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| "Experts advise families not to wait until the last hours of life to communicate with dying patients. In a study of 100 terminally ill cancer patients, 56 were awake one week before they died, 44 percent were drowsy, but none were comatose. In the final six hours, however, only 8 percent were awake, 42 percent were drowsy and half were comatose, precluding any further communication." NYT (reg/req) |
| "...among today's adolescents - a generation of instant messengers, always connected, always wired - bullies are starting to move beyond slam books and whisper campaigns to e-mail, websites, chat rooms, and text messaging." Christian Science Monitor |
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| "Lenny Bruce, the potty-mouthed wit who turned stand-up comedy into social commentary, was posthumously pardoned yesterday by Gov. George E. Pataki, 39 years after being convicted of obscenity for using bad words in a Greenwich Village nightclub act." NYT(reg/req) |
| "The BBC's
Orla Guerin says Wednesday's explosion happened after attackers fired a
missile towards the hotel from a nearby street.
There is an elaborate network of security checks involving concrete barriers and metal detectors around the hotel, she says. But she says the defences focus on only one side of the hotel, leaving other sides less well guarded." |
| "The U.N. Children's Fund estimated in a report that 11 million children under 15 in sub-Saharan Africa have lost at least one parent to AIDS." NYT(reg/req) |
| War took its toll on journalists in 2003, killing at least 83 reporters and media staff worldwide - 13 more than in 2002, the International Federation of Journalists said. |
| "One of the Queen's corgis has been put down after being savaged by
an English bull terrier owned by Princess Anne.
The attack is thought to have happened on Monday, when the corgis ran out to greet the Princess Royal as she arrived at Sandringham for Christmas. Princess Anne was convicted under the Dangerous Dogs Act last year after the same dog attacked two children." BBC |
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| Things we learned en route to looking up other things: From the Alaska Department of Fish and Game -- male reindeer drop their antlers in November, so Rudolph, Blitzen and all the others are female. |
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(this is the astrologer, by the way, who with a fair amount of accuracy, predicted 9/11 a few weeks before the attack) |
| "Looking at the mad scenes in Iraq, and trying to make sense of it astrologically…until there’s a new Iraqi constitution, the 1958 horoscope of Iraq still stands, and with Pluto currently knocking it about all over the place, I don’t see any easy or quick end to the conflict. My guess is that the entrenched guerrilla warfare that’s been going on is likely to escalate until some type of crisis, or flash point is reached, probably in the third week of April. If Iraq was an individual, I’d be telling him/her to cut their losses and begin again, and I expect that’s what will happen in time – question is, with what degree of real independence?" Steve Judd |
| "A new window to the universe has opened with today's release of the first dazzling images from NASA's newly named Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility." |
| WASHINGTON -- The U.S. population grew by 2.8 million in the past year
and should reach 300 million within four years.
The South and West added the most people in the year that ended July 1, and Nevada was the fastest-growing state for the 17th consecutive year, according to Census Bureau estimates Thursday. The U.S. population grew 1 percent, to nearly 291 million. Immigration and a high birth rate among Hispanics helped fuel the rise. The 1920 census was the first to record 100 million Americans. The 200-million mark was surpassed 50 years later. Every state's population grew last year but North Dakota, which lost an estimated 74 people. AP |
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| "A federal appeals court ruled Thursday for the first time that prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba should have access to lawyers and the American court system. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' 2-1 decision was a rebuke to the Bush Administration." AP |
| "An appeals court ruling on Thursday that the president of the United States cannot detain an American citizen seized on U.S. soil as an enemy combatant is the latest sign of a legal backlash against the powers assumed by the administration after the Sept. 11 attacks." Reuters |
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| "The 78-year-old daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond and a black
maid said Wednesday that now that she has come forward to disclose her
heritage, she is finally at peace.
At a news conference in her native South Carolina, Essie Mae Washington-Williams said she did not come forward earlier because she didn't want to jeopardize Thurmond's political career and family. 'Throughout his life and mine we respected each other. ... I was sensitive about his well-being and his career.' " AP |
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| "A top Roman Catholic official has attacked the way Saddam Hussein was treated by his US captors, saying he had been dealt with like an animal." BBC |
| "Monday evening saw violent protests across the Sunni Muslim belt,
the heartland of the ousted Baathist regime:
* Up to 1,000 students demonstrated against the "humiliating" capture of Saddam Hussein at the university in Mosul; * In Falluja, hundreds of residents rioted, seizing the offices of the US-appointed mayor, witnesses told Reuters news agency. In the confusion, gunmen opened fire at US troops and wounded one, the US military said. One gunman was killed and at least two wounded in return fire; * A gun battle also erupted in Ramadi, where about 750 people attended a pro-Saddam rally. One US soldier was wounded while the Americans said they had shot dead two gunmen and wounded two; * And in Tikrit, about 700 people demonstrated in the city centre, chanting 'Saddam is in our hearts, Saddam is in our blood' as US soldiers and Iraqi policemen yelled back 'Saddam is in our jail.' " BBC |
| "Suicide bombs, attacks on US troops, civilian protesters shot dead by American soldiers - nothing changes after Saddam's capture." The Independent |
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| "The late Sen. Strom Thurmond's family on Monday said it acknowledges a California woman's claim that she is his illegitimate mixed-race daughter." AP |
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| "Survivors of the US attack on Hiroshima have expressed anger at a US museum's decision to display the plane that dropped an atomic bomb there in 1945." BBC |
| "Natural gas prices have surged nearly 50 percent since Thanksgiving
despite an apparent lack of events that normally create such spikes, like
tight supplies or forecasts of unusually cold weather.
The frenzied climb in prices has led to calls for investigations by politicians and executives of gas-dependent industries into whether traders have improperly manipulated natural gas markets." NYT |
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| "Whippings, fines, burnt tongues, severed ears: such were the Puritans'
penalties for breaches of the Sabbath. Under the "blue laws" of the 1700s,
the punishments could be invoked for simple misdeeds ranging from shuffleboard
to skipping church.
Most colonial edicts have gone the way of scarlet letters. But one has remained intact in states from Connecticut to Texas: the ban on Sunday sales of alcohol. Now, a stubborn seam of Puritanical America is coming undone. With Gov. Mitt Romney's decision last week, Massachusetts joined five states that have relaxed bans on Sunday sales in the past 18 months. Today, as the United States marks the 70th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, supporters of the repeal call this trend the natural confluence of flagging state economies and a steady erosion of antiquated blue laws." Christian Science Monitor |
| "Crystal Evans blends in well at the cafés she frequents in
Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. With her peaches and cream complexion,
purple hair, and retro eyeglass frames, the 22-year-old from New Hampshire
convincingly plays the part of a contemporary Cambridge youth.
But if you frequent the same haunts as Evans, where she whiles away her time with a wireless laptop and cell phone, you will likely pick up on a few patterns. You might notice, for example, that Evans is getting a lot of wear out of her hooded, Harvard University sweatshirt. Or that she keeps a stuffed backpack with her at all times. That's because Evans has been living on the streets for several years. Raised by strict, Born Again Christians, Evans fled home as a teenager and later dropped out of Bob Jones University, the fundamentalist college notorious for its racial, religious, and sexual intolerance. Evans chronicles her struggle with homelessness and her recovery from her religious past in the online Web log Being Homeless. She's one of an increasing number of the down and out and disenfranchised who are venting their frustrations—and finding friends and support—on the Web..." Village Voice |
| Things we learned en route to looking up other things: This proclamation, posted on Harper's, was issued to the inhabitants of Baghdad on March 19, 1917, by Lt. General Sir Stanley Maude, shortly after the occupation of the city by British forces. |
| "The new Medicare prescription law is a policy disaster. It offers a pittance or worse for most elderly, is a boondoggle for the drug and insurance companies, and threatens to privatize and dismantle Medicare itself. But because Republicans now can claim they delivered a prescription drug plan for seniors, political strategists in both parties regard it as a big boost to Bush’s re-election bid." In These Times |
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| "Federal officials have softened a national advertising campaign to promote breastfeeding after complaints from two companies that make infant formula..." NYT |
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| "Astronomers say they have evidence for Earth-like planets orbiting a nearby star, making it more like our own Solar System than any yet discovered." BBC |
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| "MPs from Thailand's ruling Thai Rak Thai Party are getting hot under the collar over plans by the party leadership to ban them from having mistresses or visiting brothels." BBC |
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| "Scientists are far from understanding everything about colds. But
a growing pool of evidence suggests that personality, stress and social
life all can influence healthy adults' vulnerability to cold symptoms.
• Happy, relaxed people are more resistant to illness than those who tend to be unhappy or tense. Adults with the worst scores for calmness and positive mood are about three times more likely to get colds than the most relaxed and contented adults. When happy people do get sick, their symptoms are milder. • The more extroverted a person is, the less likely he is to catch cold. • Serious work-related or personal stress for at least a month increases the chances of catching cold. The longer people had lived with bad stress, the more likely they were to catch cold in the lab. • Playing diverse social roles — spouse, parent, worker, friend, club member — improves resistance to infection. Those with three or fewer roles were four times more likely to get colds than those with six or more." USA Today |
| "To help stem the epidemic of obesity in the United States, a government advisory group today urged for the first time that doctors weigh and measure all adults and recommend intensive counseling and behavior treatment for those found to be obese...The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 44 million Americans -- about 21 percent of adults -- are obese, meaning they are roughly 30 or more pounds above a healthy weight for their height. These added pounds place them at significantly increased risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney problems, some types of cancer and arthritis. An estimated 300,000 deaths a year are directly attributed to problems of overweight and obesity..." Washington Post |
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| From the AP:
A mob of shoppers rushing for a sale on DVD players trampled the first
woman in line and knocked her unconscious as they scrambled for the shelves
at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
Patricia VanLester had her eye on a $29 DVD player, but when the siren blared at 6 a.m. Friday announcing the start to the post-Thanksgiving sale, the 41-year-old was knocked to the ground by the frenzy of shoppers behind her. "She got pushed down, and they walked over her like a herd of elephants," said VanLester's sister, Linda Ellzey. "I told them, 'Stop stepping on my sister! She's on the ground!'" Ellzey said some shoppers tried to help VanLester, and one employee helped Ellzey reach her sister, but most people just continued their rush for deals. "All they cared about was a stupid DVD player," she said Saturday. Paramedics called to the store found VanLester unconscious on top of a DVD player, surrounded by shoppers seemingly oblivious to her, said Mark O'Keefe, a spokesman for EVAC Ambulance... |
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| "A top counterterrorism official says al-Qaeda operatives dropped plans
this year for several small attacks in the USA to focus on plotting a "more
spectacular" assault comparable to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The U.S. counterterrorism official, who has access to all intelligence on the terrorist group, told USA TODAY this week that officials have no specific evidence to indicate how or when al-Qaeda might try to launch a massive strike on U.S. soil. But, the official said, interviews with al-Qaeda detainees, intercepts of communications from suspected operatives and other sources have yielded evidence that Osama bin Laden's network still has a command structure and a determination to launch an attack that might rival the suicide hijackings." |
| "Everything we know about [neurodegenerative] diseases has been learned from autopsies of patients, population research and studies using human tissues cultured from biopsies or autopsies. It is in human tissue that we will find the answers to [neurodegenerative] diseases." BBC |
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| "Congress' expected overhaul of Medicare will be a bonanza for health care providers, a modest benefit for most seniors and, critics warn, a boondoggle that could cost taxpayers billions more than forecast." USA Today |
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| A record number of people were infected with | HIV around the world this year. BBC | World hunger rising again despite international efforts. BBC |
| "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 33 percent of the 900,000 Americans infected with the virus may not know it." NYT (reg/req) |
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| "Saturation coverage of singer's arrest raises questions about America's obsession with celebrity." Christian Science Monitor |
| "Gen. Tommy Franks says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government." NewsMax |
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| "Since April, the military says, at least 17 Americans — 15 Army soldiers
and two Marines — have taken their own lives in Iraq. The true number is
almost certainly higher. At least two dozen non-combat deaths, some of
them possible suicides, are under investigation according to an AP review
of Army casualty reports.
No one in the military is saying for the record that the suicide rate among forces in Iraq is alarming. But Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top American military commander in Iraq, was concerned enough, according to the Army Surgeon General's office, to have ordered a 12-person mental health assessment team to Iraq to see what more can be done to prevent suicides and to help troops better cope with anxiety and depression." AP |
| "A German accused of killing and eating a man he met on a website for cannibals has expressed regret for his actions." BBC |
| "The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected extensive information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads, according to interviews and a confidential bureau memorandum." NYT(reg/req) |
| "Internet romance begins outside any real-life context, but it quickly creates a context all its own -- full of flirting, sex, jealousy, love and rejection. In the world of online coupling, your digital dating self never sleeps." NYT's Magazine ... For one of the earliest peeks into the world of online dating, check out Hyde Park Media's Passion and the PC, written 16 years ago for the Chicago Tribune. |
| "Wal-Mart is so powerful that it moves the economies of entire countries, bringing profit and pain. The prices can’t be beat, but the wages can." LA Times |
| Media interest has been intense, but in New York a total of only 30 loyal fans turned out for vigils in Times Square and Manhattan. They wore T-shirts and carried slogans - "Michael is innocent" & "It's the press who are scum." ... BBC |
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| "Not one Japanese soldier has been killed, or has killed, in combat
since the end of World War II.
That remarkable fact is being repeated here often these days, precisely because, as Japan prepares to send ground forces to Iraq, things could change in the near future. The death of a soldier, a sad though common reality for most nations, would be a pivotal point in Japan's postwar history." NYT(reg/req) |
| "Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh may have violated state money-laundering laws in the way he handled the money he used to buy the prescription drugs to which he was addicted, law enforcement officials in Florida and New York told ABCNEWS." |
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| We just read a BBC story that reports Disney’s first synchronous sound Mickey Mouse film, "Steamboat Willie," debuted on this date in 1928. We couldn’t confirm this exact date (we found one source that gave September 19th for the cartoon's release), but the film was indeed completed in September of 1928, and on the 15th Walt hired an orchestra in New York to record the soundtrack (on September 18th, by the way, his "Mickey Mouse" trademark application was granted). If you can get your hands on an unedited version of this cartoon, by all means view it, but don’t let the kids see it. Good old Mickey, who looked more like a rat back then than a mouse, basically tortures other animals to get musical notes out of them. Kicking nursing piglets off their mother’s teats, then playing the squealing sow like an accordion, is a highlight. When we first saw the original cartoon in an animated film class years ago, we were shocked. It’s not as cruel as say, "The Itchy and Scratchy Show” on the “Simpsons,” but it’s close. |
| "Sociology 102 teaches that the first phase of democracy, which typically lasts decades, brings an explosion of antisocial behavior. Violent crime, white-collar crime, and rape are all on the rise in Iraq, and likely to be followed by the spread of HIV, the breakup of families, child neglect, and an increase in drug and alcohol abuse." Christian Science Monitor |
| "The United States is committed to defending South Korea from an attack by the North and would use nuclear forces if needed, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told the government here yesterday." Washington Times |
| Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, launched a stinging attack on President George Bush last night, denouncing him as the "greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen." The Independent |
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| "Two years ago, the Arellanos paid $269 a month to insure the family. The price jumped last year to $339 and this year to $780, more than their monthly mortgage payment." NYT(reg/req) |
| "(British) Home Secretary David Blunkett has refused to grant diplomatic immunity to armed American special agents and snipers travelling to Britain as part of President Bush's entourage this week. In the case of the accidental shooting of a protester, the Americans in Bush's protection squad will face justice in a British court as would any other visitor, the Home Office has confirmed." UK Guardian |
| Southern drawls have thwarted voice recognition equipment used by the
Shreveport Police Department to route non-emergency calls.
A switchover to a lower-tech, touch-tone system — in which callers hear a voice recording they can respond to by pressing a different number for each division — is scheduled for Monday, said spokeswoman Kaycee Hargrave. The voice-recognition system asked people to name the person or department they wanted. More often than not, the system just didn't understand, and they wound up at the wrong place, said Capt. John Dunn, who oversees police communications. "In Louisiana, we have a problem with Southern drawl and what I call lazy mouth. Because of that, the system often doesn't recognize what (callers) say," he said. AP |
| "This time of year, around the anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Chicago sporting goods magnate Milton P. Klein would grow moody. For he could not help but be reminded of his awful place in history as the man who sold Lee Harvey Oswald the rifle used to kill JFK." Chicago Sun-Times |
| "Four former Israeli security chiefs sharply criticized Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies toward the Palestinians on Friday, warning in unusually bold terms that Israel is headed for catastrophe if it does not reach a peace deal soon." AP |
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| "The al-Qaeda terror network is determined to use chemical and biological weapons and is restrained only by the technical difficulties of doing so, a U.N. expert panel said in a confidential report." AP |
| "Homeland defense officials yesterday partially lifted the cloak of secrecy surrounding a network of outdoor air-sampling sensors in 31 cities that is designed to warn officials within hours of any attempt by terrorists to release deadly microbes into the atmosphere." Washington Post |
| "Americans are increasingly turning to the world of popular culture
to name their children, a study has found.
Children have been named after big brands as diverse as beauty company L'Oreal, car firm Chevrolet and designer clothes company Armani. There are even two little boys, one in Michigan and one in Texas, called ESPN after the sports channel." BBC |
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| "A blockbuster novel, a controversial TV special, and a just-released
book on a long-hidden gospel bearing her name: The woman known as Mary
Magdalene is again at the center of a swirl of speculation.
Long portrayed in Christian tradition as a repentant prostitute out of whom Jesus cast seven devils, Mary is having her own resurrection in the popular imagination as history is corrected, and new, sometimes explosive, claims are asserted about her relationship to the Master." Christian Science Monitor |
| "A Greek play (by the dramatist Aeschylus) is to be staged for the first time in more than 2,050 years after fragments of the text were found in Egyptian mummy cases." UK Guardian |
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| Things we found en route to looking up other things: "In his latest book, Rupert Sheldrake explores the intricacies of the mind and discovers that our perceptive abilities are stronger than many of us could have imagined." USA Today |
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| "Something potentially earth shattering is brewing deep within the planet's molten core. As much as we hate to admit it, some acts of nature are firmly beyond our control. Case in point is the possible magnetic storm headed our way. PBS offers this timely look at our mysterious magnetic field and how this necessary component to life on Earth could reverse, or even disappear and wreak untold havoc." |
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| "A little-noticed measure approved by both the House and Senate would significantly expand the F.B.I.'s power to demand financial records, without a judge's approval, from car dealers, travel agents, pawnbrokers and many other businesses, officials said on Tuesday." NYT(reg/req) |
| "In the heartening if admittedly provisional opinion of a number of researchers who study warfare, it is by no means an innate aspect of human nature." NYT(reg/req) |
| The "quasi-hypnotic influence" of television in America has fostered
a complacent nation that is a danger to democracy, former Vice President
Al Gore said Tuesday.
Gore, speaking on "Media and Democracy" at Middle Tennessee State University, told attendees the decline of newspapers as the country's dominant method of communication leaves average Americans without an outlet for scholarly debate. "Our democracy is suffering in an age when the dominant medium is not accessible to the average person and does not lend itself most readily to the conveyance of complex ideas about self-governance," Gore said. "Instead it pushes toward a lowest common denominator." AP |
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| "Scientists have found an unexpected genetic link among three common autoimmune diseases: psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus." NYT (reg/req) |
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who faithfully served in the "Big One," as he used to say, WW II. Although he saw much combat in Europe, he reported only one near-death experience. In Paris. Date unknown. "What happen?" we asked. "I had to jump from a third floor window," he said. "Why is that?" "Her husband came home." |
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| "We’re winning the peace, say the Bushies. But if so, what about all those body bags? How the administration is reinventing the PR war." New York Magazine |
| "The World Trade Organization ruled on Monday that steel tariffs imposed by President Bush last year were illegal, clearing the way for the European Union to impose more than $2 billion of sanctions on imports from the United States unless Washington quickly drops the duties." NYT |
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| "In a Darwinian fight for survival, American cities are scheming to steal each other's young...In addition to Seattle, the largest brain-gain cities include Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington, and Raleigh and Durham, N.C...New York, Chicago and Los Angeles are perennial magnets of high-end talent, but their size and the constant churning of their population make it difficult for demographers to discern the winner-take-all pattern identified in mid-size cities...The fastest-growing city, Las Vegas, leads the nation in attracting more high school dropouts than college graduates." Washington Post |
| Among some 10,000 new additions to an updated version of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary released in June, was the term ''McJob,'' defined as ''low paying and dead-end work.'' McDonald's is, of course, going nuts. AP |
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| "The latest warning from the Homeland Security Department that al-Qaeda
may be plotting an attack is renewing calls for stricter security on cargo
planes.
The department advised law-enforcement officials Friday night of threats that terrorists may fly cargo planes from another country into such crucial U.S. targets as nuclear plants, bridges or dams..." AP |
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| "Former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch accused the military of using her capture and dramatic nighttime rescue to sway public support for the war in Iraq. Dramatic video of U.S. commandos whisking the former Army supply clerk from a Nasiriyah hospital to a waiting chopper April 1 helped cement Lynch's image as a hero. But the 20-year-old private told ABC's Diane Sawyer there was no reason for her rescue to be filmed." AP |
| "Iraq isn't Vietnam, not yet at least. But as criticism of the Bush
administration's conduct of the war there intensifies, a number of prominent
Vietnam War veterans say they are frequently reminded of the way the White
House fumbled away public support for the only major war the United States
ever lost.
Many who served in Vietnam — including members of Congress, former Pentagon officials and a small but influential group of retired generals — have begun to say what those now in uniform cannot: The Bush administration, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in particular, have not leveled with the public about the difficulty of winning in Iraq." USA Today |
| "The United States will close its missions in Saudi Arabia on Saturday
for an undetermined period because of 'credible' information that terrorists
are about to carry out attacks, the U.S. Embassy said Friday.
The United States also warned that Taliban insurgents in Afghanstan may attempt to kidnap American journalists working in that country." Washington Post |
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| "A possible negotiated peace deal was laid out in a heavily guarded compound in Baghdad in the days before the war, ABCNEWS has been told, but a top former Pentagon adviser says he was ordered not to pursue the deal..." ABC News |
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| "Anti-Semitism is again on the rise. Why now? Blame the backlash against globalization. As public anxiety grows over lost jobs, shaky economies, and political and social upheaval, the Brownshirt and Birkenstock crowds are seeking solace in conspiracy theories. And in their search for the hidden hand that guides the new world order, modern anxieties are merging with old hatreds and the myths on which they rest." Foreign Policy |
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| "The nearest galaxy to our own Milky Way has been revealed. It is so close that the Milky Way is gradually consuming it by pulling in its stars. But it will be few billion years before it is entirely swallowed up." New Scientist |
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| "If there is a danger in this country now, it lies in the sapping of institutions--in judges selected not to uphold the law but to follow a political agenda, in a Congress willing to abandon its independence to a messianic White House, in a Treasury Department or CIA that bends its expertise to the presidential whim, in a Washington press corps that prizes its television appearances too much to risk questioning the political fad of the moment, in regulators who neglect to regulate and an opposition that fears to oppose." - writes R.C. Longworth, a Chicago Tribune Senior correspondent who is leaving the paper to become executive director of the Global Chicago Center at the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. (reg/req) |
| For the past few weeks, President Bush has complained about the media
“filter” through which the “good news” coming out of Iraq has been screened
out. For the sake of argument, let’s say, for whatever reason, he’s
correct.
What we wish to point out is the fact that same filter served him well before the war he so desperately wanted. The major media did a wonderful job of filtering out most anti-war sentiment and nearly all voices of dissent. Seems to us, President Bush benefited greatly by this. He got his war. Consequently, it also seems to us, he’s got nothing to bitch about now. |
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| "How the Bush administration's prewar planners bungled postwar Iraq." NYT's Magazine (reg/req) |
| "A U.S. helicopter carrying troops home for leave was struck by a missile Sunday and crashed west of Baghdad, killing 15 soldiers and wounding 21, the U.S. military said." NYT(reg/req) |
| President Bush is losing public support for his war and economic policies, according to a new poll which for the first time shows that a majority of Americans disapprove of his handling of Iraq -- 51% disapprove of his Iraq policy, while 47% approve. Washington Post |