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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/10/AR2007101002436.html
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https://web.archive.org/web/2007101119id_/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/10/AR2007101002436.html
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In Egypt, A Son Is Readied for Succession
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CAIRO -- Tall and gangly, his hairline edging toward the back of his head, the man on stage in khakis and shirt sleeves spoke woodenly despite the energy and friendliness evident in his audience of well-off Egyptian college students and recent graduates.
The speaker's hand gestures lagged behind his words. Passion flowed into his voice only when he talked about trade liberalization and market reform. His listeners at the youth forum applauded, but not as much as they had for some other speakers.
Gamal Mubarak, son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the man most widely expected to succeed him, had not made much of an impression. Then again, Egyptians say, Gamal Mubarak probably doesn't have to.
Egyptians have never experienced a democratic transfer of presidential power. As Hosni Mubarak, 79, begins the 27th year of his rule this month, many say they expect Mubarak's family and ruling party, military officers and security officials to decide on his successor.
Egypt's National Democratic Party is now the only party legally eligible to field a presidential candidate; an independent candidate would need to secure approval to run from commissions dominated by ruling party members.
If power passes to Gamal Mubarak, Egypt would join Syria, Jordan and Morocco -- the latter two officially kingdoms -- on the growing list of modern Middle East dynasties in which sons have taken over from fathers in governments of elites backed by the military and security services. In Libya and Yemen, sons are also seen as the leading candidates to succeed their fathers.
In Egypt, "we didn't choose Sadat, we didn't choose Mubarak, and we're not choosing the next one," Zakaria Nahla, a 52-year-old salesman of cheap furniture, said in a Cairo market crowded with beeping scooters and veiled women picking through racks of clothes.
Asked if they expected to have any say about Mubarak's succession, a group of men with their arms full of round loaves of bread answered in unison, "No, no, no." One underscored the point by wagging a finger and shaking his head.
"We take it as a given" that it will be Gamal Mubarak, said Sayida Amin, 46, a nanny who works for a family in one of Cairo's wealthier districts. "People don't know who he is. We only know he's the president's son, and he's imposed on us."
"We should give him the benefit of the doubt," Amin added, and laughed. "Because he's going to come anyway."
Hosni Mubarak, who rose from the vice presidency when Islamic radicals assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981, has never appointed a vice president or announced his preference for a successor. Under the constitution, elections for a new president must follow within 60 days if the president yields power.
While authorities have never confirmed any ailments more serious than back problems for Mubarak, his age has helped fuel cycles of rumors that he is dying or dead.
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World news headlines from the Washington Post,including international news and opinion from Africa,North/South America,Asia,Europe and Middle East. Features include world weather,news in Spanish,interactive maps,daily Yomiuri and Iraq coverage.
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Thomas Boswell - Thrown A Curve
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That loud crashing sound you hear is probably baseball's brain trust banging their heads against the nearest brick wall.
Obviously, baseball doesn't have a game-fixing problem. The sport is so honest it hurts. In the past two weeks, almost all of its mega-market, superstar-studded teams have bombed out of the postseason. If they didn't choke in the last days of the regular season, like the Mets and Padres, they lost quickly in the first round, like the Yanks, Cubs and Phils. So much for ready-made story lines, competing curses, passionate fan bases and astronomical TV ratings.
Now, those at the top of the sport who dreamed up the current "elongated" postseason schedule are down on their knees, begging that the two League Championship Series don't end in four-game sweeps, producing a week-long hiatus before a World Series between Arizona and Cleveland.
That, at least, is the commonplace wisdom.
Many think that baseball should be holding its head because Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter can now get a nice tee time at Bethpage Black with David Wright and Jose Reyes. Lou Piniella can't throw a base at an ump in the Series. Nobody from the Los Angeles market made the party. Big sluggers such as Ryan Howard and Vladimir Guerrero are gone. Now, if the Boston Red Sox bomb out in the ALCS, why hold the World Series at all? Who'd watch? Especially because so many postseason games now end around midnight. At least two NLCS games won't start until 10:18 p.m. on the East Coast. How can the kiddies stay up on school nights? For that matter, how can adults?
All these complaints are absolutely true. In addition, imagine if Cleveland makes it to the Series. Game 7 is scheduled for Nov. 1 at the AL site. Check the forecast for Lake Erie in November, then root for global warming.
Nonetheless, this postseason already has a dominant story, a common thread and theme. It's just not the one we expected.
The Diamondbacks, Rockies and Indians are three of the cheapest teams ever to reach the playoffs -- and now they're all in the final four. It would be remarkable if one team constructed of homegrown players, and held together by crucial rookies, made it this far. But, except for the $143 million, buy-a-title Red Sox -- who now look so much like the Empire they claim to hate that they should consider switching to pinstripes -- this October is going to be a tale about how less can be more.
How frugal are Cleveland, Colorado and Arizona? All three have smaller payrolls than the supposedly pauperized Kansas City Royals. In fact, they're all huddled at the bottom of the salary pack, like so many low-budget teams that couldn't compete in the last 30 years. The Indians, Rockies and D-backs rank 23rd, 25th and 26th in salary out of 30 teams with an average payroll of only $56 million. That's $7 million less than the '06 Nats and $39 million less than the '07 Orioles.
How have these three teams transcended expectations so spectacularly? By relying on kids like Troy Tulowitzki, Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales and Manny Corpas in Colorado. By building a contender around homegrown Fausto Carmona, Rafael Perez and Asdrubal Cabrera in Cleveland. By trusting their farm system with prospects such as Chris Young, Mark Reynolds, Stephen Drew, Micah Owings and Tony Pe¿a at the heart of a pennant race in Phoenix.
If you don't know those names yet, you will. They are the same type of build-from-the-bottom players that the Nats hope they will unveil in the future in Justin Maxwell, Jesus Flores, Ross Detwiler and all their young power arms now in the minors. Make no mistake, the surprise teams of this month all use their own version of the Washington Plan, except the Nats may eventually feed off a richer market and add free agents, too.
Though many fans, even devoted ones, don't know much about the players mentioned above, every one is an essential key in the LCS series that start today and tomorrow. The Rockies have perhaps the most eye-popping of the entire bunch -- Tulowitzki, who turned 23 yesterday. He's acrobatic, is an innate leader and may have the most powerful shortstop arm of the last 30 years. For comparison, Derek Jeter has averaged 16 errors and 82 double plays a season for the Yanks. In his first year, Tulowitzki had 11 errors and 114 double plays. Jeter can't hold Tulowitzki's glove. And the Colorado kid had 99 RBI and 24 homers: Cal Ripken-type numbers.
As vital as Tulowitzki is, three almost unknown pitchers will probably determine how far the Rockies go in October. Jimenez (age 23, career 4-4 record) and Morales (21, 3-2) both finished the year in the starting rotation while Corpas (24, 5-4) is already Colorado's closer. Only the slender southpaw Morales looked rattled in the division series against the Phils.
In Cleveland, in just 159 at-bats since his summer debut, Cabrera has stabilized the infield and provided a No. 2 hitter. He had only one error at second base, hit .283 and played with a fundamental soundness that makes it seem impossible he's only 21. The 6-foot-4 Carmona, 23, was 1-10 last year as a rookie, but 19-8 this season. Make all the deal-with-the-devil jokes you want; Fausto was also the beneficiary of the plague-of-insects attack at Jacobs Field last week. At the moment, Carmona is as dominant on his best nights as anybody who's left in the postseason, including Boston's 20-game winner Josh Beckett.
Finally, Indians southpaw reliever Perez (1.78 ERA) has electric sidearm stuff, can work two innings at a time and will probably be bothered less by facing Boston than he was by the Yanks. And the Yanks didn't faze the 25-year-old at all.
One reason the Diamondbacks have been given little chance by pundits is that the left side of their infield, as well as their leading home run hitter, a starting pitcher and a top reliever, are either rookies or in their first full season. Young, an outfielder sometimes confused with the 6-foot-10 Padres pitcher of the same name, led Arizona in homers (32) and also stole 27 bases. How many rooks are almost 30-30 men? Drew, still a light hitter, is a polished shortstop. Of the group, third baseman Reynolds, who didn't debut until May 16, may be the secret weapon. His mere 366 at-bats mask his production. As a rookie, he was a statistical clone -- in batting, slugging and on-base average -- of Ryan Zimmerman's career numbers thus far in Washington.
While Pe¿a, who worked 75 efficient games, may not be noticed much in middle relief, the burly 6-foot-5 Owings may make a splash in the NLCS. He's a solid 8-8 pitcher with a 4.30 ERA, but as a hitter, he's ridiculous -- a .683 slugging percentage and four extra-base hits last month in the same game. On an Arizona team with only one hitter with more than 68 RBI, Owings probably ought to bat fifth. Okay, just kidding, sixth.
Perhaps it was shallow to hope for a Yankees-Red Sox rematch and a Curse Cage Match in the NL between the Cubs and Phils with one world title between them in the last 99 years. Instead, we're seeing the October of the discount underdog and the emergence of a new generation of stars. You're allowed to enjoy it even if it wasn't your first choice on the menu.
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Nearly all the mega-market, superstar-studded teams have bombed out of the postseason, replaced by three of the most frugal teams baseball, plus the Red Sox.
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Radiohead's 'Rainbows': Is Free Release A Potential Pot of Gold?
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There's plenty about Radiohead's new album that's revolutionary. It just has nothing to do with the music. "In Rainbows," the British quintet's seventh album and the first in more than four years, delivers more highbrow, experimental art-rock that will do nothing to alter Radiohead's dual status as World's Most Revered Band and World's Most Unreasonably Revered Band.
This time around it's not as much about the music as it is about how people are getting the music.
You can't buy "In Rainbows" in stores, or at iTunes or Amazon.com. It is available exclusively through Radiohead's special Web site, www.inrainbows.com, as a free download. Or as a $2 download. Or as a $10 download. It's up to you what you pay for it. (Yesterday the site was jammed, apparently due to high traffic.) Radiohead is cutting out all the middle men -- from the suits at the record companies to the pirates who leak albums online -- and is basically telling you to steal the album. Plenty of people will take them up on that offer, but a healthy number of fans will pony up a few dollars to support the artistic process.
And the really devoted fans will splurge about $80 for the box edition that comes packaged in a hardcover book and slipcase and includes the album on both CD and double vinyl with artwork, lyric booklets, an enhanced CD with eight bonus tracks, digital photos and perhaps the band's famous recipe for tuna casserole.
It's a savvy move by Radiohead and just the latest blow to the rapidly sinking ship that is the record industry. Radiohead certainly isn't the first band to offer free music online, but this is the first time an album that was likely to debut at No. 1 is being given away as its primary form of release. It actually makes some fiscal sense, too. Most number crunchers agree that a band with a major label earns roughly $1 for every CD sold. If enough listeners donate more than five bucks, this could be an almost lucrative venture for Radiohead.
Will this business model work for acts with smaller, less fervent fan bases? (And that's pretty much everyone.) More bands surely will take the step to see -- industrial-rockers Nine Inch Nails already announced as much a few days ago -- and the impact that has on the music industry will likely be the lasting legacy of "In Rainbows."
The instant musical legacy of "In Rainbows" is simply that it's the fourth- or fifth-best Radiohead album. The scratchy electronic beats that kick off opener "15 Step" portend another album of glitchy, beat-heavy claustrophobia similar to 2000's "Kid A," but laptops play a relatively minor role here. The compositions are mostly minimal but organic; the band's post-millennial tension seems to have eased and even constantly twitchy singer Thom Yorke sounds relaxed.
"Bodysnatchers" is an exception to the minimalism, a guitar-heavy assault that results in the dueling riffs of axemen Jonny Greenwood and Ed O'Brien drowning out Yorke's pointless moaning (he actually yelps, "I have no idea what I am talking about"). It might make listeners hope for an all-rock Radiohead record, but the ensuing "Nude" would change those sentiments. It's slow and spacey, employing the deft combination of a gently funky bass line, some sweeping strings and Yorke's gentle falsetto. The hyperbole machine tends to get out of control when it comes to Radiohead, but this is one song deserving of whatever praise it gets.
Nothing else on "In Rainbows" matches that one-two punch, or even comes particularly close. Songs like "Reckoner" and "House of Cards" forget to be actual songs. They have some pretty parts, mostly provided by guitarist Greenwood, and would probably sound really trippy on a Friday night in the back corner of a planetarium with a one-hitter handy. But there's very little to grab onto and even if that's by design, it still makes for an unfulfilling listening experience.
"In Rainbows" is arguably Radiohead's least ambitious album to date, at least when compared with previous offerings. There is no great artistic leap as found on "OK Computer" or dramatic genre shift as on "Kid A." It's instead a summation of the different sounds the band has embraced over the past decade. This time around, the band is content with the medium being the message.
DOWNLOAD THESE:"Nude," "Bodysnatchers," "15 Step"
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Search Washington, DC area music events and venues from the Washington Post. Features DC, Virginia and Maryland entertainment listings for music news, events, reviews, clubs, and concerts. Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/eg/section/music/ today.
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Obama Tells Md. Voters, 'We Need Something New'
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VIDEO | Prince George's County Greets Obama
Obama's themes included health care, energy independence and ending the war in Iraq.
"You've got some candidates who have been touting their ability to work the system as the reason they should be elected president," Obama told the enthusiastic audience. "But they don't seem to understand the system hasn't been working for us. . . . We need something new."
Even Obama loyalists, however, acknowledge widespread support in the county for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), based on years of affection for her and her husband. Some at the rally said they continue to weigh the relative merits of Obama and Clinton.
Among those at the event already persuaded to support Obama was Bruce Chatman of Fort Washington, a developer who said he has not seen so much enthusiasm for a candidate since John F. Kennedy. He said he would be proud if Obama became the first black president, but he added: "He has to have a lot more to offer to me than just being black. Fortunately, he does."
But others said they were still making up their minds. Lodie Sims, 76, and Jackie Whitehead, 66, both of Lanham said they were deciding between Obama and Clinton.
Sims said her concerns include the economy, health care and "are they going to do something abut the war, bringing the men home?"
On Obama's visit to Prince George's, Sims said: "We need this. We've got a lot of well-educated people in this county who are voters." She said she would be excited to see either the first black or first female president. But she added, "I can't support him just because he's black or her just because she's a woman."
Said Whitehead: "But we're long overdue for one or the other."
Most rally attendees paid $25 for the chance to see Obama. Tickets to a cocktail party for big donors, held after the rally at the college's Marlboro Art Gallery, cost $1,000.
Orlan Johnson, a lawyer in Prince George's who serves on Obama's national finance committee, said he has been excited by Obama's ability to appeal to Democrats from all demographics and by his progressive message, combined with a r¿sum¿ that he said gives Obama a legitimate shot at the presidency.
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Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) spent yesterday evening in Prince George's County, speaking to one of the nation's most affluent African American communities in an attempt to convince voters that he has a real chance of becoming the nation's first black president.
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Competing Commitments
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Juashaunna Kelly could have done without the Indian summer that's hit the area during the month-long Ramadan holiday. The longer the Theodore Roosevelt senior ran in the afternoon heat of a recent cross-country practice -- nine miles through Rock Creek Park, up Connecticut Avenue, then back to the Northwest school for a half-dozen 100-meter sprints -- the stickier and drier her mouth became.
She felt woozy, and lay down on the rubber track. Ten minutes passed before anyone noticed her sprawled on the surface. Roosevelt Coach Anthony Bowden and several of Kelly's teammates picked her up and helped her toward the locker room -- it was cool inside and she could find an ice compress -- but the ground-level entrance was locked, forcing her to use the one at the top of the bleachers.
"I looked up and it looked so far away," Kelly, 17, said. "I took a deep breath and started walking and it felt like I was about to fall."
For Bowden, diagnosing the problem was easy. Alleviating it proved more difficult. He couldn't have her drink plenty of water as he would his other runners. Instead, he gave her some ice, cooled her off, and told her to rest. A teammate gathered Kelly's gear and walked her home.
Kelly is one of many area Muslim cross-country runners forced to reconcile the commitment to her sport with her commitment to her faith during Ramadan, which started Sept. 13 and ends tomorrow. Ramadan, Islam's holiest holiday, requires Muslims to abstain from eating or drinking during daylight hours.
"I was really concerned," Bowden said. "You tell the kids to try to drink as much water as you can, get your body well hydrated before you come out. I'm not used to training runners that don't drink or eat."
Cross-country meets can last five hours or more, although the races themselves take approximately 25 minutes or less. To stave off dehydration before and after exhausting five-kilometer (3.1-mile) races, athletes usually chug water and sports drinks and devour granola bars, bananas and cookies.
For Kelly, that would be a betrayal.
"You reach a certain point," she said. "But I can control myself. It's not just about eating. Everything you have to do [during Ramadan] has to be positive."
Kelly has made the choice to continue to compete while honoring her obligation to fast. Fasting affects her times -- she covers 5K courses in more than 20 minutes during Ramadan, but hopes to be under that mark when she's at full strength.
For other runners, however, the rigors of training and competing during the holiday is too much.
Tulha Siddiqi, a junior at Northwest High School, sat out last Saturday's Octoberfest Invitational in The Plains because the weather was too hot. The 16-year-old called training through Ramadan "excruciating" and recalled dry heaving at a recent meet, unable to vomit because there was no food in his stomach.
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Muslim cross-country runners are forced to reconcile the commitment to their sport with the commitment to their faith during Ramadan.
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Big Bank from the Small-Screen
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Thompson in his Law & Order days. (AP).
Hollywood has been good to Fred Thompson.
So says the financial disclosure report he sent to the Federal Election Commission, which showed he holds assets worth as much as $8.58 million, and continues to collect millions of dollars more in residuals for the roles he's played on film and television.
The "Law and Order" star has kept most of his assets in a bank account, pension plans and a Washington condominium. He also worked as a consultant for Equitas Inc., a London- based company established by Lloyd's of London to protect it from asbestos, natural disaster and pollution claims stemming from policies sold before 1993.
Thompson sold off a $50,000 to $100,000 stake in a Tennessee real estate partnership last year. He earned more than $1 million last year for hosting The Fred Thompson Report, a radio show he did on the ABC Radio Network. He took in more than $100,000 for a speech at Policy Exchange, a conservative think tank in London. The disclosure report only reveals in broad ranges the amounts of money he earned. Last year, he took in between $2.8 and $16.3 million.
Thompson's acting alone paid him as much as $11 million. But he has also done lobbying work to protect a British firm from a provision before congress that would have saddled his client with a huge portion of a proposed asbestos settlement. And he sits on the board of a private investment firm called Guggenheim Management, which invests about $3 billion in hedge funds for its four dozen clients.
Thompson's late entry resulted in him being the last to produce his disclosure report, and while he is wealthy by most standards, he is far from the most well-off of those seeking the White House this year. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is the richest -- worth as much as $247 million -- thanks to a career dealing in private equity funds that have bought and sold significant interests in more than 180 companies.
The candidates have amassed their fortunes in a variety of fashions. Sen. Barack Obama wrote his way to millionaire status with a best-selling memoir. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) raked in $11 million by trotting the globe giving speeches last year. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) married money -- his wife is the millionaire daughter of an Arizona beer magnate. And John Edwards, a trial lawyer who earned his initial fortune in the courtroom, made $479,000 last year in salary and held $7.5 million in investments with Fortress Investment Group, a New York hedge fund.
Posted at 3:23 PM ET on Oct 10, 2007 Share This: Technorati | Tag in Del.icio.us | Digg This
I find that it is really interesting that the money that Fred Thompson made privately is coming into play in his campaign for a public office. But that may be good for his campaign so that he can use it in his run for president following the footsteps of Gov. Mitt Romney. I don't think that choosing to come into the race for the republican nomination this late was the smartest decision that Fred Thompson made because the leaders of the race had already moved ahead enough so that it would be hard to make up that much ground.
Posted by: pbgodec | October 10, 2007 11:49 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
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Fred Thompson, the senator turned actor turned presidential candidate, reported as much as $8.6 million in assets in a disclosure form filed with the FEC.
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Spying and Technology
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Mendez, who was a recipient of the CIA's Intelligence Star of Valor and the Trailblazer Awards, is the author of " Master of Disguise." He also was featured in an episode of the PBS show "Innovation," after which he participated in a washingtonpost.com discussion. Mendez also is a member of the International Spy Museum's advisory board.
Antonio Mendez: Hi, Tony here.
Boston: Are you really Antonio Mendez? Even if we were sitting with you, how would we know for sure given your talents?
Antonio Mendez: Nothing is as it seems!
Rockville, Md.: I read a science fiction story in the early 1960s in a magazine called "Analog" that was about fake insects used for spying and tactical operations -- but on a personal/business level. Why do people think it is a new concept? Will anyone dig up that old story?
Antonio Mendez: All old ideas are one day new again. Many of our best techniques were inspired by fiction.
Arlington, Va.: The father of a friend of mine worked for the CIA for more than twenty years. My friend told me that his father specialized in planting bugs in wooden furniture or fixtures. He said others specialized in planting bugs in other materials. Is this type of work really that specialized?
Antonio Mendez: The specialists in concealment are some of the most talented artists you ever will encounter.
Cincinnati: My father was CID with the U.S. and retired in 1968. I saw a picture of a man standing on a bridge being viewed from a satellite and they showed he could be identified even then. When I asked my father, he told me that they could read the inscription on his wedding ring from space at that time. This is almost 30 years later, so I have no doubt what we are capable of now, but national security apparently is compromised inside of the White House, so the people are clueless.
Antonio Mendez: Anything you can imagine could be done if you throw enough time and money at it.
Fairfax Station, Va.: It is always interesting to speculate on the technical tools used to gain an upper hand against the nation's adversaries, and especially terrorist organizations. The article the other day on robot insects and other devices likewise was fun and interesting. With such tools getting ever-smaller and the potential for misuse also becoming greater -- not just from government but from private security and intelligence firms -- What precautions and additional regulation, laws and oversight should be created? Thank you -- enjoyed your book on disguise -- what an adventure.
Antonio Mendez: Oversight is a good thing and should be well-understood and transparent. Politics sometimes clouds this process.
Washington: How much is the government paying for these new technologies, and are they really used in the field?
Antonio Mendez: The cutting edge of technology is sometimes expensive at the outset. The good news is the public at large benefits from those technologies in many ways. The batteries we all use in our watches and hearing aids are an example; so is the cell phone.
Matera, Italy: Can you tell me exactly how a laser/microwave listening device (to be used on windows) works? Does it work on bullet-resistant glass? Thanks.
Antonio Mendez: Very precise lasers can measure the deflection caused by sound waves.
Washington: Have you ever heard of a case where someone was wearing a facial or body disguise and it came off or somehow was compromised?
Antonio Mendez: Technology always will let you down -- especially when you need it the most. That is one of the Moscow Rules...
Fairfax Station, Va.: You said all things new again and that fiction can result in new ideas for technical innovation. Do you think we should have the same protections for technical gadgets invented by our intelligence and security organizations as we now have for agent identities and such? (As in the outing of Valerie Plame)?
Washington: I was troubled about the experimentation combining the moth cells(?) with technology to create an insect that could be controlled remotely. Does the CIA ever do that sort of experimentation?
Antonio Mendez: The CIA has been known to experiment, as have other government agencies. There have been excesses in the past that seemed a good idea at the time. In retrospect they weren't always smart ideas. Bring on the oversight.
Washington: What will the next generation of listening devices be like?
Antonio Mendez: Nanotechnology is the short answer
Spy-ders: So, there will come a time when I step on a spider at home and hear a metallic crunch and then get arrested for destroying government equipment and obstruction of justice?
Antonio Mendez: It might turn out to be an enemy spider, and you would be decorated for finding it.
New York: There is a commercial radio controlled dragonfly available for around $50, so I'd say it's very possible the government has a much higher tech version. It is sort of reassuring that this sort of thing might be flying on the side of the good guys.
Antonio Mendez: It is comforting.
sjpark: Given the prevalence of security cameras, cell phone cameras and other small recording devices that are cheap and effective, why the heck would the government risk advanced technology (assuming it even exists) on a group of harmless protesters out in public?
Antonio Mendez: Trust no one...
Brookings S.D.: Spy guy: I am standing outside my office wearing a red sweater and looking up. How many fingers am I holding up?
Antonio Mendez: You might want to get a manicure.
Charlottesville, Va.: Hi Tony. What is your definition of an illusion, and can you share an example or two of how technology assisted the implementation of an illusion that got the job done? Thanks, and thank you for your service to our country.
Antonio Mendez: An illusion is the act of giving an audience an idea to follow. It requires a precise definition of who the audience is and where the stage is. The process can be low-tech and simple or high-tech and complicated. Both work well if the plan is sound and execution flawless. A good deception is over before it begins.
Brookings, S.D.: Spy guy: One! (But not that one!)
Antonio Mendez: Thanks for that!
Fairfax, Va.: What was the most interesting and valuable thing you can tell us about from having had a career in the CIA?
Antonio Mendez: More is known about the failures than the successes. It is a good thing to be known as the gang that can't shot straight. I would do it all over again.
malonechris6: A bit of a leap from bugs to bats -- but in the '40s the U.S. developed a timed incendiary bomb that was fastened to bats. The bats were to be dropped at low altitude over Japanese cities and would then seek shelter in the eaves of wooden buildings, and then, ignition. The project was abandoned, but only after it accidentally (and successfully) was tested -- a few loaded bats escaped and burned down a building on the installation.
Antonio Mendez: I remember reading about that.
Fresno, Calif.: In the beginning of the game, agents worked low-tech. Now there is a melding of the human factor and the technology factor. Do you foresee a time, possibly, when technology could oust humans from the job? Or is human analysis/reaction on the ground in real-time too valuable to ever give up?
Antonio Mendez: Both technical collection and human collection are valuable. Each of them creates more questions for the other to answer. Used in concert they are the divine skein.
Anonymous: I currently am working for a federal agency doing document and identification counterfeiting and surveillance/concealment. I'm pretty good at this stuff. Would you recommend I apply to work at the CIA?
Middlesex, N.J.: Former FBI Special Support Group, we met about 25 years ago, while on a training session. I always was impressed by your examples of how a simple addition of a hat or a jacket could change an appearance so much. I used this during a surveillance, and even threw my partner off. Thanks for the tips!
Antonio Mendez: Regards from the old days!
Boston: How often are disguises used in the work of the CIA? I mostly think of spies as people who have a long relationship and a disguise seems unrealistic there. Also, does much of the covert work in the CIA involves "shoot 'em ups," like in the movies, or is it more often gray-haired bureaucrats passing papers to each other?
Antonio Mendez: Because disguises are used effectively there are no shoot 'em ups, and everything looks old and gray and boring. The definition of good tradecraft is to cause no ripples on the surface. You rob the enemies' secrets every week and no one knows they are gone.
Anonymous: What do you think of the popular spy movies -- are they realistic? What are your favorite spy movies or books?
Antonio Mendez: Some are good and some are not. I enjoy watching the best and the worst for different reasons. We get good ideas from both of them. The original "Day of the Jackal" is right on the money. Facial recognition technology started with a Bond movie.
Reston, Va.: Why doesn't the CIA use ultra-wideband (UWB) radio transmissions for its bugging devices?
Antonio Mendez: You are asking a leading question there.
Antonio Mendez: If you all want a great resource to learn about the truth in espionage lore, check out the International Spy Museum in Washington.
Boston: Who is the next best country at disguise/concealment: Russia, Israel, etc.? And if it's good to be known as the guys who can't shoot straight, is it better to be known as the baddest boys on the block (like the Mossad was/is?)?
Antonio Mendez: The Russians are very good, and small is beautiful when it comes to the Mossad. The Spy Museum has a very good selection of the clever spy gear from both sides. It is amazing how similar the solutions are. The Cubans and the East Germans have been excellent as well.
Washington: I graduated three years ago from a liberal arts college and have been working in media ever since. I'm interested in working for the CIA -- how do I know if I have any skills they would find valuable?
Antonio Mendez: You can find out by making an application at cia.gov. Really good employees are hard to find. How would you rate yourself on that score?
Cambridge, Mass.: Is it possible to impersonate a target in the manner shown in movies like "Mission: Impossible"? Also, what are your favorite spy movies or books?
Antonio Mendez: The Hollywood version requires five hours of makeup and plenty of retakes. The real thing is plenty good but the truth is classified.
Toronto Canada: So, you and your colleagues spend so much energy mastering your craft ... how do you feel when the fruits of all your professionalism is flushed down the drain because political appointees dishonestly distorted the intelligence resulting from your work? Cheers!
Antonio Mendez: Not every elected official is going to be good at running the government. Many have no interest in learning how until they get in a bind. It goes with the territory.
Anonymous: What's the best way to get a job with the CIA? I've applied, I'm talented, but (mysteriously) I've never heard back.
Antonio Mendez: Find someone inside who wants to hire you. They are not all hiding under cover. It is easier to have someone pulling than to push by yourself.
Fairfax Station, Va.: Do you plan to write another book? Would or could you do a novel that explored new technologies' applications and would CIA have a problem with your doing that?
Antonio Mendez: No, the CIA only will care if I endanger sources and methods. I have been very careful to protect them so far. I am always open to another book. Know a good publisher?
Fresno, Calif.: I heard that years ago, the military would come up with an idea for new "toys," and give these ideas to writers from Star Trek to see how they would alter them. They'd pass back to the military and so forth, and eventually new and interesting functional devices would come out of it. Does stuff like that really happen? And if not, why not? I never really believed it, but it sounded like a good idea to me.)
Antonio Mendez: What you describe is an ongoing process that works very well. I for one had a very healthy relationship with Hollywood and the entertainment industry. They love being involved in the high-stakes game.
Reston, Va.: Why is my reference to ultra-wideband (UWB) radio a leading question? This new type of radio transmission cannot be detected by conventional radios because UWB signal pulses are spread over a large part of the radio spectrum.
Antonio Mendez: The way you asked the question requires an answer that might be classified. Rumor his it that the Russians had the capability to work even larger waveforms.
Fresno, Calif.: I know you cannot tell us about any of the ornithopters that work, but can you tell us about an experimental device that just failed miserably?
Antonio Mendez: I can tell you about the trained pigeons that molted when they suffered jet lag.
Antonio Mendez: I have really enjoyed this conversation. Unfortunately I have to sign off now. Perhaps we can do it again at the International Spy Museum! Or on washingtonpost.com!
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Former CIA disguises expert Antonio Mendez discusses a recent story about robotics and espionage, the roles technology has played for spies through the years, and the ways it can transform spying in the future.
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Need advice about how to handle your personal finances? Whether the struggle is saving for retirement, organizing your bank files, talking about money responsibility with your spouse or loved one, Post personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary offers her advice and answers your tough questions.
Read Michelle's latest columns, check out her Color of Money Book Club selection archive or sign up for her weekly e-mail newsletter.
Michelle Singletary: Good afternoon to you all. There are lots of questions already so let's get started.
Washington, D.C.: Wanted to tell a consumer rights story. I made reservations at a famous hotel in NYC in June and they told me whenever i arrived, i'd have the run of the place but when i arrived, they kept me waiting for five hours and even then claimed not to have a room so I left and disputed the charge and won, but then they rebilled me and i had to dispute the charge again. Finally, after reasoning with their London head office, they did credit me but it was a battle, but i say to people, if you're dissatisfied, then make them fight for it.
Michelle Singletary: Great story about fighting for your rights. Good for you!
Fort Washington, Md.: Hello Michelle,
I have 50,000 in student loans, a 200,000 mortgage, and a low interest rate 35,000 home equity loan that I used to pay for my car note and credit card bills. I have a second house which I have rented, but it does not stay rented all the time. Therefore, it is very stressful to pay two mortgages. My monthly salary is 3600. I want to know how do I go about paying off all my debts, have money to save, and have money to take a nice annual international vacation and live a comfortable financially stress-free life? Thank you. Anxiously waiting.
Michelle Singletary: First, repeat after me, "I can't do it all."
You are fixing your money problems by borrowing. That has got to stop. You didn't pay off that car note and credit card, you just moved around the debt and attached it to your home.
Would you consider selling the rental? And if there is equity, use that money to really pay off the equity loan and any other debt.
I think you are on the edge financially and if anything major happens, a job loss, disability or you can't find a renter for a while you will be taken down.
On $3,600 a month and all that debt you are living dangerously. So I would say no vacations -- international or otherwise -- for some time until you get that debt paid off or considerably down.
Northern Virginia: Is it at all possible to have a $10,000 wedding in this area, with a 200-person guest list, including dinner? Please help!
Michelle Singletary: It's definitely possible to have a wedding for $10,000 but it means scaling back what you want.
I don't think you can invite 200 people unless you serve just cake and Kool-Aid.
Or have relatives cook and serve
Or do it someone backyard
STart by asking if you really need to have 200 people. I know you know a lot of folks but 200 who NEED to see you get married?
It's $10,000 really your budget, you can have a nice, small wonderful wedding. However, you will have to focus on the things that really matter.
Maybe this isn't the best question for you since you're such a get-out-of debt guru, but my parents have asked me for help with retirement planning. They are six years away and have about $200,000 saved and own their house. Currently the $200k is invested in a way that isn't even keeping up with inflation.
Could you give me some resources for helping them find a safe, but higher yielding place to stash their cash? Thanks for your help!
Michelle Singletary: Not sure if you mean I can't answer other questions because I advocate getting out of debt.
Hire a fee-only financial planner. Perhaps they need someone to go over their entire retirement plan to make sure all the basis are covered. To find such a planner asked around for recommendations.
Washington DC Re: emergency money: I have six figures in non-retirement money invested through a financial planner. Would you advise that I count a portion of that as my emergency? Or should I keep a separate account (e.g., ING Direct)?
I would personally feel better keeping it myself, but that results in my having more cash than my advisor recommends. What do you think?
Michelle Singletary: I think it's important to keep money in which the principle is protected but is saved in a way that has a chance to keep pace with inflation. when you invest, you risk losing the money. Your emergency money shouldn't be put at risk. So that leaves, savings account, money market, CDs, etc.
Huntsville, Ala.: Thank you 3x's over for your column. Here is my situation ... My parents have been in IRS tax hell for over 15 years. They owe over $100k and the issue has just lingered for all this time. Unfortunately, Mom (the one who was actually taking care of this situation) passed away and Dad is in total denial re: the debt. Dad isn't in a good financial place and has a hard time discussing his finances with me and never gives me the "full" state of affairs. His pride is standing in the way. I feel like the IRS can come at any time and wipe him out. As the oldest and most responsible child they have, what should I do?
Michelle Singletary: First, try as hard as you can to get your dad to come clean. Go thu everything. You can't help if you don't know the full picture.
Then get some advice from a tax professional on how best to approach the IRS. If your dad's income is very low, he may qualify for a payment plan or an offer in compromise. There is a 10-year statute of limitations on tax debt collection so it MAY (and that is a huge MAY) be possible for him to get some of it discharged.
Honestly, you need to seek professional advice on this. That debt is indeed huge and I'm surprised the IRS hasn't already taken action. If you have a tax person, start there. But you will probably need to contact someone who deals with this type of problem specifically.
Washington, D.C.: I have 14,400 in student loans at variable 6.82%. I have 40,000 in 401(k) (i put in 5% to get the match) and 3,500 in emergency fund. where should i put the extra money i have every month? I have roughly 2,000 extra every month.
You have $2,000 extra every month and you are unsure about paying off $14,400 in student loan debt?
If that $3,500 covers a few months of living expenses, go for the student loan debt.
What do you think about 529 College Plans?
Also, my wife and I will be retiring in 15 years. Our goal is to pay off our home as soon as possible. Our loan is for 25 years.
Michelle Singletary: I think 529 plans are a good way to save for college. It's what I do for all three of my rugrats. And I get a state tax break for each account in Maryland.
Go to www.savingforcollege.com to learn more about it. But basically money grows tax free and when it is withdrawn for qualified school expenses you don't pay tax on the withdrawals.
Love the goal of paying off the house before you retire. My goal too --earlier if I can.
Rockville, Md: I just saw in your e-letter (apparently I missed the column) in which you suggested it would be reasonable for a federal employee to stop his TSP contributions to pay off credit card debt. Your letter cited critics who pointed out the employee would be giving up the federal matching this way.
There's a simple way around it -- TSP has a loan program. He could just borrow enough to pay off the debt and stipulate a repayment period equal to how long it would take to cover it with reduced deductions.
To the employee's current cash flow, this would be NO DIFFERENT than stopping the contributions. But the TSP would still grow by the matched amount.
washingtonpost.com: Today's E-letter: Retirement Savings Vs. Paying Down Your Debt| (sign up here)
Michelle Singletary: It would be different. It would be borrowing money to pay off borrowed money.
Folks in this case talking about three months. Not a big deal.
There is risk to taking about the loan. What if the person got fired or quit? Then the loan become immediately due. If he can't pay, penalty and taxes on top of the money owed.
Why is it the answer to debt to borrow more?
Cut expenses, get another job, pay off the debt, that's how it should work.
Fairfax County, Va.: We are selling our Vacation Home and expect a net return of $240,000. What is the best place to use these funds considering the current financial conditions? 1. Pay down our Primary Residence mortgage; approx $300,000 at 5.25 percent
2. Pay off the Home Equity Line of Credit; approx $40,000 at 8.25 percent
3. Pay off the US Gov TSP loan; approx $20,000 at 4.125 percent
4. Keep 1, 2, and/or 3 going as is (monthly payments approx $5,000) and put the money in our investment portfolio.
Monthly income approx $11,000 ($7,000 after deductions)
Michelle Singletary: Me, I would pay off the home equity and TSP loan.
That leaves you with $180,000.
Then set up a really nice emergency fund (at least six months) and a life happens fund (for the things in life that happens -- car repair, roof need fixing, etc.)
If you have kids juice up their college fund.
Take a look at your retirement savings and see if that needs a boost.
If all that is covered and covered quite well, I would use the rest to pay down my mortgage. AT your income you could get rid of mortgage debt in no time and then take the payments you would have made on your mortgage and invest that.
Chantilly, Va.: Michelle, love your columns and advice, both on finance, marriage and religion. Am a new mom, and am wondering of good inexpensive toys for an eight-month-old? Want things for her to play with, but don't want to break the bank. Any good sources or tips are greatly appreciated.
Michelle Singletary: Pots and pans.
With my first kid we bought all these nice toys (not a lot but some). My daugther -- now 12 -- wanted to play with the boxes they toys came in and she would crawl into the kitchen and pull out the pots and pans and bang on them. In fact, we lost our house keys because she found them and put them in a pot in the back of the cabinet.
At that age, you don't need to spend a lot for toys. You might also look at Good Will, ask friends for unused toys, etc.
Los Angeles, Calif.: Thanks for taking questions, Michelle. I have a friend who's taken on too much credit card debt and is weighing whether or not to take a loan against her 401k to pay off the cards, having no other source of available cash. Your advice?
Michelle Singletary: Has your friend really looked her or his expenses? Really looked hard?
If so, what about a second job?
Again, borrowing money to pay off borrowed money is a dangerous trap. Besides this is also about getting folks to do some hard things to pay off the debt. If they have to cut expenses and work a second job, guess what?
They tend not to get back into debt. They remind themselves of the hard work.
Besides when you take out a loan from your retirement account, you remove money that could be earning a return for well, retirement.
Encourage your friend to do whatever he or she can to find the money without taking out the loan.
Washington, D.C.: We had a 50 person wedding at a very nice hotel in DC, including a limited open bar (wine and beer only) for $5000. And that was for everything from food, to dress, to invites, to flowers. No sit down dinner, just passed and buffet hors d' ouevres. There was plenty of food.
No attendants. Flowers only for me and corsages for the moms. I wore a bridesmaid dress (not that anyone could tell) and he wore a suit he already owned with a new shirt/tie. We designed the invitations ourselves and printed at Kinkos. Made donations to our favorite charities in lieu of favors. Spent a lot on a photographer because it was one of the few times we'd have our then-living grandmothers together.
Think small. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. Control your guest list (you can do it! Some parents may be a bit riled but if you're paying they've a lot less to say). Good luck.
Hey for my wedding, I bougth a used dress. I figured the bride who wore it before me wasn't going to be at the wedding.
I got my cousin to drive us to the church and reception.
Same thing, limited the flowers.
Got a friend to DJ the music.
Will be married 16 years in Nov. Know folks who spent three or four times what I spent and they have long been divorced.
It's just a day. Focus on the life.
Wanted to thank you for your level-headed advice. I'm a single mom of a wonderful 6 year old, and I currently have a mortgage (fixed rate, and bought a much less expensive condo with low fees instead of a bigger townhouse, in her school district) and no other debt.
Before, I was married to someone who liked to live high and thought nothing of carrying debt. Unfortunately, I got into that habit with him--when before that, I saved, never used credit cards, bought a used car cash. After the divorce, he stopped paying child support, despite the best efforts of the commonwealth to enforce the court order. Rather than continue the cycle of debt-spending, at a time when I made much less than I do now and $ was tight, I made sure I could always live on my salary alone.
Fast forward to this year, when the courts finally started wage garnishment and child support for my daughter has started. Every month, that $ goes into her 529 plan, and other safe, long-term investments. I don't count it as "extra" income that would justify a bigger house, newer car, etc. It's going to be her money, to make sure she gets off on the right financial footing.
Michelle Singletary: Love stories of financial survival like this.
You go girl/mom/fellow penny pincher!
Southern Maryland: We created our true emergency fund (no job, illness, accident, evacuation) by using US Savings I Bonds thru payroll deduction. It's not fancy, chic, smooth or en vogue. It just a dull old fashion way to create a stash that takes a moment to cash. The best thing is that I can cash it in Iowa or Maine. I started getting I Bonds because some travel advice said to carry a few US Bonds for emergency travel backup, e.g., car repair, since US Bonds can be cashed at any bank.
Washington, D.C.: Hi, Michelle. I'm doing OK, if I say so myself. Single, good income, no debts except mortgage, fully funded IRAs, health insurance, credit score 817. But several months ago it struck me I still run through a considerable amount of money. Institute a few relatively painless changes, I've come up with hundreds of dollars to invest or donate to charity. These include the basic brown bag lunches, buying sundries and cleaning products at the Dollar Store, checking out free or reduced price cultural events (2d tier obstructed view seats at the Ken Cen Concert Hall have the best sound in the place, and who cares if you can't see if you're listening to an orchestra?) But my biggest money saver is: toss all catalogs before you look at them! Once I start paging through, I'm hooked. Box after box of unneeded items show up on my doorstep. On occasion, I still allocate a small amount of mad money to catalog shopping, and I still enjoy it. But I enjoy even more watching those dollars accumulate where they will do some good.
Michelle Singletary: Hey, even I have to revisit my budget every now and then to capture money I'm wasting.
And totally agree about the catalogs.
Washington, D.C.: I have had a few family emergencies that require me to come up with money I did not have. I borrow money from 4 payday loan institutions and now I'm having problems paying them because it takes all of my money for everyday living expenses. What can I do?
Michelle Singletary: Oh you poor dear. I'm so sorry.
I would suggest you contact all the lenders and explain your situation. See if they can put you on a longer pay back plan.
If no, you may have to get another job to work your way out of this situation.
This is yet another example of why I HATE payday loans.
I mean if you don't have the money, how is pledging future pay, which is for most people already spoken for, going to help.
Washington, D.C.: We have 2,500 in our emergency fund, not enough to cover three months of expenses and we have 2,000 in credit card debt. Do you suggest we continue saving for the emergency fund or pay down the credit card deb first? thanks
Michelle Singletary: In your case, I would concentrate on the credit card debt. Sounds like you have a good start on that emergency fund. And the quicker you get rid of that $2,000 in cc debt, the faster you will be able to jump back to saving.
Just don't add any more debt. Put the cards away.
Love your discussions!, I have been doing my finances your way since I can remember...I am surprised at alot of the questions you receive, guess common sense isn't as common as it use to be.
Michelle Singletary: As my husband says, common sense is uncommon these days.
But really lots of people just don't know. They haven't been taught. They didn't have a Big Mama like I did or life just happened.
We were recently told our credit score of 780 was not "good enough" to get the lowest interest rate on a car loan. May I ask, what can we do to increase it, and exactly was IS good enough? I always thought 830 was the highest you could go.
Michelle Singletary: Oh please, what you can do it find another lender. Where you trying to get the loan from a dealer because whoever told you that 780 wasn't good enough is a bum.
Now, were you trying to get a zero-interest loan? Because sometimes they pull that, "You don't have a high enough credit score."
With a 780 score you are just fine. Go shopping some more. Actually if you are a member of a credit union, get your loan there. And with FICO highest is 850 but for a car anything over 700 is usually very good.
My husband and I have too much house. He will not agree to sell, so every month everything I want to save goes to cover making ends meet. I want to be debt-free, he thinks debt is normal. As fast as I pay down credit cards he gets new ones. I pay off a car, he goes and gets another one. There are a 3 and 6 yr. old at stake here. What would you do?
Michelle Singletary: You need counseling.
There is something more going on here than the money thing.
See if you can get your husband to see a counselor. If he won't, you go because you need to figure out ways to make him see how his actions are hurting the family and your trust.
car loan: I think the zero interest loan is a false enticement to get you into the dealership and then they tell everyone, even those with excellent credit ratings, they weren't good enough, figuring the customer won't want to start over elsewhere, take the slightly higher interest rate and buy the car. It's called bait and switch in the consumer rights world, advertising a benefit you have no intention of offer just to bait people into the store and then offering someelse else as a secondary alternative that isn't as amazing a deal. The amazing deal was never there.
Michelle Singletary: That's what I think too.
I need to know the simplest way to create a budget and Track our bills every month. Right now we have a $100K/household income (net) and we can't even pay rent ($900/month) car notes or other necessities on time. As a couple it's ruining our relationship because we're unable to communicate on what to do. Please help us!
That's what you need. I have a template on my page here at the Post Web site.
But you could also use a budget software like Quicken.
I read your pain in your question. But I do think that sitting down and going thu your expenses will help. Go thu everything. Question every expense. Cut to the bone.
You've got to be serious about it because you shouldn't be having trouble on a six-figure salary paying a $900 note.
Baltimore, Md.: I have a small student loan ($7000) that I have just entered into repayment on. I was extremely lucky to be able to reconsolidate a while back, so my interest rate on the loan is only 2.8% fixed. Thanks to my new job, I have the cash to pay off the loan in full right now. However, the same amount of cash will earn almost 5% interest in my high yield savings account (where it currently is stashed). So right now, I am making more interest on the money in my savings than I am accruing on the loan. While the interest on the savings account is variable, it is not nearly as unstable as the stock market for example, and there is no chance of losing any of the principle. I am tempted to just pay it off, so I can cross the debt off of my list, but I do have higher interest loan obligations as well (car loan). I have no credit card debt. What would you do in this situation?
Michelle Singletary: I would pay off the higher interest rate car loan. Then if there was money left attack the student loan debt -- as long as you have funds for an emergency (at least 3 months) and a little bit for life happens stuff (car repair).
For me the different in the interest you get on the savings and the interest you pay on the debt wouldn't be worth having that debt hang around.
We recently had some fraudulent charges on one of our credit cards. The credit card company has taken off the fraudulent charges. What else should we be worried about? I was going to check our credit score because of this. Where is the best place to check out our credit information?
Michelle Singletary: If you are worried you are a victim of identity theft put a fraud alert on your credit reports. If not just keep monitoring our credit accounts very carefully.
My wife and I (both 26 y/o) are looking to buy a house right now. We sold our condo about 7 months ago, and after doing so, I became unemployed. As a result, we've been living with her parents. I've recently become re-employed and so we're "in a hurry" to get a house of our own and get on with life. We've technically been looking the entire time we've been living with my inlaws. We've found a house that we really like, and made an offer only to find that the people are basically fully mortgaged and unable to negotiate at all. We know the house needs some work, but we really like it. We'd have some money to do the work, possibly not enough for everything, but in time we should be able to do it. It's frustrating in this market not to be able to negotiate, although the house still seems like a decent price. Would we be crazy to buy this place that needs work if they're not able to take anything off the price of the home?
Michelle Singletary: If the house is a fair price even with the repairs AND you can afford the monthly note, then go for it.
But those are big "ifs." Don't take the house if you think it's overpriced or because you are deseparate to get out of your in-law's place.
Me, I might take some time to be sure I'm financially healthy. Make sure you have money saved up besides what you need to get the house. An unemployment for any length of time can drain your finances. Make sure you are strong enough to make this move.
In other words, unless your in-laws are pushing you out the door, take your time. Build up some cash reserves, pay off any debts, etc.
With the housing market the way it is, you should be able to still find a good deal.
Re: Fairfax second home: Michelle,
I didn't see any mention of the taxes that will be due on the $240K gain. They need to cover that first before they spend anything else.
Michelle Singletary: I believe they did say it was their net.
Washington D.C.: Michelle, I am freaking out. I put my car up for sale because I can't afford it and don't need it. However, it has been on the market since July and I have not received a single call- not one!! It's a great car, super low mileage, great condition-- I don't understand what gives. Anyway, I am trying to be more aggressive in selling it but in the meantime I am so strained--I'm still paying car payments and insurance for a car I'm not driving. Please tell me that this will work out for me. Soon.
Michelle Singletary: Have you tried Carmax? They buy cars. Might not be as much as you would get from a private buyer but as you say, you haven't had much luck that route anyway.
New York, N.Y.: I am similiar to the person in your column. I have a TON of debt (mostly school, some credit). I have some retirement savings but not much. I made the decision to put 1 percent away, because I knew that would be the difference between me "trifling" and saving. While it's not going towards paying off my debt, it's still there for me, and it's forcing me to have money somewhere.
washingtonpost.com: Moves That Save, And Parents Who Won't (Color of Money, Oct. 7) | Todays' E-letter
Michelle Singletary: Good for you. Good to save something, anything even while you are getting out of debt so that you don't pile on more debt.
Courthouse, Va.: My new husband and I received about 10K from my parents because we eloped instead of having a wedding. We have a difference of opinion on what to do with this money.
We both have a fair amount of debt(consumer as a result of some tough times and student loans-total is about 100K). We both are also just starting out and trying to get on our feet.
I think that we should put it in our savings account (which gets 4.5 percent) as a cushion, since we have almost no savings.
My husband thinks that we should use it to pay down some of our debts (about $5000 of which 11 percent APR, by far the highest APR we have).
Other than our difference of opinion on what to do w/this unforeseen money, we have a good plan and are trying to pay down debt as much as possible.
I am worried that if anything were to happen though, since our fixed costs are close to $2500 a month, we would be out of luck if we have no liquid assets.
What would you advise us to do with the money?
Michelle Singletary: Why not a compromise. Save half and use the other half to pay down debt?
That way you both get a little of what you want. I agree with you about having some saved. I agree with him to use some of the windfall to get rid of some of the debt.
Now go home tonight, kiss your hubby, give him a back rub and show him a print out of this chat.
Michelle Singletary: Well, I'm way over time. So sorry if I didn't get to your question. But keep an eye out for my next e-letter (sign up if you don't already subscribe) and print column. Your question may get answered after all.
Also, don't forget to join me every Sunday from 8 to 10 p.m (EST) on XM 169 The Power. Even if you don't have XM, I can take your question live on the air.
The number is 855 801-8255.
Thanks for joining me today.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary will host a free-for-all discussion about money matters.
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Books -- 'The Year of Living Biblically'
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Jacobs is a senior editor at Esquire magazine and the writer of articles such as My Outsourced Life and I Think You're Fat. He is also the author of "The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World," about his effort to read all 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Thanks for coming. This is my first online chat, so forgive me if I make any huge errors in etiquette or misuse emoticons.
I am an editor at large at Esquire magazine. I love to throw myself into life-changing experiments. I spent a month outsourcing my life to a team of people in Bangalore, India for an article called "My Outsourced Life." (They answered my emails, placed my calls, did my shopping online - even argued with my wife).
I also spent a month practicing something called "Radical Honesty" (no white lies, no filter between the brain and mouth).
My previous book was called THE KNOW-IT-ALL and was about my year spent reading the Encyclopedia Britannica and trying to learn everything in the world.
And my latest project was, I think, my most life-changing and extreme experiment yet. It is called THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY: ONE MAN'S HUMBLE QUEST TO FOLLOW THE BIBLE AS LITERALLY AS POSSIBLE. I loved living the year, and it's altered me in a hundred, small and large, trivial and profound. I hope you like the book that resulted.
I know it's not biblical to boast about myself, so instead of describing the book myself, I thought it'd be easier to reprint the summary from the publisher. (And believe it or not, I took out a couple of superlatives from what originally appeared). Here it is:
Following in the footsteps of his bestseller, The Know-It-All, A.J. Jacobs chronicles the year he spent trying to obey - as literally as possible - the tenets of the Bible. THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY is part memoir, part education, part spiritual journey, and all hilarious. While A.J.'s wit and humor are irrepressible, this is not acerbic satire. As with The Know-It-All this is a quest for knowledge
A.J. discovered there are more than 700 rules in the Bible--some general, some highly specific. Many are wise, but many baffle the 21st century mind. A.J. assembled a board of spiritual advisors - rabbis, ministers and priests, who would provide guidance and advice throughout his journey. But at the same time, the journey was personal. DIY religion.
A.J. explores the Bible chronologically, from Old Testament to the New Testament - and lives the Bible on every level. He obeys the 10 commandments, he is fruitful and multiplies (A.J.'s wife had twins during his year!); he remembers the Sabbath and keeps it holy. But he also obeys the oft-neglected rules, such as avoiding clothes of mixed fibers, and refraining from shaving the edges of his beard (Leviticus 19:27). So throughout the year A.J. is commonly mistaken for a member of ZZ Top. Or Moses. Or Ted Kaczynski.
While the struggle of a modern-day Manhattanite attempting to live by 700 Biblical rules is necessarily hilarious, A.J. also treats his subject(s) with great respect. Whether visiting
Negev, the huge desert in southern Israel where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob once dwelled;
or the Answers in Genesis Museum near Cincinnati, Ohio, A.J.'s reverent curiosity and comedic insights exist in equal measure.
A.J. Jacobs: Here we go
Arlington, Va.: How did you get the idea for the book? What was the hardest rule to follow, and have you been maintaining any of them since the year ended?
A.J. Jacobs: I got the idea because I grew up in a very secular home -- I'm Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is Italian. But I've become increasingly interested in religion. I wanted to know what to tell my son. So I decided to dive in headfirst.
Upper Marlboro, Md.: What is Divine Healing? Who did you avoid, as per the book of Proverbs (Avoiding evil people)?
A.J. Jacobs: Avoiding evil people was hard. Probably impossible. The Bible tells you not to covet, gossip and lie. Imagine trying to do that in 21st century urban America. I tried. And I think I made some strides, but I still coveted, gossiped and lied.
NY, NY: Considering that the Bible includes contradictory passages, do you have any reaction to the following?:
- The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. (Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice")
A.J. Jacobs: I think it's true. You can definitely pluck passages out of the Bible to support almost any position. I found one website that claimed that the Bible approved of pot-smoking because of a line in Genesis about God providing plants for us. It's a challege, and I don't have an easy solution. All I can recommend is reading the Bible with generosity and an open heart, and look for the passages that support compassion and kindness and helping the needy.
Washington, D.C.: I loved the interview with Teri Gross so much that I went to the city library's Web site to request the book, but it is not in their collection! I am trying to get them to order it. Just want to say that I can't wait to read it. Sounds fascinating.
A.J. Jacobs: Thank you! Glad to hear it. You make me commit the sin of pride.
DC: Are there any rules that conflict with each other? If so, how did you handle this?
A.J. Jacobs: There are many times when the rules seem to conflict. (SOmeone sent me a quote from Ned Flanders of the Simpsons, which I'm paraphrasing: "Why did this happen to me? I followed everything in the Bible, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff").
For instance, there's a rule about not gossiping, then there's the rule about treating your spouse as she would treat you. So when my wife had a mean client, I didn't gossip and wouldn't say anything bad about the client, since I didn't know the client personally. But in retrospect, I should have followed the rule to support my wife.
You can't blindly follow the rules. You have to make choices.
Reston, Va.: Is there anything that you will continue to do though your year is up?
A.J. Jacobs: Absolutely. It's changed my life in 100 ways. I have stopped stoning adulterers. But I do continue some other practices and beliefs. For instance, I am much more grateful. The Bible talks a lot about thankfulness, so I try to be thankful for the 100 little things that go right in a day as opposed to the three or four that go wrong. I love the Sabbath. I'm a workaholic, so a mandated day of rest to reflect and spend with your family -- sans BlackBerry -- is a beautiful thing. I started the year as an agnostic, and I ended it as what a minister friend of mine calls a 'reverent agnostic.' Whether or not there is a God, I believe in there's something to the idea of sacredness. Rituals can be sacred, the Sabbath can be sacred, and there's an importance to that.
Hartford, Conn.: Did your family have any objections to your research for this book?
A.J. Jacobs: My wife is a saint. She put up with a lot. My beard alone -- she wouldn't kiss me for the last two months of the project. Plus, at one point, I built a biblical hut in our living room. She didn't appreciate the construction project in our apartment. Though there were some things that enhanced both our lives -- the Sabbath for instance. She loved that I stopped working for a day.
Santa Barbara, Calif.: I'm looking forward to reading your book. How did it impact how you handled money?
A.J. Jacobs: I tithed. I gave 10 percent of my income to the needy. Which hurt, but in a good way.
Falls Church, Va.: During your quest, did you at first feel the need to explain to onlookers what you were doing, or did you wait until they asked questions? What were some of the best/comical questions you were asked?
A.J. Jacobs: Well, I drew a lot of second glances. I live in NY, but even in NY -- home to the Naked Cowboy and Gene Shalit -- I stood out. By the end, I was really trying to get into the mindset of those from biblical times, so I literally started to wear their clothes -- a robe, sandals, a walking staff.
Reactions were mixed. Some people crossed the street to avoid me. Others treated me like a D-list celebrity (an Austrian tourist couple took photos of me). Still others said they felt more reverential in my presence, which was so flattering. A woman at the corner store said she didn't want to curse, lie or gossip in my presence.
Richmond, Va.: I assume this exercise would reveal how pointless, outdated, superstitious and ignorant most of the rules of the Bible are.
Now we know about proper sanitation, refrigeration, washing hands and where thunder comes from. No need to shun women who are menestrating. Shellfish is okay now that we have refrigeration and safety inspectors. etc. Did it make you respect those rules less to see how illogical they were?
A.J. Jacobs: The book has two intertwining strands. One is a real and profound spiritual journey, to see what I was missing as a completely secular person, and what I could learn from a religious worldview and way of life. The other strand was to show that fundamentalism is not the best way to approach the Bible. In a sense, I became the ultimate fundamentalist and took everything literally to show that if you take every word of the Bible literally, you miss a lot of the meaning and wisdom of the Bible.
As for irrational rules -- I found the topic to be much more complex and subtle than I anticipated. If the rules are harmful to others, then I think we should move past them. But what about rules that aren't harmful? Yes, avoiding shellfish may seem irrational, but all ritual behavior is, in a sense, irrational. As a friend points out, blowing out candles on a birthday cake -- that makes about as much logical sense as some of the Bible rules.
Richmond, Va.: I read the outsourcing article, it was very funny. Great black humor.
A.J. Jacobs: As my outsourcers would say, Thanking you!
Virginia: What kind of response are you getting to the book? I admit I'm a little baffled as it seems like the premise is that no one has ever tried to do this. Devout Jews and Christians try to do every moment of their lives although, no, we don't call in a priest to diagnose our household mold problems (one of the really obscure passages). If your project inspired you to read the Scriptures, that's a good thing. Maybe your curiosity will inspire others as well.
A.J. Jacobs: It's been fascinating to see the response. I've been quite lucky. So far, I've gotten very positive response from both secular and religious readers. (Of course, there are the occasional readers who rebuk me). But I've gotten the seal of approval from many rabbis and evangelical Christians.
I think partly that's because I went into this project with an open mind. I didn't go in to judge or mock. I went in very curious about religion. And even when I strongly disagree wiht someone's point of view, I try to understand it. You know, biblical humility!
Captiol Hill, D.C.: A.J., how many women and/or gays were you forced to stone to death in the last year?
A.J. Jacobs: I actually do have a section on stoning, since capital punishment was such a huge part of the Old Testament. It's a fascinating topic -- and a disturbing one as well.
In practice, I did actually stone one adulterer. I was in the park dressed in my biblical clothes, and a man asked me what I was doing. I explained my project. He said -- in a confrontational tone -- "I'm an adulterer. You gonna stone me?" I said, "Yes, that would be great." So I took out a handful of pebbles -- since the Bible doesn't specify the size of stones, I figured this could be my loophole. He actually grabbed the pebbles out of my hand and tossed them at my face. So in self-defense, I tossed one back at him.
Fredericksburg, Va.: Congratulations on your book! I loved " Know-it-All" and am looking forward to reading this one. Did you solicit advice from any Biblical scholars or pious friends as to how to interpret certain rules, or did you decide on your own how any ambiguous passages should be followed?
A.J. Jacobs: Thank you!! I did indeed solicit advice. I had a spiritual advisory board of rabbis, ministers and priests (rabbis, ministers and priests - that sounds like the start to a joke, but it's not). Some of the most fascinating parts of the journey to me involved the different ways people interpret rules and passages. One thing I found -- at one point or another, every single passage in the Bible has been interpreted literally. There was a ancient theologian named Origen who, it is said, interpreted a New Testament line literally. The line said that eunuchs would enter the Kingdom of God, so he made himself a eunuch. He later became an advocate of figurative interpretation.
(I never cut off any body parts, fyi)
Richmond, Va.: How did you even remember all the rules? Did you have to keep rereading to remember them and how did you stay awake during the dull parts? And how did you decide if something was a rule or just a deep thought, or symbolic message?
A.J. Jacobs: I had a stapled list of all the 700 rules. And I often had to take it out to refresh my memory. But it was impossible -- I couldn't keep them all in my mind at the same time. It was like juggling 700 balls. Naturally, I broke rules all the time, despite my best efforts.
Washington, D.C.: Do you think your book and quest is/was respectful of honest, believing Christians? From the questions here, it looks like your audience is a group of people who don't know the Bible and don't believe any of it.
A.J. Jacobs: I think so. As I said before, I went in with an open mind, and have received mostly positive feedback from religious people. Again, not biblical to boast, but I'm featured on the cover of the evangelical magazine Relevant this month. (I also got a review in Penthouse magazine -- which I don't think happens all that often).
Spring Hill, Tenn.: Do you have another project (or experience, if you prefer) like this planned?
A.J. Jacobs: My wife says that after reading the encyclopedia and living the Bible, I owe her bigtime. She suggests "A year of Foot Massages." Or else, she wants me to eat at all the good restaurants in New York for a year, and take her along with me.
D.C.: Did you have a favorite rule you followed? How about your least favorite?
And I read about your wife's revenge regarding her menstrual cycle. Funny. How did your family react to your attempt to live biblically?
A.J. Jacobs: One of my favorites was respecting the elderly. The elderly in our society seem to have gone out of fashion (which becomes more and more disturbing as I am about to enter my 40s). So I'm glad I worked on that. (Though I did maybe take part of that rule a bit too literally. The Bible says to stand in the presence of the elderly, so I remember having a dinner in Florida where I basically stood the entire time).
Chesterfield: What about the rules that tell you to rule your wife (or however they word it). Did your wife go along with that? Where was her line as far as supporting your efforts vs. standing up for herself with her contemporary beliefs?
A.J. Jacobs: It's a good question -- there are parts of the Bible that seem to say that the man is the head of the household and should make the final decisions. That didn't translate to our household.
The issue of women in the Bible is a tough one. Because in biblical times, the truth is, women were not considered equal to men. It was a man's world.
The best advice I got on the matter was from a rabbi who said you have to roll up your sleeves and really work to find the parts of the Bible where there are strong women and there is some sort of equality. (Judith, for instance, is quite the strong woman).
It's the mindset of engaging the Bible, wrestling with it -- and it's a mindset I found helpful.
Richmond, Va.: re: "I started the year as an agnostic, and I ended it as what a minister friend of mine calls a 'reverent agnostic.' Whether or not there is a God, I believe in there's something to the idea of sacredness. Rituals can be sacred, the Sabbath can be sacred, and there's an importance to that."
Wow, thanks that really hit home for me. as an atheist, I thought I'd just have a fun laugh with your year, but this is good stuff. Sacred is family, nature, self-respect for me -- it doesn't have to be a god in the sky.
A.J. Jacobs: Thanks! Great to hear. It was interesting -- I think there are lessons from a religious worldview that can be applied, even to those who are atheists and agnostics.
One of those is this:
You can look at the world either as a series of rights and entitlements, or as a series of responsibilties. In biblical times, it was the latter. You had responsibilities to your community, to the elderly, etc. There wasn't this sense of individual rights. It's sort of the JFK perspective: Ask not what your country (community/world) can do for you, ask what you can do for your country (community/world).
And I love that way of thinking. I try to have it. I often fail, but I try.
Seinfeld: So you were the master of your domain for a full year? Elaine didn't even last a week...
A.J. Jacobs: Sex in the Bible was a fascinating topic. There are parts of the Bible that are pro-sex, such as the Song of Solomon. It can get quite steamy, to be honest. But there are also parts of the Bible that seem to indicate being abstinent is the best policy. At the end of the project, I tried abstinence (it helped that I had a huge beard and my wife was seven monhts pregnant, so she had zero interest in me).
One thing I noticed: Sublimation is real. I was so productive during those months -- I think I wrote 3/4 of the book then.
Stoned BY an adulterer?: So, what, the guy is part of some violent Adulters Pride unit? Yeesh.
After the self defense stone, did you turn any cheeks?
A.J. Jacobs: I know. I was pretty taken aback. In general, I'm more of a cheek turner.
By the way, adultery in ancient biblical times is not the same as what we think of as adultery today. Adultery mostly applied to married women. In early biblical times, men were allowed to have multiple wives and concubines, as long as they weren't married to another man.
Colorado Springs, Colo.: What did you eat?
A.J. Jacobs: I did follow the Bible's dietary laws -- no pork, no shellfish. Interestingly, the Bible does specifically allow crickets and locusts. Which seemed irrational at first -- but if you think about it, maybe not so.
If a locust plague destroys all the crops, what is left to eat? THe locusts themselves.
(I tried one, just to see what it's like. Crunchy).
Thank you so much everybody. I loved the questions. Hope you enjoyed it as well.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Journalist A.J. Jacobs spent a year trying to adhere to all the moral codes, big and small, in the Bible. He takes your questions about the effort and his new book, "The Year of Living Biblically."
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Read Jason's blog, Redskins Insider.
Jason La Canfora: Hello there, sorry for the late start. Technical issues.
Okay, big win last week big game this week. Looking forward to my first trip to Green Bay.
Silver Spring, Md.: BLOG FIGHT!
I think Jason should team up with Cindy Boren and take on Steinberg and Jamie Mottram in a cage match! Winners gets a guest post on the loser's blog/bog!
Jason La Canfora: Just having a little fun and calling it like I see it.
Cindy and I could tear them to shreds if need be, however.
Herndon, Va.: What is with the piped in crowd noise at FedEx? I heard it a lot during the Giants game, and a couple of times last week. Is that legal now?
Jason La Canfora: Getting a lot of e-mails on this lately and the NFL is looking into it. When you have the biggest stadium in the NFL, that's beyond lame to be cheating like that, but I find it hard to believe that all the people e-mailing about this are lying.
Wouldn't surprise me in the least if it's true and if they get fined for it I will definitely write about it.
Bethesda, Md.: Everyone says Mike Sellers is the most underrated Redskin and I agree he is underrated, but can we get some love for Prioleau? He quietly seems to be a very important part of that defense.
Jason La Canfora: Pierson does a lot of great stuff, too, but is a situational guy. Mike is on the field a ton of the time between offense and special teams, is a vocal and emotional leader and really sets the tone of physicality on offense. Runs the ball, catches the ball, lead blocks, blows people up on teams.
Toronto: We have one of the best safety tandems in the league. How long is Sean Taylor signed for? I hope we can keep this tandem for a while.
P.S. Join the Army -- Suicidal Tendencies
Jason La Canfora: He has two more years left on his deal beyond this season (2010 voids out).
My stinking iPod wont turn on -- so if I seem a little distracted -- but I love Suicidal.
Brandon Lloyd said that the only reason he got into the game last week was because his teammates called up to the booth and demanded it. Is that true?
Speaking of Lloyd, how in the world will they be able to afford $6 million in dead money on Lloyd, $5 million in dead money in Springs, x amount of dead money on Brunell, etc? They are already committed to about $136 million for only 43 players, and the cap is expected to be around $116 million. Has cap hell finally arrived after this season? Is that what it will take for Snyder to finally learn his lesson and start building through the draft??
Jason La Canfora: Wooooh, slow down my man. Lloyd will end up counting $1.8 in 2008, Brunell is only like his original proration of $1.5 in 2008 if a June cut, Springs likewise would be $2.5.
These guys will also convert a ton of base salaries to signing bonuses -- same as always -- and lower a bunch of cap numbers. One thing they do is play cash over cap and they have to keep doing it to keep the team together. Give them credit -- they often don't spend wisely but they are willing to spend big to get talent.
not guy in the PDX: What are your plans for the big trip to the very un-frozen tundra? Soak it all in? Snag a piece of turf? Beer sample platter?
Jason La Canfora: Nate my man, good to hear from you.
I plan to sneak into Lambeau Sat. night with two cases of beer and 10 brats wearing only a Speedo and spend the night sleeping on the field under the stars the way man was intended to ...
Nah, I'll be at some bar in Green Bay going nuts pounding 'em watching my Sox, then get to the stadium early, check out some tailgating, walk in early and see as much of the stadium as possible.
Arlington, Va.: Have the Redskins been approached by teams losing their quarterbacks for Mark Brunell? Would Gibbs give him up for a draft pick or wide receiver?
Jason La Canfora: Does not appear to be much interest in him and the trade deadline is Monday.
Capitol Hill, D.C.: It seems like every time the 'Skins ask James Thrash to do something he delivers.
Why isn't this guy a bigger part of the offense more frequently?
Jason La Canfora: He is the ultimate team guy and a real inspiration to a lot of people at Redskins Park. Every year Coach Joe says at the end of the season that they should have thrown to James more ... then they go out and spent a ton on other WRs. But in reality given, James's age and speed, he is a perfect fit as a 4/5 WR and a real stud on special teams and he always finds a way to make a few huge plays every season even in a reduced role.
Washington, D.C.: JLC, the last time the 'Skins really laid the wood to somebody (52-17 over the Niners in '05), they went out and lost four of their next five. On the heels of the Detroit game, are we in for another letdown? The schedule certainly does nothing to help protect against this; this is a pretty tough road ahead.
Jason La Canfora: They have 5of the next 7 on the road, lot of tough games ahead ... but against the NFC anything is possible. No real heavy weights over here to me.
I wish I had the answers for you boss. If I did I'd bet the homestead, take the entire blog out to Vegas for a proper blowout, quit the job and live off the winnings. Instead, I'll be grinding away in the media room at Redskins Park, so shows what I know.
Shouldn't the 'Skins extend Suisham before he leaves us?
The guy is money and the first kicker we've had in a long time who didn't break his leg stepping out of the shower...
Jason La Canfora: He's had a few misses lately -- included in each of the last two home games if I recall. No reason to rush on that one. He likes it here and these guys spend bucks, so if he has a strong season they could easily get him extended before the start of free agency in March.
Did the Mighty Mite re-do Portis's contract, or is he still a huge cap hit next year?
Jason La Canfora: That contract has been renegotiated like three times and probably will be again after the season.
He is due to make $5 million base in 2008, but like always they'll probably convert a lot of that to bonus, guarantee it up front, and thereby slash his cap figure with the lower base salary.
Bucktown Skins Fan: Do you know the origin behind Seller's "Gravy Boat" nickname?
Has Rocco started two-a-days yet?
Jason La Canfora: I don't, and I'm not sure I want to know ... but I'll look into it anyway.
As for Rocco, yeah, he's going hard in mid-morning and late afternoon, throwing back two jars of baby food during each feeding to go with his healthy ration of, shall we say, his liquid diet. He slipped to the 75th percentile in weight at his 6 month check up, and I am determined to have him back in the 95th by 9 months.
Perhaps a daily helping from the gravy boat will help the cause, come to think of it.
Warsaw, Va.: You're killing me here, the blog needs to know. Who has the no trade clause in their contract?
Jason La Canfora: Vinny Cerrato ....
Just kidding. You'll have to wait, bro. Letting the tension build.
College Park, Md.: How do you see the offensive line coming together through the rest of the season? For a makeshift group they've done well so far.
Jason La Canfora: Still a little early to make any strong statements. Not sure how Fabini will work out over the long haul, although Randy Thomas seems to be doing pretty well in his recovery.
This iPod is killing me. Won't turn on at all. If I have to reload all these songs again on a new one I am going to go postal on another printer.
As I sang to my wife the other night after finally getting the new printer installed: "I fight technology, but technology always wins."
Jakeweed in Miami, Fla.: Red Sox??? What gives? I thought you were a B-More homey?
Jason La Canfora: B-more to the core, bro, but a Sox fan going back to 1984. Just sorta happened. Sorry.
Plenty of Johnny U, Natty Boh and old Colts memorabilia in my basement though, promise.
Washington, D.C.: LaVar made a comment a couple of weeks ago guaranteeing the departures of Chris Samuels and Clinton Portis after this season. What does he know that you don't?
Jason La Canfora: Nothing in this case.
They both have big, big cap numbers, but they will go cash over cap for guys they really want to keep. Clinton's health will be a big one, and as I've said before, I would not be surprised at all but 1-2 of the class of 2004 is gone by next season (Brunell, Griff, Marcus, Springs, Daniels, Portis, etc).
But I don't see Samuels going anywhere unless he had some kind of career-threatening injury.
Kevin NJ: No trade...Ladell Betts?
Jason La Canfora: No dice ... Kevin NJ
Philly: I have been to games last year and this year and have not heard the piped in noise at all and we sit by those speakers. Is there any legitimacy to the claim?
Jason La Canfora: Like I said, got a bunch of e-mails from people in various parts of the stadium saying they have heard it. Behind the end zone, etc. It's always tough to prove, but it is against the rules.
B. Favre: Is it too early to start discussing whether I will return next season?
On a related topic, am I actually good or do I just throw the ball 50 yards straight up in the air and hope my receiver catches it?
Jason La Canfora: I think you'll be back and it's never too early to talk about you retiring. Heck, you've made a cottage industry out of it.
And, you are good, but when you flip out and start doing the chuck and duck it gets ugly fast. That weak quasi-shuffle pass to Urlacher was crazy, dude.
John From Cincinnati: Jason Campbell:
Jason La Canfora: I'd pick McNair from that bunch. Very steady, athletic, a born winner and leader. Not as prolific as BBM, but an elite QB who simply makes big plays in the clutch for a long, long time.
Chris Lindsay -- iPod City: Jason,
Try holding the "Menu" and the "Enter" button(button in the middle of the iPod) until a black Apple trademark appears. Then hit menu again and see if that helps.
Jason La Canfora: Thanks, bro, Been trying all kinds of combinations of holding stuff down but nothing working .... okay, now after doing this have an apple symbol up on the iPod. Progress!!!
Bend, Ore.: Was Golston's inactivity on Sunday simply a factor of Detroit being a poor-running team or is this another step down after his demotion from starter. I mean you haven't heard anything about his "packages" not being called, have you?
Jason La Canfora: It's got everything to do with Detroit's overall speed and disinterest in running the ball.
Would not be surprised to see Ked watching again Sunday given Green Bay's pass-run ratio (68 percent, most in NFL) but see Ked filling a big role in the NFC East games and down the stretch. Very good kid, just not super athletic and not going to get much of a pass rush. He definitely still has a role as a valuable back up.
Silver Spring, Md.: Jasno, bro, spill the beans. Who were the two journalists that almost threw hands after the game last Sunday?
Jason La Canfora: This whole thing is beyond silly. First of all, it's awful lame for our bogger to throw it out there like that. Secondly, he didn't even see what happened and it was no big deal, trust me.
No one ever came close to throwing blows and this kind of thing happens all the time in this industry with so many competing media entities at work in the same locker room.
If it was newsworthy at all or out of the norm, that's one thing.
Then again, if you are going to bog about it and try to stir the pot, then you might as well say who did it, because people reading would have no idea what happened, because obviously they are not in the locker room.
It was no big deal and trust me, nothing to see here. I had nothing to do with it but both people involved later spoke to me about it and again, tempest in a tea pot. This wasn't even handbags at 10 paces.
Another reason for RI to man up in the bog war, eh?
Doesn't the organization get significant credibility for trading up for a potential franchise QB?....that makes up for about 5 mistakes they've made....Give my owner some love for once.
Jason La Canfora: Letting him rot for a year and a half was strange, but that looks like the making of a franchise-altering trade perhaps. They have needed stability at this position for what, like 15 years, and I truly think this kid is going to be very good, like I've been saying for a long time.
"In The End" - Suicide Machines
It's back baby. Viva the iPod!
Vincent Chase: Is Joe Gibbs still cracking the whip like last week after his media blow out. And stop knocking the show, baby,
Jason La Canfora: We'll find out on Friday, Vinny. That's usually the most terse, tense day of the media week.
If I'm a 'Skins fan I'm hoping he reaches out and wrings my neck or something. If it ain't broke ...
The Real 81: How many dropped passes must I have before people stop listening to anything I have to say?
Don't you wish I was in D.C. so you could write about me, JLC?
Jason La Canfora: You're a clown a lot of the time, but when you're on, you're on. Personally, I loved the letter. Great stuff. I am all for that.
Now, the dropped passes, bro? Can't' have that against the Pats.
Falls Church, Va.: I second the motion for a Blog Fight, with winner getting a guest entry on the loser's blog/bog.
But how do you go about doing a blog/bog fight...
Jason La Canfora: Good question.
I am game for whatever, though.
"Say Hello To Angels" - Interpol
WDC: With Carlos Rogers catching his first interception and going to the house, unlike the year he had 6 or seven drops and him missing out on the Pro Bowl, are we looking at a Pro Bowl season for him? Really, the guy seems so scared to make a play on the ball it's almost laughable.
Jason La Canfora: Hold your horses bro. Long way to go before talk Pro Bowl.
However, that was the first Pick 6 for a 'Skins DB since Ohalete in 2002. Weird, eh? That's a long, long time. With all these pass-happy teams they face should be chances for more to come.
Silver Spring, Md.: A sound bite from Randle El indicated that the coaches told him to say he is questionable (during the bite he sounded like he was snickering about being questionable). Does that mean he is out for Sunday? If so, who takes his spot?
Jason La Canfora: Not looking real good for him right now. They could shift Thrash there or have Thrash/McCardell split time there.
Upper Mayberry: You didn't take Steinberg's piece on The Receiver too personally did you?
Jason La Canfora: Hey, we've all got opinions. I am way down with freedom of speech, open forums, etc.
The only part that I objected to is his flimsy idea that opinions on Lloyd break down in "Old Media vs. New Media"
Do your homework, that's all I'm saying.
With the depleted receiver corps, any chance we must see Reche Caldwell this week or anytime soon?
Jason La Canfora: He was in a fair amount last week, bro, and will likely be up again Sunday. Didn't catch any balls, but heck, some people get $10 million guaranteed and go weeks without doing that.
Section 433, Fed Ex Field: There's no question that they are piping in crowd noise...Noticed it at the Giants game. The first time I noticed it was at the Eagles game last year. Sorry to disappoint everyone but they do it.
Jason La Canfora: Like I said, have received like 15 e-mails after the past few games from people saying this. I have no idea if it's true or not, but that's what the e-mails have said.
Manassas, Va.: "Jesus Christ Pose" -- Soundgarden
Given Green Bay has the same general attack as Detroit (spread it out, pass all over the place, ignore the run) is there any reason for Gregg Williams to change his philosophy from last week's game? Pressing and rushing just 4 worked like a charm, and Fav-rah is well known for his propensity to throw pickles when he gets frustrated...
Jason La Canfora: Not sure if they will play exclusively Cover-2 this week as they did last week -- maybe a return to a lil more Cover-3 -- but as for the rest of the game plan, I think it'll be similar.
GB has a better line though and will make more adjustments to protect Favre than Martz does, though, so it might take more blitzing in general. In fact, I'd be surprised not to see at least 3-4 more blitzes.
Washington, D.C.: What is your relationship like with Gibbs? We know how Snyder feels about you, does Joe feel the same? Do they act this way to all beat writers or just The Post?
Jason La Canfora: I have no idea what Snyder thinks of me, since he doesn't speak. I could take a pretty good guess, though. And, frankly, when you cover a team that has lost this much that's how it should be. I'm not here to please the front office.
As for Joe, I have a very good working relationship with him, though of course we don't always see eye to eye.
I noticed during the game that Betts wasn't involved as much as usual; I thought he may have been hurt. I'd much rather see Portis getting the bulk of the carries because I think he is better, but the coaching staff does love Betts, and they should; he's a selfless, tough, nice change of pace back. Any reason for the reduced role against Detroit?
Jason La Canfora: B-more, gotta love it.
So since week 1, when they were feeling their way with Clinton, it's been pretty stable.
Actually, his 10 touches Sunday were his most since Week 1
Springfield: We're really banged up, Campbell's due for a bad game, Favre always has big games against us, and the Packers are seriously ticked off about losing to Chicago. This ain't a formula for a W. Yet, Peter King is predicting we'll win. What does he know that I don't?
Jason La Canfora: A lot of people think Green Bay is very overrated, and the Pack can't run the ball at all, which is not good. Most NFC games are basically a toss up, so I can see people making a solid case either way in this game.
Washington, D.C.: Today's article states that Keenan McCardell received his second Super Bowl ring with Tampa Bay 2002-2003, Are you saying he received his first from the Redskins? Reason I ask is because I read an article in last weeks paper that says because McCardell was on injured reserve in 1991 and did not play for the season that he did not receive a Super Bowl ring from the Redskins that year.
Jason La Canfora: Yep, he got a ring in 1991 despite the injury. Pretty classy, eh? Nice move.
If you were starting a new team, who would you rather have as your QB? Campbell, Romo or Eli?
Jason La Canfora: Gimme JC.
Rock solid and steady and I see him having fewer ups and downs over the long haul. Romo might have more numbers, but I also think he likes the limelight more than JC and has more of that gunslinger in him (for better and worse).
Eli's been better this season and will be solid, but look how long it's taken him already.
JC after 11 starts vs. him at that point is no contest.
BA: Bethany Beach, Del.: I know I'm jumping the gun here a little bit, but how do you see the Oct. 28 matchup against the Pats faring? Don't you see our secondary giving Brady some fits? With a strong pass rush that Sunday, I really feel, if we play defense like we did against the Lions, we can pull the upset in Foxboro. Thoughts?
Jason La Canfora: I think they have very little chance of generating anything close to that pass rush with just a 4-man rush against the Pats. Pats best O line in NFL -- Detroit probably worst.
Different schemes, much better personnel in New England.
No one has really even touched Brady this season and Kitna been sacked like 27 times.
That's going to be one helluva chore for the 'Skins D.
Let's be real: If they hold the Pats to 21 points they have more than done their job. Up here, on the road in a game like that, you gotta score.
"Sunshine" - Handsome Boy Modeling School
I was reading last week's chat and came across the people who think Cowher might coach there next year.
Something to consider: Cowher's best friend and mentor is Marty Schottenheimer. I can't imagine, given the experience Marty had there, that Cowher would have much, if any, interest in the Washington job.
Jason La Canfora: Marty and Snyder have actually become closer since he left. If Dan was willing to give up personnel and let Cowher staff the front office as he saw fit -- and that's a huge if -- I don't see it being impossible to consider.
Of course, if they roll to the playoffs and Gibbs comes back like he says he intends to, then it's a moot point.
JC in Germantown: Who, in your opinion, has been the most valuable free agent we've acquired in the Gibbs 2.0 era?
Was Al Saunders brought in as the eventual successor?
Jason La Canfora: Off the top of my head, Cornelius.
Columbia, Md.: Shawn Springs has barely appeared on screen during the last few games, has his role been reduced lately or is it that they don't throw to him and he is just doing a great job?
Jason La Canfora: Very few passes thrown on him.
Did a lot of underneath work in the nickel against Detroit and was not always out wide.
He remains very vital to what they are trying to do this season.
New Orleans: Do you have any indication that Gibbs and Saunders will continue to utilize Mike Sellers as they did against the Lions?
Jason La Canfora: Over the course of the season I think Mike will continue to be used in this kind of role. Now, in any given week that can change -- and he'll be needed to really help in protection some weeks, but he's going to get his carries and runs.
"Lived In Bars" - Cat Power
Jason La Canfora: Well guys, practice just ended so I gotta run. Sorry for what I could not get to and thanks for the iPod help.
As always e-mail me at lacanforaj@washpost.com for anything I didn't cover and check out the blog.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Join live discussions from the Washington Post. Feature topics include national, world and DC area news, politics, elections, campaigns, government policy, tech regulation, travel, entertainment, cars, and real estate.
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Wide Receiver McCardell Is 37 Going on 16
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Just watching McCardell practice made Clark and Sanders smile -- their pupil now the sage veteran -- with McCardell the only active Redskins player linking Washington's last Super Bowl season (1991-92) to the 3-1 team that travels to Lambeau Field this weekend. McCardell was a 12th-round pick in 1991, on injured reserve all season and unable to play, but he was an avid student as he tagged along with Clark, Sanders and Art Monk, getting a foundation that has served him in 16 seasons. His ability to produce against the Lions despite missing much of the preseason and signing with Washington just six days before the game was a marvel to teammates old and new.
"He had some great mentors -- myself, Gary, Art Monk -- and I always liked Keenan," said Sanders, 45,who retired in 1995. "He's a hard worker, an honest guy and he will be a big impact on this team with his leadership. I have the utmost respect for him. I took him under my wing when he first got here, and he's made me proud."
Antwaan Randle El (hamstring) missed practice yesterday and said he is "questionable" to play Sunday, while Santana Moss (groin) practiced fully for the first time in weeks and expects to face the Packers. Regardless, Gibbs has confidence in Thrash and McCardell, turning to them ahead of Brandon Lloyd, 26. McCardell, who played regularly once Randle El was forced out before halftime, and Thrash, who started in Moss's place, have combined for 27 NFL seasons and nearly 350 games, defying the years with grace and class.
With Randle El hurt, Thrash, an all-around special teams stalwart, returned a punt 62 yards to help put the game out of reach. McCardell caught passes of 19 and 20 yards in the second half, with Gibbs anticipating even bigger things in the coming weeks.
"You kind of wonder sometimes how somebody plays 16 years; that's how they play 16 years," Gibbs said of McCardell. "I would have to think from here on out I would hope that he plays a real role for us. He's certainly a leader for us in the short time he's been here, and I think the guys respect him. And I can't brag enough about James. I've said all along that for me, certainly one of the highlights of what we've done here is being able to get him."
While McCardell and Thrash may play a position populated with divas and showboats with over-the-top antics, they are known as family men and tireless workers. Both make essentially the veteran minimum on a team with three $10 million wideouts, are eager to play special teams, and gladly go into high-traffic areas to make catches.
"James and I have a lot in common," McCardell said. "As you get older you learn this is a business. Quit talking about your game and be about your game and go out and prove it. We understand that every time you get your opportunity you'd better make the most of it or you'll be out the door."
They rose from humble football beginnings -- McCardell never played as a rookie and was released three times by Cleveland in 1992 before becoming a regular in 1994; Thrash was not drafted and signed with the Redskins in 1997 after being cut by Philadelphia. Both are in their second stints with the Redskins, coveted as much for who they are as what they do.
"There's something to be said for guys who first of all, they're professional, and they're going to do whatever you ask them to do," said quarterback Mark Brunell, who starred with McCardell in Jacksonville. "Keenan was here, what, a week maybe, and he steps in there and makes a couple of nice catches for us. There a place for experience and guys who work hard and do what they're asked to do."
McCardell, ninth all-time in receptions, is a two-time Pro Bowler and has two Super Bowl rings (his second came with Tampa Bay in 2002-03). He started all 16 games for San Diego as recently as 2005, and, when pursued by Houston and Washington this summer signed with the Texans, his hometown team. Houston cut him before the season and the Redskins, long searching for a true No. 3 receiver, approached him again during the bye week. McCardell required just three practices to learn the offense (similar to what he ran with the Chargers) and produce two key sliding catches against the Lions.
"He was always dedicated and focused," said Sanders, who also lives in Houston and golfs with McCardell. "I played 10 years and won two Super Bowls, but this guy, 16 years, oh my God. After five I was ready to quit, it hurts so bad. But he's got the stamina. He lives close to me and he's with his trainer as soon as the season is over, and he's out there running hills and running for miles."
For McCardell, the work ethic comes naturally. It was instilled in him 16 years ago, one practice at a time, by the very men he laughed with yesterday.
"By me looking at those guys coming to work every day, it helped me in my career to understand that I have to go out and be about my business," McCardell said. "At the end of the day all the accolades come when you learn to do the right things and be a professional, and I couldn't help but see that just by being around them."
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Savvy veteran wide receiver Keenan McCardell, a throwback to the Redskins' last Super Bowl team in 1992, could be called on to shoulder a bigger load Sunday.
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Pelosi Plans Informal Negotiations on Energy Bill
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House Democrats blamed Senate Republicans for blocking the convening of a conference committee to reconcile the two vastly different energy bills passed by the House and the Senate this year.
But some lobbyists said informal talks might make it easier for Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) to iron out differences among House Democrats themselves over key matters such as automobile fuel efficiency and mandates for the use of ethanol and renewable sources of electricity.
Pelosi said in a statement that she still views energy legislation as "a top priority."
Democratic leaders have used informal negotiations to deal with legislation on ethics reform, children's health care and prescription drugs.
"The decision of the GOP in the Senate to block efforts to go to conference on the energy bill has forced Democrats to take a different path," said Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who attended the meeting with the speaker.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told key committee chairmen yesterday that she does not plan to convene a formal conference committee on an energy bill but that informal negotiations will be held to produce a final measure.
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Officials Ponder Curbs on 'Mansionization'
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Prince George's officials, hoping to curtail the number of large houses springing up in the county's older communities, are drafting legislation that would require some homeowners to secure a special permit for large additions and would set new height limits for houses.
Homeowners in several towns in northern Prince George's would need a permit approved by the county's Department of Environmental Resources to add more than 500 square feet to a house -- including patios, decks and breezeways.
Neighborhood associations would be notified of such applications, and permits could then be subject to appeals from neighbors.
Consultants hired by the county to study the problem have also recommended changing the methodology used to measure the height of a building. Under the proposed bill, the size, taken from the lowest point of grade to the highest point of the roof's surface, would drop from a maximum of 40 feet to 35 feet.
The permit requirement has not gone over well with some who pushed the county to address the growing problem of "mansionization."
"I think they may be too restrictive," said Stephen A. Brayman, the mayor of College Park. "I'm concerned that overly restrictive regulations may upset the renovations of aging housing stock."
Some residents upset about the problem said the draft legislation would not deal with one of their chief complaints: that some of the new homes are being used as boarding houses for several families or unrelated people, including immigrants.
"They don't want to deal with the social issues," said LaVerne Williams of Lewisdale.
Arthur Horne, an attorney who is drafting the legislation for the county, said the recommendations deal strictly with zoning, not occupancy or enforcement of the zoning laws.
"A lot of people were saying we don't want these people moving in my neighborhood," Horne said. "We can't address those things."
The recommendations conclude a three-month study of an issue that has also vexed neighboring counties: new homes or large additions that are incompatible with the rest of the neighborhood. The new legislation would affect such communities as North Brentwood, Hyattsville and College Park, incorporated towns or cities where existing houses are increasingly being torn down or renovated. It would not, however, affect residents who live in unincorporated areas of the county nearby.
Horne said county planners asked him to look at the issue of mansionization because state lawmakers were fielding complaints from town officials and residents.
State delegates proposed a bill last year that would have given small cities control over zoning, a power now reserved for the county, except in the city of Laurel. But the legislation died in committee.
Del. Tawanna P. Gaines, a Democrat from Berwyn Heights, said the state wanted the county to deal with the issue. She said there needed to be continuity.
"I'm willing to give them an opportunity to draft something," Gaines said. "But while we are in legislative session we may have to draft something."
Last month, County Council member Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Laurel) said the county was considering an ordinance that could address crowded houses. County law says that no more than five people unrelated by blood or marriage can live in a single-family house.
Dernoga said some of the suggestions made by the consultant did not offer solutions to the problem that many people had, which involved beefing up code enforcement. He said the planning board cannot address that issue.
A draft of the mansionization legislation is expected to be sent to city officials and other interested parties next week. Members of the public will have a chance to voice opinions during a public hearing at 7 p.m. Oct. 25 at the County Administration Building.
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Prince George's officials, hoping to curtail the number of large houses springing up in the county's older communities, are drafting legislation that would require some homeowners to secure a special permit for large additions and would set new height limits for houses.
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Court Is Split, Won't Hear Special-Education Case
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The Supreme Court yesterday said that it was evenly divided on an important case that would have told public school districts when they must pay for private tuition for special-education students.
Only eight justices heard Board of Education of the City of New York v. Tom F. (06-637) because Justice Anthony M. Kennedy recused himself. The two-sentence opinion did not say how justices voted, so it is unclear whether the court was divided along the ideological groupings that were the hallmark of last term. In a record number of 5 to 4 decisions, Kennedy was the only justice to be in the majority each time. As is customary in the court, Kennedy gave no reason for his recusal.
The case involved a requirement within the Individual with Disabilities Education Act that schools must provide a free appropriate public education to students with special needs. If the school district itself cannot provide such support, a parent may apply for private-school reimbursement.
New York made such payments for a time to the parent in this case, former Viacom executive Tom Freston. It then stopped, saying a 1997 amendment to the law meant it should get the chance to try to educate Freston's son before paying for private school.
Freston, who has said he donated the reimbursements to a New York public school and was bringing the case on behalf of parents who could not afford the expenses, said the law does not require a "try-out" in public schools.
Though only a small percentage of children are covered under the law, the number of students receiving private-school tuition is rapidly increasing. Governments and school systems supported New York, while organizations for the disabled were on Freston's side.
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The Supreme Court yesterday said that it was evenly divided on an important case that would have told public school districts when they must pay for private tuition for special-education students.
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A Culture War Treaty
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You know the religious right is in trouble when some of its leaders threaten to bolt the Republican Party if it nominates a candidate who supports abortion rights.
What matters more is that a new generation of evangelical leaders, tired of the rancid partisanship, is breaking away from the culture wars. The reach of this new evangelical politics will be tested with the release tomorrow of a statement under the very biblical title "Come Let Us Reason Together." The question for the future is how many in the evangelical ranks will embrace this call.
Organized by Third Way, a group that is close to many leading moderate Democrats, the statement calls for "first steps toward bridging the cultural divide between progressives and evangelicals."
Third Way's effort is not happy boilerplate about how religious Americans and liberals share a concern for helping the poor, protecting the environment and reaching out to the victims of HIV-AIDS -- although these areas of agreement are important and too often overlooked.
Rather, the statement, co-authored by Robert P. Jones, a progressive religious scholar, and Rachel Laser, director of the Third Way Culture Project, takes a step toward religious conservatives by acknowledging the legitimacy of many of their moral concerns. For example, while not backing away from Third Way's support for stem cell research, the statement urges a series of restrictions to prevent the sale or manipulation of human embryos and reproductive cloning.
"Americans have a deep faith in science but also worry that scientific advances are outrunning our best moral thinking," Jones and Laser declare. Worrying about ethical issues raised by science is not the same as being anti-science.
The statement identifies other areas, including abortion, gay rights and strengthening families, where progressives and religious conservatives might continue to disagree but still make progress.
One passage nicely summarizes the possibilities of a less polarized, post-Bush future: "The differences in how evangelicals and progressives see government's role in affecting social change -- one of changing hearts, the other building institutions -- need not be in conflict." Social improvement requires both.
Now, declarations and manifestoes come and go in our nation's capital with the speed of the news cycle. What matters is whether they can catalyze action.
Laser, who sets herself only a modest goal -- "We want to end the culture wars," she says firmly, but with a smile -- knows this, which is why she worked to win support for the statement from evangelicals who can fairly be regarded as conservative.
One of the most interesting is the Rev. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland Church in Longwood, Fla. In 2006, Hunter was slated to become the head of the Christian Coalition. He wanted to broaden the group's agenda to include questions such as the environment and poverty. That turned out to be a deal-breaker.
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You know the religious right is in trouble when some of its leaders threaten to bolt the Republican Party if it nominates a candidate who supports abortion rights.
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5 Myths About That Demon Crack
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At the peak of the panic over crack cocaine in the mid-1980s, Congress passed a rash of laws requiring longer prison sentences. One such law created a 100-to-1 disparity between crack and cocaine offenses. You have to get caught with 500 grams of powder cocaine -- but only five grams of crack cocaine -- to get a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.
Crack is often used in impoverished inner cities, and police focus their surveillance efforts there. The result? Racially discriminatory sentencing that has packed prisons with African Americans. Many state and district court judges agree that the disparity is unfair, and only 13 of the 50 states still legally distinguish between crack and cocaine. In fact, the 20-year-old crack laws are based on myths:
1.Crack is different from cocaine.
When the crack scare began in the mid-1980s, politicians and the media outdid each other with horror stories about this new chemical boogeyman. They spoke as if crack were a completely different drug from cocaine, but that is a pharmacological fallacy. Crack is simply the base form of cocaine hydrochloride powder that is smoked. Cocaine is crack snorted in powder form. The only difference is that smoking delivers more cocaine to the brain faster, just as vodka will get you drunk faster than wine. Smoking crack is merely an intense new way to ingest an old drug. Even the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse testified in 2006 that the "pharmacological effects of cocaine are the same, regardless of whether it is in the form of cocaine hydrochloride [powder] or crack cocaine."
2. Crack is instantly and inevitably addicting.
Drug-control officials justified the new laws by claiming that crack was "the most addictive substance ever known." Of course, this had been said of other drugs in earlier drug scares, beginning with the temperance crusade against alcohol. Still, experts and ex-addicts agree that crack cocaine produces a powerful rush and is easy to abuse; many users have binged on it compulsively and done themselves serious harm.
But the great majority of people who try crack do not continue to use it. For 20 years, the government's National Survey on Drug Use and Health has found that about 80 percent of those who have ever tried crack had not used it in the past year. And a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that crack cocaine is not significantly more addictive than powder cocaine.
3. The "plague" of crack use spread quickly into all sectors of society.
This never happened. Whatever its allures, crack use never spread very far into suburban high schools, college campuses or the broad working and middle classes. Crack use remains concentrated in a small slice of the most vulnerable part of the population: marginalized poor people.
When this mode of ingesting cocaine first appeared among wealthy Wall Streeters, professional athletes, rock stars and Hollywood types, it was called freebasing. When some of them got into trouble doing it, treatment programs were expanded. But when the same practice began to appear in ghettos and barrios under the street name crack, it led to an imprisonment wave. In fact, its use among what was already depicted as a "dangerous class" is part of the reason that crack was seen as especially dangerous.
4. Crack is the direct cause of violent crime.
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Should judges have the discretion to depart from severe sentencing guidelines if they lead to unjust results? The Supreme Court wrestled with this question Oct. 2 during oral arguments in a crack-related case , Kimbrough v. United States . The case had percolated up through the lower courts because...
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Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets
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A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition. It gave two senior officials access on the condition that the officials not reveal they had it until the al-Qaeda release.
Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.
The founder of the company, the SITE Intelligence Group, says this premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a years-long surveillance operation that the company has used to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications network.
"Techniques that took years to develop are now ineffective and worthless," said Rita Katz, the firm's 44-year-old founder, who has garnered wide attention by publicizing statements and videos from extremist chat rooms and Web sites, while attracting controversy over the secrecy of SITE's methodology. Her firm provides intelligence about terrorist groups to a wide range of paying clients, including private firms and military and intelligence agencies from the United States and several other countries.
The precise source of the leak remains unknown. Government officials declined to be interviewed about the circumstances on the record, but they did not challenge Katz's version of events. They also said the incident had no effect on U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts and did not diminish the government's ability to anticipate attacks.
While acknowledging that SITE had achieved success, the officials said U.S. agencies have their own sophisticated means of watching al-Qaeda on the Web. "We have individuals in the right places dealing with all these issues, across all 16 intelligence agencies," said Ross Feinstein, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
But privately, some intelligence officials called the incident regrettable, and one official said SITE had been "tremendously helpful" in ferreting out al-Qaeda secrets over time.
In an off-camera news briefing Tuesday morning, Frances Fragos Townsend, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, said the White House has not conducted an investigation of the alleged SITE leak but expected the director of national intelligence (DNI) to do so.
"We are only going to be successful in the war on terror with the help of the American people," Townsend said. " . . . Anytime an individual or a commercial entity cooperates with us, and asks to be protected and doesn't get the protection that they either sought or deserved, that's a cause for concern."
"Frankly, this is going to be an issue for the DNI to look at so that we can understand what, if anything, happened, and how to deal with it to ensure that we fully protect those who cooperate with us," she said. "The DNI and the Intelligence Committee will need to look at who had access to it -- I mean, it's sort of the typical kind of leak investigation that will have to be considered and acted on as appropriately determined by the DNI."
The al-Qaeda video aired on Sept. 7 attracted international attention as the first new video message from the group's leader in three years. In it, a dark-bearded bin Laden urges Americans to convert to Islam and predicts failure for the Bush administration in Iraq and Afghanistan. The video was aired on hundreds of Western news Web sites nearly a full day before its release by a distribution company linked to al-Qaeda.
Computer logs and records reviewed by The Washington Post support SITE's claim that it snatched the video from al-Qaeda days beforehand. Katz requested that the precise date and details of the acquisition not be made public, saying such disclosures could reveal sensitive details about the company's methods.
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A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition. It gave two senior officials access on the condi...
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Mich. Primary Move Splits Democrats
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DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 8 -- For Debbie Dingell and Sen. Carl M. Levin, the standoff has been brewing for years. The Michigan Democrats have long worked, mostly behind the scenes, to change an electoral calendar that places vast importance on results in Iowa and New Hampshire, states that bear little resemblance to the industrial heartland.
"There's just no possible justification for one or two states that are not particularly representative to have a dominant role in this process. It's not fair to other states," Levin said in a telephone interview. "Why the hell do New Hampshire and Iowa have a claim to the attention to their issues?"
Republican presidential candidates will be standing on a Dearborn stage Tuesday afternoon, discussing manufacturing, jobs and the U.S. economy. Democrats, meanwhile, are shunning Michigan in retaliation for the state's decision to elbow its way into the early primary lineup. When Michigan moved its primary to Jan. 15, leaders in New Hampshire and Iowa leaned on the Democratic principals to stay away.
The result is a tangle, with the Democratic National Committee vowing not to seat any convention delegates Michigan chooses that day and Democratic presidential candidates facing a deadline of Tuesday to decide whether to remain on the ballot here.
Those behind Michigan's move are warning candidates that removing their names would be risky.
"We are going January 15," Dingell, a Democratic national committeewoman and the wife of Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), declared after a fiery speech here Friday. "No matter what, people are going to pay attention to what happens on January 15 . . . even if it's a beauty contest."
Meanwhile, Republican contenders are campaigning actively in a state in which their race looks wide open.
"We couldn't have planned it better ourselves," said Bill Nowling, the state GOP spokesman. "While they're busy shooting themselves in the foot, I'm not going to disturb them."
Before the leapfrogging began, it appeared that Iowa would hold its caucuses on Jan. 14, followed five days later by caucuses in Nevada. New Hampshire would preserve its customary premier primary slot on Jan. 22, and South Carolina would hold its primary Jan. 29.
The candidates planned their travel, staffing and media buys accordingly, but then Florida made a move.
Defying the DNC, Florida moved its primary to Jan. 29, which prompted South Carolina Republicans to jump to Jan. 19 and retain their state's distinction as the first Southern state to vote. New Hampshire law requires the state's primary to be at least seven days before any similar contest, so Secretary of State William M. Gardner declared that the vote would move up by at least a week. That gave Michigan its opening.
After the 2004 election, the DNC agreed to review the schedule with an eye toward tempering the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire. It added Nevada and South Carolina, states with more Hispanic and black voters, respectively, as the second and fourth stops on the primary tour.
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Guards Kill Two Women In Iraq
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BAGHDAD, Oct. 9 -- Private security guards from an Australian-run firm opened fire on a white sedan in downtown Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon, killing two Iraqi Christian women who were driving home from work.
The killings came at a time of unprecedented scrutiny into the behavior of Western private security guards, seen by many Iraqis as reckless mercenaries with little regard for Iraqi life. In an incident last month involving Blackwater USA, guards killed as many as 17 people in what Iraqi and some U.S. officials have described as unprovoked murder.
Tuesday's shooting involved Unity Resources Group, a Dubai-based company founded by an Australian and registered in Singapore. The firm was employed by RTI International, a nonprofit organization that does governance work in Iraq on a contract for the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to David Snider, a USAID spokesman in Washington.
The two Iraqi women were shot as they came up behind a convoy of the firm's sport-utility vehicles, and their deaths seemed certain to heighten tensions between the Iraqi government and the thousands of private security guards operating in Iraq.
"They used excessive force against civilians. Two ladies have been killed," said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. "They are facing a high level of threat, but this does not entitle them not to be subjected to justice, law and accountability."
Iraqi Interior Ministry officials said Unity Resources was registered with the ministry and reported the shooting afterward. "They have admitted what they have done," said Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the chief Interior Ministry spokesman. "They have apologized and said they will do whatever the Interior Ministry asks them to do."
Both the company and the Interior Ministry have launched investigations into the incident.
The violence broke out in the early afternoon, when four SUVs belonging to Unity were heading east along a six-lane divided thoroughfare in Karrada, one of central Baghdad's most popular shopping districts. The white Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera, carrying four people -- including at least three women -- drove toward the convoy from behind, witnesses said.
Iraqi police investigating the incident said the gunner in the last vehicle threw open a door and tossed what looked like a flare, then fired at least 19 rounds into the Oldsmobile.
According to Unity's chief operating officer, Michael Priddin, the women drove up quickly and "failed to stop despite escalation of warnings" including "hand signals and a signal flare."
"Finally shots were fired at the vehicle and it stopped in close vicinity to the security team," Priddin said in a telephone interview. "We deeply regret the firing of shots."
Iraqi police and witnesses at the scene gave differing accounts. Some said the Oldsmobile kept driving toward the convoy while others said it had stopped a safe distance away. They agreed that the car posed no threat to the security guards.
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BAGHDAD, Oct. 9 -- Private security guards from an Australian-run firm opened fire on a white sedan in downtown Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon, killing two Iraqi Christian women who were driving home from work.
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Pakistani Jets Bomb Insurgents As Clashes in Northwest Intensify
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The military said that at least 150 insurgents had been killed in the battles in North Waziristan, a remote tribal region bordering Afghanistan that al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters have used as a base for operations.
The most intense clashes have occurred in the town of Mir Ali, where the military has deployed heavy artillery, helicopter gunships and fighter jets to try to oust insurgents who have been waging an aggressive campaign against the Pakistani army. The use of fighter jets is unusual, but government officials said it was necessary given the firepower they were facing from the radical fighters.
"The resistance from local Taliban is tougher than what the government usually expects," conceded a tribal affairs official in Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province. "Such tough resistance also gives credence to speculation that al-Qaeda-trained foreign fighters might be backing these local Taliban."
The Taliban, an extremist Islamic movement, ruled most of Afghanistan and sheltered al-Qaeda until it was ousted by a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.
The fighting in Pakistan's northwest, which began late Saturday with an insurgent strike on a military convoy, has taken a heavy toll on civilians. There were reports Tuesday of large numbers of casualties among local residents caught in the crossfire. Civilians in some villages used mosque loudspeakers to appeal to both sides not to target homes or shopping areas.
Meanwhile, an exodus was underway for those who were able to leave.
Mohammad Zarin, 33, made it from Mir Ali to the nearby town of Bannu on Tuesday with his mother, wife, three children, sister-in-law, three nephews and two nieces.
"It was a hard decision to leave our home in Mir Ali. But life is more precious than material things," Zarin said by phone. "We decided to leave our home for the sake of our children."
Zarin said his older brother stayed behind to look after the family's home.
"The first priority of every family is to take their women and children to a safer place, and leave one person at home to take care of the household," he said.
For others, it was too late.
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Is Bigger Better?
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"To fill and fund the new buildings," he wrote, "museums can become addicted to crowd-pleasing blockbuster exhibitions. Smaller and maybe smarter shows, with the potential to teach us to love something other than Monet and mummies, can get elbowed off the calendar. And the permanent collection becomes at best a poor stepchild."
Gopnik was online at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 9.
Blake Gopnik: Hello museumgoers - Thanks for joining me ... in my FIRST EVER Web chat! Afraid I'm not much of a typist (I'm not quite at "two fingers" yet) so please be patient as I get to your questions. (A few of you sent in questions in advance, so at least I can get us started with my answers to those.) Meanwhile, I'll throw a question out to you: Is there anyone out there who PREFERS to spend more time with lots of art, instead of the same amount of time really digging into a few works? I'm always trying to convince museums, and my editors (and, in a sense, myself) that a show with 20 works can be a better, more newsworthy exhibition than one with "all 767 Rubens nudes" or whatever other big number can be atttached to art. Less really IS more, when it comes to looking at art ... or not? Let me know your views.
Oceanside, Calif.: Some years ago I had a chance to visit the original Newseum. I found it interesting. A few weeks later I had a chance to visit the Arken museum outside Copenhagen, a museum pre-built to hold the art created in the 21st century. I found the building fascinating. What little art I found in it, I found boring. And now we have to deal with a new, high-tech Newseum, with more bells and whistles than anyone should have to endure. And so it goes across Washington and the rest of the country. We're spending all this money to create Taj Mahals to hold stuff that would better be left to Waste Management. What does it matter if we build wonderous monuments to hold all matters of literary garbage if our young people can't even read?
Blake Gopnik: Hi Oceanside. Thanks for joining from California. I've got a funny feeling - but I could be wrong; I'm just reading between your lines -- that we might not agree on what counts as good art. There's plenty of contemporary art I think is very fine. (And, as always in the history of art, plenty that will turn out to have been a waste of time.) I agree, though, about bells and whistles and fancy buildings. Part of the problem, I think, is that we've got this one category -- "museum" -- that includes very different kinds of places. There are the art museums where the objects on display are what really matters: So long as they're out there to be seen, the art museum has done 90% of its job. (I think we need to go back to thinking of museum as "libraries of art," whose job is mostly to give access to what they collect and care for.) And then there are all the other museums -- history museums, commemorative museums, etc. -- where the objects (if there even are any -- think of the Newseum) are just illustrations for some point that's being made or lesson that's being taught. Those HAVE to have "bells and whistles" to keep the visitor's attention, because their objects are rarely up to it. My worry is when an art museum gets "infected" by a bells-and-whistles approach, so that the focus turns away from its objects. If you really BELIEVE in a work of art, you have to believe that it can do its job, without "enhancement."
As for the other kinds of museums ... I worry that you could learn more from two hours with a book than two hours being belled-and-whistled in many science museums!
Syracuse, N.Y.: I agree that the size of museums are starting to get out of hand, but should we really be complaining? At least there is money and interest going into museums rather than having them sit empty.
Blake Gopnik: Well, I don't know that the only choice is between museums on steroids and museums that are empty and ignored. There is LOTS of stuff to spend money on in museums, other than buildings. As some of my interviewees pointed out in Sunday's package, money going to buildings is being taken away from acquisitions and staff etc.
And once again -- I bet I'll be saying this throughout this chat -- we're hooked on the idea that bigger attendance is better. (I'm always finding myself thinking that way.) Of course, an EMPTY museum isn't good, but can't a museum be TOO full? Especially if it's being run for the sake of those numbers, rather than for the sake of the art experience. I can guarantee crowds in any building in the world -- but not necessarily with significant, important art shows.
Washington, D.C.: Why is "popular" a bad thing? Shouldn't art museums have a balanced approach to expose all kinds of art to the public that they serve?
Including artwork that is "popular" with the public as well as a venue for new, perhaps not so pupular art?
Blake Gopnik: Well, I guess I'm not sure that I believe that some art is "naturally" popular, and other art is naturally esoteric and difficult. I think any art that's really worthwhile is fiendishly difficult, if you take the trouble to go below the surface and really try to figure out what makes it tick. When I spend two or three hours in a show, I walk out feeling like I've been hit by a Mack truck. All art is really, really weird stuff -- why do we make it, anyway? -- so none of it is easy. And let's not forget that many of the artists who are now "popular" -- Monet, Renoir, Picasso, even sometimes Old Masters like Titian and Rembrandt -- could be seen as absurdly difficult and esoteric to their contemporaries. Good museums will help their visitors dig deep into the art, to understand its complexities; they don't want visitors to leave with the same comfort level they had when they came in. What we don't want, I'd say, is museums so desperate for ticket sales that they can't afford to challenge us when we go in. THAT's the kind of condescending "populism" ("Hey Bozo -- we think you're too dumb to deal with art that challenges, but we'll take your money, anyway") that hurts us all. It makes me very sad when I hear a curator say (or imply) "Well, I know it's not much of a show. And I can't say it interests ME. But Joe Public will flock to it."
Art History Student: While I agree that many museum expansions are unwarranted, I am very excited about the plans for an annex to the Textile Museum. They have a wonderful collection, but none of it is on display as they only have room for two exhibitions. I think that their decision to expand will prove to be a good one.
Blake Gopnik: I couldn't agree more. Anyone who reads me knows how much I LOVE decorative arts and design, and that I lament how much less seriously they are taken -- especially in Washington -- than so-called "fine art." (Which I also cherish, obviously.) The Textile Museum is a particular fave of mine -- especially the (many) shows they mount which draw from the permanent collection. My understanding, so far, is that they will be using the new downtown space for temporary exhibitions, and the old "mansion" north of Dupont Circle will be (more) devoted to permanent collection. Two worries about that: 1) I'd hate to see too much of their attention being distracted into splashy temporary exhibitions, at the expense of the perm. collection; 2)I'd hate for them to join the movement toward shows that are designed to draw crowds, rather than inspire them with things they've never seen before. The Textile Museum's recent show on tent bands of Central Asia was a stunner -- and was that, no matter how few people might have seen it, because of its esoteric subject.
20008: You offer your chat-leading-off question as an either/or, when it's no such thing. No, no one wants to see 300 Rubenses in a show. But the Kimball having the opportunity to show more work from its permanent collection is absolutely a good thing.
Blake Gopnik: There's absolutely something to be said for museum expansion when it's needed to house the permanent collection properly -- as Timothy Potts of the Kimbell made clear in his Sunday interview. But let's not forget that the Kimbell, for instance, has to expand because space originally set aside for perm. collection is now being used for temporary exhibitions -- only some of which have been truly worthwhile. (Look back at their roster, and it's easy to spot plenty of filler shows.) There's an addiction to permanent collections that almost EVERYONE believes is having pernicious effects.
Glover Park, Washington, D.C.: Mr. Gopnik: Thanks for your insightful article. Do you have any insight into the opening and rapid closing of D.C.'s City Museum, in a wonderful location near the Convention Center? I read that the timing was bad -- and that 9/11 didn't help tourists flock to the place, but I felt this wonderful resource didn't get the chance it deserved.
Blake Gopnik: As I said in an article some time ago, my worry about the City Museum was that its objects were all ILLUSTRATIONS for a history lesson. They weren't given room to speak for themselves, and to let visitors come to grips with them as they pleased.
That said, I sure didn't want it to close. Only one reason for that: Money. And the notion that huge attendance is the only measure of success. (OK, I guess that makes two reasons.) THere are lots of great little museums all across Europe and Canada that stay open because "We the People" -- via our governments and the tax dollars we give them to spend for us! -- decide that they are worth having around, even if we only get to them once a decade. Or never. (I'd happily have my taxes go to a museum of football art. Even though I' be unlikely to go. And wouldn't understand a thing if I did. Talk about an esoteric artform! -- football makes radical conceptualism look lightweight!)
Bethesda, Md.: What is the role of a city's commercial art galleries and art dealers in the development of that city's art museum(s)?
Blake Gopnik: I think I'd come at the issue the other way around: It's the museums that are so crucial to the rest of the art scene -- to the making and the selling and the buying. Museums are (or should be) enough above the fray that they can attend to one thing, and one thing only: Looking for the best and most interesting art out there, and putting it on display. That's how the rest of us -- artists, dealers, collectors, critics (ESPECIALLY critics!) -- are most likely to learn what really good art is. So then we can go about our business of making/selling/buying/writing with a better sense of how high the bar can be set for art. Washington is unbelievably lucky to have the museums that it does -- there's not another city its size that can come close. Art scenes where the "Washington model" gets flipped, with a hot market LEADING the museums -- as maybe in New York right now -- get in trouble. Because the fact that an artist sells tells you ZERO about how good their art is. (Cezanne didn't sell for years; In those same years, Bouguereau -- naked girls with wings on puffy clouds -- was a market darling. 'Nuff said.)
Alexandria, Va.: Why can't art museums also utilize their wonderful collections to introduce/discuss an interesting idea? Why is the art collected in the first place -- because it is a primo example of a technical idea or a social movement or a result of a certain perspective (100 years ago the Mona Lisa wasn't popular. Today it is -- that is fasinating -- can we use art exhibitions to explore this idea?)
As to bells and whistles -- the average museum goer is familiar (and has grown up with) being able to manipulate data in a way our grandfathers could never have percieved. Bells and whistles teach nothing -- but placed correctly and put in for the sake of helping the learner -- opportunities for audiences to learn from the works is a reason for museums. All museums -- art included.
Lastly, you can read a book in 2 hours and learn something from it because you are sitting down. Far more comfortable than walking and standing for two hours. Books and Museums are complimentary -- not either/or -- learning experiences.
Blake Gopnik: Art-museum curators can and almost always DO use their collections to explore ideas. The thing is, the art works do that, even if the curators aren't trying. I like to think about art works as, in a sense, tools for thinking. (About art, and about other things. Tools for feeling and seeing, too, of course.) So once you've got those tools -- just by being put in a room full of art -- you're doing pretty well already.
And an art work in itself is almost never dumb -- I'm not even sure what it would mean for it to be so. But boy-oh-boy, have I seen some dumb things SAID about art, in museum wall texts and elsewhere. (Sure, I know. Some of you would say I've said plenty myself. And I'd agree with some of you on that, some of the time.)
So by NOT using art as illustration for lessons, you're guaranteed one thing: A lack of real stupidity, and the possibility, at least, of a VIEWER finding something interesting to think, all by themselves, with the help of the art.
This is more a question about the old Arts & Industries building and what to do with it.
It's a grand museum building with architecture that reminds me of the grandiosity and wonder of the Natural History Museum in London.
It would be a shame to not find a proper use for it... how about as a war museum similar to the Imperial War Museum in London and the Musee de l'Armee in Paris? Maybe not with tanks, trucks, jeeps, and other heavy military equipment, but it could tell the story of America at war from Colonial times through the present.
D.C. doesn't have a war museum, and American History needs the space.
Blake Gopnik: I'm close enough to being a pacifist that I'm not sure I'd want Arts and Industries to be a war museum. (And we've got an awful lot of war-themed museums and monuments in the area, already.) But I'd (almost) rather see it be a war museum than stand empty. (Anyway, I spent many fond afternoons, as a child,in war museums in Paris and London. They DO give a great sense of history, if of a bloody sort.)
The only way that Arts and Industries, or the rest of the Smithsonian, is going to get back on its feet is if WE THE PEOPLE tell our representatives in Congress that we want to spend OUR taxes on it. I'm happy to see my taxes RAISED, if I know they'll go for culture rather than weapons (except for the knights-in-armor kind).
Blake Gopnik: Just ten minutes left, folks. So I'll try to give shorter answers. Boy, can you guys sure pile on the questions!!! And not a single curse word among them. (Oh. Right. The online editors cut those before they get to me.)
Annandale, Va.: The problem with blockbuster exhibits is that they are so crowded, the art becomes impossible to see. I was at the Hopper exhibit this past weekend, and it was difficult to really experience his works -- it was so crowded I wasn't comfortable getting close to see his brush work and then retreating to see the painting cohere. I would either be blocking the painting from other gallery-goers, or bumping into folks left and right. It was a nice exhibit, but so crowded that the experience was unpleasant. And I went early on a Sunday! I am reminded of my attempt to view the Leonardo drawings at the Met -- after a 90-minute wait, the galleries were so crowded and the works so small that I abandoned the exhibit after one room.
Re small exhibits: once of the best recent museum exhibits was MOMA's exhibit devoted to Manet's Execution of Maximilian. The exhibit was all of one gallery, with all 5 of the works Manet produced on the topic, with background material. It was a fascinating, engrossing exhibit that allowed one to consider Manet's creative and artistics processes in the context of his politics and the French empire. Such an exhibit would never be a blockbuster, but was informative, provocative and engaging.
Blake Gopnik: You and everyone else who agrees with you (which includes EVERY museumgoer) has to send that message VERY loud and VERY clear to museum directors everywhere. Tell them that you simply refuse to attend overcrowded shows.
The other thing you have to do, of course, is open your minds to unfamous art. Why is Hopper so much more crowded than the superb show of Central European photography that recently closed at the National Gallery? Because people go to shows they ALREADY think they'll like, rather than to shows they DON'T know about, and might have to learn to love.
Wheaton, Md. : I think it is too bad that D.C. doesn't have a museum dealing with classical antiquity. Do you agree?
Blake Gopnik: Sure. You got a Venus de Milo to donate?
Seriously, the collection would have to come first -- and where is it going to come from?
Boston, Mass.: Is there a finite amount of art? If yes, wouldn't that necessarily limit museum sizes? Because if every city in the U.S. wants to have an art museum, and, say, only a limited number of contemporary artists are currently appreciated/trendy/whatever, and the push for countries around the world to recover antiquities starts to seriously succeed... Is it possible for there to be too many museums and not enough art? Or would it result in increased interest in artists of all eras that are currently underexposed?
Blake Gopnik: There's so much art out there, we're in no danger of running out. Question is, is all of it worth showing?
Though I'm all for showing unknowns who may turn out to be the next Vermeer. (Anyone for Andrea Schiavone? -- google him, go on...)
Blake Gopnik: I think I just ran out of time.
Thanks all for coming, and the interesting questions!
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Blake Gopnik, art critic for The Post, takes questions about expansion projects in art museums.
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Chatological Humor (Updated 10.12.07)
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Gene Weingarten's humor column, Below the Beltway, appears every Sunday in The Washington Post magazine. It is syndicated nationally by the Washington Post Writers Group.
At one time or another, Below the Beltway has managed to offend persons of both sexes as well as individuals belonging to every religious, ethnic, regional, political and socioeconomic group. If you know of a group we have missed, please write in and the situation will be promptly rectified. "Rectified" is a funny word.
On Tuesdays at noon, Gene is online to take your questions and abuse. He will chat about anything. Although this chat is updated regularly throughout the week, it is not and never will be a "blog," even though many persons keep making that mistake. One reason for the confusion is the Underpants Paradox: Blogs, like underpants, contain "threads," whereas this chat contains no "threads" but, like underpants, does sometimes get funky and inexcusable.
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Important, secret note to readers: The management of The Washington Post apparently does not know this chat exists, or it would have been shut down long ago. Please do not tell them. Thank you.
Weingarten is also the author of "The Hypochondriac's Guide to Life. And Death" and co-author of "I'm with Stupid," with feminist scholar Gina Barreca.
New to Chatological Humor? Read the FAQ.
P.S. If composing your questions in Microsoft Word please turn off the Smart Quotes functionality or use WordPad. I haven't the time to edit them out. -- Liz
You know what's been bothering me lately? The way we entertain ourselves, as a society. I am sick of all your "hip hop" "music" and your hoochie-cootchy girls with their dresses up to their puppicks, and your smart aleck Daily Shows and Colbert Reports and Onions. Mostly, though, I am sick of baseball. What a stupid way to pass the time.
My parents' generation, now THEY knew how to entertain themselves. THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is entertainment. You will notice they have a midget AND a Negro AND a fat guy. Plus dames in tight sweaters. I sent this link to a friend who wrote back: "Evidently, this is what gay people had to do before there was an interior design industry."
I just got back from L'Enfant Plaza, where I played the harmonica in the same spot and at the same time of day and before the same rush-hour crowd as Josh Bell did when he played his violin. Like Josh, I was incognito. Like Josh, I was being secretly videotaped. I was doing this for a stupid reason that must remain secret, but the organizers of the event have authorized me to disclose exclusively to my chat audience that I am ugly and have no musical talent.
I hope you all saw THIS.
It becomes clear at the bottom that Craig's wife wrote this. She must think about hot dogs slipping into potatoes a lot, poor thing.
Next, we have this entertaining story out of England.
Which eagle-eyed reader can find an important clue that this story might be a little ginned up?
Just so you all understand the nature of the excitement of daily journalism, mere minutes before this chat began, every reporter at The Washington Post received this email, under the subject line "BIGGEST STORY OF THE CENTURY NOT A JOKE MUST TAKE SERIOUSLY." I am sharing this with all of you now.
"To anyone who happens to receive this letter,
"My name is -----------. I am a citizen of the United States. I am currently a student at Bloomsburg University and have recently become aware of certain empathic and telepathic abilities that I have developed. Bloomsburg, PA is currently the testing ground for these abilities, and although everyone involved is under directions to keep me from realizing this, it has become extremely obvious that the entire area is being quarantined for observation. I believe it may be the government who is keeping these exercises and tests under wraps, for they are attempting to make me believe that the world is "watching" when in actuality it seems as though this is merely a simulation of the world watching. Either way, the world needs to know all about these abilities, for they would pose a threat if they were to fall into the wrong hands. To any journalist reading this right now, I implore you to not ignore this story due to its extreme nature. This is a worldwide headline that will probably go down in history as one of the biggest stories of the twentieth century. My phone number is --------, although I believe that any call would be intercepted and answered by someone posing as me . "
The pick of the week is Monday's Rhymes with Orange. First runner up is today's Nonseq. Honorables are today's Candorville, and yesterday's Lio.
Please note the really bizarre confluence of yesterday's Zits and yesterday's Hagar.
And lastly can anyone (and I am including Mr. Stephan Pastis, here, of Santa Rosa, Calif.), provide a plausible explanation for why Rat beat up Pig yesterday?
Oh and one more thing. I just noticed, to my astonishment, that Sally Forth's mother has a remarkable physical resemblance to Amy Lago, the hottie comics editor of The Washington Post Writer's Group. Amy will deny this, and complain to her co-workers, who will look at Sally's ma and say, "You know, Amy I have to say..."
Please take today's poll ( Men| Women) which, as you all understand, is proving to be a pretty unnerving testimonial to the degree of tension in our lives. I will give my analysis early, so we can discuss.
Potomac, Md.: People: Not everyone walks fast. Some people have ailments, disabilities, health problems. People walking slowly should NOT anger anyone. Simply wait for an opportunity, and politely walk around them. NOT EVERYONE IS IN A HURRY, EITHER. In fact, most of us need to slow the heck down, walk a bit more slowly, and just take it easy. And be more patient. And be more mature. And drink less caffeine. And talk less on your cell phones -- or please do it somewhere where we don't have to listen to your noisy, obnoxious calls. People are just getting more annoying, more rude -- and less patient. Everyone just needs to slow down.
Gene Weingarten: We all hate you.
A really good question: My five-year-old just asked me, "How do mermaids poop?" I must confess I had never given the matter much thought, so I'm turning to you, the Pope of Poop, to guide us in our quest.
Gene Weingarten: They poop the same way tropical fish poop. There is a little poop hole, and the poop comes out in long strings until they whip against something and it gets cut off. Mermaids are really disgusting.
Gene Weingarten: Uh, I should add that your kid's question is the adorable innocent version of a different question some people have posed about the physiology of mermaids.
Tattoo Guy: How is it that his back is more tan than his arms? It looks tan, not red from the needles...does he wear armsocks & nothing else when outdoors?
Gene Weingarten: Nope. You are being blind to something obvious.
Upper East Side, N.Y.: Gene:
I'm not sure women/men is the right breakdown for this poll.
From my observations, this is more like big city vs smaller city/rural.
As a person who has always lived in big cities (D.C., NYC, Boston, L.A.), I'm always in a hurry. It's just what you do. I've spent some time in Buffalo and Cleveland, and am driven to distraction by nobody ever being in a hurry at any time.
And my wife is, too!
BTW, I answered "Angers me, no guilt" on every single one. Maybe I need some blood pressure medication.
Gene Weingarten: I think you are right. Would have been a better split. I'll tell you something else: New Yorkers are honkers. In the way they talk AND the way they drive. It is not considered rude; or rather, it simply blends in to the baseline rude.
Washington, DC: So who did you lose a Yankees bet to this time? Did Dave Barry take Cleveland just to spite you?
Funny moment at my poker game last night: only one out of the 15 or so people there was a Yankees fan, but he's a very loud and boisterous type. He was repeatedly demanding that the television be turned from the thrilling Dallas-Buffalo finish to watch the bottom of the ninth in New York. His constant refrain: "This game is over. Dallas is done!" I love watching Yankees fans eat crow.
Gene Weingarten: I knew it was over when Jeter grounded into a double play with two on in the sixth, I think. When Jeter isn't clutch, it's over.
Ginned up story: The wife is wearing the same blouse in both photos.
Gene Weingarten: There ya go! And the background is the same. This is a big put on.
Charlotte, N.C.: You were extremely unfair and unnecessarily cruel in your updates to the poster who wanted to spread the word about the abandoned puppies. Yes, I know it turned out that the case was a hoax. More accurately, according to Snopes.com, it had been true once at one time but even after the puppies were adopted the e-mail took on a life of its own and has been passed on with sometimes changing contact information.
Gene, this happens even among people who are genuinely nice and genuinely concerned. That same post was forwarded to the volunteers at a local shelter here in North Carolina by the animal control officer, who had no reason to doubt it when he received it himself. The thing is, the person who had sent it to him probably had no reason to doubt it. And so on up the chain. Many of us who volunteer our time in rescue are on multiple e-mail lists and pass on information to others we think might be able to help. Inevitably, a few get through that have already been resolved.
I've worked in dog rescue for years. People really do dump dogs in the road. We adopted out a sweet little beagle who had been found tied in a bad in the middle of the road. Sadly, that's far from the worst thing I've ever seen happen to a dog. So can you please save the ire for the sick morans who hurt, neglect, or otherwise mistreat animals and give this poster a break? She may have been "all over Liz to post it" because she was determined to help. Believe me, I have days when my heart hurts so much it's an actual physical pain, trying to help these animals. I think my soul, or whatever passes for a soul for someone with no religious beliefs, has taken a permanent hit by what I do.
Off topic, but what the heck. It might be easier if I did believe in heaven and hell and could hope that these monsters would be punished long term for what they do to innocent animals. As it is, our corporeal laws are inadequate and said monsters will probably pass from this world unaffected.
Finally, a word to the original poster. I choose to believe that you cared enough to make a fuss, and that you truly thought these puppies were in danger. Thank you, both for the belief and the action.
Gene Weingarten: You are referring to my statement that if the poser was a woman, she is dumpy and dowdy, and that if it was a man, he is hung like a miniature golf pencil. You found that cruel?
Hey, I am with you, kid. I love dogs. The problem is I am virtually certain that the chatter who posted that KNEW it was a fraud, because the post purported to be from the person whose (bogus) email was appended. Also, the poster lobbied Liz during the chat to get it posted. It was chicanery.
Gene Weingarten: Okay, now this is interesting. I wrote the above response before reading the next post, which I do believe. So, I take back what I said above, but I'm still publishing because I like the golf-pencil analogy.
I'm the original puppy poster: I'm the original puppy poster. I'm really sorry that it turned out to be a hoax. I got the e-mail from someone I trusted, and she got it from someone she trusted, so it didn't even occur to me that it could be fake. (I guess I know now to Google absolutely everything before I believe it.) I have neither flabby intellect nor a nonexistent sense of humor; instead, I have a soft spot for animals and have come to love this chat as a resource for people (and animals) who need help. I was glad to become a part of that and make a sad situation better, and it really was not my intention to mislead anyone. And finally, knowing that it's relatively hard to get people to care about anything, I am really sorry that people (especially you, Gene and Liz) started to care about something that turned out to be false. And I know you can't tell who I am, or if I'm really the original poster, but I just wanted to say it. Apologies, all.
Gene Weingarten: And I apologize back at you.
The day after the chat, my wife got the same email from her boss, who was passing it along "from a friend." He also knew it was true.
It's an interesting phenomenon, isn't it? Back when urban legends were passed mouth-to-mouth, and not instantly debunkable by the Web, people always heard them "from a friend" and it always happened to a friend of the friend. The missing kidney. Reggie Jackson and his dog in the elevator.
Penn Quarter, Washington, D.C.: Apropos of the assertion you make (that gets you in trouble, apparently) regarding finding your passion in life and then finding a way to make a living at it: in an honest evaluation, what percent of your success would you ascribe to your own talent and ambition, and what percent would you ascribe to luck? Meaning, if there was another you, with exactly your personality, exactly your experience, and exactly your ability, do you think it's a mortal lock that he will end up as satisfied as you are? Or has there been a time in your own career where you've gained a pivotal opportunity simply by being in the right place at the right time - an opportunity this Other You might not get, which would prevent him from reaching your level of success and happiness? (And yes, this is coming from a 33-year-old lawyer who sort of wants to blame her career dissatisfaction on chance.)
Gene Weingarten: Interesting. You are presuming I'm "satisfied." I'm completely unsatisfied, and that's part of the answer.
I think, by and large, and with obvious dramatic exceptions, people make their own career luck. And that luck is based on fear of failure.
When Michael Williamson (two Pulitzers) was shooting the Old Dogs book, one of the dog owners who was an amateur photographer watched Michael work with his dog. Two hours later, when the shoot was finished, the guy told Michael: "I've figured out the difference between an amateur photographer and a professional. You work harder."
He does. Michael works as though he is desperately afraid of missing The Great Shot.
Part of the reason I have attained a small measure of success is that, deep down, I feel I have attained NO success. I am always scared of failure, destitution, public ridicule, etc., and on some level, I believe these things are perpetualy around the corner. My dreams, when they are not inane and banal, are dark and terrifying and filled with anxiety.
(Last night, I dreamed that I was going to star in a stage play, only I knew I was unprepared and would not remember my lines. When it came time to go on stage, I got lost and couldn't find the theater. I desperately raced around trying to find the stage door, and failing, and the play had begun, and I was missing. I realized that, to save face, I needed to pretend I had had a heart attack. So I feigned a heart attack by falling headfirst into some bushes. A woman found me, and she and a friend carried me to their car -- too late, I realized they were kidnaping me. I tried to scream, but they had duct taped my mouth. That's when I woke up, unable to scream.
That's it. Do you really want to be me?
Also, I think ambition is more important to success than talent. But it's more than ambition: It's ambition seasoned with a good dose of fear. Life is cruel.
Carmel, IN: There are a lot of hypocrites in the chat room today. The majority say honking is rude. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Next question about it brings an almost unanimous vote to honk away for almost any other reason. People who don't nudge out into the intersection on a green light are being RUDE and stupid. They need a honk and a kick in the tail light!
Gene Weingarten: I agree about the honking dichotomy. I think that most of the people who do not ease out into the intersection are not being rude so much as they are being timid and clueless as to how to drive.
Do we have any people in this chat willing to admit, anonymously of course, that when they need to make a left turn through oncoming traffic, they do not move out into the intersection, because this scares them, but stay in their lane behind their green light?
Perpetual Guilt: Gene! No fair!! As a doubly-cursed Minnesota Catholic, if you give me the option, of COURSE I am going to have to choose "I will feel bad" -- that's what we do!! And if I were tempted to say, "Ha! No, I wouldn't feel bad!" I would feel DOUBLY bad and probably find myself chanting novenas in front of the church candles I am going to hell for having lit and not paid for!! Gahh! The downward spiral will now continue all day!!
Seoul, ROK: Oh emperor of poop, I kneel before the throne of your benevolent authority. Either I have ventured into the surreal or I've been doing it wrong all my life.
My girlfriend's toilette seems, well... insane. Butt, since these matters are seldom spoke of, maybe I just missed the memo.
On the back of her commode is a pack of Wet-Wipes. After she has completed a poop, she wraps a Wet-Wipe around a finger, inserts and twists it around a few times. I &#%$ you not.
Gene, is this how most people do it?
Gene Weingarten: I simply cannot believe that Chatwoman allowed me to see this post, because of the danger that I might actually publish it.
Eagle-eyed: Lisa Jenkins is still wearing her wedding ring
Gene Weingarten: That's interesting. I hadn't noticed that. But the other thing is more interesting.
Tattoos & Printed Shirts: Why were those portraits taken on the same day? The "husband with wife and duaghters" picture depicts a smiling, happy family (despite an awful tattoo). The "wife with hot Latvian lover" dipicts a happy, cheating wife with some young dude. But she has the same shirt on in both pictures, and it's clearly the same sunny day in the same green park.
They're all in this together.
Gene Weingarten: Okay, okay, we've got it.
Honk Haters: There is no nice little button in the car that gently nudges you to move your damn car already, in the voice of James Earl Jones. Deal with honking. It's not personal. Unless you have diplomatic plates, in which case, it is an expression of deep and utter bile.
Gene Weingarten: Okay, the poll.
First of all, I would like to state that I have found the two hundred humans on Earth who are least like me in the world. These would be the two hundred people who say that honking is rude and would not honk EVEN IF THE NITWIT IN FRONT OF THEM WAS ASLEEP AT THE LIGHT.
Who ARE you doormats? How can anyone be so passive? Explain yourselves.
I will honk. If a driver does not ease into the intersection, I will honk, and when he looks in the rear view mirror, because he has no idea why someone will be honking him, I will gently flap both hands forward, palms down, the universal semaphore for "please move forward."
This is not rude, this is practical. This person needs to learn how to drive so as to not inconvenience people. My actions are not hostile, they are INSTRUCTIVE.
But I'm from New York.
Every single thing in this poll bugs me, and I feel guilty about my anger in all the cases where a human is at fault, instead of a company. Of course there is nothign wrong with being cheerful to the cashier, really. But at the moment, consumed by impatience, inside my head I am a raving lunatic, and outside my head, if I think no one is looking, I am rolling my eyes. I wrote a column about this about a year ago.
I am embarrassed by my impatience, as, apparently, are a good many of you.
You know what's inexcusable? Long lines at the supermarket with unmannied cashier stations, and waiting on hold for a half hour for customer service. It's the same sin. They don't care about us.
New York, N.Y.: I live in New York where the slow walking thing is a problem approximately every single time I walk, anywhere.
People, you are allowed to walk as slow as you want, welcome to it even. Just do it in a single file line on the right side of the sidewalk. Do NOT take your annoying boyfriend out for a stroll at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night and walk side by side at the speed of erosion, taking up the whole sidewalk. People who are annoyed by this are justified because it is RUDE.
Gene Weingarten: I like "the speed of erosion." Thank you. I may steal that one day.
Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.:"Trousers have always been cut in two styles: plain front and pleated front. Traditionally, pleated-front trousers have been the choice of the well-dressed man. Again, there is a functional basis underlying the use of pleats. It was a device created to combine comfort and function. When one sits, the hips naturally widen. The pleat enables the trousers to respond. Additionally, the pleats help to break up the width of the front of the trousers and allow a graceful draping of the cloth, which is particularly evident when a man is walking."
-- "Clothes and the Man: The Principles of Fine Men's Dress," 1991.
In other words, fashions come and fashions go, and when they come they can look less like fashions and more like immutable truths. If Chatwoman had been young and opinionated in 1976, she'd have been going, like, "Ewwwww" at men wearing ties and lapels too narrow to land a small jet on. And her tattoos would have qualified her for membership in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
washingtonpost.com: You just can't let this one go, can you?
Gene Weingarten: Liz's tattoos -- and I have seen them -- are not like Teamster tattoos. They are like the tattoos on the forearms of NBA strong forwards.
Mail-Order Medicine Bottles: Hi Gene, Hopefully you or the chatters can help. Where do people who receive those plastic medicine bottles dispose of them when empty? The label is super-glued on and contains personal information. They are almost impossible to remove and I don't feel comfortable throwing them in the trash. I would truly appreciate any disposal ideas. Thank-you.
Gene Weingarten: I would melt them in a saucepan, and then throw out the saucepan. But I'm an idiot.
Theismann, Jacoby, Grimm, and Monk - the Four Skins: I'm a Gentile and I honestly don't know if I'm circumcised. I appear have a foreskin under normal circumstances, but it disappears under special circumstances.
Gene Weingarten: Hey, you ought to meet the woman with the Handi-Wipes on the back of her toilet!
Arlington, Va.: Wow, that poll made me angry. I would say all of those situations annoy me, so I answered that I would be angry. And after seeing how many things anger me, I realized that I'm angry a lot of the time. Thanks.
Gene Weingarten: Honestly, that was sort of the point of the poll; these are momentary delays we are talking about. We're insane. All of us. Particularly me.
What happened to your boring dreams?: I thought you only dreamt of, like, walking down the street?
Gene Weingarten: I still have them all the time. Most of my dreams are boring and banal.
washingtonpost.com: Hurry Up and Read This, ( Post Magazine, Sept. 24, 2006)
Silver Spring, Md.:"Do we have any people in this chat willing to admit, anonymously of course, that when they need to make a left turn through oncoming traffic, they do not move out into the intersection, because this scares them, but stay in their lane behind their green light?"
Oh, yeah, I usually do this. So sue me - I'm a timid driver.
Gene Weingarten: GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GET OUT INTO THE INTERSECTION. Every time you do this you consign the car behind you to having to wait through another whole light cycle.
I didn't mean to yell.
Anonymous: Someone said: "There are a lot of hypocrites in the chat room today. The majority say honking is rude. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Next question about it brings an almost unanimous vote to honk away for almost any other reason."
I answered "No, honking is rude" because it was the only "no" answer, dumbass. And in that situation, honking IS rude. But in the next situation, honking is helpful. So shutup, stupid amateur chat analyst.
Gene Weingarten: Hm. Yes, good point. If you wouldn't honk in that situation, you HAD to say it was rude. Sorry.
Theat, ER: Regarding the movie question in the poll, I don't like the generic ads for Coke or whatnot. But the previews are fine. A self-published internet movie critic once said, you know the preview is the very best 2.5 minutes of a movie. So it's like getting to watch 4-5 movies for free (at least, the parts most worth watching).
Gene Weingarten: I disagree with this. Increasingly, movie trailers tend to be blurry fast-cut snips of half-scenes that are intended to convey speed and urgency and almost never deliver any sense of plot.
Across the Great Divi, DE: Hi Gene,
You'll probably get this 1,000 times [ No, just three. -- Liz], but the lead vocalist who sang the words, "Standing by your window in pain" was actually the fantastic and fatally flawed Richard Manuel, not Levon Helm as you guessed in the updates. I take no pleasure in correcting you, just wanted to make sure appropriate credit was given to a lovely, dearly departed man.
The album "The Band" (1969), is flawless, in my opinion. I prefer it to Sgt Pepper's, Pet Sounds, or even Wildfire. It ranked 45th on Rolling Stones top 500 albums of all time. Do you concur?
Gene Weingarten: Yes, it was Manuel, who hanged himself in 1986 for reasons no one quite understands.
I always called that album "The Brown Album," and I agree with you. I think it is among my top five albums, along with Bringin' It all Back Home, Highway 61, and, ah, hm. Okay, Sgt. Pepper. And one other to be named later.
Washington, D.C.: Sally's MOTHER? You are obnoxious, Weingarten, and I take back all the nice things I said about the Oct. 21 Drosophila melanogaster column.
I like to think I look much more like Janis.
Gene Weingarten: You look nothing like Janis.
Arlo and Janis is the hottest strip in the comics, though.
Listen, Sally's mom is quite attractive, and she's drawn to look about 40. Go ahead, ask your coworkers. Report back.
What??: Reggie Jackson and his dog? I never heard that one? Is it suitable for the chat?
Gene Weingarten: Yes, it was all over the place. It happened at world series time, and was resurrected every year. Two old white people were in a hotel elevator when a large black man walked in with his dog. The man said to his dog, "Get down," and the white couple, terrified, crouched to the floor.
The black guy turned out to be Reggie Jackson! And the white couple was so mortified, and Reggie felt so sorry for them, that he got them tickets to the world series!
New York: So you are all wise and practically a doctor. I just got diagnosed with a B12 deficiency. Is it as bad as it sounds (or as Web MD makes it sound)? My Dr. apppointment is on Wednesday, but I thought you could give me a little insight today. Do you really need to get a shot every week for forever? Or do I just need to start taking some vitamins?
Also, is it weird that I am a 27-year-old female and this is my second "old person disease?" I had shingles at 20.
Gene Weingarten: I had shingle at 17. AND THEY WERE IN MY EYE.
You'll be fine. They need to find out why you have a deficiency, and many of the possible reasons are benign.
Anonymous: What has The Post got against Judith Martin? Miss Manners is the best column you carry (er, I mean except yours of course) and it was her writing which originally brought me to The Post. A few months ago her column was cut from running twice weekly to running only weekly. Now she's rarely even listed in the pulldown menu on the main page. On Wednesdays I usually have to use the search function to find her column.
This predates the horrid redesign of the front page, so I don't think this is part of whatever plan is in place to destroy the online Post.
You're the only person I figure might tell me the truth.
Gene Weingarten: The Post decided to ease her out after she got caught on camera giving the finger to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was the latest in a series of embarrassing gaffes, and the Post finally had enough. Judith once told Katharine Graham to "blow it out your pie-hole, Granny."
Pronunciation, MS: I also submitted off-ten last week, but somebody beat me to it. But there are a number of words where people see how it's spelled, figure they must have heard it wrong, and go on to gleefully mispronounce it.
Vee Hickle. Get the H out of there.
Ballk. I've heard this from NPR reporters. Balk rhymes with talk, walk, caulk, chalk, and Peter Falk. Same deal with almond. Don't voice the L.
Boo-ee. A buoy has one syllable. Buoyant has two. Lifebuoy (do they still make that?) has two. I know it's hard work to root out from context whether fishermen in a capsized boat were found clinging to an anchored beacon or a young lad, but I'm sure you can handle it
washingtonpost.com: Almond? What? No "L" -- so I should say "ahh-monde?"
Gene Weingarten: Correct, Lizzie. Ah-mond.
Medicine bottles: I take a sharp object -- knife point, e.g., -- and gouge at the personal information (my name) until it is sufficiently obliterated. Then recycle.
Oppositesattra, CT: Slow walking has turned out to be a challenge in my marriage. I married a slow walker. I hate slow walkers. It is so frustrating. I know we are supposed to fight about sex and money like everybody else, but slow walking has turned out to be a major challenge.
Gene Weingarten: OOOOh, that's bad. Because slow walkers can't change.
I am in a computer training class right now. Can you give me something funny to say to my instructor in order to throw him off a bit?
Rockville, Md.: While we're on the subject of fashion, and while we are all anxiously awaiting the arival of skirts-and-boots season, let me ask you opinion about something else:
Women who wear crosses around their necks. Turn on, turn off, or you don't notice. Does the fact that you are of the Judaic/Hebraic persuasion change your answer?
Gene Weingarten: It's a negative to me, for a bad reason. My mother told me those girls were off limits. So, I read it like a big Stop sign.
Easing Into the Intersecti, ON: Gene, you're just plain wrong. If I am waiting at a light to turn left, it is the proper thing to wait at the line. Otherwise, I am stuck in the middle of the intersection when the light changes and the oncoming traffic continues to move through so I can't get out of the middle until the light is clearly red. That being said, I will move into the interesection if I reasonably believe that I will get through before the light changes. Intersections that I am familiar with and know there is no way I will get through, I wait behind the line so I don't run the red light. Those sneaky cameras will get me if I do. And don't honk at us because we want to obey the law. We want to get where we're going just like you, we just want to do it without a ticket.
On a related note: When in a right turn lane waiting for the car in front of you to make a turn on red, would you at least LOOK for a "no turn on red" sign? Am I the only person that pays attention to them?
Gene Weingarten: I pay attention to no turn on red signs.
But you are wrong about the intersection. You gotto go out there. You never get trapped.
Washington, so GIT OVER IT: Gene, you must agree that there is tooting, and there is HONKING. When the person in front of you obviously doesn't know the light has changed, the polite action would be to fire off a TOOT of the horn. If they don't catch the hint, then all bets are off. The annoying idiots who HONK when you don't jump on the accelerator the nanosecond the light has changed are just rude.
I thank you. Woohoo! Two hundred bucks saved on therapy this week!
Gene Weingarten: Honk, toot, what's the difference?
Arlington, Va.: I see the egregious misuse of the apostrophe has been corrected:
washingtonpost.com: Submit to next week's chat. Which is like a "hat" wearing a "c" on its own head.
I need to be paid for my time -- call it an apostro fee.
BTW, "wearing a 'c' on its own head" doesn't make sense, even without the offending apostrophe.
washingtonpost.com: It makes sense to Gene and me.
Gene Weingarten: It does. Lizzie and I are just adorable; we have all sorts of secret cutespeak that even our spouses are unaware of. Here's one of our secret words: "ack." No one else knows what this means. God, we are adorable.
Medicine, bottle: This may be a bit obsessive -- but. If you put a hot towel over the label (I use those rice things that you can toss in the microwave) or use a hairdryer, this will soften the glue and then the label will peel off. AND THEN -- you call your local Humane Society and see if they need medicine bottles. My chapter accepts clean, non-labeled bottles to reuse. Help the Humane Society and recycle!
Gene Weingarten: Aren't we all goody two shoeses?
Ahem: My friend always thought we should have regular horns and "ahem" horns on cars. Regular horns for people who cut you off or are about to hit you. "Ahem" horns for when someone has looked down and hasn't noticed the light changed.
Gene Weingarten: I like that idea.
New York, NY: From a local Christian rap outfit called Genesis 4:20...
You know my man J,
to show us the way
just to call out His name!
You see you better not mess
that His love is so absurd
when you read His word
man, you jus' haven't heard!
I got His call, word
and it wasn't on my cell
I gots it from the Bible, son
now I ain't goin' to hell
like all you flames and abortion freaks
and you sex addict geeks
You all goin' where it's so dang hot
It's a shame, really... NOT!
Gene Weingarten: Hahahaha. I like the end a lot.
Silver Spring, Md.: Regarding the poll: a friend from South Carolina flew in to visit for a weekend. We spent Sunday driving around town. There were several times when I had to resort to the horn to encourage folks to go on green or pay more attention to their surroundings than their cell phones. "I'm sorry," I said, "I don't usually use the horn quite this much." My (agnostic) friend, unused to D.C. traffic, replied "It's okay. I don't usually pray this much."
New York, N.Y.: So, you're going to call that telepethay guy, right?
Gene Weingarten: I thought about it, but no.
Makin' fun of the sick is not cool.
Theisman, Jacoby et, AL: If, under normal circumstances, your anatomy does not bear any resemblance to the business end of an anteater, you are circumcised.
Gene Weingarten: How dare you make this accusation!
Norris, Tenn.: When I was in the hospital for 2-1/2 months and got infections of all sorts, I also got herpes of the eyeball. Since that's caused by the same virus as chickenpox and shingles, could I say that I had shingles of the eyeball, too? I like that better than "herpes of the eyeball," since that implies "sex" to some people. Although what an eyeball could have to do with sex... I don't want to think about.
Gene Weingarten: Yes, that is what I had. Herpes zoster opthalmicus.
Miss Manners: That was funny. Thank you.
Seattle, Wash.: This whiffle-ball QA:
"Wiffle Land: I once wrote a column about wiffle ball. My patented pitch "the night train" was a wicked swirler that breaks away, then back at right-handed hitters. Once, a friend took a swing at it as it broke inside and smacked him in the nuts. Good times. "
...makes direct reference to Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy columnist at ESPN.com (don't yawn, Liz, the SG is HUGE among sports-fan/pop culture freaks)...
Anyway, considering his absurdly large fan base and yours, I wonder if this is cross pollinization or another puppy hoax.
Gene Weingarten: Could be either, but if it is Bill, and he is reading: What do you make of the Giants this year? 9-7, right?
More on easing into the intersection: I seem to recall, a few years back, a discussion on this topic in the Dr. Gridlock column of the Post. I think Dr. Gridlock had checked with the proper authorities in Maryland, Virginia and the District, and all of them said essentially that it was lawful and appropriate for the left-hand-turner to ease ahead of the stop line. SO GET OUT THERE ALREADY, TIMID DRIVERS.
Gene Weingarten: It's not only lawful and appropriate, it is inappropriate to do otherwise. I take a Kantian approach. If everyone stayed behind the light, it would take everyone about 8 minutes to make a left turn.
Last week you said: "I think jealousy, in general, is a bad thing in a relationship. I also think drooling over another is a bad thing in a relationship."
Is there a difference between drooling and flirting? Is flirting acceptable? How much flirting is acceptable?
Gene Weingarten: Let's ask the hottest babe around: Liz. Hey, honeylips, do you think it's okay for a married guy to flirt with a woman who is not his wife?
Alexandria, Va.: Potomac, Md. said: "And talk less on your cell phones -- or please do it somewhere where we don't have to listen to your noisy, obnoxious calls."
On Sunday I took Amtrak home from a visit to a friend. During the 5 hour trip I made three phone calls, each of which lasted no more than 20 minutes. I endeavored to speak quietly so as not to disturb others around me. Yet during one of my conversations, an announcement was made asking people to be courteous with their cell phone use. It might not have been directed at me, of course. But once and for all, what is "courteous"? Is it not using the phone at all? (I wasn't in the train's "quiet car.") Should I have left my seat and stood in the area between cars (which seems too noisy for conversation)? I just don't see how my having a modulated phone conversation is any more disturbing to fellow passengers than, say, if I'd engaged in a conversation with my seat-mate.
Gene Weingarten: I've always wondered about this; I think that we do tend to talk louder into a cellphone than when we talk to each other. I think that is why it is annoying.
Tucson, Ariz.: In Arizona, you don't inch out when you're making a left turn without an arrow. The lights are set in such a way that forward moving traffic goes first, and then if there's anyone waiting for a left turn, you get the left turn arrow. It took me a long time to get used to stoplights in other places so cut me a break, K?
Gene Weingarten: Well, OBVIOUSLY this is all moot if there is a left turn arrow.
Hate Cri,ME?: Watching the news about the anti-Islamic posters that were put up around GW's campus has me confused. The media keeps referring to it as a hate crime. But when did putting up posters become a crime? I agree that the sentiments that the posters displayed are bigoted and mean, but isn't this a matter of unpopular speech being criminalized? The posters cause no physical harm to anyone. It makes me sad and angry to see that kind of crap spouted, and I think tearing down the posters is an appropriate response. But it also makes me sad to think we've fallen so far as a society that we have to label hateful unpopular speech as illegal in order to feel like we're doing right.
Gene Weingarten: Hm. Well, I am a free speech fanatic, and this issue isn't as clear to me as it is to you. Burning a cross doesn't cause any damage or physical harm to anyone, but I think we can all agree it's a hate crime. It's intimidation. Is this any different?
Okay, maybe it is different. Cross burning carries an implicit threat of violence.
Painting swastikas on a synagogue is vandalism, so it's a crime per se.
Washington, D.C.: A few chats ago you cited two smart friends as being deeply religious. How do they do it?
Doesn't it bother them when their religious leaders say and believe things that your friends know can't be true? Sure there could be a god. But there's so much bs attached to religion. I can't 100 percent buy into the culture despite being raised in it and wanting it all to be true and right.
Gene Weingarten: I think they do not confuse personal faith, which is personal and about faith, with religiosity, which is hierarchical, paternalistic, intransigent, intolerant, sanctimonious, and divisive. Possibly one or both of my two deeply religious smart friends might be reading this, and wish to respond for him or her self.
As someone who understand and prefers such old-fashioned appurtenances as straight razors and mechanical clocks and watches, I thought you might have some insight to this: What ever happened to pipes? Cigarettes have never gone away, cigars even experienced a renaissance, but pipes seem to have completely disappeared. But I'm not that old and I remember a time when they were all over the place and made a certain statement. All the suburban fathers of my '60s and '70s childhood smoked a pipe, at least occasionally. Hugh Hefner smoked a pipe. I'm listening to an audio version of Graham Chapman's (he of Monty Python) autobiography and his pipe figures prominently from the time he was a teen. Where did they all go? (Well, Chapman's dead so I know where he and his pipe went. I meant the others.)
washingtonpost.com: I actually saw a man smoking a large Holmes-ish pipe yesterday in Shirlington.
Gene Weingarten: I smoke a Holmesish pipe sometimes. A gourd calabash from the 1920s.
washingtonpost.com: I think a little harmless flirting -- conversational, intellectual flirting -- is fine.
Re: circumcision. You are making a mountain out of a mohel.
Rockville, Md.: "Gene Weingarten: The Yankees themselves. They should take it all, if they do not fall apart."
Which they did -- and did so well. Just shows, money can only buy so many post-season victories.
Gene Weingarten: What this showed is that we need to spend more. We're not spending enough.
Myersville, Md.: I must be one of the most laid back people on the planet! I cannot believe how many people are so angry! Their lives must be scheduled to the millisecond if these small things bother them so much - definitely NOT the way I want to live.
The only question I answered "angry" was the voicemail -- and that is really more of an annoyance to me than something that makes me angry. I just want to either talk to a person or leave a message and be done with it.
Gene Weingarten: I am in the angry army, but I agree with you. Several people have written in to say that the poll should have said "annoyed" instead of "angry," but I wrote it the way I did deliberately. It's too easy to cop to being "annoyed." I wanted the people who are pretty steamed enough to admit to "angry."
Washington, D.C.: Liz's opinion on pleats are moot since her tribal tat is so damn passe. Remove that, and then we'll talk about pleats.
washingtonpost.com: Right you are -- and, in fact, I'm scheduled to have it covered up with a half-sleeve custom design next Wednesday.
Gene Weingarten: Wow. I get everything last.
Rat beat up of Pig: Um, Gene, this is a loooong running and old joke in this strip about the Vikings and how they are all peace-loving flower pickers insteas of brutal Vikings. There have been numerous series in the strip on this theme before.
Gene Weingarten: Duh, I know. But I contend that Rat beating up Pig for going to a Lilac Convention is out of character, even for Rat. He would say something sarcastic or cruel.
Woman here and you pushed all my buttons...: but most especially that timid driving thing. But, I'm not sure it's a big city/small town thing either. I think it's a personality/aggressive driver thing. I am from the South where people meander, lawd help me. My husband grew up here. I will lay on my horn for a block behind somebody who didn't do something they should have with their car. He will hover over the horn, then touch it lightly cause he doesn't want to offend, which makes me want to reach over and press it for him really hard the way it needs to be to wake up the slow/bad driving soul who had the misfortune to get in front of our car.
Gene Weingarten: I jes' don't see tapping a horn to be a horribly rude thing.
Medicine bottles: Better yet, fill bottle with water and microwave for a few seconds. Label will peal right off. I got this from Heloise and it works.
I can explain the difference between the two scenarios. When someone doesn't pull into the intersection, they are obeying the law, you are not supposed to block the intersection. Now, I know that most of us do it at least sometimes, but if the person ahead of me doesn't, I don't think it is proper to try to get them to break the rule so I can too. (a little guilt maybe)
But if the person in front doesn't go when the light turns, not only is it legal for them to go, but they will make everyone else miss the light, so it's reasonable to give a little toot to wake them up to the fact that they are making everyone else late!
Gene Weingarten: You are just wrong about that first thing. You are not blocking the intersection if cars are moving through the intersection, and you are waiting to turn. By that theory, EVERYONE is blocking the intersection, simply by moving through it.
"Blocking the box" is something else.
Richmond, Va.: please explain to me what "intellectual flirting" is. Because I'd think the very definition of flirting is not intellectual. IS someone trying to justify flirting when they shouldn't be by labeling it "intellectual"? Must be in PR.
washingtonpost.com: I mean playful, thoughtful -- non-physical, non-vulgar.
Gene Weingarten: I got it.
I beg to differ on slow walkers being able to change. I grew up in the south among a population of slow walkers. Then I went to college in MI. I spent my first semester feeling as if I were chasing around after everyone, since those of the north are fast walkers. Then when I went home for Christmas, my southern friends asked me why we were running everywhere in the mall. I realized with horror I had become one of the racers. I am still a fast walker, but must consciously adjust my pace to a slow speed when I am in the south.
Gene Weingarten: Also, wherever they are from, ALL tourists are slow walkers.
L'Enfant Plaza: So, as I was straggling in to work today around 8:40ish - I swear I saw you playing the harmonica (badly) at the top of the L'Enfant Plaza metro escalator. Is this some kind of cruel new social experiment? I liked the old one better.
Gene Weingarten: Badly is the only way I know to play a harmonica, but I was being extra bad on purpose. I can play passibly bad Dylan, but did you notice what I WAS playing?
Various bits: Sex addict geeks? Since when have geeks gotten laid regularly, unless they were dating another geek? And since when was Jesus a sucka? He's was a noted peacenik.
As for left turns, no way am I going to get myself potentially creamed by a red light runner nor am I going to block up the intersection for everyone coming out on the other light just so you can get somewhere faster.
Gene Weingarten: You are a bad, thoughtless driver and we are all glaring at you.
Reggie Jackson: I have heard that story with 10 different stars in the lead part, including Lionel Richie (I know, I know), each ending with the couple getting something amazing. I heard the first version when I was 8, hence the LR reference (think 80s).
Not saying the RJ version is bogus, but the story has definitely mutated.
Gene Weingarten: It's a great story, isn't it? These myths usually end in some great irony.
Richmond, Va.: re: "do you think it's okay for a married guy to flirt with a woman who is not his wife?"
I guess each couple can have their own standards, but my husband and I do NOT like married people flirting with others.
Gene Weingarten: Well, I disagree, sweetie pie. A woman as attractive as you are has no reason to be jealous.
Atlanta, Ga.: Last week, every time I reloaded the chat, I got the following message: "Load failure at line 666."
Brilliant idea: Let's give Gene a special horn to use when he travels on an airplane. He can use it whenever he feels that another traveler is not considering his comfort and convenience, such as hogging the armrest or (of course) reclining the seat in front of him.
Gene Weingarten: Many years ago, on this topic, for another newspaper, I wrote a column about my impatience. I wanted to create a superhero called Admiral Alacrity. He would walk around with a swagger stick and whack people who were wasting other people's time.
Where can you smoke a pipe?: A restaurant? A ball game? Life is no longer fun.
Gene Weingarten: Only in the privacy of my own dungeon.
Urban Lege, ND: Honestly, why is anyone gullible enough to forward that junk. It only takes a moment to confirm it thru Snopes.com or other sites.
Over the past few years most of what I get is fed by my conservative friends. There seems to be a Big Lie machine somewhere in the Republican Party: Hillary dissed Gold Star moms, Ted Kennedy demanded a recall of the Massachusetts quarter because the Minuteman carries a gun, Obama's dad is a terrorist, the Koran should have warned Saddam againt pulling 9-11, etc.
What really drive me nuts is when you prove to these fools that what they are spreading is false, they get mad at you for it. Seems they've no interest in an informed electorate.
Gene Weingarten: A neighbor of mine forwarded to me a bogus web thing suggesting that Jane Fonda ratted out some POWS in Vietnam who had smuggled her messages saying they were being beaten. That she reported them to the Cong, and that they were then beaten to death.
Totally bogus. I wrote back to the guy saying that I was forwarding this to Ms. Fonda and he should expect to hear from her lawyer. I suggested that if he had not already put his house in his wife's name, he might well do so. Heh.
Re: Honeylips: AAAUUUGGGHHH!!! I can't get the image of Gene squeezing Honey all over Liz's face and licking it off... everything is ruined forever.
washingtonpost.com: Ya, after that the more accurate pet name would be "Vomitlips."
Cell phone free: Cell phone conversations are annoying for three reasons: they are louder than normal conversations, the person forced to listen is usually trapped (train, plane) and cannot avoid the conversation and the third and most interesting is the same reason we do not like people to have conversations around us that are speaking another language - we cannot understand the whole conversation and our insane curiosity gets overworked and we therefore get annoyed.
Gene Weingarten: I seldom listen to other people's conversations, because I just find em uninteresting. But I too am annoyed by cell phones: I really think it's an amped up decibel level, mostly.
Anger Junkies: All you anger junkies make my day. Don't you realize other people enjoy messing with you just to see your reaction?
Gene Weingarten: I wouldn't be surprised.
We are all dysfunctional, the anger junkies. I know it. I recognize it in myself.
Herndon, Va.: I don't have a problem with people walking slowly. What I have a problem with is a group of people walking slowly and taking up the entire sidewalk.
The groups of folks that take up the entire sidewalk need to get a clue that there are others who are using the sidewalk and may want to move at a different pace.
To generalize, these folks are the same ones who stand on the left side of the escalator and cruise in the left lane without passing anyone.
Gene Weingarten: In my experience, the big group walking slow is not actually aware that there are other people in the world. They also tend to have big butts.
Movie trailers: You're dead right on movie trailers. Roger Ebert put it best when he said that the movie is what the director made, and the trailer is the movie that the marketing people wished the director made.
Gene Weingarten: Ooh, I like that.
Pittsburgh Left: Pittsburgh has the best solution to the left turn. When the light turns green, oncoming traffic actually waits for the first person making a left turn to go before proceeding through the light. In fact, you're likely to honked at if you don't take the Pittsburgh left. I lived in Pittsburgh for two years and found this unwritten rule to be almost universally true throughout the city.
Gene Weingarten: I like that, too.
ER, I sometimes take the Pittsburgh left, if the driver coming at me is slow on the trigger. I award myself the Pittsburgh left.
Yes, Exactly: Liz makes a great point about flirting. It should always be intellectual, conversational, never about the physical or anything lewd obviously. That's not cute anyway.
Now that I think about it, I flirt in some way, possibly unnoticeable to everyone but myself, with almost every girl I meet who is on equal footing (i.e., not a superior or subordinate.) Human females are the greatest lifeforms on Earth, not flirting would be like not being able to dream.
PS-haha, subordinate. Unless subordinate means "empty pizza boxes on your floor", I don't have any.
Gene Weingarten: Flirting with one's boss is actually kind of cool. Because it is daring. You can flirt up, but never down.
Okay,we're done! Thank you all. See ya in the updates.
Gene Weingarten: Yesterday, someone asked how I could have two really smart friends who are devout Christians. The question supposed, fairly obnoxiously, that intelligence and religion are incompatible. I gave my supposition, and ofered a forum to my two really smart Christian friends, if they were listening. The response below is from Rachel Manteuffel.
Rachel Manteuffel: Gene, your chatter asked how a smart person could also be religious, and you responded by pointing out the difference between personal and organized faith. That is a sensitive response, but you are begging the question. The question is, why would a smart person with personal faith in God also need organized religion?
Plenty about religion ooks me out. Religion has been one of the most destructive institutions in the history of humanity. There is something righteously creepy about a roomful of people all chanting the same intricate and bizarre dogma, seemingly without thought; there is something righteously creepy in supposing that a God would be tickled by all the chanting. Crazy people are religious, and horrible people are religious, and tacky people are religious, and stupid people are religious. So if you have a personal relationship with the guy you love, why would you share him with all these undesirables?
Religions are made by people. They're an imperfect record of the attempts of billions of people to connect with God. Somebody wrote this down, somebody crafted this prayer, a committee slaved over a creed, a student wrote this song, a whole city scraped together a cathedral because they all felt the same longing I do. On the whole, it is charming and beautiful. Every so often I will talk to someone about God, or read an essay, and recognize the other person's God as my own. They have the same hunch, the same difficult love for a huge thing that doesn't want to be understood. This is more valuable than any of those miracles depicted in the Bible, most of which are hokey.
Ultimately, faith takes care of itself. It's what you do about it -- in my case, religon -- that is difficult. God (and you have to think this is deliberate) gives us so little certainty that anything we make is going to be sloppy and unclean and miles away from what we wish it were. Like government. Not that government and religion should ever be in the same room at the same time. But it's a good simile. I can't help what other people do in the name of religion any more than I can help what other people do in the name of America.
Gene Weingarten: So, yeah. What she said.
Washington, D.C.: After your admission that you abuse the merge lanes to jump ahead in traffic you are absolutely the last person on the planet who should be giving out driving advice. You are an awful human being who shouldn't be allowed within 500 yards of a motor vehicle. If it were up to me, that kind of behavior would merit a year in prison. Seriously.
Gene Weingarten: Okay, it's time to put this to rest, once and for all.
I do not abuse merge lanes.
Here is what I do:
You are driving on a highway. You know you have to exit at Exit 16. You are tooling along, happily and responsibly in the left lane, a picture of civic correctness, a full MILE AND A HALF away from exit 16, when you suddenly realize, because you see it, that cars are queuing up in the right hand land, apparently to get off at exit 16.
You think: Whoa! That is quite a backup.
You are already past the end of the line for Exit 16.
You realize, I better get into that lane, to be a magnificent citizen!
But what do you do? Do you VEER DANGEROUSLY over to the right lane? Of course not. You respect your fellow drivers. Yes, you do.
You SLOWLY work your way right. You get into that lane at a reasonable time. So you are not putting other lives at risk.
This might take a little time.
That is my point. I am deeply insulted at your inference of my wrongdoing.
Virginia: Do you really never get trapped inching out into an intersection to turn left? I often get stuck in the middle of an intersection with a red light -- you just can't count on making that turn on yellow, when oncoming traffic slows down, because nobody does slow down. I used to not think twice about making the left turn as soon as it turned red and I was sure the oncoming cars had really stopped. But then an old co-worker of mine got a ticket for doing exactly that. I still do it, but now I worry about it.
Gene Weingarten: You should never get caught there. You wait until the cars going in the opposite direction have stopped, even if that is when their light turns red. Then you quickly make your left. If done quickly, you are not inconveniencing the new line of cars approaching behind you.
Listen, folks, this is EXACTLY how you are SUPPOSED to do it. It's in the manuals. Cops don't ticket it. I got a post from a guy who said that he got a friendly lecture from a cop when he DIDN'T do it.
The only excuse for not doing it is if your driving skills are so poor you are afraid to be in the middle of the intersection in a slightly complex and ambiguous position. And, to me, that's no excuse. Learn.
Re: Tattoos: Liz, Wow, a half-sleeve! That's some long sitting there.
I have a tattoo that covers the top 1/3 of my left arm. A Hiroshige woodblock done by a very fine artist in Baltimore.
Will you post a picture of the finished product?
washingtonpost.com: Sure will, if Gene doesn't mind.
Gene Weingarten: Ha. Like I could stop her if I wanted to. We shall view this in two weeks.
Boom Town: So, Gene, why didn't the movie folk just turn a Hollywood set into Amsterdam and film it? Seems it would have been easier and cheaper than taking an actual city block and doing it that way. How much do you think that "10 to 15" seconds costing? And being nosy, how much did they pay you for the script they never used?
Gene Weingarten: Considering all costs -- travel, extras, demolition, crew, renting the area, buying and destroying cars, maintaining a three day presence, cleanup, etc., I estimate it cost about $300,000 for those 10 seconds.
That is exactly what my partner and I split for the screenplay, by the way. So if this had been my movie, they would have paid the same for a 10-second scene than they paid the authors of the screenplay.
Elevator story: I am not black, nor am I male or a dog owner, nor remotely famous or in a position to give anything of worth.
But, if I was, I would think I would be pissed, not embarassed such that I would give those stupid white people anything.
Gene Weingarten: In the telling of this urban myth, something is understood: The white couple was old, and kinda out of it, and Reggie Jackson, being a kind man, understood this. It was part of the mutual embarrassment.
It really was a sweet story. I'm almost sorry it never happened.
Idiot Rage: I have a friend who drives a lot for work (he covers a 4-state zone). I was in the car with him once when the person in front of us had stopped for about five minutes at a stop sign, refusing to go until there was no one there. He rolled down the window and yelled, "It's the big pedal. The one on the right!"
Left Turn, R.I.: For all you intersection-entering left turners (and I am among you) a very useful safety tip: do NOT turn your steering wheel to the left until you actually make the turn. That way if you are rear-ended you will not be pushed into oncoming traffic.
Gene Weingarten: A good point. I've heard from a couple of people who did exactly that, were rear-ended, had a head on, and never again ventured into the intersection.
Left Turn Lane, Va.: Gene,
If you're the second person in line to turn left, and the person in front of you can only turn left once the light turns red, how does this make you late? Surely, the next green light would accommodate both you and the person in front of you.
1) Because, if the first person ventures into the intersection, so does a second, and sometimes a third. As soon as the light changes, all three can usually scoot through before the traffic on the right starts to move.
2) Also because (this is key) very often the driver who timidly hangs back will CONTINUE to hang back through another light cycle. When the light changes, they're STILL too scared to turn. I got two posts from people who had to sit through that, too.
Washington, D.C.: 'You dial a phone number, and get voicemail. The vet student whom you are calling says, succinctly, "Hey, this is Molly, leave a message." Then there is a delay. THEN comes the familiar robot voice: "At the tone, please record your message. When you finish recording, you may hang up or press 1 for more options. To leave a callback number, press five. Record at the tone." '
You might be interested to note that David Pogue, one of the tech reporters at the New York Times, mentioned in his blog that he once asked a cell phone rep at a conference if those voicemail recordings are so long in order to waste cell phone users' minutes.
Are U.S. Cellphone Carriers Calcified? (Pogue's Posts, NYT Online)
So that one makes me angry.
Gene Weingarten: Yeah, that is the underlying evil behind those recordings. They're making money for someone.
Gene Weingarten: Boy is this a goody-two-shoes interpretation. I bet the writer of this Wiki entry was a hall monitor in school.
L'Enfant Plaza: Missed the live chat, but you asked if I noticed the song you were playing this morning in L'Enfant. "Clementine", right? (Maybe that's not the name of the song, but you know. "Oh my darlin' - oh my darlin' - oh my darling Clementine..,"). Just terrible.
Gene Weingarten: Yes, I was. I am thrilled you actually recognized it. And yes, I was playing it badly, although I'm not quite sure how that could be played well on the harmonica.
washingtonpost.com: Well, this guy's not too bad.
Washington, D.C.: My favorite solution to the problem walkers was while I was studying in Bologna. Teenagers and university students there, who are about 85 percent of the population on the street, seemed to enjoy linking arms and strolling down the sidewalk while obstructing the whole thing. Not couples, mind you, but groups of 4-5 friends. It was impossible to overtake them, because vespas and mini-opels were shooting past on the street at 80 mph.
But I could get my revenge when walking toward them - they naturally expected me, as an older man walking alone, to step aside while they maintained their formation. I would stop, look off into the distance, and as they got close, check the time on my watch, with my elbow facing them. They inevitably muttered something and twisted tortuously to keep their arms linked while sliding past; apparently, letting go was a social faux pas. They never "learned" but it was still almost worth it just to see what type of maneuvers they would use.
To those who don't understand the "walk rage" and the rest - it's not that I need to save the time, it's that I resent the sense of entitlement that says that YOU are the one who can waste MY time. That's why I don't mind the conversation at the check-out - my time is being wasted, sure, but it's a zero-sum game, where the other options are someone wasting my time for no perceptible benefit to themselves.
Gene Weingarten: I LOVE this. Check the time on your watch! What a great bit of urban guerrilla warfare. Thank you.
Googleno, PE: At a good friend's wedding this weekend, another friend was saying he had eaten and drank so much that he would soon be "vomiting with pleasure". Immediately I thought this would make for a perfect googlenope and after looking it up when I got home I saw that it is one! This is my first googlenope and even if everyone else thinks it sucks, I still think it is awesome.
Gene Weingarten: Indeed. "Vomiting with pleasure" is a superior googlenope.
Ack, phhhtp!: Gene Gene Gene - "ack" is no secret - it was popularized by Bill the Cat in Berkeley Breathed's "Bloom County" years ago.
Gene Weingarten: That is not the "ack" employed by Liz and me. Ours is much more ... intimate.
washingtonpost.com: Yes. Intimate. You might call it dominance and submission.
Virginia: Following up on Tuesday's chat, here are some more questions about Mermaids you may want to consider.
Gene Weingarten: I love these guys. Also, there is a really, really dirty expression hidden in here. Can you find it? They hide it pretty well.
I thought you'd be interested in this story about a 75-year-old woman who got so frustrated with Comcast's customer service, she took a hammer into the Manassas office and started hitting things with it. This woman is awesome.
Gene Weingarten: I so understand this lady. Especially what she said as she was arrested.
To the guy who doesn't know if he's circumcised: I had the same problem. I didn't know if I was circumcised, and my wife didn't know, either. And we had been married for five years. Finally we looked up "circumcision" on the Wikipedia and I picked mine out of the lineup.
Gene Weingarten: HOW WEIRD IS THIS?
Direct all your adoration at next week's chat.
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Book World Live
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2007100919
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Authors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt fielded questions and comments about their book, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy."
John J. Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and the co-director of the Program on International Security Policy at the University of Chicago. He is the author of three other books on international politics and security. Stephen Walt is a professor of international affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Join Book World Live each Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET for a discussion based on a story or review in each Sunday's Book World section.
Stephen Walt: This is Stephen Walt. John and I are both online, and we are looking forward to answering as many questions as time permits.
Takoma Park, MD: I have noted with dismay the Washington Post pieces (Richard Cohen, Michael Gerson, and Samuel Freedman) vilifying you both. And, of course, last year there was the entirely unfair piece by Eliot Cohen. I commend you for having the moral courage to note the subjugation of the Palestinians and for not caving in the face of the frequent misrepresentations of your work. I'm sure accusations of anti-Semitism are painful, even if it's clear that such false allegations are intended to intimidate others from speaking out regarding Israel's domination of the Palestinians.
Last week it was reported (www.muzzlewatch.com and www.tonykaron.com) that Archbishop Desmond Tutu had a speech canceled at the University of St. Thomas (MN) as a result of misquotations of a 2002 speech he delivered. The right-wing Zionist Organization of America is responsible for the false quotes.
Please comment on the false allegations of anti-Semitism now being directed at Nobel Peace Prize winners Tutu and Jimmy Carter. These are noxious allegations against two of the finest humanitarians of our time and with scarcely a peep of protest from liberal or conservative op-ed writers. Where are the media voices defending them? How many more years before op-ed columnists employed by major newspapers begin to make the case that Palestinians are discriminated against and face apartheid-like conditions?
Stephen Walt: Regrettably, a common tactic employed by some groups in the lobby is to smear critics of Israel (or critics of the lobby itself) by accusing them of being anti-semites. Such groups also try to discourage critics from getting a fair hearing in U.S. discourse. Although such efforts are not 100% successful, they do make it harder for the American people to have a free and open discussion on these issues. Obviously, calling someone like Jimmy Carter or Desmond Tutu an "anti-semite" is a ludicrous charge. It is also contrary to the tradition of free speech and open discussion on which democracy depends.
Derwood, MD: Why do you guys hate Israel so much? Is it so unreasonable that Jews have a state of their own?
Stephen Walt: We have no animus whatsoever towards the Jewish state. In our book, we explicitly state that "we do not question Israel's legitimacy or its right to exist," and we argue that the United States should come to Israel's aid if its survival is in jeopardy. We are critical of some israeli policies, but we admire many features of Israeli society and we strongly support the existence of a Jewish state. But we also think the United States should treat Israel like a normal country, and act towards it the same way we act towards other democracies. In other words, we should back Israel when it is acting in ways consistent with US interests, and we should oppose Israeli policies that are not in our interest.
Boston, Mass: Wasn't our support of Saudi Arabia (including having U.S. troops in that country) what pushed Osama Bin Laden to decide the strike the U.S.? I agree that we should be objective about our national interests in all our foreign policy relations, including Israel, but wouldn't those who want to counter our power in the world just find another justification to undermine our interests (not just our support of Israel)?
Stephen Walt: American support for Saudi Arabia (and the presence of US troops there) was certainly one of bin Laden's grievances against the United States. But it is clear from his various writings and speeches that he had also been angered by US support for Israel and especially Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. In our book, we make it clear that a more normal relationship with Israel would not solve all our problems in the Middle East (or elsewhere), but it would make it easier to address a number of them. In particular, using U.S. influence to achieve a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would clearly be good for the United States and Israel alike.
Boston, Mass: What other countries besides Israel have strong lobbying on their behalf in Washington?
Stephen Walt: Lobbying of all kinds is prevalent in Washington, and a number of other countries can count on political help from sympathetic people in the United States. Greek-Americans, Indian-Americans, Armenian-Americans, Cuban-Americans, etc. have all formed various groups designed to influence US foreign policy in ways that they think are desirable. There is nothing wrong with lobbying on behalf of a country to which one is strongly committed, and the Israel lobby is no different in its basic operations than these other groups, or special interest groups like the AARP, the farm lobby, or the NRA.
Anonymous: Could I ask each of you to describe your reaction to the review of your book in Sunday's Washington Post?
I barely recognized your book in Samuel Freedman's review, which was entitled "Conspiracy Theory." Freedman suggested you had provided "required reading for Jew-haters." He also accused you of misrepresenting his USA Today op-ed of April 2003, even though your mention of his op-ed was limited to a single sentence that merely cited certain polls referred to by Freedman in his op-ed. Freedman did not offer any basis for this claim of misrepresentation.
If you haven't guessed, I found the review in the Post an outrageous distortion of your book. Your reaction?
John Mearsheimer: We were disappointed that the Washington Post asked Samuel Freedman to review our book, as he had attacked the original article in an April 25, 2006 piece in the Jerusalem Post. In that piece, he referred to our article as a "chronicle of perfidy" and a "screed," and he compared it with Nation of Islam's anti-Semitic tract -- "The Secret Relationship between Blacks and Jews." He was almost certain to treat our book the same way he treated our article, and he did not disappoint. Of course, we were not surprised that the Post went to Freedman, as we expected that almost all of the mainstream newspapers in the US would choose reviewers who would be predisposed not to like our book. And that has been largely true. We also expected that the reviews would be much better in Europe and in Israel itself. That too has proven to be the case. Indeed, one of the most positive reviews we have received was published in Ha'aretz by Daniel Levy. In fact, that paper has run a few other pieces that have said nice things about about our book. We have received about seven reviews in Britain and almost all of them have had good things to say about the book. The bottom line is that it is more difficult to talk critically about Israel and the US-Israeli relationship in the United States than it is in almost any other country in the world. The reason, of course, is because of the power of the lobby here in America.
Bethlehem, PA: What is one crucial point that you think the majority of your critics have overlooked or disregarded as significant?
John Mearsheimer: I cannot think of any point in our book that the critics have overlooked. What impresses me most about the criticism directed at us is how often the critics misrepresent what we wrote. Indeed, in some cases they accuse of saying things that not only did we not say, but we said the opposite.
New York, NY: Drs. Mearsheimer and Walt,
Neither of you are experts on the Middle East or on U.S. Politics. Yet you did not interview one member of Congress, nor did you delve deeply into the complexities of the history of the Middle East, relying mostly on your readings of secondary sources. How do you answer critics who have been skeptical of the broad nature of your critique despite the shallowness of your research?
Stephen Walt: In fact, both of us had written on Middle East topics in the past, and as professional political scientists, we were familiar with the basic literature on American politics and interest groups. We did in fact interview some members of Congress, former staffers, and former individuals in the lobby itself, and we vetted our work with scholars who had done more extensive work along these lines. Scholars write books to add to our collective knowledge, so there is obviously nothing wrong with our using secondary sources. We supplemented those accounts with numerous newspapers, journals, and other sources--published in both the United States and Israel, and anyone who reads our book will see that we did extensive research. Accordingly, the charge that our research is "shallow" is simply not accurate.
Tenafly, NJ: First of all, let me say that as a student of IR, I have tremendous respect for both of you and consider you two of the foremost scholars in the discipline.
I have two questions I've seen your critics mount that I have not yet heard you address. First, the charge regarding the publication your article first appeared in, The London Review of Books. I believe some critics have alleged that no other, peer-reviewed journals would publish the paper. Is this true?
Second, I've heard some criticism alleging that as two pronounced realists who argue that domestic politics has little effect on the structure of the international system, you have, in this case, found a domestic institution (the Lobby)that breaks this paradigm. Is this criticism significant?
Ok, and one last easy one: why is Lobby capitalized in the article but lower case in your book?
Stephen Walt: The original article was too long for most (if not all) peer-reviewed journals, and we wanted to reach as large an audience as possible. We could not identify a mainstream journal that would publish it in the US, and eventually chose to publish it in the London Review of Books. John and I both think realism is a powerful theory, but no theory explains everything. The influence of the lobby is obviously an exception to basic realist logic. But realism would suggest that the United States will pay a price if it allows its foreign policy to be too-heavily influenced by any special interest group. We frankly cannot remember how the decision to capitalize the "L" was made. But we think it was a mistake to do so, as it was contrary to our basic point that the lobby is a "loose coalition" of different groups and not a single organization. So we do not capitalize it in our book.
Ottawa, Canada: I'm a little confused about your thesis. Is it your opinion that the U.S. supports Israel even when it is against the interest of the U.S. because of a "lobby" of supporters of Israel who, one would assume, are mostly Jewish?
John Mearsheimer: The US does sometimes support Israeli policies that are not in the American national interest. Consider that it has been the official policy of every American president since Lyndon Johnson to oppose the building of settlements in the Occupied Territories. Yet no president has been able to put any significant pressure on Israel to halt the building of settlements. Instead, the United States has provided Israel with remarkable levels of economic and diplomatic support, which has allowed it to continue building settlements. The reason is the lobby. Although the lobby is principally comprised of Jews, it also contains a large body of non-Jews, including the Christian Zionists, who have been enthusiastic supporters of the settlement enterprise. Of course, many American Jews do not support the settlements or particular policies favored by groups in the lobby.
Washington DC: "I'm sure accusations of anti-Semitism are painful, even if it's clear that such false allegations are intended to intimidate others from speaking out regarding Israel's domination of the Palestinians. "
If you are not anti-Semitic or even anti-Israel, does it bother you that your most ardent supporters are those who preach the kind of rhetoric above, i.e., "Israel's -domination- of the Palestinians"? What kind of academic can be taken seriously when these are his only supporters? What's the old saying: a man can be judged by the company he keeps....
Stephen Walt: We both reject anti-semitism in all its various forms. But it is not the case that our "most ardent supporters" are extremists or bigots. Indeed, some of our strongest supporters have been Israelis who are sincerely interested in peace--such as Uri Avnery of Gush Shalom--or progressive Jewish Americans like Rabbi Michael Lerner of TIKKUN.
New Haven, Conn: Did you expect the amount of criticism your book has received? Do you think it will hurt your careers?
John Mearsheimer: We did expect the amount of criticism that we have received, but we obviously did not anticipate many of the particulars. For example, we did not anticipate that the New York Sun and others would link us to a discredited extremist like David Duke. The effect of all of this on our careers is impossible to predict at this early point.
Gros Islet, St. Lucia: Would either of you have ventured to publish "The Israel
Lobby" if you did not hold academic tenure? Do you view
your experiences as evidence of the importance of academic
tenure in ensuring an open discussion of contentious issues?
John Mearsheimer: Obviously the fact that we have tenure made it much easier to countenance writing the original article and then the book. Of course, this is why tenure exists; it allows scholars to address controversial subjects and challenge taboos, which is ultimately healthy for the American body politic.
Falls Church, Va: Dear Sirs:
I applaud you for your honesty and courage. What is the single most important thing you think we could do as individuals to help create US Mid-East policy that is balanced? Also, do you think any of the current candidates for President (in either party) are free from undue influence by AIPAC?
Stephen Walt: Individual Americans can do a lot to help produce a more effective Middle East policy. First, they should learn more about the history of the region, and especially the so-called "new history" as written by Israeli historians like Avi Shlaim, Tom Segev, or Benny Morris. Second,they should ask politicians to explain why nearly-unconditional support for Israel is in the U.S. national interest. As far as Presidential candidates go, it is impossible to know what any of them might do once elected. But as our book explains, it is not surprising that all of the major candidates are currently competing to show how strongly pro-Israel they are. Why? Because they all believe that questioning the "special relationship" is not going help them get elected.
Washington, DC: What is the difference between the "special" relationship between the U.S. and the U.K, and the U.S. and Israel? Do the British have such a powerful military that it warrants our strong partership? The answer is no. Quite simply, our history dictates our relationships with nations sometimes, and just as our history justifies our alliance with the U.K, so do our Judeo-Christian values, which this nation was founded upon, justify our alliance with Israel.
John Mearsheimer: The key difference between our relationships with Israel and Britain is that the United states gives Israel a remarkable amount of foreign aid and diplomatic support, and it gives it unconditionally. The United States does not do that with Britain or any other country, and never has in its long history. We believe that the United States should end its special relationship with Israel and treat it the same way it treats Britain and other democracies around the globe.
Fort Worth, Tex: According to the Borgen Project much of US aid tends to go to wealthy nations such as Israel and Russia, instead of poor countries that really need it. What's your take on this?
Stephen Walt: In fact, the top three aid recipients are Israel ($3-4 billion per year), Egypt and Jordan. Egypt and Jordan get lots of aid as a reward for making peace with Israel, so all this money is closely linked. Aid to Israel amounts to about $500 per year for each Israeli citizen, even though Israel is not a poor country (its per capita income now ranks 29th in the world). As even some of our critics concede, the size of this aid package and its largely unconditional nature (i.e., Israel gets its aid even when it does things that the US government officially opposes), is due mostly if not entirely to the political clout of the various groups in the Israel lobby.
Washington, DC: I guess one way of looking at the pro-Israeli effort to demonize you is that they are in fact proving your thesis for you.
Stephen Walt: Yes, and it is important to understand why groups in the lobby try to smear or demonizer critics. . First, it shifts attention from the real issue, which is US policy, and people end up debating whether someone like Jimmy Carter is a bigot. Second, it deters people from voicing their own doubts, because no thoughtful person would want to be accused of anti-semitism. Third, it helps marginalize critics in the public arena, becaused media outlets and politicians will be less likely to listen to anyone who has been smeared in this way, even if the allegations are wholly false. By inhibiting public discussion, however, such critics are undermining US policy and in our opinion, are also encouraging policies that are not good for Israel either.
Rockville, MD: Would you contend that the world would be a more stable place had there been no Israel and simply an Arab Palestine instead?
Stephen Walt: Three points. First, it is impossible to know if the world would be more or less stable if Israel had never been created. Second, we believe there is a strong moral case for Israel's existence, and we think the US should continue to back Israel if its survival is ever in danger. Third, the world will be more stable once the Palestinians have a viable state of their own. This will discredit and marginalize the more extreme elements in the Palestinian community, and remove the main grievance between Israel and its various Arab neighbors. A Palestinian state would not solve all the problems that currently afflict the Middle East, but it would be a very helpful step forward.
Norwich, Conn: Jimmy Carter has also been very critical of the State of Israel and American support for Israel. He characterized some Israeli policies (or the consequences of them)as "Apartheid." Jimmy Carter has also been on the receiving end of the charge of anti-semitism. Do you agree that Carter's use of the racially charged word, "Apartheid," is appropriate?
If you believe that such language is inappropriate, is using it anti-semitic?
John Mearsheimer: It is important to emphasize that President Carter was talking about Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories, not inside Israel itself, when he used the word apartheid. It is also important to emphasize that South Africans and some Israelis use the term apartheid to describe what is going on in Gaza and the West Bank. There are obviously differences between what the white government did in South Africa and what the Israeli are doing in the Occupied Territories, but there are also a number of important similarities. Whether or not one uses the term apartheid like President Carter did is ultimately not a terribly important matter. The key point is that Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories is morally bankrupt and can lead to no good. This is why Israel should abandon almost all of the West Bank and allow for the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
New York, NY: Are you aware that there is growing disenchantment with AIPAC on the left, primarily due to AIPAC's lobbying for two congressional measures this year that effectively endorsed the view that Bush need not obtain congressional authorization before striking Iran? For many liberals, these were unconscionable and reckless acts by AIPAC. Accordingly, I would expect you've received some support from liberal quarters. But have you received any support from conservative constituencies?
Stephen Walt: We hope that more moderate groups within the broad pro-Israel communitybecome more influential, and that hardline groups like AIPAC begin to realize that the policies they have advocated have been bad for the US and Israel alike. A strong pro-Israel lobby would not be a bad thing if it used its influence to press for more sensible policies.
Los Angeles, Calif: Have you considered setting up focus groups on US university campuses to discuss this issue of the Israeli lobby?
John Mearsheimer: No, but it is a fascinating idea.
Washington DC: Why are your criticisms of the "Big Bad Jewish Lobby" legitimate but attempts to criticize your book are merely smear campaigns? Is your thesis simply not open to the same kind of criticism you dish out?
Stephen Walt: First, we never use the term "Jewish lobby" because the lobby is defined by its political agenda, not by religion or ethnicity. Second, We welcome serious, substantive criticism of our work--criticism that focuses on our specific arguments and the evidence we present. We object to those who either misrepresent what we wrote--often quite dramatically--or who attempt to discredit us by claiming we are bigots, hostile to Israel, or anti-Semitic. That sort of smearing has no place in a civil discussion of key foreign policy issues.
washingtonpost.com: This concludes our discussion and we thank our guests and readers for joining.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Utility to Pay Large Sum in Clean Air Settlement
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In a major Clean Air Act settlement, one of the nation's biggest coal-fired electricity producers has agreed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to slash its acid-rain-causing emissions by more than two-thirds over the next decade, sources said yesterday.
American Electric Power has agreed to spend as much as $4.6 billion to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, two sources familiar with the settlement said. But AEP spokesman Pat Hemlepp said most of that amount has already been spent or included in company spending plans.
As part of the settlement, AEP will not admit any wrongdoing, but it is to pay $15 million in civil penalties, and $60 million to clean up and mitigate damage caused in parks and waterways, including the Chesapeake Bay, said people familiar with the deal. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the final details of the settlement had not been released.
The settlement is to be made public today, ending a lawsuit that was filed in 1999 and was set to go to trial today in federal court in Columbus, Ohio, where AEP has its headquarters.
Nine states, 13 environmental groups and the Environmental Protection Agency filed the suit, alleging that the company had done enough modification of its existing coal plants to trigger a Clean Air Act clause that requires the installation of new pollution controls when significant work is done. The plaintiffs alleged that AEP had violated limits at 30 of 46 coal-fired units.
Hemlepp said AEP had simply done "prudent maintenance . . . on very expensive assets." It has argued that it had not expanded the capacity of the plants and that it therefore should not have to upgrade the pollution-control equipm ent.
The Clean Air Act clause, known as "new source review," has been the subject of intense dispute among major electric utilities, environmental groups and federal regulators. Even within the Bush administration there have been different views on how to interpret the regulation. Environmental groups have accused the administration of attempting to undermine the rule.
An April Supreme Court decision may have contributed to AEP's decision to settle the lawsuit. In that case, Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy Corp., the court backed the policy dating back to the Clinton administration aimed at making power plants install new pollution-control equipment. The justices' unambiguous ruling made it clear to utilities that sooner or later, they might be forced under law to curtail their emissions from aging coal-fired plants.
Pollution from those plants, located in the Ohio River Valley and Appalachia, affected trees, lakes and air in northeastern and mid-Atlantic states. Under the settlement, AEP is to spend $10 million to acquire ecologically sensitive lands harmed by acid deposition, mostly in central Appalachia; $3 million to address nitrification of the Chesapeake Bay; $2 million for a restoration project in Shenandoah National Park; and $21 million to reduce emissions from barges and large trucks in the Ohio River Valley.
Hemlepp said that new pollution-control equipment would have been installed as part of AEP's "ongoing business." He said that only two new projects were included in the settlement: pollution-control equipment at its Rockport plant in southern Indiana to be completed in 2017 and one at a smaller plant in Virginia, to be completed in 2019. The present value of those would be $1.6 billion, Hemlepp added.
Environmental groups contended, however, that the lawsuit has already prodded AEP into spending more than it would have to reduce acid rain emissions. In its 2006 annual report, AEP said it had spent $1.2 billion in 2006 to cut emissions and would spend an additional $1.5 billion in 2007 and 2008. Those expenditures will go a considerable way to help the company meet the emissions targets in the settlement, sources familiar with the negotiations said.
Although sulfur dioxide emissions are subject to a cap-and-trade program that allows companies to buy credits to offset their emissions, under the terms of the settlement AEP will have to reduce its own actual emissions.
Last year, AEP's power plants emitted 828,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, an environmental group involved in the litigation said. That level is expected to decline to 450,000 tons in 2010, in part because of spending already planned. Under the settlement, sulfur dioxide emissions must drop to 174,000 tons by 2018, sources said.
In 2006, AEP produced 231,000 tons of nitrogen oxides. That level is expected to decline to 96,000 tons by 2009 and under the settlement must fall to 72,000 tons by 2016.
"This underscores the critical importance of enforcement," said a representative from one environmental group.
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Washington,DC,Virginia,Maryland business headlines,stock portfolio,markets,economy,mutual funds,personal finance,Dow Jones,S&P 500,NASDAQ quotes,company research tools. Federal Reserve,Bernanke,Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Maryland Joins Megacomputer 'Cloud' Project
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"This is going to be the paradigm of the future," said Jimmy Lin, an assistant professor of information studies who is leading the initiative at Maryland. "The amount of information out there is growing at an exponential pace, and this way of doing computing is the only realistic way of keeping up with that."
Computer scientists say it is crucial for students to learn how to write software that can take advantage of clouds. The clusters -- dozens, hundreds or even thousands of computers processing information simultaneously -- have far-reaching applications in search, social networking and e-commerce. They enable users to sort through large quantities of data at light speed.
Google and IBM are making available up to 1,600 computers, in three locations, to the universities.
At Maryland, the cloud will be used to create a system for automatically translating text in difficult foreign languages such as Chinese and Arabic.
To build the system, Lin and colleagues plan to feed enormous amounts of foreign text and its English translation into a computer, which then analyzes the connections among the words to create rules for translations. In the past, he'd feed a batch -- hundreds of millions of words -- into a computer one morning, and then return the next day to see what the computer had come up with.
With the cloud, he said, "things that used to take a day to run now take about 20 minutes."
V.S. Subrahmanian, director of the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies at Maryland, said being part of the initiative "is a significant opportunity for us to test out algorithms we develop in the lab in a real-world, massive-scale setting."
He added that being part of the initiative raises Maryland's profile among the top computer science programs in the country. Other universities participating include Carnegie Mellon University, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Washington.
"We're trying to help students develop new technologies and methods that will help them break the single-server mindset," said Christophe Bisciglia, a senior software engineer at Google who is helping run the initiative.
In early tests of the cloud at the University of Washington, students showed on a map where news around the world was happening -- almost in real time. They also analyzed all of Wikipedia to find synonyms for words, and created a video illustrating how the collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies would affect the 80,000 stars and galactic objects within them.
Michael R. Nelson, director of Internet technology and strategy at IBM, said he imagined future computers being smaller than a wristwatch. "You'd talk into this, your voice would be carried into the cloud, the cloud would do the voice recognition, and it would determine what you were asking for -- map directions, the nearest Chinese restaurant -- and then the information would come back to and be spoken through the speaker."
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It's called a cloud, and the University of Maryland is happy to be part of it.
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Myanmar Junta Names Liaison to Suu Kyi
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YANGON, Myanmar -- The ruling junta appointed a Cabinet official Monday to coordinate contacts with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a move that comes with Myanmar under intense international pressure to enter talks with the democracy movement.
Deputy Labor Minister Aung Kyi, a retired major general, was named to the post of "liaison minister," state radio and television said Monday night.
On Tuesday, the junta said it hoped to achieve "smooth relations" with Suu Kyi. The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece of the junta, printed a brief official announcement on its front page saying that Kyi had been appointed "minister for relations" to coordinate contacts with Suu Kyi, the country's democracy icon.
The appointment was suggested by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari during his visit to Myanmar earlier this month, the statement said. It added that the junta had accepted the idea "in respect of Gambari's recommendation and in view of smooth relations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."
Aung Kyi's exact duties were not detailed, and the announcement did not say when he might meet with the 62-year-old Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate who has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years without trial.
But it appeared Aung Kyi would coordinate all of Suu Kyi's contacts with both the regime and the United Nations, which is seeking to end the political deadlock between democracy advocates and a military that has ruled since 1962.
Aung Kyi has a reputation among foreign diplomats, U.N. officials and aid groups as being relatively accessible and reasonable compared to top junta leaders, who are highly suspicious of outsiders. He has had the delicate task of dealing with the International Labor Organization, which accuses the junta of using forced labor.
The government announced last week that the junta's leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, was willing to meet personally with Suu Kyi, but only if she met certain conditions, including renouncing support for economic sanctions by foreign countries against the junta.
It remains unknown if Suu Kyi would accept the offer, which also called on her to give up what the junta said were her efforts backing "confrontation" and "utter devastation." The regime accuses her and her party of working with other nations to sabotage its own plans for a phased return to democracy.
Than Shwe has only met with Suu Kyi once before, in 2002, and the talks quickly broke down.
The appointment of a liaison officer was suggested by Gambari during his visit to Myanmar last week, the announcement on state media said. Gambari met with both top junta officials and Suu Kyi.
Gambari's trip to the Southeast Asian nation also known as Burma came after troops quelled democracy protests with gunfire. The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the death toll at up to 200 and say 6,000 people were detained, including thousands of monks who were leading the demonstrations.
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YANGON, Myanmar -- The ruling junta appointed a Cabinet official Monday to coordinate contacts with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a move that comes with Myanmar under intense international pressure to enter talks with the democracy movement.
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Helicopter Crashes On Musharraf Trip
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The helicopter was flying behind Musharraf's helicopter when the engine caught fire, according to Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim Khan. The Puma helicopter went down about 11:15 a.m. in a remote area.
"It was purely accidental," Khan said.
Killed were a brigadier general, a cameraman for state-run television and two soldiers who were part of Musharraf's security detail. Retired Gen. Rashid Qureshi, Musharraf's spokesman, was injured, but Khan described him as "walking wounded" and said he would make a full recovery.
Musharraf, who was unhurt, did not find out about the crash until he had reached his destination. The helicopter that went down was one of three escorting Musharraf's chopper, and Khan said it had been designated primarily for members of the news media.
"There was no question that Musharraf could have been on that one," Khan said.
Musharraf later went ahead with his scheduled appearances in Muzaffarabad, capital of the mountainous region of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Exactly two years ago, the area was hit with a devastating earthquake that claimed more than 73,000 lives.
While the government ruled out the possibility of sabotage, the crash was sure to arouse suspicion among conspiracy-minded Pakistanis. The nation's last military ruler, Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, died in a still-unexplained plane crash in the summer of 1988. Foul play has long been suspected but not proved.
Musharraf has been the target of several assassination attempts. He narrowly escaped two bomb attacks in 2003, and this summer a man on a rooftop in the garrison city of Rawalpindi fired a submachine gun at the general's plane as it took off from a nearby base. Two antiaircraft guns, which had not been fired, were also recovered from the rooftop.
Monday's crash occurred during a period of deep turbulence in Pakistan. On Saturday, Musharraf won the most votes in a controversial presidential election that was boycotted by the opposition. He could not claim victory, however, because the Supreme Court must still rule on his eligibility to run.
Meanwhile, al-Qaeda has stepped up its campaign against Musharraf. In September, the group's leader, Osama bin Laden, devoted an audiotape to the subject of attacking the president. The war in the restive tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan has intensified in recent months following the collapse of two peace deals.
On Monday, 50 Pakistani troops in the tribal area of North Waziristan disappeared during a battle with pro-Taliban fighters, local officials said. Fierce clashes had broken out in the same area over the weekend, and from Sunday morning through late Monday, 60 insurgents and 20 soldiers had been killed, the military said. The fighting began when insurgents attacked a series of military convoys, and the military responded with strikes from helicopter gunships and fighter jets.
A purported Taliban spokesman said that the military was taking higher losses than it was admitting and that insurgents had attacked because they believed the army was moving aggressively in the area. "By the grace of Allah, we have retaliated," Ahmadullah Ahmadi said by telephone from North Waziristan. "But the government will never admit or reveal its losses at the hands of the local Taliban."
Residents in the area said civilians also had been killed.
"Both sides have been using heavy weapons and have taken casualties, but the real targets are the innocent local tribesmen," said Noor Alam, a resident. "The people have suffered a lot."
Taliban fighters in South Waziristan have been holding about 250 soldiers hostage since late August, when they ambushed a convoy and persuaded the troops to lay down their weapons without firing a shot.
Ali reported from Peshawar, Pakistan.
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World news headlines from the Washington Post,including international news and opinion from Africa,North/South America,Asia,Europe and Middle East. Features include world weather,news in Spanish,interactive maps,daily Yomiuri and Iraq coverage.
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Ambitious Project Is Planned in Laurel
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2007100919
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Lurking in the wings is another project that could trump National Harbor, this one planned for the northern end of the county near the Montgomery County line.
Konterra, as it is known, will be even bigger and more expensive than National Harbor. Planners envision the $3 billion development occupying 2,200 acres in Laurel and featuring luxury single-family houses, townhomes and condominiums, hotels, a business park and swanky retail, office and entertainment space.
Developers hope to have their plans approved next year and break ground in 2009.
The project is being planned in phases: Konterra and Konterra Town Center.
When the first phase is completed in 2011, it will resemble Reston and Bethesda, with sidewalks and outdoor cafes. "It is seen as a more lively kind of environment," said Steven Adams, supervisor of urban design for the county's planning department. "Sometimes suburban living is characterized as sterile. This provides a neo-urban kind of place."
Like National Harbor, Konterra exemplifies a growing tendency in Prince George's to retool land-use plans in an effort to get developments to group office and retail space, housing and restaurants into single communities.
The concept, sometimes referred to as "new urbanism," has been around since the early 1980s but has just started to take hold in Prince George's. At least six such developments are in the works in the county, and others are on the drawing board.
"These projects offer county residents an opportunity to have an urban experience within a suburban context," said Kwasi Holman, executive director of Prince George's County Economic Development Corp.
New urbanism projects that are planned or proposed include one near the Greenbelt Metro station. Another is the Woodmore Towne Center, a proposed 245-acre project at the Capital Beltway and Route 202 in Glenarden that would house the county's first upscale grocery store.
A third, University Town Center in Hyattsville, is under construction. Planners say it will offer students who already live there a vibrant town center with outdoor cafes, stores and a children's museum.
And at a 362-acre former industrial site in Bowie, plans are underway for Karington, which county officials describe as a classic example of new urbanism. When completed, the development will have a private school and an annex to Prince George's Community College. The development also will have a conference center, two hotels, a lake and estate homes.
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In six months, Prince George's County will preside over the opening of National Harbor, one of the biggest and most luxurious hotel and convention centers on the East Coast: a $2 billion marvel of work and play space on the banks of the Potomac River.
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A Blinding Occurrence
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2007100919
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An avid hockey player since age 6, Lucio "Lou" Battista is no stranger to pain. "He has a very high tolerance," his mother, Liz Battista, said of her only child.
Last year while playing defense for his roller hockey team, Lou, then 15, was body-slammed from behind and hurled chest first into the board that separates the rink from spectators, then played two more games before realizing something was wrong. The blow was so forceful it fractured the hyoid bone in his neck, tore his esophagus and forced air into the space in the chest between his lungs, endangering his heart. He spent five days in the hospital and has fully recovered from injuries that could have been fatal.
But that experience, he said, paled in comparison with his ordeal last May, when he developed eye pain so searing it literally made him weep.
"It was unbearable," recalled Lou, a high school senior in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., who will turn 17 in two weeks. Unlike the hockey injuries, which were diagnosed quickly, it took doctors a week to figure out the reason for the stabbing pain and why his left eye went from 20/20 vision to being legally blind in a matter of days.
His doctors were baffled in part because an array of sophisticated tests -- CT scans, MRIs, a spinal tap and extensive blood work -- were all normal. It was a pediatric neurologist, the second he had seen, who quickly diagnosed the problem and within hours initiated treatment that stopped the pain and restored his sight.
Lou's problem began Friday, May 11. He awoke with a slight headache. Both his eyes were light-sensitive, but he didn't think about it -- he had too much to do. He had recently been inducted into the National Honor Society, was studying for an exam required for graduation and was preparing to be inducted into a technical honor society for his culinary skills. Along with ice and roller hockey, food is his passion, and he hopes to become a professional chef.
The headache worsened over the weekend, and over-the-counter pain relievers didn't help. By Monday, both eyes still hurt, but he popped some Advil and went to school.
Liz Battista had just arrived at work when her son called from the school nurse's office. "He'd left chemistry and told the nurse, 'I can't even think straight, the pain is so bad,' " she recalled. As Battista hurried to pick him up, she called their longtime pediatrician, Herschel Lessin. "Dr. Lessin told me, 'Get him over here right away.' "
It was the first in a series of medical appointments and tests that yielded possible diagnoses: ophthalmic migraine, head injury, brain tumor, meningitis, multiple sclerosis, even Lyme disease.
"I got really scared driving around from doctor to doctor," Liz Battista recalled. "It was go see this one, go see that one."
Lessin examined Lou, ordered an immediate CT scan of his head and referred him to a pediatric neurologist. After the CT scan, an MRI and blood work that the neurologist ordered all came back normal, he told Liz Battista her son had an ophthalmic migraine, which typically goes away after a few days. He sent them to an ophthalmologist, who agreed. The eye doctor also observed that one of Lou's optic nerves was enlarged, but said it was not a cause for concern.
By Wednesday, after a long, tense day that Lou spent in bed and in pain, he told his mother he couldn't stand it any longer. The pain was concentrated in his left eye, and he could see only shapes. His mother immediately called the neurologist, who told her he didn't know what else to do, and advised her to call the pediatrician.
Lessin's office told her to take Lou to an emergency room.
Doctors there gave Lou a shot of Demerol, agreed that it was an ophthalmic migraine and after 5 1/2 hours sent him home with painkillers.
The next two days were an uneasy waiting game. The family's optometrist told Liz Battista he didn't believe it was a migraine because it had lasted so long. A second ophthalmologist advised them to wait it out.
But Lou told his mother the painkillers were barely working. He said he felt they were masking what was wrong and he didn't understand why no one could figure it out.
"It was upsetting," Lou recalled. "Some of these really good doctors didn't know what to do. It was more tests and bloodwork and needles -- and we weren't getting anywhere."
On Friday, a week after the pain first surfaced, Lou woke up with the usual symptoms -- pain, light sensitivity -- but he could see almost nothing out of his left eye. His mother took him back to the pediatrician. Unable to reach the first pediatric neurologist, Lessin called a second one: Cecile Fray, who agreed to see Lou immediately.
Fray examined him and sent him for an immediate MRI of his eyes, head and neck. It was normal. Then she told the Battistas the problem was not a migraine. She thought Lou had either optic neuritis or a juvenile form of multiple sclerosis.
"I was pretty sure it was optic neuritis," Fray recalled, "but we had to see what the spinal tap showed." Lou had the swollen optic nerve sometimes seen in optic neuritis patients, and his pupils paradoxically dilated in response to light, another telltale sign. His spinal fluid was unaffected; a pediatric specialist who saw Lou a few days later ruled out MS and concurred with Fray's diagnosis.
Optic neuritis is an inflammation of the optic nerve, a bundle of fibers in the eye that transmit visual information to the brain. Its twin hallmarks are eye pain and vision loss. Some cases are caused by MS or a viral infection, but often the cause is unknown, according to the Merck Manual. Treatment with intravenous steroids has been shown to speed recovery of vision, which can take as long as two years, and may reduce the chance of a recurrence.
Fray immediately started him on high doses of intravenous steroids, and stayed with him until 3 a.m. Saturday after he had received the first dose. Within a day or two, the pain was gone and his vision returned.
"The care she provided was amazing," Liz Battista said. "If she was not in the hospital checking on his condition, she was on the phone following up."
Fray said she is still following Lou closely. He recovered faster than doctors expected: Five weeks after his hospitalization, his vision was measured at 20/20.
He is playing hockey again, works as a lifeguard three days a week at a health club, and last week learned he had been accepted to Johnson and Wales University in Providence, R.I., his first choice for college.
"I see him healthy, I see him back playing hockey six days a week, I'm grateful that he's back to his old self," his mother said. "Lou's attitude is 'Okay, I'm over this. Let's move on with life.' "
If you have a Medical Mystery that's been solved, e-mailmedicalmysteries@washpost.com.
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An avid hockey player since age 6, Lucio "Lou" Battista is no stranger to pain. "He has a very high tolerance," his mother, Liz Battista, said of her only child.
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A First-Class Civil Rights Lesson
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2007100919
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Of all the little pictures for sale at the postage stamp counter -- American flags, Purple Hearts, Dumbo the Elephant, the Incredible Hulk -- one of the newest ones is not so familiar.
Two young people with tan skin study an open book, facing an orange sun. "Mendez v. Westminster 1947," says the stamp. First class, 41 cents. The U.S. Postal Service printed 40 million.
But what does it mean? How many layers of irony and history, coincidence and dreams can be rescued from oblivion and packed onto a stamp?
Here's a clue, printed on the image: "Toward equality in our schools." Then there's the year: 1947. This was seven years before the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case, right? Ten years before Little Rock . . .
"I had never heard of the Mendez case, like many people hadn't," says Rafael Lopez, the Mexican-born San Diego artist who designed the stamp.
Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez wanted to send their children to a "white school" in Westminster, Calif., a few miles from where Disneyland would soon rise from the orange groves like a hallucination.
They are dead now, but here in Washington one bright fall day is their daughter Sylvia Mendez, who was the 10-year-old girl who integrated the California schools. She's a 71-year-old retired nurse who still lives in Orange County, not far from Westminster. In Washington, she's a giddy tourist.
She visits a post office in Dupont Circle to buy some stamps, and the clerk wants to know what the new stamp is all about. She sits on the marble steps of the U.S. Supreme Court to have her picture taken, smiling into the sun.
"This is great!" she says, and adds: "I have a picture at home of Earl Warren in front of the Supreme Court."
Of course, Warren: One in the serendipitous cast of characters present for the obscure dress rehearsal that was the Mendez case. Seven years before he wrote the Brown decision as chief justice, he was the California governor, keeping a close eye on this earlier battle.
And Thurgood Marshall: He submitted a brief in the Mendez case, testing arguments he would later use in Brown.
Thurgood Marshall Jr., a Washington lawyer who happens to be on the Postal Service's Board of Governors, says he has been "repeatedly floored" by all the historical crosscurrents surging behind this little stamp.
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Of all the little pictures for sale at the postage stamp counter -- American flags, Purple Hearts, Dumbo the Elephant, the Incredible Hulk -- one of the newest ones is not so familiar.
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Art of War: Museum of Works By Vietnam Vets In Financial Straits
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2007100919
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CHICAGO -- The dog tags hang from the ceiling, shimmering like the prisms of a chandelier as the central piece of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, which serves as the country's lone repository for the sketches, pottery and paintings of troops who went to war.
The museum, whose name is about to change to reflect contributions from veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is housed in a borrowed warehouse in the South Loop, a neighborhood that's being revitalized. Chicago initially donated the museum building but is now reclaiming the structure for its park district offices. A deal for the museum has yet to be reached, and the circumstances are bleak: The museum can no longer pay most of its staff or its utility bills.
"The situation is very dire," said Jim Holtzman, a board member and treasurer of the museum. "At this point, we're trying to help stem the bleeding."
The mostly untold story of the museum is one of sacrifice -- by the artists and by the volunteers and donors who have labored to keep the space open as a reminder of the humane and inhumane aspects of war.
The images inside the museum can be haunting. They are raw, unedited pictures of carnage that follow veterans home, stuck in their heads until they find art as a way to let them out. Some are sublime, and others are heart-wrenching and grotesque.
"It's the only place we have a voice," said St. Louis artist Jay Burton Hellwege, who was drafted by the Army in 1969 and sent to Vietnam with an artillery unit. "I was nearly killed more times than I can remember. It was miraculous I made it through."
Hellwege, 60, a former high school art teacher, uses old typewriters as his primary material. One of the typewriters is on permanent display at the museum. It is painted white -- as they all are -- to reflect the symbolism of the color of mourning in Asia. The artwork features toy soldiers with their guns and tanks pointed at a man reading a stack of papers. Some of the soldiers are old toys that Hellwege had as a child. The piece is titled, "Typewriter Where the Publisher Meets the Writer: (and the Writer's Imagination). A Parody." Completed in 2000, it is one of 40 typewriter pieces he has created.
"I am compelled to create art -- something drives me to do this, and it is very much part of my being," said Hellwege. His art reflects his cynicism and his attempt to deal with the post-traumatic stress that he says led to a nervous breakdown after 27 years of teaching. He retired from the classroom and sought treatment.
"Art is God's apology for the horrors of life, " he said.
The museum, which opened at its current location in 1996, has 1,500 artworks, many of them displayed on three stories of neatly decorated warehouse space. It represents 125 artists from the United States, Australia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. It was formed out of an artists' collective in 1981, but until 1996 never had a permanent home.
The museum, though, hasn't been able to attract enough visitors (estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 over the past four years), at a time when a new generation of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan is eager for a place where the public can view personal images and words depicting what the troops saw and experienced. Admission is $10, but veterans and school groups get in for free, making it impossible to meet the budget on ticket sales alone, museum officials said.
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CHICAGO -- The dog tags hang from the ceiling, shimmering like the prisms of a chandelier as the central piece of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, which serves as the country's lone repository for the sketches, pottery and paintings of troops who went to war.
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OnFaith on washingtonpost.com
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2007100819
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Given the rave reviews, you would think the CWâs Aliens in America was a major step forward in American art, something like the third part of Tony Kushnerâs masterpiece Angels in America. Not quite. Aliens in America is, well, a sitcom - which is to say that, like most sitcoms, it is a parade of stock characters strung together by thin humor and improbable transitions.
The high school boys make lewd comments about the high school girls. The girls giggle and squeal and wear low-cut tops and try to decide if being voted âmost bang-ableâ is a compliment or an insult. The dad sits on the couch and drinks beer and the mom quits the PTA to focus on making her son popular (which reinforces the truism my father told me when I was graduating from college: most of life is a lot like high school).
Raja, the Pakistani Muslim â the âalienâ in America - surprises the family by doing the dishes, praying in the living room and generally being a polite teenager.
The show has gotten excellent reviews largely because the stereotypes in question â small town Americans and South Asian Muslims â appear to be at war everywhere else.
Yet, for all its eye-rolling typical sitcom schtick, Aliens in America succeeds in poking gentle fun at how knee-jerk and narrow America has become since 9/11 on the issue of how we view the fifth of humanity that is Muslim. The fact that there are genuine moments where the sweetness of high school friendship replaces ignorance and insults makes Aliens in America more than worth watching.
âRaja, you are so different from us - how does that feel?â
Raja is at a loss for words. He didnât come to America to highlight the differences or widen the divide.
The teacher turns to her class, âHow does everybody else feel about Raja and his differences?â
One girl offers, âI guess I feel angry because his people blew up the buildings in New York.â
Raja tries to protest, and gets scolded in return. âIn America, we raise our hands before we speak,â the teacher says, and then asks the rest of the class whether they agree that Raja is responsible for blowing up the World Trade Center. The students, observing the classroom etiquette demanded by their teacher, all raise their hands and politely label their new classmate a terrorist.
It would be a better world if such scenes only happened in television shows. Unfortunately, more and more Americans are viewing Muslims as only different. A recent Pew survey found that 70% of Americans say they have little or nothing in common with Muslims.
Viewing a group of people as aliens because of their faith is against everything America stands for. Our poets, playwrights and philosophers have always understood that America, unlike many other nations, is based on an idea, not an ethnicity or a religion, the essence of which is that our dream of opportunity for all is made real by people who come from every corner and pray in every way, or no way at all. Even given the drawbacks of the genre, I am happy that sitcom-writers are singing this most American song:
When we treat our neighbors and guests of a different faith as strangers, we become the aliens in America.
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Eboo Patel on OnFaith; Visit http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/
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Putin Cements His Grip
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2007100719
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MOSCOW -- With Vladimir Putin's announcement this week that he would head the pro-Kremlin United Russia party in December's parliamentary elections, Russia's new power configuration began to take shape. Ultimately, it will mean the extension of Putin's authority and a triumph of manipulative politics. But as they have demonstrated, the Russian people won't mind.
The dynamic Putin has created, ensuring himself nearly absolute power, has one important flaw of his own making: Because his authority is much greater than what is spelled out formally in the constitution, and it his alone, there is no way for Putin to transfer his power after, as the constitution requires, he steps down when his second term ends. This is why Putin has to thoroughly control the transition -- lest Russia itself becomes unmanageable.
The stakes could not be higher: During his presidency Putin has overseen a major redistribution of property. His primary goal is to secure that redistribution and ensure security for himself. Putin, the only real arbiter of the feuding groups among Russia's elite, is also the only possible safeguard against a new redistribution that would threaten Russia's stability.
Since he seems determined to abide by the constitution and leave office, he needs to figure out a way to nevertheless retain power -- whether as prime minister, as he recently hinted, or in some other position. Putin will also have to ensure that whoever occupies the president's office will not encroach upon his authority.
The Russian public will be happy to see Putin remain in charge, whatever the office. Those who may be not pleased are in the minority, and most of them will comply with the government's actions without public objection. In Russia, the head of state is traditionally regarded as being separate and above the government, not as the nation's top executive but as the embodiment of Russian statehood. There was a failed attempt in the 1990s to break with this tradition, but Putin has pushed Russia back to the paternalistic pattern. Under his guidance, common living standards have significantly improved, and Russia has reasserted itself on the world scene. As a result, Putin's approval ratings hold steady at 80 percent. In a national poll by the Russian agency Levada Center this year, more than a third of Russians said that they'd want Putin to be president for life.
And why would they want him to leave? Certainly not because of some charter framed under Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, whom most Russians remember with disdain. Russia does not have a history of the rule of law. Our folklore abounds in maxims such as "where court is, there's no truth." Many among the country's elite are no more concerned about adherence to the constitution than is the public at large. Indeed, various political groups and figures have begged Putin to stay for a third term.
Putin would not respond to the beseeching and do what several leaders of former Soviet republics have done: simply eliminate the constitutional hurdles and stay on as president. Although the judicial branch has been repeatedly bent to the will of the executive during his tenure, Putin has been strangely particular about the letter of the law. In today's Russia, politics may be deinstitutionalized, so that officeholders and institutions are pawns in a game of Putin's design; federalism may be undermined; political freedoms and civil liberties compromised. But while ultimately destroying the spirit of democracy, the Kremlin avoids direct violations and resorts to sophisticated schemes.
This simultaneous concern for appearance and contempt for substance is a pattern deeply rooted in Soviet history. Government propaganda was one of the pillars of the totalitarian system, and the gap between words and substance grew wider until the two had nothing in common. The regime's words -- the rhetoric of its Communist officials, its press, its political slogans and schoolbooks -- were radically at odds with real life. The Russian people grew used to this doublethink and doublespeak, so it's little wonder that today there is nothing more sacred about the current constitution than there was about any of the three charters adopted during Soviet times.
Putin and some of his aides are highly skilled in producing a government with the trappings of democracy and none of its substantial elements, such as public participation, the separation of powers, political competition or accountability. The formal decorum comes in handy when Putin needs to insist, usually to Western audiences, that Russia is a democracy. He appears anxious to fit in among the democratic leaders of the West and to distance himself from the Central Asian autocrats who have carved out lifelong presidencies.
Western leaders and critics may remain unconvinced, but by sticking to the letter of the law, Putin deprives the West of an easy argument: that Russia's regime is not democratic. As to the more complex argument, Putin's response is: Our democracy may be imperfect, but so is yours. It is not clear whether he truly believes that Western democracy is nothing but disguise and manipulation, but Putin never misses an opportunity to say it is, and the Russian people increasingly share this view.
Masha Lipman, editor of the Carnegie Moscow Center's Pro et Contra journal, writes a monthly column for The Post.
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Putin extends his authority. But the Russians don't mind.
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http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/susan_brooks_thistlethwaite/2007/10/why_jesus_cant_be_president.html
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Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
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Some of you might think that Jesus couldnât run for President of the United States because he did not live to be old enough to meet the minimum age requirement (35 years of age). But according to John McCainâs views, that is not the only thing that would keep Jesus from becoming U.S. President. You see, Jesus was Jewish and Mr. McCain thinks you need to be Christian to be President.
Must we go through this every time this country becomes more religiously pluralistic? As is very well known, John F. Kennedy faced religious prejudice because he was Catholic and there were those who thought that disqualified him from being U.S. President. Wouldnât a Catholic uphold Catholic doctrine instead of the U.S. Constitution? The answer the American people gave, and that indeed Kennedy proved during his time in office, was that being Catholic was no barrier to being an American president.
Weâve already considered the question, in these On Faith discussions, of whether a Mormon can be President. Absolutely, I contend; the real question that the American people have to answer about any candidate, and the only question, is âis this person qualified for the job?â Religion doesnât make the cut. There can be no religious test for office under this U.S. Constitution.
A Muslim? A Buddhist? A Hindu? Which Muslim, which Buddhist, which Hindu? You canât answer the question âwho is qualified to be U.S. Presidentâ in the abstract. This is about character and capability for leadership. Nothing else.
Arenât you the least suspicious, though, of the idea that there could be a list of people qualified to lead the country and Jesus of Nazareth and Mohandas Gandhi wouldnât make the cut?
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Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite on OnFaith; Visit http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/susan_brooks_thistlethwaite/
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Blackwater Faces New Monitoring From State Dept.
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2007100719
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The State Department responded yesterday to escalating criticism of Blackwater security guards in Iraq, announcing new measures to more closely monitor their operations as a new Pentagon report depicted a troubling lack of coordination between private security contractors and the U.S. military.
Following the recommendations of a high-level review team sent to Baghdad last week, the State Department said yesterday that it will place its own diplomatic security agents in all Blackwater convoys, mount video cameras in Blackwater vehicles and record all radio transmissions to ensure an "objective" record of any future incident of contractor use of force.
Both the classified Pentagon report and the State Department's actions follow Iraqi and congressional criticism of the use of private security contractors in Iraq after a Sept. 16 incident in which Blackwater employees guarding a State Department convoy allegedly shot and killed at least 14 Iraqi civilians.
The report, which was prepared for Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, found considerable frustration among U.S. military commanders, who complained that contractors working for non-Pentagon agencies, including the State Department, often behave arrogantly, traveling through areas of military operations without prior notification and setting up their own checkpoints and roadblocks.
"There is a feeling that they are untouchable, a perception that they can do whatever they want with impunity," said a Pentagon source, who was not authorized to speak to reporters and demanded anonymity.
But the report also determined that commanders often do not use the authority available to them to hold Defense Department contractors accountable -- including expelling them from bases, disarming them and pursuing sanctions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Pentagon contracts cover an estimated 7,300 security contractors, including about 1,500 working on personal security teams.
Applying the military justice code to civilians is a "complex process," the Pentagon source said. "We didn't ask for it, and we don't really know how to use it." In some cases, he said, enforcing the rules may be difficult, even if the attempt is made.
"From a practical standpoint, most of the PSD [personal security detail] guys are former Navy Seals and Special Forces with . . . years of combat experience," who are unlikely to take direction from "some 20-year-old corporal" in the military, the source said.
The draft report of more than a dozen pages is to be finalized and presented to Gates when he returns from South America this weekend. Designed as an overall look at the relationship between private security contractors and the military, it includes an assessment by a five-person team that Gates dispatched to Iraq two weeks ago in the wake of the Sept. 16 incident.
Among other findings, the report suggested that the Defense Department needs to increase the personnel and resources it devotes to contractor oversight.
The Pentagon source suggested that the report could generate new scrutiny of broader issues, such as the welter of separate but often overlapping private-contractor arrangements made by the military and the State Department. "An inescapable endpoint is: Why do we have two sets of contractors?" the source said.
Military protection of diplomatic and other U.S. civilian officials ended in June 2004, when the United States returned sovereignty to the Iraqis and opened an embassy in Baghdad. Since then, the State Department has hired its own private contractors, including Blackwater, which protects diplomats and other U.S. government civilians in Baghdad and the surrounding areas of central Iraq. State Department contractors are not liable under the military code, and U.S. officials have questioned whether they are covered by any U.S. law.
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The State Department responded yesterday to escalating criticism of Blackwater security guards in Iraq, announcing new measures to more closely monitor their operations as a new Pentagon report depicted a troubling lack of coordination between private security contractors and the U.S. military.
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U.S. Airstrike on Village in Diyala Kills at Least 25
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BAGHDAD, Oct. 5 -- U.S. military aircraft bombarded a Shiite village north of Baghdad on Friday morning as they pursued suspected militiamen, in an attack that killed at least 25 people, according to U.S. military officials.
Some Iraqi reports of the fighting in Diyala province claimed that civilians were killed in the fighting, although U.S. officials said they believed the dead were all combatants. The Associated Press, citing an Iraqi army official, reported that seven children were among those killed.
U.S. troops, believed to be elite Special Forces soldiers, were targeting an individual the military says is involved in transporting weapons from Iran into Baghdad. The individual was suspected to be part of what the military calls "special groups," Shiite militiamen with links to the al-Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. All of the people killed appeared to be Iraqis, a U.S. military spokeswoman said.
In a separate development in Washington on Friday, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie accused Iran of supplying ever-more sophisticated weapons to militias in Iraq. Rubaie did not provide any evidence for his claims, which are similar to those that have been leveled against Iran by U.S. military officials. Iran has repeatedly denied it is involved in arming, training or funding militants in Iraq.
Also, in an interview with al-Arabiya television released Friday by the White House, President Bush dismissed as "empty propaganda" reports that he is preparing for airstrikes on Iran this January or February. "Evidently there's a lot of gossip in parts of the . . . world that try to scare people about me, personally, or my country, or what we stand for," Bush said. The president repeated his mantra that "all options are on the table" in dealing with Iran's nuclear activities but emphasized his desire to solve the problem diplomatically.
The violence in Diyala began in the morning when U.S. troops took heavy fire from rifles and rocket-propelled grenades in Jayzani al-Imam village, between the city of Baqubah and the Tigris River, the U.S. military said in a statement. Helicopters and jets were called in and destroyed two buildings.
"The best that we can tell right now is that we couldn't assess any civilians killed on the ground. We're not completely sure, to be frank, but we are sure that our troops were engaged and we killed about 25 terrorists," said Maj. Brad Leighton, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. Because of security concerns, "we haven't really been able to completely assess" the situation on the ground, he said.
A spokesman for the Diyala province Joint Coordination Center said a leader of the al-Quds Force had visited the village to meet with members of the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia loyal to powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
A man from a nearby village, Mohammed Khadim al-Qaisi, said Jayzani al-Imam is almost entirely a Shiite town and is known to be a haven for militia members.
U.S. soldiers killed an additional 12 suspected insurgents in Iraq on Friday, the military said.
The fighting occurred on a day when three U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq. Two died, and two others were wounded, when a bomb exploded in southeastern Baghdad. The third was killed, and three more injured, when a bomb blew up in Salahuddin province.
In a meeting with Washington Post reporters and editors, Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, asserted that transporting weapons into Iraq is a policy approved by Iran's top officials, including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Rubaie, a Shiite Muslim who once had close ties to Iran, said the neighboring country supplies militias with surface-to-air missiles, 240mm missiles that can hit targets 25 to 30 miles away, and advanced rocket-propelled grenades known as RPG-29s, an antitank weapon capable of penetrating U.S. armor.
Rubaie said a resumption of a more meaningful U.S.-Iran dialogue is critical to stabilizing Iraq, adding that bilateral diplomacy is moribund for the moment. "We believe that when they stopped engagement in the beginning of August, that's when [Iran] upgraded the arms," he said.
In a talk at the Nixon Center on Wednesday, he said there should be "absolutely no -- big, fat no, N-O -- bombing of Iran" by the United States.
In Diyala province, where the airstrike took place Friday, some U.S. military officials say the Shiite militia presence is waning. Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, U.S. commander for northern Iraq, said in a telephone interview late last month that the Mahdi Army and the other Shiite militias in Diyala are "really up against the wall."
"We've killed and captured quite a few of their leaders. . . . We see that influence waning, but it's not over, of course."
Mixon said he has been heartened by the participation of Shiite tribes along with Sunni ones in recent meetings to discuss ways to drive out extremists. But U.S. military officials acknowledge that it has been more difficult to generate the groundswell of local volunteer fighters -- as happened in western Anbar province -- in Diyala, with its more heterogeneous sectarian population. Shiite politicians in Baghdad have recently lashed out at the Americans for those partnerships with tribal fighters, who they claim are abusing Shiites in Baghdad and elsewhere.
A senior U.S. commander who oversees Diyala said some local Sunni volunteers have quit out of frustration at delays in the government's willingness to hire them as police. "They stood up to fight against al-Qaeda. They have been in a tough fight here, shedding blood with their comrades against this despicable enemy, and they have not been compensated for that. They are looking for recognition and they have not seen it yet," Brig. Gen. John Bednarak, deputy commander, Multinational Division North, said in an interview Thursday, referring to insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Bednarak said more than 3,000 primarily Sunni fighters -- including tribal members and former insurgents -- have been vetted, but none have been hired by the Ministry of Interior. Instead, the U.S. military is putting them on temporary 90-day contracts under which they earn less than $300 a month.
Diyala is authorized to have 13,000 police officers, and officials there have requested an increase to 21,000 because of ongoing violence, but the Ministry of Interior has "held up on that for several months," Bednarak said. "They are worried . . . that we are arming civilians that would rise up" against existing security forces. "I don't see that happening," he said.
Staff writers Robin Wright, Ann Scott Tyson, Karen DeYoung and Michael Abramowitz in Washington, special correspondent Salih Dehema in Baghdad, and staff researcher Robert Thomason in Washington contributed to this report.
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Washington Post coverage of the American occupation of Iraq, the country's path to democracy and tensions between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
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Live In Fear Or Flee
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BAGHDAD -- Nabil Comanny and his family endured the dead bodies left to decompose along the road in their southern Dora neighborhood.
They accepted the criminal gangs that roamed the area, searching for targets to kidnap.
And neither the utility failures nor the mountains of trash in the street could drive them away.
As Christians, the Comannys had learned to keep a low profile. They even stayed in their house after many Muslim neighbors fled the daily chaos when sectarian bloodshed between Shiite and Sunni militants broke out in 2006, making this one of Baghdad's most embattled districts.
But the hand-scrawled note at their door was the final straw. The message commanded the family to select one of these options:
-- Pay a fee of nearly $300 monthly for "protection."
Failure to comply would result in death.
"We don't have weapons, and the government doesn't protect us. What else can we do?" said Comanny, a 37-year-old journalist whose family abandoned its modest home of 11 years.
Extreme Islamic militants increasingly are targeting Christians in Iraq, especially in the capital. As a result, Iraq's Christian community -- long the minority in a largely Muslim country -- continues to dwindle.
While meaningful numbers are difficult to come by, the last Iraqi census, conducted in 1987, counted 1 million Christians, although many fled after the United Nations imposed sanctions in the 1990s. Today, national aid groups estimate that between 300,000 and 600,000 Christians remain among an estimated 25 million people.
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BAGHDAD -- Nabil Comanny and his family endured the dead bodies left to decompose along the road in their southern Dora neighborhood.
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Democrat, Republican Gang Up on Incumbent
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CEDARBURG, Wis. -- Explanations are required when you are a conservative Republican, your friend is a Democrat, and you tell people you are running a joint campaign to unseat Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (Wis.), one of the longest-serving Republicans in Congress and the very definition of an entrenched incumbent.
First, there is the matter of the joint campaign.
Jim Burkee is the Republican, the one wearing the red tie in the publicity photos. Jeff Walz is the Democrat, in the blue tie. The fellow professors at Concordia University, just north of Milwaukee, are raising money jointly and promising 100 debates in 300 days before the September 2008 party primaries, whether Sensenbrenner shows up or not.
The concept of a joint candidacy is so novel that the Federal Elections Commission doesn't even have a policy on it; the idea is that if one doesn't get Sensenbrenner, the other will.
If Burkee knocked off Sensenbrenner in the primary or Walz toppled him in next year's general election, it would be earthshaking in this picturesque slice of southeastern Wisconsin.
"Nobody runs against incumbents," conceded Burkee, 39. "I wouldn't do this if I didn't think there was a serious clamor for change in this district. I simply think we need to have turnover in Washington. There's an organic relationship between the increasing level of incumbency and the rising level of corruption."
Burkee and Walz, 40, fit the socially conservative profile of the strongly Republican district. After the pair campaigned at an American Legion fish fry on a recent night, friends joined them over buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken at Burkee's home as the candidates talked of their shared message.
They do not agree on everything, but both oppose abortion, embryonic stem cell research and same-sex marriage. They are similarly aghast at federal spending and say they believe U.S. dependence on oil has helped antidemocratic foreign regimes, "fueling the war on terror as we attempt to fight it," Walz says.
Burkee goes further, declaring that "oil is no longer a fuel that should be used in a post-9/11 world." His answer: a "Manhattan Project" to perfect alternative energy supplies. "And," he points out on their shared campaign Web site, "the global warming people will be happy, too."
The two candidates signed what they call "a pact with the people," a six-point pledge that promises a campaign free of negative ads, personal attacks and money from political action committees. If elected, they said, they will take no money, gifts or meals from lobbyists. They will vote for nothing that requires deficit spending and will serve no more than three consecutive terms.
The notion of running as a pair hit them after they led red-blue discussions at churches during the 2006 campaign. History professor Burkee and political science professor Walz were already debating political, moral and religious issues. Why not turn it into a run for Congress?
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CEDARBURG, Wis. -- Explanations are required when you are a conservative Republican, your friend is a Democrat, and you tell people you are running a joint campaign to unseat Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (Wis.), one of the longest-serving Republicans in Congress and the very definition of an...
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Real Hope in a Virtual World
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Roberto Salvatierra, long imprisoned in his home by his terror over going outdoors, has started venturing outside more after gaining confidence by first tentatively exploring the three-dimensional, interactive world on the Internet.
John Dawley III, who has a form of autism that makes it hard to read social cues, learned how to talk with people more easily by using his computer-generated alter ego to practice with other cyber-personas.
Brown, Salvatierra and Dawley are just a few examples of an increasing number of sick, disabled and troubled people who say virtual worlds are helping them fight their diseases, live with their disabilities and sometimes even begin to recover. Researchers say they are only starting to appreciate the impact of this phenomenon.
"We're at a major technical and social transition with this technology. It has very recently started to become a very big deal, and we haven't by any means digested what the implications are," said William Sims Bainbridge, a social scientist at the National Science Foundation.
In addition to helping individual patients, virtual worlds are being used for a host of other health-related purposes. Medical schools are using them to train doctors. Health departments are using them to test first responders. Researchers are using them to gain insights into how epidemics spread. Health groups are using them to educate the public and raise money.
These increasingly sophisticated online worlds enable people to create rich virtual lives through "avatars" -- identities they can tailor to their desires: Old people become young. Infirm people become vibrant. Paralyzed people become agile.
They walk, run, and even fly and "teleport" around vast realms offering shopping malls, bars, homes, parks and myriad other settings with trees swaying in the wind, fog rolling in and an occasional deer prancing past. They schmooze, flirt and comfort one another using lifelike shrugs, slouches, nods and other gestures while they type instant messages or talk directly through headsets.
Because the full-color, multifaceted nature of the experience offers so much more "emotional bandwidth" than traditional Web sites, e-mail lists and discussion groups, users say the experience can feel astonishingly real. Participants develop close relationships and share intimate details even while, paradoxically, remaining anonymous. Some say they open up in ways they never would in face-to-face encounters in real support groups, therapy sessions, or even with family and close friends in their true lives.
"You're in this imaginary world. People don't know much about who you really are. In that anonymity, in that almost dreamlike state, people express things about themselves they may not otherwise," said John Suler, who studies the psychology of the Internet at Rider University in New Jersey, noting the experience can be especially useful for people with disabilities and those in remote areas where support groups or therapists are far away.
While the emergence of these worlds has generated controversy over the gender-bending, sexually outrageous, profiteering and even violent virtual behavior of some participants, their usefulness for meeting health needs has just begun to draw attention.
"There is a fundamental irony here," said Thomas H. Murray of the Hastings Center, a medical ethics think tank in Garrison, N.Y. "Avatars tend to be young, beautiful, and never age or get sick. But at the same time they can serve as an important way to share information about health."
Murray and others, however, worry that participants may neglect potentially more helpful real-life relationships, or have unrealistic expectations about what virtual worlds can do. Users and health-care providers may be rushing ahead, they say, without validating the usefulness of these worlds or identifying the dangers.
"We've seen the power of the Internet and what it can do," said Albert "Skip" Rizzo, a University of Southern California psychologist who treats traumatized Iraq war veterans with virtual reality. "But as we all know there can also be negative consequences. We really need to step back and think, 'What are the practical and ethical things we can do in the area of health, and what can't we do?' "
The emotional punch of virtual worlds make them fertile breeding grounds for false, misleading and possibly dangerous information. Sick, lonely and psychologically fragile people are particularly vulnerable.
"You have the same risks as elsewhere on the Internet," Murray said. "A lot of the information is garbage. There is always the possibility fraudsters will try to gain people's confidence to peddle phony cures or otherwise do things that are not in people's interests."
Still, an increasing number of major health organizations are trying to take advantage of virtual worlds for public health education, patient support and fundraising.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested a small "office" in the popular virtual world Second Life "staffed" by Hygeia Philo, an avatar named after the Greek goddess of health, and is now planning a bigger, permanent presence. The American Cancer Society has an elaborate "island" offering virtual lectures by avatar doctors, support group meetings and other activities, such as an annual fundraising marathons that last year raised more than $115,000 in real money. The March of Dimes is building a virtual neonatal intensive-care unit to warn about the dangers of preterm births. The National Library of Medicine is helping fund HealthInfo Island, where users can get reliable medical information.
Meanwhile, scientists are beginning to study virtual worlds for insights into real-life health problems. Two teams analyzed a virtual epidemic of "corrupted blood" that devastated the World of Warfare online game for clues to how people might react during a real pandemic. Another examined a pox that infects avatars in a children's virtual world called Whyville, which the CDC is using to learn better ways to boost pediatric flu vaccination rates in the real world.
Medical schools and health departments have also started using virtual worlds. A University of California psychiatrist developed a virtual psych ward echoing with disembodied voices to help caregivers better understand schizophrenia. Stanford University doctors built virtual operating and emergency rooms to train young doctors. Britain's National Health Service constructed an entire virtual hospital.
So much is happening in virtual worlds that researchers at Harvard Medical School are planning to explore the possibilities at a seminar later this month, and the National Defense University in Washington is hosting a conference next month about ways that federal agencies, including the CDC and the National Institutes of Health, can use the phenomenon.
Individual practitioners, meanwhile, are discovering virtual worlds on their own. After meeting other health-care professionals in Second Life, which with 9 million members is among the largest, Lawrence Whitehurst, a family doctor in Culpeper, Va., founded the Second Life Medical Association.
"I don't diagnose, and I don't treat. What I try to do is provide medical advice and support for people undergoing real-world medical problems," Whitehurst said.
Some therapists, however, have started using virtual worlds to treat patients for a host of problems, in both their real and virtual lives.
"It doesn't work for everybody, but it works for a large majority of patients," said Brenda Wiederhold of the Virtual Reality Medical Center in San Diego, who uses the virtual world DigitalSpace to help patients overcome fear of public speaking and severe shyness.
While Wiederhold said she treats only patients she has counseled in her office first, others are offering therapy to patients they have never met or know little about.
"My clients' problems range from domestic love tangles to complex and difficult real life situations," Elena Mangan, who counsels patients anonymously in Second Life from Britain, wrote in an e-mail.
Such anonymous counseling disturbs many therapists. Internet therapy denies counselors vital clues from subtle body language, affect and tone of voice, they say. And anonymity can carry risks.
"How do you ensure the patient's safety?" said Richard Bedrosian, a clinical psychologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "Suppose they say, 'I'm going to shoot my girlfriend or kill myself.' How do you protect that person? How do you intervene?"
But the biggest users of virtual worlds for health purposes so far appear to be individual patients. Dozens of support groups have formed by and for those with cancer, paralysis, strokes, depression, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, autism and other ailments.
Susan Brown, the stroke victim, said encouragement from other survivors in Dreams, one of several protected areas in Second Life for people with disabilities, and the experience of seeing herself walking again, aided her recovery.
"It helped me visualize," Brown said through her avatar, Marie Hightower, during an interview in a virtual field near a virtual home she built in Dreams, as virtual butterflies flitted past. "I stumbled here just like I stumbled in RL [real life]," she typed.
Salvatierra, the agoraphobic, Dawley, the patient with Asperger syndrome, and others tell similar stories.
"It's kind of like getting your life back again, but even better in some ways," said Kathie Olson, 53, who uses a wheelchair, lives alone and rarely leaves her home near Salt Lake City. In Second Life, she roams about as Kat Klata, a curvy young brunette who runs the Dragon Inn nightclub. "I've met so many people. I can walk. I can dance. I can even fly. Without this I'd just be staring at four walls. Mentally it's helped me so much."
For Stephanie Koslow, 48, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., her virtual life is helping sustain her as she fights advanced breast cancer.
"It's not real, but it's real in a way," said Koslow, whose avatar is a pink fox named Artistic Fimicoloud. "I might spend an afternoon trying on silly wings and laughing with friends. And laughter heals."
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After suffering a devastating stroke four years ago, Susan Brown was left in a wheelchair with little hope of walking again. Today, the 57-year-old Richmond woman has regained use of her legs and has begun to reclaim her life, thanks in part to encouragement she says she gets from an online "virt...
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Don Imus Close To Deal for Return To Airwaves Dec. 1
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Don Imus appears to be heading back to the airwaves.
Less than six months after his long-running radio program was terminated in an uproar over a racial remark, the sharp-tongued host has come to financial terms with one of the nation's top broadcasting companies.
A source familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, said the contractual details would likely be finalized within a week. Although the deal, which would pay Imus millions of dollars, might hit a last-minute snag, the Imus team is confident that he will be back on the air around Dec. 1.
Citadel Broadcasting, which owns 243 radio stations, including ABC Radio Networks, plans to put the I-Man in the morning slot on the powerhouse New York station WABC, the source said. The program would be offered in syndication to other stations around the country.
Imus is also seeking a television outlet to simulcast the show, but that is less definite. Imus has discussed the possibility that Fox Business Network, a new channel that Fox News is launching next week, would carry the radio show. The informal talks with Imus came at a lunch with Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, according to a Fox executive, but there have been no serious negotiations.
Imus was fired in April by CBS Radio and MSNBC, which simulcast his show, after remarks that sparked a national debate about crude language and racial humor on the airwaves. He called the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos," and apologized repeatedly after the comment was widely publicized. Members of the team later accepted his apology.
In August, Imus reached a settlement with CBS, reported to be worth $10 million to $20 million, that averted a threatened lawsuit and cleared the way for him to seek a new outlet.
Farid Suleman, Citadel Broadcasting's chief executive, did not respond to a request for comment yesterday. But the New York Times Web site quoted him as saying of Imus: "He did something wrong. He didn't break the law. He's more than paid the price for what he did." Imus's lawyer declined to comment.
Imus is now assembling his broadcast team, which in light of the controversy is likely to include a black panelist. Longtime sidekick Charles McCord plans to return, and producer Bernard McGuirk -- who often made controversial remarks and was involved in the exchange about the Rutgers team -- would be retained in an off-air role.
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Get style news headlines from The Washington Post, including entertainment news, comics, horoscopes, crossword, TV, Dear Abby. arts/theater, Sunday Source and weekend section. Washington Post columnists, movie/book reviews, Carolyn Hax, Tom Shales.
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Jones Pleads Guilty, Admits Using Steroids
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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Oct. 5 -- Onetime track superstar Marion Jones pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of lying to federal investigators and admitted in a packed U.S. District courtroom that she took steroids before the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, all but ensuring that she will be stripped of the five medals she won there.
Jones, 31, told Judge Kenneth M. Karas she ingested a steroid known as "the clear" between September 2000 and July 2001 at the behest of her coach, Trevor Graham, and later lied to investigators about using it. With her mother and three female supporters in the courtroom, Jones also admitted to lying about her role in an unrelated check-fraud scheme.
Outside the court building shortly after the 50-minute hearing, Jones repeatedly choked up with sobs as she stood with her mother and apologized, saying she was retiring from the sport and had "let my country down."
"It is with a great amount of shame I stand before you and tell you I have betrayed your trust," Jones said. "Making these false statements to federal agents was an incredibly stupid thing to do. . . . I have no one to blame but myself for what I have done."
Added Jones, who declined to answer questions and departed in a black limousine with her attorneys: "I want you to know I have been dishonest and you have a right to be angry with me. I have let my family down, let my country down and let myself down. I recognize that by saying I'm deeply sorry, it might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and hurt I have caused you."
Jones's admission brings an ignominious end to the storied career of a woman once regarded as the greatest female athlete of all time. At the height of her popularity, Jones made no secret of her goal to win five gold medals at the 2000 Games. She fell short, but won three gold and two bronze medals. That feat now has been tainted by her plea.
Indeed, shortly after Jones's court appearance, U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth demanded in a statement that she return the medals, saying "her acceptance of responsibility does not end with today's admission."
Jones, who is married to former sprinter Obadele Thompson, told the judge she now goes by Marion Jones-Thompson. She faces a maximum of 10 years imprisonment and $500,000 in fines, but is likely to receive no more than six months, according to federal sentencing guidelines. She will be sentenced Jan. 11, 2008.
Officials from the world track and field federation (IAAF) also vowed to seek a return of prize money Jones earned during the period she admitted doping.
Her admission in court Friday differed from what she relayed to family and friends in a letter she sent in advance of the hearing, in which she said she used the clear in 1999 and 2000. The Post obtained a copy of the letter.
"In 1999, my track coach Trevor Graham provided me with some nutritional supplements," Jones said, according to the letter. "There is one in particular that he called 'flaxseed oil.' He advised me to take this supplement by placing a few drops under my tongue and then swallow. . . . I trusted him and never thought for one second that he would jeopardize my career, nor his own. . . . He supplied me this for the 1999 and 2000 seasons."
IAAF spokesman Nick Davies estimated that Jones might have earned $1 million in competitions in 1999 and 2000. Jones, however, reportedly is almost broke. She resides in Austin with Thompson and the son she had with former track star Tim Montgomery.
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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Oct. 5 -- Onetime track superstar Marion Jones pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of lying to federal investigators and admitted in a packed U.S. District courtroom that she took steroids before the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, all but ensuring that she will be stripped of...
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Tearful Jones Apologizes and Retires From Track
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» This Story:Read +|Watch +
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Elementary class graduate after tsunami
Baking behind bars on Rikers Island
Plea deal nixed in Conn. home invasion case
Police: Teen shot guardians after being grounded
Playing the oil prices money game
Elizabeth Taylor's stand against AIDS
Obama struggles to enter White House
Radioactive water triggers fear in Japan
Buying a new home means paying more
Allied forces crippling Gaddafi's power
Goldman CEO offers no cover for ex-boardmember
Audio: Silence in the tower at DCA
Libya mission gaining; U.S. looks to cede control
Deadly plane crash in Republic of Congo
Strong storms bring wild weather
Watchdog groups want Ukraine zoo closed
Blast at bus station shakes Jerusalem
Japan buries its dead as radiation fears grow
Obama struggles to enter White House
Obama again defends U.S. involvement in Libya
McCain on no-fly zone: "It's been very effective"
U.S. fighter jet crashes in Libya
Obama lauds Chile's transition to democracy
Coalition stops Gaddafi push on rebel stronghold
The Post's Perry Bacon on Obama in Chile
Obama favors Gaddafi stepping down
Palin: 'Overwhelming' to be in Israel
Gates: U.S. will soon yield control in Libya
The Fast Fix - Is Romney winning the base?
Obama: Brazil's democracy example to Arab world
Obama plays soccer with Brazil youth
Obama authorizes military action against Libya
The Post's Forero analyzes Obama's trip to Brazil
Obama: Coalition prepared to act in Libya
Banks boost dividends as Fed loosens leash
Wisc. judge blocks controversial union law
Obama: U.S. ready to enforce sanctions in Libya
Clinton: 'No other choice' in Libya
Westfield and Robinson tie, 1-1
Post Sports Live: Boudreau vs. McPhee - who deserves more credit?
Post Sports Live: Sweet 16 preview
Post Sports Live: Alex Ovechkin's mysterious injury
Post Sports Live, March 22
Georgetown Prep beats Langley, 12-3
Post Sports Live: Verizon Center has Big East feel for NCAA Tourney
Ali asks Iran to free U.S. hikers
JaVale McGee on his first triple-double
Post Sports Live: Mason faces tough road in East region
Post Sports Live: Georgetown's chances rest on Wright's hand
Navy knocks out in-state rival Towson, 14-11
Georgetown draws 5th-seed, faces Princeton this Sunday
Post Sports Live: NCAA Tournament preview
Post Sports Live, March 15
George Mason reacts to first-round matchup with Villanova
Sneak peek: 'History Will Be Made'
North Point claims 4A title
Centennial loses to Milford Mill, 56-44
Toyota expects to halt production in U.S.
Aerial view of Japan destruction
Aftermath of blast, Gaza strikes
Elementary class graduate after tsunami
No Tweeting: A royal wedding etiquette guide
Playing the oil prices money game
Radioactive water triggers fear in Japan
Allied forces crippling Gaddafi's power
Libya mission gaining; U.S. looks to cede control
Deadly plane crash in Republic of Congo
Watchdog groups want Ukraine zoo closed
Blast at bus station shakes Jerusalem
Japan buries its dead as radiation fears grow
Mass protests in Yemen as emergency law imposed
Bomb explodes at Jerusalem bus stop
Obama again defends U.S. involvement in Libya
Missing Va. teacher's body located in Japan
U.S. fighter jet crashes in Libya
Carriages prepared for royal wedding
Japan slowly recovers, mourns dead
Obama lauds Chile's transition to democracy
Coalition stops Gaddafi push on rebel stronghold
The Post's Perry Bacon on Obama in Chile
Truck dangles over ramp; two trapped
Post Today, March 24: U-Md. demands nuclear fallout info
Baking behind bars on Rikers Island
No Tweeting: A royal wedding etiquette guide
Police: Teen shot guardians after being grounded
Elizabeth Taylor's stand against AIDS
Obama struggles to enter White House
Aflac debuts Gilbert Gottfried-less commercial
Strong storms bring wild weather
Elizabeth Taylor's tempestuous love affair
Adorable polar bear twins meet the public
Bomb explodes at Jerusalem bus stop
Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79
Massive shark spotted off Florida coast
Iowa tornado caught on tape
Post Today, March 23: Naming military operations
Circus elephants take a walk through D.C.
Missing Va. teacher's body located in Japan
Footage of crashed U.S. fighter jet
U.S. fighter jet crashes in Libya
Carriages prepared for royal wedding
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Track star Marion Jones pled guilty to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, and announced her retirement after the hearing. Jones broke down in tears as she apologized for her actions. Video by AP
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Probe Into Tainted Rice Ends
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2007100719
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More than 14 months after the Agriculture Department began an investigation into how the U.S. supply of long-grain rice became tainted with an unapproved genetically engineered variety -- an event that continues to disrupt U.S. exports -- the government announced yesterday that it could not figure out how the contamination happened.
Agency officials said documents from several years ago that might have helped them determine what went wrong had been lost or destroyed, though not in violation of any record-keeping regulations. Lacking clear evidence of who was responsible, they said, the government will not take enforcement action against any person or entity, including Bayer CropScience, the company whose gene-altered products slipped into the food supply.
"The exact mechanism for the introductions could not be determined," Cindy Smith, administrator of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), said in a news media teleconference yesterday afternoon.
The widespread, low-level contamination with experimental genes that make the rice pesticide-tolerant, one of several such events in recent years, prompted countries around the world to cut off imports of U.S. long-grain rice. Rice prices plummeted, and many farmers, scientists and biotechnology activists called for an overhaul of the oversight system for gene-altered crops.
While some countries have begun to accept U.S. rice with added testing, the European Union and Russia have not -- a trade loss valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
The investigation, by APHIS and the department's Office of the Inspector General, consumed more than 8,500 staff hours and included site visits to more than 45 locations in 11 states and Puerto Rico, Smith said. The results were posted yesterday on the Web in an eight-page document, most of which is a review of previously reported background material.
APHIS also released a four-page "Lessons Learned" document, which suggests, among other things, that it may be wise for the government to start requiring companies to keep maps and other records on when and where they plant their experimental crops.
In a brief statement released yesterday, Bayer's U.S. unit, based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., said it was pleased that the government had finished its investigation "without concluding that Bayer CropScience violated any legal requirement." The company also commended the government for affirming that the genes pose no health threat.
But critics assailed the report as yet more evidence that the nation's regulatory system for gene-altered crops is broken.
"This underlines the anxiety people have about more such incidents occurring," said Margaret Mellon of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a science-based advocacy group that has called for a more rigorous approval process for biotech crops. "After all this investigation, there is no reason to think there are not more of these genes out there just waiting to be discovered."
The USDA report notes in passing that, during its investigation, it discovered seven instances in which unapproved gene-altered crops were either planted outside the time periods allowed under their permits or were not harvested and destroyed within the required timeframes.
In their primary investigation, officials determined that between 1998 and 2001 one of Bayer's then-experimental rice varieties, called LL601, had been planted in close proximity to conventional "Cheniere" rice plants being raised for seed production at a Louisiana State University field station in Crowley. Pollen from LL601 may have fertilized the Cheniere. Inadvertent mixing of the two kinds of grains may also have been a factor.
However, lacking maps showing where specific crops were grown and lacking records on whether workers cleaned machinery between batches as required, the story is opaque, officials said.
A second contamination event, involving a Bayer gene called LL604, was probably the result of inadvertent mixing rather than cross-pollination because LL604 appears never to have been grown near the conventional "Clearfield 131" variety that got tainted.
Agriculture officials returned yesterday from Brussels where they briefed officials of the E.U.'s European Commission on the latest findings and sought to sketch out a mutually agreeable system of testing that could allow U.S. exports to resume. A preliminary readout from the commission is expected with the next week or so.
Domestically, the USDA has proposed rule changes to speed the approvals of low-risk biotech crops while adding requirements for others.
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More than 14 months after the Agriculture Department began an investigation into how the U.S. supply of long-grain rice became tainted with an unapproved genetically engineered variety -- an event that continues to disrupt U.S. exports -- the government announced yesterday that it could not figure...
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Science: Hurricanes
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2007100719
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Christopher Lee: Hi everyone, welcome to the science chat. We've been pretty lucky so far this hurricane season. No major storms have slammed into the U.S. coast, wreaking their usual havoc and destruction. As anyone who saw the Hurricane Katrina aftermath on television knows, these are storms you don't want to mess with. Unless you're a hurricane researcher, of course. We've got one with us today. He's Joe Cione, a hurricane researcher at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the lead scientist on a government project whose goal is to send a 28-pound unmanned aerial drone into a hurricane for the first time. The idea is to take more extensive and better readings of wind speed, pressure and a host of other things that can help forecasters better understand how strong a storm is likely to become, and therefore how dangerous it will be. Joe and his team sent one of these things into Tropical Storm Ophelia two years ago, with good results. All they need now is a big storm this hurricane season to try a mission into the most powerful kind of storm. Who knows, we may get one -- the hurricane season is still very much with us. Joe's graciously given his time to answer your questions. Let's begin.
Washington, D.C.: Why do the cycles of the eye wall lead to strength fluctuations in major hurricanes?
Joseph Cione: Great question. As you have correctly stated, eyewall cycles lead to fluctuations in storm intensity. More specifically, the storm weakens when an eyewall replacement pattern develops. During this stage of the storm's lifecycle, two peaks in the horizontal wind profile occur at the same time. Normally the storms winds increase exponentially as you progress radially towards the storm center. When the storm is undergoing eyewall replacement, two wind maxima (not one) exist. Over time the stronger inner eyewall winds begin to decrease as the outer secondary wind maxima -initially weaker- begin to strengthen and 'choke off' the strong winds in the eyewall. During this period of eyewall replacement the storm temporarily weakens. After replacement is complete, sometimes the storm is stronger, sometimes weaker. Many variables go into the overall process.
Now, exactly why and the reasoning behind the exact timing of eyewall replacement is still not well understood. Further research is needed. UAS are particularly well suited to to helping in this regard since typical UAS flights can last up to 18h and help better capture the intensity change process. In comparison, most manned flights into hurricanes last 7-9h.
Miami: Can the drone help us to know how many hurricanes we will have in a year?
Joseph Cione: No. The drones (in this case the low-flying Aerosonde) won't help us with regard to seasonal hurricane frequency. They can however can give us a *better* estimate of storm intensity since they fly continuously (vs other low level hurricane observations -dropsondes,remote sensors- that give us instantaneous, "snapshot" glimpses into the storm )
Another big impact the drones could have include improving our (not so great) understanding of the near -surface hurricane atmospheric and oceanic 'boundary layer' environments. With this sort of improved understanding we will hopefully improve *future forecasts* of hurricane intensity change.
Fairfax, Va.: What do the drones cost?
Do they come back and get used again or do they perish in the storm after one use?
Joseph Cione: The unmanned aircraft (generally known as Unmanned Aircraft Systems -UAS-) are designed to return to station after the mission. They are not expendable, per say. However, at some point, we will likely lose a platform if we continue to operate these missions in the future. Our contingency plan takes this into consideration. As for cost, it depends on how the specific UAS is set up with regard to payload and sensors. Generally, cost is less than 100K (oftentimes considerably less).
Munich, Germany: I've read that the strength of hurricanes has been attributed to surface temperature of the oceans. Is there a possibility that the range of hurricanes can increase northwards if ocean warming trends continue?
Joseph Cione: Good question. Unfortunately thats an unknown right now. Certainly if/when sea temperatures increase globally, ocean ocean temperatures to the north will also rise. This could make conditions more'conducive' for future storm development. One thing to keep in mind, however. Storm formation and maintenance require more than warm ocean temperatures. Wind patterns (shear)and large scale atmospheric moisture conditions also need to be just right. It takes a lot to 'make' a hurricane, but not much to disrupt one! :-)
Washington, D.C.: How accurately can you predict the severity of a hurricane? Also, what do you attribute to the increase in them over the past few years (the last two not withstanding)?
Joseph Cione: We are limited by our ability to actually find/measure the strongest winds in the storm. This is not a trivial problem. while the strongest winds occur at low levels in the hurricane they can still occur at any region within those low levels. Unless we measure every inch of the storm (we don't/can't!) we will likely 'miss' the absolute maximum intensity (i.e. severity)of the storm. This is where the Aerosonde UAS can really help. As I mentioned in a previous question, the fact that low flying UAS constantly measure conditions within the lowest layers of the storm (where the max winds are) we have a much better chance of more accurately diagnosing just how strong the hurricane is.
Also, we are limited by the sensor's ability to measure winds. On average, current (in situ) wind speeds are accurate within 5kts (2.5m/s) or so...
Seattle: So, what is the outlook like for the rest of the hurricane season?
Joseph Cione: Our outlook (NOAA/NASA Hurricane Unmanned Aerosonde team) haven't thrown in the towel yet. Our season runs through 31 October. We are currently monitoring a developing system in the western Caribbean. If it intensifies and moves northward into the Gulf of Mexico we will likely attempt a UAS mission.
Washington DC: Don't these "hurricane hunter" airplanes already fly into the storms? Why are these unmanned aircraft better than the manned ones?
Joseph Cione: First off I do not believe unmanned aircraft are better or worse than manned aircraft. In my opinion our nation needs BOTH unmanned and manned aircraft wen it comes to observing dangerous hurricanes that potentially threaten our coastlines.
Low-flying UAS like the Aerosonde are important because they fly into regions of the storm that manned aircraft cannot due to the severe safety risks involved. It is important to sample this low level region for 2 reasons:
1. The strongest winds are down low (often less than 1000ft/300m). UAS can sample this region much more completely than what the manned aircraft are able to do. Manned aircraft observations of this region rely on remote "snapshots" and instantaneous in-situ measurements. If we want to maximize our chances of diagnosing just how strong the storm is UAS need to be part of the observational mix.
2. Due to the difficulty of observing at low levels, some of the science needed to better understand these storms is not well understood. By using UAS we will improve our knowledge of this region which will hopefully lead to improvements in numerical models that predict hurricane intensity change. It is our hope that improvements gleaned from UAS surveillance will ultimately lead to improved future forecasts of hurricane intensity change.
I should also mention that we (NOAA and NASA)have plans to use HIGH flying UAS in the coming years for hurricane reconnaissance. These unmanned vehicles will be used to fly around (and possibly over) hurricanes. Like the Aerosonde UAS these platforms will hopefully lead to improved future forecasts of hurricane track and intensity change. This can be another topic for another day! :-)
Washington D.C.: I don't understand why these drones don't get smashed to bits by the hurricane's winds? Hurricanes tear off roofs and blow over billboards and cause all kinds of other problems. How can this little airplane survive? Have you ever lost one at sea?
Joseph Cione:,So far (knock on composite materials) we have yet to lose an aircraft. This season we are running a field experiment using these UAS. In fact we are calling it a 'Demo' since we still have many questions. One of which is 'surviability'. Right now we are one for one (batting a thousand) with our successful 2005 launch and recovery into tropical storm Ophelia. The Taiwanese launched an Aerosonde into a 120kt (60m/s) super typhoon in 2005 as well. it survived in the storm. They did however fly at much higher altitudes (10000ft/3200m).
Time will tell. One last thought. Given the multi-billions in damage that strong land-falling hurricanes often leave behind, we still feel that even if we lose more aircraft than we like its still very much worth it from a cost benefit standpoint (assuming we still get the data transmitted prior to failure).
Miami: If we had a fleet of drones, could we drop enough stuff in the ocean to change the heat content so we don't have cat 5's anymore?
Joseph Cione: "Change the heat content". Mmm...
By the way, what does the word 'content' add here?
As for your weather modification question, you'd need millions of UAS since our payload is currently about 2lbs. ;-)
Well I have just been informed, that my time is up.
Thanks for all the great questions (and keep an eye out for our next flight)!
Christopher Lee: Ok, we're going to have to bring this chat to a close now. Thanks again to Joe Cione of NOAA for sharing his time and knowledge about hurricanes with us today. For those who don't know, it's a federal holiday, which means Joe did this chat on his time off. Thanks to everyone for writing in. Keep your eyes on the skies -- it will be weeks before hurricane season ends.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Washington Post staff writer Christopher Lee and hurricane researcher hurricane researcher Joseph Cione discussed efforts to learn more about how hurricanes behave.
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Outlook: Break the Blackwater Habit
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2007100719
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Archive: Transcripts of discussions with Outlook article authors
P.W. Singer: Hello to all. Thanks for logging in to ask questions.
Two things to note before we get started.
First, the memo published in The Post was a short summary version of a 20-page, in-depth report that Brookings issued last week on private military contractors and their impact on counterinsurgency. Obviously it goes into far more detail than I ever could within the constraints of the 1,000-word online op-ed. Essentially each sentence in The Post version has 2-3 paragraphs of detail and citations behind it in the report. It particularly has some great quotes from soldiers on the issue. It is available right here.
Second, just before publication, the State Department announced that it would be taking new measures to reign the problems in. unfortunately, when we look at what they actually did, it aligns very much with that idea of seeing that the emperor has no clothes, but asking him to wear a scarf.
Lets see what they are actually doing:
1. A State Department employee now will do ride-alongs with Blackwater convoys. In essence, we have the odd outcome of the government "embedding," government employees inside a private operation, which is carrying out a governmental mission. Confused? Some odd aspects of this are that this State person essentially will be like a "chaperone" for the team, but not in operational command of it and not empowered to take any contractual or legal action. These observers will also reportedly only be for Blackwater, which seems to dodge the broader problem of contracting gone too far. As Erik Prince noted, his firm is only one player in a much bigger game -- they have some 170 competitors in Iraq. Blackwater has gotten much attention, but it is not the sole firm there, nor the sole one to have problems. Finally, that chaperone will be making somewhere between $300 to $500 less a day (to use Prince's figures, which are a low-ball) than the contractors they will be watching
2. They will mount video cameras on the dashboard. First, not all incidents happen to the front. Second, many companies already had these. But, third, more importantly, having reports of problems -- and even video footage of incidents -- doesn't mean much if the department refuses to act on them. Here is some great video footage from two years ago (the Aegis trophy video).
3. They will better coordinate radio frequencies with the military. Again, this was supposed to be happening in the past already. It still doesn't solve the problem at hand in any way.
What we have here is a classic Washington response of announcing "action" when there is no real action.
San Antonio: Just a comment, but there was a remarkable set of stories in Stars and Stripes last week that revealed that the Missile Defense Agency's forward-based anti-ICBM radar in Japan is staffed by one Army captain, one sergeant, and 100 contractors -- Raytheon ones to run the radar, Blackwater people with automatic weapons for security.
washingtonpost.com: Tiny base assimilates into Japanese town (Stars and Stripes, Oct. 8)
P.W. Singer: Yes, a pretty amazing example of how far contracting has gone; some would argue too far. Wired's Danger Room blog just had a great report on the Blackwater team that is helping with the site.
The requirements are pretty amusing: must be at least 21 years old, with a high school diploma (or GED equivalent), experience with "a civilian police force, military police force or civilian security guard organization" and "ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios and proportions to practical situations."
The job description is great as well: "While performing the duties of this job, the employee frequently is required to stand; walk, use hand to finger, handle or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; and talk and hear. The employee occasionally may sit for prolonged periods of time at a desk or table. The employee may stand for prolonged periods of time. Must be able to occasionally travel by designated transportation i.e. aircraft, vehicle, mass transit system."
Fairfax, Va.: Why do we have mercenaries in Iraq? I remember growing up reading about the British bringing Hessians here to defeat our revolution and have detested the idea of mercenaries ever since. How has it come about that our Congress has allowed it so we have more mercenaries (at outrageous pay) in Iraq than our own soldiers? This doesn't seem to have bothered people for the past five years, as secret renditions etc. haven't upset the nation either. Perhaps it's not so hard to understand why Germans weren't bothered by the ashes falling from their neighborhood concentration camp ovens -- they just adapted to the reality, like we have on Iraq. That's the horrific damage Iraq has done to our national soul.
P.W. Singer: Great question. If you'll let me. I will quote from the article we did on this:
"To put it in another way, the war in Iraq would not be possible without private military contractors. This is critically important. Contrary to conspiracy theories, the private military industry is not the so-called "decider," plotting out wars behind the scenes like Manchurian Global. But it has become the ultimate enabler, allowing operations to happen that might be otherwise politically impossible. The private military industry has given a new option that allows the executive branch to decide, and the legislative branch to authorize and fund, foreign policy commitments that make an end-run around the Abrams Doctrine.
"It is sometimes easier to understand this concept by looking at the issue in reverse. If a core problem that U.S. forces faced in the operation in Iraq has been an insufficient number of troops, it is not that the U.S. had no other choices other than to use contractors to solve it. Rather, it is that each of them was considered politically undesirable.
"One answer to the problem of insufficient forces would have been for the executive branch to send more regular forces, beyond the original 135,000 planned. However, this would have involved publicly admitting that those involved in the planning, most particularly Secretary Rumsfeld, were wrong in their slam of critics like Army General Eric Shinseki, who warned that an occupation would mean greater requirements. Plus, such an expanded force would have been onerous on the regular force, creating even more tradeoffs with the war in Afghanistan, as well as broader global commitments.
"Another option would have been a full-scale call-up of the National Guard and Reserves, as originally envisioned for such major wars in the Abrams Doctrine. However, to do so would have prompted massive outcry among the public (as now the war's effect would have been felt deeper at home), exactly the last thing leaders in the Executive branch or Congress wanted as they headed into what was a tight 2004 campaign.
"Some proposed persuading other allies to send their troops in, much as NATO allies and other interested members of the U.N. had sent troops to Bosnia and Kosovo, to help spread the burden. However, this would have involved tough compromises, such as granting U.N. or NATO command of the forces in Iraq or delaying the invasion, in which the administration simply had no interest. This was the war that 'was going to pay for itself' as leaders like then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz infamously described in the run-up to the invasion, and to share in the operation was to share in the spoils. Plus, much of the world was vehemently opposed, so the likelihood of NATO allies or the U.N. sending the needed number of troops was always minimal.
"By comparison, the private military industry was an answer to these problems, and importantly an answer that had not existed for policy-makers in the past. It offered the potential backstop of additional forces, but with no one having to lose any political capital. Plus, the generals could avoid the career risk of asking for more troops. That is, there was no outcry whenever contractors were called up and deployed, or even lost. If the gradual death toll among American troops threatened to slowly wear down public support, contractor casualties were not counted in official death tolls and had no impact on these ratings. By one count, as of July 2007, more than 1,000 contractors have been killed in Iraq, and another 13,000 have been wounded (again the data is patchy here, with the only reliable source being insurance claims made by contractors' employers and then reported to the U.S. Department of Labor). Since the 'surge' started in January 2007 (this was the second wave of increased troop deployments, focused on the civil war) these numbers have accelerated; contractors have been killed at a rate of nine per week. These figures mean that the private military industry has suffered more losses in Iraq than the rest of the coalition of allied nations combined. The losses are also far more than any single U.S. Army division has experienced.
"Hence, such private losses were looked at by policymakers as almost a 'positive externality,' to use an economic term. The public usually didn't even hear about contractor losses, and when they did they had far less blowback on our government. Notice the irony: For all the focus on contractors as a private market solution, the costs that they hoped to save were political in nature."
Maryland: Your book was cited in GAO and CRS reports about the private contractors. What do you think will happen next?
P.W. Singer: Can't complain about that. What is interesting is that for all the "shock" expressed these past two weeks in the public and Congress about contracting gone awry, those GAO and CRS reports go back several years.
My sense is that we will see some action around the margins. Price's bill in the House, which seeks to reinforce the scope of U.S. civilian law over contractors abroad, likely will pass the Senate as well. Schakowsky has a bill to demand better transparency of what we are spending and on what now has a new life.
On the Senate side, I also think Obama's bill, which seeks to bring better accounting and accountability, stands a good chance now. It also includes a section that asks the Pentagon to re-examine what it is outsourcing. Again, what is interesting here is that on both the House and Senate sides these were submitted months ago, but no one paid attention to these few to notice the trends. But will they pass with votes now to overcome threatened vetoes? No clue.
The real action to keep an eye on is within the military. Some are amazingly upset within the force about the costs and consequences of over-outsourcing. As Central Command commander Admiral Fallon noted in public, contractors shouldn't be seen as a "surrogate army" of the State Department or any other agency whose workers they protect. He put it pretty bluntly regarding the growing sentiment: "My instinct is that it's easier and better if they were in uniform and were working for me."
Virginia: In Africa, Executive Outcomes did the jobs because none of the European countries were willing to do. And former military personnel from Rhodesia worked well with blacks Africans.
P.W. Singer: Yes, what is interesting is that when I started out researching and writing on this issue back in '96, the use of companies like EO primarily was limited to places that the great powers didn't care much about -- the Angolas and Sierra Leones of the world. Now it is reversed, where contractors in the battlefield functions are going into places of national interest, like Iraq and beyond. It's a real reversal. Indeed, when my book was written, Blackwater didn't even merit mention in the text -- it just wasn't simply a player like it is now. It was only in the appendix. A billion dollars later, and it certainly has made mention in our new update.
Washington: What about law enforcement in general? Does rent-a-cop work? Are the guards at the Brookings Institution contractors, or Brookings's own guard forces?
P.W. Singer: Brookings has security guards like many other offices, yes. But a few essential differences sort of undermine where you line of thought is going: guarding a think tank is not a mission that the military would have done in the past; guarding a think tank is not an essential governmental function; they don't use military skills and/or weapons to do the job; Brookings is not in a war zone; they are not guarding the think tank against combatants, just robbers and the like; and the security guards are held accountable under U.S. law -- that is, there is no legal questions surrounding their status.
If they were, for example, to get drunk and shoot a Secret Service guy guarding Vice President Cheney, we know what would happen to them (as opposed to the opposite for the Christmas Eve Shooting in Iraq).
Richmond, Va.: Realistically, if you were an ordinary solider (officers and NCOs alike) wouldn't you be resentful at how much a Blackwater employee is paid (about $1,200 a day) doing what you could do? Have you heard how these troops feel about Blackwater, differences in pay notwithstanding? Get along, stay out of each other's way, etc.?
P.W. Singer: I think so. No one has done a formal study on it, but anecdotally it seems to be there. I do many meetings and talks with U.S. military audiences, and the anger seems to have gotten worse each year. It is not just the issue of better pay, but that the soldier is facing the same risks but is held to standards and a clear system of accountability, and that there is also a brewing sense that the soldiers efforts to win hearts and minds are being harmed rather than helped by contractor action. Our study found this to be the case on eight different parameters, extending form the tactical to the strategic level. Retired Army officer and New York Post columnist Ralph Peters is perhaps the most blunt on this point. "Armed contractors do harm COIN (counterinsurgency) efforts. Just ask the troops in Iraq."
Chicago: Blackwater CEO Erik Prince was asked during last week's hearing approximately what annual profit Blackwater made. He declined to answer, given that Blackwater is a private company. (He also said he wasn't "a numbers guy.") I was flabbergasted -- I have to confess I didn't know Blackwater was private, but given all the billions American taxpayers are doling out to all these contractors, shouldn't even the private companies have to divulge this information?
P.W. Singer: Yes, it was interesting to listen to that point. On one hand you have to admire the business acumen of someone who has grown a company's revenue by more than a billion dollars in a few years. On the flip side, it was rather odd for the chairman of a company to claim he didn't know even a ballpark number of what the profit was. most of those in the room at the time didn't buy that claim but understood why he was making it.
One thing that was equally telling for such a libertarian champion of the private market to reveal was that his firm did more than 90 percent of its business with the government -- which makes it less like a private enterprise as he likes to claim, and more like one of those old French socialist defense firms. I would agree with you that if a firm does such a substantial portion of their business with taxpayer money, that there has to be some limited transparency.
Arlington, Va.: What troubles me most about this arrangement with private security companies is that the companies' fortunes depend on the existence of chaos in the world, and it's in their financial interest for that chaos to continue. War is a growth opportunity for them.
P.W. Singer: It is, but you can't blame them for the marketplace we have created for them. War was around well before Blackwater and unfortunately likely will be around well after it.
St. Louis: Blackwater claims to have been acting in self-defense, protecting a diplomatic convoy, when they opened fire on un armed Iraqi civilians. Who were they protecting? Shouldn't the person they were protecting speak out as a witness to determine who took the first shot?
P.W. Singer: Yes, it would make sense for more of the information to come to light. One problem is that we now have by my count six different investigations of the incident (Iraqi government, Defense, three at State, and one at the FBI). While that means everyone can claim to be acting, the reality is that it may continue the problem of multiple versions of what happened. While it's not kosher for me to cite it here, a newspaper based out of New York had a great report that tracked down witnesses and also U.S. military sources; that seems so far to be the best assessment in public so far.
Potomac, Md.: Mr. Singer, you write that private forces perform all sorts of key functions, such as moving fuel, ammunition and food, as well as protecting top U.S. officials and guarding bases and convoys. There are two points I would like to address: Why is protecting top officials a key military function? It has nothing to do with the operation of a military and requires specialty that creates only headaches for units that otherwise can conduct operational tasks. Also, even with the high prices and lawlessness, wouldn't it be fair to say that in comparison to other reconstruction contractors in Iraq, Blackwater did and does a decent job?
P.W. Singer: In a war zone, protecting U.S. officials and key assets like convoys would have been done by U.S. military in the past, most likely an activated reserve military police unit. In a permissive environment, it would have been done by the normal U.S. marine unit attached to the embassy or by a Diplomatic Security team (State employees). Whether you think of Iraq as a war zone or permissive, we are now doing neither. We haven't tasked the unit to do such because that would cause headaches politically (of adding more troops), while we have hollowed out State's D.S. capabilities, at the very same time the need for them has grown. And again, it was not because we didn't recognize the growing threat to U.S. officials, nor that we didn't have the money. we just simply instead chose to go private via a multibillion dollar contract to a consortium of firms led by Blackwater. We are now feeling the consequences.
Washington: If you oppose all the private contractors, then where can they work? Go back to active duty?
P.W. Singer: I don't oppose all contractors. Many jobs are quite appropriate to outsource, as long as it saves money and they are well-overseen. Indeed, my own suggestion of a "public by public" policy for even inherently governmental functions notes how it need not be inflexible.
"The return of inherently military and government functions to U.S. military and government personnel will take time, the retasking of personnel, and amendments to existing contracts. Additionally, as one former Pentagon official who supports the above, noted, it must recognize that 'there are always going to be exceptions to the "rule" (policy).' He was also clear, however, that 'those need to be only for extraordinary, exceptional, and temporary (I stress again -- temporary) situations.' For example, even in such clearly governmental areas as military interrogations, a contractor might have a special skill, such as Arabic language with an Iraqi accent, that the active force lacks. With proper supervision, it would be proper to outsource. But the key is that this short-term lack of skills or personnel should neither be the excuse for wholesale outsourcing of the entire function over the long-term, nor the excuse for the public force to not start building its own ability to meet any such changing need. Indeed, it is a basic lesson of business that can be applied to policy -- if you do not start investing to meet your needs now, all you are doing is to guarantee that you will still be reliant (and paying more) for the same need over and over again the long-haul."
As far as where contractors go to work after their job in Iraq, that is up to each individual. Some might go back to service and other might find other jobs they want. They are private citizens with the right to decide their own interests.
Munich, Germany: I had always thought that the idea of hiring experienced and professional bodyguards was to maximize the safety of the passengers, but also to reduce the chance of causalities caused by panic during shootouts. Is there any truth to the second point, that experience in battle prevents casualties of innocent bystanders?
P.W. Singer: We don't have good data on that point. An interesting point made to me by a contractor who was former police was that he felt his experience and skills (as opposed to a former Special Forces) transferred better to the kind of roles he was doing in Iraq -- the sense of "reading" a street situation and the like. It was his claim not mine, and I don't have a way to evaluate it, but it does ring true. He also added though that he was low man on the totem pol,e as the firms prefer to market their ex-SOF guys (which is not as widespread as media claims).
More broadly, many shootings are not caused by panic, but rather a a sense that there is no consequences for a dead Iraqi, so better safe than sorry.
Virginia: When I lived in London in the 1970s, there was a company made up of former Special Air Service personnel. I never knew that they actually were private military contractors working mainly in the Middle East. Who was the first military contractor in the U.S.? MPRI?
P.W. Singer: Yes, the Brits have had quiet firms in space of training and working with former colonies' militaries for a while now. many of the same firms (ArmorGroup, formerly DSL, might be who you are thinking of) are in Iraq right now. But they tend to have a quieter profile.
MPRI was the first to crack what I call the military consulting market, back in the '90s. As opposed to a military provider, or "private security firm," like a Blackwater, a consultant won't fight for you but will train and advise you on how to fight better. MPRI had some contracts in Iraq, both helping with invasion plans and war-gaming and training for U.S. forces flowing into Iraq, as well as some reported training for the new Iraqi army.
Charlottesville, Va.: Thanks for the article and the chat. How is it possible that the U.S. could impose immunity from prosecution of mercenaries on the sovereign Iraqi government? It may have been legal (?) under the provisional authority that "ruled" the nation immediately after Saddam's fall, but how could it still be legal? Is the Iraqi government still subservient to the provisional authority?
P.W. Singer: Great question. Although private military firms and their employees are now integral parts of many military operations, they tend to fall through the cracks of legal codes, which sharply distinguish civilians from soldiers. Private military contractors are not exactly civilians, given that they often carry and use weapons, interrogate prisoners, load bombs and fulfill other critical military roles. Yet they are not quite soldiers either, in that they are not part of the service or in the chain of command, and might not even be of the same nationality. A number of laws might be applied to them, ranging from local laws to extra-territorial application of civilian law (the Military Extra-territorial Jurisdiction Act or MEJA), to even the Uniform Code of Military Justice (with the definition of civilians falling under the jurisdiction of military law expanded from times of declared war to contingency operations in the fall of 2006). The reality is that they almost never actually are used.
Within Iraq, this legal problem further was complicated by a little-known memo known as Order 17. In one of the many decisions that will lead history to judge the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) as the worst governing organization until "Kid Nation," two days before the CPA dissolved itself, it issued an order that could be interpreted as giving foreign contractors immunity from Iraqi law. While the legal standing of this order is questionable now (akin to your dad giving you a curfew the day before you go to college; the CPA's orders do not trump a sovereign state's laws) the interpretation of it held. Contractors saw themselves as above the law and the record seemed to back them up. In the three years that followed that CPA order, not one contractor operating in Iraq was prosecuted or convicted for any crime involving an Iraqi victim or any kind of conduct in the battle space.
Indeed, the only application of MEJA in the past four years in Iraq was against a KBR contractor who had attempted to rape an American reservist while she was sleeping inside a trailer in the Green Zone. In turn, while the UCMJ legal change happened in the fall of 2006, the Pentagon is yet to issue a guidance on how JAG officers should use it in the field. Its effect has been like a tree falling in the forest with no one there. Is real or not if no one hears it fall?
That the only time the law kicked in was when Americans were the victims certainly has not helped the counterinsurgency effort. Not only did this vacuum help impel contractors towards more aggressive actions, but it completely invalidated the message that American political advisors were trying to push to their Iraqi counterparts of the necessity of establishing "rule of law" as a way of ending the insurgency. Finally, the contractors' seeming freedom from justice was considered a particular affront. "The Iraqis despised them because they were untouchable," said Matthew Degn, former senior American adviser to the Interior Ministry. "They were above the law."
Rocky Mount, N.C.: Are American military contractors in Iraq willing to be hired by foreign governments and to do their "dirty work," even if it's not a cause our government likes?
P.W. Singer: We have not yet seen that with American contractors coming from Iraq. There was an incident with a few South African contractors who, while on leave from work in Iraq, were reportedly part of the group that tried to topple the government of Equatorial Guinea a few years back. Whether you saw that as a good or bad attempt depends on whether you are a fan of sovereignty or whether you like dictators (it was a profit-motivated coup, but the target was a dictator).
What we have to be worried about in the future is what happens as the business in Iraq dries up. In history, when major wars end, most soldiers go home, but a few don't and fight in wars elsewhere (our filibusters in Latin America after the civil war, for example). Most firms will shrink and seek business elsewhere. Some will find success and some may not. A worry is that a few might go "down market." Most firms would prefer to work with the U.S., but in the past some firms also have worked for warlord groups, dictators, two separate Colombian drug cartels, and, prior to Sept. 11, even two jihadi groups.
Reading, Pa.: Sir: It seems to me that independent contractors provide a workable way to wage war, but the U.S. is missing the bigger picture by contracting with American and British firms -- we need to contract with firms from Mideastern allies to have a force that speaks Arabic.
P.W. Singer: Many firms do hire a good portion of locals, and indeed, there are even a growing number of Iraqi firms. On one hand, this flip might save money and even build up better local support of the firms, as they will know the ground better and be linked to local power brokers. but this is a problem in and of itself. The local firms often are simply new coats for a local militia to wear. So, you would still have major problems of security, just now on the inside.
I would urge you to Google the case of Donald Vance, an American who ended up working for an Iraqi firm that turned out to be smuggling weapons to insurgents. He told on them to the U.S. military, but because of a mistake he instead was held captive by U.S. troops for weeks (they didn't know he was the source of the report that led to their raid on the firm, and because he was a contractor they didn't give him full legal protections).
At end of day, I am not sure how you would have guarded that convoy on Sept. 16 with an Iraqi owned company. It was still a critical U.S. governmental function to keep our own officials alive.
Re: COIN...: You said: "Armed contractors do harm COIN (counterinsurgency) efforts. Just ask the troops in Iraq." I have a friend who just returned from Iraq. He is very frustrated for the very reason you just stated. He wants all the private contractors out of Iraq. He says that there would be fewer insurgents because many insurgents are not al-Qaeda, but rather Iraqi citizens angry at seeing their fellow citizens gunned down by trigger-happy contractors. Of course, I'm not condoning these insurgents' actions; just understanding. I don't agree with the violence for violence. It just becomes a neverending cycle.
P.W. Singer: Well said. We need to understand that the U.S. must sway a broader population from hostility to support if it ever wants to oust terror cells and shut down recruiting pipelines. As the newly revised foreword to the famous U.S. Marine Corps Small Wars manual notes, "Small wars are battles of ideas and battles for the perceptions and attitudes of target populations." Within these wars, it is non-kinetic tools (as opposed to fielded weaponry) that make up the fire and maneuvers of small wars. "They frequently are the main effort simply because of the criticality of the functions they perform."
It is for this reason that many military experts have grown worried about the backlash that contractors cause unintentionally and how it is hurting the cause. U.S. Army Colonel Peter Mansoor is one of the most influential military thinkers on counter-insurgency. Well before the latest Blackwater episode, in January of 2007, he told Jane's Defense Weekly that the U.S. military needs to take a hard look at security contractors on future battlefields and figure out a way to get a handle on them so that they can be better integrated: "If we're going to allow them to be used in the first place ... if they push traffic off the roads or if they shoot up a car that looks suspicious, whatever it may be, they may be operating within their contract -- to the detriment of the mission, which is to bring the people over to your side. I would much rather see basically all armed entities in a counterinsurgency operation fall under a military chain of command."
Boston: Are we still outsourcing "translation services" and interrogation through companies like CACI and Titan (L-3)? Do the congressional intel committees have a handle on all the intel functions that are currently outsourced, or are they in the dark in large measure? Has their been a systematic debate between the intel agencies and Congress about which functions should and should not be outsourced?
P.W. Singer: Yes, there is still a huge amount of outsourcing in the intel world. I have heard various numbers from 40 percent to 70 percent of the intel operational budget going to contractors. For more on this, I would check out the articles by R.J. Hillhouse .
No, the congressional committees simply don't have a good handle on this. We don't merely need a debate, but first just good information to see how far it has gone.
Raleigh, N.C.: Good morning! Is it possible to put the genie back in the bottle? Would it be economically efficient to do it?
P.W. Singer: Yes, I think it is possible, but only if we have the will to take the hard choices, rather than outsource the hard choices.
Most likely yes, but it goes beyond mere financial costs savings. The overall effect of the outsourcing has been a short- and long-term negative to our counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and our wider "war of ideas." We are talking about national security here!
Re: "Your Kid Nation" Comment...: That is inaccurate. "Kid Nation" governs better...
P.W. Singer: Yeah, those 9-year-olds do often show more common sense.
Silicon Valley, Calif.: The subtitle to this discussion has a false premise "We Can't Fight the War Without the Company." For hundreds of years we have protected our diplomats and VIPs with Marines, not mercenaries. If we can't afford a Marine, we can't afford a mercenary. Semper Fi!
P.W. Singer: A Silicon Valley Semper Fi! I have now read it all.
And that Marine will be paid roughly a fourth to a sixth what the contractor will. But again, this is not all about money. As opposed to a contracted force, the Marine comes with the commitment of the nation behind them, as well as strict standards and clear legal accountability.
P.W. Singer: Okay folks, my fingers are starting to wear out and the lights are being turned off on us. Again, the full report and various articles that answer your points in greater depth are available on the Web site. Thanks for great questions!
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Voorhees, N.J.: Howard, a terrific column today! Your book excerpt proves what I have suspected since the U.S. first invaded Iraq based on the lies of this administration: far from being liberal, the TV networks, and the media in general, are very conservative when it comes reporting on the military industrial complex. Why? because the the folks who run the media outlets are very conservative! Question: Do you feel the media will go back to doing their jobs (asking the tough questions that need to be asked), or will your column/book excerpt be in vain?
washingtonpost.com: As War Dragged On, Coverage Tone Weighed Heavily on Anchors (Post, Oct 8)
Howard Kurtz: Thanks for the kind words about my new book "Reality Show."
The people who own the networks may be conservative, but they don't run the news coverage (although they can influence it indirectly through budgets and the like). The book demonstrates that after an embarrassingly inadequate performance in the runup to the war -- along with the rest of the media -- the network newscasts took the lead in aggressive and skeptical coverage of the Iraq conflict in 2005 and 2006, both through the anchors and the reporting of folks like Lara Logan and Richard Engel.
By the way, I'll be blogging about the book right here.
Washington: Very good piece from your book in this morning's paper! It looks like it will be a good read. I am confused about one thing, though: Why is it important what the three network anchors think about the war (or any topic for that matter) if they are just supposed to report the news as it happens?
Howard Kurtz: It's crucial, because they are far more than newsreaders. As "Reality Show" demonstrates, Brian, Charlie and Katie -- like Dan, Tom and Peter before them -- play a crucial role in shaping their broadcasts. How do they decide when to lead with Iraq and when the news is too incremental? How do they balance the continuing violence with other kinds of reporting from Baghdad? How do they deal with criticism from the administration? How do they press Bush about the war when they have a chance to interview the president? Plus, both Williams and Couric have reported from Iraq this year. So what they think matters big time.
Boston: Your analysis on war coverage today had one glaring hole, that being Fox coverage watched by Bush's and congressional Republican's key core constituents. Daniel Moynihan had a famous quote about people having the right to their own opinion but not their own facts. Back during Vietnam, our source for facts was much more consolidated and respected in the persona of Walter Cronkite. Today we can have our own facts, by choosing to watch Fox or some other media outlet. As long as Bush doesn't "lose Fox," which serves constituents to his core of Republican power in Congress, he successfully can sustain cloture votes in the Senate or sustain vetoes in Congress and continue doing whatever he wants in Iraq. In that sense, how Gibson, Couric and Williams cover the war doesn't matter much in terms of actual policy changes, but your analysis of Fox coverage does. Why didn't you include Fox in your article today?
Howard Kurtz: The piece is adapted from my book (once again, that's "Reality Show: Inside the Last Great Television News War" -- end of commercial), which deals with the three network newscasts. Cable is certainly mentioned, but it's not the focus.
The book demonstrates that what Gibson, Williams and Couric report about the war actually matters a great deal -- and is monitored obsessively by the White House. The three newscasts have a combined viewership of 25 million. The biggest show on Fox draws about 2 million. So whatever you think of Fox's role in war coverage, it's the broadcast networks that reach the biggest chunk of the audience by far.
Austin, Texas: I would imagine you know this question is coming. Last week you seemed to imply that political journalists take their cues on what is topical from "The Daily Show" (in reference to Hillary's laugh). Okay -- now why aren't the chattering classes talking about Chris Matthews? Because Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show" definitely made Matthews a topic. Or is this just not going to happen because journalists protect their own?
Howard Kurtz: I talked about it on "Reliable Sources" yesterday, and I've seen the Matthews/Stewart clip played over and over again on various cable shows (not to mention online). Still, whether or not Chris Matthews has written a good book (which is what they were arguing about on "The Daily Show") is not exactly in the same category as how the Democratic presidential frontrunner is campaigning.
San Francisco: Congrats on the book. Are you going on a book tour? Where can we see you in person?
Howard Kurtz: I will be doing so much TV and radio that I may get tired of listening to myself. No plans at the moment to come to San Francisco, though if it were up to me that definitely would be on the schedule.
Detroit: Howie, is President Bush significantly different from other presidents in his high availability to friendly opinion columnists such as Kristol and Brooks? To me it seems awfully cheesy and comes off as propaganda. Do the columnists get that they are being used to support a particular spin, and are they willing to go along for the "exclusivity" of access? Or do they believe that these meetings offer the public and themselves important information from the president?
Howard Kurtz: It's valuable for any journalist, including friendly columnists, to get face time with the president. (Not to keep bringing up my book, but I detail a series of off-the-record meetings between Bush and the network anchors and Sunday show hosts.) Other presidents certainly have done this, although Clinton called in regular old White House correspondents more often. He had his favorites, though, calling E.J. Dionne and Ben Wattenberg for long chats, which both men later reported. Bush certainly has had a number of these sessions with conservatives, including one with bloggers on the right!
Nashville, Tenn: Howard, congratulations on your new book! I learned something new from today's excerpt. NBC News no longer uses the word "pro-life." I ask this as a person who is pro-life: Did NBC similarly disallow the use of the term "pro-choice"? I think the rationale for calling groups this or that was based on what the groups called themselves. Calling one group "pro-choice" because the group itself chose that term and calling the opposing group anything other than the term than group has chosen for itself, i.e. "pro-life," smacks of bias. If their still using "pro-choice", NBC should be using "pro-life." Any thing less is bias. Period.
Howard Kurtz: I think virtually all news organizations have abandoned pro-life, and pro-choice as well, in an effort not to adopt terminology that appears to favor either side. (Who exactly is anti-life?) It's more common to say that someone supports abortion rights or is opposed to abortion.
Rockville, Md.: Do people in the US still really care as much about Princess Di as the media thinks we do? I am amazed how much press this still gets. It's almost like we owe the English something for covering a U.S.-based event so incessantly. Thanks!
Howard Kurtz: I think I've about reached my limit, and so have many other folks. But as long as a segment of the population, even if they're a minority, remains heavily into Di news, you'll continue to see it on cable, the morning shows and the glossy magazines.
Gaithersburg, Md.: Howard: Enough with the media columns on television folks. There are about 1,000 newspapers and hundreds of magazines that also practice journalism in this country, and they make news in various ways every single week -- yet you're not reporting on them. Newspapers are the real backbone of the media today, regardless of what anyone thinks, and you need to report more on the print media and what is happening there. Forget the TV guys for a couple of months -- we won't miss those reports!
Howard Kurtz: Are you kidding? I report on newspapers all the time. Newspapers still drive the public agenda. My first book was called "Media Circus: The Trouble with America's Newspapers." But I undertook this one on the network newscasts because they still have the biggest impact in terms of reaching people, and because each of the networks has installed a new anchor after two decades in which Rather, Jennings and Brokaw became fixtures in our lives. And because there's a fascinating debate about whether 6:30 p.m. newscasts, with their shrinking audiences, can survive in an age of instantaneous information.
Burlington, Vt.: Katie Couric's revelations to you about NBC News are stunning. Many liberal media critics long have contended that NBC's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 elections were slanted towards Bush, and Couric today provides some inside confirmation regarding the pressures she felt from Robert Wright in 2004 and Jack Welch. As you write in summarizing Couric's views: "If you weren't rah rah rah for the Bush administration, and the war, you were considered unpatriotic, even treasonous." Obviously, it's only Couric's perspective, but do you have any thoughts on this?
Howard Kurtz: I don't quite see how you get from Katie Couric taht she felt pressure from then-NBC president Robert Wright (regarding an interview in which she pressed Condi Rice about terrorism) and then-GE chief Jack Welch (who thought she was liberal) to a flat conclusion that NBC was biased in covering the 2000 and 2004 elections. For one thing, the co-host of "Today" does not represent the entire NBC news division, whose top journalist at the time was Tom Brokaw. For another, Couric recently got skewered from the left for going to Iraq and reporting that there were modest signs of progress in some areas.
Washington: Do you think that the network news is experiencing scandal fatigue which affects their decisions on what stories to run? For instance, these so-called "torture memos" are a big deal to me, and the New York Times and Post have done some very good reporting. But, from what I've seen and read, these memos are not making the network news as heavily, if at all. That's troubling because it seems that most people get their news from the networks. Are the network anchors and staff tired of reporting on terrible government behavior, which makes them less likely to run stories on ongoing investigations and developments?
Howard Kurtz: It was the second story on NBC Nightly News the other day. I haven't had a chance to check the others. But the Times certainly did the groundbreaking reporting there.
Boston: Twenty-five million viewers for Gibson, Williams and Couric is a small number compared to Cronkite back in the day, and inconsequential from a policy change standpoint to the two million hardcore Republicans who watch Fox today. Gibson/Williams/Couric changed their tone in 2006 and Bush increased our troop presence. Those 25 million viewers couldn't do a thing about it. Gibson, Williams and Couric's views are just noise and only followed by the White House because they are so paranoid.
Howard Kurtz: Well, to dismiss their roles as anchors and shapers of their broadcasts as just noise completely misses the importance of these broadcasts. You seem to blame them because Bush decided on the surge, but I believe they played an important role in 2005 and 2006 in turning public opinion against the war. No, they don't have the reach of Cronkite and Huntley and Brinkley, and they never will, but those legendary anchors didn't operate in a world filled with cable, Web sites, blogs, podcasts and a million other media choices.
Indianapolis: So did a reporter ask Obama why he wasn't wearing a flag pin, or did he bring up the subject? I thought former (in the "here the press goes again" with superficial, gotcha questions vein) but friends maintain he brought it up himself. I am so tired of the empty issues that distract public and are easy for press to recycle without researching serious issues. Paul Krugman wrote good article on this. Even if he did bring it up, his explanation made sense.
Howard Kurtz: I'm not sure if a reporter raised it; I hadn't heard that. But Obama clearly was not reluctant to talk about it and wanted to make a point. Naturally, he's been criticized by some conservatives, but I wonder how many Americans think that what a politician says and does is more important than whether he or she wears a flag pin.
Fairfax, Va.: Howard, will you go on "The Daily Show" to push your book?
Howard Kurtz: Yes. Jon Stewart and I will be chatting on Thursday night. I predict he will be funnier.
Katie vs. CEOs: Do you agree that the executives at GE and other companies are very nervous about anchors like Katie Couric looking too liberal? Or was it less about ideology and more about not being too confrontational with the people currently in power? I don't think Katie's ever interviewed Hillary the way she interviews Condoleezza...
Howard Kurtz: In fact, Couric did a reasonably aggressive interview with Hillary Clinton (along with Charlie and Brian) on the day that she announced her candidacy. I don't know the extent to which corporate executives were nervous about Katie looking either liberal or overly confrontational. But I can report that she certainly felt they were.
Wilmington, N.C.: Howard: "It's valuable for any journalist, including friendly columnists, to get face time with the president. (Not to keep bringing up my book, but I detail a series of off-the-record meetings between Bush and the network anchors and Sunday show hosts.)" With the benefit of hindsight, why is this not exhibit A in the argument against this sort of thing?
Howard Kurtz: I'm not following your logic. Whether you're a White House reporter, an anchor, a talk show host or a very conservative columnist, why wouldn't it be useful to have a chance to ask the president questions and size him up away from the klieg lights? You seem to suggest that such sessions amount to being co-opted, and I don't see that. The on-the-record sessions are basically like informal press conferences. I do question the value of having such meetings off the record, although the White House allows the participants to report the president's thinking on a background basis.
Roseland, N.J.: Howard, forgive me, I forget the participants on this one, and I'm sure you've touched on it previously. There was a bit of a kerfuffle recently when it was reported that a major news magazine spiked an antagonistic story on Hillary Clinton while running an exclusive on Bill's charity crusade. Some said the editor caved to a threat from the Clintons that they'd kill the Bill interview if the anti-Hillary story ran; the editor said no, the story just wasn't there, and a Clinton spokesman said all they said was that it would be "harder to convince" Bill to give an exclusive if he felt the magazine was unfair to his wife.
Then you have the PBS dust-up, where the White House said "we'll give you an interview with the president, but only if Juan Williams does it" and PBS said "no, the interviewer is our decision, not yours." I don't want politicians to only give interviews to friendly sources; I certainly don't want deals that reek of "I'll give you x but only if y covers it, and not if you report z." Yet at the same time, a politician is under no obligation to talk to someone they think is out to butcher them. Is this just a normal state of affairs, or has the battle for interview control gotten excessively contentious?
Howard Kurtz: I've reported extensively on both. They each amount to a form of political hardball. On GQ. On NPR.
Vienna, Va.: Howard: In today's excerpt, at several points the anchors were reported to have said that they wondered if there was something else to show from Iraq instead of just the endless violence and the deaths of Iraqis. Beyond any "good news" stories, there was something else to show: the American soldiers who became victims of the invasion. Do you cover the fact that the administration kept the media from showing even the coffins of the soldiers returning home (forgot about showing bodies) and that the media went along with it? If so, how? Thanks.
Howard Kurtz: The evening newscasts (along with other news outlets) have reported extensively on the problems of soldiers and their families -- both those who have been wounded and those who are simply undergoing the stress of extended tours of duty. ABC's Bob Woodruff and CBS's Kimberly Dozier, both of whom almost were killed by bombs in Iraq, have made this a specialty. If the ban on photographing coffins had an impact in the early stages of the war, I think it no longer does.
Washington: Based on recent measures of viewership for broadcast news, I am beginning to suspect that the big three anchors were champions of defense. More specifically, the battle to keep viewers was waged so successfully by the tired, old anchors that the slightest modifications have resulted in only more dramatic erosion. What's your view of this idea, after writing 480 pages on the subject generally?
Howard Kurtz: I don't agree that the slightest modifications have resulted in more dramatic erosion. Two anchors -- Charlie Gibson and Bob Schieffer, when he was in the CBS chair -- managed to increase viewership. Clearly, the anchor who made too many changes too fast, by her own admission, was Katie Couric, and that alienated some of the core viewers of the CBS Evening News. She now has gravitated toward a more traditional broadcast but still is lagging in the ratings.
Avon Park, Fla.: Why is the media hyping the Des Moines Register poll of Democratic caucus voters and not the Newsweek Poll done last week? That Newsweek poll had Obama in the lead by about four points. I don't think that Hillary Clinton jumped 10 points within a week's time. When you combine those two polls, the race in Iowa looks more fluid, but the press is only talking about the Des Moines Register poll. That could give a false impression of the race.
Howard Kurtz: The polls jump around, and it's amazing to me how the media trumpet this one or that one as big news, when someone who jumps eight points in one survey can slide back in the next poll days later. What's important is the direction of the polls over time as measured by the averages between various surveys. Iowa in particular is notoriously difficult to predict because it's a caucus state in which voters have to be willing to spend two or three hours at a neighbor's house or meeting place on a cold winter night.
Oviedo, Fla.: What, if anything, about the even-faster media pace of blogs, vlogs, etc. would help stop a Swift Boat story from taking hold, as happened last time? Does the ultra-fast news cycle help dilute the impact of these type of trumped-up scandal stories?
Howard Kurtz: Any story, trumped-up or not, gets out there faster in these days of digital media. Real reporting, it turns out, takes a bit of time. In the case of the Swift Boat ads, a tiny buy in three markets ballooned into a huge story because the spots constantly were replayed on cable news. It took two or three weeks for a handful of newspapers to realize that this had become an important story and to do the digging that raised questions about the claims that some of Kerry's ex-mates were making. The papers did a good job, but they were too slow.
Thanks for the chat, folks.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Join live discussions from the Washington Post. Feature topics include national, world and DC area news, politics, elections, campaigns, government policy, tech regulation, travel, entertainment, cars, and real estate.
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Air Force Told to Detail No-Work Contract Deal
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2007100719
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Charles D. Riechers, now the principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition, was hired by the Commonwealth Research Institute at the Air Force's request, even though he said he had not met company officials before they made him a senior technical adviser, according to documents and interviews.
Riechers said the work for the Air Force had nothing to do with the Johnstown, Pa., company, which is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit charity. "I really didn't do anything for CRI," he said Monday in The Washington Post. "I got a paycheck from them."
On Thursday, Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) criticized the deal during a hearing on the pending nominations of Pentagon officials. While questioning John Young Jr., the nominee for undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, Levin expressed concern about the Air Force arrangement.
"Here we had some Air Force official telling a contractor to pay somebody $13,400 a month for work not being performed for that company," Levin told Young. "It seems to me, that is unsustainable. It's wrong. Would you agree with that?"
Young said that if confirmed, he would "look at it in detail" and report back to the committee. "Yes, I'm troubled with those dimensions of it, sir," he told Levin.
Jennifer Bentley, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the service was cooperating with the request for information about Riechers's job, which she said was common arrangement to help the service under an existing contract. "We're engaging Senator Levin to give him all the details," Bentley said.
Riechers was nominated for his Air Force post last fall. At the time, he had been working with the service as a contractor for SRI International. The job ended after he was nominated. The Air Force asked Commonwealth Research to take on Riechers while he awaited White House confirmation. He worked for the group from Nov. 27 to Jan. 25.
The arrangement highlights the Pentagon's ties with Commonwealth Research and its corporate parent, Concurrent Technologies, which has in recent years received hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and contracts from the military and more than $100 million in earmarks from powerful lawmakers.
Concurrent, also registered as a charity, reported more than $248 million in revenue for fiscal 2006. In a report last year, the firm said it was among the Defense Department's top 200 contractors, with a focus on intelligence, surveillance, force readiness and advanced materials.
Riechers was paid through a $45 million sole-source Air Force contract with Commonwealth Research to provide reports to the Air Force and intelligence agencies.
In his questioning of Young on Thursday, Levin expressed dismay.
"I think it raises the kind of question that makes you ask, what is going on in the contracting world that that is done," Levin said. "Are there any rules against this kind of thing, paying people for work they didn't perform for the entity that is paying the person? Where is the accountability if that takes place?"
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The Senate Armed Services Committee has asked the Air Force to explain a contracting arrangement in which a civilian nominated to a senior position at the Pentagon was paid $13,400 a month by a contractor while his nomination was awaiting White House approval, a committee spokeswoman said yesterday.
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Halo Creator Blasts Free From Microsoft
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It's been a big year for Master Chief, the animated killing-machine star of the Halo video game franchise. First, he saved the universe by blasting aliens with a plasma rifle. In the process, he boosted sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console. Now, the helmeted hero has helped Halo's creator secure its independence.
Halo developer Bungie Studios and parent Microsoft, announced yesterday that the two companies have gone their separate ways. The details were not made public, but Microsoft will retain an equity interest in the game studio.
Microsoft bought Bungie in 2000, when it wanted to lock up a surefire hit to bring attention to its first Xbox console. Since then, the Halo franchise has become one of the game industry's biggest successes: The recently released Halo 3 recorded $300 million in sales during its first week. Some analysts estimate that half a million gamers will buy Xbox 360s this holiday season specifically to play the game, an action sci-fi "shooter" title unavailable on other game platforms.
Don't expect the spinoff to mean that Halo will be available for Sony's PlayStation 3 or Nintendo's Wii consoles anytime soon. Microsoft, as the company noted in a statement, owns the intellectual property for the game. The company said it supported "Bungie's desire to return to its independent roots."
Game industry analyst Michael Pachter of securities firm Wedbush Morgan said he interpreted the split as a sign that Bungie's star programmers want to develop games for other consoles. As long as Microsoft owned Bungie, it was unlikely that they would be permitted to take on such projects.
By retaining a stake in Bungie, Pachter said, Microsoft has probably retained rights to secure exclusive titles for the Xbox 360 console.
"I think Microsoft recognized it wasn't possible to keep these employees happy so long as these employees were limited to Xbox 360 projects," he said. Pachter called the spinoff a "brilliant" move by Microsoft.
Analyst Matt Rosoff of the research firm Directions on Microsoft had a similar take -- that it was better to keep Bungie intact as an independent company if the only other option was to watch key employees leave.
"When you're a software company, the only assets you have are your employees," Rosoff said.
In a written statement, Bungie said that "practically speaking, nothing has changed" as a result of the separation. "Bungie has long been built on creativity, originality and the freedom to pursue ideas," the statement said. "Microsoft agreed, and rather than stifle our imagination, they decided it was in both our best interests to unleash it."
Bungie was founded in 1991. Until its acquisition by Microsoft, the studio was mainly known for developing games for Apple's Macintosh computer.
Apple news and rumor Web sites were quick to frame the Bungie announcement yesterday as potential good news for Mac users, speculating that Bungie may again design games for the Mac. "I'm in heaven," wrote one reader at the Unofficial Apple Weblog. "God I love all things Bungie."
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This is your source for news on personal technology. Find info and reviews on the newest technology that affects your life. Read our latest features on new tech gadgets.
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A New Landscape For These Rockies
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2007100719
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PHILADELPHIA The Colorado Rockies are in a place right now that, quite possibly, no other baseball team in history has ever visited, not the Miracle Boston Braves of '14 or the '51 New York Giants of Coogan's Bluff, not the '78 New York Yankees when they were 14 1/2 games behind or the '04 Red Sox when they trailed three games to none in the playoffs yet ended up world champions.
The Rockies don't want you to know what they are feeling, the heights they've climbed without knowing how or the sense of the miraculous that envelops them -- as long as they don't examine it too closely and jinx the whole thing. They don't even want you to know that they know what's happening to them; they're playing dumb, hiding behind their mask of cliches. You can't blame them even though the glint of secret knowledge peaks out around the edges of every word they say.
"If we keep winning, people might take a little more notice. I don't really worry about whether they know who we are or not," said National League batting and RBI champion Matt Holliday, the Rockies' core star. "After the season's over at some point you can reflect back and it will be hard to believe. In the midst of it, we're trying to be focused on the next day and the current game. We have to keep playing the right way and see where it takes us."
Because, heaven knows, the Rockies never dreamed it could take them this far. Their torrid streak of 16 wins in 17 games, including a 10-5 walloping they handed the Phillies on Thursday to take a two-games-to-none lead in their Division Series, is their private inexplicable experience. Even though the whole sports world discusses them every day, it is almost exclusively at the ludicrously shallow level of, "Well, can you believe that -- those lucky not-very-good Rockies won again."
That, of course, is a huge part of why the Rockies are so remarkable -- they are fairly good, with the best record in the NL since May 1, but they are not some powerhouse that has suddenly caught fire -- like the '51 Giants, '78 Yanks or ' '04 Red Sox. Those are perhaps the game's most legendary comeback teams, but all were packed with players named Mays, Jackson or Schilling. And their streaks were either many weeks long -- allowing the occasional loss -- or, in the Red Sox case, just four amazing games packed into a few blurred days of post-midnight play and intercity travel.
What the Rockies have done falls exactly between. They built a streak that stretches the boundaries of what even the best teams can do, stay almost unbeaten for three weeks, yet they've done it at precisely the time when nothing less would suffice.
Perhaps these Rox are most like the '14 Braves, who finished in last place, 31 1/2 games behind in '13, and were still 11 1/2 games out of first place the following July when they suddenly started winning, winning, winning and finished first by 10 1/2 games as America noticed, perhaps for the first time, that baseball specializes in the truly (almost) impossible.
"I don't know that we sat there and thought, 'Oh, man, our only chance is to win the rest of the games,' " Holliday said. Yet, every year, there are teams at the end of their pennant-race rope who could still amaze themselves if they ended the season 13-1, won a one-game playoff for the wild-card spot, then jumped out with two wins to start the playoffs. But none ever has until now.
The Rockies don't want to analyze their success, or even internalize it too completely, as long as they can continue to ride this ridiculous benevolent monster, hurtling toward a culmination they don't even allow themselves to quantify. Maybe they're headed to a World Series trip that will shame all the sport's other improbabilities. After all, they were in fourth place in the National League West, five games out of the wild card on Sept. 17. Some sport-addled math professor somewhere is going to crunch the numbers on that and she'll nearly run out of decimal points in computing the odds.
Or maybe, by next week, because every ballplayer knows that winning streaks tend to turn, instantly and viciously, into losing streaks, that they will have lost three in a row to the Phils, torn up their ticket to the NL Championship Series and crashed back to their humble Rockies roots. Soon, surely, they will realize that, with one more victory, they will meet the extremely beatable winner of the Diamondback-Cubs series, the former outscored for the season, the later possessed of only 85 wins. What happens on the day when they awake and think, "Hey, look, this glass slipper almost fits."
What the Rox are absolutely sure of, and that others don't grasp, is that these playoffs are the easy part. This postseason is, comparatively, a lark. You can actually lose a game, or even more than one, and not see your season come to an instant end.
"We've been in the loser's bracket for a month, so this is a little bit of fresh air for us," said Manager Clint Hurdle. His words were chipper, but his expression was hard. In any tournament the "loser's bracket" means lose-once-and-go-home. In another sense, the Rockies have been in baseball's loser's bracket since their franchise was born.
One playoff visit -- ever. In that series, just one win. Never a season remotely as good as this year's modest 90-73 mark. They know they're baseball's rabble gatecrashers. When Hurdle and GM Dan O'Dowd were given contract extensions on Opening Day, after six seasons with a best record of 76-86, fans thought the team had Rox in its head. After yesterday's slaughter, the Phillies must now head to Colorado for two games in howling Coors Field where, in less than a month, the Rockies have gone from being mildly embraced to rapturously adored. "There were some loyal fans who had faith in us all season," Holliday said. "But the sellouts, the crowds going crazy, that's probably been the last couple of weeks."
The Phils will take an indelible impression with them cross-country after this game. The Rockies second and third hitters of the game, Troy Tulowitzki and Holliday, hit back-to-back homers, both on the first pitch they saw. Second baseman Kaz Matsui, who has only 17 homers in 1,380 career at bats, broke the game open with a grand slam in the fourth inning and, against all logic, bashed a double off the center field wall and a triple off the 398-foot sign in right field. Asked if, in his days as a star in Japan, he had similar days, Matsui said, through a translator: "It is not a comparison. Today was like the best. So exciting."
In fact, among their eight extra base hits -- three homers, a triple and four doubles -- the Rockies hit a ball either off or over every posted distance sign in Citizens Bank Park, except the right field corner. That 334-foot mark was spared the battering. What are the odds? But then, that's the question to ask about everything the Rockies do.
"I don't think it's crazy," Hurdle said. "I think it's part of a sport that's difficult to comprehend when you're not involved in it." So, he's had other comparable experiences? "No," he said. "I've never been part of anything like this."
If this Rox show somehow lasts another couple of weeks, neither will anybody else.
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The Rockies have built an epic winning streak by staying almost unbeaten for three weeks when nothing less would suffice to move within a win of the NLCS.
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Long Standoff Ends for Tax-Protesting Couple
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2007100719
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PLAINFIELD, N.H. -- The fugitive couple had been waiting on their porch for nearly eight months for law enforcement officials to make their move. "The word is 'poised,' " Ed Brown said recently, handgun wedged in his jeans, AK-47 assault rifle behind the door, as he stared at a yard of cut grass and bags of explosives hanging from trees. His wife, Elaine, kept her pistol inside a pouch with her reading glasses.
Ed Brown, 65, a retired exterminator who was involved in the "patriot" militia in the 1990s, and Elaine, 67, a dentist, do not believe that the federal government has the authority to tax income. In January, after a decade of not paying tax on nearly $1.9 million in earnings, a judge found them guilty of tax evasion and, four months later, they were sentenced in absentia to 63 months in prison.
Refusing to "surrender," in February they barricaded themselves in their estate in this New Hampshire town of 2,200, warning that any attempts to arrest them would end in bloodshed. They said they could sustain themselves "indefinitely" with solar and wind electricity generators, after federal agents cut their power and phone lines.
But, in the end the authorities got them, not by a full frontal assault but by trickery.
Late Thursday, U.S. marshals posing as supporters entered the Browns' property and arrested them on their porch without incident. "They invited us in, and we escorted them out," U.S. Marshal Stephen Monier told the Associated Press.
At a news conference, Monier said officials found booby traps in the woods on the 100-plus-acre property and weapons, ammunition and homemade bombs inside and outside the house. He said more charges are likely.
It was hardly surprising for the Browns to have considered the agents to be supporters. Through daily radio broadcasts and Internet postings, the couple had become a cause celebre for tax protesters, a disparate movement of people who say federal taxes are fraudulent. Over the summer, the Browns held dinner parties and fundraisers in their yard, hosting an array of supporters, from local families and spiritual gurus to hard-core militia members.
"Ultimately, this open-door policy they seemed to have, which allowed the Browns to have some supporters bring them supplies, welcome followers, even host a picnic, this proved to be their undoing," Monier told the wire service.
The Browns repeatedly compared their situation to the confrontations at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in 1992, and Waco, Tex., a year later. Recently, the couple held a news conference with Randy Weaver, whose wife and son were shot dead in the Ruby Ridge siege.
"The only way to leave here is free, or dead," Elaine Brown said to a Washington Post reporter who visited the compound several days before the arrest.
But, Waco and Ruby Ridge prompted the Justice Department to adapt its approach to prolonged sieges of this type, emphasizing patience. Federal authorities declined to move against the couple for months, even though leaders of this village near the Vermont border urged them to halt the flow of militia and anti-government advocates to the Browns' compound.
Before this week's arrest, Monier had "ratcheted up" pressure on the couple. Two weeks ago, simultaneous raids took place on the homes of Brown supporters across the country. Federal authorities charged four men with various counts of aiding and abetting the Browns.
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Developer Unveils His Plan For Downtown Monument
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2007100719
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In the often carnivorous, mine-is-bigger-than-yours realm of real estate developers, Jeffrey Abramson stands apart.
If his peers are prone to huff and puff about their latest land grabs, Abramson is just as likely to talk of universal harmony. Twice a day, he sits in a chair for 20 minutes, closes his eyes and practices Transcendental Meditation.
Abramson wants to build a 12-story monument dedicated to peace and freedom -- a "Tower of Invincibility," as he calls it -- smack in the middle of Washington.
In Lafayette Square, perhaps, across the street from the country's reigning symbol of supposed invincibility, the White House. Another ideal location, Abramson said at a news conference yesterday, would be the Mall, home to memorials for World War II veterans and Abraham Lincoln. Of course, the Mall is already home to another tower, a little something known as the Washington Monument.
But Abramson is not unreasonable. If those sites are unavailable, he said, he's more than willing to look elsewhere, and he's eager for Americans to send him suggestions for a location.
"Any spot in Washington," he told reporters at the Hay-Adams Hotel, where he was flanked by a rendering of the tower, which would feature an observation deck and be surrounded by gardens.
"Wherever it lands, it will be perfect," Abramson said.
Abramson's doubters should know that his r¿sum¿ suggests a man who acts on his ideas. The list of projects that the Tower Cos., his family's real estate firm, have built include White Flint Mall and the Washington Square office complex at Connecticut Avenue and L Street NW. The D.C. Chamber of Commerce plans to present Tower with its "Business of the Year" award this month.
Abramson seemed unfazed that almost no vacant land is available in downtown Washington. Or that a senior official at the National Park Service told him that no monument can be built on the Mall. "It's not going to happen," said Bill Line, a Park Service spokesman.
If necessary, Abramson said, he will buy property and replace whatever is on it with his tower, which he said would cost no more than $10 million.
"I think it should be built now," he said. "We don't want to debate it. We don't want to wait."
The idea for the tower, Abramson said, came from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the purveyor of Transcendental Meditation who was a guru to the Beatles in the 1960s. Plans for similar towers, Abramson said, are underway in New Zealand, Germany and Canada.
Abramson said he hopes to discuss his vision with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and "anyone who would like to see our nation as a monument to peace."
But he said he was especially interested in hearing from "citizens of America" before choosing a location. As of yesterday morning, he said, he had received several hundred suggestions on his Web site. Besides the Mall, ideas included the former Washington Convention Center site and the George Washington Parkway near Mount Vernon.
Abramson said he plans to take suggestions for the next month, but he acknowledged that the final decision will be his. "I'm a builder," he reminded his audience. "I know what to do."
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In the often carnivorous, mine-is-bigger-than-yours realm of real estate developers, Jeffrey Abramson stands apart.
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. . . Or Safeguards?
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2007100419
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Yet it has become almost routine for journalists to be slapped with federal subpoenas seeking the identity of their sources. From the Valerie Plame imbroglio to the Wen Ho Lee case, it is now de rigueur to round up reporters, haul them before a court and threaten them with fines and jail sentences unless they reveal their sources.
While 49 states and the District of Columbia have laws protecting the confidentiality of reporters' sources, recent federal court decisions have refused to recognize such protections. Thus, reporters may be protected if they are subpoenaed in state court but not protected at all if a federal court issues the same subpoena.
This makes no sense. Reporters do not expect to be above the law. But they should receive some protection so they can perform their public service in ensuring the free flow of information and exposing improper conduct without risking jail sentences. A free society depends on access to information and on a free and robust press willing to dig out the truth. This requires some ability to deal from time to time with sources who require the capacity to speak freely but anonymously.
The lack of federal protection makes for an especially strange state of affairs because the Justice Department has had internal standards providing protection to journalists and their sources for 35 years, and Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald claimed to be adhering to those standards when he subpoenaed reporters in the Plame affair. Thus, as Judge Robert Sack of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit has noted, the only real question is whether federal courts should be given some supervisory authority to ensure that prosecutors have, in fact, met governing standards before forcing reporters to testify. The answer seems obvious: yes.
Congress has worked to create a federal standard governing reporters, their sources, publishers, broadcasters and judges. The House Judiciary Committee passed its Free Flow of Information Act this summer with a bipartisan majority including conservatives, liberals and moderates.
The version before the Senate Judiciary Committee is also sponsored by a bipartisan group of legislators and is modeled largely on Justice Department guidelines. It would not provide an absolute privilege for confidential sources but would require, among other things, that a party seeking information from a journalist be able to demonstrate a real need for that information and that it is not available from other sources.
Matters involving classified information and national security are treated differently. Information that would assist in preventing an act of terrorism must be disclosed -- without any application of a public-interest balancing test. Critics contend that the bill still imposes an excessive burden on the government. In cases implicating national security, however, the government is given great leeway where the potential harm is "significant and articulable." This is not an inappropriate obstacle to investigations but a reasonable check on the government.
Another criticism is that the legislation would allow criminals to seek protection as "covered persons" subject to the law's protections. But the bill denies the coverage of a reporters' privilege to groups the State Department lists as terrorist organizations and others to whom this shield of confidentiality should clearly not be conferred. In any event, courts are well equipped to make determinations about whether someone has been "engaging in journalism," as the law would require. Indeed, courts are charged with making such determinations regarding the scope and application of laws all the time.
The District and the 49 states with shield laws have experienced no diminution of law enforcement efforts as a result of those laws. The legislation would not give reporters special license beyond the type of common-sense protection we already accord to communications between lawyers and clients, between spouses and in other contexts where we believe some degree of confidentiality furthers societal goals.
This legislation is well balanced and long overdue, and it should be enacted.
The writer, a former solicitor general of the United States, has defended reporters and news organizations from subpoenas seeking to force the disclosure of confidential sources, including Time Inc. in the Plame investigation, and has also represented The Post.
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The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider the Free Flow of Information Act today. This bill aims to establish standards under which federal courts can balance the public's interest in keeping journalists' sources confidential against its interest in requiring disclosure of those sources in the...
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A Needed Shield
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2007100419
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THE SENATE Judiciary Committee will mark up a bill today that would protect the relationship between journalists and their confidential sources at the federal level. The Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), would bring the federal government in line with 49 states and the District of Columbia. The legislation has gone through many constructive changes since it was first introduced in 2005 and deserves to become law.
Sources have talked to journalists on the condition of anonymity probably since the profession began. Because of them, criminality, malfeasance and other stories that government and others would prefer stay secret have come to light. The Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal are just two examples of the results of the daring exhibited by people who risked careers and personal safety for the public's right to know. But such courage is chilled when government hauls reporters into court to force them to divulge their sources. In recent years, more than 40 reporters have been questioned about their sources, notes and stories in civil and criminal cases.
We strongly support efforts to protect journalists and their sources. The Washington Post Co. and other media organizations have lobbied for the bill, which would keep prosecutors from going after reporters as a first resort and provide journalists a qualified privilege not to divulge sources. That protection goes only so far: For example, where there is "a preponderance" of evidence that disclosure would "assist" in preventing a specific act of terrorism, reporters would be required to testify.
Critics charge that the federal shield law would hamstring` federal prosecutors and provide cover to those who aren't really journalists. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald makes those arguments on the opposite page today. We disagree. Mr. Fitzgerald's examples of who could possibly be covered under the bill -- terrorists, child pornographers, gang members and spies -- are far-fetched. An amendment by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) adopted last week makes it clear that foreign powers, agents of foreign powers, or entities that have been designated a terrorist organization by the departments of State or Treasury cannot be protected by this bill. And it's not reasonable to expect that a federal judge would offer protection to child pornographers and gang members. If another amendment is needed to make that point crystal clear as a matter of law, then let it be offered and let the committee pass it. And then let this bill become law.
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THE SENATE Judiciary Committee will mark up a bill today that would protect the relationship between journalists and their confidential sources at the federal level. The Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Richard G. Luga...
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A Mormon in the Oval Office?
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Romney is asked about Mormonism wherever he goes. In my travels, I find his religious preference cited everywhere as the source of opposition to his candidacy. His response to the former chief executives that only reporters care about this issue sounded like a politician's tired evasion. Romney was either too obtuse to appreciate his problem or was stalling because he had not determined how to deal with it. Contact with his advisers indicates that it's the latter.
Although there is still disagreement within the Romney camp, the consensus is that he must address the Mormon question with a speech deploring bias. According to campaign sources, a speech has been written, though 90 percent of it could still be changed. It is not yet determined exactly what he will say or at what point he will deliver a speech that could determine the political outcome of 2008.
Romney would seem the near-perfect Republican candidate: articulate, handsome, able to raise funds and write his own checks. He has become sufficiently conservative on social issues where he once strayed leftward. He is the only Republican candidate unequivocally opposed to gay marriage and the only one who signed the pledge not to increase taxes. He is acceptable enough to non-Republicans to have been elected governor of very "blue" Massachusetts and then, unlike three GOP predecessors, actually governed as a Republican.
But last year I began to hear from loyal Republicans that they could never vote for Romney because of his religion. When I asked Romney about this in April 2006, he was in denial. I subsequently wrote that Romney must make "a stronger response than he now envisions" -- a declaration that "the imposition of a religious text on U.S. politics is unfair, unreasonable and un-American." That was disputed by e-mails sent to me by self-professed Republicans who insisted that Mormonism is a cult.
Despite his response to the retired CEOs, Romney is no longer in denial. A Newsweek poll found that 28 percent of Americans would not vote for any member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- demonstrating much greater hostility than to a Jewish or African-American candidate. Mormonism is the only minority category toward which bias in America has deepened.
This prejudice may explain why Romney trails competitors in national polls. But nobody has emerged as the Republican establishment choice. Rudy Giuliani offends social conservatives. John McCain seems a spent force. Fred Thompson has not yet fulfilled his promise. What's more, Romney leads in Iowa and New Hampshire, where victories would propel him ahead in national polls and likely secure him the nomination. Will the Grand Old Party find itself with a nominee who cannot be elected because of his religion?
It is certain that sooner or later, Romney will address the nation. His task is vastly more complicated than John F. Kennedy's was on Sept. 12, 1960, when he told the Greater Houston Ministerial Council that as president he would not take orders from the pope. Romney will no more attempt explaining Mormon theology than Kennedy ventured into Roman Catholic doctrine. He will do what I suggested he do 17 months ago: deplore a religious test as un-American.
Romney will have but one shot to get it right, with no chance for a mulligan. Some supporters think he should speak (as in the case of JFK) only if and when he is nominated. More likely, the speech will come earlier. One key adviser sees the optimum time after an early victory in Iowa when he becomes the front-runner. Whenever, it would be the single most important campaign speech for Mitt Romney -- or any candidate.
© 2007 Creators Syndicate Inc.
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When Mitt Romney appeared last week (via closed circuit from California) before the Council of Retired Chief Executives meeting in Washington, he faced kindred souls: rich Republicans who had managed big enterprises. Yet the second question from the audience was whether Romney's Mormon faith was ...
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http://blog.washingtonpost.com/achenblog/2007/10/downtown_los_angeles_1995.html
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Remembering Downtown Los Angeles 1995
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2007100419
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[This just in: I'm told Oprah interviewed Jim Olds of GMU's Krasnow Institute on her XM satellite radio show last night, and they discussed my Outlook story on the mind. Hasn't aired yet. I didn't get mentioned specifically -- she mentioned the headline -- but still, come on, this could be my big break. This is life-changing. Oprah.]
The other day Bill Booth filed a great dispatch from L.A., where the locals have suddenly discovered that they have a downtown (subhed: City's Once-Wasteland Is Hipster Heaven). His piece brought back many happy memories of 1995, the year of a certain murder trial involving a Hall of Fame running back, when for a while downtown L.A. was the center of the media universe.
Even more than the internal drama of the trial, I remember the landscape and atmosphere of downtown Los Angeles. It still had elements of the L.A. that Raymond Chandler wrote about, including the Bradley [oops, I mean Bradbury] Building, which looks like, and often has been, a movie set; and the Grand Central Market, an arcade of food stalls, dry goods merchants and fishmongers; and the Original Pantry Cafe, where you can get a fat steak and a mountain of hash browns cheap (and where, circa 1985, my luggage and all my notes for a story disappeared from the trunk of a rental car -- an early journalist trauma I'll never forget). You could still buy a ticket for a ride on the world's shortest railway, Angels Flight [Update: I'm told this was not yet reopened in 1995, so I must have bought my ticket on a later trip. Blogger confusion. But it was O.J. on trial, right? From the Bills?]
I didn't cover the trial day in and day out, but I showed up every so often, and usually stayed at the Biltmore. It's a grand old palace with chandeliers and coffered ceilings and an exquisite lobby where the discerning patron (not me!) could have afternoon tea. I preferred the pool table in the Gallery Bar, rarely occupied. And also looking at the black-and-white photos on the walls that documented the era when the Biltmore hosted the Academy Awards.
Every morning I'd walk about five blocks to the county courthouse to get coffee at the coffee stand in the courtyard. I forget the name -- it'll come to me -- maybe -- don't hold your breath. [Wait! Peter Schafer by email reminds me that it was called Pasqua.] It was excellent coffee, and there were outdoor tables where I could read the L.A. Times and enjoy the weatherless SoCal climate. A calm moment before the storm. Civilized.
Then I'd go on to the criminal courts building, and the trial, and the legal shenanigans. At the end of the day I'd sometimes drive to Playa del Rey to hang with my brother, who always had the grill fired up and whose beachfront lifestyle seemed, after a day in court, eminently sane.
The trial brought a lot of people and attention to downtown L.A., but 5 years later, at the time of the 2000 Democratic National Convention at the Staples Center, the downtown area still showed little signs of a real estate comeback. But there was another legacy of the trial: When they built Camp O.J. across from the courthouse -- a mini-city of TV towers and platforms -- they also created what became a permanent celebrity-and-crime-obsessed cable TV infrastructure. Nancy Grace, Greta, etc.: It all came out of downtown L.A. in 1995.
I miss that coffee stand. I bet it's a Starbucks now.
[From Schafer: "They got purchased by Starbucks and their locations were converted to Starbucks back in 1998 or 1999."]
Politics dept.: You've seen the polls showing Hillary not only running strong but actually having more support nationally than all the other Democrats combined. Of course we're talking national numbers, which are of debatable significance, since the candidates are not running national campaigns but rather focusing on a few small states. In Iowa, Obama is up by 4 points according to a Newsweek poll.
But frontrunners usually win these things. I read that somewhere. Wait, I got it right here:
'She's no amateur at primary politics. You sense that when she walks into a room, she already knows the name of every person there and how much money they've donated. Her gender isn't her most important attribute; it's her brains, discipline, political smarts. She'd stay on-message if a seagull landed on her head.
'Here's a secret: Front-runners usually win nominations. The media don't like to mention this annoying fact, as it cuts down on the drama.
I'n 1984, Hart "emerged" in Iowa and then won New Hampshire and then won seven out of nine primaries or caucuses on Super Tuesday, and 27 total, including Ohio and California. But he didn't get nominated. Mondale had money. Mondale had the network. Mondale had a bunch of "super delegates" already in his pocket. When Hart's campaign began to sputter, the Mondale machine chewed him to pieces. The same thing happened in 1996 when Bob Dole lost in New Hampshire to Pat Buchanan. Didn't matter. And though McCain out-retailed Bush in New Hampshire in 2000, the Bush machine shredded McCain with attack ads on radio and TV in South Carolina. McCain never recovered. '
More Hillary items here and here and here.
By | October 4, 2007; 10:33 AM ET Previous: Sputnik and the Space Age [Annotated] | Next: Rick Atkinson on WW2; Plus Two Cents On Fred Thompson
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Posted by: dbG | October 4, 2007 11:45 AM
The advantages of being on 2 computers at once!
Love the seagull statement. I admire the focus, but wouldn't it be even better to acknowledge it in a joke?
Posted by: dbG | October 4, 2007 11:51 AM
I was in LA a few years back and never got closer to downtown than the freeway. We were tourists and did Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Malibu, and Venice Beach. Downtown LA just doesn't show up on my radar.
In the last Boodle, Cassandra asked for a summary of the latest Bill O'Reilly kerfuffle. He had gone with Al Sharpton to a very famous Harlem restaurant and remarked about how pleasant and civilized it was and there there was a total absence of people behaving in stereotypically hip-hop ways. He compared it favorably to a suburban 9meaning white) Italian restaurant. It came off in a rather patronizing "some of my best friends are African-American" way that he is completely tone-deaf to.
It's good to see table pounders like him and Rush get a taste of their own semi-fake umbrage pushed back at them.
Posted by: yellojkt | October 4, 2007 12:03 PM
I've been to Anaheim, does that count?
Posted by: Scottynuke | October 4, 2007 12:05 PM
Iran Hostage Crisis:Ted Koppel:tragedy::OJ Trial:Nancy Grace:___?____
Posted by: yellojkt | October 4, 2007 12:06 PM
S'nuke, Been to Anaheim too. Definitely doesn't count.
Posted by: yellojkt | October 4, 2007 12:07 PM
I've read Connelly's "Angel's Flight", does that count?
The following falls into the the crazy politics department. Ann Coulter is on a tour to publicize a new book. Here's her take on women: "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president. It's kind of a pipe dream, it's a personal fantasy of mine, but I don't think it's going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women." http://www.observer.com/2007/coulter-culture and for more non-sense http://www.observer.com/2007/tea-miss-coulter Feed that woman some sugar, please.
Posted by: shrieking denizen | October 4, 2007 12:14 PM
re: the analogy, yellojkt --
sound and fury signifying nothing?
Posted by: Scottynuke | October 4, 2007 12:16 PM
sound and fury signifying nothing?
Posted by: Scottynuke | October 4, 2007 12:17 PM
I lived in L.A. for about a year right after college. My first place was on 28th St., fraternity row for USC, at the KA house. Unbeilivable. I remember seeing second stage smog for the first time and the high rises downtown were barely shilouetted through the haze. Paul's Kitchen in Koreatown had the best food aside from the Tommy Burger and the little taco stand we frequented across the street from the Coliseum. I worked in a paper box factory on Broadway near the Coliseum and had to join the Union and lived on Flower St. for a while after moving out of the KA house. It was time well spent. I love L.A..
Posted by: jack | October 4, 2007 12:19 PM
My only look at downtown LA was on the Fourth of July weekend circa 1980, via bus on the way from Santa Monica to San Marino (home of the incredible Huntington cactus garden). Denver's downtown seemed considerably bigger and better.
Other than that, it was interesting listening in on an AM radio news station from LA from home in Wyoming.
Posted by: Dave of the Coonties | October 4, 2007 12:27 PM
I've never gotten close to downtown LA. My most vivid memory of SoCal is standing on a hill in Laguna Beach looking down to the floors of houses that burned in a fire in the fall of 1993. As far as we could see, just the floors and the roads. All the houses were gone. Chilling.
Posted by: Slyness | October 4, 2007 12:42 PM
Jeez, Dave. We were in L.A. at the same time. I didn't see the fireworks, though. I was probably at the 901 club doing something nefarious.
Posted by: jack | October 4, 2007 12:46 PM
Dave-you and Felder Rushing are my FL garden heroes.
Kim-Bradford Pears should remain in dry climes where they don't grow to their mature height so quickly and break in the wind. Do they stink in the west? I find their spring flowering odor akin to a dead fish in a dishwasher.
I have never been to downtown LA, but I generally love downtowns whether decayed, decaying, gentrifying, or almost totally Disneyfied. National Geographic did a story on the Hampton Roads area, in the mid 80s I think, and likened downtown Newport News to the "Australian Outback." I still liked it.
Posted by: frostbitten | October 4, 2007 12:52 PM
Brian Williams covering the O.J. trial for NBC, Aaron Brown for ABC, Greta van Susteren for CNN (I think), who for CBS? Joel for the Washington Post. Where are they all today--just 12 years later? Anchor, journalism professor, Fox program host, ?, Washington Post national desk.
Since my cousin Bill H., now of Arizona and far more handsome than Mark Fuhrman, was formerly paired with Vannatter, as I have Boodled, I'm sure he was following the O.J. trial daily.
My maternal grandmother, Helen Louise nee Kronnick Swanson, was born at Spring and Hill, in Los Angeles in 1884, IIRC the date. Her father owned a candy store. My great-grandmother had a second child, Lillian, but died young and left the children motherless for several years until my great-grandfather remarried. My grandmother was a wunderkind on the piano, giving concerts to Los Angelinos at a tender age--an early part of the entertainment culture of the city. How's that for going back?
Posted by: Loomis | October 4, 2007 12:56 PM
frosti: Seriously consider the Honda. They are the most reliable vehicles we've ever owned. Service is usually calculated to tolerances of a penny.
Posted by: jack | October 4, 2007 12:57 PM
Jack, I was long sort of curious as to how a big private university like USC could thrive in a state with the best public university system in the world. It seemed to me the Claremont colleges,Caltech, and an art school or two could sneak in, but a whopping big USC? A marvel.
I've gotta visit downtown LA to take in Disney Concert Hall.
Posted by: Dave of the Coonties | October 4, 2007 1:14 PM
Parts of Downtown LA become a Central American city on weekends. I suppose that will change as condo development continues. Downtown recently acquired a supermarket, after several decades without.
Posted by: LTL-CA | October 4, 2007 1:14 PM
You know the adage, Dave: Money talks. Bullfrass walks.
Posted by: jack | October 4, 2007 1:17 PM
Scotty, I bet you wish you were headed back to Anaheim this weekend. The series may just end there. Josh Beckett's performance last night won him the Cy Young award, if he didn't already have it in the bag.
Joel, Oprah that is impressive!! The Big O is really hitting the Big-time. Oopps, the Big O is really Oscar Robinson. There I go again always hitting the sports page.
Back to your regular programming.
Posted by: greenwithenvy | October 4, 2007 1:26 PM
When in downtown LA with children or those who act like children, a trip to the poorly-named La Brea Tar Pits (translation: The Tar Tar Pits) is a must.
As is some Zankou Chicken. Oh! And a Fat Burger!
Posted by: LostInThought | October 4, 2007 1:34 PM
steve lopez did a great series on the skid row area of downtown los angeles a few years back.
this is what i think of when i think of downtown because i volunteereed about three years for a homeless ministry that went to skid row
Posted by: L.A. lurker | October 4, 2007 1:35 PM
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del RÃÂo de Porciúncula
Los Angeles Plaza from Fort Hill, 1875
Posted by: Loomis | October 4, 2007 1:39 PM
I spent nine years in L.A. working downtown. Been through the Rodney King Riots, the '94 Northridge Quake and the OJ circus. One curious town but I had a blast. I loved downtown, a very interesting mix of urban life. Great food too. Pastrami burritos - the best!
Posted by: Aloha | October 4, 2007 1:58 PM
Excellent news on the big O.
Minor, niggling error: It's the Bradbury building, not the Bradley building.
And that coffee stand in the middle of the giant courtyard with the neat and only occasionaly dry fountain? It is a Starbucks now.
(Or at least was as of Spring 2006.)
I still miss L.A., though.
Posted by: Brendan Buhler | October 4, 2007 2:04 PM
Newsflash... a dozen or so million-dollar-plus homes in upscale La Jolla CA are being gobbled up by a sinkhole.
Mayor declares state of emergency.
White House also promising help.
Thank God... What would those dozen or so millionaires with home owners insurance whose houses are in jeopardy do if the government hadn't stepped in. Allstate's hands not big enough?
In other news... thousands of Katrina victims still displaced.
Posted by: OtisTheTownDrunk | October 4, 2007 2:10 PM
The Museum of Jurrasic Technology. 9341 Venice Boulevard, Culver City http://www.mjt.org/
OK, it's not downtown; its 2/3 of the way to Venice Beach.
It's a mind trip. I take all my out of town guests there. Gary, a friend from high school, after about 30 minutes, said, 'this is some kind of joke, right?'
Think frustrated museum exhibit builder melds with mad scientist and Hollywood model builder. I think the proprietor was awarded one of those MacArthur 'Genius' grants.
More downtown, there is the Museum of Neon Art. It's too small to exhibit the neon the way it should be seen; they should team with the Peterson Automotive Museum which always has some kind of car outside hanging from the second story.
LA County Museum of Art - the building with Asian Art with glass walls designed to filter the sunlight to the same color as would a rice-paper wall.
The wonderfully kitschy center of Chinatown up on the hill behind downtown.
The front entrance of the LA Central Library.
And Disney Hall is a hoot.
Posted by: My Brain is in a Safe Deposit Box | October 4, 2007 2:16 PM
Posted by: Scottynuke | October 4, 2007 2:22 PM
Posted by: Anonymous | October 4, 2007 2:24 PM
Is LA's Broadway in downtown? That's where Son of G and I spent an afternoon in July. Went to the Orpheum Theatre on Broadway, across the street from an amazing blue Art Deco building that has now been converted to condos.
(We stood outside the theatre for about an hour before being allowed in to watch the taping of the finale of ABC's The Next Best Thing)
Here they both are... http://you-are-here.com/broadway/eastern_columbia.html
We also asked a passing UPS man where to eat and he sent us to Clifton's Cafeteria. I've never been eating somewhere and had a tour group coming into the place--to tour it. The food was forgettable but the location certainly was not.
Posted by: TBG | October 4, 2007 2:30 PM
TBG - Broadway is in downtown L.A. but it's not like the Broadway in New York. Most large theater productions happen up at the likes of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Broadway used to be a very happening place once upon a time but it's been a very long time since it's seen a whole lotta action. I've eaten at Cliftons, it's true the food isn't exciting but it is a very cool place.
Anybody ever been to Little Tokyo? That's where I used to work, a couple of blocks from Parker Center. We had humvees and National Guardsmen with guns sitting outside our building the day after the Rodney King riots. Truly an unforgettable experience.
Posted by: Aloha | October 4, 2007 2:42 PM
My first post in weeks, and I have nothing to add, having only gone through LA on the way to other places (Irvine, Monterey, Laguna Beach, Burbank).
Anyway, belated congrats to Yoki and Scotty. So sorry about the local tragedy, Cassandra. *sniff* I miss Error. *sniff*
Posted by: Raysmom | October 4, 2007 2:52 PM
...ahh, downtown, LA... born and raised in LA, my mother would take us downtown on the Red Car, and the RTD. We'd do the Angel Flight ride, eat @ Bullocks Tea Garden or Clifton's Cafeteria. It was the best! Once I grew up, I took my own kids to those haunts. I loved downtown and still do.... Moved away from Cali seven yrs. ago, but if I go back... will definately see how the old city is doing...
Posted by: sharon | October 4, 2007 2:55 PM
Since 'Mudge is gallavanting off somewhere, squiring Mrs. Mudge in a dory or dinghy or something, it's left to me to play editor.
According to the NY Times, this is verbatim from a Phoenix police spokesperson: "On Friday, Sept. 29, 2007, Ms. Gotbaum flew unescorted and alone to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. She was supposed to then fly to Tucson. Per the airline, Ms. Gotbaum was denied access to that flight in Terminal 4. There was a subsequent verbal altercation at the gate in Concourse B between Ms. Gotbaum and the gate attendant. Ms. Gotbaum became agitated and loud and at some point threw her hand-held PDA, just missing a citizen, which broke into pieces. Ms. Gotbaum left the gate area."
a) I wasn't aware someone could fly "escorted and alone" or "unescorted with a party of one or more people."
b) I wasn't aware throwing a hand-held PDA at a citizen would cause the citizen to break into pieces.
Posted by: Scottynuke | October 4, 2007 3:05 PM
Posted by: Scottynuke | October 4, 2007 3:07 PM
Please, please, please (as James Brown would say)- the Big O is Oscar Robertson, not Robinson. How quickly they forget...
Posted by: SH | October 4, 2007 3:14 PM
That Gotbaum story has a lot of backstory to it. The woman was intoxicated and on her way to a rehab clinic. She died of suffocation while handcuffed and in police custody. The cops are calling the most bizarre suicide they have ever seen.
Posted by: yellojkt | October 4, 2007 3:14 PM
In 1983 I got mildly tipsy on really good champagne at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Later we went to Tommy's where I had the best chili-cheeseburger ever made. The champagne helped. While in line a young boy offered to sell me a most striking diamond ring, but I declined. We listened to "The Blasters" all the way back to the campus. It was a very memorable day.
Posted by: RD Padouk | October 4, 2007 3:18 PM
Oh, I agree the Gotbaum story is a tragedy all around, yellojkt, it's just the "spokespersoin's" atrocious use of English that got my attention.
Posted by: Scottynuke | October 4, 2007 3:18 PM
Scotty, Good catch. You should, like, try a stint in public affairs, or somesuch. Me, I like to keep my affars, well, more on the private side.
Cassandra, I'm sorry for you. Be strong.
Martooni, How's it goin'? I thought about you yesterday. I spent the whole day cleaning up and organizing my work shop. I found tools that I thought I'd lost for good. It was like Christmas!!
Posted by: Don from I-270 | October 4, 2007 3:27 PM
Never mind my mangling of "spokesperson," of course...
*nailing a permanent SCC placard above my cubicle*
Posted by: Scottynuke | October 4, 2007 3:27 PM
RD - mmm, Tommy's! Other recreational substances also make Tommy's one of the "go to" destinations in So. Cal. Not that I know anything about that...but I certainly had friends that did... We would drive to Zuma beach from the desert for a day trip and that trip always had to end with a run through Tommy's. I was a teeny thing back in those days but I could put those chili cheeseburgers away like nobody's business.
frosti - no, there were absolutely no Bradford Pears in the desert or really many other flowering trees or shrubs to speak of, at least in my neck of the woods. That is why I love pears, azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas- I love them all! My husband just thinks that the desert upbringing led to a sad lack of judgment about which trees and shrubs are desirable and which are not desirable for our yard.
Posted by: Kim | October 4, 2007 3:30 PM
Oh, I just thought that the spokes-person was from Joisy.
Posted by: Don from I-270 | October 4, 2007 3:32 PM
Do young boys at Tommy's market diamond rings to everyone, or was I special? I like to think I was special.
Posted by: RD Padouk | October 4, 2007 3:33 PM
RD, I can't answer about Tommy's, but of course you're special!
Posted by: Raysmom | October 4, 2007 3:39 PM
"Jack, I was long sort of curious as to how a big private university like USC could thrive in a state with the best public university system in the world. It seemed to me the Claremont Colleges,Caltech, and an art school or two could sneak in, but a whopping big USC? A marvel."
The UC system has only recently added a campus to the inventory it had thirty years ago, even though the state has added 10 million to its population. People who could have gone to UCLA in 1980 cannot get in today. So, they have to borrow or open up the checkbook and go to USC.
Posted by: Annandale | October 4, 2007 3:40 PM
I was at Tommy's many times and no one ever tried to sell me a diamond ring, RD. I think you must have been special!
Posted by: Kim | October 4, 2007 3:40 PM
Ah gosh, Raysmom. Now I have to explain why I'm blushing at work.
Posted by: RD Padouk | October 4, 2007 3:40 PM
RD, you've left an opening big enough to drive a battleship through. But, I won't take it. Nope. *I* have sensitivity, doncha know.
Besides, I'm off to a retirement soiree for a co-irker. Gotta save my best stuff for him. Everybody else says, "Gee, he worked here 33 years, isn't that amazing?" Ppfft, he's just a kid. Clear the decks, boys, it's time for some sea-stories.
Posted by: Don from I-270 | October 4, 2007 3:47 PM
Kim... you live in the heart of Crape Myrtle land! Those gorgeous flowering trees seem to grow wild in the Hampton Roads area.
Posted by: TBG | October 4, 2007 3:47 PM
Can I say again that I love William Booth's stories? I only wish I knew him well enough to call him Bill like Joel does.
I wonder if Joel calls him that very ofTen.
Posted by: TBG | October 4, 2007 3:51 PM
Jack, I do get the impression that some Californians quail at the idea of sending their kids to UC Riverside or the new UC Fresno (or whatever it's called). Not to mention places like CSU-San Francisco or, horrors, Humboldt.
TBG, in Florida, Crape Myrtles are mostly doomed to be mutilated. The same landscapers who cut all but 3 leaves off a palm will chainsaw the branches so the tree actually shrinks after it's planted. In the town of Williston, all crape myrtles are cut at 3 feet above the ground, every year. At the other extreme, Orlando's Leu Gardens almost scandalously have big untruncated crapes placed very conspicuously.
Posted by: Dave of the Coonties | October 4, 2007 4:11 PM
There is wet stuff falling from the sky at irregular intervals here. Can anyone identify it for me? Mr. T says it's like the stuff that comes out of his shower but I just don't remember anything like that happening in the recent past...
Posted by: Slyness | October 4, 2007 4:11 PM
Don - co-irker- I love that. A certain person's image just magically appeared in front of me.
TBG - I love crape myrtles too! We have 4 wonderful Carolina Beauties in our yard. They are a never-ending source of amazement to me.
Who on earth would say of-ten?
Speaking of Weingarten-is he joking about fake foreskins? Can that really be possible?
Posted by: Kim | October 4, 2007 4:14 PM
I went to UC Riverside and it was wonderful. At the time there were about 3000 students (in a physical plant for 2 or 3 times that many), not counting the grad students at Citrus Experiment Station. Like a small private college.
Posted by: LTL-CA | October 4, 2007 4:22 PM
Raysmom, glad you're back. I miss Error, too.
I've only been to Los Angles once, and a friend took me downtown. Of course, I did not go to any of the places mentioned in the kit or that some of you have talked about. I thought it was big, for lack of a better word. I did not have time to really see it and enjoy it. It was a guick tour. The people I saw just seemed to be standing around doing nothing in particular. We did stop at a restaurant that was suppose to be famous, and looked around a bit. I felt so out of place, but then I am a country person, and we were there because my mother's brother had passed away. Little Richard's brother preached the funeral. I was so happy to leave that place. The earth moves there. Not good, not good at all.
Posted by: Cassandra S | October 4, 2007 4:25 PM
Cassandra, It's a shame you didn't get the chance to dine at Earthquake Jake's during your visit to the City of Angels. There's a while lot of shake, rattle and roll goin' on there.
DotC: Horrors of Humboldt. *l* Well, I'll be.
Posted by: Loomis | October 4, 2007 4:39 PM
There are few things more enjoyable, and I can't say exactly why, than having that early, calm cup of coffee and reading the local paper when you are out of town and preparing for a big day in the city. Especially enjoyable when this takes place at a sidewalk cafe or a nice, airy hotel lobby.
Posted by: hoosier | October 4, 2007 4:46 PM
You are so right, hoosier. Of course, my husband calls the newspaper "the paper Internet."
Posted by: TBG | October 4, 2007 4:57 PM
Now I'll be thinking of foreskin murkins for the next hour.
Including whether Coulter would wear one in order to pass the gender inspection in order to vote. I think she just outted herself as a man, or at least a transman.
What won't she do in order to get read?
Posted by: Wilbrod | October 4, 2007 4:59 PM
And thus I garrotte the boodle.
S'nuke, your note-taking, tres amusante.
Posted by: Wilbrod | October 4, 2007 5:15 PM
For all you Knotts Landing fans, watch the prequel, Knotts Tumbling, to find out how everything came to be...
Posted by: Wilbrod | October 4, 2007 5:27 PM
I try to ignore Coulter myself, Wilbrod. One day a disgruntled fan will shoot her, and it will be good riddance. She is absolutely crazy nuts.
Posted by: Slyness | October 4, 2007 5:27 PM
One wonders what Raymond Chandler would do with a character like Coulter. All the "news" (yeah, right) programs on tv enable her, hoping that her psychotic rants will get viewers, if only to buy the products so wh**ishly advertised thereon. One wonders who's the p$mp and who's the, um, you know. And they don't think we know what they're up to (shame, shame. . . .).
I used to devour Raymond Chandler books, and Dashiel Hammet, too. I'm sure some of them are still around in my heaps and heaps and heaps of books laying around.
My mother spent her very early years in LA. Her mother, her brother and her sisters are buried there. I haven't been there since the very early 70s.
Craig is holding onto his Senate seat by his fingernails. He just ain't gonna go. Vitter, on the other hand, well, he's probably invited to the favored Republican parties. Um, wonder who else is invited to those, and wonder what their stance looks like. (*laughing*)
Posted by: firsttimeblogger | October 4, 2007 6:08 PM
I sometimes pronounce the "t" in often. Depends on the words around it.
Posted by: RD Padouk | October 4, 2007 6:54 PM
You mean you prolly do it more ofTen than others supposably do?
Posted by: TBG | October 4, 2007 7:00 PM
I think I know what it was, Slyness. It got all over me. I was not happy. It would have been better to stand under something. But no. So I made it home soaking wet to discover my neighbor's dog had got loose and the police shot the dog while looking for burglars. The dog ran into the woods, not found. I got back from helping look in the woods for a dead or wounded dog. The woods are big. My neighbor is not happy. Nor am I. The little dog was aggressive, yes, and loose, by accident, and attacked the officer, defending the home turf. This all stinks. My dog is fine.
Posted by: Jumper | October 4, 2007 7:16 PM
So I walk into the living room an ask my wife, "how frequently do I pronounce the "t" in often"?
I'm, like, *this* far from being banned from the internet.
Posted by: RD Padouk | October 4, 2007 7:19 PM
Anybody mention *L.A. Story* yet?
"Sara: Roland thinks L.A. is a place for the brain-dead. He says, if you turned off the sprinklers, it would turn into a desert. But I think... I don't know, it's not what I expected. It's a place where they've taken a desert and turned it into their dreams."
I knew Steve Martin was a funny, funny, guy but the museum scene doubled that realization.
I spoke with the MotB2B and she said she was still laughing, which was good to hear.
Well, two days ago I registered with the state, and today opened a business account @ the bank. I can take credit cards now & everything! :-) The trust officer kept saying "You work here, you're not paying that fee, we're discounting those fees, forget about this one. If you decide to upgrade your account, we'll just do that without the penalty fees." Nice.
Still a little scary because there are bank charges whether or not I sell anything in a given month. Adults start their own businesses, and I'm still not sure I'm one. But it's kind of a proud day--like when you finally meet the friends/family of someone you've been dating and you become official.
Posted by: dbG | October 4, 2007 7:20 PM
I finally removed some holiday stuff --- yes xmas thingies -- and lo and behold, a card falleth from the tableau and ye, the card layeth encrusted with silver spangle sparkles and the card is a printeth painting by ye old Thomas KinKake. The driven snow with violet highlights and the spruces frosted generously with fluffness. And the dear butter-yellow candlelit preciousness of very window.....AKKKK.
Oh Maggie O D! I need to cleanse my palette.
But it groweth worse: I cannot tell who the card is from despite greeting me by name, and listing other specific College Familians with this closing:
"All our greatest wishes for name, and name, and name and College Barkian, too."
I have no bleeping idea who this card is from.
Posted by: College Parkian | October 4, 2007 7:27 PM
Loomis, your maternal grandmother could not have been born at Spring and Hill. Spring Street is parallel to Hill St. separated by Broadway.
Posted by: Former Angeleno | October 4, 2007 7:31 PM
DGB -- bricks and mortar store or web venue? Fab!!!!
Reading the Maltese Falcon might take away the Kincade crud, or perhaps a Mrs. Polifax mystery. Perhaps I shall order a Georgette Heyer book from online.....such a trifle, not a trickle of well, treacle.
Posted by: College Parkian | October 4, 2007 7:31 PM
CP... growing up, my sisters and I had a contest every year for the ugliest Christmas card my parents received.
We still go through each others' cards each holiday season looking for The Winner.
Posted by: TBG | October 4, 2007 7:32 PM
Note to self: mail TBG that holiday card that has Santa's reindeer parked on an outhouse with the caption "I said the Schmidt house!"
Posted by: LostInThought | October 4, 2007 7:36 PM
Thanks, CP. Dining room table, web and shows. :-) I'm feeling a little verklempt about the whole thing, and am heading to bed.
Re: the card. Limeade sans HFCS? Lemonade where you throw lemons, sugar, ice and water into a blender and strain it out? (Always an adventure). Whatever you do, I hope it works!
Posted by: dbG | October 4, 2007 7:36 PM
I really enjoyed "L.A. Story." I admit I am a big Steve Martin fan. I was in High School when he hit it big, and we quoted him constantly. Not only is the guy funny, but he is very, very smart. Extremely knowledgeable about philosophy, much of which comes through in "L.A. Story."
Posted by: RD Padouk | October 4, 2007 7:42 PM
RD, I thought you were younger than I, and I thought *I* was in high school when Steve Martin hit it big. I remember when I first started seeing him on the Tonight Show, when he used to come on with the rabbit ears or the arrow through his head and then just do the interview deadpan--I know it doesn't sound that funny but that's the only time in my life I ever *literally* fell off my chair laughing. I really liked David Steinberg, too, from that same era, and he's another one who is funny AND very smart. I was disappointed Steinberg didn't have a lot of success in the long run, but I'm happy to see Steve Martin hanging in there--loved him as host of the Academy Awards. L.A. Story, the two things that stuck with me were Sarah Jessica Parker as "SandeE" and the scene in the coffee shop where everybody is ordering bizarre special coffee variations. Steve Martin is to California what Garrison Keillor is to Minnesota.
Posted by: kbertocci | October 4, 2007 8:42 PM
Former Angelino, You are correct. I have Googled downtown Los Angeles since reading your post. Broadway does run between Spring and Hill. One does come across myth or misinformation when working with the old family stories. This side of the family is slightly fuzzy, but I think the proximity of the streets has me in precisely the right area.
My grandmother's father was Samuel L. Kronnick, although the spelling could be Kronick. I was told that there was some spelling change (perhaps from Chronic, IIRC) when the family came across the Atlantic to America. The family story is that Samuel's mother gave each of her children a first name and a middle initial according to the alphabet--not a middle name but a middle initial. So Samuel L. was the 12th child.
I have the wedding band that Sam gave to Emma, who we think was from Sweden. The simple, plain 18k band reads Sam to Emma, Dec. 25, (18)81. So it certainly is plausible that my grandmother Helen was born in 1884.
We believe that Sam and his family were from Hamburg, Emma from Goteborg, Sweden, and they settled in Colorado for a year or two before settling in early day Los Angeles. I have an old sepia-tone photo of Sam and Emma, and the back of the photo reads A.E. Rinehart, 413 Larimer Street, Denver, Colorado. Emma has a tiny waist, a button-up dress with a very large rounded lace collar with broad ruffles at the end of the sleeve and several rows at the bottom of the dress, with her head wrapped in many small braids. A long rope necklace seems to attach to one of the buttons on her bodice. They make a handsome pair, this young couple.
The story that was passed along was that Sam and Emma met on the ship to America, but I think that isn't true, but that they met stateside, perhaps in New York City.
So, Former Angelino, you tempt me to research the early records of Los Angeles to see what I can find, to pin down the facts.
Posted by: Loomis | October 4, 2007 8:58 PM
Dave: It struck me that Californians quailing at the idea of sending their children to a State University cracked me up. When I was applying to college it had to be to SUNY. My parents couuldn't afford anything else and, at that time, my ability was far from scholarship eligibility. I applied to two University centers, referred to only by the city in which they were in, and was promptly turned away. It came to a decision between Buffalo State and Brockport State; these schools were (FITB) State because they took the dopes that couldn't get into Albany, New Paltz, Binghamton, Stony Brook. The private schools in NYS are in a league of their own, apart from the SUNY schools. All that I know is that I had quite a time in four years at Potsdam State, earned a degree, and even growed up some. I wouldn't have traded it for the world. CSU-SF. Hmmm...party school?
Posted by: jack | October 4, 2007 9:10 PM
kb-I've been meaning to pick up Steinberg's new book The Book of David. I always thought he was hilarious and a hottie. In the interviews I've seen on Canadian TV he's aged well.
Sunburned and sore from doing deep south garden battle I bid the boodle fondue.
Posted by: frostbitten | October 4, 2007 9:20 PM
It cracks me up to know that Joel says ofTen - not sure why that's funny. Love Steve Martin and David Steinberg - I remember David Steinberg from the Ed Sullivan show, which confirms yet again how old I am. I think LA Story is my favorite Steve Martin movie - I haven't seen it in a long time, but most of his others are either too silly or too tame. Most comedian's books aren't that funny to me, either. My expectations are too high, maybe.
Posted by: mostlylurking | October 4, 2007 9:52 PM
dbG, congratulations - hope the business does well.
Jumper, that's sad about your neighbor's dog. What a thing to come home to.
Weingarten mentioned Thurber's Dogs today. I'll have to see if I can find that, or something by Thurber. Wonder if Thurber would be as funny a writer if he'd also been a stand-up comic?
Posted by: mostlylurking | October 4, 2007 9:57 PM
Deep randomness here. The first time I drove in L.A. I picked up a red Mustang from the airport rental and drove up the freeway to Santa Barbara - 70 mph in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I loved it. We used to drive from SB periodically to visit friends etc., but never made it downtown. Cassandra, "the earth moves there. Not good, not good at all" - you are so right. I figure the whole place will fall into the sea someday soon.
RD is pretty much as old as we are, kbertocci, give or take a year, but we are fooled by his youthful innocence. Or something. [Asking your wife about a query from your imaginary friends? She's a tolerant woman, I'm sure, but really....] My dad said ofTen, but we assumed it was an affliction associated with growing up in Indiana, like not eating black-eye peas.
Posted by: Ivansmom | October 4, 2007 10:04 PM
Or maybe it was Michael Dirda that mentioned Thurber...
Posted by: mostl | October 4, 2007 10:04 PM
SCC - on my boodle name, for Pete's sake - aargh!
Posted by: mostlylurking | October 4, 2007 10:06 PM
Mostly, wasn't Steinberg also on the Smother's Brothers' show? I seem to remember him from there and he was very funny. I have seen him recently hosting an interview show on some cable station but I can't remember which, when or the name of the show. I am old!
dbG, congratulations on the new business, best of luck, you have guts! I'm sure you will do well. Jumper, how awful about your neighbor's dog. Some police are just too quick on the draw!
Posted by: Bad Sneakers | October 4, 2007 10:07 PM
Also, congratulations to dbG. That's a big step.
Long long day here. I sang this afternoon at the funeral of the son of a friend - a 22-year-old killed last weekend in a head-on collision. We were first on the program so I could sing while not in the grip of strong emotion (as long as I didn't look at the family) but it was a long afternoon. Made me come home & hug the Boy.
Posted by: Ivansmom | October 4, 2007 10:12 PM
I introduced the Boy to Thurber a couple of years ago, in cartoons and the more humorous short stories. I cannot read "Nine Needles", aloud or to myself, without breaking into uncontrollable laughter, and this appears to be true no matter how many times I've read it.
Like the tweedle beetle battles in Fox in Socks.
Posted by: Ivansmom | October 4, 2007 10:18 PM
Alternating animal feeding with viewing the baseball playoffs. I'm growing older by the minute, as the Indians and Cubs I've rooted for all of my life have the glimmering hope of meeting in the Series. Fan rule #13: If you wach your favourite team play an important match on the telly, they are more likely to lose. This effect is enhanced as the square of the consumption of recreational chemicals. (Note: Hallucinogens don't count. In the latter scenario, you might think you're watching the game but might really be watching the Newlywed Game.) FR #14: In order to avoid the former, leave the match on the telly and busy yourself at a useless task about the house or yard, abstain from recreational chemicals and check on the progress of the match only sporadically. If your team loses, use the TV brick.
Posted by: jack | October 4, 2007 10:18 PM
Fact check: Angels Flight didn't re-open until 1996. The writer must have been flyin' so high on his Pasqua's caffine jag that it affected his memory -- or gave him second sight! (Also, there's no apostrophe used in "Angels Flight.") Oh, yeah almost forgot: It's the Bradbury bulding, not Bradley (perhaps most famously showcased in Blade Runner). Aside from that, everything else is accurate....except for.....
Posted by: Steve the L.A. guy | October 4, 2007 10:24 PM
Seven OfTen was what Seven of Nine used to be called.
Posted by: Wilbrod | October 4, 2007 10:37 PM
And Angel's Flight pants were worn in the same era as those who watched Steve Martin make his rise, while they were in high school.
When I was choosing between biochemistry and philosophy as a major, one of the icons invoked by the Phil-Peeps was Steve Martin, for his B.A. in philosophy. I am not sure who the poster peep for biochemistry would be other than vitamin-Cee-Eccentric Linus Pauling. Not that there is anything wrong with that....three new trees planted in the common walkway and I believe them to be Zelkova, the elm-ish option for nowadays. What needs replacing are the huge and ghostly grey beechwood trees. I would like more of them at this particular section but beech trees are hard to cultivate. These trees likely top the 160 year mark.
Beechwood is also known as the sweetheart tree since you can carve quite easily on the smooth bark. I count more than 30 remnants of affection on these three trees.
Gnite. Morning greetings to the night crew. We left some angle food cake, celebrating the Sputnik flight for you on the table. Start the coffee early for SN and Cassandra.
Posted by: College Parkian | October 4, 2007 10:40 PM
*Decides to duck out and let somebody else make the coffee*
Uh, I don't DO that foul broth everybody calls coffee.
I'll just tell S'nuke to stop by Dunkin Donut or Starbucks for his daily poison and get one extra for Cassandra. She's been curious about it anyway.
*Decides to replace the angel food cake with devil's food cake, just because it goes better with Starbucks*
Posted by: Wilbrod | October 4, 2007 10:46 PM
Not to worry, Wilbrod. I already have a pot ready in my trusty Comet aluminum drip coffee maker. I'ts strong enough to corrode the aluminum. I'll need something strong on account of the Cubs giving up a three run homer, and now a ground rule double off the top of the wall, dropping them to a 2-4 deficit in the second. Looks like a long night.
Posted by: jack | October 4, 2007 11:08 PM
Oh, mostlylurking, don't go look up the Thurber dog-stories. Pleeese don't. One of them is so very sad that to this day (I first read it when I was 7 years old, and am now nearly 50) I can be reduced to a projectile-teared, sloppy-messed, entirely-sad Yoki. It will break your heart beyond repair. NOOOOO!
Posted by: Yoki | October 4, 2007 11:15 PM
Bless your heart, Ivansmom. The clear lark-ness of your voice will have been a comfort to those people.
Posted by: Yoki | October 4, 2007 11:21 PM
Just popping in before bed, hopelessly behind backboodling, but O.J./L.A., from my distant perspective, sure did nothing to help the perception of fair justice in our legal system. And that could work a number of different ways, depending on your perspective.
It is important to be reminded that O.J. is to blame for Nancy Grace and her ilk (great word). That alone is worthy of burning at the stake.
Posted by: bill everything | October 4, 2007 11:36 PM
Yoki, I shudder to think how you react to "A Dog's Tale" by Mark Twain. Oh, it starts out well enough. "My father was a Great Pyreenes, and my mom was a collie, so I'm a Presbyterian."
A lot of dog stories are sad, when I think of it. But the saddest one for me was one that didn't mean to be.
I could NOT finish reading Marley and Me because of the horrible way Marley was treated-- no wonder he became fear-aggressive and out of control. It is just... appalling. A puppy is not an adult dog.
Posted by: Wilbrod | October 4, 2007 11:43 PM
Checking in from JA's hometown - Gainesville, FL - getting ready to do some racing tomorrow (I should be asleep now, I suppose).
Anyway, Raysmom, nice to see you back in the Boodle, we missed you.
LA is an interesting city, a one-game town for entertainment and celebrity the way that Washington DC is a one-game town for politics and power. Folks come from all over the country to try their hand and see if they have what it takes to Make It. Makes the people in both cities quite interesting, I think.
Posted by: bc | October 5, 2007 12:34 AM
Jack, I was an Air Force brat, so didn't much understand the college-going habits of kids in the unfamiliar state where I was a legal resident. I was stupid/lucky about applying for fall admission to Penn State's main campus as a prospective science student. Even back then, getting admitted was (unknown to me) rather selective. But on the other hand, back in that bygone era, white-collar Pennsylvanians quailed at sending their kids to public colleges. So PSU was stuffed with smart kids who didn't want to work in steel mills or coal mines, at least not for life.
And of course Pennsylvania has an Indiana State University and a California State University, along with Slippery Rock. One of my professors had gone to Indiana of Pa., then got his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.
In California, it's perfectly normal for grads of the state university system (the Cal State schools) to go on to graduate or professional degrees at the University of California campuses.
Bottom line: some much-sought-after colleges are indeed very nice, but their graduates don't necessarily have an "in" with respect to going on to grad/professional schooling.
Anyway, g'night and a good Gainesville visit to bc. The Thai place to eat seems to be Chopstix, south of campus on 13th street at Bivan's Arm. Of course UF has loads of kids as good as any at Berkeley simply because it's the "flagship" state university. I was never a UF student, but did work at state and federal wildlife labs in town for several years.
Posted by: Dave of the Coonties | October 5, 2007 2:33 AM
Ivansmom, I'm sorry to hear about your friends' son, but not surprised at your grace and courage in singing.
Jumper, I've heard stories from friends about burglaries where the pets escaped the house with dire consequences. So sad.
kbert, great observation about Steve Martin and Keillor. My favorite part of the movie is where he rollerskates through the museum, topped only by the line: "I call it performance art, but my friend Ariel calls it wasting time. History will decide."
Posted by: dbG | October 5, 2007 5:05 AM
I'm not sure using celebrities to tout a major is all that good an idea. Most of them are drop outs. Some rare exceptions: "Weird" Al Yankovich has a degree in architecture and Jeff Foxworthy is a fellow alumni and an electrical engineer. Fortunately for his stand-up career, he didn't make his signature joke "You may be an EE if..."
Posted by: yellojkt | October 5, 2007 5:26 AM
Good morning, friends. dbG, I am so happy for you, and I really hope business is booming, and you make so much money. I think it is wonderful that you're in business. I used to have a small candy business when my children were in school. I sold to the neighborhood kids, and allowed them to have small tabs, too. It was so much fun.
bill everything, I agree with your take on Nancy Grace, and that ilk. I don't like her show. It's as if she's going to come through the television and throttled someone.
Give Ann Coulter some sugar, please. The real deal, not that imitation stuff.
Have any of you ever been on a plane with a drunk? When returning home from LA, we were on the plane with a drunk that wanted to open the door. They had to tie him down. And I can relate in every way, but please, we can't open the door. I'm not sure they didn't give him a shot of something. I mean a chemical. He was determined.
I've read Eugene Robinson's piece this morning on Bush's veto. I'll bet Republicans everywhere are grinding their teeth, and the other party is probably jumping for joy. They don't have to do anything. I wonder just who is giving the President advice now. Someone needs to check him.
Morning, Mudge, Slyness, Scotty, and all.*waving* I have the wash detail today, time to go.
The police have finally arrested someone for the murder of the pastor's son. They're still calling for witnesses.
God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.
Posted by: Cassandra S | October 5, 2007 6:05 AM
G'morning, Cassandra. Hey, everybody. My day started off wrong: I had to get up half an hour early to take Mr. T to work so I can go pick him up at 10 and head up the mountain. It's amazing how discombobulating a change to the morning routine is.
But I'm fine, really I am. I have my morning tea and will head out for the walk shortly.
Glad to hear that the police have made an arrest, Cassandra. What a crying shame the loss of life is. The big news here today is that a disgruntled employee who had been fired went back to a restaurant and killed two managers by shooting them in the head. So very, very wrong.
Posted by: Slyness | October 5, 2007 7:36 AM
Ivansmom - I am glad you could do something to lessen their pain.
Cassandra - I am glad that an arrest has been made. I know this will never bring the boy back, but maybe it will keep others safe.
dbG - For some of us wasting time *is* performance art.
Posted by: RD Padouk | October 5, 2007 7:39 AM
Had to hold off on the coffee this morning, as I'm getting a check-up...
I THINK I'll be able to stay awake until they finish poking me.
Posted by: Scottynuke | October 5, 2007 7:41 AM
Good morning and new kit!
Posted by: Kim | October 5, 2007 7:44 AM
Posted by: cash | December 4, 2007 3:43 PM
Posted by: wholesale | December 6, 2007 3:06 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
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The Protocols of the Elders of Turkey
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Look in just about any bookstore in Turkey, and you'll see some of the strangest bestsellers imaginable. The cover of "The Children of Moses," the first and most popular book in a series of four, shows the country's devoutly Muslim prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the middle of a six-pointed Star of David. Inside, you'll find a head-spinningly weird argument: that Erdogan and his conservative allies in Turkey's ruling pro-Islamic party are actually crypto-Jews with secret wicked ties to the conspiratorial forces of "global Zionism."
The books are hardly a fringe phenomenon. They're arrayed in chic bookstores along Istiklal Avenue, the funky pedestrian mall that's the heart of secular Istanbul. They're openly displayed alongside Orhan Pamuk novels at Ataturk International Airport. And they're even sold on tiny bookstands on the Princes' Islands, the vacation destinations in the Sea of Marmara that many well-off Turks view the way Manhattanites do the Hamptons. By the publishers' figures, they've sold about 520,000 copies since the books started rolling out this year -- a staggering figure for a nation of about 71 million people.
Of course, paranoid theories about Jewish conspiracies have never lacked for imagination. "International Jewry" has been blamed for destroying both czarist Russia and the Soviet Union, for cooking up both capitalism and communism. But dreaming up a conspiracy theory about a Zionist plot to create an Islamist state? That's a new one.
In fact, the politicians from the ruling Justice and Development Party (known by its Turkish acronym AKP) whom the books accuse of being Israeli stooges have strong Islamic identities. The cover of the first volume shows not only Erdogan in the middle of the six-pointed star, but also his wife, Emine, who is famous in Turkey for wearing a traditionalist Islamic headscarf -- perhaps the world's least likely crypto-Zionist conspirator.
Ergun Poyraz, who wrote the series, is a self-declared "Kemalist," the term used here to describe the committed followers of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the resolutely secular war hero who founded modern Turkey in 1923. The politicians whom Poyraz is out to skewer define themselves as sensible conservatives, but they're derided as closet fundamentalists by their foes among Turkey's traditional elites, who are still deeply suspicious of any intrusion of Islam into the public sphere. Poyraz's books argue -- apparently in all seriousness -- that "Zionism" has decided to steer Turkey away from its time-worn secular path and turn it into a "moderate Islamic republic." It is hard to believe that "Zionism" (let alone any sane Israeli leader) would prefer an Islamist Turkey to a secular one, but Poyraz is convinced that a mildly Islamic state would be more easily manipulated by foreign powers than a staunchly nationalist one.
Poyraz doesn't present evidence to support his bewildering claims, which aren't documented, footnoted or backed up with any credible facts. His method throughout is to cherry-pick irrelevant data, then build wild speculation on them. The series is among the most creative sequels to "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," the anti-Semitic classic propagated by the czarist secret service a century ago. So why are these lunatic books bestsellers, featured in the windows of virtually every grand bookstore in Turkey? And why are the supposedly open-minded secularists, not the alleged Islamists, the ones peddling anti-Semitism?
The answer, oddly enough, is connected to the anti-Europe sentiment that has exploded here in recent years. Since coming to power in 2002, the AKP has accelerated Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Some Europeans aren't keen to let a Muslim democracy join their Christian club, but E.U. membership has proved widely popular in Turkey. In turn, that has encouraged Turkey's xenophobic and anti-democratic forces -- who fear that European liberties would be dangerous and corrupting -- to crawl out of the woodwork. Opponents of the E.U. bid insist that the Turkish Republic faces grave threats from enemies within and without, and warn that the only way to save the country is to keep it illiberal and closed.
What is most striking in this nationwide division is that the so-called Islamists are generally on the liberal pro-Western side, while the secularists are often on the other. In the general election held on July 22, the "Islamist" AKP had the most strongly pro-E.U. platform, whereas the ultra-secularist Republican People's Party tried to woo voters with Euro-skeptic rhetoric. (The AKP won the elections with a clear victory of 47 percent, while its main secular rival took 21 percent.) The AKP is also a strong proponent of free markets and foreign investment, whereas most secularist politicians see such things as "imperialist" and favor a state-protected economy. As Ziya Onis, a political economist at Koc University in Istanbul, said recently, the current power struggle in Turkey is between "conservative globalists" and "defensive nationalists" -- including the ultra-secular Kemalists.
In this context, the mystifying bestsellers make more sense: as a smear campaign cheered on by Turkey's spooked secularists, who hope that vilifying the AKP leadership as Jewish agents will help scare away the party's supporters, thereby staving off E.U. membership and limiting Turkey's exposure to corrosive European ideas.
The books' odd fusion of anti-Semitism and Kemalism also has a historical pedigree. When Ataturk raised modern Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, he wisely decided to orient it toward the West. But during his time in power (1923-38), the West included not only democracies such as the United States and Britain but dictatorships such as fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Ataturk never admired these tyrannies, but some of his aides and followers certainly did, and they incorporated numerous fascist elements into Turkey's state-sponsored brand of secular nationalism. Fantasies about the supremacy of the Turkish race soon became official rhetoric. Turkey adopted corporatism, Benito Mussolini's state-dominated economic model, and when Ataturk died, he was declared the country's "eternal chief." His successor, Mustafa Ismet Inonu, introduced a heavy "wealth tax" in 1942 that specifically targeted Jews. Unable to pay, many were sent to labor camps in eastern Turkey.
This dark episode of Turkish history ended after the Allies' victory in World War II, which forced the Kemalist elite to shift from single-party rule to democracy. But unlike other European nations, Turkey never engaged in much self-criticism of its interwar chauvinism -- which let ultra-nationalist themes persist as legitimate ideas. When the E.U. admission process pushed Turkey to liberalize itself, these skeletons came out of the closet.
Last February, the country was shocked by the exposure of a fascist gang called the Union of Patriotic Forces, led by Fikri Karadag, a retired colonel. The group's secret oath included the words, "I am of pure Turkish stock, and there is no Jewish convert in my blood," as well as a promise to "kill and to be killed" for the sake of "making the Turkish nation the lord of the world."
In June, police found 27 hand grenades and stacks of TNT in an Istanbul house belonging to another fascist gang with shadowy links to the country's security forces. The bust led the authorities to other cells, and Poyraz, the prolific anti-Semitic author, was among their members. After his arrest, the lawyer who rushed to defend him was none other than Kemal Kerincsiz, who has lately made a name for himself by suing dozens of liberal intellectuals -- including the Nobel Prize-winning Pamuk -- for "insulting Turkishness."
The trial of Poyraz and his comrades goes on. So does Turkey's own trial by radical nationalism. Many in Washington are concerned about what President Bush calls "Islamofascism." But that term too easily misleads us into assuming that there's a direct link between Islam and fascism. In fact, xenophobia and authoritarianism have their own complex roots in the societies where they thrive and may be mingled with almost any sort of religion or irreligion. In Turkey, they are becoming less linked with Islam and more with secularism.
Mustafa Akyol is deputy editor of the Turkish Daily News.
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Look in just about any bookstore in Turkey, and you'll see some of the strangest bestsellers imaginable. The cover of "The Children of Moses," the first and most popular book in a series of four, shows the country's devoutly Muslim prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the middle of a six-pointed...
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http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/c_welton_gaddy/2007/10/mccain_is_wrong.html
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C. Welton Gaddy: OnFaith on washingtonpost.com
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It is one thing to consider a candidateâs faith; it is quite another to exclude an entire faith from being considered for public office. I wrote Sen. John McCain a letter to tell him how deeply disappointed and disturbed I am by his recent statements about religion and politics and by his apparent misunderstanding of our history and of the Constitution he has taken an oath to defend.
In his BeliefNet interview, Senator McCain expressed discomfort with the prospect of a Muslim in the White House, and said he would prefer a president âwho has a solid grounding in my faith,â because âthatâs an important part of our qualifications to lead.â He tried to justify his remarks by saying, âthe Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation.â Last month, according to the Associated Press, he said that questions over whether he identifies himself as a Baptist or an Episcopalian are not as important as his overarching faith. âThe most important thing is that I am a Christian,â he said.
Senator McCainâs comments on his litmus test of religion as a qualification to be president of the United States are simply outrageous. That a presidential candidate and sitting United States senator would seem to suggest that an entire group of people should be barred from seeking the presidency based only on their religion should be offensive to all Americans, no matter their faith or political affiliation. While he later sought to clarify his statement, I am concerned with the overall pattern of remarks he has made recently about religion and politics. To state that the U.S. Constitution establishes this as a Christian nation is absolutely ludicrous.
Senator McCainâs statements aid and abet those who have tried to rewrite the Constitution to fit their own political and religious beliefs. The Framers of the Constitution made it abundantly clear that America would be a secular nation in which every citizen would be free to practice their own beliefs, whether religious or not, and that the government would neither interfere with religion nor favor one religion over others or religion in general over other beliefs. This First Freedom was and is Americaâs greatest contribution to democracy and the struggle for freedom all over the world.
Candidates on both sides of the aisle are using religion in radically new ways within their political operations. Some journalists are forcing candidates to defend the practices and beliefs of their faith, proclaim their favorite Bible verses, confess their greatest sin, and describe how they pray and how regularly they attend services. These and other questions about religion have no bearing over a candidate's vision for leading this country and they hurt both religion and democracy.
Candidates must remember that they are running for Commander-in-Chief, not Pastor-in-Chief. Article VI of the Constitution clearly states that âno religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.â
If Senator McCain intends to hold the highest office in this land, I urge him to remember his oath to defend the Constitution, including the First Amendment and Article VI. He must find a way to lead that does not disenfranchise a significant portion of our population.
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C. Welton Gaddy on OnFaith; Visit http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/c_welton_gaddy/
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Congress Seeks Secret Memos On Interrogation
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One opinion issued by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel in May 2005 authorized a combination of painful physical and psychological interrogation tactics, including head slapping, frigid temperatures and simulated drowning, according to current and former officials familiar with the issue.
A second document issued by the same Justice Department office in the summer of 2005 asserted that the interrogation practices approved for the CIA did not violate pending legislation to prohibit "cruel, inhuman and degrading" treatment, current and former officials said. The existence of the two classified memos was reported yesterday by the New York Times.
White House and Justice officials said the legal opinion on interrogation techniques did not conflict with administration promises not to torture suspects, including a memo released publicly in December 2004 that declared torture "abhorrent." They said the newly revealed memo focused on "specific applications" under the parameters of the earlier document.
"It is a policy of the United States that we do not torture, and we do not," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
The memos create an unwelcome complication for the Bush administration as it tries to win confirmation of former federal judge Michael B. Mukasey as the next attorney general. He would replace Alberto R. Gonzales, who resigned last month after months of conflict with Congress over his credibility and management abilities. Gonzales led the Justice Department at the time that the newly disclosed memos were written.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, vowed to question Mukasey closely about his views on interrogation policies during confirmation hearings this month.
"After telling us and the world that torture is abhorrent . . . it appears that under Attorney General Gonzales they reversed themselves and reinstated a secret regime by, in essence, reinterpreting the law in secret," Leahy said, referring to administration officials.
The House Judiciary Committee demanded copies of the documents from the Justice Department and vowed to hold hearings on the issue. "Both the alleged content of these opinions and the fact that they have been kept secret from Congress are extremely troubling," Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to acting Attorney General Peter D. Keisler.
President Bush and his aides regularly denounce torture and deny that it has been condoned as part of the aggressive antiterrorism campaign after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But administration officials have repeatedly refused to specify which tactics are allowed, and both the military and the CIA have operated under varying standards and guidelines over the past six years.
White House, Justice and CIA officials refused to discuss the specific tactics authorized in the 2005 Justice memos. Both documents were signed by the Office of Legal Counsel's acting chief, Steven G. Bradbury, who declined requests for comment. Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Bradbury "has worked diligently to ensure that the authority of the office is employed in a careful and prudent manner."
The secret opinion followed an analysis by the office that was released publicly in December 2004, and that declared "torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and international norms" and endorsed a legal definition of torture as acts "intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering." That analysis explicitly rejected a previous Justice opinion that had declared that only causing pain equivalent to "organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death" constituted torture punishable by law.
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Democratic lawmakers assailed the Justice Department yesterday for issuing secret memos that authorized harsh CIA interrogation techniques, demanding that the Bush administration turn over the documents. But officials refused and said the tactics did not violate anti-torture laws.
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The Health Care Divide
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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton talks health care policy in Des Moines. (AP).
There are few divides larger this year between Republican and Democratic presidential candidates than on the issue of health care -- and at this point, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, public opinion is on the side of the Democrats. With 47 million Americans lacking health insurance and many millions more worried about rising costs and potential disruption to their coverage, the issue occupies a central place in the presidential debate. Republicans favor a combination of tax cuts and market forces to ensure that most Americans have affordable health care coverage. Democrats say government needs to take a more direct role in assuring that all Americans are covered and would raise taxes to pay for it.
The Democrats' advocacy for universal coverage represents an important shift to the left for the party. After the defeat they suffered over health care during Bill Clinton's presidency, Democratic presidential candidates in 2000 and 2004 offered more cautious reforms aimed at covering most, but not all, Americans. This year they all support universal coverage and most have offered plans to achieve it. Hillary Clinton is the most notable, given her role as the architect of the proposal and the strategy that crashed in 1993-94, but others like John Edwards have acknowledged how much they've moved in just four years. "So has America," he said in the New Hampshire Democratic debate a week ago. The Post-ABC News poll sought to gauge public impressions of the health care system, as well as possible approaches for changing it. What we found was that three-quarters of all Americans said they are generally dissatisfied with the overall system -- 49 percent of them say they are very dissatisfied. Americans are far more likely to say they are satisfied with the qualify of the care they receive. Eighty-three percent of them -- and 88 percent of those with some kind of coverage -- said they were generally satisfied. More than four in 10 -- and almost half with insurance -- said they were very satisfied. But that represents a modest decline in confidence over the past few years, when generally half or more said they were very satisfied. And the percentage who said they were dissatisfied, while still low, is as high as it was in the beginning of 1994, when Congress was plunging into what would become a defining battle of Bill Clinton's first term. Americans are far less happy with the cost of care, which has been escalating rapidly in recent years. In the latest poll, barely half (53 percent) of all Americans said they were generally satisfied. That's the lowest level of satisfaction since the question was first asked in 1994. Those who were very dissatisfied with the cost exceeded those who said they were very satisfied (26 percent to 22 percent). And two-thirds of Americans worry about they might not be able to afford coverage in the future. At this early stage in what will be an intensifying debate over health care, Americans overwhelmingly favor the idea of finding a way to cover everyone, even if that means raising taxes. The poll found that 70 percent said they would support higher taxes in return for universal coverage, compared to 27 percent who said holding down taxes is more important than covering everyone. No matter how we sliced the country, there were majorities in nearly all demographic, regional, political and ideological groupings who said they favored raising taxes to provide universal coverage. One notable exception is among conservative Republicans, 53 percent of whom prioritize minimizing taxes.
Republicans have denounced Clinton's plan in strong terms. Mitt Romney said it would lead to "European-style socialized medicine." Rudy Giuliani and John McCain also have warned that Clinton and other Democrats favor big government or government-run health care. The public, as of now, does not see it that way. When the outlines of Clinton's and some other Democrats' plans are described to people -- including requirements that business offer insurance or pay a fee and that individuals buy insurance or face some penalty -- there is broad support. In the Post-ABC poll, two-thirds said they supported such a proposal, including majorities of Republicans and conservatives. Americans also trust government rather than the insurance industry to help set the parameters for quality and affordability of care and coverage. Asked whether the federal government must make rules or whether private health insurance companies and providers can achieve quality and cost goals without government intervention, two-thirds said government needed to be involved. Most groups offered majority support for government's role in setting rules, but support is lowest among Republican women (46 percent) and among conservative Republicans (39 percent). Public opinion alone will not determine the outcome of the legislative battle over health care that could begin in 2009 if a Democrat wins the White House. The record of 1993-94 shows what can happen when a powerful lobby and a determined opposition sets out to block an idea that Americans seem to favor in the abstract. But in the context of the presidential campaign debate, Republicans begin on the defensive. They have been far less willing to push health care reform as part of their basic message, and the ideas they have embraced lack support from the public. Many Republicans argue health care can become a winning issue for the party -- or at least one on which they are closer to parity with the Democrats. But the Post-ABC News poll underscores the advantage Democrats enjoy as the campaign debate is joined.
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the "Well Worth the Read" post appears by "thurli" here, by "Jim" on Google groups, by "Eyeman" on the Minnesota Fishing Forum, and numerous other "Canadians" on blogs around the web. In Canada, is everybody's wife named "Shirley?" Or are these all health insurance salesmen feeding lies to the public?
Posted by: wmharvey | October 14, 2007 11:37 AM
I am forwarding this email I received from a buddy in Canada. Take the time to read it so you can do whatever you wish....research, verify, etc., but please read it."
The above reference is from a fake post made by: thurli | October 8, 2007 02:38 AM
Posted by: laughsonian | October 11, 2007 3:05 PM
I am forwarding this email I received from a buddy in Canada. Take the time to read it so you can do whatever you wish....research, verify, etc., but please read it.
Hi, I saw on the news up here in Canada where Hillary Clinton wants a new health care plan. Something similar to what we have in Canada. I also heard that Michael Moore was raving about the health care up here in Canada in his latest movie. As your friend and someone who lives with the Canada health care plan I thought I would give you some facts about this great medical plan that we have in Canada.
1) The health care plan in Canada is not free. We pay a premium every month of $96. for Shirley and I to be covered. Sounds great, eh? What they don't tell you is how much we pay in taxes to keep the health care system afloat. I am personally in the 55% tax bracket. Yes 55% of my earnin gs go to taxes. A large portion of that and I am not sure of the exact amount goes directly to health care our #1 expense.
2) I would not classify what we have as health care plan, it is more like a health diagnosis system. You can get into to see a doctor quick enough so he can tell you "yes indeed you are sick or you need an operation" but now the challenge becomes getting treated or operated on. We have waiting lists out the ying yang some as much as 2 years down the road.
3) Rather than fix what is wrong with you the usual tactic in Canada is to prescribe drugs. Have a pain here is a drug to take- not what is causing the pain and why. No time for checking you out because it is more important to move as many patients thru as possible each hour for Government reimbursement. 4) Many Canadians do not have a family Doctor.
5) Don't require emergency treatment as you may wait for hours in the emergency room waiting for t reatment.
6) Shirley's dad cut his hand on a power saw a few weeks back and it required that his hand be put in a splint - to our surprise we had to pay $125. for a splint because it is not covered under health care plus we have to pay $60. for each visit for him to check it out each week.
7) Shirley's cousin was diagnosed with a heart blockage. Put on a waiting list . Died before he could get treatment.
8) Government allots so many operations per year. When that is done no more operations, unless you go to your local newspaper and plead your case and embarrass the government then money suddenly appears.
9)The Government takes great pride in telling us how much more they are increasing the funding for health care but waiting lists never get shorter. Government just keeps throwing money at the problem but it never goes away. But they are good at finding new ways to tax us, but they don't call it a tax anymore it is n ow a user fee.
10) A friend needs an operation for a blockage in her leg but because she is a smoker they will not do it. Despite paying into the health care system all these years. My friend is 65 years old. Now there is talk that maybe we should not treat fat and obese people either because they are a drain on the health care system. Let me see now, what we want in Canada is a health care system for healthy people only. That should reduce our health care costs.
11) Forget getting a second opinion, what you see is what you get.
12) I can spend what money I have left after taxes on booze, cigarettes, junk food and anything else that could kill me but I am not allowed by law to spend my money on getting an operation I need because that would be jumping the queue. I must wait my turn except if I am a hockey player or athlete then I can get looked at right away. Go figure.. Where else in the world can you spend money to kill yo ur self but not allowed to spend money to get healthy?
13) Oh did I mention that immigrants are covered automatically at tax payer expense having never contributed a dollar to the system and pay no premiums.
14) Oh yeh we now give free needles to drug users to try and keep them healthy. Wouldn't want a sickly druggie breaking into your house and stealing your things. But people with diabetes who pay into the health care system have to pay for their needles because it is not covered but the health care system.
I send this out not looking for sympathy but as the election looms in the states you will be hearing more and more about universal health care down there and the advocates will be pointing to Canada. I just want to make sure that you hear the truth about health care up here and have some food for thought and informed questions to ask when broached with this subject.
Step wisely and don't make the same mistakes w e h ave.
Posted by: thurli | October 8, 2007 2:38 AM
Put simply, what cfuentes006 wants is someone else (the rich?) to pay his medical bills.
"The basic problem is that the rules are made by private insurance companies whose only goal is to make money, not efficiency or good health care. If they can save a buck by having a physician fill out a 40 page form, they will do so."
Consider that with Medicare, a Regulatory Agency established by Congress decides what will and what will not be covered. This Agency doesn't even bother with having a physician fill out a form. It just decides what it will and will not cover. Ever try to argue with the Social Security folks or the Post Office or the Veteran's Administration or for that matter, the Medicare folks? "What about choice? I am 69 years old and retired. During my career I had 5 HMO's and 5 indemnity health plans. I have much more freedom of choice under Medicare than I had under any of the private insurance plans. I have no more referrals, no more in plan - out of plan nonsense. As for choice of insurance plan, why would anyone want choice if everyone had a plan that covered everything? In any case, you could still have private insurance for those who can afford it as most European countries still do. "
lensch falls into a common dilemma here. All health care plans must look at three items: cost control; range of services offered; and universal access. Medicare does offer pretty good coverage (range of services) and freedom of choice but this is only offered to a limited group of individuals, those nominally older than 65 years (access control). If you offer the equivalent of Medicare to the population generally (universal access), you suddenly profoundly increase the costs. Government will move to "control" those costs and it will do it exactly like it is done in Canada and the United Kingdom----ration access and diminish services. Medicare, in fact, isn't a very good role model. As currently structured, it is simply not sustainable----not enough money.
Posted by: rhfalk | October 5, 2007 4:46 PM
I'm sorry but what the hell was mitt romney's remark about. "European-style socialized medicine." Way to go Mitt, attack the people we have to work with, and at the same time getting the arguement completly wrong. Double Whammy Romney
Posted by: billyfromtheblock | October 5, 2007 5:22 AM
People need to stop allowing themselves to be bullied by the Right, and take this country back. They have used fear and intimidation to lower our standard of living. I just heard where 22 hospitals in So. California are in serious trouble, and that includes the rich area of Orange County. We are in trouble folks.
Posted by: shag11 | October 4, 2007 8:42 PM
Medicare works great. Single payer. Raise taxes to do it. The only ones complaining will be the very rich who can afford the $250,000 in the Republican fantasy "medical savings account" for heart bypass or a serious cancer.
Posted by: kinoworks | October 4, 2007 8:14 PM
In my view, our current health care industry is little more than a government-protected monopoly that is .. predatory... and ruthless
we know more about the quality and quantity and price of an auto or a TV than we know about health care.
However.. I tend to think that people need to have some dollar responsibility or else they simply won't care about the costs.. and expect full coverage of any/all medical care - even elective procedures.
Posted by: larryg1 | October 4, 2007 7:44 PM
garcon - you may be interested to know that 1. Practically all basic research on drugs is done by the National Institutes and Universities & 2. The drug companies spend 11% of their budget on research, 19% on profit, and....34% on marketing! 3. The main purpose of their marketing is to get doctors to prescribe new expensive drugs even in the cases where cheap old drugs are better. (A source for this is Prof. Alan Sager of BU.)
Posted by: lensch | October 4, 2007 7:20 PM
If government run medicine is so bad why aren't seniors running for the doors from Medicare. Hardly. It works well with far less overhead than private insurance. The wide acceptance of Medicare and the failure of private insurance Medicare (HMOs) to catch totally refutes the Republican argument in favor of the free market, which would exclude all seniors because of preexisting illnesses. The Republicans have always wanted to dismantle Medicare as that would make it easier to cut taxes without reducing spending.
Posted by: manager | October 4, 2007 7:12 PM
If average folks were making legislation, passing laws, and making choices for the highest good of the nation, then I feel UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE in some form could be considered normal. Similarily, we have PUBLIC SCHOOLS providing education for all children K-12. Why we have a debate over FREE MARKET medical services vs. a Government paid service is somewhat mystifying. What are FREE MARKET advocates afraid of? Other countries have successfully implemented UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE. This debate makes the US look backwards, when compared with other industrialized nations. I find it ironic that when I was in the military, government health services were used by all ranks, and these services were extended to military dependents. Obviously, if a soldier is sick his ability to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic is impaired. When an average citizen is sick, his/her productivity and contribution to our FREE MARKET is impaired. It seems like FREE MARKET advocates would want to keep workers healthy. I understand the economics of CAPITALISM, yet "pure" HEALTH CARE is not really based on a PROFIT motive. The Hippocratic Oath is about the ethics of practicing medicine (not the profit). Certainly health care providers should be paid for services, but at reasonable, affordable levels of compensation. Certainly health care providers should be licensed to practice medicine. Certainly health care providers should be accountable to ethical review boards. These same standards apply to teachers, firemen, policmen, etc. All folks who provide public services for the highest good of the nation. All of these services are paid for by tax dollars. Why is public health paid by private dollars?
Posted by: rmorris391 | October 4, 2007 7:09 PM
I have a lot of friends in or from European countries and they all think we are barbaric for not giving people access to universal healthcare.
They honestly do not feel that we are fully civilized here in the US and that is their main reason.
They also pay a FRACTION of what we pay for drugs, often the same exact drugs from the same companies.
(Why are we in the US expected to subsidize their research programs when they sell their drugs everywhere?)
Lack of universal healthcare is understandable in third-world countries like Brazil and China but not here.
The tying of insurance to one's job seems especially sadistic to them because people often lose their jobs when they get ill, thus ensuring a crisis for their families that worstens the effect of the illness itself.
Ive heard it said that illness is now the major cause of bankruptcies in the US. Banks and hospitals can and do take homes for unpaid medical bills.
Insurance companies take ONE THIRD of each healthcare dollar.
Posted by: garcon | October 4, 2007 7:05 PM
Okay, so if the RepubliCONS are able to pass us a tax cut to help us deal with high insurance rates; what's to say that the healthcre industry won't jack up rates and suck us dry some more.
Look at it this way; this will take pressure off of corporations that pay an incredible amount to help insure their employees. It's more money they will have to hire more employees since the financial burden will be reduced.
If healthcare becomes socialized, it takes ALL of the power out of the hands of the insurance companies. Not only that, but we get to hear the RepubliCONS wail and gnash their teeth because we will have something that rich people wanted all to themselves (greedy ba$tard$).
I'm ALL for socialized healthcare.
Posted by: camera_eye_1 | October 4, 2007 6:47 PM
The government caused the problem with health care in America by over socializing medicine to the extent it is not completive, and we want to exacerbate the problem? U.S. Capitalism refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a market economy. It is the right of individuals and groups of individuals acting as "legal persons" or corporations to trade capital goods, labor, land and money (see finance and credit). see http://www.InteliOrg.com/
Posted by: DrColes | October 4, 2007 6:33 PM
The "market" is not a cure-all (forgive the pun) for everything. That is why monopolies are regulated. The AMA has a stangle hold on the market. They accredit medical schools. If conservatives are so willing to tinker with the medical care market by restricting legal rights in malpractice matters and reigning in the out of control greedy trial lawyers, why can they not adopt policies promoting the contstruction of more medical schools and the licensing of more physicians. Doctors will never admit it, but even common specialities earn high six figure and often multi-million dollar salaries. We would see how fast this would come down if we simply adopted a policy of promoting more trained physicians. The government does it all the time (e.g., teachers, scientists) so why not doctors?
Posted by: tkallenbach | October 4, 2007 6:18 PM
Basically Hillary's plan calls for tax credits so that working families only pay a certain percentage of their income towards healthcare. Personally I agree with the other poster that said what good is a tax credit when your income isn't that great and you may develop some terminal illness. My own lifestyle I just chose to eat an dliive healthier because I do not want to get caught up in the treacherous healthcare system we have here.
Posted by: BUTLER19532002 | October 4, 2007 5:38 PM
What's Hillary got to hide? Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton cites her experience as a compelling reason voters should make her president, but nearly 2 million pages of documents covering her White House years are locked up in a building at the national archives, obscuring a large swath of her record as first lady. The healthcare papers that have been released contain gaps when it comes to the part played by Hillary Clinton. A number of records involving her have been kept secret because they include confidential advice between presidential aides. Among the withheld documents are memos about meetings between Hillary Clinton and Democratic Sens. Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph R. Biden Jr. -- now her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. (LA times 8/14/07)
Posted by: aaronkarmin | October 4, 2007 4:51 PM
Nearly a fourth of American citizens are with out health care insurance due to the exorbitant cost of the policies. The system needs fixing soon. all the republicans are only offering a tax credit not a tax deduction for medical insurance.What happens when a person gets ill in the middle of the year, Your physician needs his money asap and a tax credit is only good at the end of the year and doesn't provide for any type of cash rebate to pay the bill. Let have a single payer system that will include an inevitable tax increase, but America will be better off health wise.
Posted by: mgibbosh | October 4, 2007 4:32 PM
Other industrialized nations have tamed the medical tiger. There is no free market in medicine. Entrance to the field is limited and expensive, and other reports have shown that doctors earn twice here what they do in Europe. This is true throughout the system, where a 2-year RN degree student can expect to earn twice or more than twice what another associate degree holder can earn. Costs are administed and the debate is over who administers them: the people getting paid or those who pay. So far those getting paid have set the prices and the rest of us just pay.
Posted by: george11 | October 4, 2007 4:18 PM
Tax credits? Oh that's right there isn't a problem that a tax credit couldn't fix is there? A complex problem and the solution is of course to cut taxes. If you are poor and have no money to begin with how is a tax credit going to help you? How about castastrophic event like cancer? How is a tax credit going to help you?
Posted by: sargon20 | October 4, 2007 4:15 PM
Are the Republicans telling us that Americans can't run a single-payer health care system better than the Europeans?
Why, that's downright unpatriotic! Let's show those nasty French how it oughta be done.
Posted by: daa1972 | October 4, 2007 3:56 PM
Who said anything about health care being a right? It is simply good for the country like good roads, good education (I wish), safe meat, on time airlines, solid bridges, etc., etc., etc.
Posted by: lensch | October 4, 2007 3:41 PM
I'm sorry, since when is healthcare a right? Let's start with the right to clean water, food and shelter. Without those, all the healthcare in the world isn't going to keep someone healthy.
Posted by: klnam | October 4, 2007 3:37 PM
SHOCKING that many Americans respond positively when you ask them if they want something for free!
It is utterly laughable how the various media outlets conduct these worthless little polls.
Posted by: gthstonesman | October 4, 2007 3:31 PM
Of course people favor the Democrats on health coverage. Providing care for others requires a generous spirit and a good heart.
If you think that's unfair, I would like to know where you have been for the last 6 years or so.
Posted by: mobedda | October 4, 2007 3:28 PM
The Republican tactic on health care is to ignore it. Maybe it'll go away.
Of course, they say that let market forces fix it.
You know what - if markets could fix it, THEY WOULD HAVE ALREADY.
The reality is, it's good for the health care "markets" to have these problems. It keeps the insurance companies/HMOs profitable and the drug companies as well.
They don't care if 47 million Americans don't have health care coverage; as long as nothing gets in the way of profits and pleases shareholders.
The truth is disgusting. In fact, it's kind of making me sick just to think about it. Luckily I have health coverage.
Posted by: scorbett1976 | October 4, 2007 3:19 PM
Let's forget the immorality of the uninsured that lets poor people die. Forget the burden on businesses that make them less competitive. Just consider health care financing as a business decision. Develop statistics for measuring how we are doing. Look at the competitors (other countries). Look at their cost. If you are honest, you will become an advocate of a single payer system. Here are some facts. They can be checked at www.pnhp.org.
If you look at the 13 wealthiest countries and rank them according to the 16 basic public health statistics, the US ranks 12th or 13th in each one. Yet, yet we spend 2.5 TIMES as much per person as the average of these countries. Other countries get much better health care at much lower cost. (As a sanity check, WHO ranked the US 37th in the world in health care, above Bolivia , but below Slovenia.) All of these other countries use some form of single payer system. Of course, they have some problems, but most of these are because they are not spending enough. We would not have those problems. In spite of all these so-called problems, they get better care. Also Medicare is a single payer system, and it is one of the most popular programs in the history of our country. The plan I like simply gives Medicare (without limitations, co-pays or deductions) to everyone. We could do this without spending any more than we are now.
The reason for this is that we waste at least $200 Billion a year on excess paperwork by physicians and at least $100 Billion a year on high overhead (15% vs. 1.3% for Canadians) of private insurance. Look here is a simplified example of what we are doing.
Suppose you have 100 dollars to give to 10 people. You could give $10 to each person. Alternatively, you could develop criteria that determine who is deserving, and then investigate each person. You might find that according to your criteria, only 5 people deserve the money. You spent, however $75, on your investigations, so now you can only give $5 to the 5 deserving ones. We spend much too much money denying people health care.
The basic problem is that the rules are made by private insurance companies whose only goal is to make money, not efficiency or good health care. If they can save a buck by having a physician fill out a 40 page form, they will do so.
What about choice? I am 69 years old and retired. During my career I had 5 HMO's and 5 indemnity health plans. I have much more freedom of choice under Medicare than I had under any of the private insurance plans. I have no more referrals, no more in plan - out of plan nonsense. As for choice of insurance plan, why would anyone want choice if everyone had a plan that covered everything? In any case, you could still have private insurance for those who can afford it as most European countries still do.
Some opposition to a single payer system is that it is pie-in-the-sky; we will never get it through. Maybe so. That's what they said about Social Security and Medicare. One thing is for sure. We will never get a rational health care system if we do not try.
Posted by: lensch | October 4, 2007 3:09 PM
Leave it to a republican to come up with willy nilly solutions to serious problems facing this nation. Awhile back during the high gasoline price rip-offs one republican Congressmen had a real brainer solution to help alleviate high prices to families by giving out a one time $100 rebate. Now the republicans want tax cuts as a solution to help the poor pay for healthcare. Maybe I am naive or just don't' understand simple math. If monthly premiums are between $800 and $1000 to insure a family and your tax cut is a trivial $50 what am I not understanding. Seems republicans solutions to everything is tax cuts for the rich and obviously things aren't working out.
Posted by: cfuentes006 | October 4, 2007 2:48 PM
Free market is great as long as it is transparent.
Get rid of the quilt-work of prices for the same service or drug. Insurance pays one price, Medicare another, Uninsured pays another price for the same service or drug.
Market dynamics don't work if the consumer only has a partial picture.
Absent a real market, a greater government role is bound to happen.
Posted by: mvalluri | October 4, 2007 2:45 PM
A friend (a stalwart Republican) was diagnosed with cancer last spring. He happened to have just gotten a job with a large, high-quality company, after almost running out of COBRA coverage.
If he hadn't landed the job (and if the company hadn't kept him after the diagnosis), he and his wife, after decades of continuous hard work, would be broke today.
We need national, one-payer,universal health care. Now.
Posted by: news3 | October 4, 2007 2:43 PM
Instead of spending billions of tax dollars on socialized medicine, change the tax laws to provide a tax credit for all medical expenses that is not income restricted. Notice I indicated a tax credit not a deduction. Elliminate restricting medical expenses only to the amount of that is above a specified percentage of the gross income and allow all medical related expenses.
It sure must be nice for congress to have all their medical paid for and to be able to retire comfortably on the retirement benefit they receive after only one term in office. But us poor working folks have to pay thru the ear nose and throat!
Posted by: captain3292 | October 4, 2007 2:28 PM
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There are few divides larger this year between Republican and Democratic presidential candidates than on the issue of health care--and at this point, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, public opinion is on the side of the Democrats.
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SEOUL, Oct. 3 -- The politician who is seen in opinion polls as the likely next president of South Korea says he would not make any deals with Kim Jong Il until the North Korean leader "completely" ends his nuclear weapons program and opens up his closed economy.
Polls indicate that Lee, 65, is an overwhelming favorite to win the presidency in December. He has often accused Roh, who cannot run for reelection, of using the summit to gin up support for the president's unpopular ruling party, which has yet to pick a presidential candidate.
"This summit comes at a time that is very close to the election," Lee said, adding that the nearness of the vote makes it inappropriate for Roh "to make a lot of promises regarding economic assistance that could become a burden."
Lee, the former president of a major South Korean construction company and an outspoken champion of free markets, has long argued that Seoul should take a harder line with North Korea.
But Lee said he has no interest in seeing Kim's government toppled. Instead, Lee said, he wants North Korea to junk its nuclear weapons and energetically follow China's lead by opening its communist economy to market forces.
"I believe my way of change will help keep Kim in power," Lee said.
Asked if he thought Kim wanted him to win the election in December, Lee laughed.
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SEOUL, Oct. 3 -- The politician who is seen in opinion polls as the likely next president of South Korea says he would not make any deals with Kim Jong Il until the North Korean leader "completely" ends his nuclear weapons program and opens up his closed economy.
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Washington Week
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Ifill was online Thursday, Oct. 4, at Noon ET to take questions and comments.
Ifill is moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" and senior correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." Ifill spent several years as a "Washington Week" panelist before taking over the moderator's chair in October 1999. Before coming to PBS, she spent five years at NBC News as chief congressional and political correspondent. Her reports appeared on "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw," "Today," "Meet the Press" and MSNBC. Ifill joined NBC News from The New York Times where she covered the White House and politics. She also covered national and local affairs for The Washington Post, Baltimore Evening Sun, and Boston Herald American.
" Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal," airs on WETA/Channel 26, Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. ( check local listings).
Can you talk a little about why President Bush used his veto for children's health care? It seems so out of line with Democrats as well as Republicans.
Gwen Ifill: Hello everyone. Happy to be back.
This is a good question to dive right in with.
To hear the President tell it, his veto is a matter of principle. He says the SCHIP program was designed to help the poorest of kids, and that the Congressionally-mandated expansion would cost too much, and weaken the private insurance industry by extending government support to higher earners.
The problem here is that even many Republicans do not agree with him, and his position is a politically-complicated one to defend. The problem for the opponents is that the House is scraping to get enough votes to override the veto.
Pittsburgh, Pa.: Is Professor Sherrilyn Ifill at the University of Maryland Law School, who's spoken out so eloquently and thoughtfully on symbols of racial hatred lately, any relation to you?
Gwen Ifill: She is indeed my brilliant baby cousin, and the author of an excellent book "On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 20th Century."
Memphis, Tenn.: WKNO is moving you to Sunday morning!?!?! Are other stations doing this? I may have to move. Please help.
Gwen Ifill: Please call them and complain. We have no control over how local stations carry "Washington Week," but we feel strongly that it is a timely Friday night program that is often outdated by Sunday.
Stations DO listen to their viewers.
Washington, D.C.: Not exactly Washington politics but... what did you think of the Top Chef finale last night? Glad Hung won or were you rooting for Dale or Casey?
Gwen Ifill: Darn, you ruined it for me. I watch the replay.
I was just reading about the "Mortgage Czar" proposal and wondering if the Dems might be overplaying the sub prime issue. I think most people support full-disclosure regulations and investigations of actual lender abuse. But if this evolves into a bailout of people who knew the risks but couldn't resist the teaser rates, those of us who knew our limits and settled for smaller homes or longer commutes will not be thrilled -- and that includes a lot of independents.
Gwen Ifill: As much of a political junkie as I am, I have somehow not quite managed the leap from the story of subprime lenders exploiting people who wanted to own a home, to naked Dem vs them politics. Perhaps I am slow off the mark.
You are too young to remember news coverage of the Vietnam War but I do. Every night we saw images of wounded or dead soldiers and it was part of why the opposition to that war grew until Congress did something to stop Mr. Nixon's war. Do you think the controlled censorship of the horrors of the situation in Iraq is complicit approval of Mr. Bush's war by the media? Is this a good or bad thing for the American public?
Gwen Ifill: Perhaps we are not reading the same polls. You have to look hard and far to find evidence of complicit, implicit, or any other sort of support for the war in Iraq right now.
Tuckahoe, N.Y.: As a Jersey Girl, was your heart broken by the Mets?
Or are you looking forward to a long run by the Yanks?
Gwen Ifill: The real heartbreak is that I am not a Jersey girl. Sorry.
Rockville, Md.: Mr. Robinson and I do have our debates, but I was charmed by his appearance on your show last night. It was a very informed conversation and I enjoyed it. I kept thinking "this is how we should get along."
Gwen Ifill: Gene Robinson is a terrific and thoughtful man. I was pleased to have him on the NewsHour.
Kensington, Md.: Gwen, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association lists religiosity as indicative of a mental disorder. Given that the current occupant of the White House had us invade Iraq because "God" told him to, and so much suffering and tragedy has ensued from that "vision," would you agree that examining a candidate's particular religious delusions is not only allowable but a duty of our media? Most of them, to my knowledge, proudly endorse some version of these symptoms, yet like a family in denial over their alcoholism, we still treat this as a sacred cow not to be acknowledged. I'm not speaking of a "religious test", but rather frank, honest discussion of a profound problem. Thanks.
Gwen Ifill: If by "religiosity" you mean faith, I guess I have to have my head examined too.
Los Angeles, Calif.: Hi Gwen, and thanks for taking questions. I saw, on the News Hour a few nights ago, your segment on the situation in Burma. Maybe I'm off base here, but I thought any discussion about China's potential role in pressuring the junta to restrain itself might've included an allusion to China's historical aversion to Buddhism. I'm thinking Tibet here, and I don't see China intervening to protect a movement led by a religious group it has so much animosity towards. Do you believe this is a factor in China's reluctance to play a more aggressive role towards the Burmese government? If so, would it not have been useful to bring that up in the segment?
Gwen Ifill: We were pretty proud of ourselves for devoting 10 minutes to ust this approach to the story in a single pop. Where else have you seen that? Sorry if we didn't get to every way of looking at it, but the story does not seem to be going away. If it seems appropriate, we will address many angles in weeks to come.
I still remember the night you introduced WW's partnership with the National Journal. You said something about continuing to report "right down the middle." In regard to that announcement you made, may I ask you to comment on the following statement by Ken Silverstein, Washington editor of Harper's Magazine?
"There is a certain smugness on the high end of the Washington press corps, indecently close personal and professional relationships between reporters and the people they are supposed to cover," Silverstein says. "What is lost here in the interest of phony balance is any sense of right and wrong."
Gwen Ifill: Unless Mr. Silverstein was writing about me, my work, or our relationship with National Journal -- specifically -- I don't know why I need to respond.
Los Angeles, Calif.: Dearest Gwen
I want to be a republican because it is commonly taken for granted that Black people will automatically be Democrats and that irks me. Most of us are designated Democrats before we reach the opportunity of choice.
However as you know that major Republican players could not be bothered to show up for the debate at Morgan State, now why should I give a fig about John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and all the others.
Didn't they just sign their own death certificate even though I cannot agree with some of the Democrats most liberal policies.
Where else is left to go?
Gwen Ifill: Any number of voters can complain that their issues are not being addressed by candidates at any given moment. African Americans are not alone in that. Candidates not showing up to debate is just one manifestation of the problem. It seems voters will have to do what they have always had to do -- listen carefully and choose the closest match.
Chico, Calif.: I just watched your Sunday edition of Washington Week where you discussed the Supreme Court and Voter ID requirement. You and your panel failed to discuss how the Voter ID requirement would affect Absentee Voters and the state of Oregon where they have mail in ballots. Other states also have the mail in option.
Gwen Ifill: I don't believe I know the answer to your question, probably because the rules differ from state to state. There is not (yet) a national requirement, so there is no single standard. That's part of what the Supreme Court's decision could affect.
Washington, D.C.: Do you think Sen. Leahy scheduling the Mukasey hearing without first getting the answers he wants from the White House a bad thing for Democrats? Do they look more accommodating or weak?
Gwen Ifill: Sounds like a Senator has to do what a Senator has to do. I don;t know what else may be occurring behind the scenes that may have forced Senator Leahy to move ahead with the hearings.
In news footage it always looks to me as though Sen Obama is outdrawing Hillary on the campaign trail -- his crowds seem more genuinely enthusiastic as well. Do you get to actually visit some of these events in person and what's your take on the enthusiasm level between the two Democrats?
Gwen Ifill: There is little question that Obama attracts the largest, most enthusiastic crowds of any candidate in either party. But it is impossible to measure how many of those folks are going to write checks, go to caucuses and polls, or even actually vote for the candidate they've come to see. For now, we have to settle for conventional measures -- which show Sen. Clinton with a strong advantage.
Silver Spring, Md.: I notice that the Newshour doesn't start until about 7:02pm - there's about 120 seconds of lists of people sponsoring the program. Does that mean that Mr. Lehrer, Ms. Ifill, et. al. get thumping big salaries? How can I apply to join the staff?
Gwen Ifill: We use that money to bring you the news, and in perhaps the most cost-effective way on television. Trust me, there's not a lot of cash floating around in public television land, and we squeeze every dollar til the eagle grins.
Washington, D.C.: Dearest Gwen: the whole town thinks you are BFFs with Condi, so is she leaving? She keeps saying California has such a good quality of life. Doesn't she want out?
Gwen Ifill: Yes, and of course I am BFF with every black woman in Washington. Come on people.
Fairfax, Va.: Your WETA colleague, Bill Moyers, showcases guests who are incredibly informative about how corporate America and its allies in the right wing and in the MSM work hand in hand to obscure the downside of American capitalism and its ongoing class war against America's non-elites. Would you consider from time to time allowing their perspective to see the light of day on your show? I would love to see how your regular crew would respond to the worldview that Moyers' guests hold in terms of the news events you choose to highlight each week.
Gwen Ifill: My friend Bill does what he does, and I do what I do. No need for overlap.
Why do you assume that Sen. Leahy was "forced" to move ahead with a Mukasey hearing? What could possibly cause a responsible journalist to state something as a fact that they admittedly know nothing about?
Gwen Ifill: You are right. I said I did not know what may have happened behind the scenes, and I should have stopped there.
Fairfax, Va.: I highly recommend you watch Bill Moyers Journal and center some of your weekly discussions around some of the topics he explores. Your program would be much better with in depth discussion on topics that deal with, for example, the reality of the ongoing class war in America. One topic could be: is there class warfare in America and if so how is it reflected in our political discourse? Another: how is racial bias used in class warfare and by whom?
Regardless of your guests' political perspectives (as human beings they do have biases that come through in the way they choose to frame their reports to the group) the topics you pick for them should be expanded. Please watch Bill Moyers, truly a national treasure and a shining exception to our corporatized media which often obscures context and meaning in its reports.
I don't expect you will take this kind of question which you either ignore or blow off online; but I hope you will think about the criticisms and suggestions made here.
Gwen Ifill: Of course I'll take your question. As I told the earlier writer, I think there is plenty of room for Bill to do the work he does, or he wouldn't be on the air. I recommend you watch Washington Week, though, and see the work we do. You will find the two programs have quite different missions.
Vienna, Va.: Again this week, Senator Obama voiced criticism of Members of Congress who voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq (read: Senator Clinton), saying that he was against the invasion and the war from the very beginning. Doesn't this criticism have an element of "easy for him to say," since he was not a senator at the time and didn't, in fact, have to cast such a vote?
Gwen Ifill: Perhaps. But if that is the standard, we also should stop listening to everyone else on the stage who wasn't there too, right?
Crestwood, N.Y.: Gwen, in your opinion, is the GOP meltdown that is currently going on -- Sen. Domenichi's retirement today is only the latest in a long parade of GOP politicians calling it quits - a sign of a coming permanent realignment, like the demise of the whigs, or the rise of the Reagan Democrats? It does seem that the 'marriage' of social religious right conservatives and economic wall street conservatives has been on the rocks for some time now. Or is this just a blip that will end when Iraq ends, with the two parties in approximate parity within a few years?
Gwen Ifill: Every month I get a crystal ball question like this. You'd think by now I'd have had the darned thing fixed.
Winnipeg, Canada: Although I am not an American, Washington Week is one of my favourite shows because of the high level of discourse.
To my question: Would you consider having Jon Stewart on your show? He does great book interviews and is very well-informed, although with a slight but detectable political bias. I think he would rise to the challenge of a serious news program format.
Gwen Ifill: One of the reasons I like Jon Stewart so much is because he is always the first to say he is a fake journalist. I like to save the seats at my table for the real ones.
Westchester, N.Y.: Would you ever do a "Washington Week" with non-mainstream reporters, such as, for example, small independent newspapers or bloggers like Josh Marshall, whose talkingpointsmemo has innovated a new investigative journalism model? I think you would have no trouble having a conservative and progressive balance of responsible people, without booking any of the screaming cable tv crazies we always see. Might be a nice contrast.
Gwen Ifill: Hmmmm....Lemme think about that one.
Ann Arbor, Mich.: It seems that there is a news story out there about the claims Justice Thomas makes about his past. The Marcus column in the Post this week was particularly full of specifics about other incidents that would back up Prof. Hill's statements. Will we see something about that tomorrow night on WW?
washingtonpost.com: One Angry Man, ( Post, Oct. 3)
Gwen Ifill: Joan Biskupic of USA Today, who covered the Thomas hearings in 1991, and is writing about the book this week, will be on the program tomorrow night.
Just so you know -- Many of us think you do a great job and I think you are pretty fearless to host these chats as frequently as you do. So just keep your sense of humor and don't let the dogs snapping at your heels bother you too much !
Gwen Ifill: I have SUCH a thick skin. Plus, I find these chats enjoyable.
Toronto, Canada: You certainly do what you do. I once admired you. But every difficult question you get on here is either deflected, answered defensively, or joked off. You are part of the problem with the MSM censoring the real world.
Gwen Ifill: Then, I get THESE.
Re: Vienna, Va.: Can I just point out that Sen. Obama did speak out in 2002. He made a speech, during his own campaign trail at the time, speaking out against the war. So although he did not have to cast a vote, he did voice his very specific opinion on the war.
Gwen Ifill: Yes, he did speak out. I think the point the earlier writer was making was that Senator Obama did not have to VOTE on the Iraq war.
Washington, D.C.: Was at Clinton's lecture on science this morning, bored to tears, told cute story about fifth grade teacher saying President told her to learn math and science, looked better near 60 than she did at 50. Huma Abedin, campaign guru, stood at back wearing white pumps long after Labor Day.
Gwen Ifill: Kicking off my white pumps right now...
(Perhaps the speech would have been less boring if you'd been, yes, listening -- although fashion commentary does have its place.)
No name, no city: I don't recall seeing Tom Gjelten on WW lately. Is he OK? What's he been doing lately? I miss him, he's so-o-o-o handsome (please, Martha, please don't hurt me!). Although I gotta say Mike Viqueira's kinda cute too...
Gwen Ifill: We love Tom. He is in the throes of book-writing, but he will be back. And, yes, Martha WILL hurt you.
Boston, Mass.: Hi Gwen, One man's opinion -- the Thomas/Hill affair was blown out of all proportion 15 years ago and it wasn't worth talking about again last night... I can understand Thomas' bitterness.
Gwen Ifill: The book -- and our conversation -- is about more than just the confirmation hearings. We haven't heard from this Supreme Court Justice with 16 years on the bench, in essence, ever.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!: Why did you post the Top Chef spoiler???
I have it Tivo-ed and have been carefully avoiding places online that might spoil the surprise. I never thought I would have to worry about this chat!
Gwen Ifill: I figured if it was ruined for me, it was ruined for everybody.
African American Party seeker: To the earlier poster who seems to feel the need to find a party: Why? What's wrong with being and Independent and choosing the candidate to vote for based on their specific statements?
Gwen Ifill: Chat amongst yourselves.
You wrote that voters should "listen carefully."
Do you think that any of the candidates has yet said anything even remotely interesting?
Gwen Ifill: Call me whack, but I find it all interesting.
Tomorrow night, we'll pick up where our chat today leaves off, with discussions about the SCHIP veto, the Blackwater hearings, the 08 campaign, and Justice Thomas' new book.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Join live discussions from the Washington Post. Feature topics include national, world and DC area news, politics, elections, campaigns, government policy, tech regulation, travel, entertainment, cars, and real estate.
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Got Plans? - washingtonpost.com
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Every Thursday at 1 p.m. ET, washingtonpost.com's City Guide experts share their best bets for local flavor, great dates and family fun. Got plans? Great. Need plans? Just ask. We have the skinny on the bars and clubs, concerts, kitchens, theaters and special events that keep life interesting. We're going out gurus, and we're at your service.
Of course, we're happy to answer questions about local entertainment, but we need to hear from you, too. Introduce us to the coolest DJ or the fastest bartender you've encountered. Sound off on the week's best concert or the city's best burger. Tell us about the best place to amuse little kids or a big art fan. Together we can plan fun ways to spend weekdays, weekends, dates and holidays. The pleasure is ours, and yours.
Each week a different guru will act as host or hostess, but the entire staff is at your service. If you're looking for more ideas, see the City Guide or read transcripts of past Got Plans? discussions.
washingtonpost.com: Guru Jen here, and I am all about cutting to the chase today. You're here. We're here. Let's chat.
Washington, D.C. : Fritz, I read your write-up about the Oktoberfest in Shirlington on Saturday. Any idea where a person can get a complete list of brewers that will be there? Capitol City's website isn't exactly loaded with information about the event. (Pssst, any insight on the availability of an admission coupon like last year?)
Fritz: First things first: I haven't seen a "buy one, get one free" admission coupon this year, as I have for Oktoberfests past, which is a shame, given the $25 entrance fee. Best I can do is pass along this coupon, which allows for $5 off at the door. Hope that helps. Now, here's the list of 35 (or so) beers, courtesy of Cap City. My recommendations are in the Nightlife Agenda column.
7. Capitol City Brewing Company
26. St. George Brewing Co.
Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.: Hi Gurus! I'm a huge fan but first time poster... My dad is coming to visit this weekend and I've promised brunch on Saturday morning. He's staying near Woodley Park metro and we're headed up to the zoo and Cathedral afterwards. Whats the best place for brunch around the Woodley Park/Cleveland Park area? I was thinking of Open City but I haven't heard great things. Any other suggestions?? Thanks!!
Erin: Open City can get packed, but it's reliable for standard brunch fare on Saturdays regardless of when you get going. You'll get your eggs, pancakes, etc. Across the street, Petits Plats serves champagne brunch. For casual, Firehook is a good way to go.
Foggy Bottom, D.C.: Hi Gurus!
Im going to a comedy show at GW tonight, and am wracking my brain for a place in Foggy Bottom to have dinner. We're looking for something not too expensive, where we can have a drink and sit outside. Tonic would be perfect if they had their liquor licence... Can you guys think of anywhere else? We could venture into the West End or possibly G-town, but want to be as close to Lisner as possible.
Thanks guys! You're such a great help!
Erin: Grillfish might be a good bet. Thai Place is close to Lisner with a patio, but the food is not great. You'd be better walking the extra distance to Mai Thai for good cocktails and a patio. If you go that distance, you might consider Circa's patio.
Washington, D.C.: I have season tickets for the Arena Theater so now have to find new pre-theater restaurants since they are locating to Crystal City soon. I don't eat around there too often so am not familiar with the options. Are Jaleo and Bebo (with its terrible service) near the Crystal Forum?
Erin: Yeah, you'll be right near those restaurants. Bebo is often worth the service blips, particularly if you're going for pizza. A bit of distance away, Cafe Pizzaiolo is another pizza destination.
I've had good experiences at the Thai restaurant on that strip and then Ted's Montana Grill is always ready to fill your buffalo cravings.
Washington, D.C.: looking for an Indonesian rifstafel-rice table- restaurant like we enjoyed in Amsterdam. any ideas?
Erin: From what I hear, Wheaton's Sabang is the closest you'll find to authentic rijsttafel. I haven't been, but I'm curious to hear how it is. If you go, write back.
Washington, D.C.: My boyfriend and I have reserved a Zipcar for a day this weekend and have decided to go to an apple orchard. We've looked at the City Guide but there's so many to chose from. What are your top picks? We're looking for an orchard that also sells some baked goods (like pie...mmm pie). Thanks!
Julia: Homestead Farms and Bulter's Orchards are my top picks. I'd go to Butler's if pies are a priority.
Emily in DC: I am sick of buying already expensive suits and then paying to have them altered. So you know of any D.C.- or Va.-area tailors who make custom women's suits? Or even shirts? I'm young and poor, so halfway stylish and on the cheap side is preferable, if possible. Thanks much.
Janet: Custom and inexpensive is not a combination you're likely to find unless you go to Hong Kong and have a suit made there. Wish I could offer you a better suggestion, but any tailor-made suit is going to cost more than getting a ready-made suit altered.
Wedding dance lessons: For the person last week looking for wedding dance lessons -- I think Bethesda Dance Center recently closed. Try the Wedding Dance Specialists, they will allow you to customize your lessons and they use studios all over the area. We were pretty satisfied with our three lessons -- we're pretty uncoordinated so it wasn't perfect, but we managed not to make fools of ourselves! I think their Web site is theweddingdancespecialists.com.
Julia: Thanks for writing in. Yes, I did link to the Bethesda Dance Center last week and it in fact is closed. According to the guy who just answered the phone, it closed last Monday. Sorry for the misinformation, y'all. Here's another tip for the wedding dance seeker.
Washington, D.C.: Hey brunching Gurus! A friend told me she had brunch at Station 9 recently, but I don't see it mentioned on their website. She said the set up was similar to Georgia Brown with the three courses - buffet, entree and dessert. Do you know if brunch is a regular item or did my friend experience a one time deal?
Erin: This is a brunchy chat. Where do you get your Sunday morning energy?
It's a regular affair, though it sounds like anybody who makes it routine will have to start wearing fat pants. I believe that it's offered on Sundays from 11 until 3. It'll cost you about $25 and you'll have your choice of Southern entrees with a buffet of filling breakfast goods. Waffles, gravy, biscuits...are you getting out those fat pants, yet?
If you had to plan a bachelor party in Baltimore what would you do? I heard Night Shift is a must¿ I'm thinking great food (sea food, sushi?), hitting several bars in Fells Points and finish the night somewhere fun¿
Fritz: Depends on how classy ("klassy?") you want to take things. A friend of mine reliably informs me that Scores (on Fallsway)is much classier than Night Shift, though the Famous McDougal's has its charms, despite being a little ways out of town. Now to the rest of your question. A Fells Point crawl is certainly in order, hitting Max's, the Mobtown Lounge, Cat's Eye Pub, Blarney Stone, Wharf Rat ... or maybe Federal Hill, since so many cool places are in walking distance there. With a group of guys, I might do dinner in Little Italy -- maybe Sabatino's, because they have a lot of hearty meat and pasta dishes.
Washington, D.C.: I just got a great pair of leather boots, but they are too big around my calves. Do you know of a good, reputable place that can tailor them? Have you had any experience with this, and does it work? I'd hate for my new boots to get botched!
Janet: Seriously, why did you buy a pair that didn't fit around your calves?
I hope you can indulge a simple question: where can I take my friend, his wife, and their one year old for dinner (non-chain restaurant, accommodating to a one-year old, not outrageously expensive, and, well, stellar food/drink) in the Bethesda/Rockville area? They are staying in Rockville, but I'd prefer to take them somewhere in Bethesda (they arrive too late to go into the city) so they can experience -- albeit tangentially -- a little bit of the DC food/wine we all know and love...
Erin: I would say Jaleo, Olazzo or Pizza Zero would be my top choices for kid-friendly D.C.-oriented dining. You can also do mini-chain Mon Ami Gabi.
Shoes: Hey Gurus! I know you've answered this question before - can you provide a name of a good shoe repair shop in the District or a link to a list you may have? I need to get my heels fixed.
Julia: I vouch for the dry cleaners in Woodley Park that's next to Lex's Cajun Grill. I'm pretty sure it's called Debonair. I've only had boots resoled there, so I'd call first (202-234-1000) to see if they can deal with heels.
Re: Foggy Bottom: Tonic at Quigley's is now open too. Pretty good and reasonably-priced food, though you'll be surrounded by the GW undergrad crowd.
Erin: That was mentioned in the chatter's original question. The person was hunting for somewhere with a liquor license, which, sadly, has yet to grace the bar of Tonic.
Alexandria, Va.: I submitted my question last week but it did not get answered. My sister-in-law and her 8 year old son are coming for a visit this weekend. Any kid friendly, cool ideas for what to do this Friday night and Saturday afternoon either in NoVa or DC (no applepicking or orchards, if possible). Any kid focused exhibits? any ideas would be great. thanks!
Jen: I would take a look at this list of kid-friendly events around town. A number of things sound like fun options, including the arts safari at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria and the Festival of the Building Arts at the Building Museum. That last one might be especially good for a boy that age.
Alexandria, Va.: Good afternoon gurus. My parents will be in town in two weeks to meet my fiance's parents for the first time. I was wondering suggestions for an appropriate (quiet, classy, yet not overly expensive) restaurant for the big meeting of the families? I have been trying to come up with a place in Old Town that meets my needs, but it's been a while since I have been down there. Thank you.
Erin: I like Del Merei Grille. It's got a few tables that would accommodate that sort of meeting and the food's basic enough not to cause added stress.
Farrah Olivia is lovely, though it can be expensive. Also, the Majestic is great. If you go on Sunday, you can order Nana's Sunday Dinner (which is suited to multiples of four) to get everyone into the sharing mode (start with sharing a side dish and progress to sharing holidays or grandchildren or whatever).
A La Lucia is nice and if you all meet up before the weather turns, the patio of Taverna Cretekou is dazzling.
Planning for New Years . . .: Gurus, I hope you can help me! I am thinking about hosting a large party for New Years--300-400 people. I would want to bring my own DJ, do my own promoting. Do you have recommendations for where to start in terms of clubs or locations around here that would partner on this? Or is it more reasonable to be looking at hotels?
Rhome: New Years Eve is probably the biggest night of the year for clubs to make money off of folks. You'd have to be fronting a significant amount of dough to even get any club to consider your proposal. Any other time of the year as a promoter you can generally bargain with door and bar percentages but not New Years unless you already have a track record for similar successful ventures. NYE isn't rookie-friendly. You can look into hotels or search out unorthodox spaces. I've been involved with similar ventures in the past. One really cool party was thrown by a group of friends who got together, pooled their money and rented out an office space on Capitol Hill. They brought in a DJ, decorations, food, and booze. Do some searching.
Fritz: As someone who's been doing the Post's New Year's Eve stories for five years, I can tell you that you're probably not going to get one of the big-name lounges or clubs to let a newcomer handle a Dec. 31 party. New Year's Eve is a cash machine for bars, and they usually give it to one of their trusted weekly/regular promoters or do it themselves. What you can do is check out some of the less obvious spaces -- Knights of Columbus halls, smaller hotels -- not the big, glamourous downtown destinations, which have already had plans since last year -- or art galleries.
Birthday Dinner: Hey All Knowing Gurus --- Going on a double date on Friday to celebrate my friend's 22nd birthday. Were going to the Prime Rib for dinner and I'd love to know some good places to go afterward.
We'll be dressed nicely (jacket & tie for the gents). Some places around the restaurant would be ideal, not too much walking, but a good upscale scene -- maybe martinis or a wine bar? Ooo or somewhere with Jazz.
Erin: I don't think you'll find much jazz unless you head into Georgetown (cue anybody who knows differently), but Restaurant K has an upscale bar scene. When I was in last week, my companion was the only guy not sporting a jacket. I thought the sport coat mafia might jump us as we left.
Richmond, Va.: Had a great trip to the Smithsonian last weekend. But the BUG ROOM was closed! How can I find out when it will open again? Love the bug room with the one foot giant cockroaches...eeee!
Julia: Sorry, bud. The Orkin Insect Zoo will be closed until "fall of 2007" -- but the museum has yet to announce a firm date. Just called over there and they're still not sure.
Annandale Dude: Fritz, my adult beverage drinking here:
have you had a chance to sample this year's dominion oktoberfest?
Fritz: I have not, since I'm boycotting Dominion beers at the moment (personal reasons). I may give it a try this weekend at the Shirlington Festival, but not excited. Favorite Festbiers so far: Ayinger, Victory, Gordon Biersch, Hacker-Pschorr, in that order.
Washington, D.C.: What should I expect from the Mobius Band/Matthew Dear show tonight? do you recommend it?
Also, any thoughts on the DAM! festival?
David: Expect lots of glitchy beeps and buzzes. There's a good feature in today's Express on Matthew Dear. His latest album is less electronic than past stuff, but he'll probably still be punching buttons on a laptop for most of the show. His records are pretty hot, so the show should be as well. Not quite as into the Mobius Band, but that's definitely a logical pairing. As for the DAM! Festival I can't say there are too many bands I'm all that excited for, although the Cat Power/Child Ballads show should be excellent. A Place to Bury Strangers completely tore up the Black Cat back in August and the Warehouse Next Door last year, Hallelujah the Hills are catchy and fun, as are locals the Beanstalk Library, so those are some highlights.
Thanks to your great party planning guide, a friend and I have reserved a room at RFD for our joint birthday party next weekend. But, both being Bud Light drinkers, we are in need of some ideas for our beer list. Anything you would suggest?
Fritz: Oh man. I wish I had their current list in front of me. I would seriously take an afternoon off (tomorrow or monday) and go in and do a taste test. You obviously want some Oktoberfests in there, and a couple of Belgians. Maybe a Pilsner Urquell for the Bud Light drinkers. For those who don't know, when you have a private party in RFD's back room, you get to pick the 10 beers that will be on draft during event. I would be like a kid in a candy store.
I am planning a bachelorette party/weekend in November and am in need of some suggestions. There are about 10 of us, but one of the attendees is under 21. Do you have any fun or creative suggestions so that everyone can participate in the celebrations? We would rather not go to an 18 and over club and we are willing to travel outside of DC.
Julia: If you're not interested in an 18-and-older club, I'd think about trying to do something outdoorsy during the day. Perhaps you could go wine-tasting in the Charlottesville area. Maybe do a spa day or go to an all-ages concert? Check out this blog post I wrote back in June about bachelorette parties. While most of the suggestions are about nights out on the town, there are a few ideas for bachelorette parties that are cool for underagers -- even for one that's a workout!
I'm really interested in taking a Hand Dancing (or Steppers) class. Do you know where I might find one in the Metro Area?
Rhome: Lots of fun and a very native Washingtonian experience! The Lincoln Theatre tops this short list and you can even go to hand-dancing school. Some googling turned up this schedule. You might want to call the locations for details.
Arlington, Va.: Hi GOGs. My wedding is coming up in a few weeks and my parents are STILL arguing about the bar. Is it tacky to provide alcohol for 4 of the 5 hours of our reception? Dad says yes, Mom says no. Thoughts?
David: Yes, extremely. There are only two things people care about at weddings -- food and booze. In my case, only the latter. Everything else is secondary. Skimp on the flowers or decorations or something else. Not the booze.
Jen: Here's what you don't want to do: Provide booze for four hours, then cut it off for the last hour of the reception, when people are usually most in party mode. That could incite a riot. If you're trying to keep expenses to a minimum, you could always offer just beer and wine and cut off the hard liquor at a certain point, or bag it altogether. Most people stick to beer and wine anyway. (Here comes Fritz, to insist you offer top-shelf vodka...)
Julia: I've also heard of people not offering bar service during the dinner hour (and caterers that are willing to do this), but, um, with my friends and family, that boozeless hour probably wouldn't fly.
Fritz: I would never suggest that you provide out-and-out top shelf at a wedding, because by hour #3, most people aren't going to notice.
But I do agree that cutting service in the last hour could be bad. People will be dancing and having fun, and then -- boom. If you do, though, make sure you announce last call VERY, VERY LOUDLY to give everyone a chance to make a run for the bar.
Erin: You could do what some not-to-be-named companies do and give each person two drink tickets. This could lead to stampedes toward the nearest pregnant women and teetotalers, though.
Odds are that nobody's going to look back on your wedding as "the one that ran dry," so do what is affordable and makes the most people in this planning group happy.
Bethesda, Md.: Help! I know this is a D.C. forum but we are celebrating my friend's 30th birthday in Williamsburg, Va. at the end of the month and I am in charge of planning dinner. Originally we were set to go to the Fat Canary (per previous recommendations from this chat) but they are already booked! We are looking for a restaurant that can accomodate a table of six. Hopefully the restaurant will be near other venues in case we want to grab drinks somewhere after dinner. Any suggestions will be much appreciated!
Jen: Dang, Fat Canary would have been my suggestion. I haven't been in a few years, but Berret's used to be a reliably good seafood restaurant and is in the heart of the Colonial area. I would say the Trellis, too, but I hear it's gone downhill. If I am mistaken about that, please chime in. I used to like it there. Williamsburg experts and W&M alums, please feel free to toss other suggestions out there.
Olney MD: Are there any places in town where a Colorado Rockies backer can watch the NLDS without risk of a beat-down by irate Phillies fans? Thanks!
Fritz: Well, you'll want to avoid the Rhino Bar, because that's now a Phillies hotspot. Chatters, any suggestions for Phillies hangouts? (Sox fans, y'all have half the bars in the city, so butt out.)
Arlington, Va.: Do you guys have any ideas for a delicious and affordable Mexican restuarant (to take my mom to) after a day in Capitol Hill. We're looking for a place either within walking distance of the botanical gardens, or one or two metro stops away. Preferable if we can sit outside, but not necessary.
Erin: Go for La Lomita (I or II) or Las Placitas.
Washington, DC: Hi Gurus, For Emily in DC having suit problems, I would suggest purchasing suits from stores with free alteration policies. I know that Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, J.Crew and Banana Republic have this policy for all full-priced items. That would at least save the money on separate alterations. Good luck.
Janet: Emily, This could be your solution!
Washington DC: Hi Gurus! A dear friend of mine is leaving DC to move out West, probably forever, and I want to throw him a going away party Friday evening Oct. 26. He's been here for a while and wants to leave with fond memories of the city, so I want to pick a venue that is sort of emblematic of life in DC, preferably outdoors somewhere with a nice view of downtown or monuments -- a rooftop would be ideal. I was thinking of places like Sequoiah or the Sky Terrace, but there might be up to 30 or 40 people coming and I wanted a place that we can all hang out. I thought about renting somewhere, but it's probably way out of my budget and I wouldn't know where to begin (A tenth floor hotel room with a huge patio? Some rooftop terrace with a bar?). So this may sound like an impossible request, but I thought I'd give it a shot: Where can I and a few dozen friends send off a great buddy with soaring views, cool night air, great ambience and no overcrowding without maxing out my credit card and still make it a night to remember? Thanks!
Fritz: Can you move it to a Thursday? The rooftop happy hour at Charlie Palmer Steak, which Erin and I have blogged about (and I'm writing about at length in tomorrow's Weekend Section) has one of the best views of the Capitol and downtown that I've seen. The dome is so close you feel like you could almost reach out and touch it, and then you can see the Mall, the monuments, everything. I feel like a jaded Washingtonian, but I loved the vista. There's free food, it runs from 5 to 9, and the wine is very nice. You won't get tables for everyone, but if you're mingling reception-style, it's not a problem.
I'm planning a birthday party for my boyfriend. Before the party, I'd like to gather a few friends (10-15) for dinner. Any tips on where to go? I'm looking for a hip destination with yummy food, moderate price, and fun drinks.
Erin: Do you have a desired neighborhood in mind? For a range of cuisines, how about Brasserie Beck, RedRocks, Poste or Oyamel?
Petworth, D.C.: Hey Foggy Bottom person - do you want truly divey for dinner?
The Red Lion serves burgers and such, has a TINY backyard patio, and is a wonderful divey bar. Cheap too.
Erin: This is true. Great burgers, good beer.
Washington, D.C.: What's the word on Grand Central? Is it Tom Tom II or can someone in their late 20s/early 30s hang there and hold onto their dignity?
I heard it was no cover, top 40 and tvs on in the bar to see the games.
Fritz: The crowd is a little older than Tom Tom, and it's not as overcrowded with kickballers. I have some issues with the speed and general uselessness of some bartenders there, but there's an okay-sized dance floor, room to get away from the dance floor and TVs for the playoffs.
Richmond, Va.: I didn't have alcohol at my wedding reception. I'm no teetotaler, drink most nights with dinner, same true for most family members. It was just not the freeforall drunken tone we wanted. It was a family event, not a frat party.
Jen: Fair enough. But I would say that's a different scenario than what our reader posed to us. The issue there is offering alcohol at first, then ceasing to do so. If people go into a wedding knowing there will not be alcohol, their response may be different than attending a wedding where they are offered some, then have it taken away. It's also quite possible to have alcohol at a reception without having it devolve into a Lambda Lambda Lambda kegger. It all depends on the tone that is set.
Arlington, Va.: My birthday is in two weeks. Where is a great place to go with about 5-10 people for dinner in Georgetown? We are all mid twenties girls.
Erin: I vote Filomena, but you could have fun at Hook, Bangkok Joe's or Curry Club up higher. Papa Razzi is popular for group Italian as well, though I don't really get the appeal.
But which bars??: "(Sox fans, y'all have half the bars in the city, so butt out.)"
This sox fan (who apparently lives in a hole) wants to know which bars in DC are red sox havens... please??
Fritz: Mister Days, Stetson's (which paraded the World Series trophy there, no less), Union Pub, Fado, Rhino Bar, TS Muttley's, Pour House, the Four Courts, just about anything Irish, etc etc and so on and so forth.
Sorry, bud. The Orkin Insect Zoo will be closed until "fall of 2007" -- : Ha Ha, you assumed I was a guy. I'm a woman, and I LOVE the bug room! Anyone who hasn't seen it should run over there as soon as they reopen!
Julia: My bad! David makes fun of me for always assigning gender to some of our question-askers even when no clues are given. I think I've probably done this hundreds of time. Anyway, in late fall 2007, look forward to a gender-neutral bug experience for all!
Washington, D.C.: As a female I will go the mumu route for the Station 9 brunch. That way I don't have to worry if someone is dissing my pleated pants.
Erin: Smart move. If you're looking for a source for that muumuu, I recommend the Vermont Country Store. I love that catalogue.
Just like every night of my life...: my bf and I are looking for somewhere to dine. He's in school at GW, I work downtown, and we live in Adams Morgan. He wants cheap, I want healthy. Any ideas? Please GoGs, rescue me from the Falaffelshop!
Erin: How about Vapiano just below Dupont Circle? It's quick and you can do pasta, pizza or salad. I wouldn't say it's over-the-top healthy, but it's really good pasta.
Banana Leaves does healthier versions of Chinese fare (steamed, rather than fried proteins).
Charlie Palmer: All 30-40 people would have to get there at 5 on the nose--when we arrived at 7 last week, there was a crowd by the elevator and they didn't have a plan for letting additional people up in the time we were waiting there. Heard it's worth the view, but probably too popular now for a sizeable group.
Fritz: Man, you know, I was there last week at 6 and was told there was a 20-minute wait, but was up in less than 10. If they herd people on and off the elevator faster, it works. (The first week went pretty smoothly.)
Arlington, Va.: Hi, my friend is taking me to Obelisk this Saturday for my birthday. I don't think it is like 1789 or Citronelle where jacket is required, but I don't want to dress too casual either. How do most people dress there? Thanks.
Erin: It's a fairly nice, formal restaurant. Jacket isn't required, but I think it would be a nice touch. Most people dress well to eat there. I'd liken it to eating in the back room at Palena.
K St: Fritz: In regards to the pumpkin beer conversation last week, may I suggest Southampton's Pumpkin Ale. I was just up at Olde Saratoga Brewing Co. last weekend and gave it a try. Definitely less sweet than Dogfish's Punkin Ale.
Fritz: Lucky. I've been digging their Secret Ale, which is on at Axis and a few other spots right now. I had the Dogfish on draft for the first time this year a few days ago when Julia and I went to the Dogfish in Falls Church. More spicy (allspice and nutmeg) and less sweet than out of the bottle.
Williamsburg Restaurants: It is a shame about the Fat Canary. The Trellis was "OK" for lunch a year ago, but I haven't been there for dinner in eons. Blue Talon Bistro was tasty, albeit, not real fancy (almost two years ago!), Berrets is really good (went there in April), the restaurant at the Williamsburg Inn, The Regency Room, is good, but pricey. The Taverns in CW are a fun environment, but the food can be so-so. If you're fish eaters, I'd go with Berrets.
Jen: Another vote for Berrets. Thanks for the tips.
On Wedding Open Bars:: NEVER skimp on open bar! To save cash, skip the silly favors. Not even your nearest and dearest want a tangible (and usually tacky) souvenir of your wedding. They just want to have fun there. One caveat: folks will take the centerpieces, so make sure that is okay with your florist, or you may be charged for the containers, etc.
Rhome: I've been to a couple of weddings where the open bar was finite and no one took offense. I've been to dry weddings where everyone enjoyed themselves. I do think that folks spend loot on things that ultimately aren't very important. The little things add up so if food and booze are being constrained by financial reasons (as opposed to personal or logistical ones) you might want to reassess the priorities guiding your budget.
The Trellis: My boyfriend and I had a FABULOUS meal at the Trellis last year just before Christmas. Not sure if that's too long ago for proper judgement at this point, but if it's not, we both give it thumbs up.
Jen: Within the past year is reasonable. So there's a vote for the Trellis, too. Thanks.
Woodley Park, D.C.: Dear GoG's--My hubby and I are celebrating our 3rd Wedding Anniversary today! We are leaving work early and have decided to hit three different spots (in honor of our three years) for Drinks and Apps, Dinner, and Drinks and Desert. Can you give us some swank ideas for places with kickin' bars with a bit of a scene and excellent food? We have Rasika and Viridian on our list.
Erin: Proof should hop right onto that list, particularly for the pre-dinner drinking. The wine is superb and the food is stand-up. Central is another hopping bar area. I love the mai tais. You could consider Cashion's, Hook and dessert in the lounge of the Blue Duck Tavern.
from a 'nut: for NYE party thrower - look into booking the Spirit of Washington or the Odyssey.
Brunch in Cleveland Park - Wouldn't Colorado Kitchen be a good choice? For real donuts and awesome ice cream drinks!
Fritz: Would you be shocked to know that the Odessey and the Spirit of Washington are already booking their own NYE cruises? For New Year's, you sometimes need to start planning at least a year before. Also, Colorado Kitchen is in Brightwood, not Cleveland Park. That's a bit of a walk.
Washington, D.C.: To continue the brunch questions. Is Georgia Brown's brunch as good and as filling as they say? It's a buffet right but you also get to order an entree? And are reservations needed days or a day in advance? Thanks.
Erin: It's definitely filling and you'll probably end up with leftovers for a while. You need to book ahead quite a bit in advance. Think weeks, not days.
Baltimore: Some warnings on Scores and McDougal's:
--Scores is incredibly expensive. There's an initial cover charge, then all the beers and drinks have very high prices. Then the private dances and table dances are outrageously priced. Then girls will sit at your tables and ask you to buy them drinks, which is stupidly-priced. Then...well, you get the idea. All the prices there need to drastically come way down.
--McDougal's is equally over-priced. There's another initial cover price, and the prices for dances there are way over-priced, too. Plus, you have to bring your own beer into McDougal's, and it's kept behind the counters.
Sabatino's is always a great choice, though. Great atmosphere, great service, great food, great tradition. It's a classic dining experience.
Fritz: Words of warning for our Baltimore party planner. But at a bachelor party, is cost really an object?
I need a casual place to grab a bite to eat with a special friend, and then a chill bar or lounge to get close and chat over drinks in the U Street or Adams Morgan area tonight!
Please help. My overall coolness is riding on this!!!
Erin: Al Crostino, Creme, Simply Home and Coppi's should be on your list for dinner. If you want more of a scene, Busboys and Poets won't wow you with gourmet food, but it's lively and interesting. Chill bar: how about the roof of Perry's?
Columbia Heights, Washington, D.C.: Hi GoGs! Love your chat! Can you tell me if the Third Thursday art gallery tours on 7th street still take place? I think the First Fridays in Dupont is still ongoing, correct? Any info on either of those or any others would be great. thanks!
Julia: The Third Thursday openings are no longer. First Friday is still going on, but it's much smaller than it used to be. If you want to go tomorrow, I'd check out these exhibits: "Beyond the Margins" and "Ice Stories" at Hillyer and John Blee at Studio. You can find a full map of participating galleries here, but many (like the open-by-appointment-now Conner Contemporary) won't be participating.
Common: Hi Gurus - I'm heading out to Love to watch Common tomorrow night. Doors open at 6, but I'm not sure what time the performances actually start up. Any recommendations as to how late I could get there without missing the show?
Fritz: In our experience, you'll want to be on the second level (where the performances are) and in place by 9:30 p.m. Sometimes the shows start then, sometimes later. But you won't want to miss Tip and Common. BTW, next weekend should be insane, with Diddy and guest-who-can't-be-revealed-yet doing two nights at Love for Howard Homecoming.
NY, N.Y.: It's me again writing and asking for help!!! Any where nice-- where local band plays live--- Pleaseeeeee
David: Well, what kind of music are you looking for? There many places where local bands play live. If you want mostly blues, try Madams Organ. Want some jazz, try Cafe Nema or Bohemian Caverns. For rock, maybe DC9 or the Red & the Black.
Washington, DC: I'm a recent W&M alum-- for a nice dinner in Williamsburg that is "downtown" (i.e., near the 3 bars), the Blue Talon and A. Carroll's are both excellent. A. Carroll's has an upscale martini bar and is a bit fancier. In my opinion, the Trellis is average, and Berret's is great if you just want seafood, but I would try the other two first.
Jen: Ah, forget about A. Carroll's. Thanks for both suggestions.
Washington, D.C.: I've recently realized after a lifetime of thinking I don't like Bloody Mary's that they are in fact my favorite morning adult beverage. Where are some of the best around in DC proper?
Erin: As you might've seen in my blog post, Matchbox will start offering brunch this Sunday with lots of bloody Mary options. Merkado is another good bet.
Arlington, VA: Hey Gurus! Hope you can help. A group of friends and I are going to be around the U St metro area on Saturday evening and we need a place were we can watch football. In particular the ending of the Texas/Oklahoma and Tennessee/Georgia games and the LSU/Florida game. Know of any place that would likely be showing these and would be ok with a group of potentially rowdy fans who may or may not all be wearing red dresses?
Fritz: Hashers, eh? I know your type. Try Solly's if you're looking for cheap PBR and Miller, or Nellie's for lots of screens and a rooftop deck. Also, there's Axis, which may be a good compromise.
Olney MD: Me again. "Philles bars"? Fritz, I want a Rockies bar, dude. If I get a death wish, I know where the Phillies bars are located! And if I didn't, I just need to follow the moans, wailing and gnashing of teeth after Ryan Howard strikes out YET AGAIN - HAHA!!
Fritz: I haven't heard from anyone yet. Rockies fans? You out there?
Sorry, bud.: Oh c'mon. Can't a woman be referred to as bud or dude in the chat?
David: I agree. I think bud is pretty gender neutral, but I've gotten a few bad reactions when I've said "dude" to females in the past.
Easy Rider in PG: I just got a Motorcycle and don't know where to meet new playmates. Where can I go catch up with other bikers and maybe find folks to ride with? BTW:not riding crotch rocket, I'm the cruiser type.
Julia: You should meet my boyfriend. He's a recent convert from crotch-rocket to cruiser. Seriously, though, he's met a few other riders at Asylum in Adams Morgan. I wouldn't say you're guaranteed to find a playmate there, but there are definitely other riders around. I'd go on a weeknight for the best chance of striking up a bike-related conversation.
Orchard Advice: For the person thinking about apple picking this weekend, I second the Butler's recommendation. I went last weekend with my boyfriend and his teenage stepsister and we had a great time--they have raspberries and pumpkins available for picking too. One word of advice: hit the market for baked goods first, then go up the hill for picking, as the pies were all gone by the time we finished!
Julia: Great advice. I worked in an apple orchard in Connecticut during college (of which my parents were surely so proud) and the pies always go early. As do the apple cider donuts.
Re: fixing your heels: The shoe repair shop in union station is a good bet. I work close by, but they can usually do the work while you wait if you like. Prices are decent, but I have been happy with the results.
Julia: Thanks for the tip!
Annapolis, Md.: Hoping to get in under the wire. 6 girls, early 30's, bachelorette party, Annapolis, no veils, games, etc. Any suggestions for after dinner bars that have more to offer than beer? Thanks so much.
Fritz: Lessie, rooftop bar at Metropolitan would be first choice if you want upscale, but there's Pussers on the water, which is one of the most fun bars in the city.
Weddings without atleast beer or wine...: That'll be the wedding people talk about, especially after they bought you a gift and may have travelled and then you don't offer drink choice? Experienced this with a friend who went non-alcoholic with her wedding and 3 years laters, guests are still talking about it... have some kind of booze, beer and wine is totally fine, that's what we did.
David: Whatever you do, don't have a cash bar. A rarity, for sure, but not unheard of and that's something that people may never forgive.
Fritz: David mentioned he'd "heard of weddings with cash bars," and you know why? Because the guests walked away disgruntled, that's why. Disgruntled and sober.
Dupont, D.C.: My parents are coming for Thanksgiving and I'm in charge of making us a reservation. They want the traditional turkey and fixins. Have restaurants started advertising their Thanksgiving menus yet? Any recommendations?
Erin: I'm still in denial about Halloween. It's WAY too early for Thanksgiving.
Fortunately for you, most restaurants are already in planning mode. If you want all the fixins, go for a hotel set up, possibly at the Willard.
I had Thanksgiving at Charlie Palmer Steak two years ago and was fairly impressed.
I haven't gotten around to chatting with specific restaurants, but look at my list of last year's Thanksgiving spots. Do any of them strike your fancy? With any luck, they'll nearly duplicate last year's offerings.
Washington D.C - Howard Homecoming: Hey Guru's!
I see you mentioned Howard's Homecoming. You wouldn't happen to know whose performing at the Yardfest on that Friday?
Fritz: That's always a HUGE secret. When I wrote a cover story for Weekend about Homecoming last year, I basically had to swear on my mother's life that we wouldn't give the info out before Friday. Maybe we'll drop some hints next week.
How about the Cubs Fans?: Where can we watch the game besides Lucky Bar? I know, I know, it doesn't happen very often for us, but we'd like somewhere to watch our game too. (Even if it IS at 10:00)
Fritz: Billy Goat Tavern and Bar Louie are both Chicago franchises, and both are drawing Cubs fans.
Speaking of the Cubs, WHY DO YOU TAKE OUT/HOLD BACK YOUR PITCHER FOR A GAME THAT'S NOT EVEN GUARANTEED???
I ask this question every now and then but you never answer -- slow day so I'll try again. What restaurant has the hunkiest waitstaff? Now come on you must have some favorites, right?
Julia: Okay, anonymous, you got it. I can't say that any restaurants top my list of spots with sexy servers, but there are definitely some hotties tending bar at the Adams Morgan Bourbon. And there was this guy working at Lucky Bar a few weeks ago who I definitely wouldn't kick out of bed for eating crackers.
Logan Circle: What happened to the Saloon on U Street? I tried to stop by last night, but it was closed. Like, really closed. But there was a sign on the door about Sunday events in October. I'm confused. Are they really closed, or is the owner just off on one of his international sojourns?
Fritz: This question came in pretty early in the week, but the Saloon is generally closed on Sunday and Monday except for special events, or that's been the case in the past.
ISO riding parntners: Try your rider groups. I am sure BMW has a BMW rider forum online somewhere.
Julia: A good idea for the Easy Rider.
Falls Church, Va.: If you want me to be ok being called "hey dude" then I want you to be ok with me calling you "hey lady"
David: To clarify this, it wasn't a "hey dude" it was more of a reaction-type thing. Like, someone says something and I'll respond with, "Dude, what are you talking about?" That would still upset you, I guess. I'll refrain from using "dude" when in Falls Church.
I'm a 30-something Arlington girl in need of a wild and crazy night. My girls and I would like to go dancing, and when I say dancing, we want to dance all NIGHT long. We've done the LOVE, H20, Zanzibar thing and it's played out. Any other ideas? Obviously, we don't get out that much.
Fritz: Well, then you've done most of the big clubs. I'd say you should try some of the mid-sized options: Five for fantastic house and dance music until 5 a.m., Ultrabar, maybe Avenue on a Saturday night, because Geometrix can really get people moving. If you want wild and crazy, there's always Buzz. The first night was fantastic, even if Scott Henry didn't go on until 3:30 or so.
Bowie, Md: Please help!!! A late 20s female would like to show her mid 40 boyfriend a nice time somewhere in the District/ Silver Spring area. Any suggestions where we can go for dinner and dancing outside of the hip hop club scene??? Help!!
Rhome: You can eat and dance at Gallery. Call ahead to find out what sort of events are on the nights you want to stop by, those change regularly. You can also try ESL or Metropolitain.
Alexandria, Va.: Another option for Emily is to buy a suit at one of the consignment stores; you can get high-end clothing for much less than at a store (admittedly from a year or so ago). Then when you figure in the alterations, you're still doing pretty well. That's how I got my Armani suits!
Janet: Emily, that's good advice! Give it a whirl at your favorite consignment store.
washingtonpost.com: We're overtime as usual. And they stopped serving us alcohol an hour ago, so we gotta roll. Thanks for joining us. We'll talk again next week.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Every Thursday, washingtonpost.com's City Guide experts share their best bets for local flavor, great dates and family fun. Got plans? Great. Need plans? Just ask.
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The Redskins
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Read Jason's blog, Redskins Insider.
Jason La Canfora: Hey there, hope everyone had a good bye week.
Glad to be back with you.
Fairfax, Va.: Joe Gibbs has said the failure to score a TD at the end of the Giants game was due to inadequate offensive line play, particularly on 3rd and 4th down. This revamped O-line has me worried. Are the 'Skins coaches worried as well?
Jason La Canfora: The problem on those two runs came on the left side -- where the proven guys are. Can't blame the new starters -- Fabini and Wade -- for that.
They have a lot to worry about in various aspects of play, but if the trio of Samuels, Kendall and Rabach somehow becomes an issue -- and I'd be surprised if it did -- then they're really in trouble
I recently went to watch the Redskins/Giants game at a bar on Capitol Hill. The game was on one small TV with no sound. The large projection screen and sound system was reserved for, believe it or not, the D.C. United. Now I am all for D.C. having a soccer team, and I enjoy the finer aspects of the game. But isn't it blasphemy to have a soccer game on over a Redskins game in this town? You must have suggestions of good bars to go to catch future 'Skins games in the District. The more crowded with Burgundy and Gold the better.
Jason La Canfora: Sorry my man, you're asking the wrong bloke.
I actually think that's pretty cool. There must be 1,000 bars with the 'Skins on every Sunday.
I am always working on game day so I can't offer specific suggestions, but I am sure someone will send a few in during this chat and I will definitely post them if they come in.
Tori Amos - Baker Baker
Toronto: Obviously WR has now become a concern for the 'Skins with Moss having groin issues and Cooley being used more as a blocking TE. We need a Roy Williams/Plaxico Burress type receiver. Do you think the Skins will address this issue in the offseason via the draft and/or free agency? And if so, who would you recommend?
Keep up the good work!
Jason La Canfora: The only way you get guys like that is in the draft my man -- teams don't let 6-5 studs like that walk in free agency in the prime of their careers.
Gotta draft one high (and the 'Skins were certainly smitten with Calvin Johnson last spring but it's very hard to make that move to get up in the top 2 picks to get him).
The lack of size at WR has been a constant here. Weird to say/write thus, but they've never come close to replacing Gardner, Rod. (He actually had that like 167-yard game against Dallas early in 2004 season when the entire offense stunk -- remember -- and I think he blew up against San Fran in 2004 as well).
Moss and Lloyd were not practicing (Lloyd wasn't even anywhere to be seen on the field; Santana was working out on the sidelines) so it looks more and more like Caldwell and McCardell will get their first action with the 'Skins Sunday.
Richmond, Va.: IF (it's a big if) Moss is healthy, what does the WR depth chart look like?
Jason La Canfora: Funny you should ask.
I don't think Moss will play, and I imagine Randle El stays at his spot, while Thrash replaces Moss at the "Z" as the starter. McCardell and Caldwell likely involved in 3- and 4-wide sets
Artie Hill - Me and My Glas Jaw (this dude rocks, old school country. a lot of awesome covers. used to play bars on my block when I lived in Bmore and has put a few CDs out. Check him out. Great Honkeytonk stuff. watched him jam at an all-night house party with fellow Postie Dave Sheinen back in the day. Dave is an amazing musician himself and threw some great parties in Canton when he covered the O's).
Quantico, Va.: Who is to blame for all the miscommunication within the Redskins organization? Ex: Clinton Portis's injury last week. Is this a matter of complete dysfunction? Or are we making more out of this than we should? Something tells me that this never would have happened in Joe Gibbs's first go around here in D.C.
Jason La Canfora: Joe Gibbs likes to say that everything falls on him and he is certainly been made to be The Voice Of The Organization, especially with the owner offering not much in terms of answering questions.
Miami: JaLa -- Great article the other day on the Redskins inability to close teams out under Gibbs 2.0. In your discussions around the league, is the Redskins offensive philosophy considered extra conservative or is that just a fanbase point of view?
Jason La Canfora: They are definitely seen as a team that tends to be conservative.
Costa Mesa, Calif.: Is it just me, or are the Redskins the most battered team in the NFL? What's the solution?
Jason La Canfora: Not even close my man. Look at Chicago with like 5 starters out and Philly without Dawkins and Westbrook and Thomas last Sunday night.
Losing two O Linemen for a long time is tough, but they aren't even close to the most banged up (Rams without 2 starting O Line and Pace is a HoF, plus the QB and Jackson, again, off the top of my head).
White Stripes - The Boy You've Always Known
Hagerstown, Md.: Is there any new news on "The Chin" coming to town and taking over a very disorganized Redskins team next season?
And. . .what are the lime green dots on the back of all NFL team helmets this season?
Jason La Canfora: Nothing new my man.
The green dot denotes a headset receiver in the helmet to communicate with the sidelines/press box.
Chapel Hill, N.C.: I have been impressed with Demetric Evans as a fill-in for Phillip Daniels. Is there any beat around the team that Evans will make a move up the depth chart even if Daniels can stay healthy?
Jason La Canfora: I have the same feeling and I think Demetric will continue to get more PT. He is very athletic and quicker than Phillip, but they love Daniels's brute force and he could end up playing more and more on the inside.
Demetric made a great play on that deflection while backpeddling deep against the NYG, when Fletcher caught the deflection for an INT.
Elk Grove, Calif.: Hi Jason. Great work so far this season. Thanks for quenching my never ending thirst for Redskins knowledge. My question has to do with the pass catching abilities of Portis and Betts. For some reason I have been reading a lot of stuff from you and others that praise the pass catching abilities of Betts. While I in no way disagree with Betts ability to be a very effective receiver out of the backfield, I do believe that Portis is every bit as good, and to be honest I think he is better. It seems that he was catching the ball a lot more in his first two years in Denver, as well as his first couple of years here, but since Betts had a nice string of games last year, everyone seems to think he is more adept at catching balls in the flats as well as short dump offs up the middle.
I think Portis is better at this, and I feel that getting him involved in screens and dump offs gives him the opportunity to use his speed, quickness, and vision to get those bigger plays. It also gives Jason Campbell a little more confidence by completing those easier passes, and is not as big of a strain on our already depleted line. Why don't they use Portis more as a pass catching back, ala Westbrook? I feel like he has the talent, they just don't use him in those situations as much as they should. He could break one of those at any time, and maybe then defenses will be a little more scared. Sorry for the long question, and thank you for your time.
Jason La Canfora: Thanks so much.
As for CP, he just hasn't been a threat that way here -- I know he did more of it in Denver -- and despite them always talking about making it more of a part of the offense, it never materialized and they think Betts is superior on a lot of swing passes and I, too, believe Ladell has much better hands.
Portis drops a lot of balls and while some aren't perfect passes plenty hit him right in the hands.
Beach Boys - Trombone Dixie
Washington, D.C.: I'm sure you're inundated with Lloyd questions, but with his shin injury, can the team put him on IR even though it's a minor thing? Thanks.
Jason La Canfora: He would probably fight it and rightfully so.
You're not supposed to do that kind of thing anymore and frankly, with the money they are paying him you might as well have him running scout team, as a reserve, available in a pinch, whatever.
Make him inactive on game day if he's not going to play, but to completely make him unavailable to your team all season would make their trade/signing of him look like an even bigger bust than we all have long known it was.
The Cure - The Hanging Garden
Rockville, Md.: I know it stinks when the Sports Talk station generates more news than The Post regarding the Redskins, but as a fan, I am concerned about all the confusion surrounding our best offensive player and his role or non-role at the end of a game. This goes to the heart of how mis-managed the 'Skins seem to be right now. That is a concern to me and other fans.
Jason La Canfora: Dude, we wrote like four stories on the whole thing, maybe more.
You should be a concerned, but this is nothing new. No two people ever give the same account of anything around here.
Falls Church, Va.: Think Sunday's game will be another nail-biter? What is the key to stopping their passing attack? Cuz they've got some stud receivers and I doubt C. Rogers is gonna step up to the challenge.
The 'Skins are going to have to start running a big boy offense and scoring 24 or more a game or this month could bury them.
Detroit, at Green Bay, Arizona and at New England. Are you kidding me? They all throw the heck out of the ball, have some serious tall, stud WRs and will go like 5 wide in the shotgun on first down with no fear.
That's a tough chore. If the D can hold these teams to 3 TDs per game, they are doing their job. It's time for this offense to emerge, because aside from the five-game run to the playoffs in 2005, it's been pretty pathetic
As for the Lions, the 4-man pass rush has to be legit (time for Andre Carter to crush a QB) and the DBs needs to be very tough off the line and beat up these WRs before they get in the routes. Jam the hell out of them and try to throw off the timing.
Also, with so many balls in the air guys need to make plays and create turnovers. No lack of passes will be thrown on them this month.
Love me some Pantera. Vulgar Display of Power was like blaring from the speakers of someone's car in the parking lot like every day I was in high school. Cowboys From Hell was an amazing album, too.
(as for me I just have the iPod on shuffle, so I'm not making like a greatest hits playlist or anything, just going with the flow.)
Dead Kennedy's - Chicken Farm
Angry fan, D.C.: Have you ever read The Washington Post articles on the Wizards? How bout the Nats? If so, have you noticed how those teams are covered in a much more positive light than your coverage of the Redskins? Why is that?
Hopefully you'll take a tough question instead of the usual softballs you take...
Jason La Canfora: Ouch, you're scaring me. Please stop.
The Nats are an expansion team in essence with a punty payroll trying to rebuild.
The Wizards, now, correct me if I'm wrong, have been to the playoffs a few times in a row.
The Redskins charge more for tickets and parking, generate more revenue than anyone, and are 23-28 under Gibbs and don't have back to back 9 win seasons since 1991-92.
You're right, let me get out my pom-poms.
Do the 'Skins have all their draft picks next year, minus the Kendall trade?
btw...does Pearl Jam get any love in the iPod Shuffle?
Jason La Canfora: No, the fourth goes to Denver for Duckett.
As for the iPod, we'll have to see my man. Forces larger than both of us at work here.
Fairfax, Va.: One of my all-time favorite players, Gary Clark, will be inducted into the FedEx Field Ring of Fame this Sunday. Did you get a chance to see him play? You look up volatile in the dictionary and there you'll find Gary's picture. I've heard more than one NFL scribe state that it was Clark, and not Monk, whom other teams feared more.
Jason La Canfora: I remember Gary very well. Fierce dude.
Coach Gibbs talks about him all the time and the kind of tone he set with the way he played and how much he cared about winning.
Since the Redskins will be facing a lot of 4 and sometimes 5 WR sets, who do you think will be the odd man out in the secondary?
In my view, they will have 4 corners (Springs, Smoot, Rogers and Maklin) and then 4 safety's dressed in Taylor, Landry, Prileou (sp?) and Reed Doughty.
Jason La Canfora: They have dressed 10 DBs in a lot of games, so I don't see a problem there.
Now, more interesting will be how many LBs still figure in the nickel and dime stuff and how they are deployed, 'cause Martz wants to force you to use them in coverage and defend, rather than being able to use them to attack the QB as Gregg loves to do.
Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army
Is there any expressed concern from what you gathered regarding M. Martz's new/latest version of the "Greatest Show on Turf"? Also, will Calvin Johnson play Sunday?
Jason La Canfora: Oh yeah, brother, ample concern. No one is disrespecting these dudes or thinking it's the same old bumbling Lions.
They have to attack what has been a suspect secondary for the Lions and score some points, too, to help the D out.
Los Angeles: Goes without saying, but you are the man for running such an awesome blog and pouring so much time and energy into these chats. Just wish the Danny would put an effort equal to yours into building a decent front office.
Why do you think the 'Skins offense, which was actually looking pretty formidable at the end of last season, has been so inconsistent and sputtering this year, esp. given how hard JC worked in the offseason. Obviously the problems on the O line are the big reason, but are there any other factors to blame?
Jason La Canfora: Thanks brother. Just doing my job.
The thing about the offense is that even when it looks good -- which is often the case -- they just don't get in the dang end zone.
Even last year they went 6 in row without topping 19 points, then got like 31 on STL in Week 16 and 28 in that season-ending loss to the Giants, but overall in like 53 games including playoffs I think they've topped 24 points just 11 times total.
That ain't going to get it done.
NYC: hey Angry Fan: are you KIDDING me? Last time I checked the WaPo wasn't Pravda. I love the 'Skins like my mama but as far as I'm concerned the tougher the coverage of their abysmal failings the better. Get your head out of the sand.
Jason La Canfora: Thanks bro. Like I've said a million times, before I cover them like any other team I have ever covered in the past.
Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
Bowie, Md.: You said teams don't let 6-5 WR studs walk in the prime of their career. Uh, Pittsburgh did...that's where Plaxico started.
Jason La Canfora: Okay, that's one example. Of course I'm not saying it never happens, but Plax was not the No. 1 guy there, he had some attitude problems and you tell me how often Pitt steps up big to pay guys to stay? They're all about the draft.
Look at all the guys they've let walk going back to Kevin Greene and those mid-90s powerhouses they had early in free agency.
Porno For Pyros - Packin' (wow, haven't heard this in like 10 years).
Towson, Md.: Any inkling that the 'Skins will try to use Sean Taylor as a WR in the red zone?
Jason La Canfora: We've seen it before and it makes sense to bring it back to me. Good idea. You've got my vote.
RE: Nats, Wizards...You're right, let me get out my pom-poms.: Um, when was the last time the Wizards won anything? And since when are we friendlier to the expansion team that has one of the smallest fan bases in all of professional sports than we are of the team that more of your reader root for than any other?
Your inexplicable hatred of the Redskins and especially their coaching staff cannot be explained by the fact that they haven't had back-to-back winnings seasons since '91-'92.
You have both an agenda and a personal beef with Coach Gibbs...that much is obvious.
Jason La Canfora: You don't have a clue my friend.
"Friendlier" is silly. This has nothing to do with friendship.
My job to to cover and explain why this team -- or any team -- wins or loses. They have not won.
Is that easy enough for you to understand?
Washington, D.C.: So maybe we were a bit early in putting Suisham into the Pro Bowl as he missed his first kick of the year two weeks ago... any concern from the team about the kicking game? I know Frosty has been BOOMING some kicks...
Jason La Canfora: Frosty is rockin' out, eh? He keeps this up and he's going to get paid this offseason.
Both of them are young and it's tough, because you just don't know how good these specialist are going to be over time until they get in the clutch time after time and produce.
That's why so many of them bounce around and so many quality organizations let future great kickers go when they are kids, only to regret it later. There's a lot of luck involved in finding a good young one at that position.
I don't like the Redskins chances in winning any "shootout" type game. Your thoughts?
Jason La Canfora: I am with you. Not to beat this into the ground, but the closer they come to 30 points per game this month the better their chances are (obviously).
Concerned about our LBs...: Can you give a quick update to the injuries to Marcus and Rocky?
Jason La Canfora: Both are taking full work and should be ready to go ... Now, does that mean they aren't still hurting some? Well, in this sport that's a way of life. Marcus's new brace seems less restrictive, so over the next few weeks he should be more of a two-armed LB than he has been able to be thus far, baring a setback.
Bend, Ore.: Actually, Plaxico was drafted by the Steelers and let go. The G-men picked him up as a free agent.
Is Fabini starting again or might we see DeMulling at Guard?
Jason La Canfora: Fabini getting the reps with the starters this week (DeMulling did some work with them Monday but he said that was just to get acclimated a bit more given the extra day of practice this week).
Man, you guys are killing for the Burress thing.
Vienna, Va.: If you, Jason La Canfora, could change ONE thing about the Redskins that would allow them to be successful, what would it be? Could be ownership, front office, players, coaches, anything.
Jason La Canfora: Management structure.
Los Angeles: Hey, JLC. Love the work you're doing and these chats.
Is this really Al Saunders offense? I see one and two receiver sets, max-protect on every down. To me, that's Gibbs first year back all over again. It's outdated, easy to defend, and as we've seen, hard to generate points with.
In KC, even when his line was banged up and with with even worse receivers than the 'Skins have, Al was spreading the field more and attacking with three receivers minimum. So what gives?
Jason La Canfora: I think if Al was running everything the way he loves, his offense would look a lot more like what the Lions will be operating this Sunday.
Per your story about our anemic 2nd halves over the years, do you get the impressions in talking with others that teams know this about us?
Do the think a 17-3 hole at half isn't a bad thing given our propensity to give up said lead?
I know Cincy had no intimations of coming back against the Pats, I would think we are the opposite of that.
Ignore the haters Jasno, and get over to the Redskins wiki!
Jason La Canfora: I don't think teams get the kind of phobia coming out of the tunnel at FedEx as they do in some other stadiums when they are facing a deficit.
Too many bad teams have done it to the 'Skins recently (2005 Raiders, 2006 Falcons, an 0-6 Tenn team last year).
Washington, D.C.: Just to contradict the haters, your coverage is tough, but fair. Actually, I think The Post's coverage, on average, is too fawning. But hey, I'm from N.Y. If you want to see tough coverage, pick up a N.Y. paper that's not the Times. Or got to Boston or Philly.
Jason La Canfora: I hear ya brother. It's all subjective. That's the great thing about this business, there is no one way to do it and everyone will react to everything differently.
The bottom line is no matter what any journalist does, it ain't changing a thing on the field, and that's where it all starts.
Jamiroquai - Half The Man
Do you ever write questions on here for yourself to answer? The questions from Los Angeles and NYC sounded like they were written by you.
Jason La Canfora: Never, bro. Come on, how lame would that be?
I am trying to work on a story, write a blog entry and answer as many of these questions I can while also e-mailing some agents before practice lets out.
Wish I had the time. Would be funny to plant a few at some point.
One-Yard Line: Since when is giving the ball to Mike Sellers at the one-yard line not one of the three best plays the team has?
Jason La Canfora: They like him leading the way as a blocker, but like I wrote back then, I'm at least either giving Sellers one FB dive or running Campbell on a sneak on first down before the Giants set their goal line D.
Odenton, Md.: At this point, Carter is on pace for about 11 sacks. Looks like at least one FA pickup from last year might be working out, huh?
Jason La Canfora: He turned it around last December.
Even beyond the sacks (often seems to miss by an inch, eh) he is making the QB move off the spot and move that plant foot around.
Against some of these spread offense -- with limited protection -- he could have a chance to make some big plays.
In your opinion, can we dispense with the idea of the AFC being the "dominant" conference? So far this year the AFC is 7-8 against the NFC. Looks a lot like parity to me.
Jason La Canfora: Yeah, I'm not willing to go there yet.
Hard not to say at least the Top 2 are not in the AFC (Indy, New England) and I think the middle of the pack in the AFC is much better than in the NFC ... but time will tell.
NFC definitely holding up better in those games vs. AFC this year
Dead Kennedys - Stealing People's Mail
St. Louis: I smell a phony...sounds like Dan S. is making some comments here! The honest truth is that the 'Skins (as much as I love them) have not performed well enough over the last 15 years to give them much benefit of the doubt. Plus, given how much the 'Skins have taken their media in house, I think it's really important to have critical voices. You've also been very supportive when they deserve it, so this is not an agenda thing.
Just to have a question so this has a chance of being read- know any good places to watch the 'Skins in St. Louis?
Jason La Canfora: Kelli Johnson of Comcast, who used to work in STL, just totally failed me. I asked her, she's sitting right here, and she totally blanked out.
When I covered hockey back in the day we used to hit Mike Shannon's downtown after the game.
I think this Sunday is a key game. If they win, they regain their momentum, if they lose, all hell might break loose with thoughts of "here we go again." Agree or not?
I like your iPod comments. What do you think has been the best decade of music for you: '70s, '80s, or '90s?
Jason La Canfora: '70s my man. Without a doubt.
San Diego: How about we trade Norv for Big Al?
Jason La Canfora: Hmm, interesting idea ... At this rate you won't even need a trade. Nervous Norv might be on the street as a free agent in a few weeks.
Megskin, D.C.: So if you really think Al would rather run the offense differently (I agree with you by the way), how much longer do you think he can put up with the MickyMouse games and being neutered on game day? I mean, he did want to come here, didn't he?
Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
Jason La Canfora: Megskin, thanks for the checking in. Long time no chat.
I think Al knew somewhat what he was getting into when he came here, and very much knew that Joe Gibbs is an offensive coach with great credentials who is far and away the head honcho here.
I'm not sure that Al had that many other, better options when he came here and certainly not at the salary he was paid. Also, he could see a lot of weapons here that mirrored the talent he'd had in the past.
They've all got to find a way to turn this entire collection of coaches and players into more points.
Will from Rockville: Any chance we will see Keenan McCardell play this Sunday?
Jason La Canfora: Looking that way.
'Skins fan in Los Angeles here. I have to applaud the information that I receive from you on a daily basis on our beloved 'Skins.
Chris Cooley is a very talented, sure-handed tight end. He hasn't been thrown to much this season due to injuries on the line and they need him to help out. I understand that, but why not bring in a extra o-lineman, classify him as an eligible player, and split Chris out a bit?
We have limited "go to" guys and Chris is one of them. Why not use one of our weapons wisely.
Jason La Canfora: Thank bro.
They do go jumbo quite a bit and bring in Pucillo, but that's almost always for a power sweep. Can't recall them throwing out of that formation much (maybe once to Sellers?) but it could be a wrinkle.
If that right side needs a lot of help then it could be tough, because the Skins don't go 4 wide much to begin with. Bottom line is they need to get him in more routes, though
Tommy Dorsey - The Song Is For You
Jason La Canfora: Practice just ended.
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In a letter to the nominee released yesterday, Leahy complained that "the White House has chosen not to clear the decks of past concerns," including Democratic demands for documents and testimony about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys.
"I had hoped that the White House would . . . work with us to fulfill longstanding requests for information so that we could all agree about what went so wrong at the Department of Justice and work together to restore it," Leahy wrote in the letter. "Instead, they have left you to answer the unanswered questions and left longstanding disputes unresolved."
The remarks indicated an end to Leahy's attempt to use the Mukasey nomination to pry loose sensitive information from the White House about the prosecutor firings, the government's warrantless surveillance program and other issues. Leahy's office has been in intensive negotiations with White House counsel Fred F. Fielding since President Bush named Mukasey as the nominee three weeks ago, but no agreement has been reached.
Leahy has yet to announce a date for Mukasey's confirmation hearing, though Senate aides have said it is likely to be held in the third or fourth week of this month. In his letter, Leahy invited Mukasey to a one-on-one meeting Oct. 16, suggesting that a public hearing would be held soon afterward.
Mukasey, 66, is a former Manhattan federal judge whose nomination to replace Alberto R. Gonzales as attorney general has been well received by lawmakers in both parties. Mukasey has met individually with senators in recent weeks and submitted answers to a lengthy committee questionnaire on Tuesday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blasted Leahy yesterday for not setting a hearing date, saying that Democrats should "not hold Judge Mukasey hostage while they play partisan games." White House spokeswoman Dana Perino also urged Democrats to move ahead with the nomination.
Leahy spokeswoman Erica Chabot said the letter to Mukasey and the candidate's questionnaire "are all positive steps moving forward in the confirmation process." Several Senate aides said a hearing date could be decided as early as today.
In his letter, Leahy urged Mukasey to model himself on two attorneys general known for their independence: Elliot L. Richardson, who refused President Nixon's order to fire the Watergate special prosecutor, and Edward H. Levi, who was appointed as a reformer after Nixon resigned.
Leahy outlined the questions he expects Mukasey to answer, many of which center on the aftermath of the prosecutor firings and other controversies during Gonzales's tenure. Leahy said he will ask "whether you share my view that the integrity and independence of federal law enforcement should not be compromised by political operatives from the White House," including the Justice Department's handling of election-related investigations.
Leahy also said he would ask Mukasey whether he agreed with the Bush administration's claim that the Justice Department cannot be compelled to prosecute White House aides for defying congressional subpoenas.
The House Judiciary Committee earlier this year issued contempt citations for former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten in connection with the investigation of the prosecutor removals. But administration officials have indicated they would block enforcement of contempt charges if they are approved by the House, arguing that a U.S. attorney cannot be forced to contradict a finding by the president that documents or testimony are protected by executive privilege.
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Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) signaled yesterday that he will move ahead with confirmation hearings for a new attorney general later this month without reaching a deal on documents that he hoped to obtain from the White House.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302348.html
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https://web.archive.org/web/2007100419id_/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302348.html
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Dental Help for Poor Questioned
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An additional 22,110 poor children had not received dental care in at least two years, according to a review of dental records requested from United Healthcare, a managed-care organization serving Maryland Medicaid beneficiaries. The congressional subcommittee requested billing and service records from United as part of an investigation into gaps in Medicaid care for poor children.
The analysts also found that seven dentists in Prince George's County were providing more than half the care to the county's 45,000 to 50,000 child Medicaid beneficiaries. Of those seven dentists, three in a single practice provided more than one-third of the services to beneficiaries of United Healthcare. Other dentists listed in the company's network provided few or no Medicaid services to children in the county, according to the analysis.
Statewide, Medicaid serves nearly 500,000 poor children through seven managed-care organizations, including United Healthcare.
The findings are contained in an Oct. 2 letter signed by Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), the House Government Reform domestic policy subcommittee chairman, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), a panel member, and sent to state health officials and to United Healthcare.
"The death of Deamonte Driver opened up questions about what kind of care is available to children. What we are finding is that children are not getting the care they are entitled to," Kucinich said in an interview yesterday.
But a United Healthcare spokesman sharply rebutted the findings.
"We have some serious questions about some of the material in the committee's letter, and we disagree strongly with some of the conclusions," said Steven Matthews, a spokesman for United Healthcare's Medicaid health plan.
He said the company was preparing a detailed response that will be submitted to the subcommittee before an Oct. 19 deadline. United Healthcare has recently focused its efforts on improving access to care for the state's poor children, he said, by creating an updated online dental directory, providing improved customer service, adding 35 dentists to the Maryland network and establishing a dental safety net clinic at the University of Maryland Dental School in Baltimore.
Maryland's Medicaid services were singled out for scrutiny after Deamonte's death, and leaders throughout the state made dental reform a rallying point.
The state's eight-member Democratic congressional delegation fought to get a guaranteed dental benefit included in the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which covers millions of children from working poor families with incomes too high to get Medicaid. Yesterday, the bill, which would have added $35 million over five years to extend coverage to 4 million children, was vetoed by President Bush, who said it was too costly.
Cummings said yesterday that he and others would continue to work to pass the bill with the dental guarantee.
Fewer than one in three children in the state's Medicaid program received any care in 2005, the latest year for which figures were available. Many dentists have declined to participate, citing bureaucratic hurdles, the difficulties of serving poor families and the state's historically low Medicaid reimbursement rates for dental procedures.
In Deamonte's case, the systemic problems were compounded by personal obstacles including a lack of transportation, erratic telephone and mail service and periods of homelessness.
His Medicaid coverage had temporarily lapsed at the time he was hospitalized after bacteria from a dental infection spread to his brain. He died after two operations and six weeks of hospital care that cost more than $250,000.
Last month, a panel of experts convened by state Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John M. Colmers recommended restructuring the state's Medicaid program by replacing the system of managed-care organizations and dental vendors with an administrative service organization that would be in charge of all Medicaid dental care for children and pregnant women and work directly under a contract with the state. The experts also called for spending $40 million more a year to raise reimbursement rates for dentists.
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Deamonte Driver, the 12-year-old Prince George's County boy who died in February of an infection caused by an abscessed tooth, was one of more than 10,780 Medicaid-eligible Maryland children who had not seen a dentist in at least four years, a congressional analysis has concluded.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/02/AR2007100202508.html
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https://web.archive.org/web/2007100419id_/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/02/AR2007100202508.html
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Kaine Offers Plan to Boost Preschool
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"One of the most powerful things you can do if you want kids to be successful early is high-quality early-childhood education," Kaine said.
Kaine's push to expand preschool coincides with a movement locally and nationwide to improve education for young children. For the first time, Prince William County has full-day kindergarten in all schools. Fairfax schools also expanded full-day kindergarten classes this year and aim to have the program at all elementary schools by fall 2009.
Kaine has been advocating his preschool expansion plan in meetings across the state, but the governor acknowledged it will be a tough sell in a year when money is tight. Facing a $640 million budget shortfall, Kaine has said the state may have to lay off some workers, increase user fees and take other cost-saving measures. He's also considering asking the General Assembly to transfer money from the state's $1.2 billion "rainy day" fund.
"People are concerned about the dollars, and that's fair," Kaine said in an interview after his speech. "Revenues are tight, so we need to be more innovative."
Kaine contends that increased investment in preschool will save money in coming years. Under his plan, the state eventually would spend about $125 million annually. He points out that Virginia spends about $400 million each year educating about 50,000 students who repeat grades. Research has shown that children who attend high-quality preschool are less likely to repeat a grade.
"We could put money in at the front end . . . instead of paying for kids to repeat grades," Kaine said.
Kaine's remarks came during a day-long forum by Fairfax Futures, a nonprofit group that supports early-childhood education. Participants included members of Fairfax Futures' School Readiness Network, a partnership of county agencies, community groups and businesses, including Capital One, which hosted the event.
As a candidate, Kaine campaigned in 2005 on a goal to offer free preschool to all of the approximately 100,000 4-year-olds in Virginia. That would have cost about $300 million a year. Recently he scaled back his plan to focus on the neediest children.
Virginia 4-year-olds who qualify for free school lunches -- those in households with incomes of less than $27,000 for a family of four -- already are eligible for state-funded preschool, and about 12,500 such children participate. Kaine's plan would extend benefits to children in families with incomes up to $38,000. He estimates about 17,000 more children would participate.
Those children could attend public preschools or go to private or faith-based programs that work with the state. The program would cost about $125 million a year when fully implemented by 2012.
Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax), who attended the event, said he and other supporters will try to persuade other lawmakers to think of preschool expansion as an "investment, not an expenditure."
Kaine also is calling for a voluntary state-led rating system to help parents gauge how providers measure up. Preschools would be rated on a five-star scale based on such factors as the educational level and training of teachers, class sizes and an expert's classroom observation.
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Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine presented his plan last week to expand state-funded preschool to a group of Northern Virginia educators, business leaders and politicians, a trial run for the pitch he'll make to lawmakers when the General Assembly convenes in January.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302353.html
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https://web.archive.org/web/2007100419id_/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/03/AR2007100302353.html
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Nuns' Evictions Pose Perception Problem for Catholic Church
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Among those being forced to move is Sister Angela Escalera, 69, who, diabetic and able to get around only with a walker, had hoped to live out her days in the Santa Barbara convent. "This is how the archdiocese is going about getting the money to pay off the victims," said her younger sister, Rosemary Escalera Gutierrez, 64, a former nun in the order.
"She said: 'It's such a heavy price to pay for such an ugly thing,' " said Gutierrez, quoting her sister. " 'Children were being victimized.' " The public storm over the evictions has prolonged an excruciating controversy that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles had hoped to begin putting behind it in July when it agreed to payouts to 508 accusers of 221 priests and other male church employees.
Instead, the new flap has raised the question of how much the church has learned about the crucial business of public perception.
Gutierrez quoted her sister because church officials slapped a gag order on the nuns.
"What's interesting is the church has not learned its lesson. The church thinks Catholics will still follow it without question," said Denise d'Sant Angelo, a member of Save Our Sisters, a local group formed to resist the eviction. "They're still operating under the shroud of secrecy, and secrecy isn't going to be tolerated by Catholics anymore, especially this new generation.
"We're going to kick it up a notch."
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles did not reply to telephone and e-mail messages for this report. A statement posted on its Web site detailed the effort to inform the nuns of their fate and expressed gratitude to the order for its service.
But from Santa Barbara pulpits, a number of priests defended the church. At Holy Cross Parish on Cliff Drive, the Rev. Ludo DeClippel lamented that "these kinds of conflicts within our Church are immediately thrown into the public arena, creating, once more, an hostile public opinion." His remarks appeared in the parish newsletter below an item, tagged "Did you know?" urging parents to teach their children about "bad touching."
DeClippel observed that four other convents were also being shuttered to produce cash for the abuse settlement and that the nuns being evicted "accepted it without protest or public outcry."
"Well, we've been renting," said Sister Rita, in the driveway of the house where she has lived with another sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, in Camarillo, 40 miles to the southeast. Asked if tenant status meant the nuns acquiesced to the move, she demurred and excused herself.
Nuns take a vow of obedience, and the Catholic Church is perhaps the world's farthest-reaching hierarchy. Gutierrez said her birth sister remains implacably opposed to the eviction but must abide by an order of public silence from the mother general superior of the Sisters of Bethany, who was summoned from Guatemala to address the controversy.
"One of the reasons I left is you have no voice," said Gutierrez, who wore the habit for eight years in the 1960s. Now retired from a second career teaching English, she expressed dismay that the Los Angeles archdiocese, after being pilloried for its reluctance to investigate allegations of sexual abuse, appeared to have gone to ground again.
"It's the same mistake all over again: 'Be quiet, be quiet. Don't say anything. Don't rock the boat,' " Gutierrez said.
Another former Bethany sister, Evangelina Diaz, said the defensive posture was also apt to hurt recruiting, seldom easy for the Catholic Church in recent decades.
"Look, a gag rule on three nuns! Holy mackerel!" said Diaz, 74, in the parking lot outside the convent. "They do this to the ones who've been around for 57 years? No wonder they don't get more vocations. Would you want to join?"
By local standards the convent property promises no economic windfall. Oprah Winfrey paid $50 million for an estate in neighboring Montecito. But in the heavily Hispanic, relatively poor section of Santa Barbara that the sisters have served since 1952, comparable two-bedroom homes go for around $700,000.
That is roughly one-tenth of 1 percent of the $660 million the archdiocese agreed to pay accusers. Among them are former altar boys who described being molested by the late Rev. Matthew Kelly at Our Lady of Guadalupe, the church adjacent to the convent.
"These nuns are precious to us, but there are priests living in fabulous-looking little houses, by themselves," Diaz said. "You don't see them getting kicked out."
In fact the handsome residence of the Santa Barbara bishop -- once a convent -- remains safe behind seven palms on a corner lot. The building is the largest in a neighborhood where homes have been fetching $2 million.
But to local resident Sally Sanchez, the fate of the nuns pivots on neither money nor gender but rather on the question of equity.
"We had a lot of solid priests," Sanchez said. "But the sisters are getting the short end of the shaft."
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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- In Southern California, where the Roman Catholic Church has agreed to pay victims of pedophile priests $660 million, the archdiocese is ordering nuns out of convents so the buildings can be sold to fund the out-of-court settlement.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/09/28/DI2007092801468.html
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https://web.archive.org/web/2007100119id_/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/09/28/DI2007092801468.html
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IEDs: Insurgent Tactics and Videos
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Ben Venzke: Hi, happy to take a crack at whatever questions on jihadi tactics and video material you've got.
San Antonio: It seems odd that there have been only two or three jihadi attempts to carry out IED attacks in the U.S. in the past eight years, and those were unsuccessful and mostly amateurish. Why do you think the enemy hasn't put more effort into terrorizing the American populace using these simple and effective devices?
Ben Venzke: Many within the counterterrorism community in the U.S., including myself, have been asking this question for years. The difficulty in terms of making a suicide bombers belt and executing a basic attack is so low that it's a capability you never can deny. In terms of cost, technical ability, target availability and materials needed, it's unfortunately extremely easy to do if you have the will to do so.
In terms of core al-Qaeda, much of the thinking goes along the lines that when they do something in the U.S. it will need to attempt to equal or exceed Sept. 11. This may be the driving factor as to why they haven't done this type of attack here, but it doesn't not explain why other smaller groups who have no bar set for them haven't. The simple answer is that there is no good answer, and unfortunately just because it hasn't happened in many years doesn't mean it can't tomorrow. Time will tell. We just need to be ready to handle it.
Castle Rock, Colo.: I thought whenever there was an Internet site used by the terrorist, the source of the site had an Internet Protocol Address (IP Address), and with that address you could trace the Internet provider and the location of the site.
Ben Venzke: There are many things you can do to try and track stuff on the Internet, but there are just as many things that you can do to hide or obscure stuff, and the jihadist groups have proven very good at evolving their online tradecraft to allow them to release a relentless flow of material without being traced. It's a constant back and forth.
Munich, Germany: Are explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) used only by Shiite Iraqis with Iranian help, or have they been utilized by Sunnis in Afghanistan or Iraq?
Ben Venzke: There are a wide variety of types of IEDs being used among all the groups in Iraq, and this constantly is changing as their R&D arms work on newly developed techniques and methods for building IEDs. They also pay close attention to what other groups are doing and can take lessons learned either through a direct exchange or simply by observing what the other group is doing that works. We are aware of at least one highly sophisticated instructional video from the jihadists that teaches the viewer to build an IED expressly designed to penetrate armored vehicles. The video shows 3D animation of each part of the device, its assembly, how to employ it and how the internal mechanism works when detonated.
Winnipeg, Canada: Wouldn't a more reasonable explanation of the lack of successful suicide bombers in the U.S. be that the Sept. 11 attacks succeeded only because of monumental incompetence at all levels of government? While future attacks are still possible, hasn't increased vigilance since 2001 made it less likely?
Ben Venzke: While increased vigilance and security measures certainly have improved the security situation in the U.S., there is unfortunately no way you can stop a previously unknown individual with a few hundred dollars or less from going to a hardware store and procuring the necessary parts to build a suicide bombers belt and then walking into a crowded mall or park or anywhere else where large groups of people are gathered. Unfortunately the best you can hope for with a successful counterterrorism strategy is to reduce the frequency and scale of attacks, and then recognize that they still will occur and be prepared to mitigate the impact when it happens. We're getting a lot better in the U.S., but only in relative terms when you consider how far off the mark we were, and unfortunately there is no such thing as perfect security to stop all attacks. The Israeli experience with suicide bombers has proven this time and time again.
Wilmington, N.C.: What percentage of all attacks on U.S. forces are perpetrated by "al-Qaeda in Iraq"? What percentage of U.S. casualties? How is the perpetrator determined?
Ben Venzke: At the beginning of the year the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which is essentially al-Qaeda in Iraq, was claiming about 880-1,400 attacks a month. This is by far the highest of any group operating in Iraq. In February ISI claimed more than 888 attacks as of April 6, 2007. The most-claimed targets for this period were tied between Iraqi police and coalition forces at 22 percent. Coalition forces does not include when U.S. forces specifically were identified in the claim. Seven percent of the claims identified U.S. Forces as the target. The second highest most claimed target was the Iraqi National Guard at 15 percent. Coming in at third were attacks claimed against the al-Mahdi Army at 10 percent followed by the Badr Corps at 8 percent. The biggest increase was against Kurdish targets which climbed from 1 percent in January to 5 percent in February.
In a number of cases we've found that the groups actually are targeting Iraqi forces and the al-Mahdi Army and Badr Corps more frequently than U.S. forces.
As for how the perpetrator is determined, it relies on a wide variety of techniques and intel, including the groups' own claims. Sometimes it's a simple question to answer and other times not so much.
Vienna, Va.: Mr. Venzke: Regarding the first poster's comment and your reply concerning lack of IED attacks in the U.S. -- if you look at IED attacks as a guerilla maneuver, it seems to me that the reason it hasn't happened here is that there is no cover for such individuals here in the U.S. To be more specific, "guerilla" forces depend on a chaotic political and military situation, and on being in "friendly" territory, where they have the capability to quickly melt back into the countryside. It reminds me of the Confederate guerilla bands that operated in occupied Southern territory during the Civil War. Thanks.
Ben Venzke: Large jihadist groups like al-Qaeda and some others operating in Iraq and elsewhere operate in two very different realms, which require different skill sets and many other qualities designed to address the practical needs of their area. One is insurgent/rebel type operations in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Chechnya and more. The other is terrorist type operations in London, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., Spain and elsewhere. Same group, but two different operational arms that are not mutually exclusive. While the climate in the U.S. would not support an insurgency-type level of campaign, the environment does not prove an insurmountable obstacle for terrorist type operations.
Philadelphia: It seems that IEDs commonly use old artillery shells or other types of ammunition that is left around. Would it be a good idea for the coalition to run an ammo-exchange day where Iraqis could turn in shells and ammo -- or sites where they are located -- for cold hard cash? The more you turn in the more money you get. If the unemployment is as high as it is, wouldn't this help reduce some of the ammunition available for insurgents?
Ben Venzke: Yes, they often do; the problem is sheer numbers -- there is just an incredible amount of this stuff laying around in Iraq that has already been snatched up by jihadist groups and put into storage. In addition, groups like IAI and others have recognized the fact that some of this material eventually will run out and have pushed their R&D arms to develop devices for which there always will be a readily available source of materials.
Seattle: How does one prepare for emerging tactics and the like, especially on the front lines, such as guarding the Green Zone? I can't see U.S. forces practicing security drills there, and we're rotating troops so fast that I can't see much time for training when the troops aren't there, either...
Ben Venzke: First and most importantly collecting intelligence on attempted and executed attacks and then passing that back through the line is critical. If you have trained and experienced observers on that front line they are going to be some of the first people to notice changes in tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) of the jihadists. The whole trick is in making sure that knowledge gets shared. In addition intelligence can develop indicators as to TTP evolutions. We also can learn a lot from observing the videos released by jihadist groups. Years ago all we would know of an attack is what was left afterwards and any witness accounts; now for the first time ever we have video of the jihadists preparing for the attack, training for it and executing it. All of this goes a long way to prep our troops as long as we are able to get it in front of them and make sure the intel is being shared among the frontline operators.
Nashville, Tenn.: Are the terrorists using visual effects studios like DreamWorks to make their videos? It's hard to believe that a $40 EFP can destroy a $6 million dollar Abrams M1A1 tank, except "in the movies."
Ben Venzke: They do use a lot of visual effects and graphics, but these more often than not simply are utilized to add impact to what they're showing versus actually trying to deceive the viewer. If there is deception it is most likely to come in the form of an edit or use of the camera angle to makes an attack look the most devastating, and the absence of any kind of aftermath footage that would allow you to see if the vehicle really is destroyed or not.
Ben Venzke: Thanks for all the questions. Sorry I wasn't able to get to all of them. We've hit that time. Bye.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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IntelCenter CEO Ben Venzke, coauthor of "The al-Qaeda Threat: An Analytical Guide to al-Qaeda's Tactics and Targets," will discuss al-Qaeda's use of roadside bombs and the group's video recordings of the blasts.
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http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/ali_ettefagh/2007/09/wake_up_america_iran_is_not_wh.html
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PostGlobal on washingtonpost.com
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2007100119
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Winston Churchill said, âTo jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war,â and one ought to frame Columbia Universityâs debate in such a context. But the invitation proved to be a cheap and failed ruse, put on by aggressive and skewed observers who once supported cakewalk actions and are now suffering from intellectual bankruptcy.
The opening comments of Lee Bollinger, the president of the University, fell far short of objective debate. The professor tried to hide behind an academic façade to deliver a rehashed version of retail and junk news, in all likelihood courtesy of Google. He allowed himself to comment about capital punishment in Iran, as if the U.S. has no such thing, and went as far as calling the Iranian President a âpetty, cruel dictatorâ. Perhaps Lee Bollinger is still stuck in the Iran of 30 years ago and he confused Ahmedinejad with the Shah, Americaâs man in Tehran. It was exemplary of how Americans, and American foreign policy, are stuck in the past, and how Americans are resistant to acknowledge just how thick the self-isolation bubble that surrounds them has become.
It was also amazing to see the American Rainman repeat the same questions over and over again. A reporter from CBSâ 60 Minutes asked tough questions in an interview in Tehran, which was broadcast on Sunday and subsequently reported in newspapers and more than 2000 websites. The very next day, the National Press Club members repeated the same questions, and later that day, an academic put the same questions to President Ahmedinejad a third time. Somehow, the CBS reporter, the National Press Club and the professor did not recall that it is their treasure and blood that funds Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the death and destruction of Iraq. (They are probably too busy congratulating themselves on their massive foreign aid of US$20 per Palestinian!).
These self-elected thinkers and news producers are stuck in a box of rehashed propaganda and have no mind for an objective debate. When was the last time that you read a report that compares Iran, and Iranians, with regional countries in the same league? Has anyone asked whether Iranian women are better off than their Saudi neighbours? Or how many elections were held in Iran prior to the Revolution? Has anyone taken the time to observe that the Iran of today has made tangible progress when compared with the Iran of 30 years ago â when it imported more than half of its food and all of its cars, pharmaceuticals and military hardware? And why is it that the United States can prosecute its own citizens as âenemy combatantsâ but Iran should not confront agitators that are funded by foreigners?
Americans must realize that it is time to accept Iran as it is today, and not as they daydream it to be, as some sort of a retro-1950s creampuff headed by a brutal puppet. Such realization must also extend to universal application of international law, and to the naked truth that isolation methods have failed. Americans must also take note that their foreign policy extends beyond the interests of a small country in the Middle East that has less than half the population of Tehran.
Is it finally time to engage in a proper, cool-headed and objective debate? Have isolationist daydream policies worked in Cuba? What was achieved, or lost, by not talking to Fidel Castro? Have militarist endeavours in Iraq produced a western-style, liberal and open democracy anywhere else in the Middle East, or are they still run by âpetty, cruelâ regimes?
This atmosphere, and the amateurish psychological pressure of foreign lobbies piled on the American bubble lead me to Churchillâs description of the USSR: this situation appears to be a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, concealed in an enigma. That is probably the best description of the mindset of contemporary America in this global village.
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Ali Ettefagh at PostGlobal on PostGlobal; blog of politics and current events on washingtonpost.com. Visit http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/ali_ettefagh/
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Gingrich Decides Against Presidential Bid
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Gingrich said the last-minute change of heart, which came as aides readied the NewtNow.org Web site and prepared to file campaign papers, was the result of legal advice that running for president would require stepping down as chairman of his nonprofit organization, American Solutions.
That group is the latest vehicle for Gingrich's musings about politics and policy, and opened its first-annual "ideas summit" Saturday at a Georgia college an hour west of Atlanta and with webcasts on the Internet.
"American Solutions is in the early stages, I think, of becoming a genuine national citizens movement," Gingrich told reporters. "To walk out of it just as it's getting launched struck me as absolutely irresponsible."
Gingrich has spent the better part of a year teasing the media and his supporters with the idea that he might run for president. He has condemned the political process that requires candidates to start campaigning years ahead of the election and to raise tens of millions of dollars.
At times, his criticism of the American electoral process made it sound unlikely that he would run. But more recently, he said he would run if he received $30 million in pledges toward a presidential campaign.
Aides had scheduled a news conference for Monday morning in which Gingrich was set to announce the formation of an exploratory committee. Randy Evans, Gingrich's lawyer, said they had prepared the papers, opened a bank account and severed Gingrich's ties as a consultant for Fox News.
Evans said that since word leaked out a week ago, Gingrich had received pledges "in the millions, I'll make no bones about it."
But at about 11 a.m. Saturday, Gingrich said, Evans told the former lawmaker that the McCain-Feingold campaign finance laws would make it a criminal offense for Gingrich to form the presidential exploratory committee while continuing to run the American Solutions organization.
"The McCain-Feingold act is a very anti-middle-class act," Gingrich said. "There are such severe penalties. I would have to have stepped down and resigned. . . . That basically ended the conversation."
Gingrich has been a fiery figure since he burst onto the national stage in 1994 with the "Contract With America," a list of 10 pledges that helped Republicans seize control of the House and launched Gingrich into the speaker's office.
From that perch, he became a larger-than-life figure, espousing conservative principles and battling with then-President Bill Clinton. Gingrich helped lead the campaign to impeach Clinton but resigned in 1998 after midterm elections that disappointed the GOP.
In recent years, however, Gingrich has tried to rehabilitate his reputation. He has become a conservative gadfly, writing novels and policy prescriptions, sometimes to Republicans' chagrin.
He has said the American Solutions organization is intended to be a bipartisan effort aimed at finding "real solutions" to the nation's problems. The summit featured sessions from conservatives such as former representative Dick Armey (R-Tex.) and former Colorado governor Roy Romer (D).
A video played at the beginning of the summit said: "Red Country? Blue Country? Americans are tired of Red vs. Blue. We need a Red, White and Blue country."
Whether that sentiment would have translated into votes in a possible presidential campaign is anyone's guess. Several of the 100 or so summit attendees said they admire Gingrich's creativity but are not sure he would be a good president.
Jim Bourland, 50, a general contractor from Columbus, Miss., drove 3 1/2 hours to spend the day in western Georgia with Gingrich. But he arrived wearing a T-shirt proclaiming former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney "Mr. President."
"We're looking for a good vice president," Bourland explained.
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CARROLLTON, Ga., Sept. 29 -- Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich on Saturday decided against running for president in 2008, less than a day after the Republican indicated publicly that he would spend the next month exploring the viability of a White House bid.
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U.N. Envoy Arrives In Burma for Talks With Ruling Junta
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The Buddhist monks who had been leading the protesters -- and inspiring them with their revered status in Burmese society -- were blocked inside monasteries for a second day, surrounded by army troops and frightened by a wave of arrests, the reports said.
The U.N. envoy for Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, landed in Rangoon and headed for Naypyidaw, the isolated official capital 250 miles to the north that was chosen two years ago as headquarters for the ruling State Peace and Development Council headed by Senior Gen. Than Shwe, according to news agencies. The Singaporean foreign minister, George Yeo, said in New York that Gambari's mission was the best hope for a peaceful end to the crisis and movement toward a political transformation after nearly half a century of military dictatorship.
But in Washington, U.S. officials said the Bush administration was putting pressure on China to play a more active role in persuading Shwe and the ruling council to open up space for political reform. China, with large investments and a strategic partnership with the military junta, has been singled out as the country with the most influence in Burma, which lies along its southern border. Chinese officials so far have declined to intervene forcefully, however, citing a traditional policy of noninterference in other countries' problems.
The U.S. officials suggested that the goal should be the generals' departure from power, perhaps to exile in China, opening the way for a democratic government. But the National Council of the Union of Burma, a main exile umbrella group, said its goal at this stage was less ambitious: national dialogue between the military junta and other political forces in the country.
"The military would be part of the solution," said Soe Aung, a spokesman for the group.
Gambari should first seek a public commitment from the junta to ease its crackdown on demonstrators, he said, and then focus on getting such a dialogue set up. It would include representatives of the monks, who have led the recent protests, he said, in addition to leaders of the National League for Democracy, the party headed by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
But Shwe and his fellow generals showed no sign they were ready to heed the exhortations from abroad. Instead, their security forces reinforced the number of troops in the streets of Rangoon and Mandalay and continued a wave of arrests apparently designed to decapitate the anti-government movement.
Exile sources in neighboring Thailand said several hundred monks have been arrested since the crackdown began Wednesday. Family members said police during the night also arrested Win Mya Ma, a prominent member of the National League for Democracy, the Associated Press reported from Rangoon. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the past 18 years, although some reports said she was taken to a prison or military base during the height of the protests.
With that in mind, Soe Aung said Gambari should also insist on meeting with Suu Kyi to make sure she is all right. The widely respected daughter of Burmese independence leader Aung San, she led her party to victory in parliamentary elections in 1990, only to have the military nullify the results and confine her at home.
The military, which first seized power in 1962, has survived several uprisings through crackdowns similar to the one underway now, content to ride out international condemnation and confident that Burma's petroleum reserves would continue to attract foreign investment. An estimated 3,000 people were killed in 1988 when troops opened fire on demonstrators; another uprising was put down in 1996 with massive arrests.
Government newspapers Saturday morning stressed that security forces this time had used the minimum power necessary to restore order. This also was the message passed to Southeast Asian diplomats called in for a briefing on the crisis Friday by Burmese authorities.
"Peace and stability have been restored," was the headline in one newspaper.
The junta acknowledged that nine demonstrators were killed by security forces' gunfire Thursday, the peak of the protesting. But exile sources and foreign diplomats said the real toll was probably several times that.
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BANGKOK, Sept. 29 -- A U.N. special envoy flew to Burma for discussions with the country's entrenched military government Saturday, seeking to resolve a bloody political uprising that has generated worldwide demands for the generals to halt their repression and make way for democratic reforms.
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Kabul Bus Bombing Kills 30
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KABUL, Sept. 29 -- A suicide bomber dressed as a soldier boarded an Afghan National Army bus in Kabul early Saturday and detonated his explosives, killing at least 30 people and injuring 29, Afghan security officials said.
The massive explosion, one of the deadliest suicide attacks in Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion almost six years ago, ripped through the roof and sides of the bus, leaving it an unrecognizable mass of twisted and charred metal. The blast broke shop windows as far as a block away and scattered splinters of glass, chunks of flesh and chards of metal for hundreds of yards.
The Taliban, an Islamic extremist group allied with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, asserted responsibility for the bombing in a text message sent to the Associated Press, the news agency reported. The message from purported Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the bomber was a Kabul resident, whose name was given as Azizullah.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack in a news conference Saturday, calling it "an act of extreme cowardice" that was "against humanity, against Islam."
The 6:45 a.m. blast in central Kabul could be heard for miles in a city that was just waking up.
"We were sleeping and we awoke to a huge explosion," said Fayeed, 41, who lives in a third-floor apartment directly in front of the blast site. The boom smashed his windows and sent glass flying through his home, slightly injuring his wife and 6-month-old daughter.
Fayeed, who like many Afghans uses only one name, said he raced downstairs and found the bus a shambles, littered with the bodies of dead soldiers and three women. Three men were seriously wounded, he said, including one who had lost both legs. A sidewalk cigarette vendor who operated a stall across the street also was killed, he said.
"It's the holy month of Ramadan, and we lost our people," he said. "It shows the weakness of the government. They can't bring security to the people, but the people can't bring security themselves."
Wahiddullah Araye, 50, was walking his two children to school when the blast occurred.
"Everybody ran toward the bus to help people; there were a lot of dead and injured inside," he said. "A person who does a suicide bombing is not human. The people who were killed are our countrymen, and I feel very sorry for them."
The attack took place in front of a large movie theater, at a spot where Afghan soldiers gather every morning to be picked up by a bus that takes them to their jobs, an army spokesman, Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, said in a telephone interview. He said the bomber, wearing an Afghan army uniform, apparently detonated an explosive belt almost immediately after boarding the bus.
"Typically, there are people checking the IDs of soldiers who want to board the bus," Azimi told the Associated Press. "While they were checking the IDs, the bomber tried to get on the bus and blew himself up there."
Unable to fight conventionally against better-armed and better-protected international forces in Afghanistan, insurgents increasingly are adopting guerrilla tactics, including roadside bombings, kidnappings and suicide attacks. The bombing Saturday was similar to one in June in which a bomber dressed as a soldier boarded a bus packed with police recruits and detonated explosives, killing about 30 people. The Taliban also asserted responsibility for that attack.
Also on Saturday, Taliban insurgents freed four kidnapped staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Reuters news agency reported. The men were seized Wednesday by the Taliban in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul.
Special correspondent Javed Hamdard contributed to this report.
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KABUL, Sept. 29 -- A suicide bomber dressed as a soldier boarded an Afghan National Army bus in Kabul early Saturday and detonated his explosives, killing at least 30 people and injuring 29, Afghan security officials said.
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GAO Faults Smithsonian Upkeep and Security
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A backlog of construction and maintenance projects at the Smithsonian has ballooned to $2.5 billion, the GAO said, in part because Smithsonian officials insist that most facility repairs and upgrades be paid for through federal appropriations and not private money. The government provides 70 percent of the Smithsonian's money -- $715 million last year.
Those facility problems have forced a museum director to occasionally shut down galleries and left some staff at an art gallery scrambling each day to find new drips, while underground leaks at the National Zoo's sea lion and seal pools have caused 110,000 gallons of water a day to flow into storm drains. That's more than 40 million gallons of water a year at an annual cost of $297,000. Repairs this year have reduced the leakage from what had been 140,000 gallons of water a day, the GAO said, and efforts to plug the remaining leaks are underway, a Smithsonian spokeswoman said.
"There is no question that the $2.5 billion facilities requirement is one of the most important challenges the Smithsonian faces," acting Secretary Cristi¿n Samper wrote in his response, which was attached to the report. "We must not lose sight, however, of the need to continue advancements and improvements in our programs as well, an area in which our donors have been extraordinarily generous."
The number of security officers has steadily declined since May 2003 even though the Smithsonian has opened new museums, resulting in fewer officers to cover more space, the GAO said. At times, security alarms would ring, but guards would be unavailable to check on them. Guards once assigned to cover a single gallery must now cover two.
The museums suffered 35 cases of vandalism between 2005 and August this year. Last November, officials discovered that someone had popped open older exhibit cases and stolen several mammalian fossils at the National Museum of Natural History. Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said she did not know the value of the fossils.
St. Thomas said an outside firm has been hired to determine if the number of guards is adequate.
Two Smithsonian officials told the GAO of "alarming 'near misses' -- events related to inadequate facilities that could have been catastrophic," including a leak a year ago at the Sackler Gallery that would have destroyed $500 million in loaned artwork if the deluge had occurred while the art was stored there.
The leak was caused by problems with the steam system for the complex of underground buildings near the Smithsonian Castle on the Mall. "Museum officials stated that staff must routinely spend time each morning searching for new leaks in order to move or cover collections to keep them safe," the report said. "Several officials emphasized they have been lucky to avoid major damage to the collections thus far."
A daytime fire last year at the zoo's invertebrate house and reptile center "did not set off a smoke alarm and could have burned down the entire building," the report found. Because it happened during regular work hours, the blaze was discovered by staff in time. The fire alerted zoo Director John Berry to the lack of fire sprinklers in most buildings, as well as inferior hydrants and "the potentially disastrous consequences of a fire at the National Zoo to facilities and the animals living in them," investigators said. "Inadequate fire protection systems throughout much of the National Zoo threaten the zoo's collections overall."
To prevent damage from leaks, sheets of plastic have been stretched over shelves to protect National Museum of the American Indian artifacts that were stored at Cultural Resources Center in Suitland. Among the items under cover are an Eskimo kayak from Greenland and a rare Yahgan dugout canoe from Tierra del Fuego.
The report, an update of a 2005 audit done at the request of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the institution, criticizes the Smithsonian for insisting that federal appropriations pay for the upgrades.
The GAO review follows reports in The Washington Post earlier this year that former secretary Lawrence M. Small received $1.15 million in housing allowances over a six-year period, which included a $5,700 bill from a contractor to patch a roof, repair a skylight and redo walls in Small's house. Small later resigned.
The GAO report, written by Mark Goldstein of the congressional agency's physical infrastructure office, found damage to aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum's storage facilities in Suitland, where large doors that do not seal are permitting rain to seep inside. Corrosion to these historic airplanes increased the cost of restoring them, museum officials told the GAO.
To address the facilities backlog, the regents went to President Bush last year to request $100 million a year for 10 years; in response to the plea, Bush proposed a $44 million boost for the Smithsonian in 2008 over the 2007 appropriation.
Feinstein has told Smithsonian officials that it is unrealistic to count on federal funding for the upgrades and has urged them to find alternative funding. The GAO report suggests that the Smithsonian should dip into unrestricted trust funds, which account for 6 percent ($58 million in 2006) of the institution's budget.
Investigators also learned that the Smithsonian Board of Regents briefly considered shutting down museums one or two days a week to save money, or imposing entrance fees. The board rejected both ideas. The GAO report criticized the cursory consideration of those proposals, which, in addition to a national "Save America's Treasures" fundraising drive, are back on the table, a Smithsonian spokeswoman said yesterday.
"It is clear that without a comprehensive plan to raise private funds to address these issues the Smithsonian facilities will continue to decline, putting the treasures in its collection at great risk," Feinstein wrote in a letter this week to the regents. Feinstein had requested the review in light of reports about former secretary Small's compensation and expenses.
In reply to Feinstein's letter, Roger Sant, chairman of the Smithsonian regents, wrote Feinstein, "I regret that your reading of the draft report led you to such negative conclusions. In my view, much of the report was very positive." Sant cited improvements at the National Zoo, the reopening of the old Patent Office that houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.
"While the GAO rightly points out an unfortunate decrease in the number of security guards at certain museums, I want to stress that our overall security record is commendable," Sant said. The GAO report said some facility improvements had been made.
Three museum directors said their museums have experienced increased rates of vandalism because of the lack of security officers patrolling galleries. At the newly reopened American Art Museum, vandals wrote on an exhibit, and at the National Portrait Gallery, visitors spit on or kissed a few pieces of artwork. The vandalism stopped when a security camera was installed nearby .
Two museum directors said it has become more difficult for them to borrow artifacts because "lenders have expressed concern with the lack of protection."
Communication between security officers and museums is poor and often directors are not told how many guards will be reporting to duty from day to day, the GAO said. One museum director told investigators he once had an emergency to report, but could not find a security guard. He went to an established post, but it was vacant. The shortages delayed emergency response, the report said. The early GAO findings about security concerns prompted the Smithsonian to hire college students as gallery attendants this summer.
At Air and Space's flagship museum on the Mall, inadequate electrical systems have forced occasional closure of galleries to visitors, the museum's director, Jack Dailey, told the GAO. Installed in 1975, the electrical systems are obsolete, and complete replacement is needed to avoid outages. Spokeswoman St. Thomas said that a contractor has now been hired to make the repairs.
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Deteriorating Smithsonian facilities have damaged historic airplanes, threatened collections and resulted in the leakage of tens of millions of gallons of water at National Zoo enclosures, while cuts in security staff have exposed artifacts in the institution's 18 museums to vandalism and theft, ...
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The National Book Festival
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Diane Ackerman is an author, poet and naturalist. She is best known for An Alchemy of Mind and the recently published history The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story. She has the rare distinction of having a molecule -- dianeackerone -- named after her. History & Biography 2:40 p.m. Signing 4 p.m.
Ann Amernick, a five-time nominee for the James Beard Pastry Chef of the Year Award, was an assistant pastry chef at the White House under two presidents. Her latest cookbook is The Art of the Dessert. Home & Family 2:40 p.m. Signing 4 p.m.
M.T. Anderson is an award-winning children's author. His book Feed was a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His latest book, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, won the 2006 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Teens & Children 4:15 p.m. Signing 2 p.m.
Maria Celeste Arraras is an Emmy award-winning investigative reporter and author of Selena's Secret. Her newest book, The Magic Cane, is a bilingual publication for young readers. She is host and managing editor of Telemundo/NBC's "Al Rojo Vivo con Maria Celeste." Children 11:20 a.m. Signing 12 p.m.
David Baldacci, attorney turned author, has written 13 consecutive bestsellers, including The Collectors and Simple Genius. With his wife, he is co-founder of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting literacy. Mysteries & Thrillers 4 p.m. Signing 2 p.m.
Michael Beschloss is the author of seven presidential histories. His most recent is Presidential Courage. As NBC News presidential historian, he appears regularly on "Today," "NBC Nightly News" and "Meet the Press." He is also a regular news analyst on PBS's "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." History & Biography 1:30 p.m. Signing 3 p.m.
Holly Black is the author of award-winning fantasy novels for children and teens, among them
Tithe and The Spiderwick Chronicles. Her latest book, Ironside, is the sequel to Tithe. Teens & Children 2:15 p.m. Signing 3 p.m.
Ashley Bryan has won the Coretta Scott King Award for illustration and six Coretta Scott King Honor awards. He is the author and illustrator of numerous books, many based on African folk tales. His latest is My America, co-illustrated with author Jan Spivey Gilchrist. Children 1:25 p.m. Signing 3 p.m.
Ken Burns is director, producer and co-writer of more than 10 historical documentaries, among them "Brooklyn Bridge," "Baseball," "Jazz" and "The Civil War," which have been nominated for Academy Awards. He is co-author, with Geoffrey Ward, of The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945, which will air as a seven-part documentary this year. History & Biography 4 p.m. Signing 2 p.m.
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Every year, The Washington Post and Book World proudly support the National Book Festival, the largest of its kind in the capital. On Saturday, Sept. 29, the Festival will bring more than 75 writers and illustrators to the Mall to share their experiences and autograph their books. Washington Post...
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Post Politics Hour
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Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.
Washington Post national political reporter Shailagh Murray was online Monday, Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. ET.
Get the latest campaign news live on washingtonpost.com's The Trail, or subscribe to a podcast of the show.
Archive: Post Politics Hour discussion transcripts
Poplar Bluff, Mo.: Cheers, Shailagh. The Post reported yesterday the Republican leadership was considering open hearings on Sen. Larry Craig's arrest and investigate previous behaviors concerning his social life. Are the GOP leadership bluffing to force Craig resign, and do you believe it will work?
washingtonpost.com: GOP Is Ready to Roll Out the Klieg Lights for Craig (Post, Sept. 30)
Shailagh Murray: Good morning everyone. I had a computer problem -- sorry I'm running a little late! Let's get started with my favorite subject ... Larry Craig.
No, the Republicans aren't bluffing about open hearings. They point out the Sen. Boxer, who now chairs the ethics committee, pushed for the same treatment of Bob Packwood. They hope -- underscore hope -- that the potential humiliation will nudge Craig toward the door. But it hasn't worked so far!
Henly, Texas: Either the blocking of cloture by the Republican minority in the Senate or a Bush veto can stifle just about any Democratic initiative from Congress. So why doesn't the Congress load everything it wants onto something Bush has to have -- like funding for Iraq? A veto then means he ends his own war (or "doesn't support the troops"). Can he really justify killing his "essential" Iraq funding just to keep a few lower-middle-class kids off of SCHIP? Is he willing to abandon the "Coalition of the Willing" just to keep from raising taxes on cigarettes and the fortunes of gadzillionaires? Please tell us the answer, oh wise one!
Shailagh Murray: Oh wise one ... yeah, right.
What you propose is certainly a winning strategy, but it would be tough to pull off. For one, appropriations bills aren't supposed to make policy, so that limits what you can do with them. The other problem with the Iraq funding bills is the troop element -- many Democrats are reluctant to press that hot button, which is why Congress backed down earlier this year, after Bush's veto of the emergency spending bill. You regular chatters know I'm a broken record on this subject, but don't be deceived by the Democrats' supposed Senate majority -- when it comes to anything controversial, Republicans really do have the upper hand.
Baltimore: Regarding the promised SCHIP veto -- is there really any political down side for the lame-duck Current Occupant? Except perhaps the legacy of disastrous decisions domestically as well as abroad?
Shailagh Murray: I like that: "Current Occupant." What's interesting about the SCHIP battle is how normal it is -- this is what we'd be dealing with all the time with Bush and the Democratic Congress, if there weren't an Iraq war. Democrats vs. Republicans on social and fiscal policy, tussling over PBS funding, Amtrak, all the usual stuff.
I'm sure conservatives are reassured that Bush still has some fight in him, but would prefer that the issue involve something other than poor children.
Re: Craig and Hearings: Why would the GOP want hearings into Craig? The best they could get was increased media attention and then he resigns in disgrace, while the worst is that they appear all-but-openly homophobic and Sen. Craig fights back using dirty tactics. What's the win?
Shailagh Murray: I think they're expecting him to want to spare his family the further humiliation. I don't get the sense that Republicans are worried about the homophobic taint -- they see bathroom sex as sort of occupying a different category.
washingtonpost.com: We're getting a lot of questions this morning about how the media operates. Try clicking here and sending them to Howard Kurtz's discussion, which starts at noon today.
Seattle: How much of the lopsided partition vote was GOP Senators signaling a desire for a change in Iraq, and how much of it was just political cover disguised as a nonbinding resolution?
washingtonpost.com: An Unlikely Vote Forces No Change (Post, Sept. 30)
Shailagh Murray: That's an excellent question. Obviously there's no way to know for sure. My interpretation of the outcome was that it showed a frustration among many Republicans with the lack of progress on the non-military front, and perhaps was meant to send a message to Bush to invest more energy on the political/diplomatic side.
Helena, Mont.: More a comment than a question, but do you think the administration knows how lame it is to threaten vetoes on appropriations bills now after signing everything the first six years, no matter how large or how inane (bridge to nowhere comes to mind, but transportation bill was also loaded with lots of goodies)? Now Bush is fiscally conservative?
Shailagh Murray: Yes. I think Bush lost lots of credibility with real fiscal conservatives in Congress during his first term, when he refused to put the brakes on spending.
Gainesville, Fla.: I really enjoyed your piece yesterday on Johnny Isakson. While he supports the War he "resents" all the oxygen debates about the war is sucking out of the Senate's schedule. Are there any other Republican Senators you plan on profiling soon, and will they too "resent" their time being wasted on debating the billions spent in Iraq, not to mention the thousands of deaths?
Shailagh Murray: I think Sen. Isakson's concerns are pretty widely held, including among some Democrats -- not that time is being wasted on the Iraq debate, but that until there are signs of some sort of breakthrough, there's a lot of other business that deserves Congress's attention.
Prescott, Ariz.: Hi. Another Larry Craig question: He recently got subpoenaed in the corruption trial of Brent Wilkes (one of Duke Cunningham's bribe buddies). What are the chances that he is trying to hold on tightly to his Senate seat so he can use a bunch of congressional immunity mumbo-jumbo to keep himself out of a corruption investigation?
Shailagh Murray: That's an interesting question, and I don't know the answer. I'm throwing it out there for others to consider.
Rochester, N.Y.: A few weeks ago you said you thought the US health care system was superior to that of Europe. If this is true, why does the U.S. always finish so low in the World Health Organization rankings?
Shailagh Murray: Not better! Just different! Because our economies and populations are so different.
Leesburg, Va.: It may be that the Republicans feel they could weather open hearings, but -- on the flip side -- is there any reason to believe that Sen. Boxer would support them this time? I don't think an open hearing designed to embarrass someone for homosexual behavior would play well with her constituents. It would probably be better to just let the media push the story if Craig tries to stay in the Senate.
Shailagh Murray: There's no way to know where this is going, because the ethics committee members aren't talking. I think Republicans are hoping the judge in Minnesota will reject Craig's petition and he will follow through with resigning and that'll be the end of it. If he resists at that point, then they will try to take it to the next level.
As an aside, I would note at how deftly the Democrats have played this -- they've barely said a word since the scandal broke.
Pittsburgh: Have all the juicy investigations just sort of fizzled or is Congress gearing up to uncover all sorts of nepotism, rascalism, and malfeasance? I'm thinking Dusty Foggo and hooker/poker parties at the Watergate with the Dukestir. Also, Baltimore needs to give Garrison Keillor proper attribution for the "Current Occupant." Thanks for these chats, Shailagh.
Shailagh Murray: Lots of good questions today -- thanks, folks. There do seem to be an unusual number of juicy, potentially career-killing rumors swirling around these days. But retirements may be a better gauge than the hearing docket at this point -- i.e. Ted Stevens.
Tampa, Fla.: What is it about D.C. that makes it such a thoroughly corrupt city, professionally and socially?
Shailagh Murray: Very simple. Everyone here is spending other people's money.
Baltimore: For Leesburg: I don't think Barbara Boxer will hear much from her gay constituents about Sen. Craig. Anyone who follows Doonesbury knows that its principal gay character has been fulminating about Sen. Craig giving the impression that all gay men seek furtive assignations in public toilets. It's a very, very small subculture.
Shailagh Murray: Thank you for this comment. I totally agree, it's an excellent point that goes to the heart of this scandal.
Senatorial "Immunity Mumbo-Jumbo": If such a thing exists, I'm sure Ted Stevens would love to know about it. The only such protection afforded to members of Congress of which I am aware is the "Speech and Debate" clause in the Constitution. Although it has been interpreted broadly by the courts, I don't think it would help a senator avoid testifying under subpoena when he is not the target of the investigation.
Shailagh Murray: Thanks for this...
Washington: Re: The Nebraska Senate race -- reports a week ago said that Sen. Kerrey was leaning against running. Have you heard anything new on this? Thanks.
Shailagh Murray: That's our sense, that he won't run. But he's not an easy guy to predict.
Chaska, Minn.: It has been suggested by various pundits and Democrats that the reason they will not vote to cutoff funding for the Iraq war is two-fold: not wanting the appearance of weakness/not supporting the troops, and believing that that even with a funds cutoff George Bush would continue the war. Could he really continue the war if the Congress did not appropriate more funds?
Shailagh Murray: Not after a certain point, although certain Pentagon accounts would run dry more quickly than others.
Fort Pierce, Fla.: Hello Shailagh, I have a question that has been eating at me for some time now that has to do with our voting system. Why does the voting process have to be soooo secretive? I have never had someone tell me "it's none of your business" after asking them whom they voted for, have you? It makes one wonder doesn't it? My suggestion would be to have a booth for each candidate, that way everyone would see which candidates were getting the most votes by looking at the lines.
Shailagh Murray: I can't imagine why anyone from Florida would ask such a question!
We have certainly become a full-disclosure culture in recent years, but there is something deeply personal about voting, so I don't think we will be going to a public system any time soon.
Maplewood, N.J.: Re: Tampa -- and then again, in Washington you have a full-time, highly motivated, public and private investigative core. If the same attention were focused on Tampa or Des Moines or Fernwood we'd most likely see the same degree of people acting -- like people.
Shailagh Murray: My gosh, lots of insightful comments from readers today! Thanks.
Deft Democrats:"I would note at how deftly the Democrats have played this -- they've barely said a word since the scandal broke." Wow, those are words I thought I'd never hear. I agree with that too. The Republican infighting on the Craig issue is doing more than any Dem could do.
Shailagh Murray: I give credit where and when it's due.
Ballston, Va.: How did the discussion of funding cutoffs devolve into potential harm to the troops?
Shailagh Murray: Because the funding pays for weapons, armored vehicles, food, and other battlefield essentials.
Washington: How serious do you think the Christian Right leaders are about backing a third-party candidate if a pro-choice Republican wins the nomination? Does that only apply to Giuliani, or could Romney be hurt by that as well considering his evolution on the issue?
Shailagh Murray: This is an interesting subject. Giuliani's current strength in particular is so mystifying to so many Republicans -- but their commitment to the cause is in conflict with their desire to win.
Anonymous: Hi, Shailagh -- interesting article Saturday. I do have a question because it seems we see the situation differently. In the article, you wrote the following in your voice: "Senate Democrats' failure to reach agreement with wavering Republicans. ... Last week, Democrats failed to pass a proposal to bring home most troops by next June and to narrow the U.S. mission. ... Both sides were optimistic about a deal until Republican negotiators demanded that the timetable be pushed from June to sometime after the 2008 presidential election. ... But even with the additional six months, Voinovich could not promise Levin a large number of Republican votes."
It seems to me the GOP is hunkering down against an onslaught of overwhelming public opinion from left, right and center. How does the GOP senators filibuster of these proposals represent a failure on the part of Democratic senators? If the "wavering Republicans" needed to overcome the filibuster will not allow cloture on a timetable that starts 18 months out with the next president, what exactly is their offer in this compromise?
washingtonpost.com: Democrats' Chances to Alter Iraq Strategy Dwindling (Post, Sept. 29)
Shailagh Murray: It depends on whether you want to win the ideological argument or the legislative battle. To win the latter, you have to deal with 60 votes. Republicans did not invent that, although the current minority has certainly worked the filibuster strategy to great effect.
Washington: Bigger disappointment: Fred Thompson's listless presidential campaign, or the New York Mets, who blew a seven-game lead in less than three weeks?
Shailagh Murray: Well, I'm a Yankees fan, so of course I'm not surprised. And I realize this disclosure will give a lot of you a whole new reason to fill my inbox with hate mail.
But I will close on this note: I drove to Philly yesterday for the last Nationals game and it was really something to see that stadium erupt. Nice to see real joy for a change, and I'm not referring to the D.C. sports environment.
Cheers to all, and have a lovely post-season. Feel free to write back and jeer in two weeks if the Yanks are toast.
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Join live discussions from the Washington Post. Feature topics include national, world and DC area news, politics, elections, campaigns, government policy, tech regulation, travel, entertainment, cars, and real estate.
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Post Magazine: The King of Dupont Circle
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Tom Murphy is one of the biggest names on the Dupont Circle chessscene. So, why does he use his passion to hustle for cash instead ratherthan compete for championship glory? Wells Tower talks to the King of Dupont Circle in this week's issue of Washington Post Magazine. Watch the video.
Wells Tower is a contributing writer for the Magazine.
Wells Tower: Greetings, and thanks to all of you for writing in. I can see we've got a healthy stack of questions, and only one scant hour, but I'll try to get to as many as I can.
Washington, DC: Great story and a fascinating character. I kept seeing your story as a film. It's always been a puzzle to me that homeless folks living on the fringe could also be gifted chess players - that the skills necessary for chess success would ensure a secure life. It is still a mystery - that one can be a chess savant yet have a life in chaos.
Wells Tower: I'm so glad you enjoyed the piece, and yes, I too, was amazed to discover that street players like Murphy and others I met had such a deep understanding of the game. And in a strange way, I think the fringe existence of a lot of these players mimics the all-consuming passion for the game you see across the board, no pun intended. If you really want to play chess on a high level, it's something that demands vast amounts of leisure time. Someone in the park, a homeless man, offered me a (possibly apocryphal) quote from Bobby Fischer, saying something to the effect of "No serious player should have a day job." It was also Fischer who said, "Chess is life," which I think is more to the point, that chess is a diversion as complex and consuming as life itself, a fascinating intellectual retreat, and a particularly needful one for folks like Murphy, whose material circumstances are not always a source of comfort and joy.
Washington, D.C.: Are you planning on continuing to follow Murphy's story? And what do you think is next for him? More of the same-old-same-old or a Cinderella success story?
Wells Tower: I'd love to spend more time with Tom and to see where things wind up for him. He's a fascinating guy, and someone for whom I wish the very best. I'll keep my fingers crossed for him, and maybe someday I'll get to do a follow-up.
Bethesda, MD: My spouse (not a chess player) read this article and came away feeling that "chess ruined -Tom's life". However, as a member of the DC chess community who knows Tom, I have a different view. Tom has a significant substance abuse problem, which is a (if not the) primary cause of his homelessness and joblessness. The enormity of this problem was not given an accurate weighting in this article. It's likely that Tom's chess talent, and the ability to hustle $$, may the only thing keeping him from falling totally into skid row right now.
Wells Tower: Well, I'd leave this one to Tom, who told me on a few occasions that had he not played chess, he'd be back in Philly, working for the city, married with children. That said, chess has brought him an enormous amount of joy in his life and has hardly "ruined" it. As far as his alleged drug problems are concerned, we felt we needed to acknowledge the issue, which we did, but ultimately, this was a story about the game, and his playing. To go on at greater length about the darker side of his personal life, I think, would have pulled focus from the chess narrative.
Chicago, Ill: Recognizing that Mr. Murphy is in a cash and carry operation, but if I'm only going to be in DC for a few days during Spring Break is it possible to set up a time slot for a lesson?
Would it be customary to pay the $5 watching fee for my son to watch his Dad getting schooled?
Wells Tower: Good luck setting up anything ahead of time (Tom's got no phone, as far as I know), but if you go down to the park, I'm sure he'll fit you in. As far as the "open air contribution" Tom likes to charge spectators on his tutorials, my guess is if he's taking your money, your son will get to watch gratis.
Camden, SC: Thanks for writing such a fascinating human interest story about Mr. Murphy. I very enjoyed it. However, I did notice several factual inaccuracies. You state that chess is the world's oldest board game. This is incorrect. The Chinese devised a strategy game know as go, many years before. The story is that a servant of Emperor Yao invented the game for Emperor's son sometime in the third millenium BC. There are written references to the game as early as the fifth or sixth century BC. You also state that chess is a perhaps the most complex board game. Game complexity can be quantified, and it turns out that of the commonly played board games, go is the most complex. (See Wikipedia). In fact, it is considerably more complex that chess. This does not take away from the considerable intellectual achievement of playing chess well, but just states the facts.
By the way, go is probably played by more people world-wide than chess, as it is quite popular in Asia.
Wells Tower: Thanks for the clarification. I found enough references to chess being the world's oldest game out there (see, for example, J.C. Hallman's 2003 book "The Chess Artist, Genius, Obsession, and the World's Oldest Game" [St. Martin's]) that it seemed like an established assertion. Ditto, the game's complexities. If we're off base there, my apologies.
Washington DC: Many kids today enjoy chess, and many parents and schools are coming to realize what a valuable tool it can be in their children's development. Can parents bring their kids to DuPont Circle on nice days for lessons?
Wells Tower: Absolutely, and I couldn't recommend anyone more whole-heartedly than Tom Murphy for your tutor. There are a few others around who give lessons, but I think Tom's probably the best of the Dupont crew at putting the game into language even children can grasp.
I'm wondering if you were tempted to front Murphy the
money he needed to participate in the Philadelphia
tournament? I know I would have been. Or did you feel you
needed to step back and let the story play out naturally?
Sadly, it seem Murphy was going to sabatage his chances
anyway. It was very frustrating to see this happen!
Hopefully, he'll get another chance and capitalize on it.
Wells Tower: Glad you liked the piece. I was disappointed that Tom didn't compete in the World Open, but fronting him the money wasn't an option, given the Post's standards about that sort of thing. Even my offering to cash his victory check if he'd won in New York (which someone else asked about)was deemed by my editors as getting a little bit close to the line.
Washington, DC: Hah! Camden, SC is criticizing you for not properly researching your references to chess as being venerable/complicated. And what research tool did Camden use to refute your claims? Wikipedia! Hah!
Wells Tower: Touche'! Take that, Camden!
I'm trying to figure out which "New Chess Player" is the one Mr. Murphy says is his basis. Do you have an author or publisher or year of publication to figure out which one is the one he suggests?
Wells Tower: I tried to track that book down, actually, and couldn't find it either. It looked to me like a pretty old one, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's out of print. By the way, Murphy also recommends Pachman's "Modern Chess Strategy," and Soltis' "Pawn Structure Chess," which are easier to find, if I've got the titles right.
Washington, DC: Mr. Tower, great article. I read it a couple of times because you had such interesting nuance and detail in there.
But there was one area where I felt you left the reader hanging: did you follow up with Tom about the job he'd been offered (and not followed up on) in Philly? It was an important moment in your article, and I was disappointed not to be able to read more about that issue.
Thanks, and I look forward to reading a follow-up piece some day!
Wells Tower: Glad you enjoyed the story. I think what you're referring to is the job Murphy was offered by the Chess Center in DC. According to the chess center staff, he was offered a position as a teacher but never submitted his resume. When I brought this up with Tom, he said that at the time, he was working a day job doing political work and too busy to pursue the teaching gig.
Washington, DC: Whats a more complicated game, Chess or Checkers?
Wells Tower: I'd have to say chess. A few months ago, a university researcher definitively solved the game of checkers, that is figured out an unbeatable pattern. Much time and money has gone into computer chess programs, and so far, no one's figured out how to crack the game, which I think speaks to chess's complexity.
Columbia, MD: A comment to the author: I was so engrossed by your article that I came to find the accompanying video on washpost.com. The video, while interesting, was nowhere near as revealing as your words alone. I almost wish it was a work of fiction so that the story could have gone on and on. Thank you for a great read.
Wells Tower: That's awfully kind of you to say, and in defense of Nancy Donaldson's excellent video piece, I know she was constrained to keep it brief for internet attention spans. Tom's a great, fascinating guy and tough to cook down to a mere couple of minutes. I wish Nancy'd had an hour or more for her video segment.
Central Florida: Two questions. How much discussion was there between your editor and yourself about your offers to Murphy to provide transport and to cash his check in the event of his victory in New York? Some things in this story might not have happened without you as facilitator. Why weren't scores of some of his tournament games provided, so that we could see objective evidence of his skill as a player? Being told that he is brilliant is one thing, but the scores show that brilliance in black and white.
Wells Tower: Thanks for bringing this up. I did confer with my editor before Tom and I left for New York, and we discussed several precedents in which reporters had given rides to the subjects of pieces, and conversely, in which reporters tag along on road trips with people they're writing about. As far as my snap offer to cash his check for him in the event of his winning, please see the answer above. We didn't furnish scores of the tournaments chiefly because we felt as though only hard core chessheads would be interested, but if you'd like a closer look at his stats, check out his profile: http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlRtgSupp.php?12396676
Alexandria, VA: It has been a number of months since time of the article. Has Tom been able to get himself together?
In a nutshell, Tom is too irresponsible to make is very far in the chess world. He will have to grow up and mature before he really has a shot.
Even if he does become a Master or higher, who is going to take a lesson from a drunk and drugged-out bum?
Wells Tower: I disagree. Tom, in fact, in his more stable periods, has done quite well in the chess world. He's had a master rating at blitz, and earned a good deal of respect from players all across the east coast. It's true that he'll have to make some significant changes if he's going to turn things around for himself. I also take issue with the description of Tom as a "drunk and drugged-out bum." He's a far too intelligent, complex person to be characterized so simply and spitefully. And despite his troubles, the U.S. Chess Center thought his teaching talents outweighed his personal difficulties and offered him a job. Unfortunately, he didn't take them up on it.
Arlington, Va: I couldn't help but notice similarities in this piece and one done last year on "The Great Zucchini". Both are absolutely gifted and a master at what they do, but cannot deal or handle with other aspects of their lifes. Both just need the right person.
Wells Tower: I'm flattered to have my story mentioned in the same breath as Gene Weingarten's fantastic profile of the "Great Zucchini," a professional entertainer of the kindergarten set. Gene does a phenomenal job of uncovering his subject's troubled past, his present demons and all of his poignant contradictions. Gene's story really made me wish I'd had more time with Tom, to tail him for longer than the few weeks I did, and to delve deeper into what makes him tick.
Upper Marlboro, MD: I can't help but think this guys is wasting his life away. The skills he's developed playing chess could be very useful to him in pulling his life together, however, it seems he would rather waste time, energy, and intellect in the park drinking his life away.
Wells Tower: As we've discussed earlier in the conversation, Tom's clearly got his issues, and I think he's aware of the hard work it'll take to get out of the park and working toward stability. No argument here that someone with Tom's talents ought to be employed more gainfully than hustling $2 games at the Dupont tables. I, as one among many, am pulling for him.
Washington, DC: Is Tom also a competitive poker player? Has he ever tried the WSOP?
Wells Tower: Tom's not a competitive poker player, as far as I know, just an extremely avid amateur. I don't think he's tried the World Series of Poker, if that's what WSOP stands for. I did talk with one of Tom's friends who bemoaned the fact that Tom hasn't devoted as much careful study to poker stragegy as he as to chess.
Kingstowne, VA: Have you thought of any more chess articles? There are many other good chess stories in the area where the people are more personally responsible than Tom
The Kingstown Chess Club has a tournament every month and the club meets every Tuesday. Last week there were about 6 kids there. It was a very lively evening.
Chess clubs can be found at www.uschess.org
Wells Tower: I'd like very much to do more writing about chess, though admittedly, my interest in this story had more to do with the characters than it did with the game itself. Still, Tom's passion for the game has inspired me to do a good bit of playing myself, and I'd jump at the chance to do more writing about chess, whether it's a story on hustlers or school kids.
Well, it looks as though we're about out of time here. I'd like to thank all of you who wrote in, or simply spectated today, and thanks, too, to Tom Murphy, for his patience, his candor and his time.
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Wells Towers meets local chess king Tom Murphy, who'd rather play for money than for championship glory.
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Outlook: War's Wounds Need More Study
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"A year and a half ago, I was critically wounded in Iraq while on a reporting assignment. Since then, I've learned more about how the medical profession puts injured troops back together again than I ever wanted to know. I've also learned that surgeons like the ones who've helped me heal need more information - and quickly - about how to deal with the kinds of traumas that troops are suffering today."
CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier as online Monday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. ET to discuss the injuries she sustained in a Baghdad car bombing, and why doctors need to learn from them and the complications that followed.
Archive: Transcripts of discussions with Outlook article authors
Kimberly Dozier: Hello. Thanks for reading and following up with so many questions -- my e-mail inbox has been full of positive responses from people, including a few who knew about extremity war injury problems, and a couple who want to know more. The best e-mail I read this morning was from Assistant Secretary of Defense Ward Casscells, who wrote:
"Your article has prompted us to review the extremity program, incl its funding. I have asked MG (dr) eric schoomaker to review, and suggested he get input from the Army Surgeon general's orthopedic consultant, and Dr Pollak, AAOS, and COL(dr) jon holcomb, as well as Acinetobacter expert Dr (CPT,USN, ret) Joe Malone.
"As for follow-up, you will get an invitation to breakfast briefings we will start next month at the pentagon or national press club."
It's the best news I've gotten in a long time -- so anyone out there who feels like writing and encouraging their senator or congressmen to step up and say "yes" to the funding -- please do. As a journalist, I can educate, but try to stay away from direct lobbying for a particular program (which is why I mentioned all those I knew about). But anyone reading this can help...
Boston: I am so sorry about your injuries and appreciate your concern for others who are wounded. Are you familiar with a program called the Medical Free Electron Laser Program (MFEL) which is dedicated to understanding these injuries and developing new medical interventions? If not, I think you would be interested in the multiple success stories of this program as well as the fact that it was zeroed out of Defense budget in Fiscal Year 2008 without clear justification. Many medical interventions, such as nerve photobinding (restores function of severed nerves with the ability to walk restored) will be lost, as will new light-based methods to treat infections, including multidrug-resistant infections.
This program is competed and peer reviewed -- and has enlisted the talents of major medical centers to study combat casualty injuries and to develop new medical interventions. Many military docs and others have reviewed the work and are in fact utilizing the developments from this program. The action to cancel the program will result in the loss of at least 17 current, important interventions that are ready for clinical studies or deployment. This action has been protested by major political leaders in the Senate. In fact it was canceled by one individual (who may have a confirmation hearing next week) against the recommendations of the program managers. I hope you will investigate this action because it would be a shame if our wounded troops, and anyone else who suffers these kinds of injuries, were to be deprived of the best medical care possible. For more information, you may want to refer to an article by Roxana Tiron that was published in "The Hill" a week ago Thursday.
Kimberly Dozier: I didn't know about that program -- but I'm glad to hear about it (especially as nerve damage to my right leg means the outer surface will always be numb on much of it.)
As I mentioned in my first post, I'm trying to educate the public about what's out there, so more information is welcome.
Washington: Hello Kimberly. A fellow Wellesley alum here, Class of '88. I remember seeing you on campus. I am happy that you have progressed so well in your recovery and wish you continued improvement. An interesting note is that my parents have been following you closely since you started covering Iraq. Perhaps they can see me in your shoes, I don't know. But they have been very moved by your bravery and solid war coverage and are rooting for you. I just wanted to pass that on.
Kimberly Dozier: Ah, yes. The way I used to dress, you probably couldn't miss me on campus. Some people in college did drugs ... I did hair. Got any pictures? Please thank your parents for me -- and if you go to war zones in your job, wear more Kevlar, and also fire-retardant clothes, which I didn't.
Annapolis, Md.: In the opening paragraphs, as well as in several other portions of your article, you allude to the fact that surgeons and doctors need more information on which treatments work, which do not, or when do infections tend to flare up, etc. Did you have any conversations with Department of Defense Medical providers on the computer systems/databases they relied upon -- or better yet, what results they would like to see from these systems that may not exist today?
Kimberly Dozier: I did not have talks about specific database systems -- only with doctors all along the way who wished there was some way to track their cases. When I revisited Landstuhl, some of my trauma docs were still there, so when I told them I had a memory stick with CT scans of my healed femurs, they were thrilled. They said they never get a chance to look at the spiky bone (heterotopic ossification) that many months down the road. One of the docs kept a copy for their files.
I'm trying to point out the need -- at The White House, and the Pentagon, and in Congress, they've got to talk about how to fix it.
Sen. Inouye and Rep. Murtha are the two lawmakers CBS allowed me to meet with, to educate them about the need for funding this type of research. They are the guys in charge of the defense budget purse strings. I imagine if they hear from the public, too, that would surely give them the ammo they need to ask for the funding they need.
Annapolis, Md.: I am new to this kind of forum and submitted to you a technical question a few minutes ago regarding databases used by the surgeons. What I should have started with was a mention of how moving your article was, in conveying the frightening ordeal you have been undergoing. You also brought into the article some very matter-of-fact information that was extremely helpful in understanding what our wounded soldiers have been undergoing for the past four years. Thank you so much.
Kimberly Dozier: Thanks very much -- and I'm new to this forum too, but it's great to have feedback, and know that people who've read the article take the issues seriously, and want to help do something about it.
Washington: What needs to be done to get more research dollars Is that the answer, or this there more to be done?
Kimberly Dozier: Some of the different surgeons I've spoken to -- who are backing a couple different research programs -- say the most useful thing for them would be if The White House would make some of these programs part of their budgetary priorities.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Sen. Inouye and Rep. Murtha are the two lawmakers CBS allowed me to meet with, to educate them about the need for funding this type of research. Both of them were extremely receptive, but staffers from both of their offices explained they were surprised by a gaping area of need they weren't aware of.
In a sense, it seems partly because of our (the media's) reporting, that certain conditions become "in vogue" -- in the first couple years, it was combat amputees, and Congress worked hard to fund some amazing programs for that -- but that doesn't actually encompass all the issues I mentioned. (Amputees battle acinetobacter and heterotopic ossification, though.)
Then TBI -- traumatic brain injury -- became 'in vogue, so the congressmen's staffers told me they worked hard on that. Then I walk in the door and remind them of something else -- which when you look at the numbers is a huge and sweeping problem (or several.)
(FYI -- I had TBI too, because of shrapnel to the brain, but joked with Bob Woodruff that he could handle educating the world on that, and I'll handle the extremity issue.)
Truth is, it all needs to get fixed. And all this research also will be applicable (or at least much of it will) in the civilian world.
Washington: A lot of Iraqis have had it worse than you, thanks to a war that Americans have waged on them based on false information. The Americans have failed to provide them the even the most basic medical treatment. Why should I feel any sympathy for you and your kind who allowed this war to happen?
Kimberly Dozier: One of the very first things I wrote to be published after the bombing, while I still was learning to walk again, was that every time I saw news of a bombing in Iraq, I'd study the screen and see Iraqis with my injuries, and know that even if they made it to the hospital, there was almost no way they'd survive, or if they did, no way they'd keep their limbs.
The doctors I've worked with on this subject -- like Dr. Andrew Pollak at University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Center -- actually have traveled to Iraq to see how civilian doctors can help. They went to military hospitals, thinking they'd see where they would supplement treatment of troops. In a little more than a week, they operated on thirty Iraqis at the Air Force hospital in Balad, injured by every manner of explosion, gunfire, rocketfire, etc. Now they're working with Gen. Casey and the U.S. Army to see if they can visit Baghdad's trauma hospitals, with a new goal: to see how and where they can supplement Iraqi trauma healthcare.
Problem is, even if they can pass on skills and supplies to Iraqi doctors, the insurgents are taking Iraqi doctors out -- as we've been reporting since 2003.
On a personal note, I hate sympathy, thanks, and so do the injured troops I've met. Makes my stomach turn. Empathy is welcome, however, and appropriate for anyone injured in that conflict, whatever any of us think about how it started, and whatever way any of us think it should end.
Boston: Is their something we can learn from WWII soldiers who survived the concussive effects of being shelled, in terms of what has happened to them medically in the decades since, relative to the thousands of U.S. soldiers who suffered head trauma in Iraq? Do we have any idea what these men and women are in for in the course of the rest of their lives, and what our response should be to help them?
Kimberly Dozier: Probably so, but it would be hard to collect data from that generation, as most of them (like my dad) are elderly. And as a study, how would you quantify it? Ask them how close they were to shelling for how long? Memory is a funny thing, even weeks from an event, much less months later.
The U.S. Army has rolled out a program called Battlemind, which as I understands it includes the study of TBI in the field. And this summer, the U.S. Army launched a three-month program to teach every single serving soldier how to identify both traumatic brain injury (from mild to severe), and post traumatic stress disorder.
The guys in my patrol, for instance, say they were all very confused and almost hyper after the bomb hit us, as they ran around and tried to treat everyone. Granted, they were pumped full of adrenaline, but it turns out they were also likely suffering mild TBI because of their close proximity to a huge car bomb. They didn't know that then, and beat themselves up for acting "slow." Now, they all know, or are being taught, to self-diagnose or diagnose in their buddies the signs of that type of injury, or the long-lasting emotional injury of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Overseas: Kimberly: Has the IED incident affected the status of your mental health? If so, what is your opinion relative to the care former Iraqi veterans receive from Veterans Affairs or other health support agencies. Thanks, and good luck to you and your family ... and thanks for your service, too!
Kimberly Dozier: PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) usually occurs when soldiers/marines/diplomats/contractors or journalists (or many Iraqis I've met) try to tough it out, and ignore that they're going through or living through hell. As I understand it, the diagnosis includes mild symptoms like sleeplessness and irritability, all the way to things like withdrawing from your family, having flashbacks, etc. You've got to have something like six things off the list to be diagnosed with PTSD, which I never was because I am two things: a very chatty female, and a journalist.
So from the moment I opened my eyes in Landstuhl, I first wrote down everything I could remember from the bombing, and when they took the breathing tube out of my mouth, I spoke about it, and did not stop talking.
In Bethesda, I refused antidepressants and asked instead to "talk to someone" -- either a psychotherapist, and/or perhaps an injured troops's support group, where there were other people who understood what it was like to lose your team on the mission. I was not given that opportunity, most likely because I barely was well enough to get wheelchaired out of my room once a day -- and maybe because even if there was a group meeting like that, no one wanted a reporter in the room, even an injured one.
My last two weeks there, however, I got to speak to a great psychotherapist -- who came in on his National Guard rotation -- and he said I was doing everything right by talking about the incident, and also crying about it (which he called "exhibiting appropriate levels of grief"). He sometimes had a hard time getting his male patients to do that.
Lastly, having my guy Pete and my family at my side throughout the ordeal helped, and then having Pete as a sounding board. because that has kept me on an even keel. Anyone out there who is injured in something like this really needs to find a confidante like that -- the secret to avoiding PTSD is opening up about what freaked you out, scared you or caused you pain. When I left Bethesda, I left the nightmares behind, and never have exhibited any of the signs my psychotherapist gave me to look for.
The hardest part is ... that seems to disappoint people. They want to hear that you're on antidepressants, or are still some sort of basket case. I feel like the cop at the crash scene where everyone's already been whisked away, and the cop is trying to push the rubberneckers along, saying "nothing to see here, folks."
Ramstein Air Base, Germany: Thank you for sharing your personal experiences and for helping to highlight the continued need for our health care systems (DoD, VA, and civilian) to invest in the discovery of new treatment options for our returning troops. Congratulations on your recovery and thanks again for keeping the spotlight on care for our war wounded.
Kimberly Dozier: Thanks, let's hope it helps some of the guys and gals who don't have quite as loud a mouth as mine.
Amherst, Ohio: It has been reported that soldiers are being sent home with "mental problems" the Pentagon is saying were "pre-enlistment conditions," so they aren't responsible for their care. To your knowledge is this situation being looked into by either the press or Congress?
Kimberly Dozier: I've heard of this, and I know CBS's Armen Keteyian did an investigative piece on this a year ago, and I know other colleagues have looked into it. Keep watching.
Washington: Thanks for your fine article and your bravery first in going to Iraq and second in recounting your experiences. How are you physically and mentally? Do you suffer much from post-traumatic stress syndrome? Would you return to Iraq during the hostilities if you could?
Kimberly Dozier: Physically normal, except I can't do a couple of the more advanced yoga poses I used to do (until I get some more flexibility in my knees).
I've got some nerve numbness in the skin on the outside of my right leg, and on all the huge grafts, but that's normal -- it just feels like your face feels after the dentist gives it a shot, and it's almost back to normal but not quite.
When you look at the laundry list of what was wrong with me from head to toe, it's amazing it's all come back to normal, but that's thanks to great docs, great care, great family support and a stubborn attitude.
The hard part is convincing people I'm okay. I find myself saying over and over, "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine..." And the frustrating thing is dealing with people who are disappointed when I say I'm okay -- as I mentioned in the PTSD response.
It's like they had a mental picture of me as mentally messed up and racked with pain every day, and when I say "no, sorry, doing really good, just not gonna sign up for any bikini contests any time soon, though I'd win a bar-room scar contest hands-down..." they look at me with a combination of frustration and suspicion, and walk away from me in the grocery story/gas station/parking lot with a puzzled/annoyed look on their face.
I used to get angry. Now I just roll my eyes and say to their retreating backs: "Sorry to disappoint. If you want to see a meltdown up close and personal, go watch Britney, okay?" And I finish buying milk/pumping gas/opening my car, shaking my head.
Newton, Mass.: You describe the physical injuries. Please comment on the emotional/psychological injuries you experienced and whether you believe more clinical research should be done in these areas. Please accept my best wishes for your recovery.
Kimberly Dozier: According to what I saw in terms of staffing at Bethesda when I was there last year, they could use more cognitive/talk therapists for their permanent team -- but I was there when the beds on my ward were full. Those numbers go up and down.
Rear Admiral Robinson takes the issue seriously, and offers all the medical staff and injured troops' family members daily mental health timeouts to talk with a mental health professional about what they're seeing/thinking/feeling/going through -- but that's a group setting.
I just know what works for me -- talking/emoting/getting it out of my system. The more people who are available to help injured troops do that, the better, in my personal (non-scientific, non-researched-in-this-case) opinion.
Washington DC: Hey Kim, It's Mary from your old Energy Daily days. You've been in our prayers since the incident, and it's really heartening and humbling to see how you've come out of this experience. I've read everything that's come across the transom on your progress, and yesterday's article was no exception. The advances they've made in dealing with these kinds of injuries is nothing short of amazing. Best to you from Perry and me.
Kimberly Dozier: Hi, Mary (and Perry) -- I was channeling you, obviously, as I remember one of your dreams was to eventually run an editorial page. Hope you guys still are stirring up trouble, in the best kind of way.
Rockville, Md.: I spent six years at the Uniformed Services University (Bethesda, Md.) working at the Casualty Care Research Center on Vietnam data concerning a selected population of casualties. We managed to put all the paper records and some of the color slides into computer files, but we ran out of funds before they were put online for others to use. World War II data was collected by Dr. DeBakey (the heart doctor) and Bebe (NIH) and is still the "gold standard" for that sort of statistic. The only advance to the Vietnam data was that it could be studied by the level of unit involved (company, brigade, etc.). Our office was ready to collect data from the first Iraq war, but our data collection teams were not allowed into the war zone before fighting started and by that time it was too late. Since then, I don't know what has been done. But it would be nice to finish scanning the Vietnam film (100,000 slides) and putting that online for researchers. The few medical researchers who had access to the paper records got more than ten published papers out of the data.
Kimberly Dozier: Frustrating -- please send me your note in e-mail form, and I'll try to pass it to someone who might know more about how/where this could be useful to the current programs being fought for.
Kimberly Dozier: Folks, thanks so much for your questions -- I'll be signing off now, but you can reach me at my e-mail address, kgd@cbsnews.com, for anyone who missed the chat.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Join live discussions from the Washington Post. Feature topics include national, world and DC area news, politics, elections, campaigns, government policy, tech regulation, travel, entertainment, cars, and real estate.
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Others Replace Independence at Dulles
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In the 21 months since the demise of Independence Air at Washington Dulles International Airport, Southwest, JetBlue and the newly arrived Virgin America have been trying to fill the void left by the defunct low-fare carrier.
At its peak, Independence Air flew 300 roundtrip flights a day. Today, Dulles has replaced that lost service with a mixture of low-fare, domestic and international flights, said Tara Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
That growth, particularly from the low-fare airlines, suggests the airport could have the potential to become a hub for no-frills flights, industry analysts said.
This year is turning into a good one for the airport. Virgin America is its sixth low-fare carrier to date and the fifth new carrier this year. By the time Virgin America launches its second route to Los Angeles in October, Dulles will have almost 60 low-fare flights a day to 15 destinations.
Other niche carriers, including Maxjet, which offers cheaper business-class seats than traditional airlines do, have also debuted at Dulles.
"There seems to be a strong appetite for low fares at Dulles," said Mark Treadaway, the airport authority's vice president of planning and development.
Dulles has had a history of competitively priced carriers since the 1980s, but Independence Air left a gaping hole when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It offered seats as low as $29 one way, but after just 18 months of flying, the airline closed, citing fuel prices and intense competition.
Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport still controls most of the region's cheap flights thanks to Southwest, which has a major hub there. Its presence is much smaller at Dulles, a more convenient location for travelers who live and work in Northern Virginia.
Plans for new runways, parking garages, gates and a Metro line could prompt airlines -- legacy, low-fare and international -- to move into Dulles, said Stephen Fuller, director of the George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis.
The airlines that come in now get the gates.
"Everyone wants to be there," Fuller said. "They're all fighting over available space."
Dulles has other advantages: restrictions on Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport make it difficult to host new carriers there. And heavyweight Southwest would crush any competition trying to fly the same routes out of the Baltimore market, said analysts.
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In the 21 months since the demise of Independence Air at Washington Dulles International Airport, Southwest, JetBlue and the newly arrived Virgin America have been trying to fill the void left by the defunct low-fare carrier.
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The Grueling Path On Road to Recovery
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Shortly before noon yesterday, Debbie Suitt entered the track beneath Cardozo Senior High School in Columbia Heights. She puts in two miles of brisk walking on the faded red oval three times a week. Aside from three employees lining the worn football field inside the track, she had the facility to herself.
A few minutes later, she had a workout partner. After ditching his gleaming red mountain bike in a grassy nook and taking off his donut-size headphones, Gilbert Arenas entered the same track, which he also visits three times a week. He wore gray Wizards shorts, a black Wizards top and soccer cleats without socks -- "I'm not a socks person," he said. Then he unveiled two red-and-blue parachutes that, when attached to his waist, are meant to increase the explosive potential of his surgically repaired left knee.
"Man," he said at one point yesterday, "the stuff I've had to do to get back."
During a series of training sessions in front of a small group of reporters, Arenas described both his offseason workout regimen and his physical condition. He said his knee is "fully healthy" and that he won't wear a knee brace because it would only serve to remind him of the injury, which ended his season early last April about two weeks before the playoffs. He joked that he might use his recovery as an excuse to opt out of some preseason drills, but said he wants to play as many preseason minutes as Coach Eddie Jordan will permit. And while he allowed that he probably won't be doing any Vince Carter-inspired 360-degree dunks -- "doubt it, but you can always hope," he said with a laugh -- he emphasized that after months of rehab, his own expectations haven't changed.
"I'm coming back with the same vengeance," he said. "Nothing's stopping me. I've got to prove myself coming back from this injury; I've got to prove myself that I'm an MVP candidate in this league and I'm one of the best point guards in this league. So I'm going to come back with that same passion, that same fire. If I have to go out there and score 70 or 80, it's going to happen, but I don't shoot for those goals. Goals of mine are always about winning the game."
The surgery, to repair a torn meniscus, initially left Arenas unable to extend his leg. He described attaching 10- to 15-pound weights to his ankle and dangling it off his bed to regain full extension. "Man, that was pain," he said.
He said he has taken tens of thousands of jump shots since the surgery, and closed his morning workout yesterday by making 100 three-pointers in 143 rapid-fire attempts. "That rim's broken, usually I make all of them," he said.
He has been scrimmaging with teammates and their friends on the team's practice court and said the results leave no doubt about his health. "If they're playing today, you'll see I'm going to dominate the hell out of them," he said. "Out of 15 games, I already hit nine game-winners."
But despite the hours inside the Wizards' F Street facilities, much of his rehabilitation was done in the public eye. As in past summers, there were street games in Southeast's Barry Farms neighborhood. And as in past summers, there were long bike rides with strength and conditioning coach Andrew Cleary. Yesterday morning, after Arenas hugged a few young female fans on Seventh Street, they set off, weaving through pedestrians, lounging in front of red lights and generally being ignored by workaday Washington.
Arenas wore headphones but no helmet -- "I look goofy in it" he said -- and mostly stuck to the sidewalks -- "there's cars in the street, I'd rather hit a person than a car any day," he said.
Three times a week, the pair ride from Verizon Center to the Mall, up Rock Creek Parkway to Military Road and then back down 16th Street. Yesterday, they veered off their course and headed to the track at Cardozo, which they discovered after finding renovations underway at Dunbar High and being asked to leave the field at Howard University.
"We came over here and the gate was unlocked, so we just started coming," Arenas explained. "If the gate was locked here, we would have gone to another place."
Arenas has taken teammates -- including Donell Taylor, DeShawn Stevenson and Antawn Jamison -- to the track for a series of gradually longer runs; four 100-meter sprints, then four at 200 meters, three at 300 meters and two at 400 meters. When Taylor watched Arenas's gait and said he was still limping, he responded with more running.
"We just kept running and running and running," Arenas said. "Try to run [the limp] out."
Since basketball requires bursts of quickness rather than sustained top speed, Arenas and Cleary turned to resistance exercises in early June, first with a rubber cord tied to Cleary and then with the parachutes. On a typical day, Arenas said, he would run the length of the football field into the wind 10 times, with the parachute billowing behind him.
"I can't actually limp, I can't favor it when I'm running with a parachute" he said. "This is going to be part of my regimen now, because I can see it works."
After his fourth parachute run yesterday, Arenas sat on a bench in front of the lined field and again talked about his health. He said he's in the final stages of rehabbing the knee; training camp starts on Tuesday and he said he's cleared for all drills. He said during his workouts he hasn't eaten meals until the late afternoon, when he eats a massive fruit salad, but that "I can't live off fruit salad; I'm sorry, I'm American." He said for dinner he's eaten sea bass, spinach and brown rice from P.F. Chang's every night for the past week. He said "this has to be the year" for the Wizards, and that anything less than a trip to the Eastern Conference finals would be regarded as failure.
Then he changed out of his soccer cleats, retrieved his bike, put his headphones on and pedaled down 11th Street.
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Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas says he is "fully healthy" after last year's season-ending knee injury and is shooting jump shots, biking around D.C., and running with parachutes at Cardozo High School.
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U.S. to Ship Oil To North Korea
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The president's order means the United States soon will send 50,000 metric tons of fuel worth about $25 million to the impoverished and isolated Stalinist government. In justifying the move, the White House cited North Korea's recent commitment to complete an inventory of its nuclear programs and disable its existing nuclear facilities by the end of the year.
"It's action for action," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council. "We feel like the North Koreans are taking the right steps in living up to their obligations under the agreements."
The shipment represents another step in a complex sequence of actions and rewards built into an accord forged in February by the United States, North Korea, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. The agreement promises energy-starved North Korea a total of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil over the course of the denuclearization process. So far, South Korea and China have provided 50,000 tons each. Russia will provide the next installment, while Japan refuses to participate until North Korea addresses its abductions of Japanese citizens.
But Bush's order yesterday also marked a dramatic shift for an administration that cut off fuel shipments to North Korea in 2002 when U.S. officials accused Pyongyang of operating a secret uranium enrichment program. After the fuel cutoff, North Korea restarted its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, extracting weapons-grade plutonium for bombs and eventually announcing last fall that it had tested one.
Critics have questioned the administration's decision to restart fuel shipments before North Korea completely shuts down its program. And the six-party deal has come under renewed criticism since Israel's Sept. 6 attack on a suspected nuclear site in Syria that was reportedly set up with the help of North Korea.
Sources have told The Washington Post that Israel shared satellite imagery and other intelligence with Bush this summer indicating that North Korean nuclear personnel were in Syria. Bush has refused to discuss anything concerning the situation and Johndroe said yesterday that he had no comment. Syria and North Korea have both denied that they were collaborating on a nuclear program.
The United States also announced this week that it is renewing long-standing sanctions against North Korea for transferring missile technology, although administration officials downplayed the significance of the action and said it would not affect the nuclear deal.
Despite the new sanctions and the Israeli airstrike, the six-party talks resumed in Beijing this week and the nuclear agreement with North Korea appeared to remain on track. North Korea has shut down the Yongbyon reactor and agreed to admit inspectors from the United States, China and Russia. U.S. officials want to map out the next phase of action by the end of the year.
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President Bush yesterday authorized the first U.S. shipment of heavy fuel oil to North Korea in five years, a reward to Pyongyang for moving forward with its agreement to end its nuclear programs.
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Once Again, White Is the New White
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The spring 2008 fashion shows, which ended Friday in Milan and continue this week in Paris, went off as usual, with a mob of breathless editors and retailers surging through the streets of the Italian fashion capital in search of the next new thing. The models were the typical young thoroughbreds, some of them still in their gawky teenage years and not yet at ease with the striking features that have propelled them into the spotlight.
And, as usual, models of color were an uncommon sight.
At the Jil Sander show, for example, the models were so homogeneous that they were virtual clones: overwhelmingly tall, thin, pale and with hair ranging from platinum blond to honey blond to the occasional warm brunette. There is such a runway tradition of "white preferred" at this house -- going back to when its namesake was at the helm and continuing with current designer Raf Simons -- that one wonders whether anyone at Jil Sander has noticed that brown people actually exist.
Similar whiteouts occurred on the runways of Prada and Marni in Milan and at Calvin Klein in New York. The explanation for these choices always comes down to aesthetics, which is a designer's prerogative. The models have been chosen because they fit easily into the samples. Because they have a certain look. Because they convey a single, uninterrupted message on the runway. Because they do not distract from the clothes.
The average person might find it difficult to commiserate with a 21-year-old black girl's complaint that she doesn't get to sashay in expensive clothes before an audience of dilettantes. If modeling is ultimately all about the luck of the gene pool -- the right height, the right chin, the right eyes -- how does one argue that anyone has a claim on a successful career doing it?
But sitting along the runway in Europe, surrounded by an international audience, one realizes the power the fashion industry has in shaping our vision of beauty. A single room contains the imagemakers: the designer, magazine editors, photographers and stylists whose job it is to tell you how you'll want to look in six months. They sell fantasy, romance, sex appeal and power through their glossy images. They bombard the public with information about what is mainstream and what is subversive, about what is rarefied and what is dross.
We put beauty on a pedestal as something admirable, desirable and valuable. Beauty -- unfairly or not -- has its privileges. And by defining which people are beautiful and which people are simply invisible, the fashion industry helps determine how much cultural currency someone has at his or her disposal.
This isn't the first season that black women have gone missing from the runway. Styles go in and out of favor and so do models. But ever since the demise of the supermodel in the early '90s, the fashion industry has been stubbornly unwilling to make room for more than one black model per show. Other than the occasional star -- Naomi Campbell, Liya Kebede and now Chanel Iman -- black women go unrepresented.
The topic of diversity in fashion entered the conversation anew thanks to industry veteran Bethann Hardison. Just after the New York runway shows ended, she organized a town hall meeting and invited models such as Campbell, Kebede and Iman to participate, along with editors, photographers, agents and others in the industry.
Hardison, who is black, worked as a model in the 1970s. She ran her own model agency and guided the career of Tyson Beckford during his days as the iconic face of Polo Ralph Lauren menswear.
At Hardison's urging, African American designer Tracy Reese talked about the difficulty of getting model agencies to send her black women. Agents complained that some designers won't even consider black models for their shows. Editors of publications aimed at black consumers described the politics of booking models for their covers. Some black models fear being pigeonholed as too ethnic, a label that can prevent them from being featured prominently in more mainstream publications. And a lawyer dissected the difference between making an aesthetic choice, which is legal, and a biased one, which is not.
Ultimately, it's hard to know precisely where to place the blame, of which there is plenty to go around.
People seem to understand the power of Hollywood to shape opinion about America and Americans on a global stage. Italian Americans have long argued that the movie industry's relentless portrayal of them as Mafiosi promoted an inaccurate and damaging stereotype.
The NAACP demanded more positive and more diverse representations of blacks in film and on television. If every black person is portrayed as a criminal, an unwed mother, a delinquent father or a buffoon, they said, that sends the wrong message to global consumers of American culture. Even Oprah Winfrey chimed in, noting that the characters on "Friends" didn't seem to know any black people.
So what happens if women of color are not included in the conversation about beauty and femininity? What happens when those lighthearted stories about how to apply the latest shades in makeup never include examples of ebony skin? Or when the most influential designers say through their aesthetic choices that dark skin is not part of their vision? Audiences applaud and cheer the landmark diversity introduced on television by "Ugly Betty" and its fictional Mode magazine, but no one is objecting to the lack of diversity at real fashion magazines.
Some of the most enduring cultural images have come from the fashion industry. The glossy black and white pictures of wavy-haired ladies in pumps and day dresses defined the conservative and formal '50s. The pictures of Twiggy with stick-straight hair and wearing a miniskirt call to mind the '60s with their emphasis on youth and the sexual revolution. There is no better shorthand for the 1980s than the image of a woman with her hair teased high and shoulder pads bulking her up to the size of a linebacker.
Some of the most provocative statements about youth, sexuality and aging have been made in the name of fashion -- Brooke Shields in her Calvins, Dove's Real Women campaign, Benetton's multicultural advertisements. Those images endure in our memory and help us understand the world around us. And when whole groups of people are left out of the picture, our world view is equally diminished.
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MILAN The spring 2008 fashion shows, which ended Friday in Milan and continue this week in Paris, went off as usual, with a mob of breathless editors and retailers surging through the streets of the Italian fashion capital in search of the next new thing. The models were the typical young...
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Save Burma - washingtonpost.com
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BURMA' S BRAVE monks and the thousands of people who support them have been chanting a simple demand to the country's military rulers: dialogue. Instead, the peaceful protesters in Rangoon were attacked yesterday with tear gas, water cannons and gunfire. By the regime's own account, at least one person was killed when troops fired on a crowd near the venerated Sule Pagoda; opposition accounts said as many as eight people died and hundreds of monks were beaten before being hauled onto trucks and driven away. The corrupt and paranoid generals in the ruling junta have clearly decided to face a popular uprising with the same methods used to put down a similar revolt in 1988. That means the world can expect mass bloodshed in Burma in the coming days -- unless something is done to stop it.
The United States and the European Union acted with admirable cohesion and aggressiveness yesterday, calling for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council and asking it to consider sanctions. The Western governments issued a blunt joint statement that condemned the violence and told the Burmese generals they would be held individually accountable for their actions. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was eloquent: "The whole world is now watching Burma, and its illegitimate and repressive regime should know that the whole world is going to hold it to account," he said. "The age of impunity in neglecting and overriding human rights is over."
The problem is that the "whole world" is not yet prepared to prevent a massacre of monks. Several countries that like to think of themselves as strategic partners of the West -- in particular, Russia and China -- are blocking concerted international action against the regime. China, which has taken advantage of Burma's pariah status to turn it into a virtual economic colony, came out against U.N. sanctions yesterday. Russia's foreign ministry issued a statement rejecting "interference in the domestic affairs" of Burma and predicting that "the situation will be back to normal soon" -- chilling words considering what the troops in Rangoon would have to do to return the situation to "normal."
Yesterday, Russia and China prevented the Security Council even from condemning the violence against protesters. In effect, they are giving the regime a green light for brutal repression. We can hope that the generals will be deterred by the warnings about the war crimes trials that could await them, or that their officers and conscripts will refuse to carry out their orders. If the repression proceeds, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao will have Burma's blood on their hands.
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BURMA' S BRAVE monks and the thousands of people who support them have been chanting a simple demand to the country's military rulers: dialogue. Instead, the peaceful protesters in Rangoon were attacked yesterday with tear gas, water cannons and gunfire. By the regime's own account, at least one ...
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OnFaith on washingtonpost.com
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2007092819
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Christoper Hitchens is an accomplished writer and an entertaining speaker who has truly made his mark in a wide variety of disciplines. Unfortunately, as many have pointed out, he has an embarrassing lack of sophistication and very narrow approach when it comes to religion and especially when it comes to religious people. While he is not wrong that various forms of fundamentalist faith do promote, "violent, irrational, intolerant," etc behavior, there is tremendous depth and diversity among theological and spiritual traditions and many of the people who thoughtfully and carefully call themselves adherents.
The recent trend in agnostic/atheist books, of which "God is Not Great" is currently one of the centerpieces, has over the past year or so become very much a part of our national, cultural conversation. While some of these authors understand, write and speak about the nuances, depth and even ambiguity of old and even more recent religious approaches and traditions very well, others -- Hitchen's included - simply caricature all faiths, doctrine, tradition, spirituality and lived practice according to the narrow set of the worst and most suspect beliefs, events and religious figures of the past and present.
So while Hitchens and some of the others are wonderful writers and even accomplished reporters on many topics, their approach and thinking to religion and religious people throughout the ages and today lacks the depth one would expect to see from them on other topics. I understand there have been and will be debates set up for Hitchens and some of the other trendy "new atheists" and this is a good thing. Some journalists, scholars, practitioners and writers with seasoned histories and credentialed expertise in religion sitting across the table from Hitchens would make for a helpful conversation and would definitely be entertaining.
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Mark Tauber on OnFaith; Visit http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/mark_tauber1/
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PostGlobal on washingtonpost.com
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2007092819
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Itâs been an emotional few days for the Columbia University community, and as a member of that community, I am no exception.
The School of International and Public Affairs was alive with excitement and anticipation last week when it was announced that Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, would be coming to speak at the university. It seemed that many people, whatever they thought of Ahmedinejadâs often inflammatory rhetoric, looked forward to the opportunity to hear him speak uncensored, unedited, and in the flesh.
It was a bold move on the part of the administration, but one that seemed to emphasize the magnitude of open academic discourse and free speech. Just as praiseworthy were those individuals who chose to protest the event. I have lived and worked in countries where protestors are often persecuted and subjected to government crackdowns â and so to see Americans of all ages seize this constitutional liberty is personally rewarding.
I met an Israeli tourist who spent the entirety of last weekend protesting outside Columbia's main gates instead of sightseeing because he was so appalled by the news of Ahmedinejad's visit. I understand why people were infuriated by the news of Ahmedinejadâs visit to Columbia. I respect that. I certainly do not agree with many things he says, but I also do not think he, as an individual, is as much of a threat as many Western governments make him out to be. In other words, he is not an influential decision maker in Iran.
Controversy â when it is open to debate - is the primary mechanism forcing societies to evolve and weed out old, unprogressive thoughts and ideas. The human mind, and the rights and freedom with which it is imbued, atrophy like muscles if not exercised. If societies saw eye-to-eye on everything, thereâs no telling where we would be. Slavery might still be legal in America. Apartheid might still be the rule of law in South Africa. There might still be a Cold War.
Ahmedinejadâs speech at Columbia on Monday afternoon was this communityâs way of showing the world that we can agree to disagree. The next step is ostensibly to come to some sort of consensus. In the case of Iran and the United States, that is probably a ways away. That said, the American publicâs trust in politics and government is on a sharp decline. A forum such as that administered by Columbia this week gives people the chance to formulate opinions based on their own exposure and assessment, not information which has been filtered through government, intelligence and the media.
Ahmedinejad spoke with confidence and charisma. He faced tough â albeit legitimate â questions from the audience and an even tougher reception by Columbiaâs President. Often he gave a run-around, responding to questions with counter-questions. Some of his comments â namely his remark that there are no homosexuals in Iran â were flat out absurd. But then there were also moments when his comments caused many in the audience to raise their eyebrows and see things in a different light.
It does not matter whether my fellow Columbians view Ahmedinejad as a saint or Satan. The fact that we had the opportunity to share these views â and that Ahmedinejad shared his views with us â brought us, if only for a moment, a few steps closer to peace.
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Vivian Salama at PostGlobal on PostGlobal; blog of politics and current events on washingtonpost.com. Visit http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/vivian_salama/
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Deadly Crackdown Intensifies in Burma
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BANGKOK, Sept. 27 -- Intensifying their crackdown despite pressures from abroad, Burmese security forces raided a half-dozen Buddhist monasteries Thursday and opened fire on pockets of demonstrators who continued to demand an end to military rule.
The Burmese government announced that nine people had been killed in the violence, making it the bloodiest day in weeks of escalating protests. In Rangoon, the country's principal city, soldiers marched down the streets warning over loudspeakers that protesters risked getting shot, according to reports reaching exile groups in Thailand.
The dead included a Japanese journalist, Kenji Nagai, who had been covering the demonstrations, according to his employer, APF News. Another foreigner, reportedly a Caucasian woman, was also seen shot and wounded in the street, according to the exile groups.
Communications from Burma were sporadic, making the scale of the violence difficult to assess. But the heavy presence of soldiers and armed police, and their willingness to open fire, indicated that the country's military rulers have decided to disregard international appeals to enter into negotiations with political opponents.
With no sign of compromise on either side, the confrontation appeared to be a test of wills between the military junta -- led by Senior Gen. Than Shwe -- and the informal network of monks who have spearheaded the movement, alongside students and other lay political activists.
After news of Thursday's violence reached Washington, the White House renewed its demand that the Burmese junta end the crackdown.
"The world is watching the people of Burma take to the streets to demand their freedom and the American people stand in solidarity with these brave individuals," President Bush said in a written statement. He added: "Every civilized nation has a responsibility to stand up for people suffering under a brutal military regime like the one that has ruled Burma for too long."
The U.S. Treasury Department designated 14 senior Burmese figures under new sanctions announced by Bush earlier in the week, including Than Shwe; the army commander, Vice Senior Gen. Maung Aye; and the acting prime minister, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein. Any assets they have in U.S. jurisdictions will be frozen, and Americans are now banned from doing business with them. U.S. officials hope to leverage that to influence foreign banks and institutions to follow suit.
The European Union also vowed to seek tighter sanctions. The United Nations, meanwhile, has said it will send an envoy to Burma, a move that the Burmese foreign minister said Thursday would be welcomed.
Video images from Burma, also known as Myanmar, showed a preponderance of lay people in the demonstrations on Thursday, most of them of student age. Some news agencies estimated that as many as 70,000 people took to the streets of Rangoon and other cities, despite the soldiers' warnings and the death of at least one protester on Wednesday.
Soe Aung, spokesman for the Thailand-based National Council of the Union of Burma, an exile group, said the number was probably much lower, perhaps as low as 10,000, which was sharply down from Wednesday. "This would be mainly because of the raids that took place before dawn in Rangoon," he said.
Until Thursday, students and other lay political activists had been following the lead of the monks, mostly young students in cinnamon-colored robes who are undergoing religious training in the monasteries. Although the protests started last month over sharp fuel price increases and economic hardships, they have blossomed over the last two weeks into a frontal challenge to the military's ruling State Peace and Development Council.
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BANGKOK, Sept. 27 -- Intensifying their crackdown despite pressures from abroad, Burmese security forces raided a half-dozen Buddhist monasteries Thursday and opened fire on pockets of demonstrators who continued to demand an end to military rule.
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Showdown Looms as Child Health Bill Passes
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Bush has vowed to veto the measure, but he has faced strong criticism from many fellow Republicans reluctant to turn away from a popular measure that would renew and expand an effective program aimed at low-income children. Democratic leaders, while still as many as two dozen votes short in the House, are campaigning hard for the first veto override of Bush's presidency.
They secured a veto-proof majority last night in the Senate, with the 67 to 29 tally including "yes" votes from 18 of the 49 Republicans, including some of the president's most stalwart allies, such as Christopher S. Bond (Mo.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (Tex.) and Ted Stevens (Alaska). Democratic leaders are likely to send the measure to the White House next week, giving advocates a few more days to pressure Bush to sign it.
For Republicans, the issue is politically perilous. Every Senate Republican facing a difficult reelection bid bolted from Bush yesterday. Most House Republicans in swing districts abandoned him Tuesday when the House approved the bill 265 to 159. Those Republicans "took the vote that was easiest to explain," said House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).
Even conservative Republicans pleaded with Bush to relent.
"I am very disappointed that before the administration even received the final language, their minds were apparently made up and a line was drawn in the sand opposing this compromise," said Sen. Pat Roberts (Kan.).
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, vowed to make Bush's supporters pay a price at the polls next year, and he will have his share of targets. Republican Reps. Thelma Drake (Va.), Sam Graves (Mo.), John R. "Randy" Kuhl Jr. (N.Y.) and Joe Knollenberg (Mich.) all voted against the bill and are in the Democrats' cross hairs. In total, the DCCC will be targeting 25 Republicans over the issue, said spokeswoman Jennifer Crider.
"Anyone who votes in lock step with the president and against children's health, they are going to hear about it back home," Van Hollen said.
Already, advocates are mounting advertising and grass-roots campaigns to pressure Republican supporters of the president. Two advertisements -- one on television, another on the Internet -- castigate Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for standing against the program's expansion. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), a key backer, promised yesterday to mount his own campaign to persuade House opponents to change their position ahead of a vote to override a veto.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the bill's opponents have nothing to fear. "Good policy is good politics, and if members stand on principle, they'll be just fine," he said.
The House GOP offers the president his best chance to uphold his veto. There the bill attracted 45 Republicans, including reliable conservatives such as Don Young (Alaska) and Denny Rehberg (Mont.). But it still fell about two dozen votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a rejection by Bush.
Leading up to a possible veto, the DCCC is preparing advertisements, automated phone calls and e-mail blitzes aimed at Republicans who might change their votes on an override, said a Democrat familiar with the campaign.
But Democrats, and their Republican allies on the issue, made it clear that Bush's veto will not be the last word. They said that they will keep coming back to the bill every six weeks to three months until the White House relents or Republican opposition collapses.
"If the president refuses to sign the bill, if he says, with a veto, 'I forbid 10 million children in America to have health care,' this legislation will haunt him again and again and again," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Yesterday's vote put Bush in a position he has never faced. The president has used his veto for only two issues in seven years in office: federal funding for stem cell research and constraints on his Iraq war policies. But on those issues, Bush retains strong Republican support and a coalition that unites social, economic and national security conservatives.
The children's health bill, in contrast, has the support of moderate Republicans and conservatives, business interests and even abortion opponents such as the Roman Catholic Church. The measure has the backing of the health insurance industry and children's and disease-control advocates, most of the nation's governors, AARP and the American Medical Association.
The compromise would expand the $5 billion-a-year program by an average of $7 billion a year over the next five years, for total funding of $60 billion over the period. That would be enough to boost enrollment to 10 million, up from 6.6 million, and dramatically reduce the number of uninsured children in the country, currently about 9 million, supporters say.
Bush and GOP leaders say that the measure would push millions of children already covered by private health insurance into publicly financed health care. They say it would also create an "entitlement" whose costs would outstrip the money raised by the bill's 61-cent increase in the federal tobacco tax.
The coalition backing the bill could also face risks after a veto. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) said he would push Democrats to come back at Bush with a new version that adds vision-care coverage to the expanded coverage for dental and mental health and restores benefits for the children of legal immigrants.
But by adding benefits, especially for immigrant children, Democrats could lose support in the Senate.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), one of the compromise measure's strongest advocates, suggested that he would like to see Congress look for a compromise with the White House after a veto. "If we want to cover these kids and we've got a stultification of that effort, then we're going to have to do the best we can," Hatch said.
Democratic leaders are convinced that no such compromise is necessary. Health care is again rising as a concern among voters, they say, citing Democratic polls that show overwhelming support for expansion of the children's health insurance program. Bush's unpopularity will affect sentiment among those against a veto, they say.
Republicans facing tough reelection bids appeared to agree.
"It's the White House that needs to give," said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
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The Senate, with an overwhelming bipartisan vote yesterday, sent President Bush a $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, setting up the biggest domestic policy clash of his presidency and launching a fight that will reverberate into the 2008 elections.
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Bush Signs Sweeping Student Loan Bill Into Law, Adding an Asterisk
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The law, which received overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, will slash federal subsidies to private loan companies and increase grants for students. It will gradually reduce interest rates on federally subsidized loans for low-income students to 3.4 percent over five years. The law will also offer loan forgiveness for those who have held public service jobs for 10 years and will cap payments on federal loans at a certain percentage of a college graduate's income.
The new law, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, overhauls the nation's student loan system. Recent investigations have revealed how lenders have showered university officials with gifts to woo student borrowers and drive up profits. Congress reacted sharply to the disclosures, and the support to revamp the student loan industry was considered a rare bipartisan endeavor.
The House of Representatives approved the law 292 to 97; the Senate vote was 79 to 12. Only Republicans voted against it.
"This bill will help ensure that no qualified student is prevented from going to college because of the cost," said Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the House education committee chairman. He said he is proud that Congress has "provided the greatest investment to help students and parents pay for college since the G.I. Bill and has delivered on our promise to make college more affordable and accessible for families."
But as Bush signed the bill, he suggested that it is not perfect. "This bill makes some spending commitments that aren't paid for yet, and I look forward to working with the Congress to ensure Pell Grant increases that are not fully funded in this bill are paid for with offsets in other areas."
Lending industry advocates, who have been railing against the reforms since they were proposed, said Bush's signature will only hurt students and the lending companies. Kevin Bruns, executive director of America's Student Loan Providers, said the new law will take away 80 percent of the companies' federal subsidies over the next five years, which could result in fewer loan benefits for students.
Bruns said that about 3.5 million middle-class student borrowers might face a new reality in which lenders can no longer offer them interest-rate reductions for timely payments. "This bill is wiping out the profit margin for even the largest lenders," Bruns said. "How can you run a lender-based program if you're not allowed to earn a reasonable profit margin?"
Student advocates dismissed those criticisms. Luke Swarthout, a higher education advocate with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said the backlash reflects complaints from one of the country's "more excessively subsidized industries." Two of the student-friendly parts of the bill, he said, are the increase in annual federal Pell Grants, which will shoot up to $4,800 next year, and the income-based payment cap.
"The program will stop people from making unmanageable payments," he said. "The concept is that no matter what job you take, your income is protected."
Barry Toiv, spokesman for the Association of American Universities, said the increase in Pell Grants is a victory for students, because the new law guarantees that the grants will reach a value of $5,400 a year by 2012 .
"The Pell Grant has not been close to keeping with the need out there with potential students," Toiv said. He said he is unsure whether lending companies will be crippled by the measures. "We think this is an important step in the right direction. I think we'll just have to see what the impact is. It's hard for us to know."
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President Bush signed into law yesterday a student loan bill that will provide more than $20 billion in federal aid to college students and is being likened to the G.I. Bill, which helped millions of World War II veterans attend college.
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Democratic Rivals Press Clinton, Courteously
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The two-hour debate features clear differences but few fireworks. Clinton (N.Y.), the front-runner for the nomination, drew steady criticism, but her seven rivals couched their disagreements with respect rather than scorn or sharp words.
VIDEO | Clinton and Obama on Iran as a Nuclear Power
The debate came at a moment in the campaign when Clinton has solidified her position as the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination, putting pressure on her opponents to slow her momentum. A new poll in New Hampshire released Tuesday showed Clinton expanding her lead in the Granite State, although the race in Iowa, which will start the nominating process in January, is far more competitive.
After turning in a series of winning performances in previous debates, Clinton appeared less dominant on Wednesday. Her potential vulnerabilities were highlighted either through questions from moderator Tim Russert of NBC News or from responses from her opponents.
Russert pressed her to explain why she would be a good president after failing to win support for health-care reform during her husband's administration and after voting in 2002 to give President Bush authorization to launch a war that is now deeply unpopular.
Clinton defended her efforts to pass health-care reform, saying she had fought a sometimes-lonely battle against special interest forces. But she acknowledged that her new plan for universal care is one crafted from the lessons of that effort.
"There is so much that has happened that people can see with their own eyes now that I believe that we finally have a consensus to do what we should do," she said. But Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware questioned whether she could get the job done, saying Republicans will be more reluctant to compromise with Clinton than with other Democrats.
"I'm not suggesting it's Hillary's fault," he said. "I think it's a reality that it's more difficult, because there's a lot of very good things that come with all the great things that President Clinton did, but there's also a lot of the old stuff that comes back. It's kind of hard."
Sensing some unease over what he had said, Biden quickly added, "When I say old stuff, I'm referring to policy -- policy."
Russert opened the debate by asking Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and former senator John Edwards (N.C.) -- all of whom have supported a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, whether they would promise to have all the troops out by January 2013. All three declined to do so.
"We would get combat troops out of Iraq," Obama said. "The only troops that would remain would be those that have to protect U.S. bases and U.S. civilians, as well as to engage in counterterrorism activities in Iraq."
Clinton agreed. "I will drastically reduce our presence there to the mission of protecting our embassy, protecting our civilians," she said, "and making sure that we're carrying out counterterrorism activities there."
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HANOVER, N.H., Sept. 26 -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton found herself on the defensive here Wednesday night in a debate in which the Democratic presidential candidates clashed over withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, the financial future of Social Security and Iran's nuclear threat.
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Report Says Fixes Slow To Come at Walter Reed
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Army units developed to shepherd recovering soldiers lack enough nurses and social workers, and proposals to streamline the military's disability evaluation system and to provide "recovery coordinators" are behind schedule, according to the Government Accountability Office report.
Members of a congressional oversight committee, discussing the report at a hearing yesterday, said the effort to reform the medical bureaucracy has itself become mired in bureaucracy.
"After so many promises but so little progress, we need to see more concrete results," said Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (Va.), the ranking Republican on the panel. His staff hears "appalling stories" every week from soldiers dealing with the disability process, he said, adding that "they're trapped in a system they don't understand and that doesn't understand them."
"The pace of change is frustratingly slow," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the oversight committee. "Still the horror stories continue."
Members of the House oversight subcommittee on national security laid the blame on the Defense Department, the Army and the Department of Veterans Affairs for what Rep. John F. Tierney (D-Mass.) termed an "utter lack of urgency."
The preliminary GAO report said the Army has taken steps to streamline its disability evaluation process, which determines whether soldiers are fit for duty and, if not, what disability payments they should receive. Nonetheless, the report noted, "Many challenges remain, and critical questions remain unanswered."
For example, the Army has established "warrior transition units" at 32 installations around the country, with recovering soldiers assigned to a team of physicians, case managers and squad leaders. Whereas the unit at Walter Reed is almost fully staffed, more than half the units had less than 50 percent of workers in place by mid-September, the GAO found.
Maj. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the Walter Reed commander, told the subcommittee that the units have 65 percent of their manpower and should be fully staffed by January.
In July, a presidential commission led by former senator Robert J. Dole and former health and human services secretary Donna E. Shalala recommended that "recovery coordinators" be assigned to shepherd each seriously wounded service member through medical care. A high-level oversight committee established by the Pentagon and the VA agreed to begin implementing the recommendation by mid-October.
But the oversight committee has not determined how many recovery coordinators will be needed or how to decide which injured soldiers need them, the GAO found.
Moreover, the Dole-Shalala commission recommended that the recovery coordinators come from outside the Defense Department or the VA, suggesting instead the Public Health Service.
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More than half a year after disclosures of systemic problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals, the Pentagon's promised fixes are threatened by staff shortages and uncertainty about how best to improve long-term care for wounded troops, according to a congressional...
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Fox's Bill O'Reilly Says His Stereotypes Taken Out of Context
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Bill O'Reilly says he thought he was dispelling stereotypes when he told his radio audience last week about his recent trip to Harlem with the Rev. Al Sharpton. Instead, O'Reilly found himself yesterday fighting accusations of racial insensitivity.
During a 35-minute discussion about race relations last Wednesday on his syndicated "Radio Factor," the pugnacious host repeatedly decried "demeaning" portrayals of African Americans, particularly in hip-hop videos. To illustrate his contention that such images provide a false impression of black culture, he recalled having dinner with Sharpton at Sylvia's, a famous soul-food restaurant in Harlem:
"I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City," he said. "It was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks [and has a] primarily black patronship. It was the same. And that's really what this society is really all about now here in the U.S.A. There's no difference."
He later added: "There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, '[Expletive], I want some more ice tea.' It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there ordering and having fun and there wasn't any craziness at all."
On the same program last week, O'Reilly also described going to an Anita Baker concert at Radio City Music Hall at which "the blacks [patrons] were well dressed." He added, "This is what white America doesn't know. They think the culture is dominated by Twista, Ludacris and Snoop Dogg."
The comments were picked up last Friday by the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America, and were broadcast for the first time Monday on CNN. That drew more attention to the comments Tuesday, prompting O'Reilly on his Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," to accuse CNN of seeking to boost its ratings at his expense.
O'Reilly was still simmering last night. "They're making it something that it isn't," he said in an interview by phone from New York. "Anyone who listens to the tape [of the radio show] and is fair-minded will tell you this was an intelligent conversation about race. . . . Aren't they supposed to be in the business of honesty over there" at CNN?
His point, he said, is that "some whites fear blacks based on irrational notions. They're afraid to go into Sylvia's, they're afraid to go to Harlem. But there's nothing different in Sylvia's than any other place in the U.S."
The flap -- which CNN's Rick Sanchez covered again in prime time last night -- has faint echoes of the controversy that drove TV and radio host Don Imus from the air in April. In that incident, the Washington-based Media Matters was the first to note Imus's comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, and Sharpton was prominent in condemning those remarks.
Sharpton said last night on O'Reilly's Fox News program that he found reports of O'Reilly's comments "disturbing and surprising," adding: "The stuff about being surprised that blacks didn't act up -- you can understand why people are offended by that. I'd be offended." But Sharpton said he hadn't heard the entire program and would reserve further judgment until he had.
Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters, called O'Reilly's remarks "insensitive and racially charged" and rejected O'Reilly's contention that his comments were taken out of context.
Frisch said his organization has documented 765 instances since mid-2004 in which O'Reilly has misstated or misrepresented facts or made "insensitive" statements. "His knee-jerk reaction is always that he was taken out of context," he said. "If he was caught robbing a bank, he'd say his actions are being taken out of context."
CNN's Sanchez denied his network was attempting to score points against O'Reilly. "The O'Reilly Factor" on Tuesday drew more than three times as many viewers as the Sanchez-hosted "Out in the Open."
Sanchez, in a phone interview, said O'Reilly is perpetuating racism by using "the Mandingo argument" against black rappers. "The idea [is] that there's a big, bad African American out there that we all need protection from," he said. "It's a dangerous way of looking at racial relations. The African American community is extremely complex. The thinking that black culture is confined to guys sticking their underwear out is just wrong, and many African Americans resent it."
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Get style news headlines from The Washington Post, including entertainment news, comics, horoscopes, crossword, TV, Dear Abby. arts/theater, Sunday Source and weekend section. Washington Post columnists, movie/book reviews, Carolyn Hax, Tom Shales.
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CEOs Keep Bad Company On ABC's Randy 'Big Shots'
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Suppose we consider the new prime-time network season as one long show; what would we call it? "Darkness After Dark," maybe. Even the comedies, what few there are, tend toward gloominess, while the big mystery with the dramas is "Who the heck are the good guys?"
Take ABC's new "Big Shots" (premiering tonight), which is up to its beady little eyes in chicanery, adultery and malice aforethought. It's a regular Dance Macabre, a Mondo Rondo of Louses and Spouses, with its multiple story lines nudged into motion by the laughable death, early in the premiere, of someone who'd seemed to be a major character.
That's about how "Desperate Housewives" opened, and who could have guessed that it would become probably the most cloned show in ABC's history -- not that its characters and situations are copied so much as its stance, tone and dark-comic streak.
Such new series as "Dirty Sexy Money," the upcoming "Pushing Daisies" and certainly "Big Shots" (a kind of "Desperate Executives") all have the same smart-alecky attitude and tend to traffic in similar outrageous audacity. Even Charles McDougall, who directed the "Big Shots" pilot, is conveniently enough a "Desperate Housewives" alumnus.
The pivotal, laughable death in the first act of "Big Shots" is grisly-funny, the victim clobbered senseless and lifeless by a runaway golf cart full of shrimp. Later, in a posh restaurant where a distressed father meets with his troubled 19-year-old daughter, the decor is dominated by a gigantic painting of a man pointing an enormous gun right in the viewer's face. And one big shot's mistress throws a fit when she finds out that her boyfriend has been secretly going to couples therapy with the missus and growls, "What kind of man would be so disdainful as to lie to the woman he's cheating on his wife with?"
All the big shots are big chiefs at big companies. Dylan McDermott plays Duncan Collinsworth, CEO at Reveal Cosmetics; Michael Vartan is James Walker, about to become the chairman of AmeriMart Industries (and the least sleazy of the quartet); Joshua Malina is Karl Mixworthy, CEO of Fidelity Pharmaceuticals; and Christopher Titus plays Brody Johns, founder of something called Alpha Crisis Management, although he appears to have more crises than he can manage himself.
What's on all their minds -- more than power and money -- is sex, sex and, you guessed it, more sex. It's hard to believe that back in 1995, when the Walt Disney Co. announced it was buying ABC, some people worried that all the network's programming would henceforth be wholesome family mush. If only! "Big Shots" is mere seconds old when we come upon one of the executives and a young woman heating up a wine cellar while upstairs, the drug company executive worries about "spontaneous erections" caused when shipments of Viagra were mixed up with those of chewable vitamins.
While at a counseling session with wife Wendy (the appealing Amy Sloan), Karl gets a pithy, sexual text message from his mistress, Marla (the wildly blond Jessica Collins).
Whatever would Uncle Walt say? For that matter, what would Mickey and Minnie say? Or Donald and Daisy? What's the deal with all this Mouske-Smut?
As with other "Desperate" clones, "Big Shots" tries way too hard to be shocking and raunchy. The actors resemble kiddies at school trying to impress one another with the latest naughty word learned in gym class. And the more "adult" that writer and series creator Jon Harmon Feldman tries to be, the more juvenile the show seems to become.
Example: The premiere is bracketed with scenes set at the friends' favorite haunt, the "Firmwood" Country Club. Such wit, such subtlety!
We are never very far from tryst time. Karl and Marla test the sheets at the Pierre Hotel, she pouring champagne onto his bare chest and then slurping it off. Earlier, coming up for air, Karl tells her, "Something you just did, I want to get a patent on." If the stuff were funny, it might be less conspicuous. The cast works very hard, but they can't bring off the neat trick of making rats and tarantulas seem cute.
There's the pretense of making sly comments on the latest twists in the battle of the sexes and the redefinition of male and female in a changing world. "Men? We're the new women," McDermott says at one point, but the plot twists and cheeky remarks don't add up to anything particularly cogent or insightful. Not by a big shot's long shot.
Big Shots (one hour) premieres tonight at 10 on Channel 7.
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Suppose we consider the new prime-time network season as one long show; what would we call it? "Darkness After Dark," maybe. Even the comedies, what few there are, tend toward gloominess, while the big mystery with the dramas is "Who the heck are the good guys?"
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Senate Votes to Extend Hate-Crimes Law to Gays
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The Senate yesterday approved an expansion of federal hate-crimes law to include protections for gay men and lesbians, defying a presidential veto threat by attaching the measure to a high-priority defense bill.
Republicans said they will try to remove the provision in final negotiations with the House, but if that effort fails, GOP leaders urged President Bush to follow through with his long-standing veto threat. They were furious this week when Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) announced that he would force a vote on an expanded hate-crimes statute, with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) calling Reid's maneuver a "shameful" attempt to "hijack" essential defense legislation.
Democrats argued that the amendment addresses terrorism of a different form. "The defense authorization is about dealing with the challenges of terrorism overseas," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). "This is about terrorism in our neighborhood."
The amendment is called the Matthew Shepard Act, named for a young gay man who was beaten and left to die on a fence near Laramie, Wyo., in 1998. The proposal has passed the House or Senate several times over the years but has never cleared the entire Congress.
When Democrats won control of both chambers in November, advocates saw their best opportunity yet for strengthening a federal law that has existed since 1968 and has focused on race, color, religion and national origin.
The Senate amendment was approved by voice vote, after Democrats broke a GOP filibuster by securing exactly the 60 votes needed, with 39 Republicans voting to block the measure from moving forward. An identical House bill passed by 237 to 180 in May, with 25 Republicans supporting the measure and 14 Democrats opposing it.
"For over a decade, our community has worked tirelessly to ensure protections to combat violence motivated by hate, and today we are the closest we have ever been to seeing that become a reality," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group. "The new leadership in Congress fully understands that for too long our community has been terrorized by hate violence."
Under the Senate amendment, the definition of a hate crime would expand to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. Local law enforcement officials would be allowed to apply for federal grants to solve such crimes, and federal agents would be given broader authority to assist state and local police. More stringent federal sentencing guidelines would also be instituted.
Republicans counter that the expansion represents an unnecessary intrusion by the federal government. "We believe that local -- state and local law enforcement agencies are effectively using their laws to the full extent that they can," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
Perino would not say whether Bush will veto the defense bill specifically because of the new language, citing other provisions in the legislation that the administration also opposes.
"Given that there are so many different things that a senior adviser might recommend a veto on, I'm not going to say specifically on this, but our position has been consistent," Perino said.
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The Senate yesterday approved an expansion of federal hate-crimes law to include protections for gay men and lesbians, defying a presidential veto threat by attaching the measure to a high-priority defense bill.
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After Upset, U.S. Women's Soccer May Be On Equal Footing With Everyone Else
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HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 27 -- The U.S. women's national soccer team spent months at a residency camp in Southern California, competed overseas and played a series of exhibitions to tune up for the World Cup. Unlike many women's teams, it had the support of the sport's U.S. governing body, which pumped millions of dollars into the program and, in the absence of a professional league, provided salaries for the core group of players.
Along the way, the top-ranked Americans stretched their unbeaten streak to 51 games and forged an identity following the retirement of Mia Hamm and the team's other stars of the past.
But all that money and preparation could not offset the fact that the rest of the world has caught up, and in some cases surpassed the United States in the sport of women's soccer, which it had pioneered.
On Thursday night, under a full moon in a picturesque lakeside city about 120 miles southwest of Shanghai, the U.S. women's soccer team suffered the worst defeat in its 22-year history, a 4-0 loss to Brazil in the World Cup semifinals before 47,818 at Hangzhou Dragon Stadium. It was the low point of a disappointing tournament for the United States, which labored to win its first-round group before putting together a quality second half to defeat England in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Since launching itself into stardom with its 1999 World Cup title at the sold-out Rose Bowl, the U.S. national team has captured only one of the last four major championships in women's international soccer -- the 2004 Olympic gold medal.
"We are not where we were 10 years ago," U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. "It's not because we are not better; it's because everyone else is rapidly investing in the game. Am I concerned? No. We lost in the World Cup semifinals. That's very disappointing, but we'll keep going."
There are many reasons for the increased parity. The United States was one of the first countries to openly embrace the women's game, and therefore for years had a huge head start on the rest of the world. But other countries only now are beginning to catch up, and are doing so namely because soccer -- the men's game -- is such a huge part of their culture.
The trajectory of the U.S. women's soccer program in many aspects mirrors that of men's international basketball and baseball, other sports formerly dominated by the Americans. The result here does not bode well for the U.S. team heading into next summer's Olympics in China. Nor does it help build momentum for a proposed professional league starting in 2009 to replace the Women's United Soccer Association, which suspended operations in 2003 after three seasons.
The United States had lost to Brazil just once in 22 previous meetings, but on this humid evening, the Brazilians were superior in every facet of the game. The gap in technical skill was glaring. While the U.S. team's play was structured and unimaginative, the Brazilians danced with the ball at their feet and performed with the free-flowing rhythm that has made their men's team so successful and famous.
A U.S. mistake was responsible for the first goal, as midfielder Leslie Osborne headed the ball into her own net while attempting to clear a corner kick. But the other goals were created with flair and ingenuity, including the final strike with about 10 minutes remaining by world player of the year Marta, in which she flipped the ball to herself while rounding defender Tina Ellertson, cut away from another defender and coolly smashed a shot into the lower corner.
The Americans trailed 2-0 after 27 minutes, and almost all hope of a comeback was extinguished just before halftime, when midfielder Shannon Boxx received her second yellow card on a questionable call and was ejected, leaving the United States short-handed for the remainder of the game.
"We're just trying to keep our heads above water," team captain Kristine Lilly said.
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HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 27 -- The U.S. women's national soccer team spent months at a residency camp in Southern California, competed overseas and played a series of exhibitions to tune up for the World Cup. Unlike many women's teams, it had the support of the sport's U.S. governing body, which...
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National Security and Intelligence
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Dana Priest covers intelligence and wrote " The Mission: Waging War and Keeping Peace With America's Military" (W.W. Norton). The book chronicles the increasing frequency with which the military is called upon to solve political and economic problems.
Archive: Dana Priest discussion transcripts
Dana Priest: Hi everyone. I'm here. Let's begin.
San Francisco: Around the year 2000, I had occasion to ask a former Director of Central Intelligence what area was most likely to erupt in a nuclear conflict. Without hesitation, he pointed to Pakistan/India. Viewed today, what would be your answer?
Dana Priest: I would not only second that, but say it is much more likely now than in 20 years or so.
State College, Pa.: I thought that the Iraq Study Group recommend all budget allocations for Afghanistan and Iraq fall under the normal, annual budgetary process. Why are we still seeing these massive budget supplemental requests?
washingtonpost.com: Increase In War Funding Sought (Post, Sept. 27)
Dana Priest: Two things. The ISG was only advisory and much of their advice is being ignored. Secondly, they are seeking it because they can and because they need it to continue the troop build up and to buy thousands of Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles to counter IED and armor-piercing explosives.
New York: Dana, I'm curious about John Rizzo, who recently withdrew from consideration as CIA general counsel. How did a 32-year agency veteran come to approve of the Bush administration's infamous "torture memo"? Was he really as gung-ho as the Bushies, or did he just get caught up in a mess not of his own making? Thanks.
washingtonpost.com: Nominee Withdraws Bid for Key CIA Post (Post, Sept. 26)
Dana Priest: John Rizzo was a part of all important CIA legal decisions. Mostly, in the context in which you are speaking, this includes the controversial rendition, CIA prison and "enhanced interrogation" methods. While he was not the general counsel at the time, he was and continues to be the CIA's legal institutional memory. I believe he saw his role as finding ways to allow the administration and the CIA to do what they wanted to do (and this is also what they they thought they should do on counterterrorism) I doubt he was as gung-ho as the Bushies since his real interest is/was looking out for the CIA's interest.
Toronto: Thanks for taking our questions. The Wall Street Journal published an article yesterday about a serious dispute between the chief prosecutor at Guantanamo and his newly appointed superior. The article described a fundamental disagreement about whether the next captives to be charged should be small-fry, who could be charged with relatively trivial charges -- but charges based on unclassified evidence, so the proceedings could be observed by the press -- as opposed to charging the "high-value detainees," whose trials would have to be held in camera.
So, regarding on-camera trials against the "high-value detainees": in your opinion to what extent is the refusal to hold their trials on camera because public trials would reveal that the evidence against them was based on torture, and to what extent do you think there is a legitimate fear that a public trial would reveal actual secrets -- secrets that the U.S. has an actual need to keep secret?
Dana Priest: Giving everything we know now, my guess would be that these trials would reveal very little that is truly still secret. The government can devise a way to make sure some of that does not get into court by arranging such a thing with the judge and counsel before hand. I do think that they are still trying to guard from public view the interrogation methods they used. It's a little late now. The Post and every other major newspaper have described these already.
Raleigh, N.C.: Good afternoon! What agency or department at DOD (or State or wherever) is tasked with direct oversight of military contractors such as Blackwater? Who is the individual in charge of that? Has he/she testified before Congress? Is this oversight considered to be basically a financial task, or an operational task?
Dana Priest: There wasn't one at DOD or elsewhere. That's why Gates has now dispatched a team to investigate the issue --- four years too late. This became an issue in the first year after the invasion. The Provisional Authority (remember that) set up a team to come up with codes of conduct for armed security firms. The firms themselves set up a self-policing group that was meant to keep firms in line so. But the situation remained ad hoc. Local commanders, depending on their personalities, would work with, or ignore, these private firms in their AORs. Seems that none of this worked well enough.
Montreal: Dana, what's the U.S. position on contractors like Blackwater if they're used by an enemy country and, say, shoot Americans? If they were on the other side of a conflict, what's their status? They're not soldiers.
Dana Priest: I cannot fathom this scenario.
South Texas: With regard to the Director of National Intelligence's recent statement that Russian and Chinese espionage in the US is getting back to Cold War levels, I have to ask a question that's going to sound cynical: So what? It isn't clear that the numerous espionage successes those two countries had during the Cold War ended up affecting U.S. security much at all. So why is now different?
Dana Priest: The simple answer is: you can't know what their intentions are in the future vis a vis the US. China is obviously a huge competitor to the US around the world, not just economically but for political influence. China is also, lest we forget, a Communist state with no free media, no workers rights, no human rights standards...so, in other words, under whose influence we would want other countries to fall. Look at Myanmar/Burma.
Helena, Mont.: Dana, I agree that newspapers have already described our interrogation methods, but the White House consistently has stated that "we do not torture." Having testimony of the interrogation methods in a court of law would put an imprimatur that newspapers just don't have -- and it would be much more difficult to state that we don't torture. In other words, it's political -- admitting to methods officially is worse than having it reported in newspapers.
Dana Priest: I don't disagree. I was actually arguing that because so much is already known, so little is still actually secret. You're right, having it officially on the record in court is different than in the press.
Re: Rizzo: Was the Senate's problem that he saw his role as enabling what the White House and CIA wanted to do, as opposed to what they legally can do, or was the opposition more specific to the "kidnap and torture" program, to be a bit blunt about it?
Dana Priest: The rendition, interrogation, secret prison program in particular, whose legality is now -- and only now -- being questioned by Congress.
Richmond, Va.: Re: The Senate's nonbinding resolution for the splitting of Iraq into three semiautonomous regions -- uh, is this something that the Iraqis want and is doable, just because we say we want it? I'm a little flummoxed at what this was all about. Any thoughts?
Dana Priest: Yes, that seemed to just come out of the blue. Well, the ruling parties in Iraq don't want it but we can't really say that means the Iraqi people don't want it (I'm not sure at this point that it is possible to say what the Iraqi people want). It's an expression of what Congress wants the US policy to be.
West Chester, Pa.: History seems to be repeating it self as the drumbeat for war with Iran, based on accusations not backed up by any facts, intensifies. Do you think the Bush administration will launch a war (perhaps sending only the bombers) against Iran and if they do what are the likely consequences for the Middle East?
Dana Priest: Frankly, I think the military would revolt and there would be no pilots to fly those missions. This is a little bit of hyperbole, but not much. Just look at what Gen. Casey, the Army chief, said yesterday. That the tempo of operations in Iraq would make it very hard for the military to respond to a major crisis elsewhere. Beside, it's not the "war" or "bombing" part that's difficult; it's the morning after and all the days after that. Haven't we learned that (again) from Iraq?
Munich, Germany: A former director of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Sir Richard Dearlove, proposes that for a secret service" success depends not just on the skill of individual case officers, but on a complicated admixture of qualities within the agency, projected mainly through its reputation." Do you agree that any secret service needs to place a high value on its own reputation?
Dana Priest: I have two contradictory thoughts on this. Firstly, no, reputation doesn't matter because it's a public thing and the real hard work of the CIA and other intel agencies is done secretly, with other governments, without regard to public perception whatsoever. Secondly, yes -- reputation does matter because if the public believes the CIA is huge, all-knowing, 007 kind of organization, it can serve as a deterrent to, well, people with bad intentions.
Boston: If the rumored warrantless domestic surveillance actions of telecommunications companies after Sept. 11 are ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court then does any legal liability protection provided by Congress hold up? Is it unconstitutional to provide protections for actions that are themselves unconstitutional?
Dana Priest: I'm sure lots of lawyers are scurrying around on this right now. I would think the companies could argue that the government had promised them that they were cooperating with a legal program, so maybe that buys them an out.
Baltimore: The administration and think-tank spokespersons avoid discussing war costs, saying it is "absurd" to put a price on security efforts. Aren't there ways to heal Middle East relations and decrease terrorist threats that spare funds for domestic priorities? Why are security/domestic funding discussions off-limits?
Dana Priest: Well, the next time a dictator says he'll leave his throne peacefully for a measly $1 billion and fake war plans, we should jump on it! Besides that, "containment" ain't lookin' so bad these days.
washingtonpost.com: Report Says Hussein Was Open To Exile Before 2003 Invasion (Post, Sept. 27)
Dana Priest: That was fast! Thanks for joining me. Until next week ... let's hope the temperature in Washington drops soon!
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
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Washington Post staff writer Dana Priest discusses the latest developments in national security and intelligence.
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Fios in Your Neighborhood? Don't Ask Verizon
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You'd be a little crazy to shop for a home without considering the Internet, phone and TV options awaiting in a new neighborhood. But good luck finding that out, especially when it comes to new services.
Consider the fuss over Verizon's Fios, which delivers fast Internet access as well as telephone and television service on fiber-optic wires. For customers who live out of the reach of DSL or have trees, buildings or hills blocking a satellite signal, it has been the first alternative to the local cable-TV monopoly.
But Verizon treats its plans for Fios like a state secret. Finding out when this service might show up at your door requires detective work or outright clairvoyance.
The worst such example may be in the District. Verizon has rolled out Fios in every surrounding jurisdiction, but D.C. residents are still waiting to hear when it might reach their homes.
Searching for service by typing in a District address on Verizon's Web site generated only a bland, meaningless assurance: "Our network is continually being expanded." Verizon's public relations department was no more informative.
"We've not announced plans at this point for D.C.," spokeswoman Christy Reap wrote in an e-mail. "Comcast would love to know our advance plans for the District, and we're not inclined to help them any sooner than we have to."
Verizon has been just as uncommunicative when responding to repeated requests for information from the D.C. government. "That really annoys me," said District People's Counsel Elizabeth A. Noel, who represents consumer interests with telephone and other utilities.
Fios service has to arrive in the District sometime, given that in August, Verizon filed an application with the city's Office of Cable Television and Telecommunications to provide TV service. But you'd never know that from the company's public statements.
The District has plenty of company. Verizon routinely gives the silent treatment to customers awaiting its service.
You can find scraps of information on Verizon's state subsidiaries' Web sites. Verizon's Virginia site ( http://verizon.com/va) has a page that lists streets scheduled for Fios construction each month, but it doesn't provide block numbers to let you know which part of the Little River Turnpike or Carlin Springs Road is being upgraded.
Its Maryland site ( http://verizon.com/md) buries the same information three links away from the home page, though it also offers a low-resolution map of service in Montgomery County.
That's as far as it goes. The best clue of imminent Fios service remains a sighting of a Verizon truck with a Fios logo.
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You'd be a little crazy to shop for a home without considering the Internet, phone and TV options awaiting in a new neighborhood. But good luck finding that out, especially when it comes to new services.
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Patent Rulings Against Vonage Upheld
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Vonage has said the decision would not affect its 2.4 million customers because it had deployed workarounds for the two patents at issue.
The court upheld a finding that Vonage infringed two of three patents that were the subject of a March trial. It sent back a third patent that had been found to be infringed, as well as the jury's $58 million award. The patent that was remanded concerns a small portion of Vonage's business.
"We conclude that there was no error in the district court's jury instructions" on two of the patents, the court said in a decision written by Circuit Judge Timothy Dyk.
Vonage lost a patent trial to Sprint Nextel on Tuesday. A federal jury in Kansas awarded Sprint $69.5 million in damages, and Sprint has pledged to seek a court order to block Holmdel, N.J.-based Vonage from using its inventions.
The Verizon patent returned to U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton in Alexandria for a new trial relates to use of WiFi handsets in an Internet-phone network. The two patents the appeals court agreed Vonage infringed cover a way of connecting Internet calls to standard phone lines and functions such as call forwarding on an Internet-based phone system.
The appeals court said Hilton erred in interpreting terms within the WiFi patent. The three-judge panel ordered the judge to reconsider whether the patent was valid and infringed.
Chief Judge Paul Michel wrote that he would have upheld the entire verdict on all three patents, as well as the damages. Circuit Judge Arthur Gajarsa said he would have upheld infringement on one of the patents and remanded the other two.
Vonage, which first sold shares to the public in May 2006, has never reported a profit and said subscriber growth slowed in the second quarter as it cut back on marketing. The company has $248.2 million in debt due in 2010.
Michael Snyder quit as Vonage chief executive in April, after the original Verizon verdict. Chairman Jeffrey Citron cut the company's workforce by 10 percent and reduced spending on ads and marketing by $110 million for the year. The company has said it is developing workarounds to New York-based Verizon's patented technology to avoid paying royalties.
Charlie Sahner, a spokesman for Vonage, said the company hasn't finished reading the opinion and declined to comment.
David Fish, a spokesman for Verizon, said "the court decision speaks for itself."
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Verizon Communications won an appeals court ruling yesterday upholding most of a patent verdict over smaller rival Vonage Holdings, the second legal setback for the Internet phone company in as many days.
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Black Opinion on Simpson Shifts
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But after a string of missteps by the former football star -- a heated 2003 argument with his teenage daughter in which she called police; a book, "If I Did It," that raised eyebrows last year; and a dispute over sports collectibles in Las Vegas this month that led to an armed-robbery arrest -- black opinion has shifted.
A Washington Post survey found that 40 percent of black respondents believe he is innocent of the murders, compared with 71 percent who felt that way around the time Simpson was acquitted in 1995. The change in black opinion brings African American views of Simpson's guilt closer to those of white people. In late 1995, 72 percent of white respondents said Simpson was guilty of murder, and 74 percent say they feel that way now.
The 31-percentage-point drop among black respondents is a head-turner, sociologists said, because African Americans were such steadfast supporters of the celebrity, cheering in some places when the verdicts were read.
"Blacks in the survey are probably saying, 'We're sort of fed up with this guy,' " said Earl Smith, a Wake Forest University professor who wrote "Race, Sport and the American Dream." "If you look at his actions since the murder, they've all been bad decisions, just constant."
Carl E. Enomoto, a New Mexico State University professor who wrote a book on public attitudes toward Simpson, agreed. "There's just been a lot of things that have happened, that robbery arrest and the tape on TV shows the rage he's capable of," Enomoto said. "He's such an emotional person that you can set him off pretty quickly. People are seeing all this and starting to change their opinions."
John Hull, 44, an African American living in Memphis, said he believed that Simpson was innocent in 1995, but has shifted his view. "I think people's views have changed because O.J. has changed," he said. "It's his behavior, his demeanor. His reputation is shot to hell. That could have been his behavior before but nobody knew."
Another black man, Ronald King, 56, of Nashville, said he saw Simpson less as a black man and more as a black eye on his community.
"O.J. is crazy," he said. From the book to the hotel melee, he said, "It's stupidity. He's a stupid man."
At the time of his acquittal, many commentators asserted that many black people saw Simpson as a symbol of the unfair treatment that African Americans feel they receive from the criminal justice system. A 1995 Post poll, for example, found that nearly nine in 10 African Americans said blacks and other minorities do not receive equal treatment in the criminal justice system. The latest survey indicates that distrust has not substantially dissipated. Nearly half of black respondents believe that Simpson is being unfairly targeted by police. Seventy-three percent of white respondents said otherwise.
The Post poll was conducted by telephone over five days ending Sunday, among a national random sample of 1,062 adults. The margin of sampling error for the full survey is plus or minus three percentage points, it is minus eight points for the African American sample.
In accompanying street interviews with African Americans, few thought their views on the issue had evolved. Many said they felt Simpson was innocent 12 years ago and still do now. Others said their belief that he was guilty is unchanged.
Evan Holland, 26, of Los Angeles said she cheered the verdict. "At the time it was not far from the L.A. riots where police officers were acquitted of beating Rodney King," she said. "For me, it was like we need some justice, we need some support, we need a win. I didn't think he did it." She still doesn't.
Greg Thornton, 43, of Oxon Hill said the prosecution of Simpson is a media frenzy driven by white-controlled news media. "I felt relieved that he was let off," Thornton said. Justice for black people is rare, he said, citing the slow response to help New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the prosecution of six black teenagers in Jena, La.
But Carlton Land, 64, of Houston disagreed. "I thought he was guilty, and I still do," he said. "All this mess he's in now, we just want to say, 'O.J., you need to go sit down somewhere.' "
Polling director Jon Cohen and polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.
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In a nation that largely despised him, O.J. Simpson always had strong support within the black community, where polls showed a majority of people believed he was innocent of charges that he murdered his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her acquaintance Ronald Lyle Goldman outside her home in Los ...
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Craig Begins Court Challenge
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Hennepin County District Judge Charles A. Porter said he would not rule on Craig's request until next week, and Craig softened his pledge to resign from the Senate by Sunday if his case was not resolved, announcing that he would remain in office "for now."
"Today was a major step in the legal effort to clear my name," Craig said. "The court has not issued a ruling on my motion to withdraw my guilty plea. For now, I will continue my work in the United States Senate for Idaho."
But in the small courtroom in this Minneapolis suburb, Porter noted that Craig admitted in August that his behavior in the restroom stall constituted a crime that "would arouse alarm or resentment of others."
"That's what he did in his petition -- admit what he did," the judge said during the 40-minute hearing.
Craig's attorney, Billy Martin, argued that the senator did not consult a lawyer before making his guilty plea, which he mailed to the court. At a hearing with a lawyer representing Craig, a judge would have asked the senator questions about the incident before accepting a plea, Martin said.
But Porter cut off the attorney, saying "my speculation" is that Craig wanted to plead guilty. "If he intended to plead guilty, he would have said 'yes' " to questions about whether he knew he had committed a crime, the judge said.
Craig, who was not in court, and his lawyers must convince Porter that it would be a "manifest injustice" under Minnesota law for the senator's plea not be overturned.
Martin argued that would be so because Craig's actions were merely "innocuous" behavior, but that there was no verbal or physical contact that rose to the level of disorderly conduct. "None of those facts, Your Honor, in and of themselves constitute a crime," he told Porter.
The judge said that, if he came down off the bench running at Martin, "shaking his fist" at Martin without ever punching him or yelling at him, it would likely prompt the attorney to think the judge was trying to incite him.
"It absolutely would," Martin said.
"Well, that's disorderly conduct," Porter replied.
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GM, Union Agree on Contract to End Strike
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The deal between the nation's biggest automaker and one of the largest unions was designed to bring both sides out of the past century and into this one, where each faces intense global competition. The contract may be a template not only for the rest of the auto industry but also for other large-scale employers, such as telecommunications companies, according to economists.
One economist called the deal, struck around 3 a.m. Wednesday, "the new Treaty of Detroit," a reference to the 1950 contract between the UAW, then at the height of its power, and GM, which once built half of the cars sold in America. The 1950 deal set relations between the UAW and Detroit's Big Three for the second half of the 20th century. It established a blue-collar middle class but became increasingly oppressive to automakers faced with floods of cheaper, popular imports.
At the core of the new deal is the transfer of retiree health-care payments from GM to the UAW. GM will pay an estimated $35 billion into a trust designed to appreciate in value and pay health-care benefits for retired workers for at least the next 80 years, the union estimated. In return, GM is able to unload a $51 billion burden in retiree health-care obligations from its books, enabling the troubled company to borrow money more easily and move more nimbly against competitors. GM's health-care liability is more than twice the company's $21 billion market capitalization.
In exchange for giving up annual raises over the course of the contract and allowing GM to pay new workers a lower wage, the union got job-security assurances. The deal must now be approved by union leaders at a meeting Friday, then by union members. Analysts expect the deal to be ratified.
"This agreement helps us close the fundamental competitive gaps that exist in our business," GM Chairman G. Richard Wagoner Jr. said. "The projected competitive improvements in this agreement will allow us to maintain a strong manufacturing presence in the United States along with significant future investments."
At a 4 a.m. news conference, UAW President Ronald A. Gettelfinger said the union got the assurances it wanted that GM would invest in building new products in the United States, thereby providing job security for members. Details of the commitment were not released.
Gettelfinger said he was "firmly convinced" that the new deal was in the best interest of the union. "I can't help but think that having a national strike brought this thing to a head real quick," he said on a Detroit radio station.
The 1950 contract was the first to build in extensive health-care and retiree benefits -- costs that ballooned so much in the second half of the century that a new kind of deal was required for both the union and automakers to survive, said Teresa Ghilarducci, an economist at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
"It was said that most people in Detroit in the '70s and '80s who had health care got it from the auto companies," Ghilarducci said. "That created little Swedens, or mini welfare states. Now, as countries are more interdependent, no one company is big enough to carry the social insurance for an entire region or city."
The new contract is also a departure from the classically adversarial, and at times violent, relationship between the union and the U.S. automakers.
Under Gettelfinger, who called the national strike on Monday, the union showed it still had the power to order 73,000 workers to walk out of GM's 80 unionized plants at once. At the same time, the UAW signaled to GM that a strike was coming, and warned the company to stock up on high-profit vehicles, according to a UAW official in Detroit. The courtesy suggested that the strike was meant to push GM to sign a contract rather than cripple the company, as a 1998 UAW strike in Flint, Mich., did.
While some saw the contract talks as a way to deal a death blow to an already diminished union -- with fewer than 600,000 members, the UAW is less than half the size it was at its peak in the 1970s -- others saw it as an opportunity to turn decades of conflict into collaboration, noting that GM no longer has the clout it once did, either. GM's U.S. market share has slipped to less than 25 percent.
"I'd say the two sides are pretty much balanced now," said Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute and a labor scholar. "That's why they worked out an agreement that was a real give and take. The union took into account the true financial state of the company and neither side ran over the other."
Under the new contract, UAW retiree benefits will be paid out by a voluntary employees' beneficiary association (VEBA) that will be funded by GM initially but managed by the union. Creation of the retiree health trust is to be monitored by a judge and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a GM statement.
Economists said that the deal would not only be a model for the UAW's coming negotiations with Ford and Chrysler, but also for other large U.S. industries, such as the telecommunications sector. Verizon Communications, for example, has thousands of unionized workers nearing retirement age.
Most intriguing, Ghilarducci said, is that the UAW-GM health-care compromise could be applied to nonunion U.S. autoworkers. Half the U.S. auto workforce is nonunion and works at plants owned by such foreign companies as Honda and Toyota.
Retiree health benefits have not yet been a concern for those companies. They have been in the United States for only a generation and hired workers in their 20s and 30s, and their benefits are generally capped. But as their workforce ages, Ghilarducci said, the Japanese companies may look to the VEBA model as a way to offer employees retirement health-care benefits without unionizing their plants.
Not all details of the tentative contract were revealed, but it is known that underlying wages will be frozen during the duration of the four-year agreement, though workers will receive one-time bonuses in each of the contract years, in addition to a $3,000 signing bonus to entice them to ratify the deal soon.
GM will be allowed to pay as little as $14 to $15 an hour to employees in non-manufacturing jobs that once paid as much as $28 as hour, as openings come up. Those jobs were prized by older workers who were able to become forklift drivers or janitors after years of physically demanding work on assembly lines.
GM shares closed Wednesday at $37.68, up $3.26.
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DETROIT, Sept. 26 -- General Motors and the United Auto Workers agreed on a new four-year contract early Wednesday morning, ending a two-day nationwide strike and sending workers back to assembly lines in the afternoon.
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An Extra 'S' on the Report Card
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Now he has an answer.
"Childrens do learn," he said Wednesday.
The setting was, yes, an education event where the president was taking credit for rising test scores and promoting congressional renewal of his signature education law. To create the right image, the White House summoned the city's chancellor of schools, a principal, some teachers and about 20 eager students from P.S. 76.
The visual worked fine. The oral? Not so much. For Bush, it was a classic malapropism, the sort of verbal miscue that occasionally bedevils him in public speaking and provides critics and the media easy fodder for ridicule. Subject-verb agreement actually is taught at Andover, Yale and Harvard, the president's alma maters, but in an unforgiving job that requires him to speak hundreds of thousands of words with cameras rolling, the tongue sometimes veers off in mysterious ways -- and someone always seems to notice.
His latest misstatement masked a serious issue, of course. As Bush's first-term No Child Left Behind law comes up for reauthorization, many in Congress are attacking it from both the left and the right. The president is trying to preserve what he sees as one of his most significant domestic achievements, an effort to increase accountability through rigorous standardized testing. The latest report card released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress gave him some ammunition.
"The No Child Left Behind Act is working," Bush said with first lady Laura Bush, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein at his side. "I say that because the nation's report card says it's working. Scores are improving, in some instances hitting all-time highs."
Bush said that lawmakers should pay attention and not mess with success. "My call to the Congress is: Don't water down this good law," he said. "Don't go backwards when it comes to educational excellence. Don't roll back accountability. We've come too far to turn back."
Others offered a more measured assessment. "Unfortunately, this administration has dropped the ball on education reform by shortchanging this law to the tune of $56 billion since its enactment," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate education committee. He vowed "to provide the solutions and the resources needed to ensure that students and schools can succeed."
The test results released Tuesday are not the ones used under No Child Left Behind, but the administration said that they show the progress since the law was passed with bipartisan support. Math scores improved among fourth- and eighth-graders, and black and Hispanic students made gains, although they still trailed their white counterparts. Eighth-grade reading scores, on the other hand, have not changed much since 1998.
Education specialists are divided on whether the federal law has succeeded in raising achievement for all students or in narrowing the historic achievement gaps between demographic groups. Passage rates are rising on many tests given to satisfy the law, including those in Maryland, Virginia and the District. The gap between white and black students is shrinking in some places.
But some scholars do not credit the education law. NAEP scores, for example, rose in some states and fell in others, and the general upward trend began well before No Child Left Behind. "My general view of this is that the president has been serially dishonest in claiming that No Child is accomplishing its mission," said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley.
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NEW YORK, Sept. 26 -- As a candidate, George W. Bush once asked, "Is our children learning?"
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