Out of Control
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15160340/site/newsweek/
The impact of the Foley scandal on the congressional races is less
about values than it is a general sense that Congress has gone astray.
Web-exclusive Commentary
By Eleanor Clift
Newsweek
Updated: 4:37 p.m. ET Oct. 6, 2006
Oct. 6, 2006 - Republicans booed their likely next House speaker, Nancy
Pelosi, when she rose to speak Wednesday evening "not only as
Democratic leader but as a mother and grandmother." Some shouted
"Jefferson," a lame attempt to find equivalency between a disgraced
Democrat, Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson, currently under
investigation for allegedly taking kickbacks, and Florida Republican
Mark Foley, whose sexually predatory e-mails to teenage House pages has
set off a round of recriminations among Republicans.
It's not a matter of choice
Houzan Mahmoud
October 7, 2006 10:30 AM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/houzan_mahmoud/2006/10/wearing_the_veil=
_has_never_bee.html
The veil is not merely a piece of "cloth", but a sign of the oppression
of women, control over their sexuality, submissiveness to the will of
God or a man. The veil is a banner of political Islam used, to
segregate women born by historical accident in the so-called "Islamic
World" from other women in the rest of the world.
I could never have imagined having anything in common with Jack Straw,
but I find myself in agreement with him about how it feels talking to a
woman covered up in hijab or the "niqab" that covers women fully.
An Urbane Bolivian Politician Who Tries to Bridge 2 Worlds
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/world/americas/07garcia.html?ref=3Dworld&=
pagewanted=3Dall
By SIMON ROMERO
Vice President =C1lvaro Garc=EDa Linera of Bolivia has become what he
describes as a "cultural intermediary" in a fractured nation.
The Global Coffee Trade, a Bitter Brew for the Poor
http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/movies/06gold.html?ref=3Dafrica
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
A documentary by the English filmmakers Nick and Marc Francis that
examines the worldwide coffee market.
Bordering on Insanity
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15145011/site/newsweek/
Does the Middle East need to be destroyed in order to save it?
Web-Exclusive Commentary
By Christopher Dickey
Newsweek
Updated: 3:19 p.m. ET Oct. 5, 2006
Oct. 5, 2006 - One of the many infamous bits of collective memory that
linger from the Vietnam War is the remark by an American officer trying
to explain the utter devastation of Ben Tre, a provincial capital, in
1968: "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it," said
the unnamed major.
'Family Values' for All of Us
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR200610060=
1371.html
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Saturday, October 7, 2006; Page A23
We need to have a long talk about the meaning of "family values."
The "we" here is our country, and the discussion should be encouraged
by the shameful behavior of Mark Foley and the reaction, or
non-reaction, of the House Republican leadership.
Going 'Galactic'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15134627/site/newsweek/
The third season of the Sci Fi Channel's smash hit 'Battlestar
Galactica' starts Friday. Rabid fans will notice story lines ripped
from the war against terror.
Web-Exclusive Commentary
By Brad Stone
Newsweek
Updated: 7:17 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2006
Oct. 4, 2006 - It's a regular affectation of television critics to
declare this or that show-"Lost," "The Wire,"
"House"-the "best show on television." I am not a television
critic, nor can I claim to have watched nearly enough TV to back up
such a blanket assertion. But let me just say that "Battlestar
Galactica," which starts its third season this week on the Sci Fi
Channel (premiering Friday night at 9 p.m. ET), is indisputably,
hands-down and without question, the best show on television.
Ike Was Right
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15134247/site/newsweek/
Eisenhower's only litmus test was competence. If only the Bush
administration would follow his example.
Web-Exclusive Commentary
By Michael Hirsh
Newsweek
Updated: 6:40 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2006
Oct. 4, 2006 - He was a Republican president from Texas at a time of
great peril for America, a moment in history when the conservative base
of his party was dominated by radical thinking about how to take on the
nation's mortal enemy. It was an election year, and the GOP was
making political hay by mocking Democratic weakness. Among the most
radical Republican critics was one of the president's own top cabinet
officers, who called for pre-emptive war.
For Recruiter, Saying 'Go Army' Is a Hard Job
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/us/07recruit.html?pagewanted=3Dall
By ANDREA ELLIOTT
Sgt. Cameron Murad must persuade native Arabic speakers to enlist and
serve with front-line troops in Iraq.
Battling Power of Incumbency, and Feeling Left to Fight Alone
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/us/politics/07longshot.html
By MARK LEIBOVICH
Jim Marcinkowski, a Democrat unknown to most voters running for
Congress against an incumbent, personifies the thankless underdog.
In House Races, More G.O.P. Seats Seen at Risk
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/us/politics/07elect.html?ref=3Dpolitics&p=
agewanted=3Dall
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
There are signs that the Congressional page scandal is sapping the
enthusiasm of religious conservatives, putting at least five more seats
in serious contention.
Warner's Iraq Remarks Surprise White House
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/world/middleeast/07capital.html?ref=3Dpol=
itics
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
The Republican senator has created a delicate situation for the White
House just one month before the election.
General Endorses Lamont, Faulting Lieberman on Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/nyregion/07lieberman.html?ref=3Dpolitics
By JENNIFER MEDINA
Gen. Wesley K. Clark criticized Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of
Connecticut, accusing him of having "rubber-stamped" the Bush
administration's Iraq policies.
The American Way of Secrecy
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/books/review/Fukuyama.t.html?ref=3Dwashin=
gton
By FRANCIS FUKUYAMA
In effect, the Bush administration has been saying, Trust us: you
don't know what we know.
'"Work Hard, Study ... And Keep Out of Politics!"'
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/books/review/Heilbrunn.t.html?ref=3Dwashi=
ngton
By James A. Baker III
Reviewed by JACOB HEILBRUNN
James Baker looks back on a career in the service of Republican
presidents.
Atomic Pioneers Gather Again to Recall Manhattan Project
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/us/06project.html?ref=3Dscience
By DAN FROSCH
About 50 veterans of the Manhattan Project gathered in Los Alamos,
N=2EM., as part of three days of events to commemorate their work on the
atomic bomb.
Is Obama Ready to Roll?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15132259/site/newsweek/
The Illinois Democrat may be more serious about '08 than you think
Web Exclusive
By Jonathan Alter
Newsweek
Updated: 5:52 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2006
Oct. 4, 2006 - Ask Washington insiders about Sen. Barack Obama's
presidential hopes, and you'll get a pat response: great idea, a cycle
or three from now--or maybe this time as veep. But they need to get out
more. I've talked to Democrats in 10 cities in the last four months
and found Obama fever throughout the Democratic Party. Besides an
online Al Gore boomlet, no one else raises a reaction anything like it.
More impressively, there's now a distinct possibility that Obama may
seize the moment and run in '08. A close associate introduces a note of
caution: "I'd put the chances right now at no better than 50
percent," he told me Tuesday, as Obama taped Oprah's show in
Chicago. Fifty percent? For Obama-hungry Democrats, those are much
better odds than they've assumed. Whatever happens in the midterms,
'08 could get very exciting, very fast.
No Bluff
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15133448/site/newsweek/
Maybe North Korea's decision to test a nuclear bomb makes perfect
sense.
Web Exclusive
By George Wehrfritz
Newsweek International
Updated: 5:41 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2006
Oct. 4, 2006 - It's hard not to ascribe Pyongyang's nuclear
brinkmanship to unfettered paranoia. Yet perhaps the decision is the
product of pragmatic calculation? That's the point of an essay by a
prominent Chinese scholar published just hours after North Korea
declared Oct. 3 that it soon would test an atomic bomb (thus
obliterating any lingering doubt that it has joined the nuclear club).
Shen Dingli, a political scientist at Shanghai's Fudan University and
one of China's best known arms-control experts, writes that, for
Pyongyang, "the advantages of conducting a nuclear test outweigh the
disadvantages; hence it will proceed with a nuclear test."
His analysis, posted online at the Nautilus Institute, a Berkeley,
Calif., geopolitical think tank (www.nautilus.org), asserts that North
Korea would enhance its own national security, gain critical economic
assistance and avoid American-initiated "regime change" by
exploding one of the handful of A-bombs in its arsenal. He says
Pyongyang has good reason to bet that none of the region's big
powers-the United States, China, Russia and Japan-will do more than
voice strenuous objections and impose symbolic punishments. "If the
DPRK [North Korea] successfully carries out a nuclear test, it will be
accepted as a de facto nuclear country after a period of international
sanctions, as India and Pakistan were reaccepted by the United States
and by other mainstream countries ... several years after they
conducted nuclear tests in 1998," he writes.
300 Million Reasons to Worry?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15128931/site/newsweek/
U=2ES. population growth is a sign of either impending calamity or
enduring vitality-depending on your point of view.
By Robert J. Samuelson
Updated: 11:16 a.m. ET Oct. 4, 2006
Oct. 4, 2006 - As always, America is a work in progress. Any day now,
the Census Bureau will announce that the U.S. population has reached
300 million, 39 years after it passed 200 million (1967) and 91 years
after it hit 100 million (1915). What is more interesting and less
appreciated is that, according to census projections, it will climb to
420 million by 2050. Virtually alone among big, advanced countries, the
United States is experiencing significant population growth. This is a
sign of either impending calamity or enduring vitality. I'm in the
vitality camp, but I admit that it often seems a close call.
It Takes a Sex Scandal
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15118302/site/newsweek/
The real world cares about the Foley e-mails. If Democrats can't win
now, they're doomed to become modern-day Whigs.
By Howard Fineman
Newsweek
Updated: 2:24 p.m. ET Oct. 3, 2006
Oct. 3, 2006 - An Iraq war that has cost us nearly half trillion
dollars-and the good will of the world-might not have done it.
Runaway federal spending that allowed the national debt to reach $8.5
trillion might not have done it. George Bush's low approval ratings,
the lack of comprehensive immigration reform, the historical pattern of
an anti-incumbent "six-year itch" in presidencies, the cascade of
stories about administration ineptitude and dissembling and
congressional financial and lobbying corruption-none of these issues
seemed destined to end the Republicans' 12-year reign in Congress.
Havana Spring?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15119381/site/newsweek/
A new poll shows that Cuban-Americans may be shifting allegiance from
the Bush administration as they become increasingly optimistic about a
post-Fidel era.
Web Exclusive
By Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek
Updated: 3:48 p.m. ET Oct. 3, 2006
Oct. 3, 2006 - When Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother Ra=FAl
at the end of July, Cuba embarked on a new chapter in its history. Now,
according to the results of a new poll released Monday, Cuban-Americans
in Miami appear to be turning a page as well. The survey-conducted by
Bendixen & Associates for the New Democrat Network-is the first
snapshot of South Florida's exile community since Ra=FAl took the
reins. It shows that Cuban-Americans are more hopeful about Cuba's
future and more willing to entertain less-confrontational approaches to
prod the island toward a democratic transition.
Touting Tea
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15107841/site/newsweek/
A new study finds that drinking tea may reduce the risk of deadly
diseases-and that's just one of many health benefits associated with
the popular beverage.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Dean Ornish, M.D.
Newsweek
Updated: 1:41 p.m. ET Oct. 3, 2006
Oct. 3, 2006 - I love coffee. I love the way it smells. I love the way
it tastes. (Although I'm so sensitive to caffeine, even a cup of coffee
makes me talk as fast as Robin Williams might sound if he were on
speed-and, hey, do you have to drive so slowly?) But I drink tea now.
Most of the time.
When a name spells trouble
Bobbie Johnson
October 7, 2006 12:02 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/bobbie_johnson/2006/10/aint_noflys_on_m=
e=2Ehtml
Over the course of my life people have struggled with the way I spell
my name. Most Bobbies are women, and I'm not. Most Bobbies are, in
fact, Bobbys. And really, most of them are actually Roberts.
It was only recently that my parents rescinded their long-held tall
tale over my misspelt origins - that my father had drunkenly signed the
birth certificate after celebrating a little too hard - and replaced it
with a less rock'n'roll resolution; that it was just the way my mother
wanted it done.
.
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