Throwing Their Blogs into the Ring
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201088.html
By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; Page A17
Last week's presidential announcement video from Barack Obama seemed
fresh, futuristic and YouTube-friendly -- until Saturday, when Hillary
Clinton's "I'm in to win" video, as pretty and polished as a
Merchant-Ivory production, made Obama's clip look like a student
project. Obama, here comes Mama. And she doesn't play.
As they size each other up, the Democratic front-runners might want to
sneak a glance at John Edwards, who has outpaced them both in
new-technology savvy. Edwards has been campaigning in cyberspace for
months, building a deep, "sticky" Web site with tons of multimedia
offerings and a destination-quality blog. Clinton is still working on a
blog. Obama is apparently still working on a lot of things.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Indefensible
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201087.html
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; Page A17
"On the cold moonlit evening of March 5, 1770," writes David McCullough
in his magisterial "John Adams," "the streets of Boston were covered by
nearly a foot of snow." A crowd set upon a lone British sentry at
Boston's Province House, taunting him. Quickly, reinforcements arrived,
and so did a larger crowd. Soon the crowd hurled snowballs, chunks of
ice, oyster shells and stones. The soldiers, now nine, opened fire,
killing five Bostonians -- "bloody butchery," Samuel Adams called it.
Only one lawyer would defend the British soldiers. He was a different
Adams -- John Adams, a good man on the path to being great.
I resurrect this tale about Adams because it is sorely needed. Just
this month, an official in the Bush administration, a deputy assistant
secretary of defense named Charles D. Stimson, suggested that lawyers
who defend terrorism suspects being held at Guantanamo not only should
not do so but that their firms ought to be blackballed as a result.
Clinton Dives in Media Waters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201303.html
Effort to 'Humanize' Presidential Hopeful Fast Underway
By Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; Page A02
With a call to "let the conversation begin," Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton (D-N.Y.) fielded a handful of pre-selected questions from
voters on her presidential campaign's Web site last night, speaking
into a video camera as she held forth on movies ("Out of Africa" makes
her top three), her football-fanatic brothers and her "nice
middle-class upbringing in a suburb of Chicago."
The effort to "humanize" Clinton, as her advisers have put it, was in
full swing just two days into her presidential campaign.
Views on U.S. Drop Sharply In Worldwide Opinion Poll
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201300.html
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; Page A14
LONDON, Jan. 23 -- Global opinion of U.S. foreign policy has sharply
deteriorated in the past two years, according to a BBC poll released on
the eve of President Bush's annual State of the Union address.
Nearly three-quarters of those polled in 25 countries disapprove of
U.S. policies toward Iraq, and more than two-thirds said the U.S.
military presence in the Middle East does more harm than good. Nearly
half of those polled in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and the
Middle East said the United States is now playing a mainly negative
role in the world.
Canadian Will Remain On U.S. Watch List
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201185.html
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; Page A14
Canadian Maher Arar remains on a U.S. border-control watch list because
of information from U.S. law enforcement agencies, despite findings by
his government that he was innocent when he was imprisoned and tortured
in Syria, top Bush administration security officials said in a letter
released yesterday.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff offered no details in the Jan. 16 letter to Canadian
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day but said they have shared the
information about Arar, a Syrian-born Muslim, with their Canadian
counterparts.
Report: N. Ireland Police Shielded Killers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201516_pf.html
Protestant Informers Avoided Prosecution; Victims Often Were Catholics
By Mary Jordan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; A14
LONDON, Jan. 22 -- Police in Northern Ireland colluded with Protestant
paramilitary informers, protecting them from prosecution even as they
were implicated in murders and other violent crimes, often committed
against Catholics, according to a government report released Monday.
In dozens of cases, most of which took place during the 1990s, police
officers essentially gave the criminals immunity in exchange for
information, according to the three-year investigation by an
independent police ombudsman.
Ethanol Production Booming on Demand
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201306.html
By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; Page A06
The energy agenda in Washington has been long dominated by oil
interests, but in a reversal of political fortunes, these days it is
Big Oil fighting to preserve its tax incentives and the ethanol
industry that is adding new ones.
President Bush may up the ante tonight in his State of the Union
address, many analysts think, by setting new targets for ethanol use or
encouraging automakers to shift to engines capable of handling E85, a
fuel that is 85 percent ethanol.
Clinton Bid Heralds Demise of Public Financing
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201304_pf.html
By Dan Balz and Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; A01
The public financing system designed to clean up presidential campaigns
in the wake of the Watergate scandal may have died on Saturday when
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) announced her bid for the White
House.
Little noticed amid the announcement rollout was a page on her Web site
in which she asked potential contributors to give her campaign checks
of up to $4,200. That figure signaled not only that she plans to forgo
public funds for primary season but also that, if she becomes the
nominee, she will not take public money for the general election.
Headmaster Disputes Claim That Obama Attended Islamic School
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012201322.html
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; Page C07
Fresh doubt was cast yesterday on a magazine's allegation that Sen.
Barack Obama (D-Ill.) attended a madrassah, or religious school that
teaches a fundamentalist version of Islam.
Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the Basuki school in Indonesia,
told CNN that his institution -- which Obama attended four decades ago,
beginning when he was 6 -- is not a madrassah.
Hillary, Obama and Anonymous Sources
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/01/22/BL2007012200260_pf.html
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 22, 2007; 7:38 AM
Days after Barack Obama jumped into the presidential sweepstakes, he
was hit with a thinly sourced story from his past--39 years in his
past, to be exact.
The allegation, by a conservative magazine, raised questions about
whether the Illinois senator had been schooled in Islamic radicalism
when he was all of 6 years old.
A Sleepy City on the Steppe Fears Hordes of High Rollers
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/asia/23kazakh.html?ref=world
By ILAN GREENBERG
A grim industrial town in Kazakhstan may soon be transformed into
"Las Vegas on the Steppe."
China Confirms Test of Anti-Satellite Weapon
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/asia/23cnd-china.html?ref=world
By JOSEPH KAHN
The Chinese government confirmed the test, but said it had no intention
of participating in a "space race."
Armenian Editor's Death Leads to Conciliation
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/europe/23turkey.html?ref=world
By SUSANNE FOWLER and SEBNEM ARSU
The killing of a newspaper editor in Istanbul is leading to rare
conciliatory gestures between Turkey and Armenia.
Iran Bars Inspectors; Cleric Criticizes President
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/middleeast/23iran.html?ref=world
By NAZILA FATHI
The two developments suggest an increasingly open debate within Iran on
how to confront the West over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Father of Dead West Bank Girl Seeks Peace With Israelis
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/middleeast/23mideast.html?ref=world
By GREG MYRE
In a long and bitter conflict, killings often prompt revenge rather
than understanding, but the father of a slain girl says he wants to
talk to Israelis about making peace.
Canadian to Remain on U.S. Terrorist Watch List
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/americas/23terror.html?ref=americas
By SCOTT SHANE
Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen cleared in Canada of any
terrorist ties, will not be removed from the U.S. terrorist watch list,
the Bush administration said.
Boot Camps Gaining Popularity With Korean Parents, Not Kids
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/world/asia/22camp.html?ref=asia
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Thousands of Korean schoolchildren passed through a program designed to
instill the values of perseverance, confidence and teamwork.
In Arab Capital of U.S., Ethnic Divide Remains
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/us/23dearborn.html?ref=us
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
Arab-Americans in Dearborn, Mich., have been unable to capitalize on
their political hopes.
Death Knell May Be Near for Public Election Funds
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/us/politics/23donate.html?ref=us&pagewanted=all
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
The public financing system has failed to keep pace with the torrents
of money flowing toward the presidential elections.
Here, There and in Iowa
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/us/politics/23pintro.html?ref=politics
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
One of the striking things about the 2008 presidential campaign is the
number of stages it is being played on at once.
Bush, at Low Point in Polls, Will Push Domestic Agenda
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/washington/23bush.html?ref=politics
By JIM RUTENBERG and ROBERT PEAR
Advisers said they hoped the president's speech tonight would
re-energize his domestic agenda by striking a bipartisan and ambitious
tone.
White Doctors, Black Subjects: Abuse Disguised as Research
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/health/23book.html?ref=science
By DENISE GRADY
Harriet A. Washington has unearthed an enormous amount of shocking
information and shaped it into a riveting, carefully documented book.
Do You Believe in Magic?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/health/psychology/23magic.html?ref=health&pagewanted=all
By BENEDICT CAREY
Scientists are trying to figure out why even the skeptics among us
cling to lucky numbers, special game-day clothing and other odd
rituals.
'Supreme Conflict'
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/books/23kaku.html?ref=arts
Reviewed by MICHIKO KAKUTANI
Jan Crawford Greenberg's lively new book offers a fascinating look at
the history, the dynamics and the future of the Supreme Court.
The view from the mountain
Larry Elliott
January 23, 2007 12:31 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/larry_elliott/2007/01/post_972.html
This is a terrible admission, I know, but I look forward to Davos. Yes,
of course, there are more fat cats there than you can shake a stick at;
fat cats don't get any fatter than the Davos fat cats, and there is
plenty of deal-making going on behind the scenes at the annual
talk-fest than we never get to hear about.
Even so, Davos is a blast. For a start, it gets you out of the UK at
the grimmest part of winter. At this time of year, 5,000 feet up in the
Swiss Alps it is either snowing like crazy or the skies are blue;
either is preferable to the greyness of London.
Naming our shame
Anna Reisenberger
January 23, 2007 12:00 PM
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/anna_reisenberger/2007/01/naming_our_shame.html
You might think that a country that goes to war would have a moral duty
to help the refugees displaced by that conflict. But in the case of
Iraq the UK government is pursuing a completely contrary policy.
One of the inevitable consequences of conflict is that people will be
forced to flee from their homes to escape the violence and persecution.
So it is not surprising to hear that the escalating crisis in Iraq is
leading to a huge exodus of people. The reports that an estimated 2
million Iraqi refugees are now in neighbouring countries, which need
assistance in order to help them, is in line with the usual pattern in
these situations. And as always, the rich countries of the
international community are not doing nearly enough to help.
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