| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"maff" |
| Date: |
02 Sep 2007 06:47:42 PM |
| Object: |
OT: Bet on America |
Bet on America
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1468.html
Forget the Doom and Gloom. In 50 Years, We'll Still Be No. 1.
By Joel Achenbach
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B01
America, the shining city on a hill, swollen over centuries into a
reluctant empire, faces a long march into the twilight of its
greatness. Our duty now is to supervise our relative decline. Other
superpowers shall rise to match us: China, surely, and newly
consolidated Europe, and maybe Russia or Japan. From ancient Rome
through the Ming Dynasty, from the days of the Spanish Armada to the
British Empire, the implacable rule of history is that no one stays on
top forever.
The Border Boondoggle
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1464.html
By Andrew Cockburn
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B01
The U.S. Border Patrol has just unveiled a total makeover of its
traditional uniform. Shiny badges and other emblems of law enforcement
are out. Our frontier troops will now have a look more in keeping with
their role as frontier troops, with lightweight fatigues and better
weapons. Agent Ramon Ramirez told the Associated Press that the new
garb looks more military, "like you mean business."
When it comes to frontier security, business is booming all over.
Rose-Colored Views of an All-Black School
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1469.html
By Brian Gilmore
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B02
Last week, students from Washington's Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
headed back to a school that hasn't changed in more than a century, at
least in one way: Nearly all its students are black.
According to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, this can be a good
thing. In June, when the court issued a ruling forbidding school
districts to use race-specific plans to diversify schools, Thomas
pointed to Dunbar as proof that African American students can excel in
racially isolated environments. "In the period 1918-1923," he wrote,
Dunbar was a "prominent example" of an "exemplary black school."
Hypocritical? Don't Ask.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1465.html
By William Saletan
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B02
Poor Larry Craig. He's being held to the same standard of sexual
conduct he imposed on the U.S. armed forces.
Fourteen years ago, in his first term as a Republican senator from
Idaho, Craig helped enact the military's "don't ask, don't tell"
policy. The Air Force, for instance, now says that any airman will be
discharged if he "has engaged in, attempted to engage in, or solicited
another to engage in a homosexual act."
A Fate Worse Than Guantanamo
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1463.html
By Jennifer Daskal
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B03
TUNIS In mid-June, a group of U.S. soldiers entered the cells of
Abdullah al-Hajji and Lofti Lagha at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they
had been held without charge for five years. The Americans cuffed the
detainees' hands, shackled their ankles, muffed their ears and
blindfolded them before loading them onto a military plane for the
flight home.
For most of the 360 detainees still at the U.S. military prison, that
would have been a joyous journey. But Hajji and Lagha are from
Tunisia, a country that State Department reports say uses sleep
deprivation, electric shocks, waterboarding, cigarette burns, beatings
and prolonged suspension by the wrists to extract confessions and
stifle opposition.
The Rogue That Plays by the Rules
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1467.html
By Edward S. Steinfeld
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B03
SHANGHAI Tainted Chinese goods flooding international markets.
Effluents from Chinese factories polluting the oceans and the air.
Pirates in the Chinese marketplace running roughshod over global
intellectual-property standards. The list goes on and on.
As many Americans understand the country, China is trouble for its own
people and all the rest of us. Its government is hell-bent on
development but provides none of the checks expected of a healthy
market system: a free press, an independent judiciary, meaningful
property rights and a real legislature. Institutionally deficient and
stuck in the past, China is unprepared to deal with the future and to
work within the rules of fair play that bind the world's most advanced
economies -- or so the conventional wisdom suggests.
Drinking. Brawling. Hurting.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1395.html
By Sarah Stillman
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B01
The wounds on my friend Pete Yazgier's head come in as many colors as
Cezanne's fruit bowls.
Cherry-hued flecks dot the left half of his skull -- grim mementos of
the rocket-propelled grenade that walloped his armored vehicle in
Baghdad last September. A bright scar bends like a stalk of rhubarb
above his left ear, the result of six surgeries to treat the brain
cancer doctors found while ministering to his shrapnel wounds; they
fear the tumor was caused by depleted uranium that Pete, 28, handled
as an Army mechanic.
Tom Ricks's Inbox
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1462.html
Tom Ricks's Inbox
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B04
Some observers have taken a page from urban planning theory to
describe Iraq as a "wicked problem" -- a term coined to describe
complex and divisive issues, such as building a new highway through a
city or finding a location for a large homeless shelter.
Pentagon Justice
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1077.html
No officer will serve jail time for the crimes at the Abu Ghraib
prison.
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B06
THE MISBEGOTTEN effort to hold military officers accountable for the
notorious abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison limped to a close last
week when an Army lieutenant colonel was cleared by a court-martial
jury of charges that he was responsible for the mistreatment of
detainees. Steven L. Jordan, the only officer to be prosecuted for
crimes that were documented in stomach-turning photographs and
videotapes, probably never should have been charged. His week-long
trial demonstrated that he had little or nothing to do with the harsh
interrogation tactics and other abuse introduced at Abu Ghraib in late
2003. His prosecution was symptomatic of the Pentagon's perverse
handling of Abu Ghraib: The most senior officer to be administratively
sanctioned, an Army Reserve brigadier general, also had no role in
carrying out the abuses.
Testing Mr. Bernanke
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1071.html
The rookie Fed chairman maneuvers to reassure without bailing out --
astutely, so far.
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B06
WHAT DOES it mean for the Federal Reserve Board to show leadership in
a crisis? Judging by Wall Street's recent clamor for lower interest
rates, it would appear that it can mean only one thing: The Fed should
come to the rescue, no matter how much the disaster is of Wall
Street's own making. That's the perception of how things worked under
former chairman Alan Greenspan, who slashed interest rates after the
stock market crash of October 1987, orchestrated a bailout for the
Long-Term Capital Management hedge fund in 1998 -- and pursued what
looks, in hindsight, like an overly accommodating policy toward the
housing boom of the last few years.
The Real Causes of the Financial Storm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1534.html
By David Ignatius
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B07
PARIS -- "Tornadoes are caused by trailer parks." Norm Augustine,
former chief executive of Lockheed Martin, coined that aphorism a few
years ago after seeing one too many photos of mobile homes that had
been devastated by twisters.
A similar misapplication of logic is now evident in discussions of the
economic havoc surrounding subprime mortgages. These flimsy loan
structures have been splintered by a financial tornado, but they were
not the cause of the storm. For that you have to look deeper into the
financial system, to the regular pattern of bubbles and binges that
has been evident during the past several decades.
Vladimir the Great?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1533.html
Putin's Inspiration Is Much Older Than the Cold War
By Jay Winik
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B07
Having just grabbed a piece of the Arctic the size of Western Europe,
the Russian military has announced ambitious plans to establish a
permanent presence in the Mediterranean for the first time since the
end of the Cold War. The guiding hand behind this Russian resurgence
is undeniably Russia's enigmatic president, Vladimir Putin.
On the surface, enigmatic seems to be the word. Putin dons well-
tailored suits even as he clamps down on domestic opposition and
homemade democracy. He flashes a warm smile in the councils of
international summitry even as he smashes dissent in Chechnya. He has
charmed President Bush even as he stymies U.S. policy in Iraq and the
rest of the Middle East. The conventional wisdom is that Putin's
background in the KGB is what ultimately drives his more notorious
actions, leading foreign policy commentators to raise the specter of a
renewed Cold War.
With Russia, Pray for Cynicism
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1536.html
By Jim Hoagland
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B07
Russian prosecutors say that the separate grisly murders of two of the
Kremlin's most vocal opponents during the past year have a common
motive: They were committed by enemies of Vladimir Putin to frame and
embarrass his government.
A similarly sinister hidden agenda lies behind U.S. plans to create
antimissile sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, Russian officials
are telling Western diplomats. The silos that the Americans say are
needed to defend against Iranian missile attacks will, in the Russian
version, be stuffed with multiple-warhead offensive rockets aimed at
Moscow.
When War Was The Answer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
1535.html
By George F. Will
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B07
OMAHA BEACH, Normandy -- On a bluff above the sand and a half-mile
from the ocean's edge at low tide, which was the condition when the
first Allied soldiers left their landing craft, a round circle of
concrete five feet in diameter provides a collar for a hole in the
ground. On the morning of June 6, 1944, the hole was Wid erstandsnest
(nest of resistance) 62, a German machine gun emplacement.
Hein Severloh had been in it since shortly after midnight, by which
time U.S. aircraft were droning overhead, having dropped young
American paratroopers Severloh's age behind the beaches to disrupt
German attempts to rush in reinforcements. Severloh had been billeted
near Bayeux, home of the 11th-century tapestry depicting a cross-
channel invasion that went the other way, taking William, Duke of
Normandy, to become William the Conqueror, England's sovereign.
A Different Kind of Immigration Problem
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200708310=
0534.html
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B08
BODRUM, TURKEY -- My family and I live in Falls Church, but we do not
know whether we will be able to go home. We are exiled here because my
wife's sister, Nazan Gundogdu, a Turkish citizen, may not be allowed
to come back with us to the United States.
Nazan, 56, was born with Down syndrome. She has an IQ in the low 30s
and heart problems. Her sister Oya (a naturalized American citizen)
and I married 30 years ago, while I was serving at the U.S. Embassy in
Turkey. When I retired from the Foreign Service in 1995, we settled in
Ankara so that my wife could care for her sister and their widowed
mother. After their mother died in 2005, Nazan came to live with Oya
and me; she has no other close relative.
Back From Behind Bars
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1344.html
Homelessness, Unemployment and Familiar Temptations Greet the 2,000
Prisoners Who Return to the District Each Year
By Robert E. Pierre
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A01
Few people understand the criminal justice system like Wendell Poole.
He spent 21 years, four months, 16 days and three hours in prison for
assault with the intent to kill two people during an argument. He
arrived home middle-aged and paranoid, flinching at the sound of
passing cars. He needed a job, a place to stay, a plan.
He slept on sofas, convinced a friend to give him a job and now, four
years later, counsels just-released prisoners, nudging them toward a
fresh start.
Iraq Far From U.S. Goals for Energy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1375.html
$50 Billion Needed To Meet Demand
By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A01
Iraq's crucial oil and electricity sectors still need roughly $50
billion to meet demand, analysts and officials say, even after the
United States has poured more than $6 billion into them over more than
four years.
Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Bush administration has
focused much of its $44.5 billion reconstruction plan on oil and
electricity. Now, with the U.S.-led reconstruction phase nearing its
close, Iraq will need to spend $27 billion more for its electrical
system and $20 billion to $30 billion for oil infrastructure,
according to estimates the Government Accountability Office collected
from Iraqi and U.S. officials.
In Northern France, Warming Presses Fall Grape Harvest Into Summertime
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1360.html
By Molly Moore
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A01
ROUFFACH, France -- On a cobweb-encrusted rafter above his giant steel
grape pressers, Ren? Mur? is charting one of the world's most tangible
barometers of global warming.
The evidence, scrawled in black ink, is the first day of the annual
grape harvest for the past three decades. In 1978, it was Oct. 16. In
1998, the date was Sept. 14. This year, harvesting started Aug. 24 --
the earliest ever recorded, not only in Mur?'s vineyards, but also in
the entire Alsace wine district of northeastern France.
7 Questions as the Race for the White House Accelerates
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1287.html
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A02
Is the Clinton campaign a true juggernaut -- or is that just what she
wants everyone to believe?
Not a juggernaut, but it is the best campaign on the block right now.
That's a view widely shared among Democratic strategists and
emphatically asserted by some veteran Republicans sizing up the race.
"Hillary is for real, and will be difficult for any of her Democratic
opponents to derail," wrote Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster who
jointly conducts the NBC-Wall Street Journal poll. "She simply doesn't
make mistakes and is running a pretty disciplined campaign."
Squad Leader Shot Haditha Civilians, Marine Testifies
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1178.html
Witness's Credibility Is Questioned
By Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A02
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Aug. 31 -- A Marine testifying under immunity
Friday said he saw Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich shoot five unarmed
Iraqi men moments after a roadside bomb exploded in Haditha in
November 2005, a week after Wuterich said that if such an attack
occurred, "we should kill everybody in that vicinity."
The damaging new testimony by Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz was diluted by
withering defense attacks on his credibility. At one point in a
contentious four-hour review of his earlier, often contradictory
accounts, the quest for truth grew so convoluted, the witness implored
to be disbelieved: "I did lie about that, sir," Dela Cruz said.
GOP Faces Growing Peril In 2008 Races
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
0592.html
Senate Prospects Dimming
By Jonathan Weisman and Chris Cillizza
Washington Post Staff Writer and washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A03
A Senate electoral playing field that was already wide open for 2008
has become considerably more perilous for Republicans with the
retirement of Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) and the resignation of
scandal-scarred Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho).
Republicans need a net gain of just one seat to take back control of
the Senate, but they have 22 seats to defend, and campaign cash is
conspicuously lacking. Warner's retirement raised to two the number of
open Republican seats, and both of them -- in Virginia and Colorado --
are prime targets for Democrats.
Democrats to Avoid Fla., Mich.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1011.html
Four Early-Primary States Get Candidates to Sign Pledge
By Perry Bacon Jr.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A04
The Democratic candidates have signed a pledge that would forbid them
from campaigning in states such as Michigan and Florida that have
sought to move their presidential primaries into January 2008.
The move ended weeks-long jockeying over which states get to hold
early primaries.
Marine's Bid to Pierce Refugee Logjam
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1184.html
A Quest to Repay An Iraqi Interpreter And Father Figure
By Paul Lewis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A05
Days after fleeing Baghdad, and after his relatives had been gunned
down and burned in their cars for collaborating with U.S. forces or
their allies, Khalid Abood al-Khafajee reached Amman, Jordan, in
December. There the Iraqi translator and his family joined thousands
of refugees hoping for passage to Western Europe or the United States.
His odds weren't good. About 2 million refugees have poured out of
Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003, yet only a trickle have managed
to make it out of the Middle East. And the 60-year-old Abood was also
seeking a way out for his wife, Batool, 59, and their two daughters,
Nadia, 29, and Shaimaa, 23.
In Georgia, Voices of Reassurance
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
0998.html
By Shailagh Murray
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A06
COLUMBUS, Ga. As the Rotarians dined on fried chicken, Sen. Johnny
Isakson shared a few thoughts about Iraq.
"Today, the news that comes back is pretty good," the Georgia
Republican said from the podium to the packed downtown ballroom.
"We're making progress on the military side and the security side. It
is my sincere hope that we can, as soon as we can, reduce our troop
forces, turn more over to the Iraqi army. But we should only do that
when they are ready."
A Riotous Rickshaw Ride Into the Soul of India
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1185.html
Rally Takes Tourists to 'Real Roads' of a Changing Nation
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A12
MUMBAI -- The auto-rickshaw driver had never laughed so hard. Or been
so confused. Or so worried, he confessed, as his eyes widened at what
he saw.
"No!" gasped Dilip Kumar, a 30-year veteran driver. "It can't be."
Mexican President Delivers Text but No Address
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1380.html
By Manuel Roig-Franzia
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A13
MEXICO CITY, Sept. 1 -- For weeks, one question dominated political
talk in Mexico: Would he or wouldn't he?
The nation's most powerful lawmakers and its most influential
commentators exchanged predictions about whether Felipe Calder?n,
president of Mexico for nine months, would deliver his state-of-the-
union address inside the ornate chamber of Mexico's Congress. In a
matter of a few minutes Saturday night, Calder?n ended the speculation
and simultaneously set off a debate about whether Mexico should end
the tradition of its presidents delivering state-of-the-union
addresses to Congress.
Bhutto Plans Return, With or Without Deal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
0564.html
Former Premier of Pakistan Says Negotiations With Musharraf Are at
Standstill
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A14
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 1 -- Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto
said Saturday that negotiations on a power-sharing agreement with
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, were at a standstill but
that she would return from exile regardless of whether the two strike
a deal.
Bhutto, who just three days ago had indicated that the agreement was
nearly complete, sounded pessimistic about the future of the talks as
she spoke to reporters in London. While refraining from much direct
criticism of Musharraf, she spoke out harshly against the president's
political backers, blaming them for allowing extremism to fester in
Pakistan and saying they have deliberately scuttled the deal in order
to keep moderates like herself out of power.
South Koreans Held by Taliban Arrive in Seoul, Offer Apologies
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1376.html
Church Group Seen by Many at Home as Having Been Reckless
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A17
SEOUL, Sept. 2 -- Looking wan and exhausted, and apologizing for the
trouble they had caused their nation, South Korean missionaries held
hostage for six weeks in Afghanistan arrived home early Sunday.
The 19 young Christians released last week by Taliban captors returned
to a country thankful for their safe return but angered by what has
been widely portrayed as the recklessness of the missionaries and the
church that sent them into a war zone.
Briton Blames Rumsfeld for Situation in Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/01/AR200709010=
1336.html
By Mary Jordan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page A17
LONDON, Sept. 1 -- The general who headed the British army during the
2003 Iraq invasion said that former U.S. defense secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld's handling of postwar Iraq was "intellectually bankrupt" and
pointed to Rumsfeld as "one of those most responsible for the current
situation in Iraq."
Mike Jackson, the British former chief of general staff who retired
last year, strongly criticized Rumsfeld and the U.S. postwar effort in
Iraq in his new book, "Soldier." The Daily Telegraph is to begin
serializing the book Monday, after publishing some excerpts and an
interview Saturday.
The Primary Problem
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/opinion/02sun1.html?_r=3D1&oref=3Dslogin
The presidential nominating process is too important to American
democracy to be allowed to descend into gamesmanship and chaos.
Help for the $82,000 Family
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/opinion/02sun2.html
The sad fact is that health care costs have soared far above levels
that existed when the State Children's Health Insurance Program was
created.
What They Did on Summer Vacation
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/opinion/02sun3.html
In Iraq, more than two dozen U.S. lawmakers got a couple of days'
worth of meetings with people the Bush administration wanted them to
meet.
America's Toe-Tapping Menace
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/opinion/02macdonald.html
By LAURA M. Mac DONALD
For almost 40 years most police departments have been aware of
something that still escapes the general public: men who troll for sex
in public places.
Mistaking Attendance
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/opinion/02levy-1.html
By HAROLD O. LEVY and KIMBERLY HENRY
A clear national definition of a truant needs to be created, and all
schools should report accurate statistics based on this definition.
Oh, Everyone Knows That (Except You)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/weekinreview/02goodnough.html?ref=3Dweeki=
nreview&pagewanted=3Dall
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
The "open secret" lives in a netherworld, until one day it doesn't.
What road does it travel into daylight?
Logged In and Sharing Gossip, er, Intelligence
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/weekinreview/02shane.html?ref=3Dweekinrev=
iew&pagewanted=3Dall
By SCOTT SHANE
Facebook, blogs and Wikipedia offer a model for spy agencies.
Propping Up the Weak as a Policy
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/weekinreview/02sanger.html?ref=3Dweekinre=
view
By DAVID E. SANGER
President Bush's allies are not producing results. The alternatives
may be worse.
When Fighting Crime Means Enticing Crime
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/weekinreview/02kershaw.html?ref=3Dweekinr=
eview
By SARAH KERSHAW
Prosecutions built in bathrooms stalls and bushes can lead to more
than just Senate resignations.
In Cuba, a Politically Incorrect Love of the Frigidaire
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/weekinreview/02romero.html?ref=3Dweekinre=
view
By SIMON ROMERO
A Cuban effort to replace the country's American appliances kept
running since the 1950s is causing wistfulness and angst.
The Traps in Turkey's Power Shift
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/weekinreview/02tavernise.html?ref=3Dweeki=
nreview
By SABRINA TAVERNISE and SEBNEM ARSU
Will the election of Abdullah Gul, an observant Muslim, lead to a
clash between the country's working class and its urban secularists?
The Former-Insurgent Counterinsurgency
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine/02iraq-t.html?ref=3Dmagazine&pag=
ewanted=3Dall
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
In a Sunni stronghold just south of Baghdad, the U.S. military has
been persuading militants to switch sides. But it's not at all clear
that the enemy's new enemy is really a friend.
'The Argument'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Gillespie-t.html?ref=3Dreview
By MATT BAI
Reviewed by NICK GILLESPIE
Can the Democratic Party's activists think their way out of their
current confusion? Matt Bai is skeptical.
'The World Without Us'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Schuessler-t.html?ref=3Drevi=
ew&pagewanted=3Dall
By ALAN WEISMAN
Reviewed by JENNIFER SCHUESSLER
What would happen if earth's most invasive species - humans - were
wiped out?
'Cheney'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Cannon-t.html?ref=3Dreview
By STEPHEN F. HAYES
Reviewed by CARL M. CANNON
A biography of Vice President ***** Cheney, from a conservative
journalist who had unusual access.
'The Last Chinese Chef'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Julavits-t.html?ref=3Dreview
By NICOLE MONES
Reviewed by HEIDI JULAVITS
When a widowed American journalist goes to Beijing to profile an up-
and-coming chef, sparks fly.
'The Maias: Episodes From Romantic Life'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Riding-t.html?ref=3Dreview
By E=C7A DE QUEIR=D3S
Reviewed by ALAN RIDING
A satirical romp through the scandals and affairs of 19th-century
Portuguese high society.
'Strawberry Fields'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Schillinger-t.html?ref=3Drev=
iew&pagewanted=3Dall
By MARINA LEWYCKA
Reviewed by LIESL SCHILLINGER
Marina Lewycka's second novel focuses on the plight of migrant
strawberry pickers in England.
'Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Macintyre-t.html?ref=3Drevie=
w&pagewanted=3Dall
By ALEX VON TUNZELMANN
Reviewed by BEN MACINTYRE
Britain wanted to quit India with dignity if possible, but speed above
all. Human lives had less importance.
'Making War to Keep Peace'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Wheatcroft-t.html?ref=3Drevi=
ew
By JEANE J. KIRKPATRICK
Reviewed by GEOFFREY WHEATCROFT
The late Jeane J. Kirkpatrick supported some wars (Afghanistan) and
didn't support others (Iraq II). Here's why.
'Art and Sex in Greenwich Village: Gay Literary Life After Stonewall'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Texier-t.html?ref=3Dreview
By FELICE PICANO
Reviewed by CATHERINE TEXIER
Felice Picano's memoir is a who's who of gay artists from the '70s to
the '90s.
On My Road
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/arts/02cott.html?ref=3Darts&pagewanted=3D=
all
By HOLLAND COTTER
It was a bus trip down South in 1964 where I learned what it meant to
be white in America, and how strange the very idea was.
Safety Agency Faces Scrutiny Amid Changes
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/02consumer.html?ref=3Dbusiness&p=
agewanted=3Dall
By ERIC LIPTON
As imports create a greater oversight challenge, Bush appointees at
the Consumer Product Safety Commission have voiced few objections.
Can the Mortgage Crisis Swallow a Town?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/yourmoney/02village.html?ref=3Db=
usiness&pagewanted=3Dall
By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ
At current rates, analysts expect foreclosure filings to hit a rate
approaching heights not seen since the Great Depression.
Subprime Time
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine/02wwln-lede-t.html?ref=3Dbusiness
By ROGER LOWENSTEIN
How did homeownership become so rickety?
Reeling In the College-Bound
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/02jabba.html?ref=3Dbusiness&page=
wanted=3Dall
By ERIC DASH
One in five student borrowers passes up a less expensive federal
student loan in favor of private lenders, according to a recent study.
For Studio Chiefs, the End of the Revolving Door?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/media/02steal.html?ref=3Dbusiness
By MICHAEL CIEPLY
In the once notoriously deadly business culture of Hollywood, studio
chiefs are a lot safer than they used to be.
When Risk Is Home-Grown, Is It Time to Look Abroad?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/yourmoney/02fore.html?ref=3Dbusi=
ness&pagewanted=3Dall
By WILLIAM J. HOLSTEIN
The latest round of global financial problems started in the United
States, underscoring the importance of international investing.
Do the Mash (Even if You Don't Know All the Steps)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/technology/circuits/02novelties.html?ref=
=3Dbusiness
By ANNE EISENBERG
Several companies are creating online systems to let ordinary people
create useful computer applications by combining different information
sources.
A Tool to Organize Our Many Organizers
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/technology/circuits/02proto.html?ref=3Dbu=
siness
By MICHAEL FITZGERALD
A company based in Pakistan offers a challenge to a market dominated
by Microsoft, Google and Yahoo.
Welcome, Stranger. Here's a Speeding Ticket.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/yourmoney/02view.html?ref=3Dbusi=
ness
By JUDITH CHEVALIER
Do towns that need money take out their frustrations on visitors?
Count the Days, Not the Years, of Market Pullbacks
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/yourmoney/02fund.html?ref=3Dbusi=
ness
By PAUL J. LIM
Even a severe correction in stocks doesn't have to be destructive.
Awaiting Subprime's Fallout
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/yourmoney/02mark.html?ref=3Dbusi=
ness
By CONRAD DE AENLLE
If forecasts for this week's economic data prove accurate, the economy
would seem to be getting off lightly.
Dangers of a Turbocharged Economy
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/02shelf.html?ref=3Dbusiness
By STEPHEN KOTKIN
Robert B. Reich argues that the United States has morphed into a
nation of consumers and investors, rather than citizens.
More Days Off? Better Move to Colombia
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/business/02count.html?ref=3Dbusiness
By PHYLLIS KORKKI
Many countries are more generous than the United States in the number
of public holidays.
West Bank Boys Dig a Living in Settler Trash
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/world/middleeast/02westbank.html?ref=3Dwo=
rld&pagewanted=3Dall
By STEVEN ERLANGER
In a sign of the dire economic conditions for Palestinians, a dump is
now a lifeline for scavengers.
Afghan Police Suffer Setbacks as Taliban Adapt
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/world/asia/02taliban.html?ref=3Dworld&pag=
ewanted=3Dall
By DAVID ROHDE
The Taliban have driven government forces out of roughly half of a key
area that the U.S. and NATO had declared a success.
Bush Is Said to Approve More Aid to Iraqi Sunnis Battling Extremist
Groups
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/world/middleeast/02policy.html?ref=3Dworld
By DAVID E. SANGER
The move will intensify economic assistance to Sunni groups,
particularly in Anbar Province, who have turned against homegrown
insurgent groups.
Civilian Death Toll Falls in Baghdad but Rises Across Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/world/middleeast/02iraq.html?ref=3Dworld
By JAMES GLANZ
New statistics provided by Iraqi officials appear to mirror the
geographic pattern of the American troop increase.
Hamas Forces Shoot Own Supporters at Rally; Youth Killed
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/world/middleeast/02mideast.html?ref=3Dwor=
ld
By ISABEL KERSHNER
Witnesses said that the Hamas paramilitary police opened fire when
protesters attempted to dash to the Egyptian side of a border crossing
during a demonstration.
8 Years After Eli=E1n, a Cuban Custody Battle
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/us/02adopt.html?ref=3Damericas
By TERRY AGUAYO
The scene in a Miami courtroom is similar to the Eli=E1n Gonz=E1lez case,
but not so emotionally charged.
'Jews and Power'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/books/review/Julius-t.html?ref=3Dmiddleea=
st
By RUTH R. WISSE
Reviewed by ANTHONY JULIUS
A celebration of the state of Israel and the Jewish return to
sovereignty.
My Child's Divorce Is My Pain
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/fashion/02parents.html?ref=3Dus&pagewante=
d=3Dall
By MIREYA NAVARRO
When children divorce, their parents' lives are often dramatically
changed.
Its Mill Days Gone (and Not Coming Back), a Small Town Tries Plans B
and C
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/us/02berlin.html?ref=3Dus
By KATIE ZEZIMA
Berlin, N.H., is trying to offset the loss of its economic base, paper
mills, with a new federal prison and New England's first all-terrain
vehicle park.
For Struggling Tribe, Dark Side to a Windfall
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/us/02yurok.html?ref=3Dus&pagewanted=3Dall
By JESSE McKINLEY
Receiving $92.6 million worth of logging proceeds has split the Yurok
people of California into two camps: those who prefer long-term
community projects and those who want the money now.
2 Egyptians Indicted on Explosives Charge
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/us/nationalspecial3/02suspects.html?ref=
=3Dus
By PHILIP SHENON
Two college students were indicted for transporting explosives across
state lines, with one of the men accused of offering explosives
training with the intent of carrying out violence.
Rising Pressure From G.O.P. Led Senator to Quit
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/washington/02cong.html?ref=3Dus&pagewante=
d=3Dall
By CARL HULSE
With the corruption issue having hurt them in 2006, Republicans saw
Senator Larry E. Craig as inviting even heavier damage.
What to Expect When You're Electing
http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/crucialdates/index.html
The 2008 presidential race has been proceeding for eight months at an
intensity that candidates normally do not face until the fall. Still,
the months ahead are pockmarked with crucial moments.
Clinton Offers Up New Stump Speech
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/clinton-offers-up-new-stump-s=
peech/
The Democratic candidate offers up four new principles, and with a
thin veil, addresses the outsider vs. insider messages of her rivals.
Edwards, Obama Sign 'Four State Pledge'
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/edwards-obama-sign-four-state=
-pledge/
The Democratic National Committee appears to be having success in
reining in renegade primaries.
Craig Announces Resignation
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/craig-announces-resignation/
The longtime senator faced a barrage of pressure from prominent
Republicans to step down after a scandal involving a restroom arrest
engulfed him this week.
Sunday's Breakfast Menu, Sept. 2
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/sundays-breakfast-menu-sept-2/
This week's Sunday shows appear to be dominated by talk of those whose
careers have ended over the past week, as well as of some trying to
get the ultimate political promotion.
Sunday Sampler Platter, Sept. 2
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/sunday-sampler-platter-sept-2/
From the resignations of Senators Larry Craig and Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales, the shows were full of gamesmanship about how the
2008 election cycle is shaping up. And as always, Iraq - especially
with the progress reports looming later this month - was another top
topic.
In Book, Bush Peeks Ahead to His Legacy
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/washington/02book.html?ref=3Dpolitics&pag=
ewanted=3Dall
By JIM RUTENBERG
President Bush, who rarely reveals his personal side, shared his inner
life at the White House in interviews with an author last year.
Scrutiny for a Governor on Filling a Senate Seat
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/01/us/politics/01idaho.html?ref=3Dpolitics
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Gov. C. L. Otter will choose a replacement for Senator Larry E. Craig
if he resigns as expected on Saturday.
Legal Battle Resuming on Guant=E1namo Detainees
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/washington/02scotus.html?ref=3Dwashington=
&pagewanted=3Dall
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
As the Supreme Court prepares to examine the issue, the arguments have
again turned to the federal courts' role.
Clinton, Obama and Edwards Join Pledge to Avoid Defiant States
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/us/politics/02dems.html?ref=3Dwashington
By JEFF ZELENY
Candidates are pledging not to campaign in states trying to leapfrog
the 2008 primary calendar, a move that solidified the importance of
the opening contests of Iowa and New Hampshire.
The Adviser
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/magazine/02wwln-q4-t.html?ref=3Dwashington
Interview by DEBORAH SOLOMON
The political strategist and pollster to the Clinton campaign talks
about his relationship with Hillary, what makes a microtrend and his
Diet Coke habit.
Power to the People: Run Your House on a Prius
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/automobiles/02POWER.html?ref=3Dscience
By JIM MOTAVALLI
Power failure? Some hybrid owners are plugging their houses into their
cars to provide backup electricity.
As Home Health Care Industry Booms, Little Oversight to Counter Fraud
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/nyregion/02fraud.html?ref=3Dhealth&pagewa=
nted=3Dall
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE and SARAH KERSHAW
An investigation focused on Medicaid fraud has also shed light on
outdated oversight policies that experts said have allowed the home
health care industry to escape adequate scrutiny.
Why Obama?
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/kevingosztola/CcjY
By Kevin from Mishawaka, IN - Sep 2nd, 2007 at 4:27 pm EDT
Currently, Barack Obama is at the top of national polls in the media
and according to those polls and the media, the only threat to Obama
is Hillary Clinton. An article on Associated Content titled, "Barack
Obama Increases Grassroots Campaigning", details how Obama is
mobilizing "foot soldiers" as "thousands of young men and women are
flocking into basements" to support him. A Salon.com article has even
suggested he has a "Republican edge", which translates into the idea
that people are now believing he could be a bipartisan president. In
fact, when he appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as he was
about to shake hands and leave, Jon Stewart casually wished him luck
in curing the polarization that has deeply affected American politics.
But are the perceptions being thrown around between bloggers,
supporters of Obama, and media outlets correct? Is he really as great
as they make him sound?
Obama and Iran, Redux
http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/09/obama_and_iran_redu=
x=2Ephp
02 Sep 2007 05:26 pm
Some suggestion that this post was unfair to Barack Obama. An,
certainly, this August 28 statement on Bush's Iran / mushroom cloud
remarks from Obama doesn't sound like the words of a man looking to
beat the drums of war:
There is an eerie echo to the President's words today. Five years ago,
he made a misleading case to the American people that the trail to al
Qaeda and Osama bin Laden somehow led through Iraq, and too many in
Washington followed without asking the hard questions that should have
been raised. Now we are dealing with the consequences of that failure
of candor and judgment, and the President is using the politics of
fear to continue a wrong-headed policy. It's time to turn the page on
the failed Bush-Cheney strategy and conventional Washington thinking,
remove our combat troops from Iraq, mount a long overdue surge of
diplomacy, and focus our attention on a resurgent al Qaeda in
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Obama rallies hometown corporate donors
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2007/09/obama_rallies_homet=
own_corpora.html
by Susan Chandler
The typical Midwestern business leader is a rock-ribbed Republican who
favors socially moderate policies but strongly opposes more regulation
and higher taxes.
That makes it somewhat of a surprise that Barack Obama, a Democrat
from Chicago's South Side, appears to be winning their hearts and
wallets.
Obama, Israel and Iran
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/2/124320/3837
by tgs1952
Sun Sep 02, 2007 at 01:11:39 PM PDT
Matt Stoller posted the following from The Jewish Week:
Obama Wants Divestment Issue For His Own
With Jewish campaign money more critical than ever and Jewish votes
potentially important in a handful of key states, most of the 2008
presidential candidates are trying to carve out pro-Israel positions
they can call their own.
Daily Editorial: Obama phenomenon
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070902/EDITS/70831024
Vail Daily Editorial Board
Vail CO, Colorado
September 2, 2007
This is not an endorsement or a prediction, just an observation.
People who like Barack Obama really like Barack Obama.
In interviews with locals, people gave thoughtful and resolute reasons
for why they favored Republican or Democratic candidates. But the
language of those who are supporting Obama went beyond just logic and
careful consideration.
.
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| User: "Pt. Lurk Pt." |
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| Title: Re: Bet on America |
03 Sep 2007 01:46:10 PM |
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"maff" <maff91@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1188776862.011283.245840@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
Bet on America
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR2007083101468.html
Forget the Doom and Gloom. In 50 Years, We'll Still Be No. 1.
By Joel Achenbach
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B01
America, the shining city on a hill, swollen over centuries into a
reluctant empire, faces a long march into the twilight of its
----
Er, pardon me for interrupting; but *where was the 'reluctance'*...?
I was watching very carefully for 30 years and more -- and I never saw any
'reluctance' at all. All I ever saw was *denial*...
L.
.
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| User: "Free Lunch" |
|
| Title: Re: Bet on America |
03 Sep 2007 02:00:07 PM |
|
|
On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:46:10 GMT, in alt.atheism
"Pt. Lurk" <Pt. Lurk@renvcom.net> wrote in
<SDYCi.10420$6u5.1270@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net>:
"maff" <maff91@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1188776862.011283.245840@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
Bet on America
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR2007083101468.html
Forget the Doom and Gloom. In 50 Years, We'll Still Be No. 1.
By Joel Achenbach
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B01
America, the shining city on a hill, swollen over centuries into a
reluctant empire, faces a long march into the twilight of its
----
Er, pardon me for interrupting; but *where was the 'reluctance'*...?
I was watching very carefully for 30 years and more -- and I never saw any
'reluctance' at all. All I ever saw was *denial*...
Yeah, the reluctance isn't for the empire. That ended in 1802 or 1845 or
1865 or 1898 or 1945 or 1952 or some other date that you might like to
choose. The reluctance is to admit that we are the great imperialists of
our time.
.
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| User: "Al Klein" |
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| Title: Re: Bet on America |
03 Sep 2007 06:41:58 PM |
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On Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:00:07 -0500, Free Lunch <lunch@nofreelunch.us>
wrote:
The reluctance is to admit that we are the great imperialists of our time.
We just invented a new way of doing it. Instead of "white man's
burden" it's "war on terrorism".
.
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| User: "maff" |
|
| Title: Re: Bet on America |
06 Sep 2007 09:02:23 AM |
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On Sep 3, 7:46 pm, "Pt. Lurk" <Pt. L...@renvcom.net> wrote:
"maff" <maf...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1188776862.011283.245840@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
Bet on Americahttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR200...
Forget the Doom and Gloom. In 50 Years, We'll Still Be No. 1.
By Joel Achenbach
Sunday, September 2, 2007; Page B01
America, the shining city on a hill, swollen over centuries into a
reluctant empire, faces a long march into the twilight of its
"When we contemplate the fall of empires and the extinction of the
nations of the Ancient World, we see but little to excite our regret
than the mouldering ruins of pompous palaces, magnificent museums,
lofty pyramids and walls and towers of the most costly workmanship;
but when the empire of America shall fall, the subject for
contemplative sorrow will be infinitely greater than crumbling brass
and marble can inspire. It will not then be said, here stood a temple
of vast antiquity; here rose a babel of invisible height; or there a
palace of sumptuous extravagance; but here, Ah, painful thought! the
noblest work of human wisdom, the grandest scene of human glory, the
fair cause of Freedom rose and fell. Read this, and then ask if I
forget America."
To: George Washington [] 30 July 1796 [] On Paine's Service to America
(part 1 of 2)
http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/paine_letter_to_washington_01.html
----
Er, pardon me for interrupting; but *where was the 'reluctance'*...?
I was watching very carefully for 30 years and more -- and I never saw any
'reluctance' at all. All I ever saw was *denial*...
L.
.
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