reuters) - The European wind energy industry, thriving as climate change tops the global agenda, says it could eventually supply all the continent's electricity, but must first overcome public resistance over eyesore turbines.

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), which held its annual meeting in London this week, projected that offshore "wind farms" covering an area the size of Greece could meet Europe's electricity needs with no greenhouse gas emissions.

Quote of note:

"The only way a president can affect that which is inside the bill, other than vetoing the entire bill, is to be able to pick out parts of a bill and express displeasure about it through a line-item veto. I hope the Congress will give me a line-item veto," Bush said.

Oh, I don't know…how about by being the leader you claim to be?

Bush Backs $388 Bln Bill But Wants New Veto Powers
Fri Nov 26, 2004 07:12 PM ET

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush on Friday backed the $388 billion price-tag of a bill to finance government programs this fiscal year, despite criticism that it was loaded up with pork-barrel projects.

Comment 169

At this point my primary remaining concern relating to the original topic is the concept of "Uncle Tom" or "Tommin'" - what does this mean exactly? Why is this term so much more freely used by liberals against conservatives than the other way around? Is it a political issue? Can one be a conservative black without being an Uncle Tom?

Eric, politics is sea foam.

Consider your local police department: a heterogenous group of people facing a basically hostile world of which circumstances decree they see mostly the seamy side.

Extrapolate.

I need to correct an impression one might form from the discussion.

I don't like the NAACP. Big ups all day to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, but the NAACP pissed me off terminally a long time ago. And the turning point was during the brief tenure of Rev. Ben Chavis.

President to overhaul economic team quickly
Aides said President Bush is seeking a more skilled economic team that can relate better to Congress and be more effective in dealing with financial markets.
BY MIKE ALLEN

Washington Post Service

WASHINGTON - President Bush plans to overhaul his economic team for the second time in two years and wants to tap prominent figures outside the administration to help sell rewrites of Social Security and the tax laws to Congress and the country, White House aides and advisors said over the weekend.

The aides said the replacement of four of the five top economic officials -- including the Treasury and Commerce secretaries, with only budget director Joshua Bolten likely to remain -- is part of Bush's preparation for sending Congress an ambitious second-term domestic agenda.

If this works, the UN should just buy the damn thing and distribute it at cost.

---

French vaccine fuels hope in AIDS treatment
Preliminary study shows promise in suppressing virus
- Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer
Monday, November 29, 2004

French researchers reported Sunday that an AIDS vaccine designed to treat the disease, rather than prevent it, has scored an initial success by suppressing the virus for up to a year among a small group of patients who tried it.

Although the technique is cumbersome and costly, the experiment published in an online version of the British journal Nature Medicine is being touted as "the first demonstration of an efficient therapeutic vaccine against AIDS."

Seriously.

Quote of note:

One way to fix the problem is simply to not use touch-screen systems. Voting-technology experts tend to favor optical scanners, like those used in Los Angeles County, which cost one-third as much and have been shown in some studies to produce lower voter error rates.

Having used every kind of voting machine except touch screen, I can tell you that optical scanners are the way to go. You know standing right there if there's a problem with the way the ballot was marked, you have a nice recountable pile of paper until confidence levels reach the point where you can replace the collection box with a garbage can. And the ubiquity of lotto means everyone knows how to use them. Give us a week (two would be better) to vote and any concerns about voting fraud will lie outside the official system.

Step Toward Election Standards
November 29, 2004

Uncle Pharma's Mischief in a Bottle
By Greg Critser
Greg Critser is the author of "Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World." His new book, "Generation Rx," will be published by Houghton Mifflin in January 2006.

November 29, 2004

Let's get this straight….

A major pharmaceutical CEO gets hauled up in front of Congress to do the congressional version of a perp walk. The executive's company stands accused of one of the worst drug screw-ups in recent history.

Meantime, an FDA official, a scientist with an impeccable scientific track record who had managed to predict almost all of the major drug recalls, testifies that the drug should have been targeted for intense study and possible withdrawal up to three years earlier. The CEO is lauded on the business page for his affability and straightforwardness. The Food and Drug Administration is nailed on the front page for not doing its job. The scientist is profiled as a "devout Catholic," a "loner" and being against RU-486.

To ask the obvious: What is that all about?

The answer is an uncomfortable one for most Americans, who pride themselves on having a solid sense of anti-business populism. It is this: For many of us, "pharma" has become family, and the FDA has become the scorned black sheep of the clan, no matter what it does.

Perhaps more precisely, in our minds and our culture, pharma has become Uncle Pharma, a go-ahead fellow who, like one's occasionally errant but always charming bachelor uncle, shows up unannounced on the doorstep brandishing exotic trinkets from some far-off land, trinkets so amazing that they seem to transform your little world before Uncle, without a word, vanishes into the void. Against him, the FDA can hardly compete. All it can say for itself is "no," a distinctly un-American command if there ever was one.

The problem is the FDA isn't trying to compete. The FDA is complicit…they suppressed the warnings of the scientist.

Quote of note:

There are so many reasons I can call out only a few. One is lack of federal leadership in funding schooling that emphasizes math and science, another is our fragmented educational system that leaves so much to local control, another is general anti-intellectualism and the cult of the sound bite. But I think that the major failure is our inability as parents to pass on our culture to our children.

I say "inability" because I truly believe that parents want to do better but do not know how. One reason is the downgrading of family life in the two-wage-earner home, another is the speed with which technology changes how kids spend their lives and how people communicate; yet another is a lack of will when it comes to imposing discipline on children. And one that particularly galls me is the denigration of the word "stress."

When Science Flees the U.S.
The trend could have ominous consequences.
By David Baltimore
David Baltimore won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for his research in virology, in 1975. He has been president of Caltech since 1997.

November 29, 2004

The United States is the richest nation on Earth, the world's biggest beneficiary of the global economy. But will it last?

Not that long ago, the "global economy" meant that routine factory jobs were going overseas. The unions squawked, but others recognized that the U.S. could concentrate on high- value-added commerce: discovery, innovation, high-technology manufacturing, knowledge-based industries. And we've done very well developing technology and growing our economic base in these areas. So well, in fact, that such development seems like an auto-catalytic process or a "virtuous cycle" that will continue propelling us forward for generations.

But the system is overtaking us. We no longer have a lock on technology. Europe is increasingly competitive, and Asia has the potential to blow us out of the water.

Vaccine Injury Claims Face Grueling Fight
Victims increasingly view U.S. compensation program as adversarial and tightfisted.
By Myron Levin
Times Staff Writer

November 29, 2004

Like good moms everywhere, Janet Zuhlke made sure her kids got their shots.

This proved disastrous for her daughter, Rachel. She was a healthy 5-year-old until a brain injury triggered by a routine vaccination left her mentally retarded, physically handicapped and legally blind.

A single mother raising three daughters in Satellite Beach, Fla., Zuhlke needed help with the enormous costs of Rachel's lifetime care. So she brought a case in a federal tribunal set up to handle vaccine injury claims.

I just unpublished the second of two comment spams I got today.

I know some of you will wonder what the hell I'm complaining about with only two spams. Well, I only have two because I've taken some pretty draconian prophylactic measures. I've banned about six whole networks in Israel two or three in Europe and one in White Plains, NY.

The last one is the one that annoys me, That was this morning's spam. And it annoys me because this afternoon's spam was identical…and came from Europe. So it's not a simple matter of dynamic IP addresses for dialup users. Especially since not a single IP I've banned belongs to an ISP.

Now, I've already found one IP with interesting qualities.

In case you missed the point, I've just demonstrated that there is at least one IP address that is

1. on the Internet as opposed to in the private network address spaces
2. no one lays claim to
3. is the origin point of a spammer or spider that targets weblogs

The APNIC response had a link to an explanation of the Early Registration process, and being old as dirt and a reader of Boardwatch Magazine back before Jack Rickard was undercut I'm familiar with it. These were the pre-ARIN IP numbers, the ones assigned before the Internet went public and blew up.

Keto at The Colorblind Society links to an article about a bunch of racist kids in Maryland harassing a Black kid. Black kid's father had similar drama growing up. All very unpleasant.

But something caught my eye in the article.

Principal O. Fred Jenkins said he has worked closely with the family to address its concerns, and students have faced serious consequences for their involvement.

The school emphasizes respect, caring and responsibility, and teachers explain that biased behavior is wrong when going over the county's discipline policy. But that can be particularly difficult when dealing with pre-teens because they can't always decipher right from wrong.

Might have been a bit over the top this time...

UNCLE TOM OUT OF HIS CABIN

There are just too many Uncle Toms in the International Cricket Council.[P6:] These black and brown men seem to be in a race among themselves to keep the white man happy. Not that the white man expects such flattery, but servility is in the genes of some people. [P6: ]

And why all the drama?

The decision of the former West Indies cricket captain Clive Lloyd, the match referee for the recent India-Pakistan one-day match at Eden Gardens, reeked of ignorance of the spirit of cricket. He punished India for slow over-rate by suspending the Indian captain for two tests. According to the letter of the law, Lloyd was correct. But then, cricket is not about printed laws alone. There is a far more important issue — the issue of the spirit of the game.

Quote of note:

An investigation was undertaken, and the military's top commanders -- including the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon -- said repeatedly that the captain had acted properly under the circumstances.

Last week, after troops provided photographic evidence to an Israeli newspaper, the military opened an investigation into allegations that soldiers desecrated the bodies of Palestinians killed during army operations.

"She was going to school like every day, and the soldiers started to shoot," Hams said he was told by a teacher at the school who witnessed the incident. "She was injured in her leg and became hysterical. She started to run. A teacher tried to stop her, but she didn't listen because she was so scared.

Quote of note:

The amendment had two main parts: the removal of the separate-schools language and the removal of a passage -- inserted in the 1950s in an attempt to counter the Brown v. Board of Education ruling against segregated public schools -- that said Alabama's constitution does not guarantee a right to a public education. Leading opponents, such as Alabama Christian Coalition President John Giles, said they did not object to removing the passage about separate schools for "white and colored children." But, employing an argument that was ridiculed by most of the state's newspapers and by legions of legal experts, Giles and others said guaranteeing a right to a public education would have opened a door for "rogue" federal judges to order the state to raise taxes to pay for improvements in its public school system.

Al Sharpton has actually found his calling. As has Falwell (who told gay Republicans they need to become Democrats). Falwell also has political Tourette Syndrome…he has to interrupt anyone who's making an actual point.

Folks are figuring out that the Religious Right, in insisting people live in their pre-defined patterns, is usurping the free will granted humans by God.

…where we left off.

Conspicuously absent from this agenda is a program of healing. Based on studies from the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, psychologist Omar G. Reid, of Pyramid Builders Associates in Massachusetts, has asserted that current conditions of many black Americans are linked to the long-term effects of slavery — a newly identified form of post-traumatic stress disorder.

These effects do not stem only from the direct trauma associated with being enslaved, but also from the lack of a centuries-old connection with a homeland; something that can be taken for granted — unless one is without it. A cultural connection provides grounding, strength and self-definition that can offset the damage done by external oppression.

This is weird.

On intelligence reform bill, Sensenbrenner is holding out for immigrant drivers licenses expiring when their visas expire. But only 10-12 states? And Lieberman says he's convinced Bush wants the bill as the Senate presented it to pass.

All I know is, they're set up to do nothing.

---

On religion
Gary Baur: "I believe if you put strict constructionists on the Supreme Court, we can overturn Roe vs. Wade." And he has to drag out the "cultural elite" crap when Rev. Floyd Flake mentioned the actual moral issues (though Rev. Flake was wrong in saying Black folks see little separation between church and state.). Gary wants to be ruler of the world.

The one guy with the toupee isn't very useful, but Tony Campolo is an intelligent evangelical.

Quote of note:

So here, ultimately, is how it all plays out: when the Iraqi man in the mosque posed a threat, he was your enemy; when he was subdued he was your responsibility; when he was killed in front of my eyes and my camera -- the story of his death became my responsibility.

To Devil Dogs of the 3.1:

Since the shooting in the Mosque, I've been haunted that I have not been able to tell you directly what I saw or explain the process by which the world came to see it as well. As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat. I've spent most of the last five years covering global conflict. But I have never in my career been a 'gotcha' reporter -- hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so I can catch them at it.

With dozens more bills in the congressional hopper, with titles such as the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act or the Post-Abortion Depression Research and Care Act, reproductive choice is fading fast.

The act overrides laws in California and other states explicitly guaranteeing the right to choose. States insisting that hospitals with a no-abortion policy offer that service to women covered by Med-Cal risk losing millions in federal Medicaid dollars.

The gag order Bush imposed through executive order on his third day in office remains in effect, withholding U.S. aid from foreign health clinics if a worker in such places as India or Africa even mentions the abortion option. The spending-bill amendment allows health corporations to slap that same gag order on U.S. doctors and nurses. Physicians who oppose abortion already are not compelled by law to perform one. But now a hospital chief who opposes abortion could silence every doctor and nurse in his or her employ. In rural communities with few hospitals and health-plan choices, the measure could effectively end legal abortions. And that's the point.

To Hell With Values
Michael Kinsley

November 28, 2004

It's been less than a month since the gods decreed that, due to the election results, American political life henceforth must be all about something called "values." And I gave it my best. Honest. But I'm sick of talking about values, sick of pretending I have them or care more about them than I really do. Sick of bending and twisting the political causes I do care about to make them qualify as "values." News stories about values-mongers caught with their values down used to make my day. Now, the tale of Bill O'Reilly and phone sex induces barely a flicker of schadenfreude.

Why does an ideological position become sacrosanct just because it gets labeled as a "value"? There are serious arguments and sincere passions on both sides of the gay marriage debate. For some reason, the views of those who feel that marriage requires a man and a woman are considered to be a "value," while the views of those who believe that gay relationships deserve the same legal standing as straight ones barely qualifies as an opinion.

Mother's view of the war
Battle fatigue on the home front
- Teri Wills Allison
Sunday, November 21, 2004

I am not a pacifist. I am a mother. By nature, the two are incompatible, for even a cottontail rabbit will fight to protect her young.

Violent action may be necessary in defense of one's family or home, and that definition of home can easily be extended to community and beyond, but violence, no matter how warranted, always takes a heavy toll.

Violence taken to the extreme -- war -- exacts the most extreme costs. There may be a just war, but there is no such thing as a good war. And the burdens of an unjust war are insufferable.

I know something about the costs of an unjust war, for my son, Nick, an Army infantryman, is fighting one in Iraq.

Black horsemen swoop down on White House
- Mike Davis
Sunday, November 21, 2004

Earlier this year, four gaunt horsemen in black shrouds cantered down Pennsylvania Avenue. No one complained or even noticed, and they grazed their hungry steeds on the White House lawn. They've been there ever since and threaten never to leave.

This interview with them is a Chronicle exclusive:

Loophole would let messages penetrate Do Not Call list
November 27, 2004

BY LANCE GAY

WASHINGTON -- The agency overseeing the national Do Not Call Registry is considering opening a loophole in the year-old program to allow companies to deliver ''pre-recorded message telemarketing.''

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based privacy watchdog, says the change could result in the 64 million people on the list being bombarded by ''answering-machine spam'' and other unwanted voices on voice mail.

''Even those enrolled in the Do Not Call Registry will be affected by the proposed loophole,'' the group said.

The Federal Trade Commission said it does not think the change would have any dra

Social Security Plan May Put Bush in Saddle
An overhaul of the retirement program will be a tough sell, allies say, and Bush needs to ride herd on lawmakers if a bill is to succeed.
By Janet Hook
Times Staff Writer

November 28, 2004

WASHINGTON — If President Bush wants to push an overhaul of Social Security through Congress during his second term, he will probably have to do something he rarely did during his first term — get his hands dirty.

To revamp the popular retirement program, many allies say, Bush will have to offer detailed proposals to Congress and engage in a broad public campaign to justify the changes and its cost. And he will have to ride herd on legislators to ensure they do not veer from his main goal of shoring up Social Security by allowing younger workers to invest some of their payroll taxes in private accounts.

Over at Eschaton they're spawning bloggers again, which opening clashes strongly with the title I envision for this post

Robert M. Jeffers commented on a book review in Harper' on Niall Ferguson's Colossus: The Price of America's Empire. I been wrapping books in Amazon links recently, but not this one because NO ONE should buy it.

Ferguson's argument is that we (Americans) just aren't ruthless enough, yet. Which means, yes, we could have won in Vietnam, if we'd just had the belly for it. Now America faces "the growing power of liberalism" (don't you all feel better now?), which prevents us from exercising our true authority as the benevolent Empire the Romans...oh, sorry, the British, once were.