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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111501490.html
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https://web.archive.org/web/2006111719id_/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111501490.html
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Sectarian Strife in Iraq Imperils Entire Region, Analysts Warn
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2006111719
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BAGHDAD -- While American commanders have suggested that civil war is possible in Iraq, many leaders, experts and ordinary people in Baghdad and around the Middle East say it is already underway, and that the real worry ahead is that the conflict will destroy the flimsy Iraqi state and draw in surrounding countries.
Whether the U.S. military departs Iraq sooner or later, the United States will be hard-pressed to leave behind a country that does not threaten U.S. interests and regional peace, according to U.S. and Arab analysts and political observers.
"We're not talking about just a full-scale civil war. This would be a failed-state situation with fighting among various groups," growing into regional conflict, Joost Hiltermann, Middle East project director for the International Crisis Group, said by telephone from Amman, Jordan.
"The war will be over Iraq, over its dead body," Hiltermann said.
"All indications point to a current state of civil war and the disintegration of the Iraqi state," Nawaf Obaid, an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an adviser to the Saudi government, said last week at a conference in Washington on U.S.-Arab relations.
As Iraq's neighbors grapple with the various ideas put forward for solving the country's problems, they uniformly shudder at one proposal: dividing Iraq into separate regions for Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, and then speeding the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
"To envision that you can divide Iraq into three parts is to envision ethnic cleansing on a massive scale, sectarian killing on a massive scale," Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, said Oct. 30 at a conference in Washington. "Since America came into Iraq uninvited, it should not leave Iraq uninvited."
"When the ethnic-religious break occurs in one country, it will not fail to occur elsewhere, too," Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Germany's Der Spiegel newsweekly recently. "It would be as it was at the end of the Soviet Union, only much worse. Large wars, small wars -- no one will be able to get a grip on the consequences."
In an analysis published last month by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Obaid said sectarian conflicts could make Iraq a battleground for the region.
Obaid described widespread interference by Iranian security forces within Iraq. He urged Saudi Arabia, which is building a 560-mile wall on its border with Iraq, to warn Iran "that if these activities are not checked," Saudi Arabia "will be forced to consider a similar overt and covert program of its own."
In Damascus, a Syrian analyst close to the Assad government warned that other countries would intervene if Iraq descended into full-scale civil war. "Iran will get involved, Turkey will get involved, Saudi Arabia, Syria," said the analyst, who spoke on condition he not be identified further.
"Regional war is very much a possibility," said Hiltermann, the analyst for the International Crisis Group. Iraq's neighbors "are hysterical about Iranian strategic advances in the region," he said.
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BAGHDAD -- While American commanders have suggested that civil war is possible in Iraq, many leaders, experts and ordinary people in Baghdad and around the Middle East say it is already underway, and that the real worry ahead is that the conflict will destroy the flimsy Iraqi state and draw in...
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As Pressure for Talks Grows, Iran and Syria Gain Leverage
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2006111719
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The White House is under growing pressure to talk to Iran and Syria to help stabilize Iraq, but mounting violence in Iraq and the Bush administration's political woes give the negotiating edge to Tehran and Damascus and complicate any U.S. outreach, experts say.
The idea of talks is widely expected to be on the list of proposals that will come out of the Iraq Study Group report next month, because co-chairman and former secretary of state James A. Baker III and other members back engaging enemies as well as allies. British Prime Minister Tony Blair this week endorsed talking with Tehran and Damascus, with caveats. The CIA director and the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency said yesterday that talks could help. And an array of experts has encouraged the administration to reach out to the countries that have meddled most in Iraq.
But the Bush administration is already questioning the idea, and even supporters admit that full cooperation by both Iran and Syria may have little impact on the many-sided insurgency. Neither country has much sway over Iraq's Sunnis or the al-Qaeda branch in Iraq, as both are ruled by Shiites or Shiite offshoots.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, traveling yesterday to a conference in Vietnam, said that she is prepared to talk to "anybody, anywhere, anytime" under circumstances in which she believed progress was really possible. "I'm not afraid to talk to anyone," she told reporters. But she dismissed the idea that diplomacy offers any "magic bullets" for Iraq.
The United States has made multiple overtures to Tehran, particularly related to its controversial nuclear program. A year ago, Rice told Congress that Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, had been empowered to talk to his Iranian counterpart in Baghdad on Iraq.
"There's no lack of opportunity to talk to the Iranians," she told reporters. "The question is: Is there anything about Iranian behavior that suggests that they are prepared to contribute to stability in Iraq? And I have to say that at this point I don't see it."
Syria has given no indication that it is willing to be a stabilizing force anywhere in the region, including in Iraq, Lebanon and the Arab-Israeli dispute, she added. President Bashar al-Assad's government has "aligned itself with the forces of extremism," she said.
In a briefing Wednesday aboard Air Force One en route to Singapore, national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley all but rejected the idea. "What we need is less talk and more action by Iran," he said.
But experts on both sides of the Iraq debate argue that after decades of tension with both countries, Iran and Syria now have a common interest with the United States in preventing further turmoil in Iraq. "We've gone past the point of being desirable. It's absolutely necessary to talk to them," said Joseph Cirincione, vice president of the Center for American Progress.
Iran fears the spillover of Iraq's political problems on its own large Kurdish, Sunni and Arab minorities in the event of a full-scale civil war. It also was burdened with a refugee problem as more than 2 million people fled wars in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan.
Syria is also looking for a way out of its isolation. And it fears that Kurdish separatism in Iraq would influence its own restive Kurdish population, said Theodore H. Kattouf, former U.S. ambassador to Syria.
"They have some hardheaded reasons to want to coordinate with us to make sure that our withdrawal, which they want, is not precipitous," said Geoffrey Kemp, a Reagan administration National Security Council staffer.
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The White House is under growing pressure to talk to Iran and Syria to help stabilize Iraq, but mounting violence in Iraq and the Bush administration's political woes give the negotiating edge to Tehran and Damascus and complicate any U.S. outreach, experts say.
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Bush Cautiously Backs Pacific Rim Free Trade
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2006111719
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SINGAPORE, Nov. 16 -- President Bush reassured Pacific Rim leaders Thursday that the United States stands squarely behind efforts to liberalize trade with the region, and he promised to continue pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
On the eve of an economic summit in Vietnam, Bush voiced tentative support for a free-trade agreement covering all 21 member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, saying during a speech here that the idea deserves "serious consideration."
In addition, the president again warned North Korea that the United States would consider it a "grave threat" and would hold North Korea responsible if it transfers nuclear bomb technology to another country or to a terrorist organization. He said North Korea should take "concrete steps" to end its nuclear program, and he called on other Asian countries to send the same message to Pyongyang.
North Korea agreed last month to resume talks with five other nations on ending its nuclear weapons program, just three weeks after conducting its first nuclear weapons test. Diplomats hope talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States will take place by the end of the year, but no date has been fixed.
In comments to reporters at the APEC meeting in Hanoi, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there was deep skepticism among the group's members that North Korea actually intended to abandon its nuclear weapons. [Bush landed in Hanoi on Friday morning, the Associated Press reported.]
Asked if she would favor delaying talks until she was certain North Korea would take steps to show its commitment, Rice said: "I don't think it makes sense for us to have talks unless we think that it's going to be fruitful. It certainly doesn't make sense just to go back to talk."
In his speech at the National University of Singapore, Bush also called on North Korea to take demonstrable action to show it is willing to end its weapons program. "Pyongyang must show it's serious . . . by taking concrete steps to implement its agreement to give up its nuclear weapons and weapons program," he said.
Bush added that if North Korea did so, the United States and other nations involved in the six-party talks would provide it with economic help, security assurances and other benefits.
Bush's visit to Southeast Asia comes on the heels of elections in which Democrats won majorities in both chambers of Congress, an outcome widely seen as a repudiation of the president's leadership.
Some analysts have said many nations in Southeast Asia, which have a generally warm view of Bush, see the United States as a pillar of stability in a region where Communist-run China is the dominant force.
With Bush weakened politically, they say, many leaders in this economically booming region doubt his power to deliver on his trade liberalization and other promises.
Bush suffered a disappointment this week when the House of Representatives failed to approve a measure to establish permanent normal trade relations with Vietnam. Bush had expressed hope that Congress would approve the measure before his trip to Hanoi, but House leaders now say they will not try again to pass the bill until next month.
Passage of the bill is needed for U.S. firms to take advantage of the low tariffs Vietnam will enact as a result of its recent membership in the World Trade Organization, and its failure to pass was viewed as a disappointment by the Vietnamese government.
In his address previewing issues he plans to emphasize during his week-long trip, Bush said the United States is serious about helping the region meet the challenges that could undermine its recent record of explosive economic growth. He cited efforts to develop alternative energy sources, fight pandemic diseases such as AIDS and avian flu, and combat terrorism.
Pointing out that the United States does more trade across the Pacific Ocean than across the Atlantic, Bush said he wants his administration to remain deeply involved in the region.
Before his speech, the president met with Singapore's prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong. Accompanied by his wife, Laura, he also visited the Asian Civilizations Museum, where the two listened to a performance of Asian fusion music.
Bush briefly tried his hand at the saron, an instrument similar to a xylophone, tapping out a passable rhythm with a rubber mallet.
The president is scheduled to stay three nights in Vietnam, then visit Indonesia and Honolulu before returning to Washington on Tuesday.
Staff writer Glenn Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.
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SINGAPORE, Nov. 16 -- President Bush reassured Pacific Rim leaders Thursday that the United States stands squarely behind efforts to liberalize trade with the region, and he promised to continue pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
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N.C. Tornado Kills at Least 8
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2006111719
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RIEGELWOOD, N.C., Nov. 16 -- A tornado flipped cars, shredded trees and ripped mobile homes to pieces in this little riverside community early Thursday, killing at least eight people, authorities said.
The disaster raised the two-day death toll from a devastating line of thunderstorms that swept across the South to 12.
Kip Godwin, chairman of the Columbus County Board of Commissioners, said just before 5 p.m. that authorities had mostly concluded their search efforts and that they had accounted for everyone listed as a missing person. Hospital officials said at least five people, including four children, were in critical condition.
"We won't know for a while what their status will be," Godwin said.
The storms began Wednesday, unleashing tornadoes and straight-line winds that overturned tractor-trailers, uprooted trees and knocked down power lines across the South.
In Louisiana, a man died Wednesday when a tornado struck his home. A utility worker checking power lines in South Carolina during Thursday's storm was electrocuted. In North Carolina, two people died in car crashes as heavy rain pelted the state, dropping as much as five inches in some areas.
The tornado that struck Riegelwood -- on the Cape Fear River, about 20 miles west of coastal Wilmington -- hit shortly after 6:30 a.m., Easley said. As many as 40 mobile homes were damaged before the tornado hopped N.C. 87 and leveled three brick houses.
"There was no warning. There was no time," said Cissy Kennedy, 48, a radiologist's assistant who lives in the trailer park. "It just came out from nowhere."
Debris from homes damaged by the tornado -- carpeting, a laundry basket, food -- was scattered along the roadway. The storm dumped a minivan in a ditch, and a open refrigerator that still had food inside was filled with rainwater.
"It was dark, with like a string hanging down with debris coming out," Clevette Brown, 42, said of the tornado. Her home along the highway was lightly damaged.
Searchers had found eight bodies in the wreckage by late afternoon. "We're still reserving the right that it may change," Godwin said.
Officials at hospitals in Columbus and New Hanover counties said they were treating 13 people Thursday afternoon with storm-related injuries.
Elsewhere in North Carolina, Easley said, minor damage was reported in Wayne, Duplin, Lincoln, Iredell and Rowan counties. The storm initially knocked out power to 45,000 customers in the state, but utilities had restored power to all but 13,500 as of 2:30 p.m., Easley said.
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RIEGELWOOD, N.C., Nov. 16 -- A tornado flipped cars, shredded trees and ripped mobile homes to pieces in this little riverside community early Thursday, killing at least eight people, authorities said.
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A Texting Tour Of Punk's Old Places
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2006111719
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For those interested in Washington punk rock of the 1980s, there's no shortage of ways to learn about the scene. You could listen to Minor Threat, Bad Brains and Fugazi. You could watch the documentary "American Hardcore." Or, you could stand outside the Starbucks at Seventh and E streets NW and wait for a text message.
That's the idea behind "Capitol of Punk," an interactive tour of 10 D.C. punk landmarks. By sending the text message "DCSPACE" to the number 67067, your cellphone will direct you on a guided treasure hunt, starting with factoids about the building at Seventh and E. (Organizers also have drawn a map of the tour locations, which is available online.)
In the dozen or so text messages, you'll learn that until 1991, the Starbucks site was an all-ages art and music venue called d.c. space. You'll read anecdotes about bands seeing how fast they could play the Monkees song "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone." Government Issue set the record, it turns out, finishing in 12 seconds.
Put that in your Frappuccino and sip it.
"When you're there, it's hard to believe," says 26-year-old project director Christopher Allen. "There's no marking. There's no way to see that history. It's invisible."
"Capitol of Punk" is the brainchild of Yellow Arrow, a New York-based project that is part of a company called Counts Media. The group has created similar text-message tours for New Orleans's Voodoo Music Festival and New York's East Village.
Unlike those tours, the D.C. project includes films about each location, which are screening Saturday at the Warehouse Theater. The text-message tour is already up and running and the films are available in full at http://www.yellowarrow.net/, along with the tour map.
"You get the sensation you're actually getting messages from actual musicians that are guiding you through the city," says executive producer Jesse Shapins.
Kara Oehler, a Yellow Arrow contributor and radio journalist, helped conceive of the "Capitol of Punk" tour while working on a segment about music for American Public Media's "Marketplace." Oehler, 28, grew up listening to punk in Indianapolis and served as the group's expert on the subject.
Oehler, Shapins and Allen started working on the project in January. During interviews with 15 or so musicians, Oehler asked them to point to significant locations on a giant map of Washington.
"They would see what someone else had marked and they would say, 'Oh, I remember that!' " Oehler says.
Allen says his position as a D.C. punk outsider helped the final product: "I wanted to make this accessible for people who didn't understand all the people and all the bands," he says.
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Search Washington, DC area museums and art exhibitions from the Washington Post. Features DC, Virginia and Maryland entertainment listings for museums, galleries, studios and monuments. Visit http://eg.washingtonpost.com/section/museums today.
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Fenty to Name Ally To Lead Turnaround
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2006111719
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D.C. Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty plans to appoint Board of Education member Victor Reinoso today as his deputy mayor for education, a key post in Fenty's potential bid for control of the struggling 58,000-student school system.
Under the school governance model he is considering, Fenty (D) would make the school board an advisory panel and create a Department of Education overseen by Reinoso. The school superintendent would report to Reinoso, who, in turn, would report to Fenty.
Fenty is leaning toward retaining Superintendent Clifford B. Janey under this scenario, said an authoritative source on the transition team, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plans were still being formulated. A mayoral takeover would require approval by the D.C. Council as well as Congress and President Bush.
Reinoso, 37, won the District 2 seat on the school board two years ago with a strong endorsement from Fenty, the Ward 4 council member. The second Latino to win a major elected post in the city, Reinoso has two years remaining in his term, but he will step down, sources said.
Reinoso has been part of team of advisers helping Fenty for several weeks to develop a detailed takeover plan, which is expected to be delivered to the council next month. James H. Shelton III, an official with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and several education consulting firms also are advising Fenty.
Fees for the firms could be more than $100,000 and will be paid with private donations, Fenty said.
Fenty, expected to make an official announcement at a news conference this morning, considers Reinoso one of the board's "most aggressive voices for change," a source said. For example, Reinoso, like Fenty, has been critical of the pace of Janey's master facilities plan, which proposes closing some schools over 13 years. This month, he sent a 15-page letter to Janey on the facilities plan, citing the lack of high-quality middle schools in his district as a reason for children leaving the system. Reinoso also served on a special education task force on the board.
He did not return several telephone messages this week.
"He has been one of those who has pushed the agenda forward, whether it's about student achievement or fixing our buildings," said council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), chairman of the education committee.
At a school board meeting last night, Janey said of Reinoso, "I expect he'll hit the ground running with his experience as an education steward."
School board President Peggy Cooper Cafritz, who will be replaced by Robert C. Bobb in January, described Reinoso as "smart and contemplative but decisive."
But Iris Toyer, president of Parents United for the D.C. Public Schools, questioned whether Janey would feel comfortable reporting to Reinoso.
"If I were the superintendent, I would want the sense that whoever I report to knows more than I do," Toyer said. "Frankly, I'm not sure if you talk about the superintendent of D.C. public schools reporting to Victor Reinoso that, that is the case."
Reinoso, who lives with his wife and two children in Takoma Park, works as director of education initiatives at the Federal City Council, an organization of business leaders.
His appointment would complete Fenty's top-level Cabinet members. The others are City Administrator Dan Tangherlini, Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi, chief of staff Tene Dolphin, Attorney General Linda Singer, general counsel Peter J. Nickles, deputy mayor for economic development Neil O. Albert and communications director Carrie Brooks.
Emily DeCicco, who helped manage Reinoso's campaign for school board, said he would be an ideal match for Fenty.
"Victor is well-prepared for the get-it-done, make-it-happen Fenty administration," she said.
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D.C. Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty plans to appoint Board of Education member Victor Reinoso today as his deputy mayor for education, a key post in Fenty's potential bid for control of the struggling 58,000-student school system.
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Let the Games Begin
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2006111719
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Inside the Circuit City in Rockville sits a stack of 100 PlayStation 3 gaming consoles. Outside the store, far more than 100 people are camped on the sidewalk -- the first person arrived Monday -- waiting to get their hands on one.
The PS3 -- Sony's response to Microsoft's year-old Xbox 360 -- goes on sale tomorrow morning, 48 hours before the Nintendo Wii also hits the shelves.
This is the most-anticipated weekend of the year for video game fans, as the three big names in gaming gear up for a console war that not only renews a long-fought battle for a place in the living room but also looks to entice folks who otherwise might not be interested in video games. The PS3 costs as much as $600, but Sony's supply is so small that the cutting-edge multimedia device is expected to sell out across the country within hours, possibly minutes.
Talk to the folks in line and you get a few different reasons for why they are there. Some want to be among the first to play what they hope will be the best version of Madden ever. Others are excited about the built-in Blu-ray disc player, one of the competing formats that promises crystal-clear versions of DVD movies that will play on their high-definition sets.
And a good-size chunk of this line wants to sell one of these devices on eBay or Craigslist for a couple of thousand dollars, helping to offset the sort of sore back you get from sleeping on the ground for three nights.
If you haven't pre-ordered -- or if you're reading this from somewhere other than a sidewalk outside an electronics store -- you're likely out of luck.
Nintendo's new Wii console goes on sale Sunday at a relatively inexpensive $250. But like the PS3, the Wii (pronounced We) is being featured on auctions all over the Internet. While Sony and Microsoft are in an arms race for bragging rights to the most powerful machine, Nintendo is playing a slightly different game.
The Wii console is less of a technological powerhouse but allows players to interact with games in a new way -- by waving their arms and hands rather than pushing buttons on a controller. In a boxing game, for example, players make punching motions with the system's wireless controllers; in a bowling game, players make an underhand throwing motion.
Though die-hard fans may snatch up every unit Nintendo and Sony can put out this year, the two companies are hoping that their new products will eventually reach beyond this crowd and help introduce a more mainstream audience to video games. And so is Microsoft, the early mover in the console wars this time around with last year's debut of the Xbox 360.
To try to attract consumers in the mainstream market who don't, as yet, care much about games, console makers are loading their machines with the latest, cutting-edge technology -- from graphics processors that deliver high-definition visuals to Internet connections that allow the console to extend beyond its comfort zone of playing a game.
Sure, owners can surf the Web and play each other online, but that's a given these days. It's the new uses of the Web connection -- like adding new features to existing consoles on the fly -- that will differentiate one device from the other.
Starting next week, for example, the Xbox 360 will be able to download full-length movies and TV shows to their consoles in high definition. That wasn't a feature that was advertised when the unit came out last year.
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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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Pakistan Moves to Amend Rape Laws
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 15 -- Pakistan's lower house of Parliament passed amendments to the country's rape laws Wednesday, ditching the death penalty for extramarital sex and revising a clause on making victims produce four witnesses to prove rape cases.
Consensual sex outside marriage would remain a crime punishable by five years in prison or a $165 fine, said a parliamentary official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
International and local calls for change intensified after the 2002 gang rape of Mukhtar Mai. A tribal council in her village in Punjab province ordered the rape as punishment for her 13-year-old brother's alleged affair with a woman of a higher caste.
The amendments enraged Islamic conservatives but won cautious support from human rights activists, who wanted the controversial laws scrapped altogether.
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, praised lawmakers for approving the amendments and criticized fundamentalists for their "unnecessary" opposition and their claims that his government was acting against Islam.
"I have taken a firm decision to change these unjust rape laws as it was necessary to amend them to protect women," Musharraf said in a televised address to the nation. He urged the Senate, dominated by government allies, to swiftly approve the measure.
Pakistan's late dictator, Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, introduced the laws, known as the Hudood Ordinance, in 1979 to appease Islamic political groups opposed to the secularization of Pakistani society.
Human rights activists and moderates have long condemned the laws for punishing rape victims instead of protecting them. The laws placed the burden of proof on victims while providing safeguards for their attackers, such as requiring four eyewitnesses to bring rape charges.
The amendments coincide with efforts by the Islamabad government to soften the country's hard-line Islamic image and pacify opponents of the laws.
Hina Jilani , a leading Pakistani human rights activist, praised the government for taking practical steps to amend the laws, but she demanded more legislation to protect women's rights.
"The government has made some positive changes by passing this bill, but it does not meet our demands," said Jilani, of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "We wanted a total repeal of the 1979 rape law, but the government has not done it."
The amendments drop the death penalty and flogging for people convicted of having consensual sex outside marriage and give judges discretion to try rape cases in a criminal court, rather than an Islamic court. Strict Islamic law dictates that a woman claiming rape must produce four witnesses, making a trial almost impossible.
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 15 -- Pakistan's lower house of Parliament passed amendments to the country's rape laws Wednesday, ditching the death penalty for extramarital sex and revising a clause on making victims produce four witnesses to prove rape cases.
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Church Won't Punish Minister For Gay Wedding
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2006111719
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Citing a procedural error, a tribunal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) dismissed all charges yesterday against a Pittsburgh minister who was accused of violating the church's rules by conducting a marriage ceremony for two women.
The Rev. Janet Edwards, 56, said she was relieved, but also disappointed not to have her day in church court.
"Scripture teaches me that the heart of marriage is the love and commitment between the partners. Life has taught me that gay and lesbian partners can show as much love and commitment as anyone else," she said. "I was really eager to make that case."
Edwards, a Presbyterian minister for 29 years, presided over a June 2005 wedding ceremony for Nancy McConn, a Presbyterian, and Brenda Cole, a Buddhist. If Edwards had been found guilty, she could have faced penalties ranging from a rebuke to revocation of her ordination.
But as her trial was to begin, the eight-member tribunal, the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Pittsburgh Presbytery, ruled that an investigating committee had not brought the charges in time. The committee was appointed on Sept. 8, 2005, and filed the accusations on Sept. 12, 2006 -- after the one-year deadline set by church law, the panel said.
Like many other Protestant denominations, the 3 million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been wrestling for decades over homosexuality. In 1978, its governing General Assembly declared that gay men and lesbians "must be treated with the profound respect and pastoral tenderness due all people of God." In 1991, the same body ruled that same-sex marriage ceremonies are "not sanctioned" and "not proper."
Edwards said she interprets the 1991 ruling as "cautionary words" rather than a ban of same-sex weddings. She acknowledged that many Presbyterians disagree. But she said that both sides have tried to pass General Assembly resolutions clarifying the situation, and neither has succeeded.
While the case against Edwards is moot, similar charges are pending against the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr of San Rafael, Calif., who has conducted hundreds of same-sex ceremonies since 1974.
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Citing a procedural error, a tribunal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) dismissed all charges yesterday against a Pittsburgh minister who was accused of violating the church's rules by conducting a marriage ceremony for two women.
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A Swatch of Scotland
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As a fan of Ian Rankin's detective stories, I know that the Scots have their own vocabulary for rain. "Smirr," for instance, is "a fine spray mist which drenched you before you knew it." Add some wind to the rain and you get "a scowthering gale." Then there's "mizzle:" miserable drizzle.
"So what would you call this weather?" I ask as I slide dripping into a taxi on the island of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, some 40 miles off the northwest coast of Scotland.
"I'd call it bloody awful," the driver says. "What would you call it?"
Insistent, maybe? Unpredictable, certainly. As I'd soon learn, a single day here can offer a variety pack of weather ranging from upended-bucket rain to veils of mist, from curds of cloud to sun that transmutes freshwater lochs into basins of silver. Through it all, the wind blusters hard across the moors, over the white sand beaches and low treeless hills, demanding attention.
This place even has its own weather song. "Feels So Near," by the popular mainland Scottish singer Dougie MacLean, describes the howling of the winds and crashing of the waves on these very shores, awesome nature "right in your face." And it's been right in my face since I stepped off the plane, and trickling down my neck and seeping into my socks as well.
But as the taxi heads toward town, the rain stops, the cloud bank backs off and, as unlikely as it seemed 15 minutes earlier, a hesitant rainbow appears. The driver doesn't expect a response to his question, but I have one. "This weather is Something Else."
You could call it Challenging. Those persistent winds combined with overgrazing by generations of black-faced sheep have left the land heathered and wildflowered but treeless. Soil spread thin over ancient rock leaves little to till. But the poor crofters of Lewis and Harris long ago found a way to meet the challenge. They carded and spun their sheep's wool into yarn. They used wild plants and even chimney soot to make dyes. They set up looms beside their hearths, and the cloth they wove helped pay their cottage rents.
The product of their looms became the eponymous Harris tweed, legendary for its durability, warmth and -- very important, this -- smirr- and mizzle-resistance. Popularized in the 19th century by lairds who ordered the thorn-proof cloth for their gamekeepers, it has gone on to clothe politicians, poets, princes and real and fictional characters into the 21st century. A Harris tweed jacket was near the top of Esquire magazine's 2006 list of 10 "Things You Simply Must Have," editors noting the tweed's "deep link with a particular place."
I have arrived at that particular place, drawn as I am to destinations where "remote" is still an adjective. This is the northernmost of the Western Isles, a.k.a. the Outer Hebrides, Robert Louis Stevenson's "rainy, windswept archipelago" of 200-some islands, islets and even smaller "skerries." The chain stretches 130 miles north and south off the craggy northwest coast of Scotland; beyond these islands, the vast Atlantic swells and heaves.
Lewis, where my plane from Glasgow landed, occupies the northern two-thirds of this island and is more developed than Harris, my destination. Called the Isle of Harris although technically only one-third of an isle, the south is a place of hand-built, single-lane roads; heather-covered hills and kelp-covered shores; sheep with an air of entitlement; and hardy people with firm control of their emotions and a "mustn't grumble" approach to life.
Harris is known now as the home of the last half-dozen men and women who weave independently, creating their own patterns, choosing their own colors and operating their racketing, old, foot-powered looms in an untouched corner of the United Kingdom. Elsewhere on the island, others still weave by hand -- by law, all Harris tweed must be hand-woven -- but work for a mill that specifies colors and patterns and performs many tasks once done at home, and markets the tweed all over the world.
The town of Stornoway, on the eastern shore of Lewis, is the departure point for a visit to Harris. The commercial center of the island, Stornoway has a population of 6,000-plus. Streets of gravy-colored houses edge a sheltered harbor, once a base for Viking longships and busy today with fishing boats and inter-island ferries.
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Find Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland travel information, including web fares, Washington DC tours, beach/ski guide, international and United States destinations. Featuring Mid-Atlantic travel, airport information, traffic/weather updates
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Hot and Cold in Colorado
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A. In Colorado, skiing and soaking go as well together as moguls and jumping. The Rocky Mountain State has numerous places to take the thermal waters, before or after a day on the slopes, but the best-known springs are near the Steamboat ski resort in Steamboat Springs, 160 miles northwest of Denver. "Steamboat is a great family mountain," says Molly Cuffe, spokeswoman of Colorado Ski Country USA ( http://www.coloradoski.com/ ), a Denver trade association that represents 26 Colorado ski resorts. "Strawberry Park is a half-hour from the resort, and they have pools of different temperatures."
Strawberry Park Hot Springs (970-879-0342, http://www.strawberryhotsprings.com/ ) is about seven miles from downtown Steamboat, and shuttles run between the resort and the springs. Hot Springs Adventures, for example, has daily tours for $30, which include transport and a 1 1/2 -hour soak. Be warned, though, that children are not allowed in the springs after dark, when clothing is optional. Closer to the resort, the Steamboat Springs Health and Recreation Center's Downtown Hot Springs Pool and Waterslide offers three hot pools, an Olympic-size lap pool and a 350-foot waterslide. Day rates range from $3.50 to $15.
For savings, Cuffe suggests buying multiple day tickets and lodging packages. "During the peak holiday times, there are some deals, but you must book early," she says. For instance, Steamboat offers an Early Rewards package that takes up to 15 percent off accommodations and tickets if you book by Nov. 20. Additionally, children under age 12 ski free when a parent purchases a five-day pass ($405). Info: 970-871-5252, http://www.steamboat.com/ .
If you prefer to use Denver as your base, the Ski Train (303-296-4754, http://www.skitrain.com/ ; from $44 per person) runs between downtown and the Winter Park and Mary Jane ski areas. The Hot Sulphur Springs Resort and Spa (800-510-6235, http://www.hotsulphursprings.com/ ) is a half-hour west of Winter Park and 10 minutes from the Sol Vista Ski Area. Other ski-and-soak pairings in Colorado include Glenwood Springs, which has the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool and, for skiing, Sunlight Mountain Resort and Aspen; Eldorado Hot Springs, near the Eldora Ski Area in Boulder; Indian Springs in Idaho Springs, on the route from Denver to Breckenridge, Keystone and other Summit County resorts; Ouray Hot Springs, by the Silverton Ski Area; and Pagosa Springs and the Wolf Creek Ski Area. Some of the resorts, such as Pagosa, offer ski, swim and stay packages.
Is there a way to go through the Panama Canal with only minimal cruising on either end?
Visitors who want to cruise the Panama Canal don't have to travel across oceans to experience the waterway. Many outfitters, such as Panama Travel Experts (866-637-8871, http://www.panamatravelexperts.com/ ) and Panama Jones (888-726-2621, http://www.panamacanal.com/ ), offer half- or full-day canal tours.
The half-day trip takes four to five hours; the full-day tour runs about nine hours. Both cruises start at the Flamenco Island Cruise Terminal in Panama City, but only the half-day tour goes round trip by boat; the longer trip passes through the Gatun Locks, then shuttles guests back to the original port by motorcoach. Tours run only on Saturdays, and the coast-to-coast trip is offered only once a month. Cost is $260 per person based on two passengers for the full day and $207 for the partial tour.
How do I get from Cancun to Cozumel, and can I do it for under $200?
With $200, you can go back and forth between the two Mexican resort areas and still have enough money left over for margaritas. Daily ferries run between Playa del Carmen, about an hour by car from Cancun, and the island of Cozumel. The boats take 30 to 45 minutes to cross and cost about $10 each way. See the Cozumel Tourism Promotion Trust ( http://www.islacozumel.com.mx/ ) for information.
To reach the Playa del Carmen port from the Cancun airport, you have a few choices: authorized cab (about $60 one way), minivan ($15) or airport shuttle bus ($6). Numerous airlines, such as Mexicana, also fly from Cancun to Cozumel, but you might end up paying several hundred dollars.
John Flood of Vienna has some recommendations for hotel day rooms near New York's JFK airport (Nov. 5). In an e-mail, Flood suggested joining a frequent guest program: "Hotels like to please their repeat customers and that could lead to getting a day room that is not going to be available to the general public. If this fails, you can always check your bags for the day with the bellman." In addition, he writes, "if you need certainty prior to the day of travel, consider an online booking service like Priceline to snag the room for 24 hours at a discounted rate."
Send queries by e-mail (travelqa@washpost.com) or U.S. mail (Travel Q&A, Washington Post Travel Section, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071). Please include your name and town.
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Find information on deals for Denver ski resorts, Cozumel and Cancun transportation and more.
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Incumbent Declared Winner in Congo Vote
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KINSHASA, Congo, Nov. 15 -- Incumbent Joseph Kabila was on Wednesday declared the winner of Congo's first presidential elections in more than 40 years, as the crumbling boulevards of the capital remained calm.
The announcement came during a week of rising tensions and as dozens of U.N. tanks patrolled the streets. On Tuesday, supporters of Kabila's rival, Jean-Pierre Bemba, essentially declared their candidate president, accusing the election commission and other countries of an "electoral holdup."
Bemba, a former rebel leader, has wide support in Kinshasa and a personal guard of an estimated 1,000 soldiers who had refused to evacuate to the edges of the city.
By sundown Wednesday, many Congolese were expressing fear that the historic vote would end in a street brawl. Business owners chained their doors early, streets were unusually empty, and some families boarded ferries bound for Brazzaville, in neighboring Congo Republic across the vast Congo River.
But the sort of violence that killed at least 23 people after the first round of voting on July 30, and that people endured during a decade of civil war, did not materialize.
"We're fed up with the fighting," said Charles Tumba, a Bemba supporter sitting outside a house lacking electricity and running water most of the time. "Basically, everybody is expecting a change in the country. But let's wait and see."
Some international election observers reported irregularities but said none were significant enough to alter the results.
A massive logistical effort had gone into the election in Congo, a mostly roadless country the size of Western Europe with a population of more than 62 million. Foreign donors poured in $450 million to support the vote, which one Western aid official deemed perhaps one of the "most complicated processes in the history of democracy."
The United Nations deployed 17,500 troops, the largest peacekeeping force in the world. Election workers registered more than 25 million voters, many of whom walked miles to cast paper ballots that had to be trucked, biked, canoed or hiked to one of thousands of counting centers across the country. And because there was a runoff, it was done twice.
Kabila, who took power after his father, Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001, faces the challenge of satisfying the high expectations of the electorate, including the 42 percent who voted for Bemba, in a country with more than 200 ethnic groups and at least that many political parties.
"It's not enough just to vote," said Christophe Lutundula, an opposition lawmaker who received death threats after he wrote a report examining wartime mining contracts. Kabila "has to manage his victory. And there has not been much progress in the maturing of the political culture, and that's what worries me most. It is effectively a cultural war to change things in this country."
Kabila takes charge of a country still imbued with the legacy of its longtime dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, who looted billions from the government during his 32-year rule. The violence, disease and famine accompanying the civil war that followed left more than 4 million people dead.
Several former rebel leaders accused of war crimes now hold high-ranking positions in the national army, and militias still terrorize people in the east, taking over farms and national parks. Kabila also faces a population desperate for decent jobs, as unemployment hovers around 80 percent.
Many here say they hope a new constitution, adopted last year, will provide some framework for reforms. The document provides for the creation of provincial legislatures, for example, that in theory will decentralize state power, allowing provinces to retain 40 percent of revenue for local projects.
"People have learned a lot from this process," the aid official said. "And it has created a whole cadre of people who understand what it means to be in the weeds of democracy."
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KINSHASA, Congo, Nov. 15 -- Incumbent Joseph Kabila was on Wednesday declared the winner of Congo's first presidential elections in more than 40 years, as the crumbling boulevards of the capital remained calm.
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'Day Break': It's Noir at 6:17 In the Morning
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Superficially, "Day Break," a new ABC drama series, sounds suspiciously similar to "Groundhog Day," a Bill Murray comedy in which he played a weatherman who was forced to live the same winter day over and over and over. But "Day Break" isn't "Groundhog Day" so much as "Groundhog Day" in hell. It is definitely no comedy.
The dank, creepy series, premiering with a two-hour pilot tonight at 9 on ABC, is the latest example of Video Noir -- TV tinged with surrealism, mysticism and an aura of murky, existential mystery in which much more is asked than answered.
Actor Taye Diggs, a sensationally powerful presence on the screen, plays Brett Hopper, a Los Angeles police detective who wakes one morning at 6:17 in his girlfriend's apartment, gets out of bed, hears about a freeway traffic jam caused by a truckful of diapers -- just another day in L.A. -- and soon finds himself catapulted into a series of ghastly, nightmarish events. The most prominent: his arrest for the murder of the assistant district attorney, a man he never even met.
There are many comparatively minor predicaments along the way. Hopper is surveying the damage to his own ransacked apartment when fellow L.A. cops burst in like storm troopers, arrest him for the murder and drag him off to jail. The next thing he knows -- or the next after the next -- poor battered Hopper is lying in a massive ditch being kicked and interrogated by more cops, then injected with what one calls "a mild sedative."
When his eyes pop open, it's -- as you may have guessed -- 6:17 a.m. again, his girlfriend is back beside him in bed, diapers are littering a freeway and he can see the whole horrible scenario beginning to play itself out again. Since viewers might well balk at watching the same scenes over and over, "Day Break" differs in structure from "Groundhog Day" in that Hopper takes quick-witted steps to try to avoid having events repeat themselves. Cops can't find his gun at the scene of the crime, he reasons, if he rushes outside and drops it off Santa Monica Pier.
But he is being watched. Everybody is being watched. The question is whether everybody will be watching "Day Break," because intriguing and confounding though it is, this is anything but easy, funsy television. In fact, there are times when a viewer may feel he's being punished almost to the same degree as Detective Hopper. As is the vogue, scenes are shot very tight, close-ups abound, much of the action is a blur, lighting levels are often low and all these details combine for an uncomfortably tense intensity, really almost suffocating at times.
Remember when virtually every TV show aimed to please, all but jumping into your lap and licking your face like a happy puppy? Those days, for any number of reasons, appear to be gone, at least for a while. Viewers now sit still for shows (a la ABC's "Lost") in which there may be no real closure or resolution to individual episodes, just the vague promise of a payoff somewhere down the line. Unfortunately for Diggs and company, prime time may have passed the saturation point on this kind of twisty serialized drama. Viewers may even be yearning for such mundane commodities as sense and sensibility once again.
So while a great deal of thought and craftsmanship has gone into "Day Break," it can be recommended only to the most stouthearted of viewers -- and, of course, to those who find Diggs worth watching whether he's running from bad guys or balancing a peanut on his nose (this doesn't happen in the first episode but with a show like this, you never know).
As Hopper's endangered girlfriend, Moon Bloodgood suffers total eclipse next to the leading man; there's something irritatingly hesitant about her. But Victoria Pratt as Andrea Battle, another cop who may or may not be part of the conspiracy against Hopper, makes a stronger impression. Among the show's large population of thugs and bullies, Adam Baldwin stands out as Chad Shelten, who used to be Hopper's partner but now is part of the effort to send him up the river.
"Today was yesterday," Hopper tries to explain to his girlfriend, even though, he also says, "yesterday was today." One of his fiendish tormentors, meanwhile, keeps cautioning him about how every decision has a consequence; it's the show's mantra. Baldwin gets the best line of tough-guy, noirish dialogue when he menaces Hopper with "You are itching for a toe tag, aren't you?"
This is clearly not the kind of show in which to seek merry escape from the troubles and frustrations of the day, but those with the patience to see it through may find in "Day Break" unusually unnerving and mind-boggling terror. Whether you're enticed or repulsed will depend on how often and how violently you like having your mind boggled.
Day Break (two hours) airs tonight at 9 on Channel 7.
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Superficially, "Day Break," a new ABC drama series, sounds suspiciously similar to "Groundhog Day," a Bill Murray comedy in which he played a weatherman who was forced to live the same winter day over and over and over. But "Day Break" isn't "Groundhog Day" so much as "Groundhog Day" in hell. It is...
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A Message From the Dalai Lama
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2006111519
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Tibetans donât âtrust the worldâ and âworld doesnât care Tibet (The Paper Tigers âUNO, EUC and Arab worldâ)
By Mr. Yeshe Choesang, India
World doesnât care about peaces! Warning that spiraling violence in the Tibet presented a serious threat to world peace last four decades, religious and peace leaders, peculiarly the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, African peace legendary archbishop Tu Tu, 1979 Nobel peace prize winner Williams of northern Ireland, Arabâs legend king Abdullah, these are the people, who works, well-known in a reality peace for others, even they gathered over times in every ancient city for a global inter-faith meet are calling for urgent resolution of festering conflicts of the world, especially issue of Tibet, Middle east, and current Iraqi issues etc. Still, how many people know about peace, I think and confidently able to say, one third of world never ever tried for peace and nonviolence. Then where they are in, only in business, war, selfishly for a daily life or what do you think? Peace for world or for human beings or for all sentient beings. You can choose one of them gave a definition and will realize what level peace you have in. So, Tibetans doesnât trust world, world doesnât care about peace.
Why Arab world being isolated from Tibet issues? Of the suggestions that came up over the four and half decades, at the ongoing 61st general assembly of UN 192 members held in New York in this year, only generated wide separations between the members nations, they are ending with search for power, power for occupy, power for war, power for weapons. But, beside there, of course, other great sounds of the World Conferences of Religions, nonviolence, good wills, environment protections, global warming, for Peace was one mooted by who call themselves as peace maker that the same problems in Tibet, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, so on, be viewed and treated as essentially Asian ones. But there is no any about Tibet voice for humble and occupied Tibetans. Why Arab world do not care about this issues as same as they do and can?
The Paper Tigers When I think about in a turning point side of the world, everywhere, every time, you met, he say, they gathered is about or involved on the topic of peace, the people used to merely talk about peace, peace is a meaningless word, even a causeless and a result less, if the world is competing around the weapons, economy power and politician enemies, non need to look-over, like the world wars in 1940s, you can easily imagine, as a matter of fact, the world saw the war on Iraq and Afghanistan, count the people killed, war on terror, count the people became terrorist, 1959 china occupied Tibet within killing 1.5 million Tibetans from 6 millions Tibet population, the victims are only Tibetans, all the participants of peace and security, have agreed that the frontlines of global security have shifted decisively from Europe to Asia, this is imparted by only myself, the Tibetan government-in-exile has estimated at least one million Tibetans have died under Chinese rule and around 80,000 refugees have fled the country, the death toll engaged as similar to the Jewish experiences from Nazi Germans. Many used to said, after every session on Advancing Security through human rights, Peace or nonviolence Buildings. That is why it is well worth involving paper heroes or actors, such as UN, USA, EU, ARAB world and SAARC etc. But, unfortunately, a paper Tiger never bites will never bite.
For the Tibetans, the dilemma is clear exclusion from political stake holding radicalizes moderates and legitimizes violence of red Chinese, the outgoing moderator of the UN or EU. It is nothing for the Tibet or Tibetans, but gone for Iraq, Afghanistan and Middle East, it is only for oil or increasing terrors, for political power, and why the issues should not be same for Tibet? It is big question, and all those pulled back from the brink of all-out chaos, we must take the first difficult steps on that road in equality, used in several times within a big papers, so called signed decorations, what reality now is, they never being in a equality for snow-man or snow people, coz, Chinese are hunting Tibetans like rats in the snow, still the situations are same in Tibet since 1950s. I say, Tibetans doesnât trust the world, the world doesnât care Tibet. UN, EU and Arab world never shared a mutual faith and equality experience for Tibetans. The aiming of whole Tibet autonomous, Tibetans are hopeless to resolve their issues, even Chinese Chairman Dang promised any conditions, accept the independent.
In every year, a huge banner, with the humble character for way or road painted on it, hangs above the main hall of the assembly to constantly remind the more than 450 to 550 senior religious and political world leaders attending many conferences, starting and ending, so on, so called to find ways to fulfill the stated aims of confronting violence and advancing shared security of peace in this world. But, it is true that they never ever blessed or considerate for the barbarian (Chinese) acts of killing hundreds of Tibetans, who is crossing thousands miles far away from mountains or snow lands. Tibetans are escaping from their home, without a single weapon, getting killed by red marked heavy arms of Chinese military in Tibet and its neighboring borders. Big eats small, even in animals, bigger become friends, UN is one of them, smaller become victims, we Tibetans are, and you may considerate it. But the cock-a-hoop is still paper Tiger for Tibetans.
UNO, if you have Human Heart? UN, EU doesnât have any old or new proposals for Tibet and its peopleâs sufferings, even on the Chinese occupation since 1959, included thousands of Tibetan refugees in India, Nepal and abroad, they never used an eye for welfare, security, aids and supports to Tibetans inside and outside Tibet, also never asked an active participation of all Asian states. Even Tibetans hardly could help themselves to mobilize a stronger Asian identity and link our disparate regions for mutual benefitâ and peace of their culture and customs.
Addressing a press conference hardly appears for public for Tibet issues, but many leaders, commented that attempts at peace like the dialogue Accord were not successful at creating peace between Tibet and the China for the reasons that Chinese secular efforts were not enough to solve the problems between people of different origin faiths.
Mediations may be necessary in the Utsang province (Western Tibet), Kham province Eastern Tibet, Amdho province (Eastern Tibet)â from western country, I can say citing the case of my own region where the first Chinese fisher was a communist because the Buddhists and communists were having difficulty talking with each other and needed a mediator.
Thousands of Tibetans from occupied Tibet, they cried to world, for their sufferings, and others humble voices to regard the Holy Land as belonging to freedom of all and peace. There has been too much bloodshed over Snowland, particularly the recent murdering 7 Tibetans between Tibet and Nepal boundary, it to be said, adding China that no victory can be claimed after killing innocent Tibetan women (Nun) and children. âTibetans do not trust the world and as a consequence the world does not care Tibetans.
The Red and Green, Donkey vs. elephant? Any official international Committee never invited the spiritual leader of Tibet, The Dalai Lama on a platform of the International of Inter-religious and political Affairs for Tibet, and the reason is clear, he is whole world known peace maker of the global and universal that embraces more than 70 percent of governmental organizations in the world. It is majority, democracy, communist states instead losing political power and dignity, strategizing economy power, but I donât like dirty game as donkey vs. elephant. Many current anti-peace men of World Religions and political for solution, dwelt on the causes of violence in the name of religion, Every legendary leader is going to find justification for the position of the community he or she is part of since religion seeks to give meaning to who we are, which is bound up with our identities. So when our identities are threatened we seek to defend them. But sometimes, there are so many controversies, an ancient scholar used some words and tried to example of the reality of future, he stated that all scholars are thief; I am the leader of the thief.
One of my friends, Mr. Dhardho Karma said because religion is so profoundly related to identity, when people are hurt they fall on their religious traditions to give them a sense of purpose and seek self-justification in a way that disregards and stigmatizes the other. This way, he continued, politicians come to the conclusion that for peace building they must keep away from religion. If he is there, He would be urged the assembly to acknowledge that terrible things have been done in the name of religion and referred to the Holy Land as an area where conflict resolution has failed because red politicians did not work together with religious leaders. I know that he is trying to remind me how many holy places were destroyed by Chinese in Tibet since 1950s.
What happened to the promise of chairman Dang? Yes, Karma played an instrumental role in bringing together the two political monotheistic faiths for the first Tibet inter-faith group meeting in Dhartsedho (A place of Tibet, bounded with china) in 1985, a place, where never know about a UN human rights declaration, it was drawn up condemning violence in the name of freedom. This was after vetted by the Chinese and Tibetan political envoys of that time, at the Chinese chairman Dang, he declared that everything possible accept Tibet freedom, now he might smile from hell.
Many Tibetans said they hoped the United Nations 1980s theme of Dialogue among Cultures, occupation, human rights and Civilizations (which I expected) would yet pave the way for talks to resolve the China and Tibet crisis.
Bapa Phuntsok (First Tibetan communist) used to say that although he respected the roots of Han-Chinese civilization, he hoped its great capacity and energies could be utilized to establish peace and stability for mankind even in Tibet. But this capacity was being squandered by Chinese politicians who are âneither serving the interests of Chinese citizens nor the people of the whole 95 minorities of China. Chinese made Tibetans minority of China, but we are not minority, we have our own language, history, tradition, culture, custom, and particularly country's money, national flag and anthem, symbolizing Tibet as a completed nation.
If Tibetans act in any direction for their independent, terrorist development had nothing to do with the Tibet crisis and as signatory to the UN human rights Treaty, Tibet have the right to develop any action for freedom and struggle for peaceful purposes, but still Tibetans are like rat without teeth in front of cat Chinese. In exile Tibetan community, some Tibetan NOGS used hunger strikes, burned their own old person, showing their sufferings, never an active action has been taken for free Tibet. One of my friends, Mr. Luzi, Chinese origin from Malaysia, advised me that why not you Tibetans take any action for Tibet independent and why Chinese leaders and militaries are so happy in Tibet? These are so important questions to Tibetans; we never make difficult time to Chinese leaders and militaries in Tibet. It is right
speaking on the Chinese attack on Tibetans in recently; even many western people said for such a brutality attack at least planning action was necessary. Killing Tibetan is not a self defend, support victory belongs to Tibetans since the country was fighting to protect its culture and customs identity. Expressed the wish that Tibetâs potential in helping to solve the China and Tibet crisis would be recognized. Even they able to kill their own children, Tibetans are ready to die without a single weapon.
Why Human Skeletons in the every corner of the mountains? Many world leaders, particularly, an UN torture investigator, Mr. Nowak revealed that his investments for human rights and human torture records in Tibet were reported terrible made during a 2005 visit in Tibet had found acceptability with the voices of Tibetans under occupation of China, he met with Chinese leaders in Tibet and other top leaders in China . In every year, more than 3000 Tibetans are escaped from Tibet, until Chinese economy door opened to world, very limited westerners can climb mountains from Tibet side. In 1960s and 1980s, Chinese border military murdered hundreds of Tibetans in mountains, still there many skeletons has been remained and seen in these days, said who escaped from the cross borders. The current peace process or middle way approach of the Dalai Lama with Chinese consisted mainly to build a corridor for peace and prosperity which would enhance the living standards of the people in both Tibet and China through the creation of an agro-economy park and foreign policy museum in the Tibet. The red China never has a human heart for others, from 1990s, Tibet and its people lost all their political prosperity and their ancientâs history dignities, still the propagandas are not Chinese stroke exchange for Tibetans, coz, it is growing, why Tibet and its peopleâs issues are so cheap. What you say, rats for cat or meat for beast?
Posted November 16, 2006 6:00 AM
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A conversation on religion with Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn. Visit http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/
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Unfit for Majority Leader
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2006111519
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The videotape is grainy, dark and devastating. The congressman and the FBI undercover agents -- the congressman thinks they represent an Arab sheik willing to pay $50,000 to get immigration papers -- are talking business in the living room of a secretly wired Washington townhouse.
Two other congressmen in on the deal "do expect to be taken care of," the lawmaker says. But for the time being -- and he says repeatedly that he might change his mind and take money down the road -- he'd rather trade his help for investment in his district, maybe a hefty deposit in the bank of a political supporter who's done him favors.
"I'm not interested -- at this point," he says of the dangled bribe. "You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't, you know." Indeed, he acknowledges, even though he needs to be careful -- "I expect to be in the [expletive] leadership of the House," he notes -- the money's awfully tempting. "It's hard for me to say, just the hell with it."
This is John Murtha, incoming House speaker Nancy Pelosi's choice to be her majority leader, snared but not charged in the Abscam probe in 1980. "The Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history," Pelosi pledged on election night. Five days later she wrote Murtha a letter endorsing his bid to become her No. 2.
Not the most promising start.
For years Murtha has relied on the Abscam bottom line to argue that the case is not a problem for him: He wasn't indicted. But he was named a co-conspirator in the bribery scheme. The feckless House ethics committee didn't take action against him, though the outside investigator it hired quit in disgust after the panel rejected his recommendation to file misconduct charges.
"I am the guy that didn't take the money," Murtha said this summer when his opponent raised the issue.
Yes, but: He's the guy who, brought into the deal by two other House members -- Frank Thompson (D-N.J.) and John Murphy (D-N.Y.) -- agreed to meet with men offering money in return for official action. He's the guy who knew these two colleagues expected a payoff and even vouched for them with the would-be bribers ("Both of them are solid.").
He's the guy who, when offered a bribe, still wanted to do a deal. "I'm delighted to do business with him and do every goddamn thing I can within bounds, you know, so I don't get myself in jail, in order to get him into the country and whatever needs to be done," he says on the video, unearthed by the conservative American Spectator. (You can watch at http://www.spectator.org/.) He's the guy who -- as a member of the House ethics committee-- did nothing to stop the scheme.
Sorry, but I'm not buying Murtha's argument that he's the victim of a "Swift-boating attack" over "unfounded allegations that occurred 26 years ago." On its own, Murtha's Abscam conduct is disqualifying.
Even if it weren't, though, everything in Murtha's post-Abscam life is of a piece with the back-scratching, dealmaking style on display in the video. In a story last month, the New York Times described how Murtha has operated "a political trading post" in a back corner -- the Murtha corner, it's called -- of the House floor, where Democrats and Republicans alike come to get Murtha's blessing for earmarks or his help on close votes. As Pennsylvania Democrat Paul Kanjorski told the Times, "nobody ever leaves completely disappointed."
Murtha is one of 12 Democrats who voted against the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. He's one of four who killed a strong Democratic ethics package earlier this year. He is a one-man earmarking factory whose beneficiaries have included a lobbying firm that employed his brother and another founded by a former top aide.
The biggest puzzle, and biggest disappointment, in all this is Pelosi, who was pitch-perfect in her first several days as speaker-elect. Now comes this lose-lose move.
If she gets her way and helps Murtha win a come-from-behind victory against Maryland's Steny Hoyer in tomorrow's leadership election, she's buying herself -- and the Democratic caucus -- endless news stories about Murtha's ethics. If, as he says, Hoyer has the votes, Pelosi has made herself look weak within the caucus -- not a smart move for any new leader, and certainly not for the first woman in the job. Perhaps the late timing and measured phrasing of Pelosi's endorsement were meant to ensure that it would have little impact. If so, Pelosi failed to recognize that once she weighed in, the vote for majority leader would inevitably be seen as a gauge of her clout.
I wrote a few weeks back that Pelosi's first test as speaker would be whether she picks Florida's Alcee Hastings -- who was removed from his federal judgeship for agreeing to take a bribe -- to head the intelligence committee. As it turns out, I was wrong. Pelosi's first test was how to handle Murtha. Whatever happens tomorrow, she flunked. Whether she'll get another failing grade on Hastings remains to be seen.
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He's the guy who, when offered a bribe, still wanted to do a deal. John Murtha's Abscam conduct should disqualify him from serving as House Majority Leader.
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President Visits Briefly With Putin on Way to Asia
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2006111519
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MOSCOW, Nov. 15 -- President Bush, eager for Russian help in nuclear disputes with North Korea and Iran, tended to the sometimes frosty Washington-Moscow relationship Wednesday by paying a quick call on President Vladimir Putin.
Bush paused to visit the Russian leader for an hour and a half during an airport stopover on his way to Asia for a week-long trip that includes stays in Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia. Bush has meetings scheduled with several important allies, including Putin, on the sidelines of a summit of Pacific Rim leaders in Hanoi this week. But only Putin rated a social call as well.
Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Alexei Gromov as saying the two presidents discussed the Iranian nuclear program, the situation in the Middle East and nuclear nonproliferation.
Gromov also confirmed that a U.S.-Russian agreement on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization was being readied for signing in Hanoi.
National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, talking to reporters aboard Air Force One after Bush left, said the president's get-together with Putin "was a social meeting, as we said it would be. This was a refueling stop."
But Hadley also said the two men "talked a little bit about proliferation generally" with regard to Iran and North Korea. He also said he had spoken with his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, about efforts to reach agreement on a new U.N. security resolution on Iran.
When Bush and his wife, Laura, landed, they were greeted on a red carpet on the tarmac by Putin and his wife, Lyudmila. The Russian president presented Laura Bush with a bouquet of yellow, orange and red flowers, and the four exchanged kisses.
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MOSCOW, Nov. 15 -- President Bush, eager for Russian help in nuclear disputes with North Korea and Iran, tended to the sometimes frosty Washington-Moscow relationship Wednesday by paying a quick call on President Vladimir Putin.
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Lott Rejoins Senate Leadership
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2006111519
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By a 25 to 24 secret-ballot vote, Lott defeated Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) for the position of minority whip, the party's second-highest post. As expected, GOP senators elected Mitch McConnell (Ky.) as Senate minority leader for the new Congress that will convene in January. But his victory was tempered by Lott's come-from-behind win over Alexander, who was seen as McConnell's and the Bush administration's preferred choice for whip.
Lott's feat ranks among the more impressive political comebacks of recent times, just as his fall from grace in December 2002 was spectacular and painful. At a 100th-birthday party for then-Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), Lott said the nation "wouldn't have had all these problems" if Thurmond had been elected president in 1948. Thurmond had run on a segregationist platform as a Dixiecrat that year, and critics denounced the remarks as racist.
Lott said he was simply flattering an old man. But Bush administration supporters and other Republicans helped engineer his ouster just as he was about to become Senate majority leader again after the 2002 midterm elections, replacing him with Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). Now Frist is retiring, and Republicans are reeling from last week's elections, which gave Democrats a 51 to 49 edge in the Senate and a bigger margin in the House.
As GOP senators emerged from their closed-door meeting at the Capitol yesterday, several said the shock of last week's results prompted wavering colleagues to vote for Lott, who has spent 34 years in Congress (to Alexander's four), and much time negotiating deals and crafting compromises.
"We're going through a major transformation from the majority to minority status in both the House and Senate," said Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (Maine), a prominent GOP moderate and Lott supporter. "So it does require somebody who's got that institutional knowledge and appreciation for what it's going to take not only to rebuild Republicans within the institution but also nationally." Implicitly noting that Lott has never been close to President Bush, Snowe added that "there are times when you can't put all your eggs in the president's basket."
The White House said Bush, en route to Singapore, telephoned Lott from Air Force One to congratulate him.
Snowe said she thinks that Americans are ready to forgive Lott's Thurmond remarks. "He regrets it and has apologized," she said. "I think people have admired how he has been able to come back from that. He paid a heavy price, and he deeply regrets that, obviously."
Lott, 65, was uncharacteristically mum after the elections, telling reporters that it was McConnell's day to shine. Asked if he had any new reflections on the 1948 presidential race, he laughed and said, "Oh no, not at all. I'm strictly looking forward."
Almost from the day he joined the House in 1973, Lott -- a former cheerleader at the University of Mississippi -- was a genial and savvy insider who craved leadership posts. He was elected House minority whip in 1980, and 14 years later he became the first Republican to have been elected whip in both chambers. In that 1994 Senate GOP election, much like yesterday's, most party leaders opposed Lott, but many rank-and-file members rewarded him for years of friendship and guidance. He was Senate majority leader from June 1996 through mid-2001, except for a brief period in January 2001.
Yesterday, colleagues said the GOP's new minority status calls for a leader who has lived through such an experience and knows when to cut deals with the majority and when to stand firm. Alexander, a former governor and two-time presidential candidate, is well-liked, said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a Lott supporter. "But, at the end of the day, what helped swing it for Lott was that experience in the minority and knowing what the tactics and rules of engagement are," he said.
Referring to Lott's Thurmond comments, Thune said that Americans believe in redemption. "It's one of those things that happened fairly long ago," he said, "and people have moved on."
Rep. Melvin Watt (D-N.C.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was less forgiving. "For many African Americans the sting of Trent Lott's hurtful words are unlikely to expire anytime soon," he said in a written statement. "However, his Republican colleagues have given him a second chance to address many of the glaring disparities that impact poor people, particularly African Americans, that he and his party have ignored for so long."
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Four years after racially impolitic remarks cost him the Senate's top post, Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.) rejoined Congress's leadership ranks yesterday when his Republican colleagues turned to the veteran insider and skilled vote-counter to help them plot their return to majority status.
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Small Waves Hit Japan After Tsunami Fear
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2006111519
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TOKYO -- A powerful undersea earthquake prompted tsunami warnings Wednesday for Japan and Russia but the danger appeared to pass after a series of tiny waves hit the northern Japanese coast.
The waves did not swell higher than 16 inches and rapidly diminished in size, but Japan's meteorological agency said that it would wait for at least several hours before withdrawing its warning of possible larger waves.
VIDEO | Authorities in Japan are warning some residents along the Pacific Coast to move to higher ground after a strong earthquake created fears of a possible tsunami.
The agency told coast residents to flee to higher ground after initially predicting that a 6 1/2-foot tsunami would hit the Pacific coast of its northernmost island of Hokkaido and main island of Honshu after 9:10 p.m. (7:10 a.m. EST).
A wave that hit the port of Nemuro on Hokkaido at 9:29 p.m. was measured at 16 inches, and live footage from the area showed calm seas. A few minutes later, a second, 8-inch wave hit the nearby port city of Kushiro, the agency said, and the waves got progressively smaller.
A magnitude 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia on Dec. 26, 2004 caused tsunami as high as 33 feet that killed at least 213,000 people in 11 countries.
Takeshi Hachimine, chief of the Japanese meteorological agency's earthquake and tsunami monitoring section, said aftershocks of Wednesday's quake could trigger more tsunami _ but those waves are expected to pose little danger to Japan.
The quake struck at 6:15 a.m. EST with a preliminary magnitude of 8.1 about 245 miles east of the island known in Japan as Etorofu, which is about 110 miles northeast of Hokkaido, according to the Japanese meteorological agency.
Etorofu is one of four islands claimed by both Japan and Russia. The disputed islands are known in Russia as the Southern Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories. Etorofu is known in Russia as Iturup.
A tsunami warning was issued for the Kurils and Sakhalin, a large island that lies between the Kuril chain and Russia's eastern coast, but was later lifted.
Residents in the sparsely poulated Kurils were warned of the threat but were not evacuated and no damage or casualties were reported in Russia as a result of the quake, said Olga Shekhovtseva, chief spokewoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry branch in the Sakhalin region, which includes the Kuril Islands.
The islands have rich natural resources but their population has plummeted to just 9,900, according to official statistics.
The ITAR-Tass agency reported that Russia's Pacific Fleet ships took refuge at their bases but were ready to help with rescue operations if necessary.
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TOKYO -- A powerful undersea earthquake prompted tsunami warnings Wednesday for Japan and Russia but the danger appeared to pass after a series of tiny waves hit the northern Japanese coast.
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Palestinian Rocket Fire Kills Israeli Woman
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2006111519
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JERUSALEM, Nov. 15 -- An Israeli woman was killed Wednesday in a Palestinian rocket strike on the town of Sderot, prompting some Israeli lawmakers to demand a sharp military response in an effort to end such attacks from the Gaza Strip.
The death of Faina Slotzker, 57, was the first fatality inside Israel in a Palestinian rocket strike since July 2005. It brought competing assertions of responsibility from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, both of which said the attack on a residential neighborhood was retaliation for Israeli shelling last week that killed 20 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.
At least nine rockets landed Wednesday in Israel, including four in the city of Ashkelon north of Gaza. Two Israelis were reported seriously wounded by the rockets: a 17-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man identified as a bodyguard of Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who lives in Sderot. Doctors at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon said the man's legs had to be amputated.
Peretz, under mounting pressure to end rocket fire from Gaza that has menaced Israeli border cities for years, pledged that those responsible would "pay a heavy price." Some lawmakers in Jerusalem demanded swift retaliation to deter Palestinians from future strikes.
"Israel will pay a heavier price if it will not operate immediately" in Gaza, Danny Naveh, a member of the Likud Party, said in parliament. Echoing warnings of other lawmakers that Israel's frontline towns were being abandoned by the military, Naveh said, "Any day that passes without a large-scale operation creates the feeling that the fate of Sderot is not that of Tel Aviv," Israel's largest city.
Slotzker was the seventh person killed by Palestinian rocket strikes inside Israel since such attacks began in 2000, at the start of the most recent Palestinian uprising. The majority of the victims lived in Sderot, a town of 20,000 that sits only a few miles east of the Gaza border. In addition, a Bedouin shepherd and his 17-year-old son were killed in March when they detonated an unexploded rocket in a field near Sderot.
Hundreds of the crude rockets, known as Qassams, have been fired into Israel over the last six years. Launched from makeshift tripods, the rockets are highly inaccurate and pack little explosive force, although they have damaged schools, public buildings and homes in border towns.
Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza 14 months ago, but the army has pushed back into the strip several times since June 25, when gunmen, some of whom belonged to Hamas's military wing, captured an Israeli corporal. The army has fired more than 10,000 artillery shells toward Qassam launch sites in Gaza since the withdrawal, leading to what until recently had been a steady decline in the number of rockets landing in Israel.
In recent weeks, Israeli officials have signaled that a large operation inside Gaza might be necessary to end the rocket attacks and weapons smuggling through tunnels along the strip's southern border with Egypt.
Briefing foreign journalists earlier this week, an Israeli military official said that "tons" of explosives have entered Gaza through the tunnels since the Israeli withdrawal, including propellants the official said were used to magnify the rockets' blast and range. He singled out Hamas, now running the Palestinian Authority, as "a growing military threat to Israel."
The warning came after weeks of stepped-up Israeli military operations in the strip that failed to stop the attacks and inflamed the passions of residents of Gaza's border towns and the armed groups at war with the Jewish state. An intensive six-day operation inside Beit Hanoun killed more than 60 Palestinians, just over half of them gunmen. One Israeli soldier also was killed.
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JERUSALEM, Nov. 15 -- An Israeli woman was killed Wednesday in a Palestinian rocket strike on the town of Sderot, prompting some Israeli lawmakers to demand a sharp military response in an effort to end such attacks from the Gaza Strip.
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Writer's Clock - washingtonpost.com
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2006111519
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Until they pricked her with the anesthesia, Rise Peters planned to be writing.
The Bowie resident -- facing inflammatory breast cancer -- entered surgery Wednesday to have a growth removed from her liver. She is also approaching the halfway point of her novel, a mystery titled "Raised by Wolves." She must finish it by Nov. 30, averaging 1,667 words a day, cancer or no cancer.
"If you can't come up with a better excuse than me, forget it," Peters, 45, told attendees at the Oct. 29 kickoff party for the D.C. contingent of National Novel Writing Month. "We're all going to win this year."
Winning means simply writing 50,000 words (or 175 pages) in 30 days. Today participants should be hitting 20,000.1 If they were running a marathon, they'd be nearly halfway through mile 10.
"They," of course, are the WriMos, those reckless and ambitious souls who signed up for the undertaking, nicknamed NaNoWriMo, which started in 1999 with 21 participants and last year boasted 59,000. By the end of the month, an estimated 93,000 will have registered, a little over half of whom are from the United States.
Now, some fuzzy math: If this growth rate is constant and participation is cumulative, then every American will be writing a novel in November 2027. We'll be a country made entirely of boozing, tortured authors.
"Mr. Secretary, North Korea finally has a viable nuclear warhead."
"Hold on, I'm almost done with this sex scene."
The output needn't be as textured as Faulkner or as impeccable as Nabokov. It can be drivel. Swill. Dreck. Dross.
(A thesaurus2 can be helpful for word count.)
Chris Baty, program director for NaNo, has one piece of advice for the 2,500 or so WriMos in the District, Maryland and Virginia: "Get out of the 20,000s as fast as you can. If you can do it in three days, great. The 20s are like a swamp of the soul. Charge through them. The 30s start to feel wonderful."
But who has time for this? There are 40-hour workweeks, romantic relationships, episodes of "Deal or No Deal," transient and chronic illnesses and life's little duties and distractions.
Dan Fowlkes, 28, of Stafford has three children younger than 5, and his wife is pregnant with a fourth. So this year he's writing during the commute on Interstate 95 to his Defense Department job by using voice-recognition software.3
"I'm dictating 2,000 words a morning," Fowlkes says. "Although, in the evening, I'll have to go over those 2,000 words and look for the places where the computer misheard me."
For those without a dead commute hour to devote, sacrificing that last ounce of free time can often open up a whole new perspective on your day-to-day routine.
"A lot of people discover the month they're writing their novel that they have more time for everything else in their life than they did
before," Baty says. "Once you decide to really prioritize something, whether that's novel writing or learning a foreign language, you tend to cut out the superfluous bits."
Even though making outlines and slaving over structure can be helpful, WriMos agree that an amateur novelist's best bet is to write fast and free, whether or not it's during November.
"Some sentences are really good, some are stinkers," says Peters, who is NaNo's municipal liaison for the District and does her fair share of 9-to-5 writing as a lawyer. "But none of them have that overworked, labored characteristic you get when you're second-guessing yourself."
Now, a Word From Our Bestsellers
Discipline. You need it in November, and you need it to create any work of art, novel or otherwise.
George Pelecanos,4 the prolific crime author and Silver Spring resident, never wrote a lick of fiction before he was 31, then wrote his first eight books while holding down a full-time job.
For him, the secret to balancing was sacrifice. No free time wasted. No weekends off.
"In those days I would get up early and work late at night," Pelecanos says. "You miss out on some things -- things I couldn't do with my kids, things I had to miss socially. I was very committed to making it work."
It paid off. He does it for a living now.
Laura Lippman,5 author of the Tess Monaghan mystery novels, wrote her first seven books while reporting for the Baltimore Sun. She likens the duty of writing to going to the gym. Sometimes you get enough sleep and eat well, but you still feel terrible when you hop on the treadmill. Even if writing starts to hurt despite adequate preparation, it must be done, she says.
"But perfectionism is the enemy," Lippman says. "You need to keep going forward. You're better off going as quickly as you can through that initial draft and then going back and revising."
Set up a writing schedule that is non-negotiable, says Marita Golden,6 writer in residence at the University of the District of Columbia.
"People often are afraid that if they stand up for their writing life, they'll lose friends," Golden says. "But I found it inspires and impresses the hell out of people."
But that non-negotiable schedule should be conceived with regard to the demands of your life, says Tammy Greenwood,7 an instructor at the Writer's Center8 in Bethesda.
"It's about pacing," Greenwood says. "I look at my calendar and assign daily word counts based on what I know my schedule is going to be like."
It's easy to run out of gas when flooring the creative pedal. But there are ways to jump-start your writing engine.
"When you get stuck, ask yourself, 'What's the worst that could happen?' " Rise Peters says. "Of course, the worst thing is nuclear Armageddon, and then you'd have yourself a very short book."
Or, you can cheat. Last year D.C. resident Christopher Kush, who has published three nonfiction books on grass-roots organizing, stretched his novel to 50,000 by making all of his characters slightly hard of hearing. Sample dialogue:
"I think I am going to go to lunch now."
"Yes, I think this would be a good time."
"A good time? Why do you think it is a good time?"
"Because I am hungry, and I am bored."
Who would want to read 50,000 words of this? Answer: no one. But Kush's loophole is an example of "free writing," or letting words flow without regard for coherence or form. The idea is to keep writing without inhibition, even if you have to write, "I can't think of anything to write." Sometimes a great idea (or phrase, or metaphor) can pop out in the process like an unexpected twin during birth.
It can be helpful to orchestrate a rivalry for motivation. Jennie Quick, a D.C. WriMo, challenged the team last year to out-word the entire nation of Scotland. The Scots prevailed, so this year they're going after Finland.9
"Finland was only 70,000 words ahead of us last year," says Quick, 28. "This year, our weapon is stealth. But maybe we'll make a formal declaration of war."
A writing club can also keep you on task. Nothing helps a work ethic like being beholden to a group with like-minded goals. Meet or communicate regularly, as middle school teacher Karen Quintiere of Bethesda does on Yahoo instant messenger with a group of 10 women hailing from such far-flung locales as Wisconsin and New Zealand.
"It's having someone to honestly critique your work and encourage you when you think everything you write is crap, and a way to measure yourself against the others' progress to keep disciplined," Quintiere says.
Many WriMos have challenged family members and friends. Bowie resident Angela Fields -- whose mother, Bonnie, and 9-year-old son, Spencer, are hot on her heels with their own novels -- came up with her story idea at 4 a.m. Nov. 1 on her commute to New Jersey.
"There's no way I'm going to let my mom beat me," says Fields, 32. "My son likes the rivalry from an encouragement standpoint. I don't think he knew kids could write books before this. And if a single mother who commutes two days a week can write a novel, anyone can."
Some people wake up Dec. 1 and begin the revision process on their jumbled, sprawling NaNo novel. Eventually, they might polish it into something respectable, perhaps brilliant, perhaps . . . worthy of publication.
Pelecanos, who mailed manuscripts blindly when he started out, recommends buying a copy of Writer's Market,10 a volume that lists publishing houses, what kinds of books they accept, advice from agents and editors, and guidelines for submission and format.
Burke resident Mike Long, a speechwriter with the White House Writers Group, followed this process after completing his novel "Killing" in 2001. He noted which companies were publishing his favorite authors, sent his manuscript and a cover letter to those companies and followed up with a phone call.
Twenty rejections later, Long has at least snagged an agent. While he is emboldened by each rejection, he says he is frustrated by the publishing world's fickleness.
"I'm not the greatest writer in the world, but I make a good living at it, and it shocks me that there is unmitigated crap put on the shelves every day," says Long, 43. "And either that means my stuff is even worse, or there's something I just don't understand."
If this scenario is unappetizing, the alternative is the widening world of self-publishing. During the past three years of NaNo, Mary Wise wrote a four-part series based on her experiences as a circus clown. Reluctant to approach professional publishing houses, the 54-year-old instead went to http://www.lulu.com/ , a print-on-demand publishing and distribution service based in North Carolina.11
Over the past two years, she has sold 300 books through Lulu with little or no marketing and has her own bound copies as hard evidence if she ever wants to take a step toward a publishing house. While she can't claim to be a renowned bestseller, she can still say she's a published novelist.
"I have an ISBN," Wise boasts with irony at a Wednesday evening write-in at Foster Brothers Coffee in Cleveland Park. "The book has been ranked as low as a million and as high as 16,000."
About 20 WriMos were at the write-in, one of many being hosted across the city this month.12 The backs of writers' laptops were smacked with stickers that say, "No plot? No problem!" Everyone tap-tap-tapped between quick sips of blended coffee, aspiring to simply finish the day's word quota, or to be able to say, "I write books," or to one day send a pristine manuscript to Random House.
"After all, the worst they can say is no," says Wise, sitting opposite Capitol Hill resident Chuck Hughes, 30, an engineer who is part of her writing group.
"And if you don't submit it," Hughes replies, "they can't say yes."
Rise Peters woke up in the intensive-care unit Wednesday, feeling great and with NaNo on her mind. She flagged down a nurse, asked for a pencil and wrote three pages of notes on the back of her insurance pre-approval form.
"I needed to get it all down," Peters says on the phone from the hospital room. "I think I know what happens next. There's now a stalker in my book, and I think my main character's about to get hit on the head and wind up in the hospital. I've certainly got firsthand material to work with."
The Thank God It's Over party is planned for the first week of December at a yet-to-be-announced location in the city. Veteran and newly minted novelists will arrive -- bloodied by a 30-day siege on themselves -- and pin excerpts of their books on a clothesline like fresh linens from excavated souls. (Only in November can we get away with a sentence like that.)13
1.You may be 20,000 words behind, but some WriMos whiz through that much in three days. If you want to jump in mid-race, registration is open at http://www.nanowrimo.org until, um, 11:59 p.m. Nov. 30. It's free, and you can join the D.C., Maryland and Virginia groups immediately and immerse yourself in the online forums. Or, make December your month to write -- you'll have one day more than the WriMos.
2.Some thesauri to try: Roget's Thesaurus is the peerless progenitor by Englishman Peter Mark Roget, who in 1852 published the first edition of Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. Get it online at http://thesaurus.reference.com/ .
Beiks English Thesaurus for your Pocket PC or PocketLingo Thesaurus for your BlackBerry. $10 at http://www.beiks.com/ , $9.95 at http://www.pocketlingo.com/ .
3.Don't write and drive. Voice-recognition software picks up audio and transcribes what you're saying. First, check to see whether your computer came with the software (as Microsoft's Tablet PC does). If not, try these:
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 for Windows XP. $100-$200 (depending on the edition) from http://www.nuance.com/ , $90-$170 from http://www.amazon.com/ .
MacSpeech iListen 1.7 for Mac OS X comes with headset and microphone. $179-$219 (depending on the edition) from http://www.macspeech.com/ , around $135 from http://www.amazon.com/ .
4. George Pelecanos Crime novelist based in Silver Spring
14 novels published 97,000 words in his most recent book, "The Night Gardener" (Little, Brown & Co., $24.99)
Work ethic: at least 5 pages a day
Procrastination tendencies: surfing the Internet, checking e-mail
5. Laura Lippman Mystery novelist based in Baltimore
11 novels published 107,000 words in her 12th book, "What the Dead Know" (due out in March from William Morrow, $24.95)
Work ethic: 1,000 words every morning
Procrastination tendencies: filing, making sure her library is alphabetized, cleaning woodwork with a cotton swab
6. Marita Golden Writer in residence at the University of the District of Columbia
5 novels published 256 pages in her most recent book, "After" (Doubleday, $23.95)
Work ethic: one to two hours a day, several times a week
Procrastination tendencies: watching soap operas
7.Tammy Greenwood Lecturer at George Washington University, workshop leader at the Writer's Center
3 novels published 100,139 words in her next book, "Two Rivers," which her agent is shopping around
Work ethic: a teacher and a mom, Greenwood finds the schedule has to fit the day
Procrastination tendencies: "My house is never as clean as when I'm writing."
8.The Writer's Center , a 30-year-old nonprofit literary community based in Bethesda, offers workshops in all types of genre writing for varying skill levels. The winter curriculum starts in mid-January. Visit http://www.writer.org/ for class information and to register (an eight-week workshop for a beginner and nonmember is $300). 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, 301-654-8664. Satellite classes are offered in Glen Echo and Arlington. For those wishing to teach themselves, Jason DeYoung, manager of the center's bookstore, recommends these titles:
The Art of the Novel by Milan Kundera (Harper Perennial Modern Classics, $12.95)
From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler (Grove Press, $13)
Narrative Design by Madison Smartt Bell (W.W. Norton & Co., $17.95)
On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner (W.W. Norton & Co., $13.95)
Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction by Patricia Highsmith (St. Martin's Griffin, $13.95)
9.D.C. word count = 968,081. Finland word count = 1,479,583 (as of 4:25 p.m. Nov. 8)
10.Writer's Market 2007 is available used and new from $16.25 at http://www.amazon.com/ , or subscribe at http://www.writersmarket.com/ for $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year.
11. Vanity presses are the print-on-demand option for writers who would give anything (i.e., chunks of change) to see themselves in print. These three presses also afford writers an online venue for bookselling and discounts for ordering in bulk:
Blurb allows you to download for free its BookSmart software, with which you can design the book and send the file as is. Blurb specializes in templates for photo books and cookbooks, and plans to offer blog books, poetry books and text-only books soon. From $29.95 for each hardcover book.
iUniverse has a conglomeration of self-publishing services such as editorial evaluation, marketing advice and listing your book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble Web sites. Packages are $299-$1099.
LuLu offers paperback and hardcover options, plus photo books, calendars and brochures. It's 2 cents per black-and-white page, plus a binding fee of $14-$17, depending on the dimensions of the book. (So a hardcover NaNo book, at 175 pages, would be $17.50.)
12. If you're looking for some communal support, drop in on any of these free write-ins , which are hosted weekly throughout the month by D.C. WriMos. For write-ins in Maryland and Virginia, check the regional forums at http://www.nanowrimo.org/ .
* Mondays: 11 a.m. at Panera Bread in Friendship Heights. 4459 Willard Ave. 301-951-5858.
* Tuesdays: 6 p.m. at Soho Tea & Coffee near Dupont Circle. 2150 P St. NW. 202-463-7646.
* Wednesdays: 5:30-9 p.m., Foster Brothers Coffee in Cleveland Park. 3515 Connecticut Ave. NW. 202-364-7128.
* Thursdays: 6-10:30 p.m., upstairs at a Starbucks on Capitol Hill. 237 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. 202-544-9783.
* Saturdays: 11 a.m. at the Borders in Friendship Heights. 5333 Wisconsin Ave. NW. 202-686-8270.
13. If you abandoned novels in college when you were made to read Stendahl, there is another option. Script Frenzy begins in June. It's just like NaNoWriMo, but for movie screenplays. One script, 30 days. Check in at http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/ to sign up for an e-mail update when the site launches.
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National Novel Writing Month challenges would-be authors to write 50,000 words in 720 hours.
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Soon-to-Be Famous First Lines
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2006111519
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I am an invisible man. Call me Ishmael. Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. These sentences are the first lines from novels firmly wedged at the top of the pantheon of American literature. Here are the opening lines from local WriMos' novels-in-progress that may someday join them.
It was at precisely 8:07 a.m. on March 6th that Lucy Boots found a dead elephant in her garden.
-- "Freak Magnet" by Rebecca Gordon, Alexandria
After it was done, Omar sent a letter to each of the women whom he had allowed himself to touch immodestly in his youth, informing them that he had lopped off his hand.
"God, I hate these cardio bitches," Beth murmured to Peyton.
-- "Bitches in Bikinis" by Karen Quintiere, Bethesda
Someday you will want to know the story of where you came from, and I won't tell you the old fairy tale about the stork with his long bony legs who clutched your sling in his fishy-breathed beak and carried you over oceans and mountains and then finally landed on our roof and dropped you down our chimney like Santa Claus, and when you hit the ground you magically bounced up into my arms and suddenly I was a mother.
There's a woman lying next to me, at least, I pray that it's a woman, but the outline is hazy.
-- "Vodka" by Pablo Paldao, Arlington
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I am an invisible man. Call me Ishmael. Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. These sentences are the first lines from novels firmly wedged at the top of the pantheon of American literature. Here are the opening lines from local WriMos' novels-in-progress that may someday join them.
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To Our Readers - washingtonpost.com
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2006111519
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Starting today, we are trimming our financial markets listings as part of a reorganization of the Business section. Today's markets coverage begins on Page D7 with an article describing yesterday's market-related events. We have expanded our market summary tables, adding new formats to track foreign currencies, the 20 largest mutual funds and the 20 most-widely-held stocks.
We have pared back listings to 1,000 stocks and 2,000 mutual funds, based on market capitalization and total assets, respectively, in editions published Tuesday through Saturday. Stocks are no longer segregated by market; New York, Nasdaq and American stock exchange companies all appear in alphabetical order in one list.
Stocks of local companies are listed in bold text and all are included, even if they are not among the 1,000 largest companies. If you own stocks or mutual funds that are no longer listed, please write to us or send an e-mail and we will try to add them to the list.
Full listings of individual stocks and mutual funds will continue to appear in Sunday Business. Monday's Washington Business will continue to publish expanded data on local stocks. You can find up-to-the- minute stock quotes, mutual fund data and investing tools at http://washingtonpost.com/markets.
We have also eliminated our options listings and reduced the number of futures contracts we track. Listings remain for Treasury prices, dividend declarations, exchange-traded-fund transactions, and stocks that hit new highs or lows.
If you would like to comment on the changes, please call 202-334-5040 from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday or 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Or e-mail stocks@ washpost.com. Jill Dutt, the assistant managing editor for Business news, will answer questions about these changes in a Live Online discussion today at noon at http://washingtonpost. com.
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Starting today, we are trimming our financial markets listings as part of a reorganization of the Business section. Today's markets coverage begins on Page D7 with an article describing yesterday's market-related events. We have expanded our market summary tables, adding new formats to track foreign currencies, the 20 largest mutual funds and the 20 most-widely-held stocks....
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In Garrett Park, Sad News Is Swift
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2006111519
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Shortly after nightfall Monday, Luke Carter-Schelp and two friends set out to cross a crowded Montgomery County road. He made it halfway across Strathmore Avenue, then slipped on leaves, falling into oncoming commuter traffic.
Luke, 12, died after being hit by a van driven by the father of one of the friends, said family friend Deb Felix.
"This whole town is mourning, this entire town," Felix said yesterday. "This could have been any kid."
News travels quickly in Garrett Park, a town with roughly 360 homes between Rock Creek Park and Route 355. So within minutes of the incident, word spread among friends and neighbors: Something horrible had happened to Luke.
"Everyone knows everyone in Garrett Park," said Joe Gott, 14, a close friend of Luke's, who stopped by the scene of the accident yesterday after school. "If someone gets hurt, within an hour and a half, everyone will know."
Luke's death has devastated a tight community and left town officials asking whether enough has been done to ensure the safety of children who live near the increasingly busy road. The town's mayor, Carolyn Shawaker, wondered yesterday whether a series of newly installed streetlights that have remained without power for months could have made a difference.
"We've tried to do something about it for years, and people kept saying it's going to take someone getting killed," the mayor said. "And by God, it's happened. I can't tell you the pain we're all feeling here."
The 78 13-foot light poles were among the features of a $4.6 million project funded by the Maryland State Highway Administration to give Garrett Park an old-fashioned Main Street U.S.A. flavor. But nearly two years after they were supposed to be functional, the lights remain off because PEPCO, which wired them, hasn't been paid, a spokesman for the utility company said. The reason is a financial dispute between the town and the state.
Shawaker said the town agreed to pay for maintenance of and electricity for the light poles after the state agency had made sure they were hooked up and ready to operate.
"I can say this has been extraordinarily frustrating for the residents of town and elected officials," she said.
Kellie Boulware, a spokeswoman for the highway administration, said town officials requested that PEPCO wire the poles, which drove up the cost beyond the initial estimate. State officials felt the town should have paid the extra amount, the spokeswoman said.
"I can tell you [state] engineers have been in contact with the mayor and will be looking to meet with her to bring some resolution to this issue," she said.
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Shortly after nightfall Monday, Luke Carter-Schelp and two friends set out to cross a crowded Montgomery County road. He made it halfway across Strathmore Avenue, then slipped on leaves, falling into oncoming commuter traffic.
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Hoyas Count on Egerson's Versatility
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2006111519
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Marc Egerson was never in this position a year ago -- out on the court, in the key moments of a tight game -- when he was a freshman on Georgetown's men's basketball team. He was on the bench, watching as the Hoyas' older and more experienced players made the timely three-pointer or grabbed the key rebound.
But Darrel Owens and Brandon Bowman have graduated. So Egerson found himself starting and playing 29 minutes in eighth-ranked Georgetown's season-opening 69-59 win over Hartford on Saturday. He was the one running down the loose ball following a blown alley-oop attempt and drawing a foul late in the game; he was the one taking the late three-point shot.
Egerson, who averaged 1.6 points in only seven minutes per game last season, finished with seven points -- all in the second half -- and three rebounds. He looked more comfortable on offense, and his play, particularly in the second half as the Hoyas finally put away the Hawks, was more assertive. He attacked the basket, and he got to the foul line.
"He has that ability," Coach John Thompson III said after the game. "Marc can do a lot of things on the floor; he has a pretty good feel. A couple of times we got it in there, he was able to get to the basket, matched up with their big guy, he was able to make things happen. We're going to need that from him."
Said Egerson: "Basically I saw that in order for us to win, everybody needed to play hard, including myself. We just had to step it up a notch."
The Hoyas, who play at Vanderbilt tonight, need Egerson to continue to show improvement. On a roster that has only three pure guards, the 6-foot-6 Egerson's ability to play on the perimeter is an advantage.
"With his size, he can play guard or forward, and he's got a soft touch so it's kind of hard for teams to guard him because he's a big guard," junior forward Jeff Green said. "I think he adds a plus to our offense."
That would be especially true if he can become a reliable three-point shooter. He worked on his shooting in the offseason, realizing that he would be more help to the Hoyas on the perimeter than inside, where they have a logjam of talented players. Egerson made 5 of 12 three-point attempts as a freshman, and he was 1 of 2 against Hartford (as a team, the Hoyas were 6 for 23, 26.1 percent). His three-pointer from the right side with 1 minute 17 seconds left in the game gave the Hoyas a nine-point edge.
Egerson, at 237 pounds, has a broader, thicker frame than both Owens (6-7, 215) and Bowman (6-8, 209), who were much rangier. Egerson is more physical.
"Marc's one of those guys, growing up he always played real tough, and he's a hard-nosed defender, just a hard-nosed player," guard Jonathan Wallace said. "That's what he's going to bring to this team, that hard-nosed mental mentality to the floor."
That's a quality that Egerson shares with juniors Patrick Ewing Jr. and Tyler Crawford. Ewing, who grabbed one rebound and committed two fouls in eight minutes against Hartford, is energetic and active. Crawford took a team-high 12 shots against Hartford, making only three, but he also led the Hoyas with nine rebounds and two steals.
"It's like a pickup [game], as far as the momentum goes in the game," Wallace said. "Marc, Tyler and Pat is another guy who's one of those real high-strung guys who's not afraid to get their nose bloody, per se. They'll step in at any time and do what you need them to do. Like the Bulls had Dennis Rodman, we've got Marc, Tyler and Pat, doing the dirty work."
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Sophomore Marc Egerson is playing a more prominent role this season on a team with only three pure guards.
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Nice Start Means Caps 'In No Rush' to Trade
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2006111519
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The Washington Capitals are one of the hottest teams in the NHL, having won four of five games entering tonight's meeting with the Boston Bruins at Verizon Center. Their 20 standings points in 17 games has them on pace to earn a playoff berth.
But the youthful club's better-than-expected start hasn't tempted management to accelerate its plan to patiently rebuild from within the organization. If anything, it has confirmed General Manager George McPhee's philosophy, he said yesterday.
"We like what we have," McPhee said. "We like our young guys and we're going with them."
So as early-season trade discussions gather momentum around the NHL, don't expect McPhee to be active in the market -- for now, at least. The Capitals (8-5-4) are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind fifth-place Montreal, Carolina and the New York Rangers.
"If at any point in time there's something out there that makes sense and makes our team better, we'll do it," McPhee said. "But we're in no rush."
Goaltender Olie Kolzig acknowledged the Capitals' obvious depth issues but added that he doesn't feel a trade is necessary at the moment.
"Every team is looking for a little more talent, no question," said Kolzig, who asked for competitive assurances before signing a two-year contract extension in February. "But at what expense? Do you give away one of your heart-and-soul guys? I think right now, no. We need to play better, but the bottom line is we're winning."
When McPhee walked into the Capitals' locker room at Verizon Center after practice, a loud round of applause erupted. It was the veteran players' reaction to five former Hershey (Pa.) Bears receiving their American Hockey League championship rings.
The diamond- and ruby-encrusted silver rings went to Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich, Kris Beech, Mike Green and Jakub Klepis. Tomas Fleischmann got his ring last month in Hershey.
"It reminds you of what you went through last year, and it reminds you of why you play this game," Laich said. "Until you go through a two-month battle like that and you come out on top, the last team standing, you don't really understand fully what it means to win and be part of a championship."
Beech said his ring eventually will make its way to a trophy case in his parents' home.
"I've been waiting for it," he said. "It's great to finally get it. It brings back so many emotions."
Injured right wing Richard Zednik (wrist) practiced, but he likely will miss his sixth consecutive game tonight. He is listed as day-to-day. . . . Alexander Semin was hit hard late in third period Monday night, but the slumping left wing (five assists, no goals in his past 10 games) showed no ill effects yesterday. . . . NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will attend tonight's game.
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The Capitals are one of the hottest teams in the NHL, having one four of their last five games, but management is not tempted to accelerate its rebuilding plan.
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Senate to Take Up Biological Threats
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2006111519
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The Senate is moving to take up legislation as soon as this week revamping a struggling multibillion-dollar effort to counter bioterrorism threats with a national stockpile of new vaccines and other drugs.
The legislation creates a central authority within the Health and Human Services Department to manage the effort, sets aside an additional $1 billion for research and gives the federal government the flexibility to provide cash infusions to the small firms doing most of the work.
Supporters of the bill, which is more than a year in the making, are cautiously optimistic that it will pass. Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who is slated to take over as majority leader, listed it among his priorities for Congress's lame-duck session.
"From a policy standpoint, there is nobody shooting at it," said Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), one of the bill's sponsors.
If passed, the legislation would have to be reconciled with the House version, which was passed in September. The initiative is intended to salvage the Bush administration's Project BioShield, a $5.6 billion program to counter biological and radioactive weapons.
The two-year effort has been marked by delays and operational problems. Some companies, for example, have floundered as they conducted research and testing because the bulk of government payments typically do not arrive until firms are ready to produce approved drugs.
Meanwhile, Project BioShield's most significant investment, a nearly $1 billion effort by VaxGen Inc. to develop an anthrax vaccine, is in limbo after the Food and Drug Administration refused to let the company conduct human tests and Health and Human Services threatened to end the company's contract.
Project BioShield "didn't work because a majority of the companies choose not to participate and the ones that did, they were not financed through the valley of death," Burr said.
The new legislation aims to correct those problems, but it still may face some questions. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who said she supports the intent of the bill, nonetheless raised safety concerns.
"We need to debate compensating those who may suffer adversely from new vaccines or treatments and expand protections for high risk populations like children, pregnant women, and the elderly," Murray said in a statement.
Under the current proposal, the bill would create the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to oversee the effort. The bill also attempts to pump more government money into the private market sooner. Under current law, participating companies are not paid until they deliver the drugs, even though Health and Human Services has the authority to give companies a 10 percent prepayment, which would have to be repaid if the company failed to deliver the product. But the agency has never exercised that option.
The legislation would speed up the development cycle by allowing Health and Human Services to pay companies up to 5 percent of the value of their contract when they reach certain milestones, providing them with a welcome cash infusion. The Senate version would also allocate $1 billion over three years for research not funded by a Project BioShield contract or the National Institutes of Health. The House version of the legislation sets aside $160 million per year for two years.
"The federal government is now their venture capital partner," Burr said.
Lance Ignon, VaxGen's vice president for corporate affairs, applauded the notion of the government playing a larger role in sharing the financial risk. Under the current program, "we have all of the financial risk," he said.
The change would not be a "panacea" in VaxGen's case, he said, but could be helpful to the company and the industry in general.
"The success of our nation's bio-defense effort will rest in large measure on the ability to form true partnerships between government and industry based on mutual respect," Ignon said. That includes an "understanding of the almost inevitable setbacks one encounters in drug development."
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The Senate is moving to take up legislation as soon as this week revamping a struggling multibillion-dollar effort to counter bioterrorism threats with a national stockpile of new vaccines and other drugs.
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The Perfect Thing
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2006111519
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Besides being one of the most successful consumer products in decades, the iPod has become a global obsession. It changed people's behavior, reshaped the music business and made Apple a consumer electronics giant. In his book, Levy gives readers the story of the iPod's creation, including why the iPod is white and how Apple succeeded with its iTunes music store. Levy discusses the iPod's impact on the business and cultural worlds as well as related issues, such as the broadcast industry and copyright.
Steven Levy: Hi, everybody. I'm delighted to be able to take your questions on iPods, Zunes, and digital music (and media!) in general. In "The Perfect Thing" I tried not only to tell the story of how the iPod came to be, but to spend a lot of time on the economic and cultural repercussions as well. So feel free to range pretty far in your questions.
Arlington, Va.: I am an iPod addict. I think it is a great way to carry around your entire cd collection. How many iPods have been sold in the US?
Steven Levy: As of a couple of weeks ago, Apple had sold 68 million iPods. A reasonable guess is they will sell over 15 million more in the holiday season.
Charlottesville, Va.: Will any portable music device rival the iPod any time soon?
Steven Levy: Depends on what you mean by "soon." Apple has dominated the market for five years now, and has been relentless in updating the iPod platform, even the the point last year when it discontinued its most popular model (the mini) and replaced it with a different one (the smaller nano). There are over 3000 add-on products. So any competitor has to scale a huge mountain, and bring in features that Apple does not have.
That's why Microsoft's Zune has something the iPod doesn't--wireless connectivity. But even Microsoft admits that it is only at the beginning of a long competition with iPod.
Alabama: I have never owned an iPod, have never been interested in buying an iPod and believe that the culture's ridiculous obsession with this $200 to $400 gadget shows how stupid we are with money -- in particular, how stupid young people can be throwing their cash around. Is your obsession with music so overpowering that turning the radio on in the car, or walking outside without the aid of an electronic device means doom? Get over it. And think about what good that $400 can do. It can feed a poor family in this state for about a month, or put clothing on their children's backs. To spend all that money on a device that does nothing but cut you off from the rest of the world isn't just stupid: It's obscene.
I honestly wish savings accounts got more attention than wasteful consumer products that, frankly, are geared toward the rich or people willing to spend themselves into debt to appear rich. A 25-year-old who puts that $400 in a 401K will be extremely grateful they did so when they hit 65 -- approximately 39 years after the iPod's battery has burned out.
Steven Levy: This is a question that deserves to be treated seriously. A few hundred dollars for a device that gives us the luxury of playing our music on the go is definitely money that can be put to more socially useful purposes. But if we go down that road, pretty much anything we spend for our own entertainment could be seen as wasteful. As luxury products go, I think the iPod, especially now that the basic high capacity model ($249) and the lower cost models ($79 for a shuffle, $150-$250 for a nano) deliver good value in terms of enjoyment. Some concerts cost $150 to attend.
By the way, do you enjoy driving your Yugo?
Washington, D.C.: So why IS the iPod white?
Steven Levy: I had a long talk with Jonathan Ive, the industrial designer of the iPod, and he went on enthusiastically at the "shockingly neutral" hue of the iPod. So much so that I felt he was channeling the tumultuous passages in "Moby Dick" in the famous "Of the Whiteness of the Whale" chapter. Also, at that point, Apple has other products in white (the iBook, the iMac), and that was sort of a clean look of their brand.
Albuquerque, N.M.: I needed to have my iPod mini repaired. I sent it back to Apple using their web site to coordinate the repair. I can not tell you how pleased I was with the entire process. From the time I shipped the unit until the time I received the new unit was less than 5 days. It was quick, easy and painless. With customer service horror stories out there, it was a pleasure to have such a good experience. Microsoft take note!
Steven Levy: I'm glad things worked out for you. Generally the stories I get anecdotally about iPod reliability reflect Apple's pretty good policy of repairing under warrantee, and some frustration when iPods fail just after the warrantee expires.
Washington, D.C.: What poses the greatest risk to the iPods dominance? I don't think it is Zune!
Steven Levy: A lot of people think that the threat to iPods is music in cellular phones. There's a real question as to whether high-capacity storage on phones, along with a nice interface, will mean that people no longer need separate music devices. But this bears watching.
The other threat may be subscription-based devices, where you pay a fee for "all you can eat" from a huge library. Zune does use subscriptions but hasn't really pushed it. The Rhapsody-based Sansa device focuses on this, and goes a pretty good job.
Steve Jobs of Apple has consistently said that he doesn't think subscriptions will catch on. He says the people want to own their music, and will hate the idea that it all goes away when they stop paying the fee.
Reston, Va.: Isn't the ability of Microsoft's Zune to wirelessly connect just a lawsuit waiting to happen? As it is, people download and share tunes (illegally) on a regular basis. With the wireless capability, will Zune owners be able to share their files from one Zune to the other "on the street" -- making it that much harder to track file-sharing/swapping?
Steven Levy: Microsoft has been very careful--too careful, for my tastes--in restricting what can be done in Zune to Zune sharing as so to satisfy the music industry. Because of the restrictions imposed on sharing -- a song sent from one Zune to another expires after three plays or three days, whichever comes first--the record labels have signed off, so there is no danger of a lawsuit. However, there is danger that users will be turned off by the restrictions. In some cases, artists have withheld permission and if you try to send a song you get message that you don't have the rights to do so. I imagine this could be frustrating.
Washington, D.C.: My son has upgraded from an original issue Ipod - the battery needs replacement costing $70. Is it worth the investment?
Steven Levy: I thought the fee was $60. In any case, if your son enjoys his iPod and isn't lusting for a newer model, why not? More often, people with older iPods see that it doesn't cost much more to get a higher-capacity new model and give the old one to a friend or relative.
Annapolis, Md.: We bought an iPod for my son and now I'm thinking of getting one of my own. I have a question about the iTunes Library. Right now, the CDs that he's imported, along with a couple of downloads are sitting in the library on the hard drive. Is there a way to create a separate library for my files when I import/download them? I have iTunes on my computer at work, but I don't want to store my music files there. Can I store them on a flash drive and if so, what capacity should I be looking at? When I get onto my computer at home, could I plug in the flash drive and access the library or will it automatically default to the hard drive location, where my son's library is stored?
Steven Levy: Don't want to get too deeply into computer support questions here, but basically the message is this: you can balance different iPods on one master library. The key thing to remember is that iPods connect to a single library--so your home computer should have all the songs that you and your family want to listen to. Then, you can load only the songs you want into your individual iPods. (By checking and unchecking the little boxes next to the songs when you synch the iPod.)
As for other computers, you can designate five computers to play the songs you buy from the iTunes store (unlimited if you rip the songs from CDs.) To move the songs to other computers, you can't use the iPod (without special unapproved software) but must move song files like any other kind of file transfer.
Annapolis, Md.: Is Apple doing anything to make the iPod more sturdy? It seems like everyone complains about how easy it is to scratch them up. I must admit that I don't currently have an iPod, but would it get that scratched up just keeping it in my purse or do you have to purchase one of those covers?
Steven Levy: Once I used an iPod to record an interview with Steve Jobs and he saw that I had one of those plastic skins covering it. He was appalled, and insisted that iPods, like people, only gain more character with the occasional ding and scratch. I'm not sure about that (especially if the screen is affected) but for those who worry, there are plenty of cases. By the way, in the small print in packaging of the new iPods, there is a disclaimer explaining that like fine denim jeans, iPods can go through a weathering process. Classic Apple explanation--wear and tear makes iPods cooler!
Arlington, Va.: If the Beatles were to finally make their music available on-line, and cut a deal exclusively with Microsoft, as rumored, would they just be shutting themselves out of the entire ipod market? Or would they help Zune make inroads into a sizable chunk of the market?
Steven Levy: The Beatles did make an offer to Microsoft a couple of years ago (when Microsoft was introducing an earlier competitor to the iTunes Store)--they asked for millions of dollars for temporary exclusivity and then demanded that their songs be sold in a separate online store! Microsoft wisely turned them down.
The Beatles will eventually realize that holding out from the online world hurts their sales and gives them no advantage for the future. My guess is that at some point Apple Computer will settle its lawsuit with Apple Records and part of the settlement (face saving all around) will be that the Beatles will roll out, with great fanfare, on the Apple Store. Some time thereafter, Beatle songs will be available on Microsoft, Rhapsody, Napster, etc.
State College, Pa.: Do you think that heavy iPod users may be isolating themselves socially or that lonely people are using iPods for that very purpose?
Steven Levy: HI, to my grad school Alma Mater!
I get into this at length in the book. Sociologists studying the matter find that people (loneliness has nothing to do with it) find personal audio devices like Walkman and iPod environmentally useful for two reasons: escape and enhancement. In some cases, it's a useful signal for others to "stay away and leave me alone." But mostly, its a way to alter one's environment, creating a dynamic soundtrack to an otherwise mundane setting.
Bethesda: Is there a device you can attached to your IPod so you can listen to the radio when your not near a radio?
Steven Levy: Though Apple does not, like many of its competitors, include built in FM radio, it does sell a $50 accessory that's a combination FM radio and remote control (you can modulate volume and skip songs from the clip-on remote when the iPod itself is in your pocket or backpack).
Vienna, Va.: The iPod has obviously had a big effect on the music business. What do you think will be the next big thing or things technology-wise that will change the music business?
Steven Levy: I am very excited about the new wave of "recommendation" sites on the Web, ranging from MySpace to music blogs to social sites (mog.com) to ones that give you "similar music" to songs you specify (pandora.com, mystrands.com, last.fm). One day the music industry will more actively support these and allow looser sharing so that their artists will be exposed more quickly.
Raleigh, N.C.: Where do you think iPod software is going? I've seen map, tour guide, and language programs. I'm considering buying an audio wine guide by a company named CyraKnow. Do you know of other iPod software makers?
Steven Levy: There are oodles of stuff available in this vein. From iTunes you can get podcasts and audio books. Other stuff is available from third parties but not so well integrated. One thing I write about in "The Perfect Thing" is the ShasPod, an iPod preloaded with two thousand hours of Talmudic commentary. (There's plenty of Bible stuff, too.)
Lenexa, Kan.: Please, talk more about your use of an iPod to record interviews. How do you do this? What additional hardware and software do you use? Thanks.
Steven Levy: I simply used an add-on microphone from a third-party accessory maker. To be honest, since then I've found it more reliable to use a dedicated digital recorder, though using the iPod was easy in the sense that once it synched back to the computer, the interview was automatically loaded into iTunes.
St. Mary's City, Md.: Do you see the iPod as making it easier or harder for performers to find new fans? Does it increase or decrease the ability of listeners to find non-mainstream performers? I had imagined that record labels would become less relevant in the iPod era, that a 21st-century Frank Zappa could reach audiences directly without having to fight his label over artistic content. Is that realistic?
Steven Levy: I think that the iPod, and the digital music world in general, can make it easier for artists to find and cultivate new audiences. As you mention, it's possible for small labels to bypass distributors and go straight to iTunes and other online stores to reach fans. This is the "long tail" effect so well described by Wired Magazine editor Chris Anderson.
However, I recently was disappointed that I could not buy early Mothers of Invention albums on iTunes. What gives?
Mount Airy, Md.: Steve: In the past I found that in order to listen to an iPOD you had to purchase music from the Apple music store. I believe there are ways around this now, but purchasing from Apple is the only way to fully utilize all of the features of the iPOD. Will the ZUNE have similar restrictions? Thanks.
Steven Levy: Let me clarify something: in order to listen to music on an iPod (or Zune for that matter) you do not have purchase music from any digital store, but have the opportunity to take your existing CD's (or buy new ones) and "rip" them into your music library.
The problem you have heard about it that when you do buy songs from an online store. you are limited in where you play it back. Purchased songs from the iTunes store won't work on a Zune, and Zune songs won't work on an iPod (or even on an earlier Microsoft effort, devices on the "plays for sure" standard.
This is an intolerable situation. I think that customers who pay for music should be able to play them on any device they choose. The point of copy protection is to prevent piracy, not to lock anyone into a single system.
Claverack, N.Y.: Has Apple ever been tempted to make a game-friendly iPod, with a "+" pad joystick and a few buttons? Or are they not interested in riling the half-ton beast that is Nintendo?
Steven Levy: Apple recently began selling games for iPods, and while they are fun, they are no match for a full fledged productions on the PS2 or Nintendo DS, let along the supercomputer game consoles we're seeing now. I doubt that Apple will release a game controller for the iPod.
Alexandria, Va.: I am in the market for a portable media player and am leaning away from the Ipod and towards the Toshiba Gigabeat (MES30VW). Am I wrong to not want the Ipod?
Steven Levy: Anyone who carefully researches this space may find that one player in particular satisfies his or her needs. There's no right or wrong, it's about what will make you happy. So far, though, three fourths of people are voting for iPod with their purchases.
Falls Church, Va.: I use my iPod on the metro to escape the bustling crowds and often rude behavior of daily commuters. I am shocked at the number of times I can hear other peoples devices through their earbuds at some feet away. Are we all just killing our eardrums one commute at a time?
Steven Levy:"Killing Me Loudly?" It's a very good idea to keep the volume down. Apple offers parents a way to permanently set the volume level at lower than power-drill levels, so that kids don't put themselves at risk.
Boston, Mass.: How much of the iPod's dominance is the iTunes music store? The iPod could never have been so successful on its own.
Steven Levy: You are right in implying that the iPod's success is not due solely to the device, but the interaction with the iTunes software and the music store. It's no accident that Zune is attempting to duplicate that model.
Arlington, Va.: Hi Steven, Where do you see the iPod going in the next two to three years? Especially after the release of Microsoft's Zune and the ability to access digital content wirelessly. Will Apple follow suit? Thanks.
Steven Levy: Apple doesn't share its future plans very freely, especially with journalists. That said, most observers think that in the next year or so we will see an iPod with a screen covering its full surface (with touch-screen controls), and an "iPhone" that may not be an iPod but will be a rethinking of the mobile phone Apple-style, with music built in. Wi-fi in iPods is another strong possibility. I'll be watching just like everybody else, eager to see if any of these come to pass, or something entirely different.
Thanks so much for participating. There are a bunch of questions I didn't get to, but you can ping me either at Newsweek or the blog I use for the book at stevenlevy.com. Have a great day!
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online 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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U.S. Commander in Iraq to Face Democrats Eager for Troop Cuts
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2006111519
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Senate Democrats impatient to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq will inject a new political dynamic into the debate over the war beginning today as they question the military's top Middle East commander for the first time since their party swept into control of Congress this month.
Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, will face questions on the violence in Iraq and what it means for the roughly 145,000 U.S. troops there during scheduled testimony today before the Senate Armed Services Committee, senators from both parties said.
Senior Democrats and Republicans on the committee are deeply divided over basic issues such as troop levels and strategy and whether Iraq is already in a state of civil war. Still, they are united by a concern for American forces. Committee Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.), for example, said he will quiz Abizaid on the risks that U.S. troops could face if embedded with Iraqi units under an Iraqi chain of command.
"We've got to be very careful we are not putting at risk life and limb of American forces by putting them with Iraqis," he said in an interview. "What kind of orders will the Iraqi forces receive?" he asked, voicing concern over sectarian influences within the Iraqi military.
Democrats have made it clear that they intend to bolster the committee's oversight role, and an influx of new members, including Democrat James Webb of Virginia, is expected to further invigorate debate. Webb, a former active-duty Marine and one of only a handful of members of Congress with offspring serving in Iraq, secured a seat on the committee yesterday, according to his spokeswoman, Kristian Denny Todd.
The committee plans to hold confirmation hearings Dec. 4 or 5 for former CIA chief Robert M. Gates, President Bush's nominee to replace Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who resigned the day after the Nov. 7 midterm elections. The panel will also weigh in on the congressionally created Iraq Study Group as well as on a sweeping review of Iraq strategy initiated by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Pace review will cover strategy and the viability of increasing or decreasing troop levels in Iraq, as well as stress on the force, according to Warner.
Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), poised to take over as Armed Services Committee chairman, said that Iraq is headed into an abyss of civil war and that only by beginning a troop pullout in four to six months can Washington exert the necessary pressure on Iraqi leaders to forge political solutions to the country's violence.
What Iraqis "need to hear, and what the American people need to hear, is that we are darned impatient," Levin said at a news conference Monday, recounting a conversation with President Bush.
Levin said he believes a majority of the Senate would now back a bipartisan resolution he initiated on a phased pullout.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a committee member who joined with 40 other senators in backing the resolution six months ago, said in an interview: "The best approach is to clearly state the policy to begin redeployment. The critical problems . . . are political in nature," not military, he said.
Democrats say a driving factor in their push for drawing down U.S. troops in Iraq is the strain on the all-volunteer military from repeated combat zone deployments, as well as from billions of dollars' worth of equipment wear and tear that has hurt the military's preparedness should another conflict break out.
Some Democrats on the committee, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), advocate increasing the size of the Army, which has about 500,000 active-duty soldiers, to improve readiness and ease the strain on the force.
Leading Republicans, for their part, are arguing against a timetable for troop withdrawals while urging a more measured approach to redefining Iraq strategy.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), set to become the committee's ranking minority member, made it clear that he vehemently opposes a timetable for withdrawing troops and instead favors a substantial increase in U.S. ground forces in Iraq.
If the United States begins a phased withdrawal, "chaos will ensue, and that chaos will spread throughout the region," McCain said in an interview. "We need to get more troops into the equation to try to get Iraqis trained," he said, adding that "the Iraqi military is doing better but is not yet prepared to take over."
McCain, who has advocated increasing U.S. forces in Iraq for years, said that of a string of U.S. mistakes there, "one of our greatest failures was not having enough troops from the beginning."
Staff writer Michael D. Shear contributed to this report.
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Senate Democrats impatient to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq will inject a new political dynamic into the debate over the war beginning today as they question the military's top Middle East commander for the first time since their party swept into control of Congress this month.
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One-Dog Policy Resisted in Beijing
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2006111519
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BEIJING, Nov. 14 -- Days after the Chinese government announced a crackdown on dogs in the capital, dog lovers here are quietly walking their pets after midnight and avoiding nosy neighbors. They're also fighting back.
A campaign to protect people from a sharp rise in rabies cases led officials to announce last week that they would limit each household to one dog and ban dogs taller than 14 inches. Since then, pet owners have expressed resentment, as well as fear about what might happen to their animals.
While the rules are not new, they were not previously uniformly enforced, either. Now some Beijing residents have alleged that police have gone through neighborhoods, seizing unregistered animals and killing them, an accusation police have denied.
Over the weekend, as many as 500 protesters gathered near the Beijing Zoo for more than three hours, surrounded by three cordons of police. They carried stuffed animals and signs saying: "Stop the Indiscriminate Killing." About 18 people were detained for questioning, dog owners said; all but one was reportedly released.
"More and more people own dogs. It is pointless to restrict dog-raising. The stricter the government is, the more people will love to own a dog," said Liu Tao, 26, who was at the unauthorized protest Saturday. "We are not blocked from the outside now. With the Internet, we can see how Western countries treat dogs well. It's hard to stop us from communicating with the outside."
While the rules have outraged pet owners, the face-off has also exposed fault lines between older bureaucrats with a mandate to keep public order and a growing middle class that no longer takes the traditional Chinese view of dogs as dishonorable or corrupt.
During China's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and '70s, people who kept dogs were accused of bourgeois tendencies. There is an idiom, "gou guan," or dog official, that connotes corruption, mercilessness and stupidity.
"Most of the officials are over 60 and they have gone through hard times. They will say we can barely afford to feed ourselves, how can we spend money to raise a dog?" Liu said.
Even before the protest, sources said, officers from the Internet unit of the police began visiting operators of pet-related Web sites. Several officers showed up at the offices of Chinapet.com, which runs dozens of chat rooms, and ordered that posts containing the words "protest" or "gathering" be deleted.
"They wanted to delete messages calling on people to be together and take to the streets to oppose the big dog ban. We could do nothing but obey," said Zhou Hongsheng, 22, a programmer at the Web site.
"We've never had this situation before. Usually we're not supposed to intervene. Normally, pets are not controversial," Zhou added.
There are about 550,000 registered dog owners in Beijing and perhaps just as many unregistered dogs, according to Chinese news agencies.
Bao Suixian, an official at the Public Security Ministry, defended the one-dog-per-household rule, saying Beijing's policy must take into account citizens with dogs and those without them.
A spokesman for the administrative office of the Agriculture Bureau, which helped draft the rules, said the height limit was the result of input from dog owners, the public and academics. Dogs higher than 14 inches "make those who don't own dogs psychologically afraid," said the spokesman, who identified himself only as Mr. Lu.
The ban on large dogs previously applied to the city center, but it has been extended to the surrounding suburbs, including several wealthy residential compounds. Fines for keeping an oversize dog or more than one dog now run about $650.
Moves to curb dog ownership and prevent rabies have led to draconian action in other parts of China in the past. In August, tens of thousands of dogs were killed in Yunnan province in southwestern China after three people died of the disease.
Guo Yibing, 32, a freelance Web site designer in Beijing and owner of nine dogs, seven of them registered, said he had to move his pets to a neighborhood near the airport where the law is less strictly enforced.
"We just hope to change the restrictions and get many people to pay attention to this issue," he said. "Dog owners have stable jobs and stable income, and we don't want to disturb the social order."
As a result of the crackdown, business has dropped off at the Pet Honey store, in one of Beijing's first neighborhoods to develop luxury real estate.
"In June and July, I bathed five to 10 dogs a day, up to 20 a day on weekends. Now in one week, I only bathe 20 dogs," said the store owner, Zhao Yun, 35. "Customers ask me, is it safe to bathe my dogs in your store, will anybody come to check?"
Zhao said government officials were simply ignorant and inexperienced about managing larger dogs.
"I treat my dogs like my own children," he said. "If someone tried to take them away from me, I cannot accept that."
Researcher Li Jie in Beijing and news researcher Robert E. Thomason in Washington contributed to this report.
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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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Japanese Premier Plans to Fortify U.S. Ties in Meeting With Bush
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2006111519
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TOKYO, Nov. 14 -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday outlined a vision for a stronger Japan and vowed to fortify the U.S.-Japan security alliance during his first official meeting with President Bush in Hanoi this weekend.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, Abe, who succeeded Junichiro Koizumi in September, also said he would push to redraft Japan's pacifist constitution.
In the current charter, which was drafted by the United States during its occupation of Japan following World War II, Tokyo effectively renounces the use of virtually any form of aggression. Abe, saying he hoped to foster a "new spirit" in Japan, said he would seek a new constitution within six years -- referring to the maximum time a prime minister can serve in office.
Few postwar Japanese leaders have secured such long terms. Given new threats facing Japan -- most notably a nuclear North Korea -- Abe suggested that his administration could take the interim step of reinterpreting the existing constitution to increase defensive capabilities.
Abe noted that it is unclear whether Tokyo is permitted under its own constitution to shoot down a ballistic missile flying over Japanese territory en route to the United States. Rules of engagement for Japanese troops on overseas peacekeeping missions are also severely limited by the constitution. Under current interpretations, for instance, Japanese troops are not permitted to defend themselves -- or U.S. or other allied troops -- unless directly fired upon.
But leading Japanese scholars have said policy changes to address such issues may not require the adoption of a new constitution, and could instead be made through official clarifications issued by the cabinet. While declining to provide a timetable for declaring new security protocols, Abe called for options to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
"We need to take up each individual example and study whether they . . . infringe upon the constitution," he said.
The Bush administration has backed the notion of a more assertive Japan, viewing Tokyo as an increasingly important partner at a time of dwindling support for the administration's foreign policies among U.S. allies. But the idea has unnerved critics in China and South Korea, where memories of World War II-era atrocities still run deep.
Since North Korea tested a nuclear device last month, some observers have even feared that Japan might seek to develop its own nuclear weapons. Yet most domestic scholars say Japan, the only nation to ever suffer a nuclear attack, is unlikely to ever seriously consider such an option, even if it saw itself as the primary target for North Korean aggression. Abe echoed those sentiments Tuesday, vowing that Japan would adhere to its nonnuclear principles.
Still, some right-wing leaders here, including a key member of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, have called for a broader public debate on whether Japan should possess nuclear weapons. While Abe said he would move to prevent any "official" debate, he added that he could not stop private citizens from expressing their views.
"For the general public to discuss this matter -- for example, academics, scholars or journalists -- is the freedom of the Japanese people," said Abe, 52. "I am not in a position of restricting that."
Abe, considered hawkish by most analysts here, has taken the global lead in calling for international sanctions against North Korea for conducting a nuclear test and has imposed its own sanctions on the Pyongyang government. On Tuesday, Abe approved a series of new measures banning the export of luxury goods to North Korea, an action aimed directly at the authoritarian elite in Pyongyang who revel in high-end Japanese goods.
During his first six weeks in office, Abe has at times sought to moderate his tone. For instance, while he has backed Koizumi's controversial decision to pay annual homage at a Tokyo shrine honoring the country's military dead, including World War II-era war criminals, Abe has refused to say whether he will continue to make such visits himself.
"Now that he is in office, Abe is trying to hide his beliefs," said Tenzo Okumura, a leading member of the opposition Democratic Party. "As the prime minister of Japan, he has the responsibility to the Japanese people to be clear on his positions, but he has chosen to be ambiguous."
This weekend, Abe will meet with Bush at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi.
The prime minister said he would use the occasion to stress the importance of maintaining a strong alliance with the United States and a firm line on North Korea. Some U.S. Democrats and Republicans have questioned Bush's refusal to hold direct negotiations with the North Koreans. Instead, the United States has agreed to meet them only within the context of six-party talks that also include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Japanese officials have favored Bush's approach, which has given Tokyo a greater role in the issue.
When asked whether he felt that policy might change with the new Democrat-controlled Congress, Abe reiterated Japan's desire to maintain the current multilateral format. "I believe that the six-party talks is the place to resolve the North Korean issue," he said.
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TOKYO, Nov. 14 -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday outlined a vision for a stronger Japan and vowed to fortify the U.S.-Japan security alliance during his first official meeting with President Bush in Hanoi this weekend.
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Medicare Enrollees Shop for Drug Plans
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2006111519
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WASHINGTON -- The shopping season began Wednesday for elderly and disabled Americans considering enrollment in the Medicare drug program.
For the next six weeks, about 43 million beneficiaries are eligible to enroll in a private plan that would subsidize the cost of their medicine in 2007. Enrollees on average saved about $1,100 on their medicine this year as a result of the program, federal officials say.
People who are satisfied with their current plan will be automatically re-enrolled unless they want to make a change. But Medicare officials do recommend that beneficiaries explore what changes their plans have in store for them next year. For instance, some plans will charge higher premiums, so there may be better deals available elsewhere.
Mike Leavitt, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, touted the drug benefit on Wednesday by noting that most beneficiaries are satisfied.
"It was a rigorous experience for all of us, but we have succeeded," Leavitt told directors of state Medicaid programs who were meeting in Washington.
Leavitt said about 90 percent of Medicare beneficiaries now have drug coverage. That compares with about 60 percent of beneficiaries who had coverage before the program began.
During the new benefit's first few months, many seniors, particularly the very poor, had trouble accessing their insurance coverage. States had to step in to help out.
Stan Rosenstein, a deputy director with California's Department of Human Services, told Leavitt that Medicaid directors were concerned the new year would bring another round of problems for the poor.
In his state alone, Rosenstein said, some 300,000 people would be automatically reassigned to new plans, and there is concern the handoff won't be seamless.
Leavitt said he expected the drug benefit's second year to be smoother because insurers and Medicare officials have a better feel for potential troublespots. He also recommended that beneficiaries decide by Dec. 8 whether they will change plans.
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WASHINGTON -- The shopping season began Wednesday for elderly and disabled Americans considering enrollment in the Medicare drug program.
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VITAL EVIDENCE - washingtonpost.com
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2006111519
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Opening blocked arteries does not help heart-attack patients, and may even be harmful, unless it is done right away, according to a large international study released yesterday.
Doctors routinely perform a procedure known as angioplasty on people who have had heart attacks. The procedure involves inserting a tiny balloon into an artery and inflating it to clear blockages that caused the attack. A small mesh tube is inserted to prop the artery open. The procedure can save lives if performed right after a heart attack. But it has been unclear whether the procedure helps patients if done later.
In the biggest, longest study to examine that question, Judith Hochman of the New York University School of Medicine and her colleagues studied 2,166 patients who were treated in 27 countries, three to 28 days after a heart attack.
There was no significant difference between the patients who underwent the procedure and those who received only drug treatment in terms of their death rate or their chance of having a heart attack or experiencing heart failure, the researchers found. In fact, there was some suggestion that those who underwent the procedure may have been more likely to have another heart attack.
It could be that reopening a large clogged artery causes smaller vessels to close, making them unavailable if the large artery gets blocked again, the researchers said.
"These results challenge the long-standing belief that opening a blocked artery is always good. Instead, the study suggests that late angioplasty is unnecessary in this circumstance," said Elizabeth G. Nabel of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which funded the study.
The results were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with their presentation at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago.
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Opening blocked arteries does not help heart-attack patients, and may even be harmful, unless it is done right away, according to a large international study released yesterday.
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For Smokers, a Tough Call
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2006111419
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That is the question patients -- most of them current or former smokers -- are asking doctors following the publication of a large international study that found that spiral CT scans can detect lung cancer at its earliest and most curable stage.
The results, published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine, have fueled hope that the technology can lead to early treatment of the most common cause of cancer death, as mammography has done for breast cancer.
But the study involving more than 31,000 current and former smokers headed by researchers at Weill Medical College at Cornell University failed to answer a fundamental question: Does screening extend lives or merely find cancer earlier? Because the study did not use a control group, there is no way to tell whether the risks of screening, which include repeated radiation exposure and the possibility of aggressive follow-up treatment, outweigh the benefits of early detection, experts from the American Cancer Society and other groups say.
Therein lies the rub -- and the reason doctors are sharply divided about testing people who don't have symptoms, even for a cancer that kills 85 percent of the 174,000 Americans found to have the disease annually within five years of diagnosis.
Interest in lung cancer screening is growing, experts agree. Some hospitals and radiology clinics in the Washington area offer tests that range from $175 to $800 and are rarely covered by insurance. About 60 percent of hospitals and clinics own CT scanners, which were developed in the 1990s and can detect tumors as small as a grain of rice.
"I think the answer is pretty clear: no," said Ned Patz, a professor of radiology, cancer biology and pharmacology at Duke University Medical Center, when asked about screening. "I'm not saying it won't work, just that there's no solid proof yet that it does."
That's what Patz told his 74-year-old father, a former smoker who has no symptoms but worries about the consequences of his 20-year pack-a-day habit. A more definitive answer, Patz said, must await the outcome of a National Cancer Institute study involving 53,000 current and former smokers. That study, launched in the mid-1990s, is comparing the death rates of patients who received spiral CT scans with those screened with chest X-rays. Results are expected by about 2010.
Radiologist Alex Kladakis says he thinks there's no need to wait. One of 22 physicians at Washington Radiology Associates, among the area's largest radiology practices, Kladakis said that the recent study shows "the proof is really there" and that people over 40 who have smoked the equivalent of a half-pack a day for 15 years should consider being screened. Washington Radiology charges $686 for the non-invasive test, which takes about 30 seconds; a physician's order is required.
To Kladakis, the most persuasive finding in the study, dubbed I-ELCAP (International Early Lung Cancer Action Project), is the survival data. Of the 412 people in the study found to have Stage 1 cancer who underwent surgery, 85 percent were alive five years later; the eight patients who declined treatment were dead. The average five-year survival rate for Stage 1 lung cancer is about 70 percent, according to federal statistics.
"It seems to me those eight are kind of a mini-control group," Kladakis said, adding that requests for lung screenings have increased since the study was published. "Lung cancer is a very, very bad disease," he said. And by the time a patient has symptoms, such as a persistent cough, it usually means the disease is advanced, Kladakis said, citing the example of ABC anchorman Peter Jennings, who died of lung cancer last year.
Claudia I. Henschke, the researcher who headed the I-ELCAP study, said the study shows that early diagnosis means that a cure is possible. She has said she does not think that a randomized controlled trial, the gold standard in medicine, is necessary to prove the effectiveness of lung CT scans, as do officials at the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society.
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To screen or not to screen? That is the question patients -- most of them current or former smokers -- are asking doctors following the publication of a large international study that found that spiral CT scans can detect lung cancer at its earliest and most curable stage. Claudia I. Henschke,...
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Get Jim in Here, Pronto!
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2006111419
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If I told you that there was something in Washington called the Baker commission but didn't tell you what it was about, you still could probably name many of its members. If you are of a certain age, you might wonder, "Jim or Howard?" And you might have a quibble or two.
Where is Dick Holbrooke? Does Sandra Day O'Connor's new availability mean that Madeleine Albright is out of luck from now on? Are they sure that Larry Eagleburger is still alive? But Vernon Jordan is there, along with Ed Meese and Alan Simpson and Lee Hamilton. This is one torch that has not been passed to a new generation, although former Virginia senator and presidential son-in-law Charles Robb (age 67) is a fresh face in the pool of Washington Wise Men. Welcome, Chuck.
The Baker commission -- that's James Baker, of course -- was appointed by Congress to look into the situation in Iraq. It is expected to report early next month, and it is duly bouncing around and staffing up and holding hearings and all the things that prestigious commissions do.
Ordinarily a commission such as this has two possible purposes: action or inaction. Sometimes a problem is referred to a prestigious commission so that the commission can recommend doing things that everybody knows must be done but that nobody has the nerve to propose -- at least nobody who has to run for office. The commission can ram this policy down the politicians' allegedly unwilling throats. If it is bipartisan -- and what fun is a commission that isn't bipartisan? -- the commission also protects both parties against a stab in the back by the other. This is how Social Security was reformed and saved the last time, when the chairman of the commission was Alan Greenspan, and undoubtedly this is how it will be reformed and saved again. Hey, Greenspan's available again. Come to think of it, why isn't he on this one? He is no expert on Iraq -- but neither is Leon Panetta, another recent initiate into the Pantheon.
On the other hand, sometimes a problem is referred to a commission simply to get it off the table. Action is widely perceived as necessary, and the creation of a commission can be made to look like action.
So which is the Baker commission? It's got elements of both. Part of the idea, certainly, was to get the politicians over the hump of the election and give them something to say in the meantime. ("We desperately need new ideas and fresh thinking about Iraq and, indeed, the entire Middle East. I look forward to the recommendations of the Baker commission and urge them to interpret their mandate widely and boldly.") And part of the idea is to legitimize some impalatable solution. But the Baker commission may be nearly unique in that there is no obvious solution waiting to be imposed. People actually hope that it will come up with something that no one has thought of.
Good luck. The chance that this group of aging white men, plus Vernon Jordan and Sandra Day O'Connor, will come up with something original is not enormous. It's a nutty and not very attractive idea to turn an urgent issue of war and peace over to a commission. Commissions have usually been trotted out for long-run social problems: immigration, debt, health care. Going to war is something that ought to be decided by the people we elect. Congress, in recent decades, has virtually abandoned its duty under the Constitution to make the decisions about when American soldiers are sent to kill and die.
Presidents have foolishly claimed that authority. And now, inevitably, we have a president who is stuck with a war that he insisted on and a citizenry that has no interest in it.
If we had wanted our country to be run by James Baker, we had our chance. He was interested in running for president in 1996 but discovered that his interest in a James Baker presidency was not widely shared. Although he has held a variety of government posts, from undersecretary of commerce under Gerald Ford to secretary of state under Bush the Elder, and has all the trappings of enormous consequence and wisdom, such as a Presidential Medal of Freedom and his own James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, Baker is essentially a political operative. His place in history is Florida 2000, where he secured the presidency for George W. Bush. Reporters were awed by his brilliance and ruthlessness. History may be less admiring of his willingness to make inconsistent arguments and to lie with a straight face.
Being a Washington Wise Man does not require much wisdom. Baker has a "conviction," said a Baker colleague quoted in The Post on Sunday, "that Iraq is the central foreign policy issue confronting the United States." Wow. Now there's an insight. Actually, it is a nice small insight into the Baker mentality that he apparently can imagine a war that is killing large numbers of young Americans every month but that is not our central foreign policy issue. Baker also believes that "the only way to address that issue successfully is to first build a bipartisan consensus." Now, that is a conviction you can sink your teeth into. People like Baker always favor a bipartisan consensus.
They don't really believe in politics, which is to say they don't really believe in democracy.
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The urgent issue of war and peace in Iraq should be decided by the people we elected, not a commission. If we'd wanted James Baker to run the country, we'd have voted for him.
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Reid Pledges To Press Bush On Iraq Policy
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2006111419
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Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who was elected Senate majority leader yesterday, said last night that President Bush still has not grasped the urgent need to change course in Iraq. Reid vowed to press quickly for phased troop withdrawals, a more international approach to Iraq's problems and a rebuilding of the depleted U.S. military.
In his first extensive interview since the Senate Democrats' leadership election, Reid also said members of his party will have to think big on the nation's domestic issues. That includes tackling the budget deficit with strict new rules on spending, exploring an eventual expansion of Medicare to address the uninsured, and examining an increase in tax rates on upper-income Americans.
VIDEO | Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), selected as the next majority leader, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), the next majority whip, and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), the vice chairman of the Democratic Conference, announce the Senate Democratic Leadership for the 110th Congress.
But it was on the issue of Iraq that he was most passionate. Voter anger over the war swept his party to power with the unlikely defeat of six Republican senators, he said. Democrats must respond to that anger, he added, with hearings to keep the heat on the Bush administration, and with calls for a regional Middle Eastern conference and a revitalized Iraqi reconstruction effort.
To that end, he said, one of the first acts of the new Democratic Congress will be a $75 billion boost to the military budget to try to get the Army's diminished units back into combat shape.
Democrats will not try, Reid pledged, to play the strongest hand they have -- using Congress's power of the purse to starve the war effort of money and force the president to move. Such an effort would only elicit a veto from Bush. But he said Democrats will marshal their newly acquired power -- in hearing rooms and on the Senate floor -- to stoke public opinion and drive the debate.
"Three Americans killed yesterday, four British; 150 Iraqis taken out of that building and kidnapped; 1,800-plus went through that one Baghdad morgue but that doesn't count all the dead," Reid recounted. "My displeasure with the president, he doesn't understand the urgency of this. It's all victory for him, but I don't know what that means anymore in Iraq. I do know what we are doing now doesn't work."
Reid said he will be able to work well with Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the incoming House speaker, whom he described as resilient and "a very astute politician." But he said the Senate will work differently from the House, given the Senate Democrats' very narrow 51 to 49 majority, which will necessitate close cooperation with Republicans.
"The speaker of the House has to be aggressive," Reid said. "It's like the British Parliament. If you've got the votes, you ram it through. But the Senate works differently."
Democrats also elected Sen. Richard J. Durbin (Ill.) yesterday as assistant Senate majority leader. Durbin has been assistant minority leader since January 2005. Senate Republicans will elect their leaders for the 110th Congress today.
In January, after two years as a Senate minority leader who bedeviled the Republican legislative agenda and sharply criticized Bush, Reid will take the helm of a body that has been notoriously difficult to control.
To the casual observer, Reid comes across as a reserved, soft-spoken, deferential politician who appears more comfortable in the backrooms of the Capitol than in the spotlight. But to those who have watched him close up, Reid's reputation is quite different -- that of a brawler who moves with the alacrity he acquired in his days as an amateur boxer.
The consummate pessimist in a political world full of sunny optimism, Reid is fond of saying that he would rather expect the worst and accept the occasional pleasant surprise than forever live with disappointment.
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Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who was elected Senate majority leader yesterday, said last night that President Bush still has not grasped the urgent need to change course in Iraq. Reid vowed to press quickly for phased troop withdrawals, a more international approach to Iraq's problems and a rebuilding of...
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Big 3 Auto Heads Get Little From President
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2006111419
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President Bush promised yesterday to deliver a message to Asian trading partners to "treat us the way we treat you" but offered top U.S. auto executives little help in their battle to turn their companies around.
The president met with the three chief executives of the Detroit-based auto companies for a little more than an hour at the White House after twice postponing the get-together in the past several months. In Michigan, where the economy is reeling from auto industry downsizing, the long wait came to symbolize the Bush administration's indifference to the manufacturing sector.
Alan R. Mulally of Ford Motor Co.; Thomas W. LaSorda of Chrysler, the U.S. division of DaimlerChrysler AG; and G. Richard Wagoner Jr. of General Motors Corp. laid out their concerns about fair trade, health-care costs, rising steel prices and alternative fuel development. After the meeting, Bush said the executives had "tough choices" to make. He said he was confident that they were making the "right decisions."
Bush, who was preparing to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vietnam this week, said he would tell Asian trading partners that "our markets are open for your products, and we expect your markets to be open for ours, including our automobiles."
At a news conference after the meeting, the three auto executives said they found common ground with the president on energy issues. The executives said they asked the administration to help expand the supply and distribution of alternative fuels such as ethanol. In a joint statement, the automakers said they could make half of their annual vehicle production capable of burning ethanol by 2012 to lessen the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
The auto executives said Bush made no pledges to support any specific industry initiatives. Other company officials had said they had limited expectations for the meeting, which was also attended by Vice President Cheney.
The auto executives said they were not able persuade the administration to challenge the Japanese government on its trade imbalance with the United States and the weakness of the yen, which makes Japanese products cheaper overseas. Wagoner and other auto officials have accused the Japanese government of artificially weakening the yen, providing a cost subsidy of $3,000 to $9,000 per vehicle for auto exports to this country for automakers like Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
"I can't honestly say the president 100 percent saw it that way," Wagoner said after the meeting.
Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University, said part of the administration's inaction has been because Michigan is a Democratic-leaning state. She said organized labor played a major role in last week's elections and labor union members turned out in large numbers to help mobilize Democratic voters.
"But it's much bigger than that," Bronfenbrenner said. "Bush hasn't cared about health care, retiree benefits or pensions for any workers, and those are some of the issues that drove the Democratic victory in the last election."
The election put key allies of the industry into power, including Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), who is set to lead the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Sander M. Levin (D-Mich.), who is to take the chairmanship of the trade subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. In a written statement, Dingell said he was pleased automakers had a chance to present their concerns to the president. "The meeting is a first step," he said, "now we need action."
Democrats are pushing a number of industry-related initiatives on trade and health care. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said he would continue to try to build support for a proposal to have the government pick up part of the auto industry's retiree health-care bills, if the carmakers promise to invest in new energy technologies such as hybrids.
"My hope is that the president and his staff are working to examine these approaches," Obama said yesterday in an interview. "I can assure you if the president doesn't take the lead, the Congress will."
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President Bush promised yesterday to deliver a message to Asian trading partners to "treat us the way we treat you" but offered top U.S. auto executives little help in their battle to turn their companies around.
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Breast Cancer Risk Linked To Red Meat, Study Finds
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2006111419
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Younger women who regularly eat red meat appear to face an increased risk for a common form of breast cancer, according to a large, well-known Harvard study of women's health.
The study of more than 90,000 women found that the more red meat the women consumed in their 20s, 30s and 40s, the greater their risk for developing breast cancer fueled by hormones in the next 12 years. Those who consumed the most red meat had nearly twice the risk of those who ate red meat infrequently.
The study, published yesterday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the first to examine the relationship between consumption of red meat and breast cancer in premenopausal women, and the first to examine the question by type of breast cancer.
Although more research is needed to confirm the association and explore the possible reasons for it, researchers said the findings provide another motivation to limit consumption of red meat, which is already known to increase the risk of colon cancer.
"There are already other reasons to minimize red meat intake," said Eunyoung Cho, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who led the study. "This just may give women another good reason."
Cho added that the findings could be particularly important because the type of breast cancer the study associated with red meat consumption has been increasing. Eating less red meat may help counter that trend.
Other researchers said the findings could offer women one of the few things they can do to reduce their risk for the widely feared malignancy. Breast cancer strikes nearly 213,000 U.S. women each year and kills nearly 41,000, making it the most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death among women.
"So many risk factors for breast cancer are things that you can't alter," said Nancy E. Davidson, a breast cancer expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "This represents something women could take charge of -- something you can change to affect your risk."
Why red meat might increase the risk for breast cancer remains unknown, but previous research has suggested several possible reasons: Substances produced by cooking meat may be carcinogenic, naturally occurring substances in meat may mimic the action of hormones, or growth hormones that farmers feed cows could fuel breast cancer in women who consume meat from the animals.
Researchers have long wondered whether there might be a link between red meat consumption and breast cancer risk, but few studies have addressed the question. Those that have, including one large analysis that pooled data from eight studies, did not find any association. But the earlier studies focused on older women and did not differentiate between types of breast cancer.
In the new study, Cho and her colleagues analyzed data collected from 90,659 female nurses ages 26 to 46 who are participating in the Nurses' Health Study II, a long-term project examining a host of women's health issues. As part of the study, participants provided detailed information about their diets every four years.
When the researchers analyzed the data from 1991 to 2003, they found no overall link between red meat consumption and an increased risk of breast cancer. But when they examined the data from only the 512 women who developed the type of breast cancer whose growth is fueled by the hormones estrogen and progesterone, they found an association.
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Younger women who regularly eat red meat appear to face an increased risk for a common form of breast cancer, according to a large, well-known Harvard study of women's health.
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'3 Lbs.': A Little 'Grey' Matter But Not a Lot Of Smarts
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2006111419
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Cranky Dr. Genius doesn't even say hello when his new associate, sensitive Dr. Dearheart, reports for his first day of work. As played by Stanley Tucci, the bald and brainy surgeon won't so much as look up and grunt at Mark Feuerstein's character, preoccupied as he is with the case of a lovely young violin player who dropped her bow and fell floorward right in the middle of a piece by her string quartet.
Anyone who might -- on some wayward if not perverse impulse -- be pining for yet another prime-time medical drama should be warned that there is absolutely nothing new about "3 Lbs.," which premieres tonight on CBS. You won't even find a male Dr. McDreamy on the premises, as on ABC's sex-saturated "Grey's Anatomy" (unless you count an early shot of Tucci in his underpants -- ugh). There is a gorgeous Dr. McLovely (Indira Varma) wafting about. Dr. McLovely, another brain surgeon who works with Dr. Genius's medical group, looks like a Vogue model, speaks with a tony British accent and gives examinations in her bare feet.
The title refers to the weight of the human brain, an organ with which the series pretends to concern itself but to which it holds little potential appeal.
If you haven't seen it all before, you haven't watched much TV, and even though Tucci is highly regarded, that doesn't make his character, Douglas Hanson, any less trite. Droopy Tucci's moods grow monotonous by the show's first commercial break, whether he's basking in his internal limelight or having a mournful flashback cued by water bubbles.
In the flashbacks, a little girl becomes a woman and back again, and when Hanson comes out of them, he looks tense and troubled -- not much of a change from his usual demeanor of gruff and grumpy. To keep him from being completely unsympathetic, writer Peter Ocko clunkily inserts a scene of Hanson being nice to a blind girl and her guide dog.
That and his flashbacks are the old quack's only vulnerabilities.
As the sensitive one (Jonathan Seger, who arrives at Hanson's brain clinic in the first few minutes), Feuerstein is all starry-eyed and soulful, making the doctor as obnoxious in a sappy way as Hanson is in his crabby way -- two equally objectionable opposites.
Varma is thoughtful and gracious and little more, and old reliable Griffin Dunne is saddled with the role of Jeffrey Coles, the meanie in the group because he's jealous of Hanson's reputation and tries to steal patients from him. It appears Dunne might have been written out of the show after the pilot and won't appear in subsequent episodes; more power to him.
In addition to the "Grey's Anatomy" influence, there is obviously a touch of Fox's "House," in which Hugh Laurie plays an outwardly misanthropic doctor who comes across as intriguingly complex, not the simple sourpuss played by Tucci. In addition, the opening scene in "3 Lbs.," which takes us on a quick trip through the stricken violinist's nerves -- from her shaking fingers all the way to her afflicted brain -- blatantly imitates the kind of inside-the-body "son et lumière" shows in which the "CSI" programs specialize.
Hanson might be enough to fill a few paragraphs in an old Reader's Digest "Most Unforgettable Character" featurette, but the thought of spending an hour with him every week is about as attractive as having (place name of your least favorite medical procedure here) with the same frequency.
In addition to the "A" story about the violinist and her mother, there's a "B" story about a nondescript man who is also having brain problems and whose son goes ballistic, much as the violinist's mom does.
It all plays as horribly posed and corny, and using Coldplay's affecting "Fix You" to accompany a montage sequence helps for only about three minutes. The significance of the song is obvious in context, but viewers who manage to slog through the whole hour might think that it's the show rather than its characters who need the fixing, and that's assuming a cure even exists.
When, by the way, does Jack Kevorkian get out of prison?
3 Lbs. (one hour) debuts tonight at 10 on WUSA (Channel 9).
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Cranky Dr. Genius doesn't even say hello when his new associate, sensitive Dr. Dearheart, reports for his first day of work. As played by Stanley Tucci, the bald and brainy surgeon won't so much as look up and grunt at Mark Feuerstein's character, preoccupied as he is with the case of a lovely young...
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Book World Live
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2006111419
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William J. Mann, author of "Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn," was online to field questions and comments about his biography of the late film great.
William J. Mann is a film historian whose work includes a biography on director John Schlesinger and the history of gay Hollywood, 1910-1969. He is well known for his acclaimed novel, "Where the Boys Are."
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.
Harrisburg, Pa.: Would you agree that Katharine Hepburn is the greatest female movie star of the 20th century? Who would you compare her with, and how do they contrast?
William J. Mann: I think she is the most influential female movie star of the 20th Century and certainly she was able to sustain her stardom longer than anyone else. I think as an actress she did not have the range of Bette Davis and certainly someone like Elizabeth Taylor knew how to manage the glamorous aspects of stardom better than Hepburn but Hepburn became a symbol of the American character in a way none of the others did.
Lyme Conn.: What does your book ad that no one has previously written about Katharine Hepburn? Did you use any resources that have never been explored before and, if so, what type of information did you find?
William J. Mann: I think what my book does is that it tries to draw a distinction between the legend and the real woman and to understand why and how the legend endured for so long. And also, the book looks at ways in which public lives are constructed and maintained in the celebrity spotlight.
I use many new sources including many friends and family members who have never spoken before as well as diaries and letters from many people in the Hepburn inner circle.
Long Beach, NY: What is the difference between the woman, Kate Hepburn, and the myth or icon? Was she truly someone to be admired, or would she have driven you crazy within 30 minutes as she was portrayed in "Aviator?"
William J. Mann: I think the difference between the legend and the woman was that the woman was far more honest, far more sophisticated and far more ambitious than she ever led on. She certainly had many personality quirks as The Aviator exhibited but she was, at heart, a compassionate and loyal friend. And I think the work that she did to maintain her stardom is actually more fascinating than the sentimental legend.
Rockville, Md: Can you confirm the rumor that Cynthia McFadden is Katherine Hepburn's daughter with Spencer Tracy? She does bear a resemblance to her purported father.
William J. Mann: It is highly unlikely that such a rumor can be in any way true. Both Hepburn and McFadden enjoyed telling that story as a joke because of the fact that McFadden did indeed resemble Katharine Hepburn. I don't see the resemblance to Tracy but I do see the resemblance to Hepburn.
Washington, D.C.: I am confused that in all your interviews you talk about how much you admire Hepburn, yet you really describe her as ruthlessly ambitious and dishonest. Hepburn was known for her integrity and for not engaging in the petty feuds that marked the careers of so many other women in Hollywood: Davis, Crawford, Fontaine, etc. You don't show me anything to admire.
And, the legend of her relationship was set in stone long before she ever been to discuss it publicly. It's not something she just made up.
William J. Mann: I do admire Hepburn quite a bit and I think that reading her full story and understanding her in the full context of her life is far more fascinating than the sentimental legend. I think when we understand someone's full humanity including all of their flaws we get a far more interesting portrait of a real person and not a manufactured image.
Reston, Va: Whenever I think of a strong, independent-minded woman in film, I think of Ms Hepburn. I don't think that we've seen too many actresses in the last couple of decades show the strength of character/force of will that she brought to her roles. Do you point to any other current actresses in your book as particularly following in her footsteps?
William J. Mann: I don't think stars of today can truly be compared to the stars of the classical Hollywood era. It's because in the studio days in the Golden Age of Hollywood, movie stars played a far greater role in the public consciousness. Today movie stars compete with the Internet, television and so many other forms of celebrity. So I don't believe that there's any one star today who we can compare accurately with Hepburn.
Washington, D.C.: It was suggested in the review of your book that both Hepburn and Tracy had gay liaisons. Is this correct? If so, who was Tracy involved with and were there other starts involved with them in this fashion?
William J. Mann: I would suggest you read the book for the full details.
Yes, I believe Hepburn did have relationships with both men and woman and as for Spencer Tracy, it would appear he struggled with some unresolved issues that included his sexuality.
Toronto, Canada: Mr. Mann, you rely on the testimony of one man -- "Scotty" -- for your whole thesis that Tracy had sexuality issues. This guy also admitted in an interview in "Variety" this July that he lied to biographers.
If you tried to use "Scotty's" testimony in a court of law, you'd be thrown out of court.
And how can you attribute Tracy's drinking problem to his sexuality issues when both his father and brother were heavy drinkers with depression problems just as he had? Aren't you asking "Scotty's" story to do too much?
William J. Mann: I would suggest that the questioner read my book thoroughly. I do not rely only on Scotty by any means. Scotty also did not say that he lied to biographers in the Variety article. I have verified Scotty's reliability as a source and as a journalist, I stand by my research. I'm sorry if this shatters some illusions for people.
Anonymous: I think we were led to believe (years ago) that Hepburn had no interest in the Oscars. She rarely was part (I remember she filmed something for a show in the late 60s) of the show. But a recent book indicated that she liked her status of most-nominated etc. If she was "secretly" into the whole thing, why didn't she show up?
William J. Mann: Part of Hepburn's brilliance in maintaining her public image was convincing us that for her, stardom was a bore but in fact she was very, very conscious of her public image and her stardom and relished it. To show up to collect an Oscar would go against that public image and so she didn't do it but she was very happy to take home the prize.
Arlington, Va.: Who do you feel is the superior Hepburn, Audrey or Katherine?
William J. Mann: It's comparing apples and oranges. They're both wonderful in their own way.
New York, NY: William - I have always been fascinated by columnist James Bacon story of when he and Spencer Tracy got drunk, and insisted that he be driven to Kate Hepburn's house in, I think, Malibu. When Bacon walked in the door carrying a very drunk Spencer Kate threw a vase at him and screamed at him to go back to his wife.
Did you come across this story?
William J. Mann: Yes, I did, and years ago I interviewed James Bacon and I do believe that was perhaps the last great drinking episode of Tracy's life.
Harrisburg, Pa.: Some have considered the Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy romance as one of the great romances of the 20th century. How would you categorize it?
William J. Mann: It was a great, passionate, devoted friendship. I believe it was not often sexual but that shouldn't detract from the importance the relationship had in Hepburn's and Tracy's lives.
University Park, Md.: Having recently read Scott Berg's "Kate Remembered" I am fascinated to think that much of what was detailed in that book could have been chalked up to Katharine Hepburn's ongoing efforts to shape the public's perception of her in the "third chapter" of her life/career. In your opinion, was Mr. Berg deceived, or was he complicit in covering up aspects of Ms. Hepburn's persona? I remember there are places in his book where Kate explicitly pooh-poohed any suppositions that she might have had lesbian relationships with Laura Harding or Phyllis Willbourn. And it seems almost sacrilegious to demythify the contention that Spencer Tracy was the great love of Kate's life. Would you say that some of these differences can be attributed to the process of creating a memoir vs. a more classic biography?
William J. Mann: I think Scott Berg's book was a lovely memorial to a friendship between two people. And to his credit that's exactly how his billed the book. He says up front that Hepburn deserves a more standard, thorough biography but that was not what he was doing. I think he understood that he was dealing with a legend and that he was hopeful that someone would draw the distinction between the legend and the real woman.
Baltimore Md: Mr. Mann: I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your biography of William Haines, Firecracker. Until I read it, I had never heard of the man who, for a brief time, was the biggest star at Metro. It showed me how much of Hollywood history had been buried for years. I look forward to reading the Hepburn book. Thanks for your work.
William J. Mann: Thank you very much.
As strong a woman as Kate was, why do you suppose she accepted the limitations of her relationship with Spencer Tracy? I know I am asking you to second guess, but why do you suppose she stayed in a relationship she knew didn't have a future?
William J. Mann: It's a good question. One of the things I try to do in the book is put Hepburn's life in context with her upbringing and if you haven't read the book yet, I would suggest you do so because there's quite a bit in the book about the conflict Kate felt around her own gender. She grew up the daughter of a very strong and independent woman who nonetheless was always deferential to the wishes of her husband. Through this dichotomy Hepburn spent her life with an essential tension between her impulse to live independently and unconventionally with her desire to emulate the lives of her parents.
Columbia, SC: You probably go into this matter in your book, but I'll ask anyway. I've always rather liked "Suddenly, Last Summer," and I think Hepburn delivered a fantastic portrayal of overprotective motherhood at its most grotesque and incestuous (at an emotional level, anyway). Yet I understand she hated the film and wouldn't see it. Why?
William J. Mann: She felt that Joe Mankiewicz's script destroyed the metaphorical aspects of Tennessee Williams's play. She was offended by the final picture and also was very upset by the treatment of Montgomery Clift by the director. It was an experience she wanted to forget.
William J. Mann: I'm pleased that so many are embracing this richer, more complex portrait of Katharine Hepburn. My intent has always been to understand the woman behind the legend. I think when we understand her in all of her complexity and all of her humanity we are left with a far more fascinating story than any of the legends that have come before.
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Internet Addiction
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Maressa Hecht Orzack, director of the Computer Addiction Study Center at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, will be online Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. to take questions about Internet addiction.
Submit your questions and comments before or during the discussion.
Maressa Hecht Orzack: Here's how I got into computer addiction -- It's now been over 11 years that I discovered Internet addiction -- I was playing solitaire online, and I was also on a listserv, and I was trying to learn a new program. I got angry at the listserv, and I would go back to solitaire. I got frustrated with the program, and I went back to solitaire. I kept playing solitaire more and more -- my late husband would find me asleep at the computer. I was missing deadlines. I knew something had to be done -- I was actually treating addicts, gamblers, substance abusers. I quit the listserv, and I restructured how I played, so I was playing for time and not for scores.
I started to talk to my patients, I started to talk to people at McLean, and I started getting referrals, until it got to the point we started a computer addiction service and study center - we've seen an expansion from online sex, to gambling to video games. I look forward to taking your questions on the subject.
Coatesville, Pa.: What are the signs of a person who has Internet addiction?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: The signs vary, but one of the things is that people have difficulty with relationships, they tend to do things that will keep them involved online, despite the consequence. They are in danger of losing their jobs, they have problems with sleep. What I hear now, very frequently, is that a lot of teenagers, who are involved in this, will flunk out of school. There's a problem that exists that they can't seem to manage in their lives -- that's characteristic of any addictive behavior.
Thank you for doing this chat.
I'm fairly sure that I am addicted to the Internet. A quick e-mail check frequently turns into 8-10 hours wasted looking at entertainment sites. This has certainly had a detrimental effect on my work and personal life.
I've tried cutting back, but I find it difficult to do when my work requires me to use the Internet. Any suggestions?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: The first thing I do is to do a clinical interview and find out what else is going on. If there are people who continue to play despite the consequences, there's something else going on. There are people in California who can work with this and do understand it -- if you want to contact me directly through morzack@mclean.harvard.edu I can give you a referral.
Arlington, Va.: Can you give some examples of some really bad cases you have seen?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: I have had people who are so disturbed when their families have taken their Internet away that they have been totally unable to function. Other times they have been to the point where they have run away from home. Or there is violence as a result. These people are out of control and they are really unable to manage. There is also the factor that many online games are meant to keep people there, and I think that's important for people to know.
Belmar, N.J.: There seems to be an issue of cause or effect in overuse of the Internet. Are people being pulled in by the Internet (like a Venus fly trap) or are they "willingly" using the Internet to escape/avoid other problems? Or perhaps both are happening depending upon the person.
Also, what are three suggestions that can be used on a daily basis to assist the withdrawal process?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: Readiness to change is the first thing that's required -- if they can't control it, they need to look for some help around their other issues. Once someone is ready to change, then they'll start to come and see me and make attempts to change their behavior. Then, they can set themselves goals -- they need to set a daily goal of what they can accomplish that day, and what they won't do. Another thing is, many people who are involved in the Internet need to check it for work of school, and it's very important -- that makes it totally different than a substance abuser, who can be abstinent. However, it's very tricky because many people tell me -- "oh, I'll just check it for five minutes" and that's where they get into trouble.
Cleveland: How much is too much?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: How much is too much? Does it affect your family relationships? Are you losing sleep? Are you unable to manage your time? Why are you doing this in the first place? Too much really depends on what your losses are. Do the losses exceed your gains? And if they do, that's too much.
New York, N.Y.: I broke up with my ex because he absolutely could not get away from the computer. This Internet addiction fueled a sex addiction which just made everything worse. The funny thing is, I am in recovery (AA) so I know the chains of addiction and he saw firsthand my transformation after getting sober. So how in the world do you convince someone they have a problem?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: If they are at the point where other people, as you are saying, are finding that they are being neglected, that this is a problem -- it's hard to tell the person who is at fault, because they are in denial, and liable to blame you. I think certainly someone needs to find out what else is going on in this person's life -- again, I would define it in terms of losses. If they are in a position where they can't think or are out of control -- the fact that it's even being discussed means there is something happening. They may blame the other person, or the boss, or work, or school. There's no way you can make them get help unless it's legally required.
Arlington, Va.: Are people with other addictions, such as alcohol or nicotine, more likely to become addicted to the Internet also? Could the three go together so that the use of one triggers the use of the others? See, I have this friend ...
Maressa Hecht Orzack: There are people who, having had other addictions, sometimes can lead to this. There are people who had alcohol or some other substance to enhance the feelings they get when playing games. Yes, that does happen.
Washington, D.C.: Does IM count as an addiction? That is the way my 13-year-old son communicates with his friends; does homework, etc. I'm hoping it is a passing phase. When should we be worried? His grades are fine and he is quite popular.
Maressa Hecht Orzack: It depends -- a lot of people use instant messaging. It's not only the computer that's involved, it's all the other techniques people have of communicating with each other -- MySpace, Facebook, text messaging -- you can do anything from a cell phone now. Many of these electronic changes are fabulous, and it's only a percentage of people who use them inappropriately -- millions of people who use these techniques find them useful, but it's those who have a history of negative behavior that get in trouble.
Syracuse, N.Y.: What in your experience is the most prevalent form of Internet addiction. Is it people wasting time or is it more to do with pornography/chatting/etc?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: Wasting time depends on what they are wasting time doing -- is it bothering them, is it keeping them from doing things, are they having problems doing things? Gambling, gaming, pornography are all pretty much represented. A lot of these people, again, are a minority of people who really get into trouble; but those who do do seem to get into real trouble.
Atlanta: Don't you think its a little ironic that you are doing a chat about Internet addiction....on the Internet!?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: That's modern technology -- it is ironic, but I can accept that. I know that some people who are on a chat are different than those who call me -- and I get lots of phone calls -- or e-mail me. My rule, really is, in terms of treatment, I'm much more interested in actually seeing people in person.
Washington, D.C.: Hi! My question is whether there is a correlation between addictive TV watching and Internet? Is it just procrastination? I think that I am addicted to watching TV, and then when I get to work I substitute the Internet for TV. Have you done any studies on this? Thanks!
Maressa Hecht Orzack: I haven't done any research on it, but there's a difference usually. TV is a passive procrastination, and being on the Internet is an active one, and I'm not sure if there's a correlation or not. To some extent it depends on the person, but the Internet is active, and some people may find that is more rewarding. But I do know that procrastination is a major component to much of this.
Buenos Aires, Argentina: Which is your advice for introducing kids to the Internet?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: That's a good question. First of all, there must be a connection with the family. I suggest children not use it unless there is family present, they shouldn't use it as babysitting, they shouldn't do it alone. There are certainly children's programs that are perfectly delightful, but younger children can be exposed to games by older children, and that's something to avoid. There are all kinds of blocks and parental controls though that parents can use -- there's a group called Common Sense Media that rates games and Internet sites and controls, and I think that's an important group.
Reston, Va.: You talk about "consequences." To me, even an hour online a day, only, has consequences -- you could be doing something more productive with your time.
What if the consequences are not dire -- you're just missing out on meeting new people or maybe are a little more isolated than you should be, but functioning fine -- what then?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: Well, the consequences are only if you think there is something going on that's keeping you from doing things. If you're avoiding meeting people, if you're avoiding responsibility, those are the kinds of consequences that are a problem.
Washington, D.C.: Hi! Interesting article.
As a mental health professional in training, I am a little skeptical of a diagnostic category of "Internet Addiction." It seems clear to me that it is more of a symptom or a way of managing experience that is otherwise hard to tolerate -- that is, to manage depressive or anxious experience. Hence, I think treating it as a distinct phenomenon runs the risk of obscuring the underlying experience, which may go on untreated.
That said, I do think it has become clear that Internet use can be a very seductive way of managing these intolerable emotional experiences; it is effective for people in the short run but nevertheless often produces, eventually, the destructive effects that the article noted.
Maressa Hecht Orzack: I think some people do object to it being called an addiction -- I'm hoping it will come out in the next DSM as Internet Usage Disorder. I think that the most important thing though is, what is really going on? I find that similar to an addictive behavior, there are changes in someone's mood, and when that happens, something is going on in the brain, and it's similar to what goes on in other addictions, and I've been saying this for many, many years.
The reward system of the brain is affected, just like any other addiction, and it needs to be treated the same.
When I talk to people, I ask them what they are expecting to find online, and they say "escape" or sometimes "relief." They want a new identity or a sense of community -- especially with online games.
Northwest D.C.: Isn't Internet addiction a way of avoiding other things in life, like working, school, relationships, contributing to society? These people are using the Internet to avoid something else? Just like most addictions, right? Maybe we'd be healthier physically if we didn't sit in front of a monitor and were outside exercising instead.
Maressa Hecht Orzack: It certainly is an avoidance method, it definitely would qualify for that. But people don't avoid things unless they are afraid of them, and I think that's what they have to look at. They're anxious, they're fearful, they are uncomfortable, they can't manage. I think people need to find out what else is going on. They're escaping from something. They're uncomfortable.
Washington, D.C.: I think I am addicted to the Internet. I am trying to move to New York and am looking for an apartment and a job concurrently. I almost fear leaving the computer and missing a job posting, apartment listing, or both! I know this is irrational.
And I spend ALL DAY at work on the Internet.
It's not controlling my life -- I only use it during down time -- and while I don't think its bad to be connected to the world (because I do often check the news, that sort of thing), how can I decrease dependence?
Maressa Hecht Orzack: Treatment is very, very specific. There are two things that can happen, if a person is extremely disturbed or depressed, I will see if they need something prescribed. I do what is called cognitive therapy, which is that their emotions are determined by their thoughts, and this is somebody who is really anxious or afraid that something is going to happen.
It might be somebody who is anxious, or a perfectionist, or they're afraid they can't get their work done, so they jump to something else. We talk about what is really going on in your head -- what are your thoughts? What is really going on? I've heard this from many people -- it's called "all or nothing" thinking, that no matter what they do, they won't get ahead. It's something that's very unfortunate. They may insist that everything is going to be bad.
So we try to figure out how they can change those thoughts. I say, how far have you gotten in school? How can you be a a failure if you're in grad school? People tend to disqualify the positive, and we try to turn that around. And then we do something called motivational interviewing, talking about alternatives, things that will help them. We create contracts that will give them specific things to do, read a chapter in a book that relates to their problems, for instance. We try to get them to confront what they are trying to avoid and come to terms with their expectations. People often feel hopeless, and there are things that are upsetting to them, and they need techniques to help them. These are not short-term things.
Thanks for all of your questions today.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online 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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Election Alters Trade Climate
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As Democrats prepare to take control of Congress, incoming leaders are planning to insert labor and environmental protections into pending trade treaties and to demand that the Bush administration adopt similar measures in future pacts it negotiates, congressional aides and government officials said yesterday.
The Democrats plan to insert restrictive provisions into two pending trade deals with Peru and Colombia, measures that would limit duty-free access to the U.S. market for goods made in those countries if factories are found to use child labor or deny workers the right to organize unions.
Republicans have historically opposed restrictive provisions in treaties as against the interests of U.S. business and consumers. President Bush has already signed the Peru accord and is expected to sign the Colombia treaty this month. Democrats plan to take a similar approach to deals still being negotiated by the United States trade representative with South Korea, Malaysia and Panama, Capitol Hill aides said.
The new atmosphere surrounding trade issues was underscored last night as members of the House -- breaking with Democratic and Republican leaders -- voted to reject a normal trade relationship with Vietnam, following that country's accession to the World Trade Organization last week.
At the center of the new trade dynamic is the fate of the president's so-called fast-track trade authority -- the administration's existing power to call for a simple up-or-down congressional vote on trade pacts without opening them for amendments. The administration's authority is set to expire at the end of June. Democratic leaders say they are inclined to renew it but only if labor and environmental provisions are included.
Yesterday, Sen. Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat in line to chair the Finance Committee, said any law reauthorizing the president's fast-track authority would have to "strengthen labor and environmental provisions in some way to win broader Democratic support."
The shift on trade policy is a reaction to more than a dozen years of efforts by the Bush and Clinton administrations to boost trade by opening foreign markets to U.S. goods while allowing greater access to imports from China, Latin America and elsewhere.
The U.S. mood mirrors a world trend, as people on every shore grapple with the challenges of globalization. In Eastern Europe, former communists are returning to power, riding electoral discontent over the loss of jobs. South Korean farmers are protesting the prospect of imported U.S. rice if a free-trade deal is struck. From Ohio to Montana, incoming Democrats made trade an issue in the campaign, accusing Republicans of selling out American workers to corporate interests, and vowing to oppose further trade liberalization.
"For 20 years, we've been told, 'Don't worry, there's going to be a more sophisticated economy, an economy based on knowledge and information,' " said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, which represents U.S. factories, including textile mills in Southern states that have been ravaged by competition from China. "Manufacturing? Well, we can supposedly let that go, because we're going to get something better. Well, we've been waiting, and now we're making less money, and workers are told they have to give up health benefits and pensions and wondering, 'How am I going to make it?' "
Such feelings played a role in the voter anger that remade Congress in last week's elections, he said. "It's going to be heavy lifting for the administration to convince Democrats in the House and Senate to give this president the hand to go out and pursue his trade agenda," Tantillo said.
Business leaders took that message from the startling vote in the House last night, which rejected what had seemed a virtual certainty -- the approval of normal trade relations with Vietnam. The vote needed a two-thirds majority, but it failed 228-161, with Democrats voting it down 94-90.
"It sends a very bad signal to the business community," said Nicole Venable, director of international trade and global competitiveness at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "This bill should have been a no-brainer."
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As Democrats prepare to take control of Congress, incoming leaders are planning to insert labor and environmental protections into pending trade treaties and to demand that the Bush administration adopt similar measures in future pacts it negotiates, congressional aides and government officials said...
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Internet Firms Seek Rollback of Quote Fees
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A coalition of leading Internet companies, including Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and IAC/Interactive Corp., plans today to petition the Securities and Exchange Commission to reconsider new fees that U.S. stock exchanges charge them for posting real-time stock quotes on their Web sites.
These new charges recently prompted the financial Web sites owned by AOL, Yahoo, Google and others to stop offering real-time stock quotes, according to the trade group NetCoalition.com.
The coalition in particular is looking for the SEC to reverse a staff decision allowing the New York Stock Exchange to increase the fees for displaying information from its Archipelago electronic market, some of which had been free. In authorizing the new charges last month, the commission ruled they were legitimate because they were not out of line with those already imposed by the Nasdaq for similar data.
Markham Erickson, the Internet trade group's executive director and general counsel, said the coalition hopes to prompt a broader review of the practice of charging for market data, which U.S. exchanges such as the NYSE, the Nasdaq and others to a lesser degree see as a lucrative and growing source of revenue. As the exchanges have transformed themselves from nonprofits into for-profit entities, they have increasingly looked for ways to make money from the information they control, he said.
"The fees are being proposed without any justification for how these exchanges are arriving at their fees," Erickson said. Moreover, he added, "We don't think they own the information." He said the data was created by buyers and sellers acting in the market, while the exchanges simply aggregate the information.
A spokesman for the NYSE declined to comment on the issue. A message left at Nasdaq headquarters late yesterday was not returned.
Erickson said his group's research showed that the new fees billed to Internet companies range from $1 a month to $75 a month for each user, which prompted some Web sites to remove their free, live quotes and instead supply data that is at least 15 minutes old. "In some cases, the exchanges have sought retroactive fee changes, making carrying this data a prohibitive legal and financial risk," Erickson wrote in a letter last week to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox.
Though the exchanges argue that their prices reflect supply and demand for stock information, Erickson countered that the NYSE is a government-regulated monopoly, similar to a utility company, and that its charges do not reflect market forces.
Besides Google, Yahoo and IAC, coalition members also include Bloomberg L.P. and Cnet Networks Inc. as well as several local Internet providers. The Washington-based coalition announced last week that it was preparing to ask the SEC to stay its earlier approval of the NYSE charges. There is no firm deadline for the commission to act on the petition.
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A coalition of leading Internet companies, including Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and IAC/Interactive Corp., plans today to petition the Securities and Exchange Commission to reconsider new fees that U.S. stock exchanges charge them for posting real-time stock quotes on their Web sites.
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HHS Chief Opposes Negotiation of Medicare Drug Prices
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The nation's top health official said yesterday that the government should not negotiate Medicare drug prices, a position that sets the stage for an early confrontation with the incoming Democratic Congress.
"The idea of the government negotiating drug prices really isn't about the government negotiating drug prices," Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said. "It's a surrogate for a much larger issue, which is really government-run health care."
About 22.5 million seniors and the disabled are enrolled in private insurance plans subsidized by the federal government. The insurers negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over how much they will pay for drugs covered by their plans.
But Democratic lawmakers have promised a new approach when they take control of Congress in January. They would let the federal government use its massive purchasing power to negotiate the price of drugs used by Medicare beneficiaries. They say that such leverage would produce substantial savings that could then be used to improve the overall program.
Leavitt said Democrats should focus their efforts next year on issues where there is broad agreement, such as expanding basic health insurance coverage.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is likely to be the next speaker of the House, has said she would quickly push for the government to negotiate lower drug prices.
"Requiring the federal government to negotiate on behalf of seniors would generate significant savings, savings which could be used to close the gap in coverage -- or 'doughnut hole' -- that threatens millions of Medicare beneficiaries this year," Pelosi said.
Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly said, "We want to work with Republicans on health care as well as other issues, but misleading rhetoric about 'government-run health care' does not help. . . . Democrats are proposing common-sense improvements to the complex Bush prescription drug program."
Some Democrats also will urge the government, in addition to negotiating drug prices, to run a drug program that would compete with plans provided by the insurers. Democrats have predicted that seniors would flock to the government-run plan.
Leavitt disagreed. He said the government could not develop a plan that would satisfy the needs of a broad range of consumers.
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Latest politics news headlines from Washington DC. Follow 2006 elections,campaigns,Democrats,Republicans,political cartoons,opinions from The Washington Post. Features government policy,government tech,political analysis and reports.
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Florida Senator Will Be a Top RNC Officer
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Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), a close White House ally and a Cuban American, has agreed to become the next general chairman of the Republican National Committee, GOP officials said. The appointment comes in the wake of an election that yielded shrinking GOP support from Hispanic voters.
Martinez, a first-term senator, will remain in office and serve as the party's chief spokesman and fundraiser heading into the 2008 elections. Mike Duncan, the RNC's current general counsel and a former party treasurer, will manage day-to-day operations and be elected chairman in January, Republican aides said.
An official announcement is expected soon.
The current RNC chairman, Ken Mehlman, will step aside in January, after spending much of his tenure updating the party's technological infrastructure and reaching out to minority groups, especially African Americans and Hispanics. Exit polls last week showed that Mehlman's efforts were overwhelmed by voter concerns about the war, corruption and the hard-line approach some Republicans assumed in this year's immigration debate.
Democrats won 69 percent of the Hispanic vote last Tuesday, a 10-year high. That was seen as a big setback at the White House in particular, after Bush won 44 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004.
Mehlman said in an interview last week that he is concerned about where the party stands with Hispanics. Hispanics are not single-issue voters, but GOP officials said the tone of the immigration debate hurt the party's standing with the fastest-growing minority group.
While Bush pushed for a comprehensive package that included a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, the Republican-controlled Congress demanded a fence-first law that emphasized security.
Exit polling showed that 57 percent of voters favor allowing illegal immigrants a shot at legal status. Martinez is a leading advocate of a Bush-style solution to the nation's immigration problems.
The selection of Martinez was a setback for Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, who last week lost a Senate race and who has expressed interest in the job. GOP officials said it was not coincidental that both Steele and Martinez are minorities who have shown an ability to broaden the party's appeal. Republicans captured 10 percent of the African American vote last week, identical to the 2004 number.
It also does not hurt that Martinez is familiar with Florida, the electoral prize that has been a main arena in recent presidential elections. Martinez won election there in 2004, after resigning as secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make the run.
Martinez earned some national fame in 2000 when, as a top U.S. official, he strenuously argued before Congress and TV cameras that a Cuban boy named Elian Gonzalez should not be forced to return to Cuba. Five years later, he was again on the national stage, this time unintentionally, when a top aide of his was outed as the author of a memo detailing a political strategy for intervening to keep Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged Florida woman, alive.
The only Hispanic Republican in the Senate, Martinez, 60, is expected to focus mostly on speaking out for GOP candidates, raising money and pushing the party to broaden its reach. Duncan will be the nuts-and-bolts leader. The dual-leadership model is fairly common for modern party committees. It allows high-profile party officials to lend their experience to the committee without being consumed by managing a large organization.
Polling director Jon Cohen contributed to this report.
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Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), a close White House ally and a Cuban American, has agreed to become the next general chairman of the Republican National Committee, GOP officials said. The appointment comes in the wake of an election that yielded shrinking GOP support from Hispanic voters.
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Espanol, English Mingling in Md. Classroom
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The students in John Mahler and Shakira Holmes's first-grade class at Kemp Mill Elementary inhabit two worlds at the Montgomery County school.
In the world that is Room 103, the doormat reads "Welcome to our classroom'' and a basket is filled with such books as "Clifford the Big Red Dog."
But when students cross the threshold into Room 104, the doormat reads "Bienvenidos a nuestro salon de clase" and the book becomes "Clifford: El Perro Bombero" (Clifford the Firehouse Dog).
The youngsters are part of a dual-language immersion program whose aim is to have non-English-speaking students and their English-speaking counterparts help each other become bilingual.
During the school day, Mahler teaches children only in Spanish; Holmes speaks to them only in English. In fact, Mahler said, because the kids have never heard him speak English, some are not aware that their ponytailed instructor knows how to speak it.
"It's a unique approach to helping kids learn a second language -- one that's not sink or swim," Mahler said.
Some educators and parents see such programs as a way to address demographic changes in the nation and teach children to value other cultures. In 2000, 17 percent of students enrolled in public schools were Hispanic, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Because dual-language immersion requires a mix of English-speaking and non-English-speaking students, supporters say the program has an added benefit at such schools as Kemp Mill, where 35.9 percent of students do not speak English fluently. With both languages receiving equal billing, educators say the program can boost the self-esteem of non-native English speakers.
"The kids that have been looked at as 'Oh, those poor kids' -- well, now they're the models when it comes to speaking Spanish," said Mahler, Kemp Mill's first-grade Spanish teacher.
In most Washington area schools, non-English speakers are placed in classrooms where the majority of the instruction is done in English. They may receive some support from an aide who speaks their language or from a specially trained teacher who knows of strategies to use with non-English speakers. Some may receive instruction in reading or other topics in smaller groups with other students who don't speak English. And although a such students might maintain some of their native language, the goal is toward classes conducted in English as soon as possible.
The number of dual-language programs has grown steadily since established in the 1960s. Today, there are 329 such programs across the country, more than double the number 10 years ago. Two of the most well-known programs are in the D.C. region: Oyster Bilingual Elementary School in the District and Key Elementary School in Arlington.
Dual-language and bilingual education programs have their critics, however.
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The students in John Mahler and Shakira Holmes's first-grade class at Kemp Mill Elementary inhabit two worlds at the Montgomery County school.
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Washington Nationals
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2006111319
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Kasten is the former president of the Atlanta Braves, and was also president of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and NHL's Atlanta Thrashers.
When Kasten was hired this year, Washington Post staff writer Dave Sheinin wrote : "Washington is getting, in Kasten, someone viewed by baseball's leadership as a model executive -- not only because of the Braves' impressive track record on the field under his command, but especially because of his financial track record."
Stan Kasten: Hi everyone. Nice to be here. I'm always trying to talk to as many of our fans as possible, and I really appreciate this opportunity.
Rockville, Md.: I understand that the Nationals are currently building for the future. My question is, when do you project the Nationals to realistically start competing for the playoffs and start contending for the championship? Thanks.
I just want to say that the entire Nationals organization is doing a great job, especially on improving fan experience at RFK.
Stan Kasten: Thanks so much. The entire staff has really fully endorsed the notion of improving the game experience at RFK, and they greatly appreciate it when people notice.
I think by now, everyone understands that we took over a last-place team which had some challenges in front of it. The most important one was the necessity of completely re-tooling the player development apparatus (scouting and minor leagues). There has NEVER been a successful team without it. We've made GREAT progress in the last few months, and I think in the coming weeks you'll be seeing more publicity about the numerous changes we've made. The future, on this score, is very bright. Having said that, I don't think the job is finished yet. I would say we still need a year or so, to build up the foundation to a level where the pipeline can be providing us talent on a consistent basis.
But let's be clear. I will never concede that we won't be able to win in 2007. We will do all we can...take advantage of any opportunity...to improve the team right now. And I think we will really be well positioned in time for the opening of the new ballpark in 2008 to take advantage of the new revenue streams that will be coming.
Bethany Beach, Del.: Mr Kasten: Please make sure provisions have been made to have the radio signal available to Delmarva affiliates along the east coast. Loads of Washingtonians vacation there, and we very much would like to listen to Charlie Slowes calling Nats baseball while on the beach. Thanks.
Stan Kasten: Yes, I've heard this complaint from time to time since I arrived. We should be making an announcement on our radio plans for next season in the very near future. Obviously our focus will be the very best signal in the greater D.C. area, but we will definitely also be looking into growing our network in order to better serve a much wider regional footprint as well.
Washington, D.C.: Since the end of the regular season, MASN's sports coverage seems to be all about Baltimore and very little about Washington. In fact the impression that I have is that the Ravens are the real TV partners of the Orioles, and that the main role that you play on MASN is to provide both of these Baltimore clubs access to the lucrative Washington media market. Given that MASN's Baltimore-oriented programming has little appeal to casual D.C. sports fans, won't this take a toll on your ratings once your games are back on the air?
Stan Kasten: I think we all realize that MASN is very much in its infancy. As time goes on, I'm sure we'll work out the program mix so that it best serves the interests of the greatest number of fans. We expect the Nationals, and D.C. sports, to be a very major part of that.
Adams Morgan: As a partial-plan ticket holder, I appreciate seeing you walking around RFK interacting with fans and trying to make the stadium experience as enjoyable as possible. Thanks.
My question: How do you respond to media criticism that the private managerial search process is bad for team image, thereby letting others speculate that the Nats position is not wanted by certain candidates?
Stan Kasten: Well the speculation aspect is fascinating to watch. I'm afraid this time it got stranger than usual because we were taking extra care to have some private discussions, and the media is hungry to write something, anything. Unfortunately, that resulted in a number of inaccurate reports along the way. Two things to remember: 1) I firmly believe that we can get the best, most candid information by keeping our business dealings private until we have something ready to announce. Sometimes, it's hard to do , especially when the erroneous reports come out. But it's really unavoidable, because once I start denying untrue reports, it's a tacit confirmation whenever I don't deny something. 2) Some teams hired a manager quite a while ago...and they've had no stories since. We've had numerous stories every day for a month.
TV Broadcast Team: Hey Stan, why did you let Tom P. go? I thought he and Mr. Carpenter were a good team? For what it is worth, I'd go with Harold Reynolds over the others I read that you are considering. He's very good. Steve Stone will always be associated with the Cubbies, in my mind.
Stan Kasten: Thanks for the question . I know Tom has a lot of loyal fans, and deservedly so. He has a very unique style. As we build this franchise up, we are dedicated to looking at all aspects of the operation and making changes in any area where we think we can make improvements. I hope, and expect, that you will enjoy next season's broadcasts even more than in the past.
Burke, Va.: Good morning Mr. Kasten,
Will the Nats offer a wider variety of ticket packages for this coming season, like a 10-game weekend package? If so will the games be predetermined by management or can we pick and choose?
Stan Kasten: At the moment, I can tell you that we will have an expanded availability for our 41 and 20 game packages. In addition , we will have thousands of tickets available for every game at prices as low as $5. But in trying to serve our customers, I wouldn't rule out looking at other things down the road as well.
New York, N.Y.: You decided not to give up Soriano during the trade period and now you are basically losing him and gaining nothing in return. Why wouldn't you trade him for someone rather than lose him in free agency?
Stan Kasten: It's true that we took a hard look at trading Alphonso last July. And even though there was a lot of talk leading up to the deadline, at the end there was nothing offered that would have made any sense for the club. I know you're read speculation about what might have been offered. Believe me , there have been reports of offers that might have gotten us very interested. But those reports were simply not true, and nothing close to those offers were ever made. We made the judgment that there was nothing we could get that would be better that the two high draft picks we would receive in the event he didn't re-sign with us. And as we all know, we desperately need the infusion of talent that those picks should bring us.
McLean, Va.: Any plans for a more formal "Frank Robinson" Day?
Stan Kasten: The whole front office is consumed with planning for next season, both on and off the field. And as we have said, we definitely plan to have a formal Frank Robinson Day. No details yet, but we'll be letting everyone know
Pentagon City, Va.: What are you doing to increase attendance for the 2007 season?
Stan Kasten: Great question, and I'm happy to tell you that it's clear already that attendance WILL increase for next season. Before we've even kicked off a formal sales drive, we have already signed up over 500 new season tickets for next year. It's gratifying to know that even though our fans know we're not yet where we want to be as a team, they are very supportive of our direction and our plan. In addition, all our fans know that any season ticket holders in 2007 will have the first priority for tickets in the new stadium in 2008. And by the way, the stadium is going to be terrific, and we expect to have team on the field that will be just as good.
Arlington, Va.: Mr. Kasten -
I am thrilled that you are here and appreciate what you and the Lerners did for fans last year. However, I have two fan experience questions for you.
1. When will fans find out about how their seats will translate to the new stadium?
2. Would you consider opening the stadium earlier so that we can see the Nats take batting practice?
Stan Kasten: Two good questions First you should be receiving information in the next week or two about how the priority for seats will be determined. I don't think we'll be able to actually assign seats until next summer...the seating manifests haven't even been finalized yet...but our goal is to get everyone as close as possible to where they are now.
And on batting practice, we will definitely be doing that in 2007...for at least some games. We have technical difficulties at RFK that make doing it for all games a problem, but I hope to have the new ballpark in 2008 open for fans to attend batting practice EVERY GAME.
Arlington, Va.: Mr. Kasten --
Thanks so much for taking the time out to answer questions. First I'd like to know what will be the fate of RFK after the move in 2008. Secondly, how have you an your family enjoyed the transition to life in D.C.?
Stan Kasten: Thanks for asking. RFK will continue to be used for D.C. United for at least the next couple of years, until they move into their new stadium, across the Anacostia from ours.
We absolutely LOVE D.C. I've been here numerous times over the years, but I never had an opportunity to experience the many neighborhoods and suburbs. What an interesting, exciting place. It's been great fun getting around the region, talking to fans in all areas.
Most people either don't know or have forgotten that you had a spectacular career as a basketball GM before you ever got into baseball. And that you were a pretty fair athlete yourself, so I have two questions: What do you think about the Wizards chances this year, and what sports do you continue to play yourself?
Stan Kasten: I don't know about spectacular, but I had a lot of fun. I'm a long-time friend and admirer of Abe Pollin, Susan O'Malley and Ernie Grunfeld. The job they've done in the last few years deserves great appreciation. It's obvious the Wizards are on the right track.
And let's not forget the WNBA team, whose assistant coach, Tree Rollins played for me for 11 years.
Crystal City, Va.: Have you seen any of the Nationals blogs out there? There seems to be an abundance of folks out there paying close attention to what is going on with the Nats.
Stan Kasten: I hate to admit that YES, I read the blogs. And yes, I listen to talk radio. I feel it's a part of my job to have some sense of what SOME people are out there saying. It's important, though , not to take either the compliments or criticism too seriously. But I agree that it's very interesting to see how much is being said and written. There's no question there's a lot of interest in the D.C. area for the Nats, and if we do our job right we're going to have a great following.
Since Manny Acta embarrassed Alfonso Soriano by benching him during the World Baseball Tournament last spring, hiring him to be the new manager is a pretty good sign that the team does not intend to resign Soriano. By replacing a popular and well known (albeit mediocre) manager like Frank Robinson with an unproven no-name like Acta, and by not resigning Soriano, you are setting Nationals fans up to look bad for not flocking to the stadium to see a team that seems to be committed to mediocrity for the next few years. If attendance falls below 2 million in 2007 and the new stadium is rarely filled to capacity in 2008, Washington will once again be unfairly labeled as a bad baseball town, even though the front office has given the fans no reason to be excited about the team for at least the next two or three years. Why should an existing season ticket holder like me want to spend thousands of dollars on season tickets to see the Nationals play in 2007 and 2008?
Stan Kasten: Whoa. That was an awful lot of assumptions in one paragraph.
I have a very strong belief that we are on track, and actually ahead of our timetable, to be not just very good, but very good over a long period of time. And I think the fan reaction so far suggests that most people agree. We have a very good young nucleus, a growing player development system, and great ownership support. Those are the elements that any team needs to succeed. It's obvious you're a fan. When we do succeed, you know you'll want to be here. So stay on board. You won't regret it.
Rockville, Md.: What are the things that excite you most about the new stadium?
By the way, good luck to Ryan Zimmerman.
Stan Kasten: The new stadium will be able to reach out to fans in ways that are simply not possible at RFK. If you just enjoy watching the game, we'll have great seats and sightlines, and a fantastic set of video and information boards. However, if you're on of those people who like to have other entertainment, we'll have something for everyone. Fan gathering areas, live performances, novelties, games, kid's areas, many, many different kinds of bars and restaurants. There will be things to do,and reasons to come to the park early. And yes, watch B. P.
Maryland City: I think the Tigers and Cardinals are good role models for the Nationals. Three years ago, the Tigers lost 119 ballgames. This year, they were in the World Series.
After losing 119, they went out and signed Ivan Rodriguez, then 32. It stunned most baseball people, but Pudge's presence bought the Tigers credibility that helped them attract the likes of Ordonez and Rogers to put around their young nucleus.
The guy who could buy this kind of credibility for the Nats has been a National already. He's Alfonso Soriano. Please do everything possible to re-sign him.
Stan Kasten: As we've said from the start, we love Alphonso and we would love to sign him. But we will only do so if it can be done in a way that allows us to continue to build a successful franchise. Having one great player, at the expense of all the other things we need wouldn't make much sense. Having said that, let's wait and see what happens. This time of year is very unpredictable.
Tysons Corner, Va.: It took four years for you to turn around the Braves. Many of us Nats fans expected at least a few years before the same could be said here. But recently you said something to the effect that Washington could be contenders sooner rather than later. Why?
Stan Kasten: I've concluded two things since I arrived. Number one, in many respects, things were worse than I realized. That wasn't anybody's fault, it's just where things were.
But number two, I now believe we can get where we're going sooner than I thought before I came. That's because of all that has been accomplished since June. From the draft, to the new Dominican efforts, to the Kearns/Lopez trade, to then infusion of over a dozen young arms this offseason, the addition of an absolute All-Star scouting staff. It's all very exciting. That's why I feel we're just around the corner from being where we want to be.
Alexandria, Va.: Will there be any big community events during the offseason -- a fanfest, caravan, etc.?
Stan Kasten: You can expect to see us all over the place. We will definitely be having a caravan, and discussions for a fanfest are underway now as well
Laurel, Md.: How will the Nationals resolve the middle infield logjam with Vidro, Lopez, and Guzman? And what is Larry Broadway's status, considering that both he and Nick Johnson are left-handed-hitting first basemen?
Stan Kasten: Anytime you say logjam, that's a very nice word to hear. I'm waiting for the day when we have a logjam in our starting rotation.
There will be many developments before Opening Day. The GM meetings are going on this week, followed by the Winter Meetings in two weeks. There may be opportunities there, or we may wait till Spring Training when a new manager will figure it out.
Silver Spring, Md.: The Caps have a system where, I believe, season ticket holders who miss an early season game can trade the unused ticket in for tickets in other, cheaper seats for selected later season games. Would you consider that for the Nationals, at least while they are still at RFK and not likely to sell out a lot of games, especially to opponents that aren't particularly interesting.
On a broader note, as a former Orioles, now Nationals, fan, I approve of your plan of rebuilding and developing young players, even if the results won't be that attractive this coming year.
Stan Kasten: Thanks. Last year, we had some of these unused ticket days. We'll be having even more this coming season. You should be getting information on this very soon.
Connecticut Ave., N.W.: Since the advent of new ballparks with Camden Yards in 1992, has any new stadium been built with as few as 1,225 parking spaces? Isn't this an inadequately low number? What are your suggestions to this problem?
Stan Kasten: You're right, that would be a very small number. But that is ONLY the number that will be built along with, and adjacent to the stadium. We know we need to have 7,000-8,000 spaces to handle the crowds. Our ownership group has been working tirelessly with the many different involved parties, and there has been great progress made. I believe that by Opening Day 2008 there will be an ample number of spaces in the area, as well as a coherent traffic plan to take care of everyone's needs
Section 427 : Hi Stan,
I've held season tickets since the first season and plan on renewing this year. Will those who have purchased season tickets for the first three years have first dibs for the new stadium? Thanks.
Stan Kasten: Thanks for asking...and thanks for your continued support. And by the way, I love Section 427. I stop and sit there sometimes as I wander around RFK.
You ABSOLUTELY will have first dibs, and if you like 427, you will LOVE the new park.
And one last reminder. ANYONE signing up for 2007 tickets will have priority in the new park. Don't be left behind.
Stan Kasten: I think that's about all I have time for today. Apparently, I've got to go hire a manager or something.
It's been great fun, and I look forward to doing it again soon. And I look forward to seeing everyone at RFK in 2007.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online 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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2006111319
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Do you think Metro has grown unreliable and become downright unpleasant? Or are you happy with your commutes on rail and bus? Does the thought of the intercounty connector (ICC) keep you up at night or does it seem like it's long overdue? And what of the moves by Maryland and Virginia to encourage the private sector to build road projects, such as widening the Capital Beltway?
Washington Post staff writers Eric Weiss and Lena H. Sun were online Monday, Nov. 13, at 11 a.m. ET to answer your questions, feel your pain and share the drama of getting from Point A to Point B.
Submit your questions and comments before or during the discussion.
Eric Weiss: Good morning, road and rail fans! We are at your service...
Alexandria, Va.: Please tell me that whoever it was at VDOT who signed off on closing 395's HOV lanes last Friday in order to transport dignitaries to and from Quantico, was summarily fired. The lanes were still closed way past 6, when they were supposed to have been reopened, and as a result, my commute home was insane. Had the government not been closed for Veterans Day, it would have been even worse.
Eric Weiss: Yes, plenty of folks who were expecting a quick, holiday Friday commute were deeply disappointed.
VDOT said they made the call after much study and said that if they didn't use the HOV lanes to transport all visitors, the buses would have backed up on the regular lanes of I-95 and created a safety and traffic hazard.
And, by the way, President Bush helicoptered in...
Bethesda, Md.: Hi, Lena, just a reminder that you promised to find out when we can use SmarTrip on Ride-on buses! Also, I saw an odd notice on a Ride-on bus this morning: it said that all SmarTrip fares will be full regular fare. If I'm understanding this correctly, when I get off the Metro and hop onto a Ride-on bus, I'll be paying full fare instead of the 35 cents I currently pay with a transfer. In the district, you can take a bus after the subway for a reduced fare with SmarTrip. Thanks for your help.
Lena Sun: Hi Bethesda. Yes, here is what I found out. Ride-On has installed all the necessary equipment on its buses to use SmarTrip, but there is another contractor who works for Metro who needs to do some more work on the software to get things going. The best estimate I could get was for first quarter of next year.
Silver Spring, Md.: Sorry, I have to vent here about Amtrak...
What is the deal? I've been using Amtrak for the last seven years when I visit friends/family in New Jersey. It used to take about 2 1/2 hours. Well, now it says it takes more than 3 hours and, if I'm not mistaken, is more expensive than ever. Is this how they provide customer service, more money for a longer (slower) ride?
Amtrak is and always has been a bureaucratic dreamland of awful service and nasty attitudes. I for one am going to suffer through this holiday season and then start taking Greyhound for a much cheaper ride in just about the same amount of time. Three hours on a train to Newark, N.J.? Ninety bucks for ONE WAY? The bus usually takes 4-5 hours and is about 50 bucks round-trip. Train has always just been far more comfortable , but this is the last straw! Congress really needs to dismantle this thing and somehow get it privatized, because it is out of control.
Sorry for venting, but am I the only person fed up?
Eric Weiss: Yes, unfortunately Amtrak does not compete well on either price or service. But in fairness, the popular Northeast Corridor service subsidizes other less-used Amtrak services to obscure stations in key Congressional districts. And Amtrak is forced to charge users a much higher proportion of their costs compared to their more subsidized European brothers and sisters. And what about the federal subsidies to highways? We can go on and on, but I agree, a major disappointment to travelers...
Washington, D.C.: I have recently been on the new Metro trains that have done away with the poles near the doors. However, these new trains are a problem for average and short people since you could be stuck in the door area with nothing to hang onto. The poles running horizontal near the ceiling are too high. Why doesn't metro take this into account and install some straps to hang onto?
Lena Sun: Hi Washington. That was my concern as well when I saw the newly configured trains. With the poles gone, the idea was that people would be able to move more easily into the middle of the train, and there are poles that run from the back of the seat up to the ceiling that you can hold onto. Have you tried that?
Washington, D.C.: After its ill-managed overreaction a few years ago, Metro seems to have stopped enforcing the no-eating/drinking laws. I'm not talking about popping a few M&Ms here, there is not one commute where I don't see someone eating breakfast, or a sandwich, or slurping up a giant latte.
Besides not really wanting to smell my seatmate's sausage-and-egg sandwich, the other issue is cleanliness of the facilities, which is not good. Is there any chance Metro will start enforcing the law again?
Lena Sun: Hi Washington. This is one of the most common complaints that Metro gets so let's post this and hope the Metro folks will pass on to transit police.
Chantilly, Va: I'd like to tell the VDOT engineer/s who redid the timing on Route 50 between Fairfax and Arcola that IT'S DONE NOTHING TO MOVE TRAFFIC BETTER!
With all the technology available today, you wouldn't think it'd be so hard to sync lights so that there's a smooth flow of traffic during rush hour. Evening rush in that area is a major parking lot, both east and west.
Who has an answer ?
First, it may take some drivers getting used to the new timing system, which switches around the left-turn arrow cycle.
Second, timing lights is not as simple as we might expect/hope. If two major collector roads intersect, which ones gets the priority?
Different jurisdictions are working on timing issues, which, along with clearing accidents faster, can go a long way cheaply in moving traffic more quickly.
Fashion Centre, Va.: Oh, the horror! Please tell me this won't become the norm on Metro. Old rail cars are being partially outfitted with material from the new cars. For example, I was on an old brown, beige and orange car that had the new bubble gum pink carpet; one or two red seat covers; one or two blue seats covers; and the typical brown and orange seat covers, etc. Please, oh please, Metro, don't turn the rail cars into a color coordination nightmare. The old and new car colors are not meant to be mixed and matched. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to put on my beige shirt, red pants and pink tie.
Lena Sun: Dear Fashion Centre -- At some point recently, Metro ran out of the brown carpet and had to use the newer colors to replace worn out and dirty carpets. That's probably why you saw the new color in an older car.
Beltsville, Md.: Wish people would be more courteous on the train landings. Because of shoulder pain I have to carry stuff in a tote on wheels. I have sometimes found myself accidentally pulling the tote over someone's foot, because people will not move aside, to allow a person to pass.
Lena Sun: Sorry to hear about the rudeness of others...
Fairfax, Va.: Please tell me the idiot that retimed the lights on Route 50 has been fired also!
What's so hard about it?
"There were a lot of gaps in traffic, and that's why we changed it on some intersections. Obviously we're going to monitor for a few months and tweak it to see if they made it better."
She asked what specifically do you see as the problem area or intersections?
Alexandria, Va.: "VDOT said they made the call after much study and said that if they didn't use the HOV lanes to transport all visitors, the buses would have backed up on the regular lanes of I-95 and created a safety and traffic hazard."
Why isn't it a safety and traffic hazard when we're sitting in it day after day, mile after mile?
Eric Weiss: See Joan's response to Fairfax...
Bethesda, Md.: Why can't Metro get its act together about letting customers know an escalator/elevator is out BEFORE they enter the station? Station managers should post signs or other warnings.
Grosvenor station (and there are probably others) has had a multi-month escalator project since the summer, and there is no sign what-so-ever letting you know the escalator is out before you enter the fare gates. By design, you can't use the elevator once you've entered the fare gate.
Also, why does it take six-plus months to rehab an escalator that is all of two stories in height? A store or shopping mall would never tolerate an outage lasting that long: It smells of poor project management to me.
Lena Sun: Hi Bethesda. Metro knows it needs to do better and you should be seeing better and clearer signs with more information very soon, according to the guys in charge of escalators and elevators. Also, the Metro Web site lists all the stations with escalators and elevators not in service.
I use the Grosvenor station on a regular basis so I know how long those escalators have been out. Metro says it can take 17 weeks to totally rehab an escalator because they have to rip everything out. I know this won't make you feel any better, but it until very recently, it used to take the London system 26 weeks to overhaul an escalator.
To Beltsville: Those bags being pulled by people in crowded Metro stations are a real hazard. You can't see them for the crowd, and many times I have almost fallen over them. Maybe you should travel at non-rush hour times!
Lena Sun: Here's a reply to Beltsville...
Chantilly, Va.: People still don't remember the courtesy of letting people off the subway before getting on. I'm a tall person with a good build and sorry to say, I've just about run over people trying to board as I'm getting off.
Lena Sun: So that was you who knocked me over the other day at Metro Center?
Bowie, Md.: Any plans for the Maryland Dept. of Transportation to install jersey walls to separate the HOV lanes on Rt. 50 in PG County? These lanes have been there for over two years now, and since then, violators have blatantly been jumping back and across the double lines to pass HOVers on the right as they think the HOV lane is the left speed lane. I think jersey walls will at least deter violators because they could possibly funnel them into a waiting state trooper. Now, it's like the wild west.
Eric Weiss: There are no current plans to build Jersey barriers on 50 between the HOV lanes because there is no room, according to Maryland State Highway Administration.
SHA's Chuck Gischlar reports that the department did study adding separators it at the beginning of the project but it was decided against.
The department does work with law enforcement to reduce lane hoppers...
Problem with Rt 50: The problem is that it's a virtual parking lot from 28 to Arcola. No gaps, just bumper to bumper, moving one light to another.
Eric Weiss: VDOT's Joan Morris called back and said off-peak travel times on 50 from Pleasant Valley to the Fairfax Parkway has been reduced from 9 minutes to 7 minutes after the changes.
Where do you think the worst problem is?
Silver Spring, MD: Hello, Lena! I spy "Next Bus" signs, but how does this work? I thought we would have electronic signs on bus shelters and maybe even at stops that would tell when the next bus was coming, based on GPS data. Now it seems that one must use a PDA, or will a phone work? And is it based on real-time data? By the way, keep up the good work, your reporting has led to improvements!
Lena Sun: Hi. (thanks for your kind words.) The idea behind Next Bus is to let people know when the next bus is coming. It's the biggest complaint of bus riders. Metro has been working on this for some time, but it's taking longer because there are more bugs -- both human and technical -- that need to be worked out.
Eventually, the idea is for riders to be able to see these signs at certain bus shelters.
They are doing a pilot now on Metrobus routes 9A and 9E in Northern Virginia, F4 and F6 in Suburban Maryland and the 90, 92, and 93 in the District of Columbia using hand-held devices and via your computer. You can check it out on their Web site.
The art of merging lanes: People in this area have lost the proper method for merging lanes. Coming off of an exit ramp, everyone is bumper to bumper, somehow figuring that the lane ahead will just accommodate five cars in a row in high-speed traffic.
Am I the only one that sees this?
Eric Weiss: Zipper, zipper, zipper, folks!
When two lanes intersect, alternate, one guy from the merging lane, one gal from the traffic lane and so on and so on. It's faster, more predictable and no one gets hurt.
Washington, D.C.: I refuse to apologize to anyone with rollie-bags. I'm sympathetic to the person's shoulder pain, of course, but the vast majority of rollie-bag people do not realize that the luggage is an extension of themselves.
All too often they bang it into people in crowds (even when people like myself are trying to stay out of the way), they stop on the top and bottoms of escalators in order to pull up their handle, while forgetting that people are behind them. I could go on all day.
If you must have a rollie-bag for medical reasons, at least realize that it's a rather large encumbrance that takes up a lot of space and is not crowd-friendly.
Lena Sun: Hmmmm. Anyone out there want to chime in?
Alexandria, Va., again: I think you misunderstood my question. VDOT closed the HOV lanes on Friday because the backup that the VIP buses would have created would be considered a hazard. It doesn't appear that the mile-after-mile backup that happens every single morning and evening, and every single weekend, is considered a hazard. Why not?
Eric Weiss: Faced with a light-traffic Friday. which also happened to be a federal holiday, traffic planners thought closing the lanes would be the safest and least disruptive option.
Arlington, Va.: Will we EVER see "Walk to the left, stand to the right" signs on Metro escalators? It's an unspoken rule that desperately needs to become the spoken rule.
Lena Sun: Here's the problem. Metro is a system that operates in several jurisdictions. They all have different rules and regs regarding signage. That's why Metro can't simply put up large signs that say Walk Left, Stand Right.
Washington, D.C.: Hi Eric and Lena:
Not a complaint about Metro, but a compliment. I have lived in this city all my life (25 years) and I have to say Metro has never been better. These people who are complaining about small issues (the carpet color, food, etc.) must not know how bad it once WAS!! This is a huge improvement. Customer service has gotten better, the improvements on the train itself and the improved lighting in most of the stations is fantastic. I, for one, think Metro is moving in the right direction. It is no longer the embarrassment it was in the '80s and early '90s.
Lena Sun: Hi Washington. Nice to hear from you. I bet a lot of people would agree with you.
First...: "...it may take some drivers getting used to the new timing system, which switches around the left-turn arrow cycle."
You'll have to explain that one to me.
Eric Weiss: Sorry. VDOT changed the order of several traffic lights on 50 so that the left-turn green arrow is activated at the end of the cycle instead of at the beginning. The changes are at signals between Pleasant Valley Road and Fairfax County Parkway.
Gaithersburg, Md.: This is the third time I've posted this question between your chat and Dr. Gridlock's. I'm hoping the third time is the charm.
Didn't Metro announce that they were going to stop running trains on the red line that only went to Grosvenor, and run all trains all the way out to Shady Grove during rush hour? When is this going to start??
Lena Sun: Hi. I'm sorry you had to ask three times. If my one brain cell is working this morning, my memory is that Metro was only going to stop turning back trains during NON-rush hour, and that already started in October, I believe.
Washington, D.C.: Something I have noticed about newspaper/Express readers on the metro...
I get off the metro at McPherson Square and many times I see people discarding their Express before heading up the escalator. A lot of people will throw their newspaper into the first trash can coming out of the turnstiles or the trash that is right next to the recycle can near the escalators. I just wanted to remind metro riders/Express readers to please hold onto their papers and put them in the recycle bins that are provided.
Lena Sun: Thanks. Lots of people don't even bother to take their newspapers with them.
Metro Signage: Give me a break! They manage to put up signs about Big Brother style mutual surveillance but local zoning regulations prevent them from putting anything up reminding people to stand to the right?
Lena Sun: You got it.
Washington, D.C.: The Q Street side of Dupont occasionally has the train arrival info interspersed with the elevator info on the electrical sign outside the fare gates. It's great! It helps to know whether or not you have to bolt for the train. Can we get them to do this in more stations? Also, I second the request for more poles that are short-people accessible.
Lena Sun: Yes, they want to do this in more stations. The Judiciary Square station near the National Building Museum also has this info... I think there are a couple more stations that will be having this kind of display OUTSIDE the fare gate in the coming months.
On the short angle: I'm with you. I'm 5-feet-2.
Silver Spring, Md.: I agree that rollie-bags can be a nuisance for other passengers -- but so can backpacks, which many wearers swing around behind them with no apparent notion that the backpack nearly doubles their circumference.
How about we all just try to recognize, and minimize, our personal impact on others?
Lena Sun: Yes to that...
Potomac Blue: I'd rather have the wrong color seat cushion than none at all... geez, if that's the only complaint about Metro that person has, they should count their blessings. (I think the mismatches are kind of cool actually.)
Lena Sun: Another vote for cushions.
Mount Airy, Md.: I've been riding Metro to work for almost three years. We've been able to buy $105/month of Metro Checks (pre-tax deduction). Now they tell us we can buy up to $105/month for Metro plus up to $205/month for parking. This will help a lot, since the $105/month wasn't close to being enough to pay for Metro and parking 20 days a month.
They say the Metro and parking all gets added to our SmarTrip card. So, in reality, there is no $105 Metro/$205 Parking split--it's really $310 per month for both Metro and parking. Is that correct? Why not just market it that way, instead of the confusing $105/$205?
Lena Sun: That sounds right but let me check, or if someone from Metro is reading behind on this chat -- Lisa or Steven are you there? -- maybe they can jump in.
N.W. D.C.: I agree with the poster who commented that Metro is getting better and better.
It's never good to generalize, but judging by the comments today, we are spoiled in this region by the quality of our mass transit.
When people complain about clashing interior design issues, or state their "right" to run over people's feet with a roller bag or push people over exiting cars, it's clear that the system is mostly working!
I grew up in the UK. People often assume that all Europeans have perfect mass transport systems, free of flaws and delays. Those of you that complain about a 13 minute wait for a train in a warm, dry metro station at the weekend, with (reasonably) accurate information about the status of the approaching train should try the equivalent Sunday night wait for a Strathclyde Regional Transport train in Glasgow on a windswept, dreary, exposed platform.
Lena Sun: Thank you former UK rider. We get lots of posts on this chat about how much better the European systems are.
Alexandria, Va.: Any word on when all cellular phones will be able to work inside the metro tunnels? Hopefully this'll happen before some emergency occurs and I have to find someone with a Verizon phone if the train phones aren't working.
Lena Sun: The last time I checked, Metro officials were soliciting proposals from different kinds of groups so that ALL cell phones would work. I didn't get the impression that this would be a fast process.
HOV lines on Friday: The real reason is not the safety issues, it's that they didn't want the VIPs to get stuck in traffic.
Eric Weiss: Such cynicism and it's still so early in the week!
You might be referring to an incident this summer in which the Secret Service wanted to close down the HOV lanes during rush hour so President Bush could attend a fundraiser for Sen. George Allen. VDOT objected and the president decided to take a helicopter instead.
When I asked about that, VDOT said that everybody who attended were forced to park at either the Pentagon or Stafford Regional Airport and then take a bus to the museum. The Decider in Chief helo-ed in on Marine One.
Wouldn't it be great if everyone could just fire up the Sikorsky and fly over the Springfield Mixing Bowl!
Washington, D.C.: Oh Traffic Gods, please answer me! I've long wondered by metro trains sometimes honk a horn when pulling into the station. There's no oncoming traffic to warn. The noise is so loud and unexpected that it is startling -- I think it could cause someone to fall onto the track. Please Metro, there's no reason to honk unless someone is on the track! Thanks!
Lena Sun: Lots of times train operators are supposed to honk for safety reasons.
While on the subject of being aware: I'm very short, and, if you turn and your backpack knocks me, it will most likely be a punch to the jaw. Please guys, remember what's on your back and take it off when on the train.
Lena Sun: A general theme today: being more considerate of others.
Alexandria, Va.: What is the law on businesses blocking sidewalks downtown? I was walking back to my office to retrieve my car on Saturday night after the Capitals game and I noticed that on the other side of F Street from where I was walking, a club called "Platinum" had completely fenced off the sidewalk AND the jersey-walled walkway (part of the sidewalk is gone for construction) so that their patrons could stand in line. What the heck is up with that? Shouldn't the public be allowed to use a PUBLIC sidewalk?
Eric Weiss: I think there were so many fans eager to see, touch and hear the incredibly talented Kevin Federline, a.k.a. the former Mr. Britney Spears, who was at the club recently to plug his fantastically excellent new album.
Washington, D.C.: I've been riding the subway, to and from work, since 1998, and for me, it's the best thing that could have happened. I can count on one hand the times that I was delayed riding the train. I think it's twice as crowded as it was when I started riding, but I think it's great. The only complaint that I have with it, is the escalators at the stations. It seems like there're wasting there money paying to keep them up, and the next day it's down again. Maybe they should vote to get rid of them, because half the time you have to walk anyway.
Lena Sun: There was a proposal to convert a few escalators to stairs but Metro board members nixed that idea pretty quickly.
You asked for our feelings about the ICC. It really makes me angry that future money is already bonded for the ICC, but at the same time the Maryland Transit Authority seems to favor the suboptimal bus solution for the Purple Line because we "don't have the money" for trains. I know that it is hard to get federal funding for new rail because the Bush administration prefers buses, but doesn't our state government have any backbone?
Eric Weiss: Financing for the ICC will be based on toll revenue, whereas new transit applies for a small pool of federal funds and state money.
Transit advocates complain that the rules are stacked against transit and in favor of new roads.
Cell phones: People yapping on their cell phones on the Metro signals the end of society as we know it. How long has this person been riding Metro with no emergencies yet? What's the big deal? The fewer cell phones, the better, I say!
Eric Weiss: I totally agree. I hate it when others yap on their phones.
Although when I have to talk to my editor, I find it convenient.
I guess it is all about perspective.
merging zipper: The key to merging is to align the speeds of the travel lane and the merge lane and to create space between cars in both the merge lane and the traffic lane = works smooth.
Try zipping your kids jacket by running up one side fast while holding back the other -- snarled forever.
Eric Weiss: And the kid ends up on the floor crying...
Crystal City, Va.: What is Metro's official policy regarding bikes on Metro when elevators are broken? Should cyclists use the stairs or escalators in that case?
Lena Sun: Hi. I called someone at Metro to ask that question and he wasn't sure. If he gets back to me in the next three minutes, I will post. If not, I'll post it next time or forward the answer to Dr. Gridlock.
Lena Sun: Thanks everybody. That's all we have time for today.
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Post Magazine: The "Looks Issue"
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2006111319
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Beauty may not really rest in the eye of the beholder, after all.
David von Drehle , whose essay about America's obsession with physical appearance appeared in Washington Post Magazine 's "Looks Issue," will be online fielding questions and comments today.
David von Drehle is a staff writer for the Post's Style section.
David von Drehle: Good morning and thanks for dropping in on our conversation about beauty. My essay in the Sunday magazine tried to suggest some ways of thinking about the subject--and whether Americans today are more obsessed than ever. It was one of four pieces related in various ways to the topic, and if you haven't read the others I recommend giving them a look.
Washington, D.C.: In your article you state that symmetry is the main component of beauty and indicates that the symmetrical person is more fertile than the unsymmetrical. Do you think that as people age and become less fertile that is one of the reasons that people are perceived to be less attractive? Are the middle aged boomers who are undergoing procedures that make them look decades younger actually doing false advertising -- trying to continue to look fertile even though they are not? What about breast implants -- are they false advertsing for fertility as well?
David von Drehle: I did write about the growing body of science that looks at physical attractiveness as something real and quantifiable--rather than as an arbitrary creation of one society or another. Is it all correct and complete? Time will tell.
But yes, cosmetic surgery, including (but not limited to) breast implants are very definitely an effort to resculpt nature and/or hold back time. It's not something that appeals to me, but for some people it is not unlike dressing nicely or, I don't know, brushing their teeth. They see it more as a matter of maintenance and presentation than as deception.
Bowie, Md: I'm glad you brought the issue of age vs. beauty at the end of your article. It reminded me of a story I had read earlier this year about the increasing percentage of anorexia, not among teens but among women in their 40s and 50s. Can you comment please?
David von Drehle: I didn't see that article. Very sad if true. It seems to me that many Americans are going to extremes when it comes to the question of weight -- we have problems of obesity and self-starvation when what we ought to desire is moderation. So says Aristotle.
Which brings me to this interesting observation ...
Laurel, Md: Reading news stories about the health side of beauty, I keep coming across two assertions that I have a hard time reconciling:
1. Age "X" is the "new 2/3 of X" (e.g. 60 is the 'new 40')
2. Americans are grossly overweight and unhealthy for it
How can these both be true?
I can only imagine that we've split into two dichotomous nations of people who engage in healthy habits and those who don't. Are we really a nation of people who choose to die at 70 and 90?
David von Drehle: People in my kids' generation are going to be facing a very interesting set of philosophical questions as they try to figure out how to live their longer, healthier lives in graceful stages. I'm afraid their parents, we Boomers, are making a hash of it, trying Peter Pan like to avoid forever the consequences of growing up.
To me, few people are more attractive than the folks aging gracefully.
The Golden Ratio: I must admit I am a little confused. Does the ratio work the same for faces like Cameron Diaz and Ashley Judd? Cameron is a little more "offbeat" in her appearance while I see Judd as more of a "classic" beauty.
David von Drehle: I am pretty confused too, on account of not being much at math. But as Stephen Marquardt, one of the researchers I quote in my article, reminds me the core issue here is one of relationships--the distance from Point A to Point B on a face compared to the distance from Point B to Point C and so on. So faces can be quite different and still adhere to these relationships (as long as the distances remain proportional).
Dr. Marquardt also points out--and I should have put this in the piece--ALL human faces are built on these relationships, so that the gap between an average face and a stunner is quite small.
Washington DC: Great article - I wish it was longer. In your focus on symmetry, you neglected to mention more obvious fact: We like people who look physically fit. That varies somewhat culturally, as your discussion of body fat touched on, but clearly serious soccer players tend to be much more attractive than the average person. (Note that soccer is probably more similar to the physical challenges that our ancestors faced when hunting than other sports.)
David von Drehle: You must be a soccer player. Happy hunting, my friend!
Bethesda, Md: Although I agree that there are quantitative factors that can add up to a beautiful face (such as symmetrical features), I still believe that, in many respects beauty is subjective. The fact that you unabashedly and unequivocally characterized Roseanne Barr and Claire Danes as unattractive and attractive, respectively supports my opinion. Many individuals would disagree with your assessment of either celebrity . . . some people find a more full-figured woman, such as Roseanne, appealing. Meanwhile, others would posit that the primary reason Claire Dane is considered attractive is simply because she maintains the "checklist" features that we have determined are "beautiful" in our society -- namely pale skin and a thin body.
David von Drehle: Actually, I didn't say that. Dr. Marquardt said that. But you are onto something that is clearly relevant here. There is Beauty, which is a mysterious but powerful quality about which philosophers have been musing for thousands of years ... and there is something else called Desire. And Desire seems to be quite personal.
Boston, Mass: There were a few mentions of how these mindsets affect males, but it seemed to be mostly sidelined (or only in the context of their reactions to females' looks). Can you say any more about the way this youth and beauty craze directly influences men?
David von Drehle: There is a growing body of science looking at something called the Adonis Syndrome or Adonis Effect ... that's the vibe anyway ... that examines body-image in young men. What thin is to young women, bulging muscles now are to young men. Some of the same worries about anorexia in girls now are reflected in concern about steroid abuse in boys.
Rarely does an article annoy me so thoroughly that I seek out an opportunity to tell the author so. Your beauty article was nothing more than a rehash of the science and psuedo-science of beauty that has entered the national dialogue many times in the past decade or so-- and usually in a much more engaging manner. (For example, The Discovery Channel did a series on just this subject about six or seven years ago back when its content was new, hosted by John Cleese and Elizabeth Hurley, which was cheeky and fun as well as informative) But my greatest grievance is that your article proved to be an apology for the damning affects of the fashion/beauty/advertising industry and indeed American consumerist culture in general. Your straight-faced description of a "democratized" and "tolerant" beauty standard can elicit nothing but astonished guffaws from the women and minority segments of your readership. Sure, you list Naomi Campbell and Halle Berry, but certainly you are not blind to the evident fact that these are black women with distinctly Caucasian features. To deny the inherent racism of the American beauty standard is to display either deplorable ignorance or calculated disingenuousness. Actually, I'm not sure any exploration of America's relationship with beauty can be written by a man, particularly a white one, unless he is fully committed to empathizing with the experience of those who exist outside his privilege, which clearly you are not. You, not being a woman, apparently are unable to relate to what it is like to have -the majority of your worth in society- defined by your appearance. Perhaps you would not be so dismissive of the beauty industry's deleterious effects if you were. Indeed, the best part of your article was when you touched upon the ephemeral nature of beauty and in particular America's disturbing obsession with youth. Perhaps you were only able to make such conclusions because you-while white, while a man, while otherwise probably somewhat conforming (although of course we all necessarily fall short) to the beauty standards of our society- are at least susceptible to the betrayal of your body and face in age. If only you were able to view the images posited on us by the beauty/fashion industry with an eye critical not only of where you personally fall short. I recommend a crash course in feminist theory and African American studies 101. Very disappointing for a subject so filled with important implications about our society and race, gender, capitalism.
David von Drehle: Sorry you didn't like it. Thanks for expressing your views.
Washington, D.C.: Good morning, Mr. Drehle!
I was thrilled that this particular issue included the differences in the way black women see themselves. Thank you for going there. I recall a panel of black men on 20/20 a few years ago, who were asked to compare an overweight Oprah to the skinny one who lugged around several pounds of fat. They all unanimously preferred the overweight one. The reasons they gave were pretty illuminating. In addition to saying she "had it going on," they associated her size with words like "comfort," "happiness" and "love"--all traits they associated with their mothers or other women who were important in their lives. Over the last two years, I lost 20 pounds and am in my early 40's. Although my husband and many men think I am at my finest at this stage in my life, I couldn't help but note a tone of fear in my husband's voice that I might lose my round behind.
Do you find that men's perceptions of beauty are associated with what they are comfortable with?
David von Drehle: The article you mention, by Carla Broyles, was really terrific. If Kim checks in on us maybe she can link to it.
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC: Mr. von Drehle: I really enjoyed your article. I was interested as I was male model in Europe in my early 20's and saw from the inside of an industry how the idea of beauty can be skewed so differently. For all of the beautiful young women I worked with and knew, I have never met an unhappier group in my life. The whims of editors really determined who would be working or not and they changed from one season to the next. I am now 40 and doing print work here in DC on the side, and I have to say confidence trumps youth and beauty any day! Thanks!
David von Drehle: Thanks for writing. I have had sisters and friends involved to minor degrees in the modeling business--just enough to know that it is not something I would want for my daughters. I'm sure there have been some women and men who have had good experiences, but I think the relentless attention to surfaces and the predatory approach to youth is generally demoralizing.
Boston, Mass: A host of authors have probed beauty as a cultural construct, including Susan Faludi and Naomi Wolf, whom you mentioned. I was curious to find out what you would add to the conversation, so I read your piece. I must say I was disappointed. I was intrigued by the doctor who studies the science of beauty and wanted to learn more. Where has he published? Was it in a prestigous peer-reviewed journal? What do other scientists and doctors think of his methods and findings? You use his research as proof that humans are hard-wired to recognize beauty without convincing us of the science. That is dangerous, considering the implications of your story, particularly for women.
David von Drehle: Well, as you know, Marquardt was only one of the researchers I wrote about. I also discussed a very current study out of Harvard by Graznya Jasienska in the new Evolution and Human Behavior. But Dr. Marquardt's research has been presented a scholarly conferences and is widely cited in academic literature, as a quick Internet search will show.
But at any rate, I fail to see anything "dangerous" about it. Unless you are a person who somehow confuses surface appearances with inner worth.
Northwest DC again: This obese and anorexic issue -- From what I've seen, the obesity problem is more a lower income problem. Anorxia and bulemia are problems of the upper income/extremely rich level of the populace. The Duchess of Windsor said 'You can never be too rich or too thin' but I'm wondering why is extreme thinness a problem? I'd give my eye teeth to lose a few pounds and get back the hipbones and ribs I had 25 years ago!
David von Drehle: Don't give your eye-teeth. Very few people, especially women who have borne children, are intended by nature to have the exact same shape they had as youths.
I do talk a bit in the piece about the use of physical appearance to signal class differences. When poor people worked outside, rich people powdered their faces ghastly white. When the poor moved inside to labor in dark factories and live in dank tenements, all of a suddent rich people were sporting suntans.
In this way, the Duchess of Windsor and the other "social X-rays" have used extreme thinness to signal that they have no worries about where their next meal is coming from. I point out that a person could only utter that quote who had never experienced a famine.
Washington, DC: I haven't had a chance to read your magazine article, but I did see an article in today's Style section about a popular Colombian TV soap opera about a teenage girl who wants breast implants so she can be popular and successful.
It reminded me that, however crazy I think Americans are about plastic surgery, it's 100 times worse in Brazil, Colombia, and some other countrires.
David von Drehle: So I've heard!
Washington DC: congrats for pulling the curtain and expozing the wizard of oz. the cosmetic industry pretends to market beauty when what they really market is the fear of aging and, oh by the way, if you hadn't noticed, fear is a tremendous motivator to get the earner or rich to part with cash. in a capitalist society, (and i wouldn't live in any other kind) is a reversal of this trend even possible?
David von Drehle: Is this trend reversable? I don't know. My gut tells me that it isn't good for society, in the long run, to have the older folks constantly horning in on the occupations of the young. Our job is to get the next generation started and then sit back and gripe about how much better things were in our day. And then die and leave them a house full of junk to argue over.
If the old folks keep struggling to be young--competing for their jobs and their mates and their tennis court reservations--who knows what might happen. Some day they might Rise Up.
Laurel Springs, NC: Great essay, David: Q: What about the old and wealthy geezers who wind up with "measurably" beautiful wives? Or the Nerds with good career prospects, who also wind up with the measurably beautiful wives/women? I was no Adonis, but when I once had an executive suite with all the trimmings and 416 employees under my supervision I was amazed at how many, many women came on to me, several of whom knew me before my promotion and paid no attention to me.
David von Drehle: Yes, yes. 'Tis true. The research crowd often theorizes that women are wired to find the Good Provider more attractive than even the most symmetrical stud. But will that change as more and more women reach the corner offices themselves?
Washington, DC: You said in your article that facial symmetry is one of the main components of beauty. Assuming that most people's facial bone structures don't change as they get older, why aren't more older people considered attractive? Is this another demonstration of our society's aversion to being old?
David von Drehle: My prediction is that in another few years the Boomers will suddenly decide that they are beautiful codgers, and then they will inflict their accustomed barrage of self-obsessed media images of beautiful old folks on us. That will be a relief in the sense that they will have come full circle, blessing every phase of life from childhood to old age.
the way forward: I was wondering how you factor in 'inner peace' and
'wisdom' into the equation? You only have to look at
people like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh to see
beauty that is not young, On that note, how do we
encourage a balance of seeking the beauty in the wisdom
David von Drehle: I can't do any better than that -- thanks.
Washington, DC: I like the article -- but I'm a little confused. I think my main reaction was -- so what now?
Should we just accept that our obsessions with the Angelina Jolie's of the world is here to stay? Did you even have a point in that way or were you just presenting the ideas? Kind of like well here's this thing, interesting eh?
David von Drehle: Well, I try to have a point, sure, but don't always feel a need to pound it with a sledgehammer.
Yes, humans will likely always be moved powerfully by physical beauty. We have been through all of recorded history and we show no sign of changing.
But no, that ought not to be our only conception of value or even of the variety of beauty itself.
Golden Ratios and Pregnancy: In women, does advanced pregnancy exhibit any signs of the Golden Ratio, or, as I suspect, does it obliterate existing Golden Ratios, in part signaling that there is no "womb for rent" to would-be inseminators?
Some women claim to feel more beautiful than ever while pregnant; at six months along I feel more like the only ratio to which I can currently relate is 3.1415927!!
David von Drehle: I haven't seen any data on pregnancy. I can report that my wife was gorgeous every day of her pregnancies, just like always!
Curious: Interesting article. Question: How does one explain the varying reactions to attractiveness among same-gender interactions (ie. attractive subordinate female employee is treated badly by older female boss but may be promoted by older male boss). I find this to be true among females but have watched attractive males get promoted by male bosses. Any research on attrativeness and the alpha-female interactions? Thanks.
David von Drehle: Great question. I don't know the answer. Anyone?
Bethesda, Md: You missed a good parenthetical when you brought up Naomi Wolf's book
"Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women."
The back cover of the hardback edition was graced with a FULL PAGE photo of Ms. Wolf's strikingly beautiful face.
David von Drehle: You know, this is very true. No one who read Naomi's book could miss the fact that Naomi was a looker. (IS a looker...)
I would have made that point if it hadn't already been made by a number of writers reviewing "The Beauty Myth." I have a strict limit to the number of recycled points in any article and I had already far exceeded it.
Central Florida: This hypothesis of hard-wiring for the Golden Mean seems to be in conflict with another hard-wiring hypothesis, expressed by Nigel Spivey, that humans prefer exaggerated representations of the human body in response to peak shift stimuli. The only place that the two hypotheses seem to intersect is in the Late Greek nude, which is highly stylized to fit the Golden Mean. In other words, according to peak shift hypothesis, hard-wiring and cultural bias produce wildly different models of perfection rather than uniform ones.
David von Drehle: I'll take your word for it. I haven't read Nigel Spivey.
New York, NY: It's very interesting that you wrote about the Nefertiti fragment. I was also stunned by it and remember it to this day. I find myself drawn to the Met at least once a year and I seek out those lips every time.
One thing I am finding as I age is that, although my inner and outer life become more rich and complex with every year and I strive to become wise, I am unsure whether these characteristics will reflected in my face and this worries me. We've always heard about the "face you deserve" and I guess this is the beauty myth I cling to. Somehow I thought that if I struggled to master the most difficult areas of human knowledge and to love those around me with a steadfast and loyal devotion and to lead an upright ethical life, I would be rewarded with a noble visage as I aged.
I don't see this happening yet. I see a growing look of fatigue and weariness and worry and I guess I wonder if I will get the face I deserve. (Or perhaps I am wondering if I am wrong about the face I deserve.)
So that's another beauty myth: The ideal of inner beauty: That someone's character would reflect in his or her face. My question is: Do you think there's any truth in that? Do our faces mirror our souls over time?
If so, do you have any recommendations to polish my character, to refine my soul in order to get the look I desire?
Women in my family age slowly and I'm told I look much younger than I am but I know it's only a matter of time before I start to look my age, as they say. This wouldn't bother me if I could attain the physical nobility and grace I've always assumed goes with leading a good life. My quest for knowledge and goodness and love hasn't paid off yet in my face and alas, perhaps it never will.
Sometimes, though, I look at my hands and their aging pleases me. If my face does not go the way I'm hoping, my hands might have to be the consolation prize.
David von Drehle: What a lovely contribution. I can't top that, so let's leave it there. Thanks for reading, for chatting, and for being your beautiful selves!
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online 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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David von Drehle fields questions and comments about the Magazine's "Looks Issue."
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The Women of Afghanistan: Five Years Later
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2006111319
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Five years after the Taliban fled Kabul under the cover of night, signs of fragile but real progress abound. Simple pleasures once prohibited -- song and dance, the flutter of kites -- have resumed. And for the first time, women and girls once repressed under Taliban rule are able to take better control of their lives and their futures.
Between February 2005 and May 2006, photographer Paula Lerner traveled to Kabul three times to document the changes seen by several women who have found aid through the Business Council for Peace, one of the many NGOs working to rebuild Afghanistan.
Paula Lerner and Marla Gitterman, program director for Bpeace, were online Monday, Nov. 13, at 1 p.m. ET to answer questions about the women of Kabul and the work of NGOs like Bpeace throughout Afghanistan.
Paula Lerner: Welcome to this online chat about Afghan business women, and thank you for your interest. We look forward to a good discussion.
Atlanta, Ga.: I'd like to know if educational opportunities for girls and women are improving. What is the progress being made and how can one offer assistance to an educational initiative without concern that the money would get in the wrong hands?
Paula Lerner: There are a variety of organizations and NGOs that are working to further the education of girls. Some have accelerated programs that help girls who missed out on going to school during Taliban times. Finding a good NGO is just a question of doing a bit of homework. Two good ones that I know of are Aidafghanistan.net, and Afghans 4 Tomorrow, or http://www.afghans4tomorrow.com/. Both have built schools and promote girls' education, offering accelerated programs for those who are behind.
Beulaville, N.C.: Last year I read that the village mosques throughout Afghanistan still broadcast daily warnings over PA systems telling men not to let their daughters go to school because it is a sin for girls to get an education.
Is this still going on?
Marla Gitterman: In Kabul girls and women are attending school and university. Outside of Kabul is a different story. Girls are facing challenges to access to education due to traditional norms and influence of the Taliban.
London, U.K.: There has been a great deal of debate and controversy of late in the U.K. about women wearing veils--whether they should; whether it deliberately sets them apart in a way that is a barrier for others...are you familiar with this issue as it's been taken up, here in the U.K., and what insights can you offer about this, from your own experience?
Paula Lerner: Its a very different situation for women living within Islamic countries than for Muslim women in the west and other non-Muslim places. Within Afghanistan, many women still wear a burqa even after the fall of the Taliban, either out of choice, out of habit, or in some cases out of fear of reprisals from relatives.
None of the Bpeace women wear burqas anymore, although they do wear simple head scarves while out in public.
Thunder Bay, Ontario: How does the lack of independence of Afghan women affect their ability to begin business enterprises? Are they really in control of the business and its revenues?
Paula Lerner: It is an issue of course, and all of the women in the Bpeace program have families that support what they are doing. It would be difficult for a woman who had male family members who were against them having their enterprises to go forward with it. Having said that, the women in the Bpeace programs are making their own decisions.
Washington, D.C.: How did you find and meet these women? Is it easier now that they are allowed to talk with you? Do you plan to keep in touch with them and see how their stories progress? Thanks.
Paula Lerner: Bpeace went to Afghanistan in 2004 to look for suitable candidates for their programs. They went through both the Afghan Women's Business Federation, as well as the Afghan Women's Business Council looking for recommendations. Bpeace currently has 20 associates in its Afghan programs, most of whom are located in Kabul.
I do indeed plan to keep in touch with them, and am committed to following their lives and stories.
Detroit, Mich.: Hi Paula, How much security did you have in your travels in Afghanistan. And also, your work is beautiful.
Paula Lerner: Thanks for the kind comment about my work. Security is always an issue, and we were always trying to walk a line between being too careful and not being careful enough. We were very fortunate in that we had excellent people on the ground, one Bpeace staff person in Kabul as well as an interpreter/guide who we relied on to help us make decisions about security.
Des Moines, Iowa: What are the most common businesses that Afghan women pursue?
Marla Gitterman: Most of the businesswomen in Afghanistan are running handicraft businesses. This is a skill most women have and they can do it from their homes, which is a benefit. However, there are an increasing number of women entering non traditional businesses, such as fitness gym, business consulting, day care, printing, and more.
Anonymous: It seems to me that we could swing public opinion away from the Taliban if we would send school supplies, money, and loans for food to the Afghan women rather than fighting. Might work that way in Iraq too. The "Have" nations giving to those less fortunate.
Marla Gitterman: There are a lot of very generous people and organizations sending donations and providing support to the people of Afghanistan. This is very helpful. Sometimes the Bpeace associates get discouraged and we encourage them to stay focused. By being there for them, providing them with business advice and training, it helps them to keep going.
Chestertown, Md.: Oh, pu-leeze! bring us more of this format. This is what journalism should be.
Paula Lerner: Multimedia is a powerful medium for telling stories. Speaking for myself, I hope to pursue multimedia as a significant focus in my work.
San Francisco, Calif.: Do all the businesses these women form operate locally only? Do they have computers? Web sites?
Paula Lerner: Some of the Bpeace women are marketing their work for export (Suraia, for example, has a customer in New York City for her baby hats), but most are involved in production or service for the domestic market. Bpeace supplied them with computers from a donor and helped facilitate training them how to use them. Most of them have email, but as far as I know they do not have web sites at this point.
Sebastopol, Calif.: Hello, I am working with a small women's organization that has raised money to fund 5 $1,000 microloans to a sister organization in Kabul. We urgently need to know what is the best strategy for getting products out of Kabul and here to the U.S., where we waiting customers who are eager to buy crafts, textiles, and almost anything that these women can produce, even at above-market prices, just to help the women in Afghanistan out. Does anyone have any suggestions? We can get much higher prices here in the U.S. for products from these micro-loans than the women can sell things for in Afghanistan, and we have organizations willing to sell things here and send all proceeds back to Kabul for more microloans. Thank you for any suggestions!
Marla Gitterman: This is a challenge indeed. Afghanistan is still lacking the infrastructure that many of us take for granted. Fed Ex is working in Kabul; this is one option. Sometimes the retailers will be willing to pay the price for shipping. Bpeace has connected some of its associates to retailers in the United States. For now, we are sending products back and forth with people traveling to and from Kabul.
While you were in Afghanistan, what was your favorite time of the day to be photographing and why? Was there less dust and blowing sand at specific times of the day? Thanks.
Paula Lerner: Dust is a pervasive problem in Kabul, in part due to the fact that many of the paved roads were destroyed during the wars, and traffic on their remnants kick up much dust. The dust was most settled in the morning or after some rain (and there is rain only during certain seasons). I liked to photograph in the mornings or late afternoons when possible, both because the light is good and there is much activity to document.
Washington, D.C.: This question probably does not lend itself to a simple answer. Are the women turning to the business opportunities pretty much untouched by the violence and devastation of the war? Or were they affected and see this, in part, as a way of putting their lives back on course? Wonderful work that you are doing. Thank you. I see that today the Memorial for Dr Martin Luther King is being dedicated in Washington--very fitting that you are on today.
Paula Lerner: The women's lives are affected by the violence around them, and trying to deal with that and go forward is part of their lives. The woman who has the gym saw her client base dwindle as a direct result of Taliban threats, and a group store that the women were planning was on again/off again for awhile due to security concerns. They have decided to go forward at this point, but they are watching the situation closely. One thing that was inspiring to me personally in working with these women and learning there stories, was how they had faced so much personal trauma, yet they were not defeated by it. They somehow found the internal courage to pick themselves up and start their businesses, something that takes courage under normal circumstances, let alone in a country recovering from the collective trauma of decades of war.
Georgetown, D.C.: Are women who work for the government well respected among fellow Afghan women?
Marla Gitterman: Yes, women working in government are supported by by fellow Afghan women; however, not unconditionally. Like everywhere else, women support politicians with whom they agree. A Bpeace associate , after visiting New York for a business training program, decided to run for Parliament and she won a seat in the Provincial Council in Kabul. She is very well respected woman in her community.
Va.: I am wondering if American feminists are helping you?
Marla Gitterman: The Business Council for Peace has 200 volunteer members from various backgrounds, interests, and nationalities. The desire to help businesswomen in the countries where we work is the common thread.
Seattle, Wash.: Not asked from a political point of view, but did any of the women express or did you get a sense of the role that the women would like to see the U.S. play or support on their behalf?
Paula Lerner: The primary sentiment that the women expressed to me was that they did not want to be forgotten. One of the biggest fears that many Afghans have is that they would be abandoned to fight the insurgency alone.
Thank you so much for letting the world know about these remarkable women. There has been much discussion and little understanding in Canada about sending troops to Afghanistan. Afghanistan's hold on democracy is fragile and this program shows the need for ongoing support.
Perhaps you could consider sharing your work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation?
Paula Lerner: I am familiar with the discussions and debate going on currently in Canada, and you are right that Afghanistan's democracy is fragile and needs ongoing support. I hope Canada will continue its efforts and not abandon its important work in Afghanistan.
Amazing work you do. I am a RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) and spent my time in Uzbekistan teaching English to Uzbek children. In UZ female students go to school until 11th form but typically once they graduate they are forced to marry and stay home. Is this the same in Afghanistan? Do men still frown upon a woman's desire to be independent and make a life for herself?
Paula Lerner: Many thanks for the comment about my work.
Kabul is a different environment than the rest of the country, which is more traditional. Some men do indeed frown on women being independent, but this was not the case with the families of the Bpeace women. Sadly, there are still many forced marriages and limited opportunities for many women in Afghanistan. Bpeace is trying to encourage and offer a model for a different way.
Marla Gitterman: Some of the young Bpeace associates are engaged, but are putting off marriage for a few years. They say marriage will change their lives and they want to put that off for a little while so they can pursue their business and career. Even if their fiance is supportive of what they do, they are concerned that marriage and motherhood will change their lives where they will not be able to do what they want to do.
Kansas City, Mo.: What is the reaction or outcome you would hope comes from work?
Paula Lerner: Speaking for me personally, I hope that telling these women's stories will draw attention to their situation and help put a human face on the headlines. Speaking as a Bpeace volunteer, I hope that the Bpeace programs will give these women opportunities that will better their lives and help them rebuild their world. With a little help, these women can go far and for many families their lives will improve. We have seen this already in the two years since the programs started.
London, U.K.: I think I have some sense of the benefits of Bpeace for these women. But I am intrigued by the role of a western professional photographer coming into their midst. I think it's great, Paula, that you plan to stay connected with them--what do you hope to achieve through this connection; what support will you need to sustain it; and how do you foresee obtaining that?
Paula Lerner: Thanks for the good question. To start with, they have important stories to tell that the world beyond Kabul should hear. These kinds of stories are generally not well covered in the media, and I hope I can be part of bringing them to a wider audience. Secondly, I have developed a personal relationship with these women and that relationship does not end when my coverage of the story does. I hope to pursue other stories about Afghan women and when I have the opportunity to go back to their country I will always stop in to connect with the women I have profiled in this piece, to see how they're doing, and update their stories.
Washington, D.C.: How do Afghan women get funds to start their businesses? Do they receive money from outside sources to help them get started? Thank you.
Marla Gitterman: The Afghan businesswomen are very resourceful; they get their funds from a variety of sources. Some of the Bpeace associates started their businesses with loans from NGOs, associations, and banks. One associate sold her jewelry and used her family's savings to grow her business. One associate recently won a $10,000 grant from the European Union. However, access to funding is still a major obstacle to many of the Afghan women wanting to start or grow their business.
Anonymous: Do the Afghan women see the West as the only hope for their children's future or do they see the fragile Afghan government as the ultimate source for stability?
Paula Lerner: I don't think they see the West as their only hope, and they are self starters who are self reliant. Having said that, the west currently does play an important part in their country's internal stability, and they do not want to be abandoned to fight the insurgency alone.
Paula Lerner: Thank you for your participation in our online chat today. Further information about Bpeace is available at http://www.bpeace.org/, and for Paula's work at http://www.lernerphoto.com/.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online 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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Medieval Meets Modern
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An intricate example of the hinge paintings on view in "Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych" at the National Gallery of Art is this one by Michel Sittow. It's an expensive apparatus for intimate devotion, just over a foot high. Sittow painted it in Flanders, circa 1515. This is how it worked.
Or how it used to work, before its iron hinges were undone and its pieces disconnected many centuries ago.
You'd take the diptych from its shelf, unlatch its wooden leaves and set it before you, upright on the table like a partly opened book. Then you'd fall to your knees and pray.
The 37 Christian diptychs on display in the West Building come from 31 lending institutions and are seldom shown together, so see them while you can. "Prayers and Portraits" is a great show for Christmas. It's a great show, period.
Though once in high demand in Spanish and French palaces, the courtly painter Sittow isn't famous any more, isn't a celebrity, so the crowds in "Prayers and Portraits" will probably be bearable. Sittow isn't a Vermeer. But if you want to understand Vermeer's amazing stillness, this is where it came from. Video and photography today may have supplanted painting with oil paints and glazes, but oil painting has had a great run in art history, and here you're near its start.
The Sittow is one object but two pictures. The one on the left, the Virgin and the babe, belongs to the State Museum in Berlin; the one on the right, the diplomat, was a gift from Andrew Mellon to the National Gallery. They're obviously a pair. The Madonna sets her child, and the diplomat sets his gold-ringed hand, on the same Caucasian rug. "Cause for celebration" is how the catalogue describes their reunification here.
The paintings are on oak. How far you open them matters. When the angle is just right (you can test this if you cut their pictures from the paper), baby Jesus and the praying man meet each other's gaze.
Dying is implied by the posture of the baby, and by the way the light of life is dying in his eyes, and by the goldfinch in his hand, another painted sign of the soul's departure. His mother apprehends the sacrifice to come. The diplomat portrayed -- his name is Don Diego de Guevara -- meditates on these mysteries.
We know a bit about him. Don Diego, a Spaniard, served for 20 years in Flanders while his country ruled the Netherlands.
He was obviously a person of exquisite tact and taste. He would not have gone to England on diplomatic missions, or supervised the court of Philip the Fair, had he not been tactful. We know he had fine taste, and not only because he hired Sittow. Don Diego also owned another awesome picture (the famous "Arnolfini Wedding" by Jan van Eyck, now in the National Gallery in London). And just look how he's dressed.
His fur is lynx, a spotted fur so soft and fine that its hairs part when you breathe on them. Flowering thistles are enameled on its golden buttons. His jacket is of stiff brocade, its threads are wound in gold. His shirt is linen. The lace of its collar is a bas-relief made of brush strokes of white paint.
Oil painting has, of course, changed a lot in the past 500 years. But it's just changed, it hasn't got better. The best pictures in this show -- by Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Rogier van der Weyden and Sittow-- are about as good as painting ever gets.
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An intricate example of the hinge paintings on view in "Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych" at the National Gallery of Art is this one by Michel Sittow. It's an expensive apparatus for intimate devotion, just over a foot high. Sittow painted it in Flanders, circa 1515. This...
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Return to Rubinomics?
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2006111319
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During their long years in the wilderness, Democrats lashed out against trade and globalization, even though denying the economic case for trade is like pretending that tax cuts pay for themselves. Now that they have won Congress, the Democrats must prove that they are more than the mirror image of their opponents. This means reviving the pro-market centrism of the Clinton era -- a spirit that lives on in the form of the Hamilton Project.
The Hamilton Project is the brainchild of Robert Rubin, Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton. Rubin's great virtue was to be as free of ideology as is possible in politics and to recruit a team of clever pragmatists to work for him. Not every Cabinet secretary would choose an intellectual bulldozer as deputy -- particularly one with a talent for political incorrectness. But Larry Summers could get to the right answer faster than most people could get out of bed, and that's what Rubin cared about.
Two years ago, Rubin teamed up with Peter Orszag, a laser-brained economist at the Brookings Institution. He no longer controlled the Treasury, but he persuaded a number of fellow Democratic grandees to finance a center for Rubinomics in exile; and Orszag served as policy director, commissioning a series of creative pragmatists to grapple with the nation's economic challenges. Anyone who laments the watery generalizations of the House Democrats' election platform should check out http://www.hamiltonproject.org/ . It is proof that Democrats do have sophisticated ideas. They just need congressional leaders to adopt them.
During the recent congressional campaign, Democratic candidates mostly had the right diagnosis and the wrong prescriptions. They saw that middle-class and poor Americans have not experienced wage gains during the past five years of growth, and they saw that families are one health crisis away from financial hardship. But the Democrats' remedies -- bashing Wal-Mart, railing against globalization -- offered little more than symbolism for the poor and middle class while promising damage to the economy.
The Hamilton people are just as ready to acknowledge that Americans are hurting. They note that the probability of an average family experiencing an income drop of half or more has jumped from 7 percent to 17 percent since the early 1970s; and that the average spell of unemployment has gone from 12 weeks to 16 weeks since the 1960s. But the Hamilton people have a better solution than protectionism.
Their first prescription is to encourage workers to save for themselves. A simple reform -- requiring companies to make enrollment in a retirement plan the default option -- would greatly boost savings, since many workers currently don't enroll not because they don't want to but because they don't get around to it: One series of experiments found that making participation the default boosted coverage for newly recruited low-income workers from 13 percent to 80 percent. A recent law facilitated automatic enrollment in 401(k) accounts but did not require it; and the law did nothing for the more than 70 million workers at companies that don't offer pension plans but that could nonetheless enroll workers in IRAs.
The Hamiltonians also advocate reform of government savings incentives. The current system of tax deductions favors the rich, because deductions are worth most to people in the highest tax brackets. A janitor who saves a dollar gets no help from the government, whereas a chief executive who saves a dollar gets a 35-cent tax subsidy. The Hamiltonians would replace this upside-down system with tax credits that are worth the same to everyone, irrespective of their tax bracket.
The Hamiltonians also have ideas on unemployment insurance. The existing system is designed to protect workers who lose jobs, though in practice eligibility restrictions ensure that only one in three gets covered. It is not designed to help workers who find new work at a much lower wage -- even though the resulting hardship lasts longer. So why not create a new borrowing mechanism to help workers get through temporary layoffs, and use the savings to provide government insurance to workers who suffer acute wage losses?
In keeping with the Rubin pragmatism, some Hamiltonian ideas violate Democratic shibboleths. One paper demonstrates that teacher quality has nothing to do with whether a teacher is certified and argues that school principals should have the freedom to fire ineffective junior teachers -- which would not thrill the teachers unions. But nearly all the Hamilton proposals have three things in common. They would reduce the inequality that Democrats emphasized on the campaign trail. They would not bust the budget. And they would promote economic growth. If the political system can't make use of ideas that tick all these boxes, there is something desperately wrong with it.
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During their long years in the wilderness, Democrats lashed out against trade and globalization, even though denying the economic case for trade is like pretending that tax cuts pay for themselves. Now that they have won Congress, the Democrats must prove that they are more than the mirror image of...
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Robert D. Novak - A GOP Unchanged - washingtonpost.com
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2006111319
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The depleted House Republican caucus, a minority in the next Congress, convenes in the Capitol at 8 a.m. Friday on the brink of committing an act of supreme irrationality. The House members blame their leadership for their tasting the bitter dregs of defeat. Yet the consensus so far is that, in secret ballot, they will reelect some or all of those leaders.
In private conversation, Republican members of Congress blame Majority Leader John Boehner and Majority Whip Roy Blunt in no small part for their midterm election debacle. Yet either Boehner, Blunt or both are expected to be returned to their leadership posts Friday. For good reason, the GOP often is called "the stupid party."
While an unpopular Iraq war and an unpopular George W. Bush were primary causes of last Tuesday's Republican rout, massive public disapproval of the Republican-controlled Congress significantly contributed. While abandoning conservative principles, the spendthrift House had become chained to special corporate interests represented by K Street lobbyists.
This malaise is embodied in the avuncular speaker, J. Dennis Hastert, whose consistent response to accusations of failed leadership has been 20-minute lectures to closed-door party conferences pleading for Republican unity. As expected, Hastert is leaving the leadership now that the party is in the minority. But his departure leaves the other leaders in place, with their colleagues reluctant to turn them out.
That reluctance is typified by Rep. Eric Cantor, a 43-year-old third-term congressman from Richmond who has been his party's chief deputy whip for four years since being appointed by Blunt after only two years in the House. His voting record is solidly conservative, and he belongs to the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC). At the same time, Cantor is well regarded in all sectors of the party, and members see him as the principled kind of rising politician that Republicans desperately need.
But Cantor is not seizing this post-election moment to seek an elected leadership position. On the contrary, he has been supporting Blunt for reelection as whip out of loyalty to his mentor and patron. Bright and able though he is, Cantor has drunk the Kool-Aid in viewing the Republican Party as a private club where personal loyalties must transcend all else.
Blunt, like Hastert, was handpicked for leadership by Tom DeLay, the dominant Republican in Congress until his politically inspired indictment in Texas last year. When DeLay resigned as majority leader, the party's lobbyist-connected establishment decision was to promote Blunt from whip to leader and make Cantor the whip. But with the feeling that some change was needed, Boehner defeated Blunt for the top job, and Blunt kept the second-ranking post. In fact, Boehner's ties to K Street are even stronger than Blunt's, and he seemed to lose interest in reform once he became majority leader.
Rep. Mike Pence, the chairman of the RSC and a leader of reform, is an underdog candidate opposing Boehner. Rep. John Shadegg, Pence's predecessor at the RSC, who finished third in the race for leader in February, is running uphill against Blunt for whip on a reform platform. The conventional wisdom on the Hill is that, at best, only one of them can win, because the Republicans would not dare elect two conservatives to the two top House leadership positions.
In fact, the voting records of Boehner and Blunt are nearly identical to those of Pence and Shadegg. The difference between them was demonstrated Thursday when Blunt went to the Heritage Foundation to campaign for his retention as whip. He delivered a defense of earmarking, echoing the House appropriators' claim that the elimination of earmarks would do "nothing but shift funding decisions from one side of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other."
That is the view that led Republicans to earmark a "Bridge to Nowhere" and hundreds of other projects in competitive districts, hoping it would save them on Election Day. The House has been a place where Rep. Don Young (a notorious Alaska porker) was setting national transportation policy, where the "cardinals" on the Appropriations Committee established earmarking records, where the pharmaceutical industry had a pipeline to party policy and where even Speaker Hastert was making personal profits on an earmark. Maybe that's what Republicans want to retain, even in the minority.
© 2006 Creators Syndicate Inc.
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The depleted House Republican caucus, a minority in the next Congress, convenes in the Capitol at 8 a.m. Friday on the brink of committing an act of supreme irrationality. The House members blame their leadership for their tasting the bitter dregs of defeat. Yet the consensus so far is that, in...
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How Bush and Olmert Could Help Each Other
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2006111319
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Today two bruised, weakened and defensive politicians, George W. Bush and Ehud Olmert, will sit down together at the White House for the first time in six months. Whether the tide of extremism now roaring across the Middle East -- from the Gaza Strip to Baghdad -- can be turned back could depend on whether they find a way to buck each other up.
The last time the Israeli prime minister was in Washington it looked like the two allies still commanded the regional agenda. Bush was overseeing the formation of Iraq's first permanent democratic government; Olmert was preparing a bold plan for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. Both men emerged from the Oval Office radiating confidence that Iran would not be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons.
Today Bush and Olmert will have to face the reality that Iran is winning -- not just in preserving its nuclear program but in a broader contest over the direction of the Middle East. Olmert's "disengagement" plan is dead, at least for now; so is Bush's hope that an Iraqi coalition government could stabilize the country. Meanwhile, Iran and its ally Syria are everywhere on the offensive. They are on the verge of reversing Lebanon's popular Cedar Revolution and handing political control over the country to the Hezbollah movement. They are blocking attempts by Palestinian moderates to form a new government in Gaza that could rebuild relations with Israel and the West. Their allies are smuggling more weapons, building more bunkers and preparing for the next round of what they call "resistance" -- a permanent war against Israel that they would use to transform the region.
In the face of this onslaught, Bush and Olmert have had little to offer. Both are in deep domestic political trouble. The vaunted military forces of both countries are badly bogged down. The two leaders could, if they let themselves, spend their time reproaching each other. Senior Israeli officials have been privately grumbling for some time that Bush's diplomatic campaign to stop an Iranian bomb is going nowhere and that there appears to be no credible American Plan B. For their part, Bush administration officials have been frustrated by Olmert's slowness to embrace even modest steps to defuse tensions with Palestinians, such as a U.S. plan to increase the flow of goods and people between Israel and Gaza.
The alternative is for Bush and Olmert to dust themselves off, put their heads together and do what comes naturally to both of them -- that is, something bold. What's needed is a game-changing initiative that would break the momentum of Iran and its allies, and energize demoralized Arab moderates -- like Ariel Sharon's 2003 proposal to withdraw from Gaza or Bush's June 2002 endorsement of a Palestinian state.
What's possible? From the American point of view, the obvious answer is a major Israeli effort to encourage the formation of a responsible Palestinian government. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate, has been negotiating with the militant Hamas movement for months about a "unity" coalition made up of technocrats. Israeli officials tend to dismiss the effort as doomed. But what if Olmert were to spell out an aggressive Israeli plan to work with such a government? The plan could start with restoring the Palestinian tax funds that Israel collects but has impounded, and move on quickly to the release of Palestinian prisoners and talks about a negotiated version of the West Bank withdrawal Olmert proposed.
Among some senior Israeli officials a different but even bolder idea is being quietly kicked around: the opening of a dialogue with Syria. The idea is to flip Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; to induce him to drop his alliance with Iran and join the moderate Sunni alliance that is quietly lining up against Tehran. The Bush administration is loath to talk to Assad, partly because previous efforts have failed and partly because of what he wants from the United States, which is acquiescence to renewed Syrian suzerainty over Lebanon.
Israel cares less about who rules Lebanon. And it has something Assad wants at least as much: the Golan Heights. The Syrian president has been saying for months that he is ready to open talks about a swap of the territory for peace, a deal that his father came within inches of closing 6 1/2 years ago. Until recently Israel had little incentive to make that bargain with Bashar Assad. But the rise of the Iranian threat in the past year has changed the calculus for at least some of Olmert's advisers.
Imagine Ehud Olmert emerging from the White House to announce that Israel is prepared to explore peace with Syria. It might not turn the ugly tide in the Middle East. But it would, at least, get Israel and the United States back in the fight.
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Today two bruised, weakened and defensive politicians, George W. Bush and Ehud Olmert, will sit down together at the White House for the first time in six months. Whether the tide of extremism now roaring across the Middle East -- from the Gaza Strip to Baghdad -- can be turned back could depend on...
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Our 'Africa' Lenses
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2006111319
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Growing up in Nsukka, a small university town in eastern Nigeria, I often had malaria. It was so commonplace that when you went to the medical center, a nurse would say, "Malaria has come again, hasn't it?" Because I know how easily treatable malaria is, I was surprised to learn that thousands of people die from it each year. People like the relatives of David Banda, Madonna's adopted son from Malawi.
But of course most American media do not say "Malawi"; they just say "Africa." I realized that I was African when I came to the United States. Whenever Africa came up in my college classes, everyone turned to me. It didn't matter whether the subject was Namibia or Egypt; I was expected to know, to explain.
I reject this facile compression of a varied continent into a monolithic country, but I have also come to accept that African nations do have much in common with one another. Most have a history of European colonization. Most also have a failure of leadership, a long line of presidents and prime ministers and heads of state all intent on the plunder of the state.
And so I was wearing my "African" lenses as I watched Madonna on television, cautiously, earnestly explaining the media circus around her adoption. I did not think it my place to wonder what her motivation for adoption was. I did cringe, however, when she said that her greatest disappointment was that the media frenzy would discourage people who wanted to do the same thing that she had done: adopt an African child. She wanted people to go to Africa and see what she had seen; she wanted them, too, to adopt.
Later, watching David Banda's biological father speak about being grateful that she would give David a "better life," I could not help but look away. The power differential was so stark, so heartbreakingly sad; there was something about it that made Africa seem terribly dispensable.
Madonna will give David a better life, at least a materially better life: better food, housing, books. Whether this will make him a happier and normatively better human being is open to debate. What really matters is not Madonna's motivation or her supposed flouting of Malawian adoption laws (as though non-celebrities would not also hasten adoption processes if they could). Rather, it is the underlying notion that she has helped Africa by adopting David Banda, that one helps Africa by adopting Africa's children.
It is easy to romanticize poverty, to see poor people as inherently lacking agency and will. It is easy to strip them of human dignity, to reduce them to objects of pity. This has never been clearer than in the view of Africa from the American media, in which we are shown poverty and conflicts without any context.
If I were not African, I would, after watching the coverage, think of Africa as a place of magnificent wild animals in which black Africans exist as tour guides, or as a place of desperately poor people who kill or are killed by one another for little or no reason.
I once watched CNN's Anderson Cooper, who is undoubtedly well-meaning, interview a Belgian (who, we were told, was a "Congo expert") about the conflict in that country, while Congolese people stood in the background and watched. Surely there was a Congolese who was qualified to speak about Congo. Surely there are Congolese who are working just as hard as the foreigners and who don't fit into the category of either killer or killed. Surely the future for Africa should be one in which Africans are in a position to raise their own children.
Which brings me back to Madonna. I applauded her funding of orphanages in Malawi. I wish, however, that instead of asking television viewers to go to Africa and adopt, she had asked them to send a check to malaria-eradication organizations. I wish she had added, after one of those thoughtfully dramatic pauses, that Africa cannot depend on aid alone, that aid is like salted peanuts: The more failed leaders got, the more they wanted. I wish she had said that she was setting up an organization to use donations as micro-credit and that this organization, by the way, would be run by locals rather than expatriate staff whose expatriate salaries raise the rent in the cities.
I wish she had pointed out, with suitable celebrity-style rage, that Western countries need to stop appeasing and propping up hopeless African leaders, that Western banks must stop enabling and accepting stolen money from these leaders, that Western donors who insist on the free movement of capital across borders must also insist on the free movement of labor, that Western trade subsidies make it impossible for Africans to compete. I wish she had then shown, with graphs on the screen, how these things affect the father and relatives of David Banda.
Of course this isn't really about Madonna. It is about a formula that well-meaning people have adopted in looking at Africa, a surface-only, let's-ignore-the-real-reasons template that African experiences have all been forced to fit in order to be authentically "African." If I were not African, I wonder whether it would be clear to me that Africa is a place where the people do not need limp gifts of fish but sturdy fishing rods and fair access to the pond. I wonder whether I would realize that while African nations have a failure of leadership, they also have dynamic people with agency and voices. I wonder whether I would know that Africa has class divisions, that wealthy Africans who have not stolen from their countries actually exist. I wonder whether I would know that corrupt African countries are also full of fiercely honest people and that violent conflicts are about resource control in an environment of (sometimes artificial) scarcity.
Watching David Banda's father, I imagined a British David visiting him in 2021 and I wondered what they would talk about.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a novelist, is the author of "Half of a Yellow Sun."
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Growing up in Nsukka, a small university town in eastern Nigeria, I often had malaria. It was so commonplace that when you went to the medical center, a nurse would say, "Malaria has come again, hasn't it?" Because I know how easily treatable malaria is, I was surprised to learn that thousands of...
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Iraq Is Gone. Now What?
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2006111319
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Some 3 1/2 years after the U.S. invasion, most scholars and policy analysts accept that Iraq is now in a civil war. But many policymakers have not been willing to face up to the consequences. The key question is how Iraq will be stabilized.
It is an important question, because the stability and prosperity of a post-civil-war state depends in large measure on how the war ends. The fighting can stop in a variety of ways -- by military victory or negotiated settlement. Historically speaking, military victories have been the most common and have most often led to lasting resolutions. So while a negotiated settlement may seem the most desirable end point, this resolution is frequently short-lived even with third-party support.
A negotiated settlement is what the United States has attempted to implement for the past two years in Iraq, and it is failing.
The process of writing and adopting a constitution and electing a president and parliament were all designed to give each of Iraq's communities a say in the government. Although the Kurds and the Shiites participated fully in the process, the Sunnis did not. Consequently, the Sunnis do not see the government as representing, much less protecting, their interests. Although the Kurds participated in the formation of the government, they have maintained their distance while strengthening their own militia.
The trend lines in Iraq are toward a continuation of this fragmentation. So the argument in favor of a sustained U.S. presence to help enforce a peace settlement ignores both the situation there and past precedent.
Military victories, by contrast, historically result in the most stable outcomes. The reason is that typically a strong faction with a robust military is preserved. In these instances, problems with democratization, governance and political institutions certainly remain, but the state that survives retains its monopoly on the legitimate use of force and is able to leverage that legitimacy to stabilize and institute peace. Only after peace is achieved can issues of democracy, development and justice be dealt with.
Although the United States seemed to have forgotten the centrality of a state's monopoly on the legitimate use of force when it summarily disbanded Iraqi security forces, it subsequently relearned this lesson. The United States and its Iraqi partners are desperately trying to rebuild Iraq's security forces in order to have more effective policing. The problem is that it is already too late for "Iraqi" security forces to reestablish stability. The Iraqi government's forces are increasingly identified as "Shiite" forces. As it stands, schisms will continue to grow, neighbor will attack neighbor, quasi-states with their own militias will solidify and the challenges of stabilizing an Iraqi state will escalate by an order of magnitude.
What does all this mean for Iraq's end state? First, it means the end of the state of Iraq as we have known it. Iraq is rapidly disintegrating, and there is no longer anything that can stop the disintegration, save perhaps an invasion by Israel, Iran or Syria. Second, having missed a number of critical opportunities from the beginning of its campaign to topple Saddam Hussein and establish democratic government in Iraq (the latter proposition dubious at best), the United States is now faced with an awful choice: leave and allow events to run their course or lend its dwindling support to one or more of the emerging states.
If it leaves, the Shiites will brutally settle accounts with the Sunnis before, perhaps, opening hostilities against the Kurds (with tacit support from Iran and Turkey).
If it supports the Kurds and Shiites -- the two peoples most abused under Hussein, most betrayed by the United States since 1990 and, as a result, the two most worthy of our support on moral grounds -- it risks alienating important regional allies: Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. On the other hand, doing the right thing (supporting the Shiites) also means doing the most practical thing, which is ensuring a stable peace and establishing long-term prospects for democracy and economic development. As a bonus, it is possible that U.S. support of the Shiite majority might pay diplomatic dividends as regards Iran's impending nuclearization.
If the United States supports the Sunnis, it will be in a position very close to its Vietnam experience: struggling to underwrite the survival of a militarily untenable, corrupt and formerly brutal minority regime with no hope of gaining broader legitimacy in the territory of the former Iraq.
Moreover, even if successful, supporting the Sunnis -- in effect the incumbents in what was until recently a brutal dictatorship -- will result in a much greater likelihood of future war and regional instability (not to mention authoritarianism), even with a formidable U.S. military presence (and the less-than-formidable U.S. presence has already become politically untenable in the United States).
It is high time the United States and its allies began national discussions about the relative merits of leaving or staying and, if they stay, about the merits of supporting the Sunnis, Shiites or Kurds. Either way, what we now think of as Iraq is almost certainly as gone as what we once thought of as Yugoslavia, and for the same reasons.
The writer is an associate professor of public policy at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. She is the author of "The Geography of Ethnic Violence" and is finishing a book on the termination of civil wars.
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Some 3 1/2 years after the U.S. invasion, most scholars and policy analysts accept that Iraq is now in a civil war. But many policymakers have not been willing to face up to the consequences. The key question is how Iraq will be stabilized.
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Pelosi Endorses Murtha as Next Majority Leader
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2006111319
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House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) yesterday as the next House majority leader, thereby stepping into a contentious intraparty fight between Murtha and her current deputy, Maryland's Steny H. Hoyer.
The unexpected move signaled the sizable value Pelosi gives to personal loyalty and personality preferences. Hoyer competed with her in 2001 for the post of House minority whip, while Murtha managed her winning campaign. Pelosi has also all but decided she will not name the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) to chair that panel next year, a decision pregnant with personal animus.
Pelosi had been outspoken about her frustration with Murtha's declaration that he would challenge Hoyer, currently the House minority whip, for the majority leader post long before Democrats had secured the majority. Many believed she would remain on the sidelines, just as Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) did earlier this year when three Republicans vied for the post of House majority leader.
But in her first real decision as the incoming speaker, Pelosi said she was swayed by Murtha's early stance for a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Her letter of endorsement yesterday made clear that she sees Iraq as the central issue of the next Congress and that she believes a decorated Marine combat veteran at the helm of the House caucus would provide Democrats ammunition in their fight against congressional Republicans and President Bush on the issue.
"I salute your courageous leadership that changed the national debate and helped make Iraq the central issue of this historic election. It was surely a dark day for the Bush Administration when you spoke truth to power," she wrote. "Your strong voice for national security, the war on terror and Iraq provides genuine leadership for our party, and I count on you to lead on these vital issues."
Murtha responded, "I am deeply gratified to receive the support of Speaker Pelosi, a tireless advocate for change and a true leader for our Party and our country."
Pelosi's decision could be a significant blow to Hoyer, who has worked for years to move up in the Democratic leadership. Political handicappers had regarded Hoyer to be the strong favorite when House Democrats meet Thursday to choose a majority leader for the 110th Congress. Although Murtha's stance on Iraq has made him a hero among many grass-roots party activists, his positions against abortion and gun control have pushed many House liberals into Hoyer's camp, including the leader of the Out of Iraq Caucus, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
Hoyer's camp counts 21 of the roughly 40 incoming freshman Democrats as committed supporters. Many freshmen believe the Democrats should stick with the team that brought them to the majority, said John Sarbanes, who was elected last week to represent central Maryland in the House.
Hoyer also has the strong support of many of the party's conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats, who worry about Murtha's involvement in the Abscam bribery sting in 1980 and what they see as his freewheeling style on the House Appropriations Committee, where he has openly advocated for the interests of his district and his political supporters.
Some of Hoyer's supporters put the best face on Pelosi's intervention, saying Murtha would not have asked for a public letter of support if his campaign were not in trouble.
"I don't think it's significant," said Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), a leading Blue Dog and Hoyer supporter. "Everyone already knew she was supporting Murtha. I don't think this will have much of an impact. Steny's going to win this fight."
But Murtha has garnered the support of some influential Californians close to Pelosi, including Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), a liberal firebrand who will chair the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
In a statement, Hoyer said he remains confident he has the votes.
"Nancy told me some time ago that she would personally support Jack. I respect her decisions as the two are very close," he wrote. "I am grateful for the support I have from my colleagues, and have the majority of the caucus supporting me. I look forward to working with Speaker Pelosi as Majority Leader."
Another potentially fractious vote in the House Democratic Caucus was settled late last week when Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the outgoing chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, decided against running for House majority whip. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the only African American in the House Democratic leadership, had already announced his candidacy.
Emanuel instead will stand unopposed for the job Clyburn will vacate, House Democratic Caucus chairman. In his announcement, he appealed for party unity ahead of Thursday's leadership elections.
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House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) yesterday as the next House majority leader, thereby stepping into a contentious intraparty fight between Murtha and her current deputy, Maryland's Steny H. Hoyer.
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Midterm Election Leaves Political Landscape Blurry
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Rarely has an election result been delivered with such force and clarity, and still left so many unanswered questions in its wake, as that of the 2006 midterm campaign. What happened is unmistakable. What it may portend is far less obvious, making the 2008 election, which already has begun, potentially the most important in a generation or more in shaping the nation's politics.
Democrats have been quick to claim that 2006 will be remembered as the end of a conservative era. No one doubts that the midterm election was a rejection of President Bush's policies in Iraq and of the Republicans' style of governance. But was it really a rejection of conservatism itself? It will take future elections to prove the Democrats' claim.
What the election was not, in the view of strategists in both parties, was a powerful affirmation of the Democratic Party, despite its takeover of the House and Senate. One post-election survey, conducted for the liberal groups Democracy Corps and the Campaign for America's Future, found that both Republicans and Democrats emerged from the contest with negative images.
"This is not an election where one party went down and the other party went up," said Stan Greenberg, whose firm conducted the survey on election night and the night after. "The story still has to be written on how this period becomes a period for Democratic dominance."
Tuesday's election left American politics in a remarkably fluid state. In just six years, the political discussion has moved from analyzing the reasons for the nation's 50-50 divide, to predictions that the Republicans were close to establishing a durable majority, to questions about whether Tuesday marked a pendulum swing back toward the Democrats.
After years of politics aimed at mobilizing and energizing the bases of their respective parties, Democrats and Republicans are again focused on the electorate's shifting center and its potential to change the balance of power in the country. On Tuesday, Republicans decisively lost independents and moderates, but it is not yet a given that those voters will stay with the Democrats. Which party claims that constituency in the future will depend on the answers to a series of questions that will shape the politics of the next two years.
Foremost among them is which party can gain the public's trust to keep Americans safe in a world of terrorism and rogue-state threats. Exit polls suggest Democrats made significant headway this year in reducing what has been a historic Republican advantage. Whether that is permanent or transitory is of central importance.
Equally important is the question of which party can adequately address the twin problems of keeping the United States competitive in a global economy and restoring the social contract that has helped provide economic security to workers and that has been shattered as a result of the corporate restructuring that globalization has brought about.
A third is which party can best navigate the thicket of social and cultural issues in a way that both preserves a sense of American values and accommodates the need for greater tolerance in a society that has become increasingly diverse.
Tuesday's election also suggests that the 2008 campaign will be fought on different geographic terrain. Throughout the decade, the political map of America has been relatively fixed, with Democratic blue states along the coasts and in parts of the upper Midwest, and most of the rest of the country a giant swath of Republican red.
That map now may be, if not obsolete, at least open to revision. Traditionally Republican Virginia increasingly looks like a state turning purple -- neither red or blue on election strategy maps. With former governor Mark R. Warner; his successor, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine; and James Webb's surprise victory over Sen. George Allen (R) last week, Democrats have demonstrated that Republicans no longer can take the state for granted.
As significant as the changes in Virginia is the transition underway in Colorado. Democrats scored important gains there on Tuesday, winning the governorship and a House seat and expanding their state legislative majorities. For all the focus on Ohio as the decisive presidential battleground over the last few years, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) would be president today if he had won both Virginia and Colorado.
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Latest politics news headlines from Washington DC. Follow 2006 elections,campaigns,Democrats,Republicans,political cartoons,opinions from The Washington Post. Features government policy,government tech,political analysis and reports.
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Candidate for Palestinian Premier Emerges
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JERUSALEM, Nov. 13 -- A former university president in the Gaza Strip emerged Monday as the top candidate to head a Palestinian national unity government now being assembled in a bid to end the economic sanctions that have crippled the Hamas-led administration.
Officials from the rival Hamas and Fatah movements said Mohammed Shubeir, 60, is the consensus choice to serve as prime minister in a future power-sharing government whose creation has proved elusive for months.
Shubeir is not a member of Hamas, the radical Islamic movement that has run the Palestinian Authority since soon after it won January parliamentary elections. But he is closely identified with Hamas in Gaza City, where he served as president of the Islamic University of Gaza -- a key training ground for the movement's leadership -- for 12 years before stepping down in 2005.
Shubeir's selection would mark a significant step toward resolving the months-long political crisis that has battered the Palestinian economy and set off a surge of partisan fighting in the territories, especially in Gaza. As prime minister, he would be part of a new cabinet that, in addition to ministers from Hamas and Fatah, would include technocrats from outside the two main parties, including some who have worked closely with the United States.
But officials from both parties warned that work remained to be done on the future government's political program, which international donors say must recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and honor previous agreements with the Jewish state in return for a resumption of aid.
"It's not a done deal yet," said Saeb Erekat, a Fatah lawmaker and the Palestinians' chief negotiator with Israel, who called Shubeir "a very strong candidate" who would be nominated only if a deal is reached on a governing platform. "For the Quartet, it's the program. That's what will matter most."
After Hamas's electoral victory, the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union, known collectively as the Quartet, cut off aid that accounted for nearly half of the Palestinian Authority's operating budget. Israel also froze the roughly $55 million in monthly tax revenue it collects on the Palestinians' behalf. Israel, the United States and the European Union classify Hamas, whose founding charter calls for Israel's destruction, as a terrorist organization.
Hamas leaders refused to meet the Quartet's conditions. Their popularity in the territories slipped amid deepening economic hardship. The authority's 165,000 civil servants, more than half of them in the security forces, have received only a small fraction of their salaries in the past nine months.
Until now, Hamas officials in Gaza and the West Bank have shown more willingness to compromise than the group's hard-line political leadership in exile, led by Khaled Mashal in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, an Islamic University graduate, has already agreed to step aside so an independent official can lead the next government.
Hamas and Fatah officials said Mashal has endorsed Shubeir, who has a doctorate in microbiology from West Virginia University. Shubeir's father was a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic movement from which Hamas emerged. His candidacy also fulfills a demand by Hamas that the next prime minister come from Gaza.
But Hamas officials are still seeking assurances from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a member of Fatah, that international donors will restore aid if they dissolve the government. Those guarantees have not been given, although U.S. officials have been consulting closely with Abbas during the process.
Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, said that regardless of who is in the next cabinet, it must meet the Quartet's criteria to receive aid.
"It is not the United States' role to decide who is and who is not in the Palestinian government," she said. "That is for them to decide."
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JERUSALEM, Nov. 13 -- A former university president in the Gaza Strip emerged Monday as the top candidate to head a Palestinian national unity government now being assembled in a bid to end the economic sanctions that have crippled the Hamas-led administration.
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Redskins Picked Apart
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PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 12 -- Mathematically, the Washington Redskins will remain in the NFC playoff race for several more weeks, buoyed by the faintest of statistical probabilities. But from a mental, physical, and realistic standpoint, the meaningful portion of their season likely ended with a loss to a division rival on a rainy and blustery afternoon.
The Redskins failed to rekindle any spark from their plucky, last-second win last week, trailing the Philadelphia Eagles throughout an ugly 27-3 loss on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. The Redskins (3-6) are 1-3 against the NFC East and 1-4 against all NFC opponents and are struggling offensively and defensively.
Also lost on the dismal day was running back Clinton Portis, who set a franchise rushing record last year but has been beaten up much of this season. He broke the fourth metacarpal bone on his right hand in the first quarter and is expected to be out at least three to four weeks.
The Redskins are among the biggest disappointments in the NFL, with their Super Bowl aspirations and offseason spending spree yielding nothing to date. Their record after nine games is precisely as it was in 2004, Coach Joe Gibbs's first year back from retirement, with few tangible strengths to point to and an undisciplined streak that has Washington again atop of the league in penalty yardage. The Redskins are in last place in the NFC East.
"I think we need to take a long hard look at everything," Gibbs said.
Despite all of their problems, the Redskins were still in the game in the second half, with the erratic Eagles getting booed by their fans; with much of the conference similarly mediocre, Washington could sneak into the postseason with a late run.
But the club stumbled, committing 70 more yards in penalties. "That was discouraging for me," Gibbs said.
The Redskins held the ball for 20 of 30 minutes in the opening half, yet trailed 17-3, faltering near the Eagles goal line and converting just 2 of 10 third-down attempts. Washington's pass defense again gave up big plays -- six plays of 10 yards or more on the Eagles' first three drives -- and that early margin would have been more than enough for Philadelphia (5-4) to snap its three-game losing streak.
"We let people do that to us every week," defensive lineman Renaldo Wynn said. "Somewhere along the line we've got to decide when we're not going to allow those huge plays. It's up to us."
Eagles tailback Brian Westbrook (113 yards rushing) paired an 18-yard run with a 17-yard reception to lead the opening drive, which resulted in a 37-yard field goal. On the next drive, quarterback Donovan McNabb, just 4 for 16 in the first half, hit wide receiver Donte Stallworth for an 84-yard bomb right over the middle, where teams have feasted on Washington's secondary all season. Linebacker Lemar Marshall and safeties Sean Taylor and Troy Vincent all chased Stallworth as he pulled away for the final 45 yards.
The Redskins, who have gone 21 full quarters without getting a takeaway, forced a fumble on Philadelphia's next possession, but even that was of no help. McNabb hit Reggie Brown for a 20-yard gain on third and 15, and cornerback Shawn Springs dislodged the ball. But it popped directly to trailing running back Correll Buckhalter, who shrugged off Taylor's diving tackle attempt and ran 37 yards for a 17-0 lead.
"We talk about everything and we try to correct it," Springs said of the repeated defensive failures. "It's just not getting done."
Washington's defense, and Taylor in particular, gave away yardage to the Eagles with penalties throughout the game, but it buckled down for a spell in the second quarter. The Redskins' anemic offense -- 16 touchdowns in nine games -- failed to capitalize, however, with false starts and an intentional grounding penalty sapping any momentum. They were held without an offensive touchdown for the third time, and have two touchdowns in four NFC East contests.
"You can move the ball up and down the field," fullback Mike Sellers said, "but if you don't get in the end zone it really doesn't matter."
Philadelphia reached the goal line on the first drive of the second half, but came away with just a field goal to make it 20-3. On the ensuing drive Brunell, under fire throughout his Redskins career, forced a sideline pass to Santana Moss. Cornerback Sheldon Brown jumped the play easily and ran 70 yards for the touchdown.
"I'd like to have that back," said Brunell, who had a 49.4 passer rating Sunday. "We had some opportunities, but we just weren't very good."
That play, and the team's record, is likely to intensify the calls for quarterback Jason Campbell, a first-round pick in 2005, to start after being inactive for 27 games. Gibbs said he had no immediate thoughts about making a quarterback change, although he did have veteran backup Todd Collins warming up in the final minutes with the outcome no longer in question.
Playing without Portis, who is likely to have pins surgically placed in his broken finger, will burden whomever is behind center, while the defense requires widespread adjustment. The Redskins have allowed 126 points in the past five games, and 390 yards per game in that span. Opposing quarterbacks have thrown 17 touchdowns against Washington this season, and been intercepted only twice.
Only Arizona, Detroit and Tampa Bay, next week's opponent, have fewer wins among NFC teams.
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Info on Washington Redskins including the 2005 NFL Preview. Get the latest game schedule and statistics for the Redskins. Follow the Washington Redskins under the direction of Coach Joe Gibbs.
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The Pain Is Never as Bad as We Fear
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2006111319
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Dear supporters of Republican politicians voted out of office: Yes, it feels terrible, but it won't feel this way for long.
That's the message Daniel Gilbert has for supporters of candidates who lost major races in Tuesday's elections. And while the Harvard psychologist is no fan of the current White House, he says the same goes for President Bush, who was unofficially downgraded by the election last week from lame duck to sitting duck.
In fact, there is an irony here, because Gilbert first learned what happens to supporters of candidates who lose elections a dozen years ago, when he was studying an election where the same George W. Bush was the winner.
In an experiment conducted among voters in Austin in 1994, Gilbert and his colleagues asked people to predict how they would feel if their candidate won or lost, in the race between Bush and Democratic Gov. Ann Richards.
Not surprisingly, supporters of both politicians predicted they would be devastated if their candidate lost and said they would be delighted with victory. Bush, of course, defeated Richards, setting him on a course that eventually led to the White House.
About a month after the 1994 election, Gilbert had researchers call the same voters to ask how they felt. Supporters of Bush said they were still delighted -- exactly in line with their prediction.
But supporters of Richards, who had said they would be devastated, were significantly happier than they had predicted.
"When partisans imagine being devastated when their candidate loses, they focus on how they will feel when they think about it," Gilbert said. "What they fail to realize is how seldom they think about it."
Although the recent election offers an immediate venue to apply this finding, it is an insight with very wide implications for human behavior.
Gilbert, the author of a successful new book called "Stumbling on Happiness," has found the same phenomenon when it comes to any number of other negative experiences. When people are asked to imagine a bad thing -- whether this is losing your wallet or losing your child -- they vastly overestimate how unhappy they will be afterward.
The psychologist is not saying that people "get over" tragedies and that they experience no sadness. Defeats and losses hurt, but what Gilbert's research has found is that people do not hurt nearly as much as they fear they are going to hurt.
"We are not the field of fragile flowers that a century of therapists have made us out to be," he said. "We are remarkably resilient. . . . It isn't the case that life returns to normal and you get over the death of a child. But what it is, is that it is worth living again and that is something most of us cannot imagine."
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Dear supporters of Republican politicians voted out of office: Yes, it feels terrible, but it won't feel this way for long.
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Looking Good - washingtonpost.com
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2006111319
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I slowly made my way toward her. I felt a strong desire to reach out and touch her slender neck, just below the ear, but of course I didn't. I hadn't even learned her name. Also, she was sealed inside a clear display case. And she didn't have an ear -- or nose, eyes or hair for that matter. Just her neck and the lower half of her face.
The vision that struck me so powerfully that day was a fragment of a once-complete bust of an Egyptian queen, possibly Nefertiti. This masterpiece of highly polished jasper is more than 3,300 years old and resides in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. When I caught my first heart-stopping glimpse of her, she firmly settled in my mind the question of whether physical beauty is real or simply a creation of society and the media. Her lean neck, high cheekbones, smooth skin and bee-stung lips transcended the miles and millennia between her reign and that of Angelina Jolie or Tyra Banks.
Stephen Marquardt, a reconstructive surgeon in Southern California who has made a career of studying beauty, would say that my response was hard-wired. Marquardt is one of a number of doctors and scientists probing the machinery that connects perceptions of beauty with human evolution. Beauty, they theorize, is the name we give to certain signals processed instinctively by our animal brains. It isn't invented by Hollywood or fashion magazines so much as it is programmed into our DNA.
For example, a number of studies have shown that faces judged to be beautiful, regardless of culture, are highly symmetrical. Nature seems to have a bias in favor of balanced pairs -- two arms, two legs, two eyes, two ears, two wings. Two recent studies found that greater symmetry in men corresponds with more and faster-swimming sperm.
A Polish researcher named Grazyna Jasienska recently designed an experiment to determine whether symmetrical women have higher levels of the key reproductive hormone estradiol. In the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, her team reports the results. They compared the left and right ring fingers of 183 Polish women between the ages of 24 and 36. Women whose fingers differed in length by more than two millimeters formed the asymmetrical group. Their average estradiol levels were 13 percent lower than the symmetrical group average.
When the scientists screened out rural women, whose economic status and harder lives could skew their hormone levels, the difference in average hormone levels between symmetrical and asymmetrical urban women rose to 28 percent.
Marquardt's work has an artistic spin to it. Like Euclid, Leonardo da Vinci and Le Corbusier before him, the doctor became fascinated with the possibility that beauty itself could be quantified. His instincts told him that beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. "I didn't find that to be true," he explains in an interview. "Guys seem to agree. They may argue over whether they prefer Michelle Pfeiffer or Kim Basinger, but you never hear anyone say Roseanne Barr." He had always been mathematically inclined, so, beginning in the early 1970s, Marquardt set out to compile the measurements of beautiful faces. He focused on people who were paid for being attractive -- movie stars and face models. His colleagues scoffed: "Every doctor I talked to told me I was nuts," he recalls.
At the same time, Marquardt was reading everything he could find on earlier searches for the elusive key to beauty. Between his reading and his measurements, he began to home in on a simple mathematical formula known as the Golden Mean, or Golden Section.
The Golden Mean is a ratio that appears to connect (in some uncanny way) with all sorts of sensually pleasing creations, man-made and organic. Many readers today are familiar with the idea from Dan Brown's blockbuster The Da Vinci Code , but Marquardt had developed his theory long before the book was written. The Golden Mean and the related mathematical sequence known as Fibonacci numbers lie behind such elegant shapes as the spiral seashell of the chambered nautilus and the five-pointed star on the American flag. The same principle also predicts such phenomena as the perfect arrangement of petals on a flower to maximize the surface area exposed to the sun.
Picture the ratio in its simplest form: two lines. The first line is an inch long, and the second approximately 1.618 inches. (The exact length of the second line is called phi, and like its more famous cousin pi, it goes on endlessly after the decimal point.) The ratio of these two lines, 1 to 1.618, is the Golden Mean.
What's so golden about it? Well, suppose you joined the two lines -- call them section one and section two. Their combined length, section three, is 1.618 times longer than the second section by itself. Which, you'll recall, is 1.618 times longer than the first section. Now combine section three with section two, and sure enough -- the combination is 1.618 times longer than section three by itself.
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Our obsession with physical appearance may not be so shallow, after all
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Critiquing the Press - washingtonpost.com
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2006111319
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Howard Kurtz has been The Washington Post's media reporter since 1990. He is also the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and the author of "Media Circus," "Hot Air," "Spin Cycle" and "The Fortune Tellers: Inside Wall Street's Game of Money, Media and Manipulation." Kurtz talks about the press and the stories of the day in "Media Backtalk."
The Democrats' Turn, ( Post, Nov. 13)
Selmer, Tenn.: I have waited until the election was over to ask your views on these chats themselves. I view them as one of the greatest changes in media in the last few years. They remind me of the days when I was young and in the business when we would sit down as a group (at a bar or elsewhere) and pick each other's brains. Do you and the other participants enjoy them as much as we at this end do? Do you look forward to them or dread them? How do you think they are affecting the relationship between reporter and reader? Thank you.
Howard Kurtz: Well, it is like sitting in a bar, except they don't let me have any alcohol. Something about it affecting my typing. Anyway, those of us who voluntarily sign up to do this definitely enjoy the chats.
Washington, D.C.: Thanks for wondering out loud today about whether the media will have an extended honeymoon with the Democrats. But when the honeymoon ends, won't it be more on grounds of competence than on ideology? A simpatico media gets upset when the Dems can't score on Bush?
Howard Kurtz: Competence, yes. Ideology, no. If the Democrats manage to pass legislation, take clear stands and conduct oversight, they will generally win high marks. If there's a lot of division and finger-pointing, not so much. Whether they decide to challenge the White House on a whole range of things or engage in bipartisan cooperation on many issues won't affect the news coverage. It really comes down to this question: Can they govern?
New York, N.Y.: So immediately following a historic Democratic victory, Tim Russert has on a Republican and an Independent but no Democrats. Immediately following a mass rejection of the war in Iraq, Russert has two staunchly pro-war politicians but none who are against it. It must be that liberal media bias again.
Howard Kurtz: But since Joe Lieberman has said he will vote with the Democrats, he is, despite the (I) after his name, essentially a Democrat.
Manassas, Va.: On RS yesterday, you cited Miklaszewski saying that Rumsfeld liked to humiliate people. But people watching White House or Pentagon briefings on C-SPAN or cable news can obviously take away the opposite impression, that reporters are out to humiliate Rumsfeld or Tony Snow or whomever. When a cabinet official does it, it sounds undemocratic to the media. And when the media does it, it's just vigilant oversight. Can't the media see the log in their own eye on this battle?
Howard Kurtz: Well, I was just quoting NBC's Pentagon correspondent on Reliable Sources. He wasn't necessarily limiting his comment to Rummy's dealings with reporters. I agree with your point that journalists can be very aggressive at White House and Pentagon briefings, and since many of them are now television, folks can make up their minds about whether they go too far. And I don't have any problem with Rumsfeld or any other politician pushing back hard. Rumsfeld was simply so combative over so many years that it was worth pointing that out.
Philadelphia, Pa.: Now that the Dems have a majority in the House and Senate do you think that the talking head shows will feature more Dems than Reps? That was always their excuse for using more Reps than Dems.
Howard Kurtz: I think they will definitely feature more Democrats than in past years. But the fact that administration officials are still the most sought-after guests could give the edge to the GOP.
Re: Selmer TN: If I could add to the excellent message from Selmer, what benefits derive to the paper from doing the chats?
Howard Kurtz: Just the general sense that there's a dialogue going on here rather than the one-way communication that defined newspapers for so many years.
San Mateo, Calif.: There is a rumor that Cheney will soon be replaced in order to take the fall for Bush. Possibilities include McCain or Giuliani, thus giving them a leg up in '08. What say you?
Howard Kurtz: I will be completely and totally shocked if Vice President Cheney doesn't serve out his term.
Then again, Bush did say he'd be staying on in the same interview in which he said Rumsfeld would serve two more years...
Oklahoma City, Okla.: Style headline after 1994 GOP capture of House: "How the Gingrich Stole Christmas"
Style headline after 2006 GOP capture of House: "Nancy Pelosi: Pride of Baltimore"
Yep, sure glad the Post has no liberal bias . . .
Howard Kurtz: Okay, I admit it. We had a big meeting and decided that Nancy Pelosi must receive far softer treatment than Newt in the pages of The Washington Post.
Except that if you look back at that 1994 piece, it was not a big Style profile of Gingrich. It was...a column by Tony Kornheiser. This was when he was writing a humor column as opposed to being on Monday Night Football. Just to give you a sense of the joshing tone of the column:
Every single Republican ran against Clinton, regardless of how small or local the office: somebody running for zoning commissioner in Toledo could stand up and scream, "Clinton wears a bra!" and assure himself of a landslide...
(If this all seems a little anti-Republican, I have an excuse. The press is supposed to hate Republicans. It is our job. Wasn't it great watching the liberal media trying to cover this fantastic bloodbath as though they were completely objective? Subtle evidence of partisanship crept through, such as the lead headline in Wednesday's New York Times: "Oh, Poop. We're Toast.")
I've noticed that CNN has begun re-running stories (usually features) over a period of several days. Usually, that's a no-no in TV news, where a story has a 24-hour lifespan once it first airs. Given that many of these stories deal with current events, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, I feel it's a little deceptive to air these stories in this fashion. What's your thought?
Howard Kurtz: It's not deceptive at all because there's always a line on the screen that says "Paula Zahn Now" or "Larry King Live" or whatever show it was taken from. In other words, no viewer would think it was happening live. The general philosophy is that viewers surf in and out of cable, and so lots of people might have missed a big interview on one of the talk shows, and be interested in seeing it the following morning or afternoon. That may or may not be smart programming, but it's not misleading.
Austin, Tex.: Conservative talk radio has been a help to the Republicans over the last several years, and the Democrats haven't really had anything comparable. (Air America isn't doing so well.)
But I have a feeling that a lot of people may be feeling less "ideological" and more interested in solutions. In particular, I wonder if a lot of Republicans wouldn't have preferred that Rush Limbaugh not go after Michael J. Fox.
My question: Do you think the influence of Rush et al. may have peaked?
Howard Kurtz: I don't know. I don't think Limbaugh helped himself or his reputation with the way he went after Michael J. Fox. On the other hand, people have predicting Rush's demise for a long time, and he still seems to get the big ratings.
Philadelphia, Pa.: So, Howard, you admit that the media skews to the right when it comes to political guests?
Howard Kurtz: No, I'm not saying that at all. We happen to be living under a Republican administration. When Bill Clinton was president, the talk shows tried just as hard to get Podesta and Albright and Cohen and other high-level administration officials.
Santa Fe, N.M.: Rush Limbaugh will remain popular for the same reason Larry King remains popular: people know exactly what to expect from them. Whether it's vapid or vicious, the familiar is comforting.
Howard Kurtz: Not sure I buy the comparison. Limbaugh is very ideological, King is anything but. With Larry, you watch because of the guests. Rush doesn't have guests (except Bush and Cheney on occasion), so if you're a fan, you listen because of him.
Milwaukee, Wis.: Mr. Kurtz, per others, I really do enjoy you and other Post reporters making themselves available for these chats. Jim Baker's Iraq Study Group is desperately short on Middle Eastern Foreign Policy experts: Lee Hamilton, Vernon Jordan, Jr.,Leon Panetta, William Perry, Chuck Robb, James Baker III, Sandra Day O'Connor, Robert Gates Lawrence Eagleburger, Edwin Meese III, Alan Simpson. The "deer in the headlights" is that the Shiites and the Sunni's won't negotiate. There are a host of other equally serious issues, Lebanon, the Kurds, and the Palestinians, for example that 150,000 U.S. troops (or double that number)attempting to police a country of 25 million are not going to solve. Iraq is "gone" as a functioning state, the only question is whether the rest of the Middle East follows.
Howard Kurtz: Not sure if there was a question in there, but like a lot of blue-ribbon commission, there's a heavy concentration of ex-pols and high-profile heavyweights. Was Tom Kean or Lee Hamilton an expert on terrorism before being named to the 9/11 commission? The detailed investigative work tends to be done by the staff.
Washington, D.C.: I have no problem with Tim Russert having anyone he or his staff thinks is appropriate without the need to have one person from every point of view as a participant.
You don't have to have a representative from each party or point of view any more than you need a pro-Nazi on the panel when you discuss the Holocaust or a representative of the NRA when discussing gun control after a policeman is shot or there's a school shooting. The show is a news show, not an equal opportunity debate.
Howard Kurtz: Well, I think over time it's important for programs such as Meet the Press to have on politicians who are opposed to the war as well as Iraq war supporters. But critics make a mistake when they focus on one single show and say, Aha! They had one from Column A but not from Column B.
More about that Selmer, Tenn. comment: Oh, I'd add another benefit to these chats...increasing The Post's span as a -national- newspaper rather a good local paper...I live in Atlanta and there's no way I'd check The Post on a daily basis if it weren't for the chats. Now I have three sites- the Times, CNN, MSNBC, Post.
Howard Kurtz: Well, if it helps drive traffic to our site, that's a definite fringe benefit. The Web has been incredibly valuable for a newspaper whose paper product is basically available only in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. So I'll keep chatting away if it helps draw people to my work here and that of my colleagues.
Bethesda, Md.: re. "liberal" Russert:
Tim Russert said on Meet the Press yesterday that both Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi were invited to appear on the show, and both declined.
Howard Kurtz: Bingo. I see that Harry Reid was on Face the Nation, so I suspect he'll be turning up on Meet the Press soon. When you book someone like that, you try to get the exclusive for that morning. So while Russert was undoubtedly happy to have McCain and Lieberman, I'm sure Bob Schieffer felt it was a coup to get the incoming Senate majority leader.
Oxford, Miss.: Two reasons Bush will keep Cheney:
1. He'd have to get a replacement approved by Congress
2. Cheney is the best impeachment insurance around
Howard Kurtz: He also may feel Cheney's doing a good job. Maybe not a heckuva job, but a good job.
Seattle, Wash.: Why has the media written off Bush's lie about Rumsfeld? This doesn't make me think less of Bush, but it makes me think a lot less of the media.
Howard Kurtz: I wouldn't say it's been written off, but I was a little surprised that I was one of the few journalists last week to do a separate story on whether the president misled reporters by saying six days before the election that Rumsfeld would stay on until the end of his term. On Reliable Sources yesterday, ABC's Martha Raddatz said she felt misled by that answer and that it made her question the administration's veracity. One reason it got little attention, of course, is that it was overshadowed by the Democrats winning control of Congress.
Bristow, Va.: On the Russert issue, a conservative can easily say and yes, a roundtable discussion with liberal columnist Maureen Dowd and Tony Snow-whuppin' David Gregory doesn't exactly say "right-wing media."
Why don't the liberals who don't like the booking agents actually WATCH these shows and show us where Russert is favoring the Republicans in his choice of questions?
Howard Kurtz: Well, that panel probably could have used a conservative.
Stanford, Calif.: Why do you think the White House press corps - and the political/national press in general - is making less of a deal of President Bush's admitted lie about not replacing Donald Rumsfeld, something that may have had an effect on the election and certainly had a significant relationship to the war, and yet went into overdrive on Pres. Clinton's "I did not have sex with that woman" claim?
Howard Kurtz: Again, maybe it was drowned out by last week's political earthquake. But Bush's own explanation of it at Wednesday's news conference made clear that he had already been discussing a departure with Rumsfeld, even if he hadn't settled on a replacement, and that he simply didn't want to tip his hand to the wire-service reporters before the election. I was just surprised he didn't find a better way to finesse the question (declaring "full confidence" in Rumsfeld or some such formulation) rather than claiming he'd keep Rummy for two more years.
Crofton, Md.: Not really a question, but a comment. I thought '60 Minutes' did a great job last night paying tribute to Ed Bradley. They showed a lot of aspects of his character - his professionalism, his humor, and his compassion. Boy, I sure wish there were more Ed Bradley's out there.
Howard Kurtz: It was a very touching program, made all the more remarkable by the fact that his friends at 60 Minutes had to crash it in three days while dealing with their own sadness over Bradley's passing.
Burke, Va.: Value of the chats: It helps me understand what you news guys do a lot better - and respect you more.
Howard Kurtz: And these days we could certainly use more of that!
Anonymous: Howard you wrote "... the televised pictures of growing casualties were hard to shake off"
This is also something the Pres has said over and over.
My question is what stations are you watching?
I rarely see the "carnage" as the President calls it. I saw much more coverage of carnage in Lebanon in one month than I've seen in Iraq all year.
Howard Kurtz: By carnage I mean scenes after a bombing, interviews with grieving Iraqis, interviews with soldiers whose units suffered casualties and the family members of those killed or wounded. I didn't mean the actual showing of dead bodies.
Arlington, Va.: Don't you think the story about Steele and Ehrlich (purposely trying to mislead voters that they were Democrats) should have been on the front page of the A section and not the Metro section?
Howard Kurtz: Maybe, but it was a follow up to a story we had already covered as opposed to being breaking news.
Bethesda, Md.: Did you see Dan Abrams touting Keith Olbermann's show as a possible model for Newscast of the Future? Is he just trying to scare conservatives out of their wits? Or is MSNBC going to tilt more to the left now?
Howard Kurtz: I don't think Dan Abrams is saying they will be putting on more liberal shows -- not on a network where Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson are among the most prominent hosts. I think he's saying they want programs with edgy and opinionated hosts.
Replacing Cheney?: Am I missing something? Cheney was elected to VP. He does not serve at the pleasure of the President like a cabinet official and, therefore, cannot be fired. I think he could be impeached under the Constitution but no one within the West Wing can force him out.
Howard Kurtz: He was elected, absolutely. But if Bush went to him and said, Dick, it's been real, but for the good of the country (or my presidency or the Republican Party) I think you should step down, I believe Cheney would probably do it. I put the odds for this scenario at zero percent.
Gainesville, Va.: This is out of the outfield somewhere, but when can we expect the media to stop describing John Murtha as "hawkish"? When you're ascending up the charts of power by calling for rapid withdrawal of our armed forces from Iraq, doesn't that sound like a dove in flight? Can't a former Marine be dovish?
Howard Kurtz: I think the shorthand reference is that Murtha has a history of being strongly pro-military and hawkish BEFORE the Iraq war.
Boston, Mass.: It's my belief that a combination of Keith Olbermann's commentaries, the efforts of the progressive blogs, and the influence of progressive talk radio (which while not so powerful in DC is doing well in a number of cities) motivated Democrats and independents to get out and vote for change. Yet not many media critics seem to think bloggers or liberal talkers or even Keith (my hero), had much impact. What's your take on this?
Howard Kurtz: I'm not sure why you say that. I've read a million stories about the netroots and the impact of liberal bloggers this year. (Many conservative bloggers were disillusioned, as some of them have written or said to me.) I think people like Olbermann and liberal radio hosts like Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Al Franken -- even though they're way outnumbered in their respective mediums -- helped fire up the base as well. None of that was as important as the Iraq war or the GOP corruption scandals, but in the midterms it's all about turnout, so advocates can play an important role.
Loved the column today, but your "Now the question is whether a press corps that has been openly at odds with the president will hold the newly empowered Democrats to the same tough standards" is still a little ambiguous. Shouldn't it have been: "Will the press corps also give the Democrats an almost free pass for six years of systematic lying, gross incompetence, and open irresponsibility." Wouldn't that be a more accurate way of describing your "same tough standard?". Thanks,
Howard Kurtz: You wouldn't happen to have strong views about the Bush administration, would you?
Greenbelt Gal: I know you're being peppered with questions on the election results, but aren't you concerned about the huge wave of buyouts, layoffs and consolidations in the newspaper world (LA, Philadelphia, etc.)? I'm getting concerned that pretty soon, I won't have anything to read EXCEPT ideological blogs.
Howard Kurtz: Sure I'm concerned. I've written two columns about it in recent weeks. I know there's this grand debate about how newspapers need to change or die and maybe they don't need so many people, but when you start slashing newsroom staffs by as much as 30 percent -- and firing editors who refuse to go along -- you are cutting into the muscle of journalism.
Kansas City, Mo.: Just wanted to also add a note of agreement on how much these chats are valued. Thank you and please pass along to your editors and colleagues. Do your journalists ever find a conversation thread in the chats that they develop into a story?
Howard Kurtz: Not sure about others, but I do.
Arlington, Va.: On the Sunday show, 2 bloggers discussed advocacy and work for hire as compared to promoting the cause. My question is, what is your opinion of a blogger who started out expressing opinion in support of Condi Rice in 2008 and then evolving into a FEC approved 527? Would you see this as a more proper and honestly ethical way to transit from just being a blogger into a more serious political action group?
On that same note, what is your viewpoint of Condi Rice maintaining the support of 20% of the national polls for the past 2 years?
Could she follow in the footsteps of Eisenhower and still keep her post in the State Department? Thanks.
Howard Kurtz: Condi seems pretty determined not to run. As for bloggers who wind up on political payrolls, I don't know all the legal ins and outs, but it raises questions for me about when and whether they are sacrificing their independence and just becoming a new class of high-tech spinners.
Thanks for the chat, folks.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online 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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Post media columnist Howard Kurtz discusses the press.
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Clarendon's Evolution
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2006111319
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Washington Post staff writer Kim Hart was online to discuss changes in Clarendon and the future of the Arlington, Va., neighborhood.
She writes in an article today that the neighborhood, which over the past few decades has become the prototype of a modern urban village, is at a crossroads. She adds that the neighborhood's character is changing, both driven by and reacting to a shift in its commercial real estate.
You can explore an interactive map with video and audio interviews of local business owners, panoramic photos and a series of satellite images showing development in Clarendon during the past four decades.
Wells, Maine: My wife and I are thinking of working and retiring in a somewhat more temperate area than the one in which we presently reside. The election results seem to indicate that the northern Virginia suburbs may be an area in which we could find like-minded people. I love Alexandria's Old Town because, as an ex-New Yorker, I really enjoy walking and people-watching. Unfortunately, the housing prices there appear to border on the prohibitive. My questions are whether Clarendon is somewhat similar and are the housing prices a bit more moderate. In addition, is it an area that is fit for walking and is the Metro, accessible?
Kim Hart: Housing prices have definitely gone up substantially in the past five years as residents with higher incomes have moved into the area. Small houses off the main drag are going for around $700,000 to $900,000. Newer construction, of course, is much more. Many of the older, more modest homes have been renovated or expanded, making them more expensive in the process. Some residents told me property values have risen by more than 30 percent in the past decade or so. It is walkable, which is why it is so attractive to many people. Because it was built around a Metro station, businesses are moving in to take advantage of the high foot-traffic.
Arlington, VA: Your article notes of Clarendon's residents that "But if they need a hammer and nails, they might have to get in the car: Clarendon's only hardware store has been turned into a Ri Ra Irish Pub & Restaurant." This is a real problem for those of us who do not own cars (in my case I don't drive) and who originally moved to the Rosslyn-Courthouse-Clarendon area because of its walkability. Not all of us can "get in the car" yet there is a presumption that that is how we will handle the lost businesses. Did you get any sense that the people who sniffed in 1995 that a Home Depot on the former Sears parking lot site (the present Clarendon Commons Mall) would be out of character, or the County board members, understand the price we locals pay for having lots of restaurants and trendy shops, but no place to go for notions and hardware? (There is no place in Clarendon to walk to and to pick up the sorts of things I once could get at G. C. Murphy's and at Virginia Hardware in the heart of Clarendon. Or the Woolworth's at nearby Virginia Square.) Most of the chain stores which have come in to Clarendon don't cater to everday needs; I go to Crate & Barrel mostly when I need to buy Christmas presents. I've never been to the Ri Ra Irish Pub and am unlikely to do so. The lack of a hardware store may be fine for the condo dwellers, I suppose; those of us who own single family homes really need one, however.
Kim Hart: I think many homeowners feel the same way you do. Chris Keever, president of the Clarendon--Courthouse neighborhood civic association, told me that a nearby hardware store was a huge plus for him when he moved into the neighborhood. As for the fight to prevent Home Depot from coming to the area, condominium dwellers and homeowners alike vetoed that development. They didn't want a big-box store like that taking up an entire block in the heart of Clarendon. I get the sense that, even without a neighborhood hardware store, people are generally happy that a Home Depot did not come into the neighbhorhood because it leaves more room for a larger variety of stores and restaurants. The closest hardware store is in Cherry Dale on Lee Highway, which is a bit of a trek from Clarendon, especially for those without a car.
Arlington, VA (Clarendon): Is there any way to ensure that Clarendon is able to keep certain amenities, within walking distance as redevelopment unfolds?
Specifically, the CVS drug store will soon be displaced with a condo at 10th and Wash. Blvd. I haven't heard of its replacement. It would be a nightmare to see the very amenities that make living here so practical and walkable, disappear in favor of "improvements" that end up destroying the mix of necessary day to day businesses.
Kim Hart: I think that's one of the main concerns. One of the purposes of mixed-use development is to ensure that the products and services people need for daily living-- such as dry cleaners, hardware stores, pharmacies-- are in close proximity to residential areas. A lot of residents really lament the loss of Virginia Hardware, which closed last year and reopened as Ri Ra, the Irish restaurant. Also, when the two blocks across from the Metro stop is redeveloped, where the Hard Times Cafe currently stands, a dry cleaner and a shoe repair/tailor will have to relocate. The problem is, they may not be able to find an affordable place to rent. That happened to the owner of Judson's Shoe Repair on Washington Boulevard. That piece of property is turning into a condo development, and it took him six months to find a new place to rent. He found a temporary lease in the old office of a closed car dealership. The bottom line is that workaday stores have a harder time making a large profit, and destination places like restaurants and chain stores are much more lucrative on prime real estate.
Arlington, VA: Nice article. Where do you see Clarendon in five years from now? How about the other cluster areas such as VA Square, Courthouse, Ballston, etc... What is the county board doing to keep the independent retailers in Clarendon? Do they get tax breaks, lower rents?
Kim Hart: Ballson and Rosslyn were the first areas to develop and gain a critical mass of retailers and offices. The areas in between--Courthouse, Clarendon and Virginia Square--have been slower to develop. I think as Clarendon continues to develop, businesses and residences will begin to spill over into Courthouse and Virginia Square. The five separate urban villages along that corridor used to have their own distinct flavor, but they may begin to blend together as it becomes a more desirable place to live and work.
Arlington County has been proactive in keeping smaller businesses in the neighborhood, especially in Clarendon. Developers who promise to rent to small businesses get the chance to add an extra floor or two to their new buildings, which can help offset the lower rent they charge the independents. Many local business owners do think the county could do more, however. Virginia law is very favorable to developers and private land-owners, so there is only so much the government can do.
Silver Spring, MD: Seems like it's unfortunately becoming the norm for the DC exo-cities (bethesda, silver spring, clarendon, etc...). More and more people are wanting to live in urban centers after decades of populations fleeing the nations cities, unfortunately DC's height restriction prevents very dense urban centers from developing around their metro stations for the most part, so they have developed around both sides of the beltway instead. Economics says that high demand dictates high prices. And unfortunately, ok big generalization here, high prices dictate mostly boring, uninteresting populations (obviously there's exception to that rule, but not enough to dictate the character of a whole neighborhood). Please correct me if I'm wrong here, but is it not a case of just not enough urban centers to go around? Silver Spring is certainly pricing out more and more of it's population - I know I for one just moved to a cheaper building, still downtown SS, but a smaller apartment in a cheaper building.
Kim Hart: The urban planners I spoke with for the story all said that there is a great demand right now for these urban village developments, whether they come about on their own or are conceived by developers.
It's a cycle many of these neighborhoods go through. As they become more successful, they tend to price out the tenants that initially gave it character. The Arlington County Board has also given incentives to developers to provide affordable housing to keep a variety of residents in the neighborhood.
Falls Church, Va.: I disagree that Clarendon needs more offices so that it can become a place where people live and work and that whole deal. More apartments would be nice (not condos). People move there because it's a fun neighborhood and they can afford to. Keep the offices in Rosslyn and Ballston. Unfortunately most people in this area, whether they live near metro or not, don't work near where they live. I recently took a job in Manassas and you would think with all the terrible traffic on 66 Manassas residents would jump at the opportunity to work there. Well, in my office we have people from DC, Md., W.Va., and Winchester, and not one person who lives in Manassas.
Put more bars in Clarendon, and keep it Northern Virginia's best night spot.
Kim Hart: Many of these new urban villages are attempting to be everything to everbody: a great place to work, live and shop. It may not be feasible to have the perfect amount of space for all three, but county planners are trying to keep the scales from tipping to far in any one direction.
Arlington, VA: One of the big differences between Clarendon and Old Town, is that Clarendon is more car-oriented (although both present walkable areas to some extent). Old Town's narrow colonial streets and stops every block (except the main drag) make walking the side streets much more pleasant. Also, of course with it's array of fine-grained, small floor-plate older buildings some would say it is more charming and the smaller floor-plates ensure that there are plenty of spaces for small businesses. Due to parking requirements and the need to excavate for the parking garage to accomodate cars, the new construction in Clarendon will innevitably be made of a few large buildings rather than many more smaller ones (as it once had been).
Kim Hart: Parking is a major issue in Clarendon. Residents and business owners both cite it as something the area needs more of. The county, however, has not wanted to provide a huge increase of parking because planners feel it would undermine the walkability. It opened a free parking garage just off of Highland St. to provide parking for evening patrons.
Clarendon has always been a transportation hub, though, so it developed to encourage traffic. Old Town Alexandria, however, developed as a pedestrian community with no large stores. Because Clarendon started as a place for big department stores, it has always been car-friendly. After all, up until about 15 years ago, most of it was covered by parking lots and used-car dealers.
Arlington, VA: As a Clarendon resident, I've noticed lots of empty retail locations, either former stores/restaurants that closed or new buildings with ground floor retail spots (including the one in my apartment building, which has been empty since the building was finished over a year ago). If Clarendon is growing so fast, why aren't these locations being filled? Is it a case of development greed (raising the rent on current tenant, forcing them to leave, and then looking for a new "big name" tenant who can pay more rent)?
Kim Hart: In several cases, property owners have been forced to raise their rents to match market prices or to finance redevelopment projects. This has caused some smaller retailers to leave the area for cheaper rents. Many empty spaces you see are about to start renovations to open new establishments. For instance, a vacant space next to Clarendon Ballroom will soon become a new restaurant/bar, and five empty storefronts on Wilson Boulevard directly across from the Metro station is about to be filled by retailers (although the property owner declined to say who the space had been leased to). There are still a few independent shops moving in, though. Kinder Haus Toys just last month moved into the new Station Square development below the Gold's Gym. Mexicali Blues is expanding into the space left vacant when Lazy Sundae's moved to Falls Church last year. Larger chains are often considered less risky tenants than small independents. But developers do seem willing to work with local entrepreneurs to help maintain Clarendon's character. They realize that, if they want people to buy their condos, they have to ensure that viable, useful businesses stay in the area.
Great article. Do you have any info on when the renovations on the block on Wilson Blvd across from the Clarendon Metro will be complete? The entire city block is pretty much vacant. I heard a rumor that the developer is only looking for non-chain retail for this block? Any truth to this? Also, can you reveal the name/type of restaurant that will take over where Modern Arf was located?
Kim Hart: There is a lot of speculation about what will go into that space. Some have heard it will be non-chain establishments, and others have heard the exact opposite. The land has been in the property-owners family for years. While he said he has signed a lease, he is not disclosing details until the deal is final--probably by early 2007.
The restaurant going in where the museum used to be will be a more upscale place. It will be run by the same guys who are behind the Clarendon Ballroom and Clarendon Grill. Renovations start this week. For thirty years, that building was also home to a small audiovisual production studio. Local artists used to go to use the roof as an impromptu art class, so there is certainly a great view in store for patrons once it opens next year.
Ballston: Sure everyone likes Clarendon but it's still lop-sided to the west with used-car lots, telephone poles and junky offices. Just look at the intersection of 10th Street and Wilson; it's a depressing slum. Frankly, Clarendon needs to continue it's facelift, not slow it down!
Kim Hart: Business owners on the fringes of Clarendon have voiced the same opinion. Dale Roberts, who opened Java Shack on Franklin St. 11 years ago, said Market Common and has drawn most of the foot-traffic away from his corner. He has asked the county to install traffic lights and make the area more inviting to encourage people to meander past the new stores. County planners, however, are waiting for developers to come in and make those improvements.
Re: Used Car Lots??: How do all the used car lots survive Clarendon? There must be over a dozen of them?? Is there some sort of used car lot mafia in Clarendon?? What gives??
Kim Hart: They are slowly disappearing. After the retail giants left the area in the 1960s, no one really wanted that real estate, so car lots moved in. There is still a disproportional amount of auto-repair shops along Wilson and Clarendon boulevards, but people like having those around. It's convenient to get your car fixed down the road instead of having to make the journey to Falls Church or Fairfax. Some worry that all the auto-related businesses will disappear, and then Clarendon will be without a hardware store AND a mechanic.
Alexandria, VA: Isn't this a case of 'be careful what you wish for'? Smart growth advocates have long wanted developement to be dense around public trasportation with a mix of retail, business and residential, which is exactly what the Clarendon area became over time. I agree with that type of developement but can not support the idea that character of the neighborhood is changing the quality of the neighborhood. What does the future hold for places like Shirlington and the Carlyle area in Alexandria? What can be done to improve them based on the Clarendon situation.
Kim Hart: The revitalization of neighborhoods is always a double-edged sword. Newcomers welcome the economic resurgence, but people who have lived there for decades don't like to see sweeping change. It is possible that people who don't like the density will move further out, away from a Metro station, where it is still quiet and has the small-town feel.
In all of the areas striving to be urban villages, planners are trying to strike a balance between bustling retail and quaint neighborhoods. It's hard to say how they will end up. Usually, it lies in the hands of the developers who have significant power--more power than the local government-- to shape a community.
Lyon Park, Va.: What do you think separates the local businesses that have stayed and, presumably, prospered--for instance, Iota, Galaxy Hut, Revolution Cycles, Faccia Luna, Mexicali Blues-- from those that have left our neighborhood, like Lazy Sundae?
Kim Hart: Not all small businesses left do to economic reasons. Some, like the hardware store, left for personal reasons. Clarendon has always had a vibrant local music scene, which is probably how Galaxy Hut and Iota have survived. Java Shack has managed to compete with Starbucks by differentiating itself on the opposite side of the neighborhood. I've been told that, in many cases, businesses leave because of a falling out with a landlord or wanting to move to a different type of community, not necessarily because they were forced out by the market.
Kim Hart: Thank you for joining the chat today. I hope I was able to answer your questions and shed some more light on the situation in Clarendon. There is obviously a lot of interest in preserving the area's quirky character, and I think county planners, developers and residents all share that interest as well.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online 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 Kim Hart was online to discuss changes in Clarendon and the future of the Arlington, Va., neighborhood.
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The Chat House - washingtonpost.com
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Springfield, Va.: Not much to say except: YAY BEARS!!
Michael Wilbon: I'm just arriving at the stadium in Charlotte and will be functional in about seven to 10 minutes...so I hope everybody hangs with me as I make it to the set where first we'll chat and then I'll get ready for "PTI" at around 2:20 or so...Thanks. Mike
New York, N.Y.: Has the NFL game passed Joe Gibbs by?
Michael Wilbon: Okay, I'm here and ready to roll. We start, of course, with the Redskins.
They don't seem to have any fire. It's hard to identify the team leaders. It's even harder to understand what in the world the coaches are doing. It's a mess. Gibbs sorta acknowledged the game had passed him by when he turned over calling the plays to Al Saunders. And you can't let a kid quarterback just sit on the bench forever, especially not when you've spent No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 picks to get him and your incumbent QB is on his way out. So much stuff makes no sense...like trading for T.J. Duckett and not using him. Like having a big, strong and tough back like Mike Sellers and not using him in goal line situations. Every time I'm around other teams in the NFL, people who work or play for that team come up and ask, "What in the hell are the Redskins doing?" It's unbelievable how curious people are about such a bad team...And it's because Gibbs is the coach and because the Redskins spent so much money (again) ill-advisedly, according to them...What a mess. They were the only sad-sack team in the NFL yesterday...Well, maybe Arizona. At least the Giants had five starters injured and out. What was the Redskins excuse? They had no fire, played with no apparent purpose, and looked bad in every phase of the game...like they beat Dallas last week and spent the rest of the week thinking they were good. If you matched the Raiders and Redskins tomorrow in a game at a neutral site, I'd take the Raiders. At least their defense appears nasty and passionate.
La Plata, Md.: It's not all the offensive lines fault. The 'Skins do not have a blocking tight end and it shows week after week.
Michael Wilbon: Blocking tight end is a small detail. It's not one of the top 15 things that ails the Redskins in the big picture.
College Park, Md.: Freddy Adu's your boy. Where's he gonna go?
Michael Wilbon: If Man U. wants to...or any premiere team in Europe, you go, right? Uh, yes...you go. I wish Freddie well and hope this turns out great for him.
Crisfield, Md:.when would you put in Jason Campbell? I was thinking four weeks ago.
Michael Wilbon: Definitely two weeks ago in that game in Indy...Not putting him in is starting to look simply out of touch. He doesn't have to start, but he needs to play. Look at Vince Young and the progress he's made since he started for the first time...I think it was five weeks ago. The kid really is coming along. Campbell hasn't even had his first growing pain yet. I guess the Redskins are waiting until next year so he can be green then, too.
Washington, D.C.: Other than feeling the tone of the game, players and possibly crowd, how much does actually being at a game improve the sportwriter's analysis of most contests? Can you basically produce the same written work from watching it on television, or is game attendance more a precaution in the event something extraordinary happens on the field/court.
Michael Wilbon: No, you cannot produce anything close to a fully comprehensive piece watching on TV. First and foremost, you see in-person what the camera might not show you. Second, you need the access to the players and coaches afterward (and, maybe, the officials) to ask guys why things happened the way they did...both the obvious questions and some that aren't so obvious...The real work for sportswriters begins after the games in the locker room. You oughta come out of those rooms know a helluva lot more than you did when you walked in...or you haven't done your job well.
Giants Stadium: I can't remember any other supposedly big time QB having the accuracy issues of Eli Manning. The guy kills drives by missing wide open receivers. Very frustrating.
Michael Wilbon: He certainly didn't play well last night...but the Bears do put pressure on you. And his starting left tackle went out with a broken leg, leaving ancient Bob Whitfield (who, to be fair, was a great player in his prime) to try and block speed-rusher Alex Brown...Not a good matchup. Brown, I think, got both of the Bears sacks on Eli.
Lawrence, Kan.: Do you think the college basketball will be on a different level now with players not going straight to the NBA?
Michael Wilbon: Yes...more kids will actually learn to play...even though many of them think they already know. Both the college game and the NBA will be better. How could the college game not be better with Greg Oden for a year or two...And how could the NBA team that drafts him not benefit from him transitioning from boyhood to manhood, and from learning how to practice, how to play, how to deal with pressure (in March Madness). The only thing wrong with the new rule is that it doesn't go far enough. The age limit ought to be 20.
Carlos, Washington, D.C.: So how about those Wildcats upsetting Ohio State? Great call!
Michael Wilbon: Hey, it was a hopeful call. That's my school, my team, and I was hoping...Didn't come close to working out, but I'll cheer for them again next week...and we were coming off a victory at Iowa, having held Michigan to 17-3 the previous week in The Big House...I was playing a hunch that turned on me!
Bethesda, Md.: What do you think the odds are that not only will Gibbs not play Campbell this year, but that he'll bring in another veteran past his prime for next year? I really hate to say it, but I'm beginning to think that it's time for Gibbs to go.
Michael Wilbon: There's an increasing number of you out there, coming out into the sunlight and proclaiming your skepticism...We'll have to see if this is a populist movement! I think Gibbs/Saunders have to play Campbell. They're too smart to be so shortsighted as to not play him at all. It would be enormously stupid.
Baltimore: Ravens seem to pull it out week after week -- can they go all the way?
Michael Wilbon: I don't think the Ravens are as good as the Patriots (who have lost two straight) or San Diego (whom they beat a few weeks ago)...and definitely not Indy...But I think a Ravens-Indy AFC Championship game matchup would be a goodie...But the Ravens have to have Ray Lewis sharp and healthy. These back injuries are tricky...I hope Ray is back on the field next week.
Washington, D.C.: What do you think of the Terps chances of running the table? They haven't won any games decisively but they have won five straight and they always seem to finish the season strong. Is there any chance of them making a BCS bowl?
Michael Wilbon: Don't the Terps have Boston College this weekend, then mighty Wake Forest, then (potentially) Virginia Tech in the ACC championship game? Boy, that might be asking a lot. Big ups to the Terrapins and Ralph Friedgen for what they've done thus far...Who had them at, what, 8-2? They've been opportunistic and jumped up to smack down opponents who are struggling a bit. Good for them. I don't know about running the table, but 9-3 wouldn't be half-bad, would it?
SE, D.C.: Who will be the first player to rip Gibbs, the organization, and the QB in the paper?
As a fan -- I would applaud someone doing it.
Michael Wilbon: Why, so you can feel better? You think that helps the team get better? Overwhelmingly, it doesn't. So, your frustration should be the team's No. 1 concern?
Washington, D.C.: You wrote two or three weeks ago that the Redskins need to start playing Jason Campbell. Well, Brunell still looks like crap and Campbell still hasn't gotten his first NFL snap. If Joe Gibbs doesn't let the kid play now that this season is obviously going nowhere what does that say about Gibbs? Delusional? Senile? Loyal to a fault? This is getting ridiculous.
Michael Wilbon: I don't have an answer (yet) to what it says about Joe Gibbs that he hasn't played Jason Campbell...But I'm willing to let you wander out there on that limb.
Warrenton, Va: Has Tony Romo surprised you?
Michael Wilbon: Yeah, maybe a little. He can run and throw on the run. I like guys who can buy themselves time to throw or create plays by moving around. You don't have to actually scramble ahead...But pass rushes are too sophisticated now to just sit back there and get pounded. Romo looks pretty good to me, and I was stunned when Parcells put him in for Drew Bledsoe a few weeks ago during that Monday Night Football game against the Giants.
Amidst the turmoil with the offense this year, do you think Al Saunders will return? As a lifelong Redskins fan, with the failures by the front office to BUILD a team properly...the near future looks very bleak!
Thanks for taking my question.
Michael Wilbon: Dan Snyder has had several chances to turn over the football operation, as some owners do, to a general manager and won't. We've had the conversation a half-dozen times and there are various reasons he doesn't feel the need to. My position is quite simple: The coach and GM need to be different people. They work at cross purposes. The GM is concerned, primarily, with the long-range future of the franchise. The head coach is concerned, primarily, with the health of the team this minute and nothing beyond this week. Gibbs did his championship work with Bobby Beathard running the day-to-day football operation. I believe in GMs.
D.C.: Yes -- the frustration of fans should be their No. 1 concern -- their fans that they rip off every other week at Fed Ex Field.
Michael Wilbon: If winning was the No. 1 concern, and it had better be, would you feel "ripped off"? No, you wouldn't.
Arlington, Va.: Did you hear about Steve Czaban (sports radio personality) asking Brunell on the Comcast postgame show whether he'd ask Joe Gibbs to put in Campbell for the rest of the season? For team growth/benefit? Why don't reporters ask the tough questions that need to be asked at press conferences?
Michael Wilbon: No, I don't listen to Redskins postgame on the radio. And because Czaban asked a question you don't like, you think no reporters ask tough questions at press conferences? How many postgame sessions have you ever attended? And keep in mind (a little inside-baseball here), many times I don't ask the questions I consider most important during press conferences, so that everybody can share the answer. Usually, I try to ask those questions privately so that I get the answer and MY READERS get the info and not everybody's readers...That's the nature of competition. And when you've been doing something for a long time, if the people you're covering respect you, they'll talk to you personally outside of the news conference, which is often just a waste of time.
NYC: What do you think of Ray Lewis's comments on the Sunday pregame shows that the McNair situation in Tennessee may have been racially motivated? Seems to me that of all teams, to accuse Tennessee of that is a stretch. I think it was an all too familiar story of owners disrespecting the people who have bled for them to protect a few bucks, as well as underestimating the same peoples business acumen in estimating their worth. In other words, they thought they could take advantage of McNair's loyalty and get him on the cheap, and when he was insulted they had not much choice but to lose a great player to save their business face.
Michael Wilbon: I think your analysis is dead on, in terms of bleeding an employee to death...dead on. But Ray didn't introduce race. Ray said, "I don't want to think this is just about black and white...but I can't see Brett Favre or Peyton Manning being locked out and treated like that..." That's the gist of what Ray said, and I agree with him. I couldn't see that happening with those guys either...Bigotry isn't always obvious or overt and it's very, very often something people aren't aware they're doing. But I reject the notion that because the Titans have had three black quarterbacks (Warren Moon in Houston when they were the Oilers), McNair and Vince Young means the organization is free of bigotry. Black people have always been accepted as performers for white people...For 200 years, it's been okay to entertain or perform...that doesn't mean the same people were treated equally. They were, until 45 years ago, asked to then eat in the kitchen. You can respect a man for one thing but not another, as many of us have found out personally every day. Do I think that is the way I'd characterize the head coach, Jeff Fisher? No, anything but. And McNair went out of his way to say, "Not Jeff Fisher." People who have played sports are among the least bigoted people because they've lived with folks of various colors. They've shared clubhouses and dugouts and locker rooms and shower stalls. They've come to know each other's wives and children. And they've come to love people of different colors on their teams, and hate people of the same color...Now, the executives? That's a different story. They're not in dugouts or clubhouses or showers with people different than they are...
Washington, D.C.: Hey Mike...Love your columns, chats, and "PTI."
What's your outlook on the college basketball season? Do you think Florida can repeat? Is this finally the year Duke doesn't win the ACC? Who's front-runner for the Naismith Award?
Michael Wilbon: I think Florida ought to be favored to repeat, but I think it's too hard today to repeat. North Carolina should be good. Ohio State. Georgetown. Yokim Noah of the defending champs certainly starts out with the game and the publicity to be player-of-the-year, doesn't he?
Fairfax, Va.: At least the Redskins get a good draft pick for being terrible....oh, wait a minute, that draft pick belongs to Denver as part of the T.J. Duckett trade. They lost a third-round pick and switched positions with Denver for a guy who has seen action in two games. Do you expect Duckett to get more time now that Portis is out? Did you see "Borat" yet?
Michael Wilbon: I haven't seen "Borat" yet, but I might on Friday night...Unless I see James Bond first...And yeah, the Redskins throw away draft picks like a comedian does bad lines.
Reston, Va.: Will Floyd Mayweather really fight only one more fight? Is he unappreciated? I think he's the bomb!
Michael Wilbon: Floyd didn't look all that great in his last fight against...was it Bernadini? Folks were expecting a knockout and Floyd needed a decision. But he's 29 years old; of course he's going to fight more. Sounds like he and The Golden Boy (not Tom Brady, Oscar De La Hoya) are going to get it on soon. And why not, given the tens of millions of dollars involved? But yes, Mayweather is a great fighter.
Silver Spring, Md.: Hey Michael, posting again to see if I could get this in...Do you think Maryland-Miami should have played this past weekend, and what was your take on that situation?
Michael Wilbon: Yes, the game should have been played. I couldn't disagree more with my friend Mike Wise and other columnists who took the opposite position. This isn't high school. The games go on. You don't have to wait until Saturday to mourn. The kid, so sadly, was murdered on, what, Monday night? So, the Miami players should skip class, too, the entire week? What, they're not going to mourn on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday? No, please. I don't get that logic. Don't tell me what I should feel and how I should feel about somebody close to me (and not to you) dying. The players said they wanted to play...that's it. Case closed. I'm glad those kids got to do what they wished to do...play the game they played with their fallen friend and teammate.
Cubbies: FYI--Aramis Ramirez just decided to stay with the Cubbies instead of test free agency. Five years, $70-some million.
Michael Wilbon:$73 million to be exact. In my household, we call that "Tony on Monday Night money." I'm glad Ramirez is staying. So, at least for one season, is Kerry Wood. I hope they're planning to use him as the closer.
State College, Pa.: What do you think about Yao Ming's start? Is he really getting better or is it just a flash in the pan? I like the way he plays -- sort of a throwback to the more nimble centers of old (as opposed to the Big Aristotle who just runs over people).
Michael Wilbon: Thank you for asking that! Anybody who knows me knows I've been touting Yao Ming since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, which is when I first saw him play. He's averaging something like 28 points and 10 rebounds through the early part of this NBA season and he's the best low-post presence in the league by far...especially with Shaq out...I can't see Shaq playing more than 60-65 games if that. So Yao is indeed the most productive low-post player in the league...Okay, I guess Tim Duncan is sometimes a low-post player, which would make Yao No. 2. But if Yao and Tracy McGrady can remain healthy, I like Houston's chances of winning a lot of games. He can shoot, face the basket or set up with his back to the basket, pass, rebound...He had six blocked shots the other night. Remember, big guys bloom late...Yao is still, I think, just 26...He really could have a six or seven-year explosion...
D.C.: Keeping Duckett from the Eagles paid off big, eh?
Michael Wilbon: Yeah, how did that work out? But you know what? It might keep Philly from winning, too. With Duckett and Westbrook? They could hurt some people with that combination...if Andy Reid actually elected to run the ball some.
L Street: How long would Gibbs last with this record in New York? How long would Frank Robinson last at Yankee stadium? We are a patient bunch.
But the richest team in football should not frustrate fans...put Campbell in and lets take the untested Ferrari for a drive.
Michael Wilbon: I'm happy with Washington not being New York. I love to visit New York for the weekend. If D.C. was New York, I wouldn't be living here.
Washington, D.C.: Has a place kicker ever left college early??
The junior for Rutgers (Ito) looks like a great draft pick for the Redskins when they finally have a pick in the sixth round!
MNF?: Do you think Tony's enjoying his "MNF" job? Personally, I'd rather have him back as a writer/radio/"PTI" guy than on "MNF."
Michael Wilbon: Those who have known Tony or those who have ready Tony for awhile know he's incapable of being happy...because then, what would he complain about? He'd have nothing to write about, nothing to talk on the radio about. No, he's not happy. He's never happy. Haven't you read or heard how he's out after one season because his life is so miserable!!! (A little tip: never listen to what Tony says about how miserable he is. He's used this device to make, oh, quite a few millions. Bless him. He's the best, and truly one of a kind. My career wouldn't have amounted to half of what it's become without Tony and his unhappiness.)
Baltimore: Not sure if you are still answering questions, but Maryland can't play Va Tech...Georgia Tech has already clinched the Coastal Division and will be in the ACC championship, all due to an impressive 7-0 whupping of UNC...ACC football rocks!
Michael Wilbon: Oooops. Wrong Tech. Yes, Georgia Tech...
College Park, Md.: As an addendum to the Maryland-Miami game, props to the Terps for donating their per diem money to Pata's family ...
Michael Wilbon: Yes, yes, yes. Thanks for mentioning that. It was a warm, warm act on the part of the Maryland people...Very warm.
Courthouse: So, what you thinking, Mike? Wolverines or Buckeyes? And why?
Michael Wilbon: I have no idea...Haven't done my pregame study yet. So seriously, I just don't know. I'm rooting for the Buckeyes, because as any Big Ten alumnus will tell you...there's only one school we all root against. (Michigan). I think that really does apply for about 80 percent of us who went to Big Ten schools. I almost NEVER root against Big Ten schools when we play non-conference games...Just Michigan football. It's in the blood.
Arlington, Va.: First impressions of the Wizards?
Michael Wilbon: Not much as changed. They lose too many close games...Between the Orlando game down there and the Nets game in D.C. last night, the Wizards should have won one of those...LeBron is coming Saturday; I can hardly wait.
S. Rockville, Md.: Wilbon, I know we're in the heart of football seasons (college and pro), but you missed a good one last night by not being at U. of Virginia's new arena for that game. As a UVA fan, I hope last night sets the tone for the season. Make sure you get down there this season (the February schedule looks good!).
Michael Wilbon: I know you're right about UVa's new arena...My wife went to Virginia and has already been to a function there (MC'd by Tiki and Rhonde Barber, who told me I was a knucklehead for not making that kickoff black-tie dinner). I'll get down there. Dave Leito is a coach I respect tremendously and Virginia is smart to have hired...I'm looking forward to seeing a game there this winter...But I'll wait until the ACC schedule.
No New York?: Why don't you like New York? You're a city guy! Chicago isn't exactly the sticks, though most New Yorkers might joke it is. New York is a great place to live. I grew up in D.C., I love D.C., but give me New York anyday.
Michael Wilbon: Yo, did I not say in my answer that I like NYC. I don't just like it, I love it. I love visiting. I've spent more nights in NYC than anyplace except Washington and Chicago in my lifetime. I SEEK reasons to go to NYC. One thing I miss about not doing "Sports Reporters" anymore is the Saturday nights in New York City...I love the shopping, the nightlife, the restaurants...I love being at the U.S. Open and the afternoons on weekends in the summer just hanging out...BUT, I don't want to live there. I want a car and space and trees and grass...and some quiet now and then. And because I like midtown and downtown and not the New York suburbs, it's sometimes too over-the-top. So, living in D.C. affords me the chance to sneak to NYC when I need my fix, then get the hell out of Dodge when I've had enough...See.
Okay, I gotta run. We've got Ron Jaworski as a guest, and we have to prepare for the show...For those of you in D.C., where it was miserable when I left this morning, it's 67 and sunny here in Charlotte where the Buccaneers will play the Panthers tonight.
Next week we'll see if the Redskins have sunk any lower, and we'll be able to talk about Ohio State vs. Michigan and the BCS, plus the big stuff coming up for Thanksgiving and beyond...Thanks everybody. Later.
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Personal Tech
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2006111319
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Read this week's column about Skype: Videophoning From an Unexpected Source.
Want to know what upcoming topics are being covered? Sign up for the Fast Forward e-letter-- get updated information on personal technology news and product demos.
Past editions of Rob's e-letter are online here.
Rob Pegoraro: Greetings! With Microsoft's Zune digital-media player arriving in stores tomorrow--to be followed soon afterwards by Sony's PlayStation 3 game console and Nintendo's Wii console--it looks to be a big week in personal tech. Let's get started...
Spokane, Wash.: How does Skype stack up with Vonage --- for phone service. I have Vongage sitting here still in unopened box. I downloaded Skype but not started it yet either. Please tell me which is best and save me from experimenting. Thanks
Rob Pegoraro: Skype is better suited for use as a secondary line. It is free, but it also confines you to talking on your computer unless you buy one of the new (and still pricey) WiFi Skype-enabled cordless phones. Also, Skype has no 911 calling capability. Vonage doesn't have that issue; it is something you could consider as a replacement for a voice landline.
Springfield, Va.: Mail-in-rebates are a real pain. Why are we required to pay an extra $20 for gadgets and software, file a rebate form, and then wait 5 months to get the same money back? What purpose does it serve?
Rob Pegoraro: Good question--and thanks for reminding me that I need to cut out the bar code from the box of the new computer that I just bought, then figure out how to extract a proof of purchase from the retailer's Web site. Wish me luck!
Alexandria, Va.: Besides video games (PS3 and Wii) what's the the big tech buy for this holiday season? HD TV, got one; new PC (waiting for Vista and then for the bugs to be worked out).
Rob Pegoraro: HDTV, definitely. Prices for all manner of high-def screens--LCD, plasma, DLP, etc.--have crashed through the floor. And it seems the safest of bets to say that Apple will, once again, sell a boatload of iPods.
I know you should never have two antivirus programs at the same time on your computer. But how about antispyware programs?
I have Spy Sweeper, Windows Defender, and Bit Defender's antispyware option (comes with their antivirus program, and I can disable it). I haven't detected any problems yet. But I'm concerned. Should I get rid of two of them and keep just one? If I should, I'd be inclined to go with Windows Defender.
Rob Pegoraro: Depends if the anti-spyware apps have a monitoring function that watches for changes to your system (like Windows Defender does), or if they just look for and try to remove spyware problems after the fact.
If you've got two anti-spyware tools overseeing Windows, you will at least see the same kind of warning message twice--"program so and so wants to run at startup, is that OK?" You *might* have more serious trouble, but then again you might not. Really depends on the interaction of the two spyware removers.
As you may have noticed, I'm a fan of simplicity. My advice in this case is to pick one anti-spyware utility and stick with that.
Fairfax, Va.: Rob, What about the labeling for Vista and Vista Pro compatability on new computers? Are they making it clear whether or not their pcs are or are not compatable ?
Rob Pegoraro: Fairfax is asking about an issue I covered in this recent column. Some retailers and manufacturers do seem to be doing a better job at identifying the "Premium Ready" computers that can (theoretically) run the mainstream version of Vista; for instance, Gateway added a Vista-compatibility chart to its Web site. But since there's no standard "Premium Ready" logo or tag, you need to read the ads carefully.
I've heard so much of the new iPods. Do any of the models have "inline recording?
I know the Creative Zen V Plus and the Iriver Clix (if you buy the little holder) does have this feature. Line in Recording is supposed to make it easier to record from CD and such. At least that's what I read on C-Net.
Thanks for answering if you can!
Rob Pegoraro: I believe they all now support that, so all you need to do is add a microphone accessory--Belkin and XtremeMac sell one each. Not sure of the audio quality this setup would deliver, though.
Fairfax: I will soon need to replace my PC. I use Dreamweaver and Fireworks quite a bit and am trying to research if Vista is compatible with them. I can't really find anything "official". Does someone test this stuff and post it? Everything I am hearing about Vista is starting to scare me and wonder if I should just buy before Vista comes out and stick with XP. Thoughts? Thanks!
Rob Pegoraro: You should be fine. Those are widely used apps under active development; I guarantee you that if there are any glitches, Adobe and Microsoft are working to fix them--or have fixed them already.
Any compatibility problems are more likely to happen with older or abandoned apps, plus system utilities (just like when XP came out, a new Microsoft OS means you need new anti-virus software).
Orange County, Calif.: Hi Rob,
I'm having home network connection issues (XP). My desktop can see my laptop's shared files, but my laptop cannot see the files from my desktop. I've tried the Network Connection Wizard on the desktop, but I get an error message saying it cannot be completed.
I tried to contact HP's chat support, but they referred me to the Microsoft website because they could not address the issue. I could not find an article to address my issue on Microsoft's website, and because my computer was pre-installed with XP, the website referred me back to HP. Apparently, I can't even pay Microsoft to help me.
How do I even begin to address this? Should I just give up and use a flash drive to transfer files? Might be cheaper and less hassle in the long run. Thanks.
My suggestion would be to turn off any third-party firewalls on the two computers; use the one built into XP instead.
Springfield, Va.: RE: free Zone Alarm. Rob, I forgot to mention that free Zome Alarm also interferred with the update part of the new AVG.com software. I kept getting an error message saying that it could not connect to the server. This could have been due to the fact that I had not change Zone Alarm to recognize the new version of AVG. However, I had turned off Zone Alarm and it still interferred with AVG updates.
Rob Pegoraro: Here's another reason why I'm leery of aftermarket firewall software.
Alexandria, Va.: I bought a Canon digital camera a couple years ago which uses a CompactFlash card. I see that their current models now use SD/MMC. Has CF become the Betamax of camera media? What's the difference between SD and MMC, and do any of the formats stand out as being better than the others?
Rob Pegoraro: The real Betamax of camera media is Sony's Memory Stick--well, actually, the xD-Picture Cards Fuji and Olympus insist on using are even less compatible and more useless.
CF still has some viability in the market--a lot of high-end digital SLRs still use it. But SD has taken over pretty much everything else. It's cheap, it's widely available and it's become a standard feature on computers and electronic gadgets alike. I wouldn't buy a camera that doesn't use SD Cards.
Tenafly, N.J.: Hi Rob, I heard something about an iPod for books. Do you know anything about that?
Rob Pegoraro: Do you mean audiobooks, or book books? The iPod has been able to play audiobooks in the Audible format for years. You could use it to read e-texts as well, but it's not set up for that. Sony sells a new gadget called the Sony Reader that's expressly designed for e-book reading... is that what you're thinking of?
Mail-in-rebates are a real pain. Why are we required to pay an extra $20 for gadgets and software, file a rebate form, and then wait 5 months to get the same money back? : Rob, Simple answer. I don't buy products unless I get the rebate at the point of sale. I won't consider buying anything with a mail in rebate. Who's to say that you'll ever get it ?
Rob Pegoraro: You gotta be persistent, that's for sure.
Mystic, Ct.: Hey Rob -
How does Skype compare to Apple's iChat, both in terms of functionality, clarity of use and picture quality? I know my non-Mac friends need a particular version of AOL IM to communicate with me via iChat. In your opinion, is Skype a better solution?
Rob Pegoraro: For cross-platform video or audio chats, yes. iChat AV is the best option for Mac-to-Mac videoconferencing, but it no longer supports video with AIM for Windows (AOL says Apple needs to support the same standard that they've moved to with the latest version of AIM).
Washington, D.C.: Hi Rob, Regarding your Help File column about System Restore not working - I had the same problem but unfortunately turning it off and back on didn't work either. I also tried turning it off, restarting the computer and then turning system restore back on with no luck. I finally gave up even though my computer is having loads of trouble and could probably benefit from it (for all I know the issues and problems might be why it won't work).
Rob Pegoraro: Sorry to hear that. In my experience, very few Windows remedies will work for everybody and every time. There's just too many ways for things to break under the hood... if I can come up with a fix-it routine that gets 2 of 3 readers' computers back to health, I feel like I've done pretty well.
Alex, Va.: will I be able to run vista and XP on seperate computers on my home network? I can't afford to buy two new computers at the same time and neither computer is upgradeable to Vista's requirements. Also, will Vista impact my printer in anyway?
Rob Pegoraro: Yes and I don't think so (you might need to download a new printer driver for the Vista PC).
Burtonsville, Md.: Rob, when I create playlists on my iPod in iTunes, are there now two copies of each song taking up space on my iPod, or is the playlist merely a shortcut to the song residing in my iPod music library?
Rob Pegoraro: The latter--making a playlist isn't like making a mix tape. You can have the same song in as many different playlists as you want.
Laramie, Wyo.: Rob, I have a 5-yr-old ink jet printer (Lexmark Z42), that I never use because the ink keeps drying out in it. If I buy a new ink jet printer, will this still be a problem? I print stuff roughly every 1 or 2 weeks. Thanks.
Rob Pegoraro: That shouldn't be a problem at all--if inkjet ink dried out in a week or two, I would have had to buy $300 of the stuff by now. (I don't print all that often at home... a lot of the time, the printer is just the machine that outputs boarding passes.)
Bethesda, Md.: This is a very easy question, but I can't seem to find the answer anywhere. Are flash drives like CDs, where I can read the data on both a Mac and a Windows PC? Or are they more like the old floppy disks that can only be formatted for one operating system? Thanks!
Rob Pegoraro: Flash drives--and recordable CDs and DVDs and external hard drives--are all cross-platform unless you format them in either Apple's "HFS Extended" file system or Microsoft's NTFS format. And that's something you have to go out of your way to do; the default format for almost all those things is something called FAT32, which Macs, PCs and Linux machines all speak fluently.
Barnegat, N.J.: My Verizon Treo 700p will not synch with my Windows Media Center PC. After purchase of the Treo, which says it is XP Compatible on the box, I learned Palm does not support Media Center or Tablet versions. With over 5 million media centers sold just this year, can you help with a solution? It appears the problem is due to a lack of a driver...
Will this Treo 700p synch with the new Vista operating system?
Rob Pegoraro: I'm pretty sure that I've synced Palm handhelds with Media Center PCs before. "Doesn't support" is usually weasel words for "we're too lazy to train our help desk"; it often has nothing to do with actual compatibility.
(But if there is some real issue, I'd like to know. A *lot* of new PCs now ship with Media Center editions of Windows.)
Alexandria, Va.: I am a Cingular customer looking for a smartphone. My priorities are web browsing, PDA functionality, and a camera. What's my best bet? (Or should I switch to another carrier for a better phone?)
Rob Pegoraro: Get yourself a Treo.
From Daniel Greenberg: For Orange County, Calif.
This is exactly the kind of networking nuisance that Network Magic is designed to fix. One of the test networks that I installed it on for the Washington Post review had this same problem- folders would not share across the network. Try installing Network Magic 4.0 on all the PCs on the network. Then click the Shared Folders button on each PC and share the folders you want. That was all it took on the test system to fix folders that XP would not share. It's also free for 30 days, so if it doesn't fix it, no big deal.
Rob Pegoraro: Our longtime contributor Daniel is talking about a program he recently reviewed (and favorably so): Tools to Make Home Networks Manageable - washingtonpost.com
Austin, Tex.: Thanks for your great column. Though I have not used the video service yet, I've been using Skype as my principal office phone for a full year now, and could not be happier. Only a handful of dropped calls in that time, and they may have been operator error. I do use a headphone with mic.
Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the report, Austin.
Arlington, Va.: Enjoy your columns. Someone wrote in with this question a few weeks ago, and at that time you were unable to answer it. I'm wondering if you've heard more reports since and could give me some guidance. I just started using the new version of Firefox. When I click the address bar, it does not highlight the entire current address. This makes it really inconvenient to enter a new address. I've looked in preferences and on the Mozilla support pages and have seen no discussion of this.
Thanks very much for any assistance you can offer. I like Firefox very much overall, but this little glitch might keep me using IE.
Rob Pegoraro: There's something wrong with your installed copy of Firefox, not the program in general--on every PC that I've installed it, the entire address is selected when I click it. I haven't gotten any other reports about this issue, so [shrug] I don't know. Sorry...
Washington, D.C.: I made the mistake of setting up my XP computer user account as Administrator. Now my Internet access, programs, wireless network et al are on that account. Now I understand that represents a security threat. I can change the account to user only without Admin privileges, but will that ruin my Internet settings, wireless settings, etc.? What other problems might arise. Any advice on making the change?
Rob Pegoraro: Don't. It's just too much work to run XP as a non-admin user. You're just going to have to keep your security software up to date--and, more important, be smart and skeptical about running any software.
(Every few weeks, I hear from some poor reader who's installed a program that a pop-up ad told him he needed. For the love of all that's holy, DON'T DO THAT. EVER.)
NY, NY: What're your thoughts on the Q and the Chocolate? Do you have any gossip on which carriers are going to have great phones coming out for holidays?
Rob Pegoraro: I like chocolate... oh, wait, the Chocolate phone. That's one model that I haven't gotten around to trying out. I have, however, tested the Q and found it wanting: Although it looks extremely sharp, it only runs the "Smartphone" edition of Windows Mobile, which severely limits its usefulness (no memo pad, very few WM apps run on it).
New York, N.Y.: Dear Rob,
I read your little advertisement piece for Skype. It's good, but it would be better if you also cover other services, which are way cheaper than Skype, and have the same, or better quality.
I use www.sip2go.com and it's better than Skype.
washingtonpost.com: Videophoning From an Unexpected Source, Nov. 12
Rob Pegoraro:"Advertisement"? I guess you missed the parts where I said Skype's no good as a replacement for landline phone service, and that you may have to spend some time fiddling with audio settings to avoid annoying audio problems.
Also, Skype-to-Skype video and audio is free. How can you get cheaper than that?
Laurel, Md.: I, too, had problems with a seldom-used printer until it failed completely. I never replaced it. I installed PrimoPDF as a pseudo printer; printing to it prompts me for the name of an Adobe PDF document. If I ever need hardcopy, I just copy the PDF onto a flash drive and go to the public library to use a taxpayer-funded printer with taxpayer-funded paper and taxpayer-funded ink. I can even print the first five pages for free.
Rob Pegoraro: Attention all Maryland residents: This guy is the reason why your property taxes went up last year :)
Herndon, Va.: Rob, we are buying a house in PA to retire to, and will be going up once a month on weekends for the next few years. Do you have any suggestions on how to have Internet service cheaply, since we will not have a land line and really do not want to pay for Internet that we would only use once a month.
Rob Pegoraro: Hope that you'll be within WiFi range of a neighbor with broadband who will let you kick in a few bucks on the weekends you're in town. That, or pay for expensive cellular broadband that you can use both here and there. There isn't any other good option; cable and DSL price plans just aren't geared towards that kind of on-and-off use.
Washington, D.C.: I just got a Toshiba Gigabeat 30GB. I'm enjoying it but will all the dizzying choices, like now the Zune, should I revisit my decision? I didn't get the IPod because its usage is so proprietary. The downside is don't know when I'm interested in accessories like portable speakers, whether many will be available for my Gigabeat.
Rob Pegoraro: I fear WDC is repeating one of the more pernicious myths about the iPod. The iPod is *less* proprietary than most other digital-media players; it plays MP3s, regardless of where they came from, and can be used with Windows as well as Mac OS X. You don't need to spend a dime at the iTunes Store to use an iPod.
Now, to answer the actual question :)
The Gigabeat hasn't sold well, from what I've seen, so I don't expect the accessories market to get any better. Several companies have said that they'll sell accessories for the Zune, so if you're worried about that Microsoft's player would be a better bet.
Bethesda, Md.: Growing up in Minnesota, one Spring ritual was placing bets on the day an old junk car would melt through the ice. Any bets (or even, educated guesses) about how long Microsoft will support XP once Vista is released?
Rob Pegoraro: Quite possibly, XP support will continue until 2011. I figure it this way: Microsoft just ended support for the Service Pack 1 iteration of XP, which shipped in 2002. Microsoft has already said that it will ship Service Pack 3 for XP in 2008. If SP3 has the same three-year support lifecycle as SP1, that gets you to 2011.
Remember, most XP computers will be ill-equipped at best for Vista.
Arlington, Va.: I haven't used a landline-based phone at any of my residences in five years, living purely with my wireless phone. However, my new condo is stuck in a dead-zone for my provider (Cingular) and I'm missing lots of calls when I'm home. Would something like Skype or Vonage work well for me? Are they able to provide a new phone number, or are they only able to convert numbers from traditional carriers?
Rob Pegoraro: Both Skype and Vonage can provide you with a phone number for incoming calls. Not sure about their ability to port over an existing number to their own service, though.
Arlington, VA: Firefox 2 Revisited: After losing bookmarks a couple of times and getting good at replacing them (not happy about it, though), FF2 continues to zap them out of existence now and then... had to re-do it twice this weekend. Also had the problem where it wouldn't save new bookmarks. All in all, FF2 is a huge disappointment and is killing the reliabile reputation previous versions established with me. Any further thoughts on your end? Thanks... p.s. Still using NOD32 on viruses and it seems as thorough and efficient, yet not resource-intensive, as advertised.
Rob Pegoraro: Something's screwed up with your user profile. Back up your bookmarks--sounds like you can do that in your sleep--and nuke your user profile: Go to your Documents and Settings folder, then type "Application Data" in the address bar. Delete the Mozilla folder there. Then restart Firefox.
McLean, VA: I've seen you recommend Treos, but I really like the look of Verizon's XV6700 (bigger keyboard). Any thoughts on this phone? This will be my first smartphone and I'm trying not to judge on looks alone!
Rob Pegoraro: It is a nice phone, just too thick for my tastes. If you're going to spend a LOT of time online, however, it's probably the model to get--not only does it support Verizon's BroadbandAccess, it also has WiFi, so you can use regular wireless networks (and not have to worry about Verizon's broadband-usage caps) when they're available.
Washington, DC: After I loaded Mp3's from I-tunes to my Ipod, I deleted the songs from my hardrive thinking that I could just retrieve them from the Ipod and place the songs back as an Mp3. Is there a way to do this?
Rob Pegoraro: Yes, but you need to use some third-party software for that job, as I wrote in this old Help File: Music Copying Software; Monitoring Upload/Download Speeds (washingtonpost.com)
(The Mac program is at a different Web site, but the site I listed there will forward you to the right Web page.)
Even if you could easily move your MP3s from the iPod back to the computer, it would still be unwise to keep them only on a device that can easily be lost or stolen.
Charlottesville, Va.: Wii or PS3?
Rob Pegoraro: I would guess that for most people, the equation will be more like "[Xbox 360 or PS3] or Wii."
And if I had any real interest in video games (which I don't, as anybody who's seen me play Halo can attest), I think I'd lean towards the Xbox. It's cheaper, it's got a great selection of games and you shouldn't have any trouble finding one in stores this holiday season.
Wash DC: Laptops - 2 questions: Is the core 2 duo a much faster processor than the AMD 64 x 2, or single duo, celeron. I am not a gamer and just want a laptop (under 1k) that is easy to use for email, surfing the web etc but will not be too slow - recommendations: dell, gateway, HP, toshiba?
Rob Pegoraro: Don't even worry about processors. Your choice won't make any difference for the uses you outlined; a faster processor will just mean the computer gets hotter and has a louder cooling fan.
I'd look at Dell and HP for a laptop--although both companies' tech support was mediocre to awful the last time I called, they do seem to get a lot of the design basics reasonably right. (I type this in the hope that HP has stopped including the annoyingly oversensitive touchpad that made the dv2000 barely usable.)
Washington, D.C.: I have a 2002 Cannon Elura 50 camcorder that doesn't work properly anymore-- the screen (and therefore the tape) flash and flicker so that the videos can't be watched or even heard. Most places will charge me $275 to just look at the camera to see what the problem is. Is it worth it to try to fix a camcorder or should we just buy a new one-- it seems they should last more than 3.5 years.
Rob Pegoraro: Just buy a new one--you'll probably save money that way. But you're right, these things should last longer than 3.5 years (and Canon has a good rep in general; you might have just had bad luck).
I do computer repair and upgrades and such and I've been hearing from a LOT of people with problems after IE7 was installed. How about you?
Rob Pegoraro: A few of the same issues seem to be cropping up--the HP print software issue I mentioned, as well as a newer one involving an error with a missing "psapi.dll" file ( this page has a fix for that). So far, all of these issues seem to have been fixable in one way or another... not that they aren't annoying anyway.
NY, NY: I'm in desperate need of advice on this: I am a Verizon Wireless customer and I recently shattered my phone. Now, I can either buy a new phone from Verizon at full price, and I'd want a Q or cooler phone, or I can make a switch to T-Mobile and get a BB Pearl and probably cheaper rates. I like Verizon, but I don't like any of the phones out now. Do you know if they plan on rolling out any new phones this holiday season? Or should I switch over to T-Mobile and get the Dash or Pearl? Thanks!
Rob Pegoraro: I don't know about Verizon's plans, but the PhoneScoop Web site has a pretty good track record at predicting them: Phone Finder - search database of cell phone specs & features (Phone Scoop)
NoVa: Hey Rob, You are my tech guru! Help me with this: My DSL goes dead every few days. Sometimes a restart helps, or turning the modem on and off. The down-time usually doesn't last long but it's a pain in the !#$-.
I think it may be a firewall problem (ZoneAlarm), but is there a way to diagnose this?
Rob Pegoraro: Sure - turn off ZA and use the firewall built into XP instead.
You might just have a bad DSL connection, though...
Fairlington, Va.: My wife and I need a new desktop. She is pushing for one before year end, I'm wary of getting ahead of Vista release. Saw an article saying Dell and others would start to cut deals in December -- any truth to this? Is it worth waiting till next year, or is December just as good?
And is 2GB of memory enough for Vista, or will it be sluggish? Help me, obi-Rob Kenobi, you are my only hope...
washingtonpost.com: Check out Rob's column about purchasing a "Vista Capable" computer: Get It?, Nov. 2.
Rob Pegoraro:2 GB should be more than enough, and 1 GB ought to suffice for a lot of home users. But I'd hate to run Vista with only the 512 MB that most computers have shipped with over the past few years.
West Milford, N.J.: Rob, you didn't have much luck with Windows Live Messenger and video connections. That hasn't been my experience. My brother and I have been using it since it was MSN Messenger--it seems easier to get and keep a connection with video rather than just the audio connection. Must have something to do with the servers MS is using or maybe how busy the service is (fewer people with cameras or just don't feel like they need to use a camera). Last week my brother and I had a connection for well over half an hour and it worked just fine. As a matter of fact I also took a VOIP call from someone else while we were connected and both connections still worked fine. In short, I'd advise people who are using Windows Live Messenger to give it a try.
Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the note!
Chantilly, Va.: Rob, What's the latest on the dual side DVD burners? Price, reliability? Does it require a different media than a regular DVD?
Rob Pegoraro: Dual-layer DVD burners have become almost standard fare on all but entry-level models. There's nothing special to using them besides remembering to buy dual-layer media instead of standard DVD blanks.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Dear Mr. Pegoraro:
Since the Washington Post prides itself on being self-critical, surely they wouldn't object to your reviewing the new version of their electronic edition (via NewspaperDirect). I think it needs it. (Perhaps others in the chat may indicate whether they're happy with it).
The main problem I've had is that sometimes (e.g., Saturday and yesterday) it comes without the index and with the text-view function apparently disabled (putting the cursor on the title does nothing, when it should allow one to open the individual article). Even when the index shows up, you have to go back to page one each time you want to see it.
Another problem is that there seems to be no way to close the thumbnails window, which is in the way when you use the magnification options (they are limited in number and there is no full-screen option). The previous version of the electronic edition allowed downloading as a pdf file, so you could choose any magnification level you wanted (AND you could save it to disk).
I have been in contact with a "Digital Support Specialist", but I suspect she is with NewspaperDirect rather than with the Post, so she can hardly admit that the old version (Olive Software, I think) was better.
By the way, she told me they recommend IE6 or Netscape 7 rather than Firefox for XP users, which I thought was rather backward.
Any help you or other chat participants can provide would be greatly appreciated, since I'm about 500 miles from the nearest place (Minneapolis) I might hope to get a copy of the Post.
Rob Pegoraro: Posting this so that the people who run the electronic edition (note: not me) can read it. Thanks for sharing...
Arlington, Va.: I have an old computer that I want to get rid of. I'm concerned about disposing the computer with my personal info on it. I have downloaded one of those disk wipe programs from the internet. However, I'm not completely confident that I will be able to select for wiping all of the files with personal info since they may be scattered around. This might sound like a crazy question, but if I want to be completely sure of protecting myself, would I be better off if I just removed the hard drive for the computer and smashed it into pieces with a hammer?
Rob Pegoraro: No--you might hurt yourself that way.
If you want to completely wipe away every last electron of your data--and have a set of CDs to reinstall Windows--download a disk-erase utility called Darik's Boot and Nuke (Hard Drive Disk Wipe). Boot the computer off that, type "autonuke" at the command prompt, and then wait. As in, wait for a few days... it's not a quick process at all.
Arlington, VA: "I fear WDC is repeating one of the more pernicious myths about the iPod. The iPod is -less- proprietary than most other digital-media players; it plays MP3s, regardless of where they came from," Don't most other digital media players play MP3s, regardless of where they came from? So the iPod is not -more- proprietary, but it's not -less- either.
As for the Gigabeat, it's pretty awesome. It's true, the accessories market for WMA players is very limited compared to iPod's. However, any portable speakers that plug into the mini-jack will work with it. We just connect the Gigabeat to our stereo with a "Y-adapter" available at any Radio Shack, and the Gigabeat acts as a pretty cool remote control. Also, rumor has it (and we'll find out tomorrow) the Gigabeat's jack (next to the USB port) is the same as the Zune's. Toshiba manufactures both. Hmmmmm. So maybe Zune accessories will work with Gigabeats? Perhaps this is another deal Microsoft had to strike to compete with their Playsforsure "partners"
Rob Pegoraro: Other players don't work with Macs. A lot of them don't even work in Win 2000, while the iPod does. Thanks for the Gigabeat comments. Hope WDC sees them...
Ijamsville, Md.: Now that almost every local TV station is broadcasting in digital, I'm interested in dropping Cable in favor of free OTA TV. Only thing holding me back is my need for Tivo. I don't want to pay $800 for the new Tivo3. Have your reviewed the computer alternatives (e.g. a Mac Mini with Elgato hybrid HDTV tuner and PVR software, a PC with HDTV tuner card and Sage or BeyondTV PVR software). Any thoughts which platform is better?
Rob Pegoraro: I have not. They're probably a lot more work to set up... but if doing that work meant I'd save $800 upfront, plus $17 a month from then on, I'd do that work! If you wait a few months, you should have a good selection of HDTV-tuner-equipped DVRs and DVD recorders to choose from.
Columbia, MD: Rob, Is there some new technology for televisions on the way that will allow for a larger size for CRT TVs?
Rob Pegoraro: No. The CRT is basically dead. It will hang on for a while at the low end of the market, but that's about for the venerable tube TV.
Annandale, VA: Hey Rob, I'm in the process of returning my XBOX 360 for the second time to MS (3 RED LIGHTS). Although I purchased a 2 year warranty, they had no record of it (a 2 hour search at home yielded the lost warranty), however, after 45 minutes on hold with MS, they told me my warranty service was for another box (of course, the one that they replaced earlier). They finally agreed that I had purchased a warranty when I faxed it to them. Next they told me that, even though my warranty says that MS will pay for return service of a defective box, they have changed their policy. Sorry for the long story, but have you heard other examples of poor customer service for the XBOX 360? And also, is there someplace on the web where people like me can get together and complain about stuff like this? Thanks!
Rob Pegoraro: How about this chat? :)
Rob Pegoraro: OK, my time's up--I've got some deadlines calling my name. Thanks for all the questions!
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online 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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Puccini to Give You the Shivers
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After two of the warmest, most radiant late autumn days in memory, November reverted to form yesterday, with incessant gusts of cold wind and enough rain to turn the Mall into a gigantic mud puddle.
And so the second of Washington National Opera's annual simulcasts -- Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" transmitted live from the Kennedy Center to a gigantic video screen near Fourth and Madison streets NW on the Mall -- drew only a small fraction of the audience that had been expected. The U.S. Park Police no longer provides crowd estimates, but the WNO estimated that last November's staging of George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess' attracted more than 13,000 people.
This year it was a different story. "Hey, you can be the first journalist in history to give a completely accurate crowd count for an event on the Mall," Scott Herron, a spectator from Arlington, said with a grin as he surveyed the sparsely populated lawn. "You can just interview everybody here!"
In fact, a quick tally suggested that between 200 and 300 people had chosen to spend the afternoon watching "Butterfly" in the rain. They wore raincoats and huddled around heating lamps. Some sat on grimy patio furniture lugged from home; others shared wet blankets and shivers.
"It's still a great deal," Herron said. "How can you beat free opera? The only tickets that were left at the Kennedy Center were $225 apiece. So of course we came down and we're going to do our best to stick it out."
Janet Chance and Catherine Simile, both of Silver Spring, agreed. Simile calls herself an "opera fiend." "I saw 'Porgy' at the Kennedy Center last year, and loved it so much that I came down to the Mall to see it again. I wish it were a nicer day, but I'll be right here as long as I can see the screen."
Chance has always enjoyed classical music but said she was just learning about opera. "I heard the Mozart and Puccini 'Welcome to Opera' program that was presented at the Kennedy Center a couple of months ago and thought it was fantastic." Still, she allowed that she "might decide to drop in at the Smithsonian" if the weather got much worse.
The weather was also very much on the mind of Rob Schneider, the technical director of the simulcast, who watched red, green and yellow shapes align and realign themselves ominously on a computer weather radar map. "I'd say we'll make it through Act 1 before the rain starts up again," he predicted as doomed Cio-Cio-San and caddish Lieutenant Pinkerton (here sung by Xiu Wei Sun and Arturo Chacón-Cruz, and conducted by WNO General Director Placido Domingo) broke into their rapt love duet. "And then we'll go on as long as we can, just so there is no danger to the crew or to the public."
The 18-by-32-foot screen was safely anchored, he said, unless there were 40 mph winds. "But everybody would have gone home long before we reached those conditions. It's no fun to be in 40-mile-per-hour weather."
The wind did grow colder, and there was some more rain, but the feared deluge never materialized and a hardy group of listeners made it through the afternoon.
"As far as I'm concerned, if even 20 people will come out on a day like this and listen to an opera outdoors, that's pretty terrific," Schneider said. "Talk about devotion!"
It was impossible to reschedule the performance because of the complicated arrangements necessary to present anything on the Mall. The choices were to cancel or go ahead with the show. The show went on.
A good call. The Mall was charged with happy energy yesterday, as visitors chose to make the most of an imperfect situation, suffer through the elements with friends, and listen to some fresh and exuberant singing emanate from speakers lined up to the sides of the screen.
At the first intermission, WNO board Chairman John Pohanka announced that there were plans to present Puccini's "La Boheme" as the next simulcast.
"In September," he added, which drew some scattered cheers.
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Visa Places Abuse Victim In State of Uncertainty
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2006111319
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After Lilian Ibeh's husband left his job at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington under the threat of criminal charges, the mother of three faced two bleak options.
She could stay in the United States illegally with the children or return to Nigeria, where she feared her husband would hurt her for accusing him of battery -- a charge that cost him a coveted diplomatic post.
In 2002, however, Ibeh found what initially seemed like a miraculous lifeline. She applied for a type of visa for victims of crime established by law in 2000 in an effort to foster trust between law enforcement agencies and immigrants. The initiative was warmly received by immigrant advocates concerned about the reluctance of some immigrants to report crime and cooperate with prosecutors.
Although Ibeh's application for what is called a U visa was approved temporarily, the actual visa remains unavailable because Department of Homeland Security officials have not drafted final regulations spelling out eligibility requirements and future options for visa holders. That has left Ibeh, her children and thousands of other foreign-born crime victims in limbo and has frustrated immigrant activists, who say the visa category has failed to live up to the lawmakers' vision.
"Other women are afraid to speak out because they are being called illegal immigrants, and they are afraid of being sent back to their abusers," Ibeh, 40, said during a recent interview at her Rockville apartment, as her children watched her fight back tears. "That's my fear. I'm just dancing in the air. They make you feel like you're neither to the right or to the left. You're in the middle -- stuck."
The U visa was a key provision of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. The new visa elated immigration advocates, even though its main impetus was to give law enforcement officials a tool to keep undocumented victims and witnesses of serious crimes in the United States to testify or otherwise cooperate with authorities.
Legislators designed the visa for foreigners who could prove that they had been victims of a crime in the United States, had information about the crime and had helped or were willing to help authorities investigate or prosecute the case. Applicants have to submit a personal statement that is backed by a form signed by a local or federal law enforcement official.
Congress set a yearly cap of 10,000 U visas for principal applicants -- spouses and children are eligible for derivative visas -- but left key decisions about eligibility and the application process to immigration officials.
"All we act on right now are memos from headquarters," said Jeff Joseph, a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, referring to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the division of the Department of Homeland Security that handles immigration benefits. "There are so many unanswered questions."
For example, it is unclear whether people who are in deportation proceedings or have an unexecuted deportation order qualify and whether applications from people who entered the country illegally would be treated differently than those submitted by people who entered legally but stayed beyond their authorized time. It is also unclear for how long the visas would be issued and whether they would be renewable. U visa holders would not be eligible for permanent residency unless they qualified for a green card through other means.
Lawmakers initially set no deadline for final regulations. But last year, they attached a provision to an unrelated bill mandating immigration officials to establish guidelines no later than this past June.
Chris Bentley, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said final regulations are pending because the process is complex and involves numerous agencies.
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After Lilian Ibeh's husband left his job at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington under the threat of criminal charges, the mother of three faced two bleak options.
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For Wizards, in OT, It's Nothing but Nets
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2006111319
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The Washington Wizards had every opportunity to beat the New Jersey Nets last night and reach 4-0 at home for the first time since 1974-75, but Vince Carter's three-pointer from 26 feet at the fourth-quarter buzzer sucked the life out of Verizon Center and left the Wizards deflated for overtime.
The Nets outscored the Wizards, 18-6, in the extra period and emerged with a 105-93 victory, dropping the Wizards to 3-3. Prior to Carter's tying shot, the Wizards made enough plays to erase a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit.
The game appeared to be in Washington's control when forward Michael Ruffin slid in front of a driving Carter and took a charge with 3.2 seconds left in regulation, preserving a one-point lead.
However, after Jarvis Hayes made two free throws following two quick New Jersey fouls, Bostjan Nachbar inbounded the ball with 2.6 seconds left to Carter, who wheeled off a double screen and made a three-pointer at the top of the key with Hayes and Gilbert Arenas running at him. Carter's shot hit the back of the rim and appeared to stick for a split second before dropping through. Carter finished with 34 points and seven assists.
"Great shot by a great player," said Hayes, who was assigned to Carter but got rubbed off by screens set by Nenad Krstic and Jason Kidd. "That's it."
Kidd was his usual playmaking self and finished with 15 points, 18 assists and 11 rebounds for the 77th triple-double of his illustrious career. Kidd was particularly sharp in overtime when he picked the Wizards apart by repeatedly finding open teammates after working around screens.
The Nets made all five of their shots in overtime, including a three-pointer by Kidd. The Wizards made only 2 of 9 shots in the extra period, turned over the ball twice and looked disjointed while trying to defend Kidd on the pick-and-roll.
"It was a very tough game to lose," said Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan. "We fought back and got the lead, but it was a great shot by Carter. The ball went to the back of the rim, stuck there and fell in. The shot took the wind out of us and we weren't able to respond in overtime. We gave up 18 points. We'll take a day off, lick our wounds and get back to work on Tuesday."
The ugly finish was appropriate on a night when the Wizards never established a rhythm offensively. They shot 35.1 percent, made only 7 of 27 three-pointers and failed to pounce when the Nets slogged through a 17-point third quarter.
Arenas paced the Wizards with 25 points but made only 6 of 23 shots, Antawn Jamison was 3 of 6 from the field en route to finishing with a season-low nine points and eight rebounds and Caron Butler finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds but missed four shots in the final period.
The Wizards were off early, missing 10 of their first 11 shots and falling behind 17-2 before Jamison and Arenas created a spark by making three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. The Wizards trimmed the deficit to four when Etan Thomas made a layup with 1 minute 36 seconds left in the opening period but New Jersey pushed its lead back into double digits on consecutive three-pointers by Carter and Nachbar late in the second.
With 3:10 remaining in the half, the Nets led 44-32 and Kidd had more assists (7) than the Wizards as a team (6). Jordan tried to put a charge into his team by turning to reserves Donell Taylor and Calvin Booth for a portion of the second quarter.
Taylor, who did not play in four of the first five games, provided some defensive energy and gave an eerily silent crowd something to cheer about when he made a pretty reverse layup and knocked down a long jump shot in transition on consecutive possessions, but New Jersey outscored the Wizards 27-19 in the period and took a 50-36 lead into halftime.
The Wizards appear to be a team that is still trying to figure out how to win on nights when the offense isn't clicking and open shots aren't falling.
"We're a veteran team and we've been there before so [overtime] never should have taken place," Jamison said. "We've got to grow up, deal with the situation and play through things. Tonight we didn't do that."
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Vince Carter bangs in an improbable three-pointer at the buzzer to force OT and Jason Kidd has a triple-double as the Nets stun the Wizards, 105-93.
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Time in Senate May Be Irrelevant if Obama Runs
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Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) might be well advised to stay in the Senate several more years before running for president, as many strategists have suggested. But there are at least 40 reasons to challenge that advice.
That is the number of senators who have tried, and failed, to reach the White House since Sen. John F. Kennedy (D-Mass.) accomplished the feat in 1960. Nearly all of them had more Senate experience than Obama, underscoring the light regard that American voters show for senatorial longevity and expertise in presidential elections.
If Obama's aim is to become a more respected and knowledgeable senator -- in the mold of, say, Robert J. Dole (18 years in the Senate before his 1996 presidential race), Henry "Scoop" Jackson (20 Senate years before his 1972 bid) or Richard G. Lugar (20 Senate years before his 1996 try) -- it may be a laudable goal. But it's a highly questionable presidential strategy.
"The Senate historically has not been a great place from which to run for president," said former senator Bob Graham (D-Fla.), who personally learned the lesson in 2004. "Senator Obama might feel he would be better off to run while he has not been tainted by an excessive period in the Senate."
In the nation's history, only Kennedy and Warren G. Harding have been elected directly from the Senate to the presidency. But the dismal statistics have not dissuaded dozens of senators from trying, including big names (John Glenn, Edward M. Kennedy), largely forgotten names (Larry Pressler, Carol Moseley Braun) and plenty in between.
U.S. voters repeatedly have shown a preference for governors, especially during the 52-year stretch from Grover Cleveland's first election through Franklin D. Roosevelt's fourth, and again in recent years, when seven of the past eight presidential campaigns have been won by former governors. The 2008 presidential race seems certain to focus special scrutiny on why senators with impressive résumés have fared so poorly in White House bids.
Not only did Obama cause a sensation last month by simply saying he would consider a 2008 campaign, but the early front-runners in both parties are senators: Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).
Perhaps no governor will emerge from the pack, as Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did, and 2008 will prove the exception to the rule. But scholars of presidential campaigns have their doubts.
"I'm skeptical that a senator can make it," said Barry C. Burden, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison who has written on the subject. "Just looking at the historical record, the odds are not very good."
Burden said voters generally like the executive experience of governors. Additionally, governors, more than senators, are much more able to set their own agendas, make bold decisions, and avoid complicated legislative debates and votes that opponents can exploit.
"The skills that make a person a good legislator are not the skills that make a person a good presidential candidate," Burden said. "The kind of compromises that make you successful in Congress don't make you successful in a presidential campaign."
Analysts say veteran lawmakers often are prone to legislative jargon and explanations that baffle voters. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) damaged his 2004 presidential campaign when he said of a spending package for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars: "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." Republicans ridiculed the remark, but many people on Capitol Hill understood that Kerry supported the package when it was linked to repeals of tax cuts for the wealthy and that he opposed it when the link was dropped.
As a veteran lawmaker, "you have lots of votes under your belt, which the opposition-research guys can use to twist you into a pretzel," said Scott Reed, Dole's campaign manager for his 1996 bid.
Obama, who is 45 and just two years removed from the Illinois legislature, has a third option that is less viable for McCain and Clinton. He could angle for the vice presidency, a route to the Oval Office for former senators Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon -- but not for Hubert H. Humphrey, Walter F. Mondale, Dan Quayle and Al Gore.
First, however, Obama must sift through the bountiful and conflicting advice of whether to seek the big prize now. Graham, who was Florida's governor before joining the Senate, said: "My advice would be to lay out a plan of action to have him fully ready to be president in 2013. That schedule would just about coincide with what President Kennedy did" -- that is, becoming president after eight years in the Senate.
But Reed thinks 2008 may be the year to break the senatorial jinx, in part because the primary season will be shorter. That should help front-runners such as McCain and Clinton, he said, or perhaps a shooting star such as Obama.
"The old axiom may go out the window this year," Reed said of 2008. "I'd advise Obama that if he has any interest in serving [as president], to take the race. You can't go back in this business and recapture what you had."
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Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) might be well advised to stay in the Senate several more years before running for president, as many strategists have suggested. But there are at least 40 reasons to challenge that advice.
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Hope Tempered by Skepticism As Nigeria Faces Historic Vote
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ABUJA, Nigeria -- In a half-built office building, where exposed concrete blocks and stacks of wood told of work yet to be done, Maryam Adamu Umar, 28, smiled into the eye of a tiny camera. Moments later, a printer churned out a strip of paper that officials say will be key to the freest, fairest vote in Nigeria's 46-year struggle toward democracy.
An election official used a child's Spider-Man ruler to tear the new, technologically advanced voter card into proper shape. And though the lamination machine had run out of plastic, Umar did not complain. She hoisted her 2-year-old daughter onto her hip and walked away with the piece of paper bearing her personal details and a small, grainy picture of herself.
"I don't think this thing is a license for a free and fair election. It's just a procedure," said Umar, dressed in the dark head scarf and long robe worn by Muslim women here. "There has never been a free and fair election in Nigeria."
Such skepticism, fed by generations of rigged votes, military coups and political violence, darkens the mood of Nigerians as they head toward what should be a historic moment -- the first ever transfer of power from one democratically elected president to another.
Analysts say its success could entrench Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and a major oil producer, as a modernizing, democratic state that could continue to provide stability to troubled West Africa. Its failure, they say, could return the nation to dictatorship or, worse still, a civil war that could undermine the region's recent steps toward peace.
Voters say they are eager for their next president to curb rampant government corruption and unify the more than 250 ethnic groups that British colonialists roped into an uneasy union before departing at Nigeria's independence in 1960. The mix, especially the north-south divide between Muslims and Christians, remains volatile. Thousands have died in political and ethnic violence in just the past decade.
"I pray that we get peace in this country," said Hamisu Muazu, 37, from the northwestern state of Zamfara. Many also say the next president must revive the economy. Despite surging oil revenue, Nigeria remains a profoundly poor, underdeveloped country, beyond the elite neighborhoods of its major cities where prominent business leaders and politicians live lavishly.
"For democracy to work, people have got to see the benefits," said Remi Oyewumi, a political analyst. "If it's just going to be for a few people to loot the public treasury, it's not going to work."
With Nigeria's many political parties about five weeks from selecting candidates for the April vote, there is at least as much anxiety about the future as excitement.
Nigerians say they have no trouble imagining worrisome scenarios: The election could be rigged. The military could take over. President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had considered rewriting the constitution to seek a third term, could find a way to extend his time in office.
Or, even before any of those things, the audacious task of registering up to 70 million voters from scratch could collapse in a nation where far less ambitious government projects, such as filling potholes, routinely fall behind schedule.
"Political stalemate appears to be the hidden agenda," said Omo Omoruyi, a political analyst and top adviser to Ibrahim Babangida, a candidate for president.
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ABUJA, Nigeria -- In a half-built office building, where exposed concrete blocks and stacks of wood told of work yet to be done, Maryam Adamu Umar, 28, smiled into the eye of a tiny camera. Moments later, a printer churned out a strip of paper that officials say will be key to the freest, fairest...
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Ugandan Rebel Emerges To Talk With U.N. Official
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RI-KWANGBA, Sudan, Nov. 12 -- The top U.N. humanitarian official met Sunday with a Ugandan rebel leader accused of war crimes, but he failed to secure the immediate release of women and children held captive by the insurgent group.
The United Nations' Jan Egeland waited for two hours at a clearing in southern Sudan before Joseph Kony, the messianic leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, emerged from the bush with 30 bodyguards, bayonets fixed to their assault rifles.
Kony and Egeland shook hands before speaking for 10 minutes in a green tent erected by the United Nations. Egeland was seeking the release of women and children enslaved by the group during its 20-year conflict with the Ugandan government.
But Kony denied that his forces were holding prisoners.
"We don't have any children," he said in a brief news conference in the clearing just across Sudan's border with Congo. "We only have combatants."
Egeland is the first high-ranking U.N. official to meet Kony, who has declared himself a Christian prophet fighting to rule Uganda and its 26 million people by the Ten Commandments.
Kony has appeared in public only a handful of times, fearing arrest and extradition to The Hague to answer war crimes charges from the International Criminal Court, which has also issued arrest warrants for his top deputies. The rebels have been accused of murder, mutilations and kidnapping children for use as soldiers and sex slaves.
Almost 2 million people have been displaced by the conflict, aid organizations say.
After the talks, Egeland described the meeting as a success, saying the rebels had agreed to give an assessment of how many women and children were in their camps.
Egeland traveled by helicopter to Ri-Kwangba, a neutral zone just north of the Congolese border where the rebels are to gather under the terms of a peace deal with the Ugandan government. About 100 Lord's Resistance Army fighters loitered on the outer edge of the clearing.
"I am a humanitarian worker; I help people by relating to people who can unlock situations," Egeland said late Saturday.
Egeland said he was unwilling to discuss the arrest warrants, which the rebels say threaten the fragile peace deal signed with the government in southern Sudan's regional capital, Juba.
The rebels want the warrants dropped before they sign a comprehensive peace deal; the Ugandan government says it will ask for them to be lifted only after a full agreement is reached.
Uganda's government welcomed Egeland's meeting with Kony.
"If he can secure the release of women and children through his meeting, then that would be a very positive boost for the Juba talks," said Ruhakana Rugunda, head of the government negotiating team and Uganda's minister of internal affairs.
The Lord's Resistance Army is made up of the remnants of a rebellion that began after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni took power in 1986. It has set up rear bases in Sudan and Congo and has been accused of attacking civilians and threatening stability in those countries.
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RI-KWANGBA, Sudan, Nov. 12 -- The top U.N. humanitarian official met Sunday with a Ugandan rebel leader accused of war crimes, but he failed to secure the immediate release of women and children held captive by the insurgent group.
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Study Health-Plan Options Carefully This Open Season
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2006111319
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For the next four weeks, federal employees and retirees will select their health insurance coverage for 2007. Many will escape the sticker shock of past years, as federal officials say 63 percent of enrollees in the federal employee health insurance program will see no increase in their premiums next year.
But policy analyst Walton Francis , who tracks premium and benefit changes in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, cautions against falling into open-season complacency.
Without the jolt of the usual large premium increase, "the danger is that people won't pay attention," he said. "They are going to yawn and go about their business, and that's a mistake.
"There is a 'change' page in every plan brochure, and people ought to be looking at that page," Francis said.
He added, "There are lots of decisions to be made by each individual subscriber, and there is often a better deal available right now."
Francis is the chief researcher and writer of the annual "Checkbook's Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees," sponsored by the nonprofit group that publishes Washington Consumers' Checkbook magazine. The guide rates the more than 250 FEHBP plans, taking into account premiums, catastrophic limits and estimated out-of-pocket costs for most medical expenses. The guide also figures in tax savings that employees gain by paying their premiums through pretax payroll deductions.
The 2007 guide, Francis said, shows that:
· Some plans are good buys and can save hundreds or thousands of dollars.
A federal family of four, for example, should check out Blue Cross basic, the American Postal Workers Union consumer-driven plan, the Government Employees Hospital Association standard option, and the Aetna and Mail Handlers high-deductible health plans.
The guide also give high marks to some health maintenance organizations, such as the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan's mid-Atlantic standard and high options, the Aetna Open Access basic option and M.D.-IPA.
A retired federal couple enrolled in Medicare parts A and B should take a look at the annual costs and savings under GEHA standard, Mail Handlers high-deductible, Blue Cross basic and the APWU consumer option, according to the guide.
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For the next four weeks, federal employees and retirees will select their health insurance coverage for 2007. Many will escape the sticker shock of past years, as federal officials say 63 percent of enrollees in the federal employee health insurance program will see no increase in their premiums...
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For Georgetown 'Apostles,' A Rowhouse Rebellion
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2006111319
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It's about God, America and the bonds of friendship. Or, maybe, it's just about beer.
On one side of the battle: nine best buds at Georgetown University who hung a skull-and-crossbones flag outside their home and a porn star poster inside. On the other: their neighbors, who accuse the students of running a scam to keep their partying friends together.
They live on quiet 35th Street NW, in a stately section of Georgetown, where Brian O'Neill Jr., 20, and his roommates moved in August and promptly held pool parties so loud the university and police were called.
This is where your classic town-gown dispute gets weird. The $2.4 million house that J. Brian O'Neill Sr. bought for his son is allowed only six unrelated residents under zoning laws. But if it's a residence for a "religious community," the number jumps to 15.
The solution? The Apostles of O'Neill. That's the name the young men used Oct. 2 when they filed paperwork to incorporate as a nonprofit religious organization. In an e-mail statement, the group says that it has donated to charities and that its mission is "to be active and positive members of our community."
The neighbors call it blasphemy and a possible precedent-setting threat to property values. It has impressed some of the young men's parents, including one who called it "ingenious" and another who said they were defending American property rights in the face of fuddy-duddy Georgetowners. And it has registered little reaction from the Catholic university, which says it doesn't consider the Apostles its business.
"It's between the owners of the property and the city," university spokesman Erik M. Smulson said.
Even as e-mails have been flying for a month between city officials and residents' groups over what O'Neill's friends on his Facebook.com Web site tease is his "fake religion," the students may in fact have found a legitimate legal loophole that gets at a core question: What is a religion?
There is no definition of "a religious community" in city regulations, said Karyn-Siobhan Robinson, spokeswoman for the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which interprets and enforces the city's zoning rules. Agency officials visited the 3,600-square-foot, five-bedroom home in September and issued a warning about crowding after neighbors complained.
But because of the Apostles' filing, she said, the agency is looking at the case anew. Among the things the city can consider is the IRS definition of a religious organization: "one whose principle purpose is the study or advancement of religion."
Meanwhile, many neighbors living in the large, attached rowhouses are livid at the notion of landlords using the idea to pack homes with up to 15 high-paying students. Concerns about safety in off-campus homes increased after a 2004 fire killed a Georgetown student and news reports revealed that many houses were unsafe and had landlords without the required basic business license.
"This shameless proposal makes a mockery of the Zoning Ordinance (not to mention religion) and could have potentially devastating effect on the quality of life in our neighborhood," Georgetown architect Outerbridge Horsey wrote in an e-mail to the Citizens Association of Georgetown.
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It's about God, America and the bonds of friendship. Or, maybe, it's just about beer.
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Crane Spotters
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2006111319
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As the last rays of sun bathed the willow trees of New Mexico's Bosque del Apache, a cacophony echoed across the countryside south of the tiny village of San Antonio. Thousands of geese and cranes soared above this wildlife refuge astride the Rio Grande, then settled in ponds that spill across its 57,000 acres. A half-minute of silence disturbed only by the rush of a light wind was soon broken as the birds, responding to some unknown signal, suddenly erupted, cackling, from the vast refuge and flapped across the landscape.
I drove to one of the wooden boardwalk lookouts while the sun painted the cliffs to the west in shades of mauve and lavender. A regiment of ducks, as military as web-footed soldiers, paraded across the water two by two. Above, cranes were putting on their aerial performance, forming a V-shaped phalanx with impressive precision. Two stragglers, apparently trying to catch up with their group, accelerated in flight, their necks stretching out, their beaks aiming toward the forward pack.
Were the laggard cranes afraid they would lose sight of their buddies? Would there be a reward for those that landed at their destination first? Was I interpreting what I saw in misguided anthropomorphic terms? I wasn't sure. Nor was I sure that it mattered. Binoculars pressed against my eyes, I just watched, transfixed.
In the heart of the forbidding desert of central New Mexico, just about the last thing you would expect to find is a convivial marina for migrating birds. Yet 10 miles south of Socorro, whose 8,500 residents make it one of the larger population centers in the region, sits one of the most dynamic national wildlife refuges in the American West. Each fall and winter, this marshy woodland area attracts an astonishing number of birds and flocks of bird-watchers who love them. November through March is high season, when the sanctuary hosts tens of thousands of ducks, snow geese, sandhill cranes and other birds that have fled winter in their northern homes.
At dawn and dusk, these temporary inhabitants take off and land en masse. It's a spectacular scene; the skies are suddenly filled with squawking winged creatures in different configurations, as if choreographed by a hidden ornithological ballet master.
The equivalent of homecoming weekend is the Festival of the Cranes, which takes place this year from Tuesday through Nov. 19. Federal wildlife rangers and volunteer birding experts offer special tours, exhibits and lectures in and around the Bosque headquarters, about a 90-minute drive from Albuquerque.
However, the birds themselves don't limit themselves to a single weekend, nor do they put the festival in their PDAs. They are as much fun to visit anytime during the fall and winter. Indeed, on a late afternoon in November when I last visited, the refuge was as bustling as the streets of Mumbai.
Some 64,000 ducks, 21,000 geese, 10,000 sandhill cranes, six eagles and two rare tundra swans -- among other inhabitants -- chirped, squealed, sang, warbled, trilled, tweeted, quacked, honked, hooted, cooed and serenaded each other, delighting a small contingent of binocular- and camera-toting humans who climbed out of their cars along the Bosque's 15-mile loop road to gaze, stupefied, at the marshes and ponds swirling with life. (The bird count is posted daily at the visitors center and on the Friends of the Bosque Web site -- see Details, below.)
I don't know the difference between a Ross goose and a snow goose. Nor did I ever expect to visit this place more than once. But it captivated me the very first time, some years ago, and now I make regular pilgrimages.
Not the least of the Bosque's attractions is its unexpectedness. The name (Spanish for "woods of the Apaches") is somewhat of a misnomer. There aren't serious forests here, and the nearest Apache land is 100 miles east. As you drive along the interstate south from Albuquerque, the landscape does not inspire visions of an Audubon-esque haven. In winter, the region is, to borrow Wallace Stegner's phrase, "a great dry and wrinkled land," the color of dun. Only when you turn south at San Antonio and head toward the Bosque does the gentle riparian locale of small trees, scrub brush and marshland begin to appear.
I try to time my arrival for just before 4 p.m., since the greatest activity takes place at sundown and sunrise. Even before I reached the visitors center, I saw the first V-formation of cranes swooping overhead. By the time I parked at the wooden "flight deck" nearest the fee station, the fly-ins had begun in earnest. The birds fly out at dawn to feast in the nearby fields; then at dusk they fly back to the ponds to visit with their friends and to seek protection from predators.
The sun began to sink behind the low-lying Chupadera Mountains while I watched hordes of red-winged blackbirds settle into the wetlands. Nearby were numerous coots; dozens of pairs of gray sandhill cranes in their awkward yet familiar pose, each balancing on one long, skinny leg; and such a profusion of white snow geese that it looked as if someone had shaken out a huge featherbed.
The refuge is not purely natural. Rather, it is a manufactured environment that is also an ecological success story. According to its literature, 200 years ago the seasonal flooding of the Rio Grande produced a "mosaic of rich habitat" in the region, which provided plenty of food and shelter for migrating birds. But when the Rio Grande was dammed and diverted years ago, the wetlands were so disturbed that not many birds found it appealing. Then, in 1939, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service intervened to re-create and imitate the original flooding cycle, in part by engineering waterways and manipulating water levels.
The results were remarkable. Today, the Bosque is crisscrossed with man-made canals and ditches regulated by head gates installed to form marshes. Refuge workers are removing invasive bushy tamarisk shrubs and reintroducing native plants such as screwbean mesquite, New Mexico olive and wolfberry. Nearby farmers and refuge staffers grow such crops as winter wheat and corn that are known to be favorites of the birds. The government has actually transformed the place into a five-star feathered resort.
The many species attracted to the Bosque seem to have established a peaceful coexistence. From a different lookout platform on the loop road, with the Chupaderas now silhouetted in the last orange light of dusk, I noticed a blackbird perched on top of a dead tree trunk standing in the shallow water. The silence returned for a moment, but soon the raucous chatter began again, even more loudly than before. Thousands more ducks and geese descended, calling to one another in the darkening sky, their feet splashing the surface of the water.
Dusk melted into evening. The numbers grew and grew, until the sky was swarming with flocks of geese and cranes. The ponds filled with enormous clusters of ducks. The air reverberated with birdcalls. What a show! A 10-year-old girl standing on the deck with her parents began jumping up and down, exclaiming, "This is so cool!" over and over, as if she were at a Justin Timberlake concert.
I thought to myself that this must be what rush hour looks like to air traffic controllers. But watching airplanes never held me spellbound. Unable to leave, I remained until it was completely dark. I kept my tape recorder on, so that when I returned to the workaday world, I could listen to my bootleg "Bosque Oratorio" and be transported once again to New Mexico's most enchanting aviary.
Grace Lichtenstein is a part-time Santa Fean who last wrote for Travel about New York City bicycle touring.
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Find Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland travel information, including web fares, Washington DC tours, beach/ski guide, international and United States destinations. Featuring Mid-Atlantic travel, airport information, traffic/weather updates
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A Salute to Duty and Sacrifice
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2006111119
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Norman Halfpenny heard the first strains of "The Marines' Hymn" and snapped to attention, his 73-year-old body not quite as straight as when he served as a young man in Korea and Vietnam.
He was joined yesterday by thousands like him, hundreds in wheelchairs, their hair grayed by time. Many traveled thousands of miles for this moment, on the 231st anniversary of the Marine Corps, to gather on a grassy promenade near the Quantico Marine Corps Base, to remember and cry and celebrate the opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
VIDEO | Bush attended a cermony at the new Marine Corps Memorial.
"I made sure he got here," said Halfpenny's wife, Paulette, 63, gripping her husband's uniformed knee. The couple donated $4,000 toward the construction of the $90 million facility and traveled from their home in Arizona for the ceremony. They wanted to be among the first to visit the striking museum, designed on a sharp angle reaching skyward to invoke one of history's most famous images -- the flag being raised over Iwo Jima during World War II.
Halfpenny wanted to talk about his years of service, about the combat he saw in Korea at the famed Chosin Reservoir, where Marines valiantly fought the Chinese, but he was halted by his own tears.
"It's the Corps," he said, weeping. "Once a Marine, always a Marine."
Visitors, many in uniform, showed up hours early for the dedication ceremony, waiting eagerly for an address by President Bush, who arrived to thunderous applause. He hailed the museum as the military's most modern, giving visitors an appreciation for what it's like to serve.
"For too long, the only people to have direct experience of the Marine Corps have been the Marines themselves and the enemy who has made the mistake of taking them on," Bush said. "The Marines believe you can't know what you stand for if you don't know where you come from. The history of the Corps is now preserved behind these walls. These walls remind all who visit here that honor, courage and commitment are not just words. They are Corps values for a way of life that puts service before self."
The museum, which opens to the public Monday, is the creation of the Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, which raised $60 million for its construction. The Marine Corps provided another $30 million to fill out the museum's interior, which will include more than 1,000 artifacts, 1,800 photographs and personal letters from the battlefront.
The museum is split into separate galleries that focus on many of the major wars, including one gallery called "Global War on Terrorism," which displays photographs, combat art and maps fresh from battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. Other galleries to be installed later include ones on the Colonial period, the Civil War era and World War I.
The museum is filled with iconic artifacts -- a Grumman F9F-2B Panther, its first widely used jet; a Bell UH-1E Huey, the ubiquitous Vietnam War helicopter; the pair of American flags raised at Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
Museum exhibits also include personal artifacts, such as the Medals of Honor awarded Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Daly, often referred to as "the outstanding Marine of all time," for his heroics during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and the first Haitian campaign in 1915. Also on display is the M40A1 sniper rifle used by Lance Cpl. Charles Benjamin "Chuck" Mawhinney in Vietnam, where he killed a confirmed 103 enemy soldiers. And there is the overseas cap worn by legendary Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, who fought in World War I.
The museum, in the southeastern end of Prince William County, is expected to boost tourism and economic development in an area that has struggled. It is off Route 1 and will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Fees will be charged for two interactive experiences -- a flight simulator and target practice.
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Norman Halfpenny heard the first strains of "The Marines' Hymn" and snapped to attention, his 73-year-old body not quite as straight as when he served as a young man in Korea and Vietnam.
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Retail's Old Guard Lives
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2006111119
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Every holiday season needs a comeback story. This year, the honor goes to the long-suffering department store.
For the past two months, department stores have basked in strong sales growth after years of sluggish -- and occasionally downright miserable -- performance. It began with a strong back-to-school season that outpaced all other retail sectors in sales growth. Momentum built in October, with department stores again in the lead. And now industry experts expect them to be among the winners during the high-stakes holiday shopping season.
Someone must have gotten on Santa's good side.
"They're the stellar performers," said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist for the International Council of Shopping Centers, a trade group. "This is good news. It's something that we have not seen for years."
It is a surprising turn of events for a sector whose heyday many thought had long since passed. Department stores were once destinations for a generation of shoppers. They filled entire blocks downtown and made miracles happen on 34th Street.
Then came the suburban mall. Department stores fled cities to take up residence in behemoth shopping centers, unwittingly setting up their slow demise in the process. Customers, especially fickle but influential younger shoppers, began favoring the mall's smaller specialty stores with more current fashions and merchandise -- think Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ann Taylor and Pottery Barn.
Meanwhile, big-box discounters emerged, offering many of the same types of goods as department stores but at much cheaper prices. Wal-Mart and Target siphoned customers away from traditional powerhouses such as Sears and JCPenney.
But early this year, something began to change. Specialty apparel chains faltered with boring merchandise. Discount stores were hit by falling home prices and costly gas, as well as a sartorial misstep or two. And department stores began to catch up.
In September, department stores recorded comparable sales growth, a key measure of retail, of 8.4 percent from September 2005, besting all other retail sectors for the first time this year. In October, they were up 6.2 percent, again beating other sectors. For the holiday season, Niemira predicted that sales growth would be 4.4 percent, compared with a nearly equivalent decline in 2002.
"Department stores have begun to understand what they need to do in the new retail marketplace," said Chris Donnelly, a partner at consulting firm Accenture Ltd.'s retail division. "They've started to kind of change the overall shopping experience to make it more current."
Experts debate the driving force behind the attraction. One theory is that young people are returning after being disappointed by specialty retailers. At department stores they find fashionable private-label brands and DJs spinning music to welcome them.
A monthly survey by marketing firm BIGresearch LLC asks about 7,000 people where they shop most often. In October, 26 percent of women ages 18 to 34 said they go to department stores. That's still lower than the 28.8 percent who said they shop at specialty stores, but it is the largest share department stores have had in two years.
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Every holiday season needs a comeback story. This year, the honor goes to the long-suffering department store.
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Need to Know - PostGlobal
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2006111119
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Mark Weisbrot - Imagine Osama bin Laden visiting the United States ten or 15 years from now, telling Americans who to vote for if they want to avoid getting hurt. It would never happen, but in Nicaragua something very similar happened in the run-up to their election on November 5.
Former U.S. Lt. Col. Oliver North, who helped organize and raise funds for a terrorist organization that decimated Nicaragua in the 1980s, returned to that country's ground zero in late October to warn the citizens there against re-electing Daniel Ortega.
Ortega first came to power in a 1979 revolution led by the Sandinistas, which overthrew the brutal Washington-backed dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza. The Somoza family had ruled the country since U.S. Marines invaded and occupied Nicaragua from 1927-1933.
But the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency soon brought guns and money to the enforcers of the toppled dictatorship, Somoza's hated National Guard. Before long these re-named "contras" were killing health care workers, teachers, and elected officials - the CIA actually prepared a manual which advocated the assassination of the latter. The contras preferred attacking these "soft targets" rather than the national armed forces. In that sense they were very much a terrorist organization; they also used torture and rape as political weapons.
These atrocities brought the contras universal condemnation from humans rights groups such as Amnesty International and Americas Watch. The Sandinistas took the United States to the World Court for its terrorist actions--the same court where the US had won a judgment against Iran just a few years earlier, for the taking of American hostages. The court ruled in favor of Nicaragua, ordering reparations estimated at $17 billion.
The heinous nature of these crimes and the direct involvement of the Reagan Administration disgusted millions of Americans, even more so after Ortega was democratically elected in 1984. Led by activists in the religious community, some hundreds of thousands of US citizens organized against US funding for the contras and convinced Congress to cut it off. That's where Ollie North came in: on behalf of the Reagan Administration, he illegally sold arms to Iran and used the proceeds to fund the contras. This became the infamous "Iran-Contra" scandal of twenty years ago.
North was convicted of various felonies for his Iran-Contra crimes, but never served time because his conviction was overturned due to a technicality on appeal. In 1990 the Sandinistas were voted out of office by a public weary of war, with President George H.W. Bush making it clear that the violence would continue if the Sandinistas were re-elected.
Nicaragua's economy never recovered from the war and the U.S. embargo. Today it is the second poorest country in the hemisphere, with a per capita income less than it was in 1960.
Now Washington tried to capitalize on past terrorism, combined with present threats, to achieve the same result as in 1990. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez warned that "relations with our country have been limited and damaged when the Sandinistas have been in power" and Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher warned of another economic embargo and the cutoff of vital remittances that Nicaraguans here send home to their families. The U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua Paul Trivelli has also breached protocol by openly warning that the United States would "reevaluate relations" with Nicaragua if Ortega wins, which he did.
U.S. officials' intervention went so far as to prompt a public rebuke from the Organization of American States, who asked them to stay out of the election. Meanwhile, millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are funding "democracy promotion" activities in Nicaragua, which have previously been used to influence elections there. And TV commercials show footage of corpses from the 1980's war, a warning of what might happen if Nicaraguans vote the "wrong" way. Washington's intervention in this election remains - as it was in the 1980s - an international disgrace for the United States.
The electoral victory of Sandinista Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, despite threats and warnings from US officials, is another example -- perhaps the most extreme so far -- of plummeting US influence in Latin America. The election attracted over 18,000 observers and more than 1000 journalists, because of its historic and symbolic significance.
In all of the other recent Latin American elections in which the Bush Administration had a strong preference, it remained silent before the vote: Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Cost Rica, and Mexico. In the October 29 election in Brazil, when for a brief period of time after the first round it appeared that centrist PSDB candidate Geraldo Alckmin had a chance to defeat Lula, the Bush Administration showed no sign of preference. (President Bush did intervene in Mexico after the vote was in, calling to congratulate right-wing candidate Felipe Calderon four days after the election, even though Calderon had not been elected yet). They had learned their lesson from the 2002 election in Bolivia, where the U.S. ambassador denounced Evo Morales and thereby gave him a huge boost in the polls.
But Nicaragua is so poor and heavily indebted, and suffered so much violence from its 1984 vote for Ortega that U.S. officials apparently figured that threats could work. Of course, these are mostly empty threats: a cut off of remittances is extremely unlikely, as are other economic sanctions. This is not 1985, when President Reagan could state, as required by law for imposing a U.S. economic embargo, that Nicaragua posed "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security" of the United States, and sadly, be taken seriously. And if there are loan cutoffs, Nicaragua could now borrow from Venezuela, as Argentina, Bolivia, and other countries have done recently. The press has also made much of threats that foreign businesses would pull out of Nicaragua if Ortega won, but this is equally doubtful: these businesses are making money there and will continue to do so under an Ortega presidency. Let's wait and see.
Mark Weisbrot is Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. and President of Just Foreign Policy. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan. He has written numerous research papers on international economic policy. He writes a column on economic and policy issues that is distributed to over 550 newspapers by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. His opinion pieces have appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and most major U.S. newspapers. He appears regularly on national and local television and radio programs.
We are constantly seeking submissions to PostGlobal. To send us a submission please click here.
By | November 10, 2006; 6:12 AM ET Previous: As Climate Changes, Can We? | Next: Hezbollah Bets Big Again
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thank you,for some real news.what americans don't realize if let real democratic goverments rule in latin america it would eliminate our imigration problems in this country and allow these countries to govrn themselves wether it's a socialist gov or not,the US doesn't seem to have problem china or saudi's.....
Posted by: JR | November 10, 2006 11:45 AM
Posted by: PM | November 10, 2006 12:40 PM
Each country knows what is best for themselves and north American influence is finally understood in the south. A beautifull country such as Nicaragua with its friendly people have suffered too much indeed. Unhappy with the current situation economicaly and politicly they have voted for change and especially their eyes have opened up towards the sout-south intergration with all its postive alternatives. Revolutions of a different kind are germinating across the world and the USA and all its puppets need to adjust but more importantly the people need to wake up and take the power back. As the Sandinistas slogans goes: United, Nicaragua will triumph. Lets hope that with the democrats taking control that policies and especially foreign policies will change.
Posted by: Mr Sustainability | November 10, 2006 06:35 PM
We are at a crucial time in our long-term relationship with Nicaragua. We must make it clear that will not take our aid to Nicaragua and run. Instead of cutting back on aid, we must actually increase our aid so the new Ortega administration will not be driven into the arms of Chavez. A modest investment in the infrastructure of Nicaragua, and more programs aimed at dealing with proverty can show the people of Nicaragua that the U.S. cares for them - particularly the poorest. Our NGOs and churches need to step up their involvement, so that the poor of Nicaragua can see Americans face-to-face, and not just through our government.
Posted by: MMM | November 11, 2006 06:56 AM
Oh well, what's surprising in all of this.
It is what America's governments do.
Posted by: Karim | November 11, 2006 02:53 PM
Have the reparations been paid? If not, it might be useful to do that now, just to show that America can be decent, too.
Posted by: Meyer | November 11, 2006 06:49 PM
Reparations have not been paid - in fact, the US withdrew from the World Court precisely because of this case and has nver returned, remaining a rogue nation ever since.
The US threatened El Salvador in precisely the same ways in the 2004 elections, because the FMLN candidate was on the verge of a victory. The main difference is that the Nicaraguan people are more astute politically and were not hoodwinked by the empty threats of a ban on remittances.
In contrast, considering the way our Congress has rolled over for every demand of the Bush Administration, it's quite easy to picture our president making a statement about Nicaragua being a threat to national security and being taken just as seriously as Reagan's was. After all, just about every perpetrator of the Iran-Contra scandal has a high-ranking appointment in the current government - Robert Gates is only the latest in a long string. People who should be in prison for war crimes are in charge of our government.
Reagan once made a statement about how Nicaragua was only 2 days' drive from the Texas border, implying that the Lone Star State could be invaded by Sandinista hordes at any moment. Incredibly, these kind of absurd statements continue to be taken at face value by our news media and our Congress. Otherwise, we would have never invaded Iraq looking for non-existant weapons of mass destruction.
Posted by: tn | November 12, 2006 11:30 AM
THIS MAKES THE UNITED STATES A STATE SPONSER OF TERRORISM.U.S HAS THE GULL TO CRITICIZE IRAN,BUT LOOK AT U.S.THE GROUPS THAT IRAN SUPPORTS LIKE HEZBOLLAH ARE FREEDOM FIGHTERS IN LEBANON,BUT TERRORISTS LIKE CONTRAS SUPPORTED BY U.S ARE HATED BY THOSE IN NICARAGUA.AMERICA SUCKS AT HELPING FREEDOM FIGHTERS,AMERICA SHOULD RSPECT NICARAGUA'S DEMOCRACY AND GETS ITS FILTHY HANDS OFF THIS BEAUTIFUL FRIENDLY NATION ONCE AND FOR ALL!
Posted by: THE UNDISPUTED TRUTH | November 12, 2006 08:06 PM
The U.S. has invaded Latin American countries over one hundred times; trying to promote democracy? Of course not, but to keep dictators in power, dictators that governed in accordance with Washington's interest.
Posted by: joe albert | November 14, 2006 12:00 PM
The real 9/11 is not the massacre at the NY World Trade Center, but the assassination of Allende in then democratic Chili and the mass-killing of more than 10000 men, women and children by Pinochet under direct finance from CIA. I do not hear any of those right-wingers making their comments here as they used to before they lost the Congress.
Posted by: Jean Laviolette | November 14, 2006 11:16 PM
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Elections Are Not Over In Nine House Districts
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Nine House races remain without winners after Tuesday's election, with state officials not rushing to certify the results.
Seven races involve Republican incumbents in tight contests to keep their seats, but in only one is the Democratic challenger ahead. In Connecticut, Democrat Joe Courtney leads Rep. Rob Simmons by a scant 166 votes. Almost a quarter of a million votes were cast. Recounts were scheduled through the weekend in 64 towns.
Rep. Deborah Pryce, a member of the House Republican leadership, leads her central Ohio race by 3,536 votes, pending the count of more than 9,000 provisional ballots.
Elections officials in the Columbus, Ohio-area have decided to delay that count by one day, to Nov. 19, so it does not disrupt the Michigan-Ohio State football game in Columbus on Nov. 18.
Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), who called Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) a coward last November, is ahead of her challenger, Victoria Wulsin (D), by 2,862 votes. Counting provisional and absentee ballots could take nearly two weeks.
Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.), who threatened to slap her wheelchair-bound Libertarian opponent after a debate late last month, is ahead of Democrat Gary Trauner by fewer than a thousand votes as canvassing continued. The Libertarian, Thomas Rankin, has garnered approximately 7,500 votes.
In Georgia, freshman Rep. John Barrow (D) leads former congressman Max Burns (R) by fewer than 900 votes in a rematch of their 2004 race, which was decided by nearly 8,000 votes. There will be an automatic recount unless the margin widens significantly before the results are certified next week.
The vast majority of voters in a suburban Seattle district cast ballots by mail, and they count as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday. Rep. David G. Reichert (R) led Darcy Burner by about 3,100 votes three days after poll-based voting ended.
Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.) had a 449-vote lead over Larry Kissell (D), with about 1,500 provisional ballots remaining to be counted.
Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.) led Patricia Madrid (D) by about 1,600 votes, with about 4,400 ballots still to be tallied.
A recount is set to begin Wednesday in the Florida district represented by Rep. Katherine Harris (R). Republican Vern Buchanan has a 373-vote lead over Christine Jennings (D) and has declared victory.
Two runoff elections are planned. Rep. William J. Jefferson (La.), the subject of an FBI bribery investigation, will face fellow Democrat Karen Carter on Dec. 9, and Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Tex.) will face former congressman Ciro D. Rodriguez (D) in a yet-to-be-scheduled runoff.
Democrats already have won 230 of the House's 435 seats. Republicans hold 196 seats.
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Nine House races remain without winners after Tuesday's election, with state officials not rushing to certify the results.
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Tall Afar's Long Road Back
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In the months since, soldiers say, Tall Afar has proved a model for the rest of Iraq, an insurgent stronghold turned relatively peaceful. Attacks dwindled to almost none in August before a spate of violence in September and October tied to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The local government is strong. Iraqi security forces are poised to take control from the roughly 1,000 U.S. troops in the region, which is a reduction of 75 percent from the U.S. presence here last spring.
"I think Tall Afar is on its way," said Lt. Col. Malcolm Frost, who commands the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, based just southwest of the city and now in charge of the region. "I think it's a beacon of light, not just for security but also in local government infrastructure. I think we're close to the tipping point."
But the road to stability in Tall Afar has been long and bumpy, and it continues to pose daily challenges. The city's transformation underscores how difficult it will be for parts of Iraq -- especially Baghdad -- to mirror its success.
The unemployment rate here is nearly 70 percent. Officials estimate that fewer than half of Tall Afar's residents remained here or returned after the last big U.S.-Iraqi military operation in September 2005. Many of the city's buildings are vacant or were destroyed in the fighting last year. Hundreds of millions of dollars was promised to help rebuild and restore Tall Afar, but the money has just started to trickle in through the Iraqi central government's staggeringly slow bureaucracy. And Iraqi forces have only recently taken the lead in providing security, helped in large part by the population drop and lack of attacks.
Though sectarian violence has been stemmed by cooperation among Sunni and Shiite Muslim sheiks here, insurgents attack Shiite civilians in the southern part of Tall Afar and Iraqi forces in the north. Officials call it a delicate balance.
"Tall Afar was another Fallujah or Ramadi," said Mayor Najim al-Jibouri, referring to cities in western Iraq that have experienced heavy fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents. "But with the help of the people, everyone gained the momentum and claimed Tall Afar from the terrorists and vowed not to go back to the old, bad days. Still, there are a lot of shortcomings that really disappoint us. Things like that prolong the life of the insurgency."
The mayor points mainly to the lack of help from the Iraqi government, which has left parts of the city a shambles. The city's northwest quadrant is like a ghost town, with scores of vacant houses, some reduced to rubble by fighting more than a year ago, almost entirely cordoned off with Iraqi police checkpoints designed to choke the insurgents' ability to move.
Soldiers call the northwest neighborhood the city's "gated community" because Iraqi forces have put such a stranglehold on it. In addition to reducing attacks, the restrictions have kept some people from moving back in, officials said.
Capt. Luke Hale, the U.S. squadron's intelligence officer, said the security situation in Tall Afar is tied closely to the economy. For example, he said, attacks sometimes increase because insurgents are willing to pay a local resident to place a roadside bomb. The focus of violence is in the city's northwest, where troops have found significant weapons caches and safe houses and last week recovered 85 pounds of homemade explosives, sticks of TNT and other materials probably destined for more attacks, Hale said.
During the past nine months, U.S. soldiers have logged an average of about one attack against them per day in Tall Afar, but nearly 45 percent have involved relatively harmless small-arms fire. Roadside bombs were planted at an average of six per month from February to August, with just two in July and none in August -- vastly fewer than what insurgents unleashed in previous years.
"It was very, very bad before," said Falah Hassan, 23, an Iraqi police sergeant who works with U.S. soldiers. He pointed excitedly to a wall-size map of the city he has lived in since birth. "Everyone was afraid to move around because of the insurgents. Now it's much, much better. Tall Afar is coming back."
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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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In Pakistan, Recent Attacks Shred Hopes for Regional Peace Model
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Today that model lies in shreds. Northwestern Pakistan's fragile political peace has been shattered by two devastating attacks: a government missile strike that killed 82 people at an Islamic school in the Bajaur tribal district on Oct. 30, and a retaliatory suicide bombing Wednesday that killed 42 army recruits at a training camp in the Malakand tribal district.
The missile strike was based on U.S. intelligence reports that the school was being used as a training site for Islamic insurgents, who have found sanctuary across the semi-autonomous tribal areas where Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda figures may also be hiding. Now, officials are predicting a new wave of violence, as anti-government anger spreads and religious extremists call for holy war against the Pakistani military and Western forces fighting in Afghanistan.
"This is a disaster. We all recognize the gravity of the situation," said a senior military official in this northwestern provincial capital, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's a nightmare to have an army being attacked on its own soil and by its own people." After the two incidents, he added, "the doors to peaceful negotiated settlements are closed. I am afraid we are on a war course in the tribal areas."
Public condemnation of the missile attack has been almost universal in Pakistan. Many people say they believe it was actually carried out by a U.S. Predator drone, which witnesses described as circling overhead before Pakistani helicopter gunships arrived. U.S. and Pakistani officials have denied that.
Local leaders have also vehemently asserted that the school, run by a cleric from a banned extremist group, was used only for religious studies and that many young students were killed in the strike. No physical evidence of a training camp has been publicly produced, journalists have been barred from the site, and most of the victims' bodies were too disfigured to identify.
"This was a crime against humanity. Everyone hates America now, and they hate Musharraf for giving in to American pressure," said Bashir Ahmed, 25, a produce trader in a Peshawar market crowded with crates of bananas and pomegranates. "America is the enemy of all Muslims, but they will never defeat us, because we are all becoming al-Qaeda now, even me."
Pakistani military and intelligence officials said they had little choice but to bomb the site after they received overwhelming proof from U.S. intelligence sources that it was being used as a training center for insurgents. A refusal to act, the Pakistanis said, would have badly damaged their relations with the United States, which counts Pakistan as a key ally in the war against al-Qaeda and fundamentalist Islamic terrorism.
"They loaded us with evidence. The strike was absolutely inevitable," said a senior intelligence official, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Another official called the attack a "major test" of military and intelligence cooperation between the United States and Pakistan. "We thought about other options, but the Americans weren't ready to take any chances," he said. "We were caught between the devil and the deep sea."
Public outrage has also flared over Wednesday's suicide bombing, in which a man wrapped in a cloak strolled among army recruits exercising on a field and detonated powerful explosives, killing more Pakistani troops than any previous terrorist attack. But many Pakistanis view that bombing as a predictable response to an ill-conceived military action taken under U.S. pressure.
Ansar Abbasi, Islamabad bureau chief for the News International newspaper, called the Bajaur attack "outrageous" and argued in a column that while it might have raised Musharraf's tough-guy image in the West, it served no national interest and could only exacerbate conflict between the army and the civilian populace. "Have we not fallen into a U.S. trap?" he asked.
One political leader in Peshawar said the Bajaur site was definitely a terrorist base but that it was not "politically correct to say so" in the region. Bajaur elders had reached a peace accord similar to the Waziristan pact, he said, but the missile strike came just hours before they were to sign it. "People find this mind-boggling and impossible to understand," he said.
The Musharraf government has long been caught between conflicting domestic and international pressures. Western powers have demanded that it crack down on religious extremists and hunt down al-Qaeda fugitives, widely reported to be hiding in the semi-autonomous tribal belt. But Islamic groups are politically dominant in Pakistan's northwest, and many tribal fighters have fiercely resisted military efforts to dislodge Islamic militants from their midst.
Musharraf's recent attempt at compromise, a series of negotiated settlements with armed Islamic groups and tribal leaders, has been controversial. Critics charge that pacts in North and South Waziristan left both areas under the control of extremists who continue to export violence to Afghanistan. They say the deals were aimed only at extricating army troops from the tribal areas, where they had suffered heavy casualties and public hostility during months of fighting.
At the same time, however, the growing violence has led to urgent calls for mass tribal conflict-resolution meetings, known as jirgas. Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently proposed a series of jirgas in both countries, and the Awami National Party, which represents the ethnic Pashtuns who predominate in Pakistan's northwest, has called for a separate tribal jirga. Party leaders say the only antidote to Islamic radicalization is the ancient tribal code known as Pashtunwali, which prescribes consensual pacts to halt feuds.
"Even though Talibanization is spreading, Pashtunwali is still in people's blood," said Afrasiab Khattak, an Awami party official and human rights activist in Peshawar. "We don't want to settle scores or embarrass the government. Our only agenda is to stop this conflict from getting worse."
The dominant political group in the northwest, a religious party called Jamaat-e-Islami, responded to the Bajaur attack by staging nationwide protests. While Jamaat officially opposes terrorism and has played a responsible leadership role in provincial government for the past several years, it issued calls for jihad after the missile strike, and several key leaders resigned from their government posts or seats in parliament.
In interviews here, several Jamaat leaders echoed the current ambivalence, saying they were horrified by suicide bombings but furious at Western military interference in the region and opposed to the moderate version of Islam promoted by Musharraf.
Abdul Akbar Chitrali, a cleric and Jamaat politician who directs an Islamic academy for boys in Peshawar called the Garden of Knowledge, said he believes in spreading Islam by peaceful means. "But when someone invades you, you have no choice but to resist," he said. "The Americans and NATO have no right to occupy Afghanistan. They are the hooligans causing our problems, not the Taliban or al-Qaeda."
It may never be known whether the tiny Islamic school in Bajaur's Chingai village was a garden of knowledge or a staging ground for terrorists. A group of lawyers from Peshawar who visited the site last week said they saw no evidence of training or weapons.
What they did see was disturbing enough: a tense, angry crowd that surrounded their vehicles, shouting for holy war against the Pakistani and U.S. governments, less than a week after local leaders had been ready to sign a peace pact with the government.
"If it was a military camp, I found no sign of it. But the people were very inflamed," said Barrister Baachaa, one of the lawyers. "Bajauris are known to be quiet and not carrying guns, but the mood is becoming very militant. If Bajaur can fall into Talibanization, so can the other tribal areas, and then I fear it can spread to the settled areas, too," he said. "This has to be contained, but the way they did it in Bajaur has only made it worse."
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PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Two months ago, Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, triumphantly announced a peace pact with Islamic extremists in the North Waziristan tribal district near the Afghan border, saying he hoped it would become a model for curbing domestic Islamic militancy and...
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Jack Palance, the Best Of the Bad Guys
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Jack Palance made ugly beautiful -- all 6 feet 4 of him.
You may remember him as Curly, the ornery cowboy from the "City Slickers" movies, or maybe the obnoxious, wizened 73-year-old who -- after winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1992 for his first time playing that role -- looked down on host Billy Crystal and made a joke we love and respect but can't repeat here. After which, he performed a series of one-hand push-ups while Crystal looked on in mock amazement. It was a wonderfully squirmy moment, in which the message was clear, as he bobbed up and down: I'm a man. You can measure me like this. And this. And this.
Was he serious or twitting himself? We'd like to think he was enjoying the doubt -- that embarrassing silence when hushed onlookers aren't sure whether someone's read their postmodern handbook or not.
Regardless, he was cool in his own way. You imagined his brawniness was earned from old-fashioned lugging, hefting and swinging of heavy stuff like rocks, bricks and metal pipes, not on Nautilus equipment with wall-to-wall mirrors and some trainer named Serge looking on. And you didn't think about inconvenient facts, like his real name: He was born in Lattimer Mines, Pa., in the bone-chilling middle of February 1919, and got slapped with Vladimir Palahniuk, which was no name for a cowboy.
Some of you will remember him as Jack Wilson, the relentless bully in 1953's "Shane" who drew guns on Alan Ladd -- that reluctant White Hat -- and took two in the gut. It was always Palance's role to be the dead guy in the final reel. He was the hero's best friend, in a way. After you shot Palance dead, there wasn't much left to do except walk into the sunset. You had gunned down Palance; you were the man.
But That Man is gone, now, for good. He died at 87 of natural causes, not gunshot wounds -- at his Montecito, Calif., home yesterday. Gone, too, are the days -- oh, indulge us, will ya? -- when good meant good and bad meant bad. When westerns were normal entertainments in the movies and on TV -- not metaphorical hi-tech adventures in outer space, or sensitive retro-westerns in which various Eastwoods and Costners showed their tender sides. To women. Jaysus.
His film debut came in 1950, playing a murderer named Blackie in "Panic in the Streets." He scared the life out of Joan Crawford in 1952's "Sudden Fear," for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. And he got another nod, but no prize, for his Jack Wilson.
It was beginning of the Palance Role, as Hollywood's go-to bad guy -- and not just as a cowboy. He was an Apache in "Arrowhead," Jack the Ripper in "Man in the Attic," Attila the Hun in "Sign of the Pagan" and he even played Jesus Christ in "The Silver Chalice." But whomever he played, he was always Palance. And he made a whole career of that face -- that nose that looked like it had been battered into a fleshy pretzel with a spade -- and that voice, which sounded like he sprinkled gravel and, possibly, boot nails into his pork and beans for breakfast. His swaggery walk could out-swagger John Wayne. Yes, we said John Wayne. Wanna draw about it, pal?
He seemed mercifully free of airs. "Most of what I do is garbage," he told a reporter once. And as for the directors he worked for, "most of them shouldn't even be directing traffic." Real men, you see, don't talk pretty or eloquent. They just say it like it is.
So we hope you know what we mean when we say, admiringly and with a tip of the black hat, that Palance was one of the last real men. Just remember the way he said, "Prove it!" before he died at the hands of Shane. The pug-ugly majesty. The way he went down like a rock. You never cried for him, going down. Which is why, we guess, we shouldn't cry for Jack, even with the knowledge that, after the credits roll, he isn't going to get up, dust off his hat, ready for another take. He's done and down. And he ain't getting up.
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Search movie listings, reviews and locations from the Washington Post. Features national listings for movies and movie guide. Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/movies today.
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Actor Jack Palance; in a Varied Career, Roles as Embodiment of Evil Stand Out
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Jack Palance, 87, the veteran character actor who personified pure menace in his most notable roles, including in "Shane" and "Sudden Fear," died Nov. 10 at his home in Montecito, Calif. No cause of death was reported.
Mr. Palance is perhaps best remembered by modern movie audiences for his hilarious one-arm push-up stunt at the 1992 Academy Awards, where, at age 73, he won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role as Curly Washburn in the 1991 comedy "City Slickers."
In Curly, he became a parody of his tough-guy screen persona. Usually he was the sociopathic gunfighter, the murderous husband, the macho killer. He looked the part. Tall and intimidating, with a calm, low voice and a boxer's broken face, he exuded danger; wise men, and women, knew to step aside.
He preferred the lighter stuff, he told the Los Angeles Times in 1995. Those roles came along occasionally -- for example, as a retired Hollywood set painter in "Baghdad Cafe" (1988) -- but in more than 150 movies, TV appearances and theater roles over a half-century-long career, he was more often the quintessential bad guy.
He could be that way in person, too. Over the years, he often expressed his disdain for Hollywood mores and developed a reputation as being difficult on sets.
In the 1995 Los Angeles Times article, director Rod Hardy agreed with that assessment but said that everyone can be ornery at times. "He's survived in an industry that's very hard on one," Hardy said.
His early years were not easy. Born Vladimir Palahnuik on Feb. 18, 1919, in a tiny Pennsylvania coal town called Lattimer Mines, he followed his Ukrainian immigrant father into the mines at a young age. He also tried his hand at professional boxing, compiling a record of 15 consecutive victories with 12 knockouts before losing to a future heavyweight contender.
He won a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina but left after two years. Big-time college football, he thought, was becoming too commercial.
He joined the Army Air Forces in 1942 but was discharged a year later after he was in a plane crash in which he suffered severe head injuries and burns on his face, which required plastic surgery.
He used the G.I. Bill to study journalism at Stanford University, leaving a credit short of graduation in 1947. He made his Broadway debut that year, appearing in a comedy called "The Big Two." He had only one line, spoken in Russian, which his parents spoke at home.
Mr. Palance was the understudy to both Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn in the original Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire," directed by Elia Kazan. After replacing Brando in the role of Stanley Kowalski, his performance landed him a movie contract with 20th Century Fox.
In his first film, "Panic in the Streets" (1950), directed by Kazan and starring Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas, he played Blackie, a killer infected with bubonic plague. After "Halls of Montezuma," he portrayed Lester Blaine, a lover stalking a terrified Joan Crawford, in "Sudden Fear" (1952); his performance resulted in his first Academy Award nomination as best supporting actor.
He was nominated again the next year for his role as Jack Wilson, the sinister gunfighter who toys with Alan Ladd as the peace-loving former gunslinger in "Shane," the George Stevens epic. In a final and memorable showdown, freighted with symbolism and foreshadowed throughout the film, Ladd outshoots the black-hatted arch villain.
He was a renegade Apache in "Arrowhead" (1953), Jack the Ripper in "Man in the Attic" (1953), Attila the Hun in "Sign of the Pagan" (1954) and Fidel Castro in "Che!" (1969). Other significant films in which he appeared include "Kiss of Fire," "Oklahoma Crude," "The Big Knife," "I Died a Thousand Times," " Le Mépris " ("Contempt"), "The Lonely Man" and "House of Numbers."
The Oscar for the "City Slickers" role came four decades after his Hollywood debut. He also won an Emmy for his role as the punch-drunk Mountain McClintock in the 1956 "Playhouse 90" production of Rod Serling's "Requiem for a Heavyweight."
During the 1980s, he appeared in "Young Guns" (1988) and Tim Burton's "Batman" (1989) and with his daughter Holly Palance co-hosted the TV series "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" He also painted and sold landscape art, including a poem on the back of each picture, and published a book of blank verse, "The Forest of Love" (1997).
Mr. Palance's marriage to Virginia Baker ended in divorce.
In addition to his daughter, survivors include his wife of 19 years, Elaine Rochelle Rogers of Montecito, and two other children from his first marriage, Brooke Palance and Cody Palance.
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Jack Palance, 87, the veteran character actor who personified pure menace in his most notable roles, including in "Shane" and "Sudden Fear," died Nov. 10 at his home in Montecito, Calif. No cause of death was reported.
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Beating of L.A. Suspect Sparks Outcry
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LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10 -- A video of Los Angeles police officers punching a suspect in the face set off a wave of outrage that crashed onto the doorstep of police headquarters Friday after the tape was posted on YouTube.
It was an uncomfortable echo of earlier Los Angeles Police Department scandals, including the videotaped Rodney King beating. The department, which operates under a federal consent decree, has instituted many reforms but has periodically suffered through police brutality embarrassments.
The lawyer for the suspect shown in the video said his client's experience shows little has changed. "The Los Angeles Police Department needs to make those reforms real, because they have not been made real," B. Kwaku Duren said at a news conference in front of police headquarters Friday. "That video speaks for itself."
The video of an August arrest came to light this week after portions of it appeared on the videosharing Web site YouTube and several thousand people watched it.
Shot by a bystander, it shows two police officers attempting to arrest William Cardenas, 24. As one officer sits on his thighs and holds his arm, the other places his knee across Cardenas's chest and throat and quickly punches him five times in the head. Cardenas can be heard crying, "Let go of me! I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"
Cardenas had a split lip, black eyes and a bloody face afterward, Duren said.
Police described Cardenas as a known gang member, which his lawyer disputed. Cardenas had run from officers who wanted to arrest him on a warrant for receiving a stolen gun, Duren said. Previously, Cardenas had been arrested for attempted murder but was never charged.
After reviewing evidence from prosecutors and seeing the video at a preliminary hearing, a judge found enough evidence to try Cardenas for resisting arrest.
The LAPD began investigating the incident on the day of the arrest, in compliance with a consent decree requirement to investigate all allegations of police abuse, police officials said. The FBI launched a separate investigation Thursday.
Both officers in the video, Alexander Schlegel and Patrick Farrell, were reassigned to desk jobs. Schlegel had two previous abuse complaints against him, officials confirmed. He was exonerated in one instance, and in the other the district attorney did not find grounds to file charges.
"Police work is not always pretty," Chief William J. Bratton said. "But in my 36 years in law enforcement, I've learned not to make a judgment until I have all the facts."
According to preliminary hearing transcripts, Cardenas and two friends were drinking beer on a street corner when police recognized him and called for him to put his hands up. Cardenas ran.
When police caught him, Schlegel pushed him in the back, he fell, "and his face bounced off the sidewalk."
Cardenas tried to hit the officer, Schlegel testified. Then Farrell hit him twice, and Schlegel used pepper spray on him, Schlegel said. The officers reported the use of force that day, police officials said.
From her second-floor apartment, Melissa Aguayo, 17, watched it happen. "He kept saying, 'You're choking me, you're choking me,' " she said Friday. "They kept saying, 'You are resisting arrest,' and they kept hitting him."
Connie Rice, a civil rights lawyer who has watched the Los Angles Police Department for 20 years, said the incident is not atypical and reflects a "use of force culture" at the department that is "calibrated higher and more aggressively than other police departments."
Nonetheless, "This is not your grandfather's LAPD," she said. Rice credited Bratton with valuing community policing and with presiding over a changing culture, in which fewer officers see aggressive policing as acceptable.
Under Los Angeles's well-liked police chief, crime in the city has fallen 40 percent in four years.
"Twenty years ago, 99 percent of LAPD officers would have seen that video and would have said, 'What's the problem?' " Rice said. "In 2006, at least a third to half would say, 'We've got a problem.' That's a difference."
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Get Washington DC,Virginia,Maryland and national news. Get the latest/breaking news,featuring national security,science and courts. Read news headlines from the nation and from The Washington Post. Visit www.washingtonpost.com/nation today.
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Md.'s PSC: A Political Outcast With an Agenda
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The members of the Maryland Public Service Commission could be on their way out when a new governor and legislature take office, but meanwhile their calendar is brimming.
Though legislative leaders and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, Maryland's governor-elect, have vowed to oust the PSC members over sharp increases in electricity rates, the commission this week voted to overhaul the way the state's utilities buy electricity.
And late next week the commission will begin to ponder what the "optimal structure" of the utility industry should be, weighing a variety of steps, including undoing elements of deregulation that have taken effect in recent years and getting local utilities back into the power-generation business.
It's unclear how much impact the PSC opinions will have. O'Malley, a Democrat, cannot simply fire the four PSC members, three of whom were appointed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich (R), before their terms end. A court has ruled, however, that he and Maryland lawmakers can adopt legislation to reconstitute the commission.
In the interim, the PSC, while discounted politically, can continue to issue binding orders. On Thursday, it changed the way Maryland utilities will buy electricity by ordering them to buy in smaller chunks and space out the purchases to smooth out prices. An earlier plan, part of the deregulation of the utility industry, froze electricity prices for Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. for seven years and established a timetable that bunched all of its new electricity purchases together. When those purchases took place last winter, electricity prices were near all-time highs.
That contributed to a request by BGE, a unit of Constellation Energy Group Inc., for a 72-percent increase in rates this year, a request that shook up state politics and ultimately contributed to the termination of a proposed merger of Constellation and FPL Group Inc. BGE was allowed to enact a 15 percent increase immediately, and the rest is scheduled to go into effect by the end of next year.
"The way deregulation was set up initially was a recipe for disaster," said Johanna Neumann, policy advocate for Maryland Public Interest Research Group. "This decision is one of the small steps that need to be taken over the next several years to fix the utility problem."
The idea of spacing out electricity purchases is in place in other states, such as New Jersey. The Maryland PSC this week ordered utilities to buy electricity at six-month intervals with contracts lasting two years. That means utilities will buy no more than 25 percent of their needs at one time, but rates paid by consumers would be adjusted twice a year.
BGE had wanted to have three-year contracts, spaced out so that it would buy one-third of its supplies at one time on an annual basis.
"We're a little disappointed," said Mark Case, BGE's vice president for regulatory affairs. "Customers like predictability. Too frequent price changes are not a good thing."
The rate dispute has led to a reassessment of deregulatory steps that allowed regulated utilities to sell off power generation plants or allowed parent companies to move power generation into separate subsidiaries. This year, that put the regulated utilities, which now buy power at unregulated prices, in the position of passing along price increases to consumers while separate power generation firms or subsidiaries post big profits.
Neumann complains that energy efficiency issues "fell off the table" with the industry's restructuring.
Case warns against getting utilities back into the power generation business in a search for more stable prices. "It carries the risk of undermining the whole competitive market," he said. "The market is working well overall." He added that prices were lower than they would be otherwise.
The PSC is to write a report to submit to the General Assembly.
No matter what conclusions the PSC reaches, the fate of the commission's members seems to be sealed. Leaders of both the Senate and House want them replaced, and so does O'Malley. The second-ranking person on O'Malley's transition team is Baltimore City Solicitor Ralph Tyler, who represented the city in a lawsuit against the PSC. Legislation to reform and replace the commission seems like a certainty, and O'Malley aides are drawing up a list of potential replacements, according to political consultants and analysts.
Neumann says she is drawing up a list of candidates for a new PSC. The candidates include a former Maryland state energy official, an expert on wind power and an expert on energy efficiency.
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The members of the Maryland Public Service Commission could be on their way out when a new governor and legislature take office, but meanwhile their calendar is brimming.
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Halloween No Treat for Young Deer
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CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich., Nov. 10 -- A plastic jack-o'-lantern meant for collecting Halloween candy is threatening the life of a small deer that frequently visits a gated community.
The fake pumpkin has been stuck on the animal's snout for at least six days. It appears to be snagged on the young buck's ears or horn buds, and it is keeping the animal from eating and possibly drinking.
Officials from a Grand Rapids zoo could not get close enough to the animal Friday to shoot it with a tranquilizer. They intended to try again Saturday. If successful, they plan to remove the jack-o'-lantern and take the animal somewhere to recover until it can be released into the wild.
"He seems to be doing pretty well," said Bert Vescolani, director of the John Ball Zoo. "I'm always amazed at how wildlife makes it sometimes, even under the hardest conditions."
But Wendy Swift, medical director of the Humane Society of Kent County, disagreed with that assessment, saying the animal was "debilitated and dehydrated." She warned that the deer might not survive being tranquilized.
The deer would have to be held until after the two-week hunting season -- which begins Wednesday -- because the anesthesia could be harmful to humans who would consume it, Swift said.
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Get Washington DC,Virginia,Maryland and national news. Get the latest/breaking news,featuring national security,science and courts. Read news headlines from the nation and from The Washington Post. Visit www.washingtonpost.com/nation today.
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Schwarzenegger Implores GOP To Follow Script of His Sequel
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LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10 -- In his victory speech Tuesday night to a confetti-swamped crowd at the Beverly Hilton, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a message for the rest of the Republican Party after its worst defeat in decades.
Follow "the California way," he said. "We are proving to the nation that there is another way to go, a better path to solve problems."
Schwarzenegger's landslide victory in a largely Democratic state illustrates the growing power of moderate candidates and the electoral appeal of bipartisanship, and it could contain important lessons for Republicans and Democrats as they seek to position themselves in the future, analysts and politicians said.
"If I was a Republican National Committee chair, I would hire Arnold out and teach Republicans what is necessary to put together a winning campaign," said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst at the University of Southern California. "He really is the poster boy of what Republicans have denied for so long. Elections are won from the center."
In the 56-percent-to-39-percent triumph over Democratic nominee Phil Angelides, described even by his own partisans as a somewhat lackluster performer, Schwarzenegger owned the center. According to an exit poll of more than 2,000 voters done by CNN, almost 60 percent of California's independent voters chose Schwarzenegger, while 58 percent of the people who identified themselves as moderate cast ballots for him. Even 22 percent of Democratic voters voted for the governor.
The reason for this landslide, analysts said, involved the 180-degree reversal Schwarzenegger has undergone over the past year. Schwarzenegger rolled into office on the back of an unprecedented recall election in 2003, promising to govern from the center. For the first year of his administration he did just that. But in late 2004, he embraced partisan tactics. He addressed the Republican Convention, stumped for President Bush in Ohio during a critical period in Bush's reelection campaign, and then, in early 2005, decided to take on all the entrenched-Democratic Party interests in Sacramento at once, including teachers, nurses and prison guards.
"Arnold did this Karl Rove-inspired move to the right," said Bruce Cain, a professor of political science at the University of California at Berkeley. "He got carried away with the 'base' strategy because it worked in 2004. He tried a little bit of Bush politics in California."
The result? Miserable failure. Schwarzenegger pushed a series of ballot initiatives, and in June 2005 Californians defeated all of them.
"Schwarzenegger in 2005 was like an action hero playing Shakespeare," said Don Perata, the leading Democrat in the state Senate. "He wasn't comfortable."
The plot twists that followed rivaled any of the former action hero's movies. He apologized to the voters and changed character. He hired a Democrat as his chief of staff and cut bipartisan deals to limit global warming, boost the minimum wage and reduce the cost of prescription drugs. He clashed with Bush over sending the National Guard to the Mexican border and environmental issues. And he embraced a Democratic Party-inspired, multibillion-dollar bond package to rebuild California's crumbling roads, levees, ports and schools. Democratic lawmakers, including Perata, campaigned side by side with Schwarzenegger to get the bonds passed, which they did.
As Schwarzenegger said Tuesday night: "I just love doing sequels."
Schwarzenegger's bipartisanship immunized him against attacks by Angelides that a vote for Schwarzenegger was a vote for Bush. Indeed, according to the CNN exit poll, 55 percent of the voters who said they "somewhat disapproved" of the president, voted for Schwarzenegger.
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LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10 -- In his victory speech Tuesday night to a confetti-swamped crowd at the Beverly Hilton, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a message for the rest of the Republican Party after its worst defeat in decades.
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3 Are Sentenced in Vietnam
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After a one-day trial, a Vietnamese court yesterday sentenced three U.S. citizens accused of terrorism to relatively short prison terms, which, including time served awaiting trial, ensures they will be released and deported by the end of the year.
The case had complicated the White House's efforts to pass a major trade deal with Vietnam before President Bush arrives in Hanoi next Friday for an Asian economic summit. The president has named the legislation -- which would give the two countries their closest trade ties since the end of the Vietnam War -- as one of his priorities for the lame-duck Congress that convenes on Monday.
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) had blocked the trade bill from coming to the floor of the Senate until one of the U.S. citizens, a Republican activist from Orlando, was released. In a statement yesterday, Martinez indicated that he was still not satisfied with the resolution of the case against Thuong Nguyen "Cuc" Foshee and would continue blocking the trade bill.
"I will continue to do everything in my power to expedite Mrs. Foshee's release and safe return to U.S. soil. As that has not yet occurred, I continue to use every tool at my disposal," Martinez said, referring to the "hold" he placed on the bill. "I feel the Administration is working diligently and at the highest levels of the State Department to resolve this issue and remain hopeful the Vietnamese government will do the right thing."
Vietnam, the fastest-growing market for U.S. products in Asia, recently was accepted as the 150th member of the World Trade Organization. A bill granting Vietnam permanent normal trade relations is necessary for U.S. companies to benefit from the low tariffs that Vietnam will introduce as a WTO member.
Seven defendants, including four Vietnamese nationals, were accused of plotting to broadcast anti-communist radio messages under the direction of an anti-government group based in California. Vietnam considers the group -- called the Government of Free Vietnam -- to be a terrorist organization. One member of the group, Vietnamese-born U.S. resident Nguyen Huu Chanh, has been suspected of planning bomb attacks of Vietnamese embassies. Chanh has been detained in South Korea but a Seoul court has refused to extradite him to Vietnam.
Foshee, 58, and the other defendants were arrested in September 2005, but they were charged only after Martinez's efforts to block the bill received wide attention.
The State Department had watched the case closely and had urged Vietnam to charge the defendants and then grant them a speedy and fair trial.
"We are pleased to report Ms. Thuong Nguyen 'Cuc' Foshee and two other American citizens will be returning home to the United States soon," said Kurtis Cooper, a State Department spokesman. "We are in contact with the government of Vietnam to arrange their return as soon as possible."
Foshee's daughter, Elizabeth McCausland, said that because of a misunderstanding, she was first told yesterday that the court had ordered her mother deported immediately and found it "heartbreaking" to discover Foshee would need to stay in Vietnam another month. "I'm glad that there is a resolution and that she has some idea of when she will be home," McCausland said. "But I was hoping she would be home sooner."
The defendants admitted they broke Vietnamese law but denied any link to terrorism. Foshee told the court: "I very much regret my participation in Nguyen Huu Chanh's organization. I had lived outside of my country for nearly 40 years, so I didn't understand my country and the laws in Vietnam."
McCausland, a lawyer, said that Vietnam defines "terrorism" broadly to include anyone who opposes the government. "It's hard to read that your mom is convicted of terrorism," she said.
Foshee was born in Vietnam and came to the United States after marrying a U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant. She was active in protests in the United States against the communist government of Vietnam.
Vu Phi Long, president of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court, sentenced the defendants to 15 months with credit for time served, relatively light sentences for charges that can sometimes result in the death penalty. Long also ordered the U.S. citizens to be deported within 10 days of completing their sentences. Prosecutors had sought sentences of 18 to 24 months.
Long told reporters that he was aware the trial was taking place shortly before the summit and just as Congress was poised to debate the trade bill. "We carefully considered the case before announcing the verdict to make it suitable for the present situation," he said.
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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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Greek Historian Pursues His Nobel Cause
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ATHENS -- The Greek capital hardly springs immediately to mind as the home for a shrine to the 19th-century Swedish industrialist and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel.
But letters from Victor Hugo, Russian oil-field maps and explosives-factory share certificates will be among the items going on display next year in Athens in a new museum dedicated to Nobel, the museum's founder announced this week.
Greek historian Giorgos Marcou's family donated the funds for the project, and bought documents and other materials from all five continents, hauled them to Greece, and conceived and built the facility to house them.
Marcou's interest was piqued in the late 1970s in Italy when his research revealed that two of Nobel's friends shared the surname Marcou. His family even donated the land for the museum, which he said was full of "mosquitoes and lettuce" before the groundbreaking in the northern suburb of Halandri.
Nobel, who was born in Stockholm in 1833 and died in San Remo, Italy, in 1896, professed a lifelong interest in ancient Greece. His explosives and engineering systems were employed in digging the Corinth Canal in the late 19th century, and he named his invention of dynamite after the Greek word "dynamis," meaning power.
Still, the Greek connection is far from obvious and, to some, is controversial. Marcou acknowledged that many Greeks initially opposed a Greek site, but such sentiments were overridden by his zealous pursuit of a near-lifelong dream -- backed by a dedicated family fortune.
The Museum of the Hellenic Nobel Collection will present more than 3,500 artifacts related to the famous Swede. These include letters, photographs, drawings, patents, and other documents and objects culled from more than 200 private collections in some 62 countries.
The three-floor facility will include permanent and rotating exhibitions, a reading library, an amphitheater, archives and other facilities.
By 1998, Greek stewardship of the long-scattered Nobel collection was secure. "We tried to save them from ruin," Marcou said at a news conference.
Marcou said the collection is "of great international, scientific, educational and cultural value" and gives some insight into its complex subject. Nobel made his fortune in arms, explosives, oil exploration and production of synthetic rubber and silk, but was also a noted recluse and internationalist who endowed the Nobel Prizes through his 1895 will, partly as a way to ensure he would be remembered as something other than a weapons manufacturer.
The famous prizes -- now worth over $1.4 million -- are awarded each fall for advances in chemistry, physics, medicine or physiology, literature, economics and peace. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo and the others in Stockholm.
Two Greeks -- Giorgos Seferis and Odysseas Elytis -- have been Nobel laureates, both for literature.
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ATHENS -- The Greek capital hardly springs immediately to mind as the home for a shrine to the 19th-century Swedish industrialist and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel.
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Om on the Grange
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It was late afternoon in Fairfield, Iowa, and townsfolk were preparing for the daily ritual.
Marie-Helene Tourenne, who serves up sublime French fare at the Petit Paris restaurant, removed her apron, left the coq au vin to simmer and exited the kitchen. Lonica Halley, co-owner of Natural Selections, a shop offering organic goods, left the store in the care of her assistant. Even Ed Malloy, the amiable silver-haired mayor, ended a meeting and strode out of his conference room.
The three joined a flow of more than a thousand people headed about a mile north of town to the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) and its pair of golden domes, 25,000-square-foot structures that rise above the rolling farmland's barns and silos. There, the pilgrims sat on mats, chairs or the hardwood floor with their backs to a massive altar, facing eastward toward a blank wall. For 20 minutes they remained motionless, in silence.
Five o'clock is meditation time in this town of 9,500, about 100 miles southeast of Des Moines.
While other '70s-era spiritual movements are fading, Transcendental Meditation -- or TM, a relaxation and awareness technique using carefully calibrated breathing methods -- is thriving here. Besides the MUM campus, practitioners can pore over meditation literature at 21st Century Books. They can visit Maharishi Vedic City, a model town founded by TM followers just outside Fairfield. Or they can shop at Thymely Solutions, which specializes in homeopathic remedies, and other boutiques started by meditators.
Fairfielders on different sides of the meditation divide, uneasy with one another in the early years, now appear to commingle easily. TM followers point to the ascendance of Malloy -- now serving his third mayoral term -- as a sign of their acceptance. Most non-meditators agree.
By Malloy's account, TM disciples make up a quarter of Fairfield's population. While some prefer to stay in their homes or offices for the exercise, a growing number take part in the group sessions, which are also held at 7:30 each morning. (Iowans aren't alone: According to TM spokesman Bob Roth, the number of those who practice it nationwide is about 5 million and rising.)
Whatever venue they use for their focused relaxation, Fairfield's meditators insist that this town should be near the top of every traveler's destination list, above all for the sense of peace and positive spirit that meditation brings it.
Camille Jorgenson echoed the kind of endearment most locals hold toward the place. A 40-something meditator who moved here in the early '90s, Jorgenson co-owns a company that imports gourmet organic products from Italy and elsewhere. "The power of group meditation makes this one of the most positive-spirited places I know," she said. "Everybody should have the opportunity to see it."
I made a trip to Fairfield and Vedic City last month to do just that. Although not a meditator, I wanted to see how these two tiny dots on the Midwest map became a center of meditation. The answer, it turns out, was simple.
The movement's Iowa roots go back to 1973, when TM founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi started a university in Fairfield. Though many questioned whether it could survive, today MUM (where mediation is a required subject) is a thriving campus, 850 students strong and best known for its computer science and sustainable development programs.
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While other '70s-era spiritual movements are fading, Transcendental Meditation -- or TM, a relaxation and awareness technique using carefully calibrated breathing methods -- is thriving in Fairfield, Iowa.
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Real Wheels
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Brown test drives all types of cars, from luxury sedans to the newest minivans and hybrids. His On Wheels auto reviews are lively, detailed accounts of cars' good and bad qualities.
Brown's Car Culture column addresses the social, political and economic trends of the industry.
Brown comes online Fridays at 11 a.m. ET to answer your questions on every aspect of the automotive industry -- from buying your dream car to the future of the internal combustion engine.
Beverly, Ma.: Hello Mr. Brown, The lease on my wife's Volvo XC70 is up in February and I'm afraid she's going to get another one. She loves the car (the whole safety thing) and I loathe it (underpowered; poor handling; poor mpg). The only thing I like is the cavernous cargo area. Any suggestions for a compromise. P.S.: I would love for her to get a V70R, but I think that's a non-starter, as they say. Thanks for your time.
Warren Brown: Good morning, Massachusetts:
The V70R has a turbo charged, 300-horsepower 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder engine. It uses more fuel, and premium gasoline at that, than the 2.4-liter, 168-horsepower version of that engine, or the 2.5-liter, 208-horsepower iteration. And, as you correctly pointed out, the XC70 is as safe as all get-out. I suggest a compromise. It sounds like you're dealing with the 168-horsepower engine now. Move up to the 208-horsepower version without a substantial fuel penalty (and it's obvious from your lust for the 300-horsepower version that fuel economy is not your real concern.) You'll have more horsepower. And your wife, who appears to be a quite sensible spouse, will still have all the safety she wants.
Columbia, Md.: Warren -- A note regarding "On Wheels" from November 5th and the Ford Focus, and a question: One additional reason the Ford Focus isn't as popular in the US as it is in much of the rest of the world: Ford doesn't give us the well-regarded new Focus design. As I understand it, since the 2004 model year, most of the rest of the world got an all-new "Mk 2" Focus, whose platform is also found in the Mazda3 and several Volvo models. Meanwhile, the US and Canada soldier on with a revised version of the older "Mk 1" Focus design. As an auto enthusiast living in the US, I'm tired of reading reviews that gush over European Focus models (including the high-performance RS). The disappearance of the Focus SVT didn't help, either. It even looks like Europe will get an AWD Focus. It seems that traditional US manufacturers have decided that Americans simply won't pay for a high-quality small car, and they won't try to sell one here -- even if they build it for other markets. Is there hope for a small car from a traditional American marquee that can compete with all comers without depending on steep discounts? Thanks for your writing that is decidedly different from the rest of the automotive press!
washingtonpost.com: Check out Warren's latest column: Lessons from Russia and China (Post, 11/5)
Warren Brown: Columbia, you're right on all counts. I really don't understand Ford's strategy of keeping Europe happy while dissing its home market. I look at the Focus models on parade in Austria and Russia--totally hip and neat cars. And then I look at the this'll-do Focus models that Ford puts on the market, without much advertising muscle, in the United States. I look at Ford's European sales, up 8.8 percent in the first half of this year. Then I look at its U.S. performance--consistent market-share losses accented by a whopping third-quarter loss of $5.8 billion. Will somebody at Ford please, please explain this to us. What are you people at Ford thinking?
Alexandria, Va.: Hi Warren, Was curious of your thoughts on the Dodge Caliber, if you've had a chance to research or test it out? I'm a hesitant American car buyer after being disappointed by two prior purchases' durability (I drive a VW right now and have been pleased), but I'm trying to open my mind again. Thanks.
Warren Brown: I don't like the Dodge Caliber. It's heavy and clunky and, in my estimation, not up to snuff. And I don't like its sickly "Jeep" companion, the Compass. And it boggles my mind that the Caliber and Compass were co-developed--using the same platform and many of the same parts--with the far superior 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander. So, there you have it with no punches pulled. Skip the sub par Caliber and Compass and buy the 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander, which is designed and put together with much more imagination than the Caliber and Compass.
Rockville, Maryland: There has been some discussion the the press recently about small, clean running diesel engines that we might see in auto showrooms within the next couple of years in the U.S. While VW, Mercedes, and Honda appear to have developed cars for the US and overseas markets, do you think Detroit will embrace clean, high mileage diesel as an alternative to hybrid engines?
Warren Brown: I certainly hope so, Rockville. I just finished a long drive from Yekaterinburg, Russia to Almaty, Kazakhstan in the 2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 BlueTec diesel sedan, which replaces the E320 CDI. It was a tortuous drive over many very bad roads, the worst I've ever driven. The BlueTec, which uses urea in its emissions control technology to help reduce tailpipe emissions, took the beating and kept on running at the rate of 36 miles per gallon. I've long believed in diesel. Now, as a result of that truly punishing drive, I'm a confirmed member of the diesel congregation.
San Diego, Ca.: We are now the happy owners of a 2006 Mini Cooper S. However, upon deceleration, the Mini makes a puttering sound and backfires. The service advisor and web chatter states that this is by design, to imitate the old Minis, or as a result of a more open exhaust system. What is correct? And does this "design" hurt fuel economy?
Warren Brown: It's the result of a more open and more complicated emissions control system. Also, fuel quality could be a problem. The Cooper S demands premium unleaded gasoline and nothing less.
Columbia, Md.: I agree, Warren. I kind of understand the European perspective: They have a tradition of recognizing that a high-quality car, with luxury touches and good performance, can also be a small car. And can have a surprisingly large price tag. But Mexico gets the new Focus. What's going on there? I'm afraid the lessons aren't being learned, even when market share falls. I'm also frustrated that efficient, clean diesels show up in small cars in Europe (including the Focus), but few make it here. Hopefully, the advent of ultra-low sulphur fuel in the U.S. will change this.
Warren Brown: I'm with you, Columbia. It's time for Ford and Chrysler to follow GM's lead and stop making excuses. If GM has seen the light and is beefing up its small car offerings, based on its Korean Daewoo platforms and its German Opel platforms, why can't Ford and Chrysler do the same thing? Have you seen the new subcompact Chevrolet Aveo and the Saturn Aura sedan? They are what GM is selling overseas. Thankfully, they are now what GM is selling stateside as well.
Harrisburg, Pa.: I am about to purchase a Honda Civic hybrid and I'm getting some mixed messages related to the tax credit. According to the dealer, the credit is available, but according to other material I've read it seems to depend on how many hybrids are sold by Honda and when. Is there any way to be absolutely sure about the credit? I still plan to buy the car, but the credit will be nice! Thanks.
You'd be wise to get the straight scoop from your Susquehanna County tax people and your state DMV. The reason is that different locales treat hybrids differently for tax and other purposes. Contact you state and local officials and get the right information first-hand.
Florida: I'm considering a 2001 or 2002 Volvo S40. The S40 fulfills two important requirements: it meets California's stricter emissions standards (I'm moving there in a few months) and has impressive safety features, including air bags with sensors that detect small adults (like me) and children. I love the style and it gets fairly good gas mileage. But I just learned that recent Volvo models have reliability problems. My mother showed me a Wall Street Journal article about Ford (Volvo's parent company) and its attempt to address these problems. Given all the old Volvos on the road, I just assumed they were very reliable. Owner reviews on car Web sites are particularly harsh on the 2000 and 2001 models: break pads have to be replaced every 15K miles and other sundry problems. Of course, some people have had no problems. Carfax listed mechanical reliability below average for both the S40 and the more expensive S60. Safety is paramount but this added info has given me pause. Any idea about how to weigh these issues? Any posters have experience with the recent Volvos? Should I look at a used Honda?
Every car on the market at one time or another has recall and or some kind of reliability problems. They are imperfect machines conceived and produced by imperfect human beings. I like the S40 for all of the reasons stated. I also like the Saturn Aura, which competes well against the S40 in all respects, and looks better than the S40 all around.
Washington, D.C.: I have a 2003 Accord with 51,000 miles. I just spent $2,500 on a new transmission (no warranty). Should the new transmission work the same as my old one? It seems to shift a little harsher. The mechanic said he did that so the transmission would last longer.
Warren Brown: The transmission should last 50,000 miles or substantially longer. As for your mechanic's explanation, it makes absolutely no sense to me. I humbly petition assistance from the technicians among us.
Boston, Ma.: Mr. Brown, In a recent discussion you pointed a person who was interested in a 4-door VW GTI toward a Rabbit, saying that the Rabbit would be more practical and utilitarian. Being the new owner of a 2007 4-door GTI, I can honestly say that it is a lot of car (and a whole lot of fun) for the money. AND, I'm averaging about 28 mpg commuting in and out of Boston (50 mile R/T; ~45 min each way). The kids (4 and 1-year-old) and their stuff, like it, too. Just my $0.02. Thanks.
Warren Brown: Your two cents is more than welcome here. And we thank you.
Floyd, Va.: Mr. Brown, I have really enjoyed reading your reviews and comments. I am now retired and with less than planned. I have enjoyed luxury SUVs for the last 15 years, but now need an SUV that has the luxury feature comfort with a much lower price tag that is very reliable. I get so confused at the car dealerships, they just want to make a sale. I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give me. My home is in the Blue Ridge mountains and need a car to drive up my 7/8 mile gravel/rock drive way. I am in my 60s now and I really do need comfort and room for my grandchildren. Thank you!
Warren Brown: Dear Floyd, Va:
Please take a look at the Hyundai Santa Fe, which offers lots of utility, comfort, and all-wheel-drive traction at a reasonable price. It's also hard to go wrong with the Subaru Forester, the new Toyota Rav-4, or the new Honda CR-V, or the Ford Escape.
Another good bargain, replete with durability and reliability, can be found in the Chevrolet Equinox. Also, check the Suzuki Grand Vitara, which is now a good bargain and a good ride with lots of standard safety features to help protect those grandchildren.
Washington, D.C.: Warren: Would you trust a 2003 Lexus IS 300 sport cross in the snow?
Warren Brown: Yes, especially with the proper tires.
Vienna, Va.: Hi Warren. My wife's mid-life crisis is to buy a more efficient and environmentally friendly auto. She is looking at a 2006 VW Beetle Diesel and wants to burn Bio Diesel fuel. What do you think of the car, and the idea of Bio Diesel?
Warren Brown: I like the car. I'm not enthralled with bio-diesel. My concern is more with bio-fuel availability and quality than it is with the car. Get the diesel Beetle and fuel it with ultra-low-sulfur diesel (15 parts per million sulfur) to help keep down tailpipe emissions. It can run on high-sulfur diesel (550 parts per million). But high-sulfur gives you more tailpipe grit.
Silver Spring, Md.: Mr. Brown, I'm thinking of buying an SUV and the Land Rover HSE is top of my list, but I kept reading about the problems with this vehicle. What's your opinion? Thanks.
Warren Brown: It's an expensive lover, sometimes temperamental, but well worth the trouble. If it is your heart's desire, nothing else, with the possible exception of the splendiferous Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, will please you.
Rockville, Md.: I don't understand what's going on at Lincoln. They dropped their extremely popular full-size Continental and didn't replace it, dropped the unpopular Aviator and will replace it, dropped their sports car LS (which enjoyed a very devoted following) and didn't replace it, and changed the name on the mid-size Zephyr to MKZ, which had to upset Zephyr owners who were new to the Lincoln marquee. Is there a strategy here? Or is Lincoln just coasting on the fact that there's always going to be a market for Navigators and Town Cars?
Warren Brown: I don't understand Lincoln, either. And I don't understand what Ford is thinking or doing. But I'm open to edification. And I'm more than willing to spend as much time as needed with the Ford people to better grasp exactly what it is they are doing--trying to do--and why. Now, if I were a public relations person at Ford, I'd jump at the opportunity to educate, reeducate, whatever, a journalist like me.
Dallas, Tx.: Hello, Mr. Brown. I have a '98 Lexus ES 300 with 170K miles on it. It still drives great, but I know I should start thinking for a replacement in the not-so-distant future. As much as I love the car, I will need something sportier. What do you think of the IS-250, or, should I need more room, the '04 Touareg?
Warren Brown: Come, come, Dear Dallas. No one "needs" something sportier. But many people want something sportier. Needs and wants have different personalities and different proclivities toward buyer's remorse. If you buy something that you need devoid of love and lust, you eventually begin to resent it. If you buy something you love with scant attention to utility and cost of upkeep, you're likely to regret that purchase, too. So, you try to compromise--getting a hot car that is as good to be with the morning after as it was the night before. The Lexus IS 250 is sporty and relativity fuel-efficient in the 206-horsepower, V-6 version. The IS is less fuel-efficient, but still sporty in 306-horsepower V-6 version. The '04 Tourareg, primarily for reasons of fuel-efficiency and a woefully inept navigation system, was never one of my favorites. I'd go with the IS 250.
Potomac, Md.: Saw an absolutely beautiful car in Miami, a Panoz Esperante. What can you tell me about this car? I'd never heard of it.
Warren Brown: It's a Panoz--stunningly beautiful, costly, spirited in performance, and as temperamental as Paris Hilton.
Takoma, D.C.: Good day for today's chat! My car, a 2000 Nissan Maxima, has been in the dealer's service department since Monday. The technicians "think" they know what the cause of the continuous stalling problem is, and of course, their hypothesis will cost me around $1,300. This isn't the first significant problem I've had with this car, now 7 years old at 90k, and every time it goes into the shop for a $1,000+ repair, I swear I'm going to sell it the minute I get it back. But, it's a V-6, manual and I'm afraid I'm not going to get the same power at a reasonable price. Any suggestions? Keep it, sell it?
Warren Brown: Keep it and switch service shops. Pick up a copy of The Washington Consumer's Checkbook for "best service" recommendations, which usually turn out to be reliable.
Columbia, Md.: Warren -- Since you've spent time with a new BlueTec diesel: How often does the urea additive need to be refilled, and do you have an idea of the price involved? Is it likely that urea additives will be standardized at some point (so I can buy it at Pep Boys instead of the dealership)?
Warren Brown: My understanding is that you're looking at changing the urea additive pack every other scheduled oil change--at intervals of 3,000 to 6,000 miles. I don't have a handle on the cost. Initially, you will have to deal with Mercedes-Benz to get the proper additive. But the way things go in the auto industry, Pep Boys and other auto supply stores will come up with something comparable.
Kansas City, Ks.: Keep up the good work Warren, always a pleasure to read your articles! As I travel often for business, I end up renting a lot of cars. Most frequently, it is an American sedan that is so blah that I forget what I rented. Why don't American automakers see this as an opportunity to reach a new customer every time they rent?
Warren Brown: Ah, Kansas City, you're preaching to the choir on that one. The most frequent excuse for this bit of sadness is that the rental car companies like to buy cheap and rent high to increase their profit margins. But, news flash! GM, Ford and Chrysler rapidly are reducing the number of cars they sell to rental car companies. In response, rental car companies are raising their prices to cover the increased costs of vehicle procurement. The rentals are passing those increases on to their customers. But consumers aren't stupid. They soon will start demanding more car for their higher rental fees. And the smart rental companies, in response to that demand, will start buying better equipped automobiles from the American companies and everyone else.
Washington, D.C.: When do you think we will see a hybrid minivan? I need to replace my 12 year old Mercury Villager. I also need a van that can handle the lift mechanism for my electric scooter. Any suggestions?
Warren Brown: Hybrid crossover vehicles--combo-minivans-wagons-SUVs-- will go hybrid before minivans, which eventually will be phased out by car companies. For example, at last year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, non other than Toyota, in presenting a crossover concept, declared the minivan "dead."
NATO HQ, Belgium: Hi Warren: Moving back to the States next summer after an overseas military assignment, and I'm thinking of buying a hybrid, specifically the Ford Escape. My feeling is that, though you state that today's hybrids will quickly become obsolete, I still want to promote research and advancement in the technology, so I'm voting with my dollars. Valid point, do you think, or would you lean toward another approach? Thanks.
Warren Brown: No, that's a very valid point. You know what you're getting into and you know why. And I'm all for accelerating advances in hybrid and all other alternative fuels technologies. As a NATO official, I think you know exactly what I mean. You look at a place such as Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan. And you see all of that building, all of that rapid development, all of it dependent on oil and coal, and you understand rather quickly that we in the U.S. cannot count on foreign sources to fill our energy needs. We've got to do something else, or something in addition to competing with everyone--in ways savory and unsavory--for a share of the oil deposits in places such as Kazakhstan.
Warren Brown: That's it for today, folks. Thanks for joining me. Please remember to join me and pal JJ Gertler on the radio tomorrow at 10 a.m.--"Warren's Pit Stop", 10 a.m., WTWP Radio, 1500 AM and 107.7 FM, to be followed by Goss' Garage on the same station at 11 a.m. Both shows are simulcast nationally and internationally on www.washingtonpostradio.com
Also, in closing, I'd like to thank the people of Russia and Kazakhstan for everything they did for me and my colleagues on the long Yekaterinburg-to-Almaty drive, details of which will be in Sunday's Cars Section of The Washingon Post.
I particularly want to thank the absolutely wonderful people of Balkhash, Kazakhstan for their hospitality. Thank you Galina and Aleksandr Lashenko for giving me bed and board. It was a pleasure meeting you both.
Thanks for watching the shop in my absence, Ria. Eat lunch, woman.
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Appearing every Wednesday and Friday in The Washington Post Style section and in Sunday Source, Tell Me About It offers readers advice based on the experiences of someone who's been there -- really recently. Carolyn Hax is a 30-something ex-repatriated New Englander with a liberal arts degree and a lot of opinions and that's about it, really, when you get right down to it. Oh, and the shoes. A lot of shoes.
Mail can be directed to Carolyn at tellme@washpost.com .
Carolyn Hax: Hey everybody. Nick is standing here, pestering me. Any questions for him?
I am 22 and have, for the past three months, been dating a 36- year-old man. We have known each other for two years (through work) and I am in love. He is everything that I have been looking for, even though my parents/friends are very wary of the situation. He has been married and divorced before and has a six-year-old son (whom I have not met). Am I being too idealistic that this relationship could work? Or is the age difference/life experience difference going to be too much for our relationship?
Carolyn Hax: It's going to be too much.
No, wait! It's going to be fine.
No, wait! You, he, your family and I have no idea what's going to happen.
All you can do is take great care not to drown out/tune out/forcibly overrule what you're seeing and hearing. E.g., if you're working really hard to get along, if you're not communicating well, if you're dreading visits where the son is present--but telling yourself, "But, all relationships are work ...," then you're forcing optimism where you should instead be doubting the viability of the relationship.
But if you're getting along effortlessly on all complicated fronts, then, enjoy.
For Nick: Is his dog okay? I seem to recall the last time he participated in the chat his dog had a broken leg or some such injury.
Carolyn Hax: Nick: Zuzu is swell, thank you very much, and in full control of my life as usual.
You ever going to publish your work. Which character is Carolyn?
Carolyn Hax: Nick: I am working on it now. Send messages attn: Janice Shay and I will forward them to her, so she can take them to her pitch meetings.
Which character is Carolyn? I don't put her in that much because most of the people in the cartoons are there in a negative light.
For Nick: How did you get Carolyn to start on time?!
Carolyn Hax: I'll take that one. He was talking to all my cubemates about his hair and I was fleeing the conversation.
One for Nick: Nick, how did you get the nut up to be an artist? Did you have to overcome feeling like your parents and everyone around you were secretly thinking that you were wasting your intellect, or that you weren't any good, or that you'd never make money... or is that just me?
Carolyn Hax: Nick: I went through all of those things, from various sources and influences. The truth of the matter is that my father always made me feel like I should do whatever I wanted to do, and could do whatever I wanted to do. And so I did.
My mom did sort of feel there were only two professions in the world--I should be a doctor, or I should be a doctor--but once I felt I had something to say and started drawing, no one was more on board than she was.
Carolyn Hax: I would add that, if anything, Nick's dad sees office jobs as a waste of intellect. Very creatively inclined-bordering-on-biased.
Arlington, Va: wait, who's Nick?
Carolyn Hax: Nick does the amazing cartoons with the column. (He also does the first edit on my columns, and helps me read my mail. And he was the first husband.)
NoVa: Yes, I have a question for Nick.
I met this guy with whom I met through a common interest activity and have been only a few times. We went to lunch yet I was assuming the lunch was just lunch as in you pay for yourself as I would if I was eating with my coworkers. But, if he pays does that make the lunch more of a lunch date? I was thinking maybe it's more along the lines of a coffee date, but it was just lunch instead. I realize he could also just of been trying to be nice and pay. But, I would like a guys point of veiw on this.
Carolyn Hax: Nick: I wouldn't assume that. Just based on picking up the tab--I try to pick up the tab with almost anyone. It's a personal hospitality sort of rule. (Go to Crete, you'll see what I mean.)
Carolyn Hax: There we have it. Lunch is on Nick.
For Nick, about dog: What kind of dog is Zuzu?
Carolyn Hax: Oh, oh, I know this one! Pit bull. So maybe you're buying lunch after all.
Carolyn Hax: I see none of you asked Nick advice about hair. Good call.
Nick: Ask if any of them want to help paint my house this weekend.
Vet's day is a floating holiday in my office and most people took today off so it's dead quiet and totally wonderful but I find myself so excited about no one being here and it being a beautiful day out and I have a three day weekend ahead that I can't get any work done. Advice? (I've already gone for a long walk and done busy work that involves no thinking.)
Carolyn Hax: Write us a poem. The worse the better. You have about ... 2 hours.
Baby Blues: I have to go back to work in March, after maternity leave beginning last June. I know I should be grateful that my company allows me to take off for so long (mostly unpaid). I really don't want to go back. My husband and I have tried to figure out how we can afford for me to not go back (part time is not offered at my place of employment). However, since my salary is a little bigger than his and my health benefits far exceed his, there seems to be no way for me to NOT go back to work. I feel like once I go, I'm never going to see my baby anymore. Can those working mom's out there please assure me that once I go back to work -- and my baby goes to day care -- that things will eventually feel normal and ok?
Carolyn Hax: Working full-time is preferable for some parents. For some, it's a tough sacrifice but worthwhile on balance. For some, it's hell. Of course you will see your baby, and your baby wont' forget you, and all that stuff--but if you want to be home, think harder and try to stay home, or at least find a part-time alternative. Seriously. You do have obstacles, and if you can't clear them go back to the you'll-be-okay part. But you also have time and choices. Why, for example, can't you apply to other companies for part-time jobs?
If anyone wants to weigh in, have at it, just don't hurt me!!!!!!!
Nick question: If you're the first column editor, which do you say more -- "You might want to tone it down a touch" or "Quit pulling your punches"
Carolyn Hax: Nick: First thing I say is, "No, Carolyn, I'm right."
It's probably an 80-20 split, stop pulling punches vs. tone it down.
Nick: Bye. Thank you very much.
Carolyn Hax: Nick has left the building.
Thanks, guys. That was fun.
Boston, Mass.: Hi Carolyn. What's your advice about getting involved with a 34-year- old man, separated for more than a year from his wife of 12 years (notably not yet divorced), with a five-year-old daughter? I'm 32, single/never married, verrrrry hesitant, but I do like him.
Carolyn Hax: Not knowing any of the details, I would heed your verrrrrry-hesitance. There are definitely steep variations in these situations--from people who still might work things out, to people who are just waiting it out till the legal process makes it official, and everything in between--and so it's not a blanket "Go for it" or "Don't you dare go for it." But if you either don't know the details well enough to depend on them or if you know but aren't convinced, those both override any other concerns.
When someone is so mean and rude in Internet chat boards (whether online/in public or expressed offline in e-mails to a fellow member where they state all sorts of inflammatory things), do you think this is par for the course -- "any one of us could be a jerk, and it's anonymous so why not", or, do you think it's another indicator of character: similar to being mean to waiters, kids, animals, etc.
Carolyn Hax: I don't see any difference between the two. We all get ample opportunities to act like jerks and "get away with it." Some people choose to take those opportunities, and some don't, and those choices speak directly to character. The where-and-when details don't really matter.
As you may have figured out by the " ", I don't believe anyone truly gets away with being rude. Do you ever really feel better when you treat someone else like [shneesh]?
Today's advice: Seriously, did that guy really need to write into an advice columnist to figure out what to do when someone says "promise you won't ever hurt me"? Really? Should this guy even be in a relationship? Has he never heard this before? Dude, here's what you do when someone says "promise you won't ever hurt me": You say: "of course sweet muffin, I would never hurt you, now please let me go to sleep." Lawdy, has he lived in a cave for his entire life?
Carolyn Hax: I am SO glad he didn't go the yes dear/sweet-muffin route. Totally corrosive way to deal with someone you (are supposed to) care about.
Silver Spring, Md.: If you want to stay home that badly with your baby you should. Alternatively, you could say you will try going back to your job for just a month (looking for part time options during that time) and see how it goes. Once you try it you may end up liking it. Remember, not everyone wants to be a full-time parent. I very much wanted to go back to work shortly after I had my baby, but if you don't want that, very seriously look at your options.
Huntsville: Two spouses: One makes big sacrifices for other's career, moving across the country, working two jobs while other spouse gets MBA, etc. How much does the spouse who now has the MBA owe the spouse who did the two jobs? If the spouse who got the MBA now says, "I don't want a stressful job, I just want to take an easy job at a nonprofit that doesn't pay much," is the spouse who sacrificed justified in being upset and urging the spouse with the MBA to get a job that pays better?
Carolyn Hax: Excellent, excellent question, thank you.
I think the entire answer rides on the attitude of the MBA holder. If, on the one hand, s/he has had a genuine epiphany that business isn't a true calling and that a particular nonprofit is, then I think the two of them jointly work out an arrangement that allows pursuit of The Calling while also alleviating pressure on the two-job spouse--with the MBA acknowledging, appreciating, and even regretting/grieving the spouse's sacrifice. And if an arrangement just can't be made to please both, then the MBA does assume the greater burden with the understanding that any bigger-salary yields will be stashed away as a future liberation-from-the-business-world fund.
If the MBA is just saying, "Well, that was fun, but I could really use a nap," then spouse is fully justified both in being upset and in urging a job that eases the household financial pressure.
Re: Today's Column: Did you have to be so harsh on the "Please don't hurt me" girl? Sometimes people get hurt badly in previous relationships and really WANT to trust that the person they're with won't hurt them but they want reassurance. Would your answer change if you knew how long they'd been dating? If she says it after a few dates then yes she's needy and horribly insecure, but what if she says it after six months?
Carolyn Hax: I still have a real problem with it, for all the reasons I gave. I can see, "Be patient with me, please," but, "Be nice to me" crosses a line.
For Baby Blues: Have you and your husband considered him staying home? This might make it easier for you -- no day care to take baby to which shortens your day -- the baby gets to be at home -- some days maybe your husband and baby could come have lunch with you. This might make it easier for you.
Carolyn Hax: Thanks. I actually thought of this and didn't bother mentioning it b/c I figured she wanted to be home, period. But I shouldn't figure. It's a nice solution when the ideal one isn't an option.
Washington, D.C.: How would you define the difference between "relationships are work" and "this relationship doesn't work"?
Carolyn Hax: Loving your job, or not.
I just got engaged. I'm thrilled about, family and friends all love the guy. But my best friend, who is unhappily single, has already stated that she will be really upset when I get engaged because it will mean the end of our friendship, I won't have any more time for her, blah, blah, blah. I want to tell her about my engagement (I want her in the wedding) but I am really worried that she will be mean and I will blow up or feel really terrible. I don't think it's a lot to ask that she fake happiness for a few moments. How do I approach telling her so that I can accept whatever she does?
Carolyn Hax: Tell her as you would anyone else. She's your friend, not your interim amusement while you await marriage, and if she's going to have idiotic ideas to the contrary, you're under no obligation to validate them by tiptoeing around her.
Will your friendship change some? Of course. You'll have a life partner, in your own home. if it doesn't change you'll owe your husband an apology. But that's life, not a personal insult. People wed, move, change, make other friends, die. It's sad, but it's not personal, and it's not the end of the world. All of which you can use to respond to her when she freaks out at your news. Or shorten it to: "I'm your friend. Please be happy for me."
Baby Blues again: Why isn't it "ideal" for her husband to stay home? Is it "ideal" for her to quit her job just because at this moment, facing the unknown of returning to work for the first time ever since meeting the love of her life (her baby, I mean), she doesn't want to?
Carolyn Hax: It isn't "ideal" because the husband isn't dreaming of staying home and desperately running through the numbers to see how he can afford to stay home.
She is. So, it is. I don't think there's really any fine print to scrutinize here.
For Maternity Leave:: I second the call to go back to work and see how it goes. I was reluctant to start day care for my six-month-old (while still on maternity leave from an academic job -- not teaching now, but I still have research to do), but the truth is that it's been fabulous. My time with baby is still wonderful (and 100 percent devoted to her now), and even better, I feel like a human again. The bonus for me is that my baby loves the interaction of day care, loves to smile and yelp and flap and the other babies. But even if that weren't the case, it's been worth it to feel whole and autonomous and smart again -- which makes me, in turn, a better parent to my girl. Try it out!
Carolyn Hax: Thanks. It really is an intensely personal decision, and you raise an important element of it--that the outcome is sometimes a surprise to people who thought they were sure what they wanted.
To far from D.C. (home): Carolyn,
I'm guessing that the woman who asked him not to hurt her was saying a lot more than just that. It may be that she has really really strong feelings for this guy and can't let herself embrace them and become vulnerable unless he knows that's what she is doing. In other words, she's telling him that she's serious here and if he's not, she'd rather know now.
Carolyn Hax: Good thought, thanks. It would be interesting to know the context in which she said this.
Re: Arlington: Umm, if you're scared of your friend's reaction when you tell her you got engaged, your friendship was already kind of doomed. There's an unhealthy dynamic there.
Carolyn Hax: Well, there's that, too. Thanks.
Re: Huntsville: Umm, doesn't the supporting spouse kind of just have to suck it up and deal? I mean, why didn't the supporting spouse go out and get the MBA? What was the supporting spouse hoping to get out of the other one's career/education? Unless there was some sort of agreed-upon deal/plan worked out by the pair of them, it's really more of a lesson learned about investing so much in someone else's life path, even when it is a spouse. Plans for happiness and fulfillment change. The supporting spouse needed to acknowledge this risk before becoming a martyr to an undefined cause. The other spouse might simply be burned out and need to regenerate (as it sounds like the supporting spouse needs to do).
I dunno. I just think you can't make sacrifices for other people with the expectation of getting something out of it -- it just leads to disappointment.
Carolyn Hax: I agree with that, but I also think, on the other side, that the sacrificed-for spouse can't make the supporter "suck it up and deal" lightly. That would be incredibly selfish, for the MBA who needs to regenerate to kick back while the two-job spouse, who also needs to regenerate, gets to continue without a break. In other words, yes, you sacrifice not just get something back, but you shouldn't be asked to sacrifice for nothing.
Country/City: Hi Carolyn -- I'm a big fan and I can't seem to muddle through this and thought you may help out.
I grew up in a rural area of New England, most friends and family live in the area. As a kid, I couldn't wait to leave and in general I'm a city person but these are my most important relationships and visiting once or twice a year isn't cutting it. I also want to buy a house and the cost of a one-bedroom here gets me a mansion back home. Add to the mix that I'm single, most people at home are married and I have doubts about meeting someone in a more limited pool
On the one hand (D.C.): Higher salary, better weather (which is important), City life, Not driving/owning a car.
On the other: Family, Friends, saving money by not flying home so much.
Carolyn Hax: How unrealistic am I allowed to get? Steer your career toward something that allows you to be your own boss or telecommute, buy your New England house--a non-mansion, so you can still afford to rent a little place in DC. It could be a 5-year plan, but five years isn't that long.
Or, move back and see if you like it. DC will still be here if you don't.
I would warn against the I'll-meet-someone-here-but-won't-there mind set. All you need is one person, and who knows where that person will turn up.
While it certainly takes two to tango I can't help being bothered by the fact that my now girlfriend slept with me on our first night. This opens up all sorts of questions about her past. I am sure you'll say I am a double-standard jerk, and her past is irrelevant, but you know realities, and I could not live with the fact my girlfriend was "easy" and slept around. How can I let this issue go? Not sure how I ask her about it?
Carolyn Hax: Outright, so she knows who she's dealing with.
You slept with her, too. I won't indulge anyone who thinks it's more wrong for a woman to have sex than it is for a man. You are showing no respect for her, for her autonomy, for her worth as a person, for her ownership of her sexuality. I would love it if you could read this and suddenly recognize her for being as full a human being as you are, but, barring that, please tell her you're hung up on this so she can keep company with someone who will--even if it's her own company.
Washington, D.C.: Hi Carolyn --
I'm not sure what to do. My brother (two years older) and I are not that close, and don't talk that much. His wife and I are close, and talk frequently. (Nothing romantic here, I'm gay and she knows that.) Anyway, it seems from my conversations with her that my brother is depressed and, it seems, as a result of that depression is drinking a lot. Like 4 to 5 glasses of wine a night plus a large bottle of vodka a month (seems like a lot to me). Any suggestions on what I can do to help him without that doesn't make it clear that his wife told me? She's tried to get him into counseling, but be refuses. And he gets angry (according to her) when she mentions that he is drinking too much. Even though we're not close, I am worried about him and worried about how he is affecting his kids (aged 13 and 10 -- old enough to know when their dad is drunk).
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Carolyn Hax: Upsetting situation, I'm sorry.
You have her ear, and I think that's actually enough for you to get involved in a productive way. There won't be much anyone can do if your brother refuses to listen, but your sister-in-law will have a better chance of helping him if she gets help herself. Be it Al-Anon or another support group or private counseling with someone trained to handle addictions, effective "training" for spouses of alcoholics is out there in abundance. Urge her to get some, and, if it makes sense, do some homework yourself.
There are programs for the kids, too; you or she can research them through whatever resources you find for the adults.
Re: Baltimore: I would love to hear this guy's explanation for why he slept with her if it was going to bother him that she slept with him.
RE: Baltimore, Md: Uh, hello? Maybe you were just so irresistible that she wanted nothing more than to sleep with you! Maybe it's a compliment!
But if you can't see it that way, she deserves much, MUCH better.
Carolyn Hax: Ha. Well said, thanks.
Washington, D.C.: I'm immensely sad. My boyfriend broke up with me and to cheer myself up some I went to DSW but I couldn't find anything that I even wanted to try on. Not only can I apparently not make a relationship work, I also can't shoe shop. Any words of comfort?
Carolyn Hax: Hang in there--there are other shoe stores in the sea.
Washington, D.C.: One quick comment for the person wanting to move back to New England -- I have been in a similar situation, and tried moving back where my family was. I was happy in some ways, but lonely, because all of my friends there were married. They wanted to get together for 6:00 p.m. dinners and then be home in time to watch "Lost." I had no single friends in the same boat to go out with. So ... eventually I decided that as much as I preferred the other area of the country for quality of life purposes, my number one goal was to meet someone and in my 30s the best way to do that is to be around other single people. So, I moved back to D.C., where I have a bunch of great single friends. I am much less lonely and have a social life. I would just recommend deciding what your Number 1 goal is: meeting someone and getting married, eventually, having a family, being around your family, being in your favorite location. Because you may have to sacrifice one for another for a while, so it's important to understand what is most important.
Carolyn Hax: Well said, thanks.
I also don't think it's just a single-vs-married thing. It's about how you socialize. If you like to be around people, even just the hellos when you get your coffee, then family and cheap real estate might not be enough for you. Non-metro-area-suburban/rural life is very different, very car based, very often isolating.
I should really put a disclaimer on this.
Anyway, it's not true of every place, obviously, but I still think individual temperament is more important. You need to know and respect yours and choose your ... zoning? demographics? population density? accordingly.
Bitter friends: I had a similar experience a while ago. One of my friends and I got engaged at around the same time; a third, who had been dating her boyfriend longer told us right before we got engaged that she was going to be angry if we both got engaged before her. Well, we did, but her manners kicked in and she was gracious when we got engaged.
This girl has also gotten angry at me for not calling and spending hours on the phone anymore, claiming that she doesn't want me as a friend unless I do. (We live 2,000 miles away so we can't get together often.) Well, I did that in college and when I was single; I have a kid now. I'm not "free" except when I'm in my car alone or after my girl's tucked in bed. I've tried calling her when I'm driving, but she gets offended by that -- every call has to be of significant length. And by the time I'm free at night I want to relax and snuggle with my husband before passing out.
I love this girl dearly, but I'm getting very irritated by this. Am I wrong? I just don't want to spend an hour on the phone at 10 p.m. when I could be reading next to my husband.
Carolyn Hax: Did anyone read the Post Magazine piece (maybe about a month back?) about the married woman with kids who resented her unmarried and childless friend for not "getting" her life? I thought it was fascinating because it illustrated that people on both sides can be guilty of closing their minds to lives unlike their own--it's not just the single/childless ones unrealistically pressuring the married/parents.
Anyway, I throw that out there, and yet it does sound like your friend is closing her mind to the realities of your life. (You would be doing the same if you were complaining, "Not all of us have nothing better to do than talk on the phone for an hour," but, yay, you didn't.) Try One More Time--explain that you have nothing left at 10 p.m. so it's not a good time to talk--then apologize for not being able to be a friend on her terms, and let this thing end.
washingtonpost.com: Through Thick and Thin, (Post Magazine, Oct. 8)
Washington, D.C.: Would it be too silly to suggest for the person missing rural New England to try something kind of intermediate -- like moving to Boston? You get closer to the family, and cheaper visits home, but you're still in a city, with all the attendant possibilities.
Carolyn Hax: I don't think there is a too-silly point in this chat.
But, then, weather was an issue for this person, so that might be the end of Boston "Spring Is for Wimps" Massachusetts.
Seattle, Wash.: I'm planning to tell a friend of mine this weekend that I have very strong romantic feelings for him. I've decided this because I cannot take it anymore. About a 50/50 chance (in my best guess) that he'll feel the same. Any tips?
Carolyn Hax: Adjust your figures to 99/1 won't share/will share your feelings, then go for it. In other words, say it because you want to say it and you want him to know it, not because you want him to love you back. That would just be a nice bonus.
This will probably take some intense auto-brainwashing, but at least try.
Alexandria, Va.: My best friend has just announced that she's moving to WI to be closer to her family. She's my only single female friend here in the D.C., area and we keep joking that if we were lesbians we would be "married" with kids. She's made reference to the fact that I'm not tied to this area (OK job but nothing spectacular, no boyfriend) and that I should move with her. On one hand, I'm really tempted: living with my best friend, change of scenery, chance to start all over again with career. But I've also said that moving somewhere to be with someone just to avoid being alone isn't a good reason to move. And that's what I feel I would be doing. But the thought of being alone is terrifying to me. Any way I can weigh these options indiscriminately in my mind?
Carolyn Hax: After she moves there, go, visit the place, see if you get that I-have-to-live-here feeling you've probably gotten on some vacation or something. If it still feels like you'd be moving just out of fear (or if you feel you'd be overly dependent on your friend) then trust it and stay where you are. Remember, you don't have to decide anything now, or even a year from now.
Atlanta, Ga.: I'm single in the big bad city, and all MY friends are married and want to get home early to watch TV, pay the babysitter, etc.
I don't know if it's a city/country thing as a universal getting-older kind of thing.
Carolyn Hax: I'd call it a [bleeping] exhausted kind of thing. But then I'd need another disclaimer.
DSW Failure:: The woman having shoe-shopping failure could go get a new haircut ... more dangerous, but doesn't last as long.
Carolyn Hax: Doesn't last as long, but can't be shoved into the back of the closet and forgotten, either. At least not without painful consequences.
In your Nov 3rd column, you had addressed the case where an angry boyfriend who locks his girlfriend out of the house by saying that he is "a person of poor character" and pretty much telling the girlfriend to leave him.
Now, what would you say if the roles were reversed? What if the girlfriend locks out the boyfriend when they fight because she feels threatened by him because he is bigger and stronger.
And let me add that the boyfriend does get loud and angry but has not ever done anything to physically harm her.
To me, it's understandable that the girlfriend may feel this way, but I feel it's still the girlfriend mistreating the boyfriend.
Carolyn Hax: Those aren't reversed roles. That would be the woman locking the man out because she couldn't deal with him. And that would make her abusive.
Anyone locking someone out for fear of physical harm gets an immediate pass, unless the idea is so ludicrous that it's clearly a manipulative tactic.
And, anyone who gets into any of these situations and doesn't make changes or end the relationship, but instead goes back for more of the same, is a fine candidate for counseling, regardless of which side of the door he or she finds him- or herself.
Weather: This has to be the first time I've ever seen D.C.'s weather be listed as a positive thing.
But I kind of liked the weather when I lived in New England, so what do I know?
Carolyn Hax: DC weather is a plus for 9 of 12 months. New England weather is a plus for ... about 7 of 12.
(This is for people who like seasons, not people who like year-round 75 and sunny. A k a, wimps.)
Boston, Mass.: I need to know rules on calling after hooking up with girls. Went on a first date on Saturday, she spent the night at my place (no sex, but close). Nice enough girl, but I'm really not interested. When should I have called her to tell her?
If I were interested, when should I have called her?
How bad is what I'm doing?
Carolyn Hax: When did you decide you weren't interested? If it was still Saturday, then what you did was pretty bad--you shouldn't have encouraged her (in any way) to spend the night. (If she had then said, "Hey, I don't like you, either, but why let that get in the way," the angels would wink and leave you to it.)
If you were interested, then you'd call later that day to say you had a great time. Leave game-playing for the kids.
Who we are: It seems to me that people transition from single to married with a good approximation of who they were before. My friends are incredibly important to me and always will be. Family means we speak less, but I still make a point of keeping in touch. Those of my friends who, when they got married, stepped off the edge of the earth were the ones who never really had returned phone calls. Life changes, the ebb and flow changes, but the spirit (whatever it was) stays true.
Carolyn Hax: Good point, but also factor in the individual circumstances. A friend in med school or who works 80-hour weeks will be there for you far less than one who works banker's hours; a friend with one easygoing child will be there for you more than the one with a special-needs child or three circus candidates in diapers; a friend with a social or career-absorbed spouse will be out and about more than one who marries a homebody--unless they have kids, when the reverse can be true.
Which can all be said in way fewer words: Base expectations on other's lives, not just your needs.
Dupont, Washington, D.C.: I've been going through a rough patch lately and after weeks of trying to deal with it myself, I opened up to a few friends. They've been great, concerned and all of that. The problem is my issues just aren't going away yet and I can feel myself getting depressing to hang out around. I'm trying not to be and I don't force these deep talks on them whenever we see each other, but I just can't be as carefree as normal.
How do I stop myself from getting to be one of "those" people who no one wants to hang out around? This funk won't last forever, I know that -- I just don't want to be a burden in the meantime.
Carolyn Hax: Sometimes friends can be a comfort just in the distraction they provide from your own crap. Will that work here?
Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.: I've been with my boyfriend for three years but lately I've been having feelings of wanting more freedom and a chance to be carefree. I'm only 25 and there's a part of me that feels like life is passing me by. However, I do love my boyfriend, so I'm wondering if the feelings I'm having are normal and will subside over time. Should I stick it out and wait for this to pass, or should I take this as a sign that it's time to break things off?
Carolyn Hax: Unless you have a moral obligation to stay where you are, please promise me that you'll never, ever suppress your inner urges to get out and get more out of life. It's regret in a can.
Los Angeles, Calif.: Hi Carolyn,
Love your columns/chat. In a recent article, you said couples should get married when they don't want to/think marriage will change anything about the relationship besides give it that piece of paper that makes it "official." I might be wrong, but I seem to recall you said earlier that you're not a big fan of cohabitation before marriage/engagement. How do you reconcile the two? (I'm not trying to challenge; I just really respect your insight and was wondering how the two go hand in hand.)
Carolyn Hax: I said I wasn't a big fan of cohabitation as an oh-well-whatever alternative to a real commitment. As in, "I'm not sure this is someone I'd marry, so we'll just move in together."
Reason being, SO many people get mired in these mixed-stuff, I'm-on-the-lease, can't-afford-to-leave, thought-we'd-be-married-but-s/he-keeps-saying-s/he's-not-ready swamps--and some even get married knowing they're not in the best relationship because it's too painful to move out. Awful.
So, when people ask about this, I advise moving in together when they would both be okay if living together were an end unto itself--or, alternately, if they are engaged and ready to marry but just want to see how day-to-day life is (if they've lived some distance apart or something). The important thing is that the couple be like-minded and thinking long-term.
Arlington, Va.: "Leave game-playing for the kids."
Oh, but Carolyn, you of all people should know that dating involves lots and lots of game-playing, whether we know it or not AND whether we like it or not.
That's why I hate dating, because I can't stand the inevitable game-playing that comes with it.
Carolyn Hax: NO NO NO. You can refuse to play. Really. It might not always "work," but it will always work in the sense that you're not playing games.
Failed Shoe Shopper: Try shopping for purses. If you like one, you can just buy it without worrying if it will pinch your toes ...
Carolyn Hax: There's some ingenuity.
Holy 2:41. Bye, seeya, thanks, type to you next week ...
RE: Carefree: That's good advice, unless she has a history of ending relationships every time she gets bored. I had a friend like this in college, who didn't seem to understand that every once in a while you'd go through a patch where your S.O. just didn't totally enthrall you.
Trouble with that is that she would break up with them only to realize very quickly thereafter that the problem was really that she was stressed about work or something, then she had two problems ...
Carolyn Hax: Still means she needs to grow up, and so isn't ready to be in committed relationship. Right?
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Bush Meets With Pelosi; Both Vow Cooperation
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President Bush, confronted face to face with the reality of divided government, broke bread with the two top House Democrats at the White House and vowed not to allow partisan divisions to hobble the remaining two years of his presidency.
After meeting separately with his Cabinet and the outgoing GOP congressional leadership, Bush laid out an agenda for the lame-duck congressional session that begins next week, including a nuclear technology deal with India, a free-trade agreement with Vietnam and his plan to permit wiretapping of terrorism suspects without a court warrant.
But prospects for controversial items such as wiretapping legislation seemed remote yesterday, as the concession of Sen. George Allen (R) in Virginia made it official that the Democrats will control that chamber as well as the House come January.
Meeting with reporters in her office after meeting with Bush at the White House, the House speaker-to-be, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said Democrats could reach accord with Bush on the legislation but will insist on some kind of judicial review of each wiretap the Justice Department seeks.
Pelosi and Bush offered smiles and pledges of cooperation as they faced reporters in the Oval Office after a lunch of pasta salad in the president's private dining room. "We won't agree on every issue," Bush said. "But we do agree that we love America equally, that we are concerned about the future of the country and that we will do our very best to address big problems."
"We both extended the hand of friendship," said Pelosi, who will be the first female speaker of the House in history when the new Congress convenes.
The meeting was the first substantive discussion between Bush and Democrats since the election Tuesday returned the opposition party to power on Capitol Hill. In recent years, Bush has governed without the support of congressional Democrats on most issues, and the new political reality will require him to work much more closely with Pelosi and the soon-to-be Senate majority leader, Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). Bush is to meet today with Reid and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the next Democratic whip.
Despite deep philosophical differences and sharp election-year rhetoric from both sides, the White House and congressional Democrats may share some interest in finding common ground on such issues as overhauling the immigration system, education and energy, according to lawmakers and administration officials. Democratic leaders seem anxious to show they can deliver as a governing party after years in opposition, while Bush is aware that his final two years will be bereft of any significant initiative unless he can work with the party he demonized on the campaign trail.
Despite conciliatory rhetoric, there were flashes yesterday of the potential obstacles ahead. The White House once again asked the Senate to approve the nomination of controversial U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton, who holds the post after a recess appointment, but Democrats -- and a key Republican -- quickly moved to block the action. In her interview with reporters, Pelosi said Democrats will act immediately to reinstate lapsed budget rules, which mandate that any new tax cuts or spending increases be paid for with equal spending cuts or tax hikes. That would all but shut the door on Bush's main economic priority, making his first-term tax cuts permanent.
The new House and Senate leadership will also quickly challenge Bush on stem cell research, Pelosi said. Democrats expect to pass legislation early next year that would be almost identical to the only bill he has vetoed, a measure to expand federal funding of stem cells beyond the few lines already in existence. The addition of 29 Democratic seats in the House and six in the Senate is probably not enough to override a veto, Pelosi conceded, but Democrats hope to "build public support for a signature."
But Pelosi and the House's No. 2 Democrat, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (Md.), who also attended the White House lunch, indicated they came away from their meeting with a sense that they could work with Bush. In an apparent effort to demonstrate goodwill, Pelosi added that Democrats will take up the "innovation agenda" laid out by Bush nearly a year ago in his State of the Union address, and pass his proposals to increase funding for basic scientific research and alternative energy programs.
Hoyer said in an interview that he believed the two sides could also reach agreement on a comprehensive immigration bill that includes both tough enforcement measures and some kind of guest-worker program. Such legislation has been blocked by House GOP leadership, and Hoyer pointed out, "The Senate Democrats and the Senate Republicans and the House Democrats are more in agreement than the president and House Republicans."
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Bolton May Not Return As U.N. Envoy
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Key lawmakers said yesterday they would block the nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, all but killing chances for him to remain in the post past December.
For nearly 20 months, President Bush has tried, unsuccessfully, to get Bolton confirmed in a job he has held since August 2005. Bolton then received a recess appointment after not getting enough support in the Senate.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and its presumed chairman when the Democrats take control of the Senate in January, said yesterday that Bolton's nomination is "going nowhere."
"I see no point in considering Mr. Bolton's nomination again in the Foreign Relations Committee because, regardless of what happens there, he is unlikely to be considered by the full Senate," Biden said in a statement.
The White House had hoped Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.), a moderate Republican who earlier raised questions about Bolton and the administration's policies in the Middle East, would support Bolton after the election. But Chafee lost his seat Tuesday.
"On Tuesday, the American people sent a clear message of dissatisfaction with the foreign policy approach of the Bush administration," Chafee said in a statement. "To confirm Mr. Bolton to the position of U.N. ambassador would fly in the face of the clear consensus of the country that a new direction is called for." Chafee said Bolton lacks the "collaborative approach" needed to make the United States "the strongest country in a peaceful world."
Without Chafee's support, Republicans on the committee do not have enough votes to recommend Bolton's confirmation.
Bolton's nomination, in early spring of 2005, fell apart within weeks. The Senate committee hearings were dominated by heated testimony from former colleagues and several intelligence officials; they described Bolton as a bully who pressured analysts, cherry-picked intelligence and hid information from the secretary of state. The committee did not support the nomination but agreed to send it to the full Senate for consideration.
Several Republicans then joined with Democrats to block a vote on the nomination until the White House turned over documents relating to Bolton's tenure as undersecretary of state for arms control during Bush's first term. The White House refused, insisting that Bolton deserved a vote by the full Senate.
Bolton's recess appointment is set to expire at the end of December, when the current Congress goes out of session. With only a few months remaining, the White House tried again to get Bolton confirmed during the summer. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee came to the administration's aid, lobbying heavily for Bolton's nomination. It persuaded several Democrats to support Bolton but the nomination was snagged by Chafee.
White House spokesman Tony Snow would not predict yesterday whether Bolton would get confirmed or say what the White House's contingency plans are if the nomination falls through again. "This is something that we think is important, that he stay there," Snow told reporters.
National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley urged senators to judge Bolton solely on his performance at the United Nations over the past year. "I would hope that people would step back, take a look at John's record up there, and reach the judgment that the president has reached -- that he does a terrific job for the American people."
In a statement yesterday, Bush named five congressional priorities he hopes will be tackled before the end of the year. Bolton was not on the list.
Yesterday, a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the administration had explored options for keeping Bolton at the United Nations. A second recess appointment is not possible, but officials considered making Bolton an "acting ambassador." But the official, who would discuss internal deliberations only on the condition of anonymity, said none of the options is appealing, especially given the strong opposition shown by the Democrats, who are poised to take over Congress.
If there is no confirmation, "we assume he'll probably resign," the official said. Several administration officials speculated that Zalmay Khalilzad, the ambassador to Iraq, could be a candidate to replace Bolton.
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Key lawmakers said yesterday they would block the nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, all but killing chances for him to remain in the post past December.
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Meeting at The Middle
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American voters, in their wisdom, ended an era on Tuesday. They rejected a poorly conceived war policy in Iraq that has weakened the United States. They rejected a harshly ideological approach to politics that cast opponents as enemies of the country's survival. They rejected a president so determined to win an election that he was willing to slander his opponents by saying: "The Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses." The voters decided there was no decency in that.
No longer will the national tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, be used to undermine the opposition party. It was only after he was forced to do so by an electoral defeat that President Bush called for genuine bipartisanship yesterday. Imagine what the world would look like if he had done that a year or two ago.
And no longer will we pay attention to political strategists who assert that swing voters aren't important and that independents and moderates don't matter. If Democrats are to make good use of the power they have been granted, they need to remember that last point. This election was the revenge of the center no less than it was the revenge of the left. The decisive votes cast on Tuesday came from moderates and independents, whom the exit polls showed favoring Democratic House candidates by about 3 to 2.
Nancy Pelosi and the other Democratic leaders face a genuinely complicated political calculus. On the one hand, Democrats would not have won without the intense dedication of their partisan and ideological base. Among self-identified Democrats, the party's House candidates won by about 13 to 1. Liberals went about 8 to 1 Democratic. This energy was critical to the outcome.
But many of the party's successful candidates ran as moderates, and Democrats hold power on the basis of a loan of votes from middle-of-the-road Americans who simply could not stomach Bush Republicanism anymore. The loan can be recalled at any moment.
The good news for Democrats is that their candidates, moderates and liberals alike, ran on two common themes: that the Bush Iraq policy had to change and that the Washington establishment simply does not understand the personal struggles and economic insecurities confronting so many Americans.
On Iraq, the president, not Congress, controls the essential levers of power, especially since Democrats have made clear that they will not use the one instrument they have, to cut off funding for the war, and they are right not to do so.
What they should do is use the coming report from the commission headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and Lee Hamilton, the former Democratic House member, to force a genuinely bipartisan approach to extricate us from Iraq at the lowest cost possible.
Tuesday's vote can help by making clear to the Iraqi government that there is a limit to American patience. The Shiite majority in Iraq must take more steps to reconcile with the Sunni minority. Our allies in the Arab world need to step up and help, because the American people will not tolerate endless engagement in Iraq. And the Democrats should encourage the administration to engage with all the nations in the region that have reason to fear an Iraqi civil war. That includes Syria and Iran.
The other obligation of this new majority is to answer the economic discontent that helped build its victory. Republicans prayed that the economy would matter in this election. Their prayers were answered in an odd way: Two-fifths of the voters told the pollsters that the economy was "extremely important" in their voting decision -- and they voted 3 to 2 for Democratic House candidates. A lot of Americans are losing ground, and they spoke up.
As long as Republicans control the White House, Democrats will not be able to pass far-reaching measures to deal with worries about pension benefits, health insurance and job security. What needs to begin is a long struggle to create a new social contract that will protect and lift up the tens of millions of Americans for whom globalization is more threat than promise.
It's worth pushing hard-to-veto legislation increasing the minimum wage, expanding health-care coverage and fixing the Medicare drug benefit. These steps need to be combined with hearings on more ambitious measures that would force the Washington establishment to come to terms with grass-roots economic discontents.
This election creates an exceptional opportunity to move from blind ideology to problem-solving and from stupid divisiveness to a politics of remedy and reconciliation. The Democrats had better make it work.
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It's over. American voters, in their wisdom, ended an era on Tuesday. They rejected a poorly conceived war policy in Iraq that has weakened the United States. They rejected a harshly ideological approach to politics that cast opponents as enemies of the country's survival. They rejected a president...
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Facing Up to Reality
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Never was a political wipeout better advertised in advance than the one that hit the Republican Party on Tuesday and cost Don Rumsfeld his job. From the first of my political soundings in the Midwest in early spring, it was clear that the public's frustration with the war in Iraq, the inept performance of the Bush administration after Hurricane Katrina, and the stunning partisanship and tawdriness of the Republican Congress was reaching explosive levels.
When Congress quit work without addressing immigration, energy prices or health-care inflation in any serious way, the majority Republicans were clearly asking for trouble. And the scandals that kept erupting just added to the public disgust.
A few days before the election, Bernadette Budde, political director of BIPAC, the Republican-friendly Business Industry Political Action Committee, was quoted here as warning of the imminence of what she correctly predicted would be "an earthquake."
The only people who seemed oblivious to the warning signs were President Bush and his political adviser, Karl Rove. Against all evidence, including the warnings of other Republicans, they kept insisting that Republicans would hold the House and Senate. Bush said at his news conference yesterday, "I knew we were going to lose seats," but he acknowledged he was shocked that the twin themes he kept pushing -- taxes and security -- didn't save the GOP from "a thumping."
The Republican Party paid a heavy price for Bush and Rove's obduracy -- and for the miserable performance of the GOP congressional leadership. The vaunted Republican "base," on which the White House has relied to support the president's agenda, splintered on Election Day. In exit polls, one-fifth of self-described Republicans and three out of 10 white evangelicals or "born-again" Christians said they voted Democratic for Congress.
Meanwhile, independents and moderates went Democratic by margins of 18 and 23 points, respectively. Democrats broadened their coalition, winning the cities and splitting even in suburbs and rural areas, while capturing majorities in all age groups and every income level up to $100,000 a year. That same range is reflected in the expanded Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate, with notable victories from New Hampshire to Arizona.
So Bush was simply acknowledging reality when he reversed himself and bade farewell to his controversial Pentagon chief. He said he had made the decision in the final hours before Election Day, when he still believed he'd have a Republican Congress. In reality it was announced less than half an hour after speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi had said at her own news conference that firing Rumsfeld would be the clearest way for Bush to signal that the election constituted a call for a new policy in Iraq.
Pelosi's performance at her debut as leader of a congressional majority was pitch-perfect, calm, confident and blessedly free of the screeching tone of some of her stump speeches. She is leading a formidable political force in this revived Democratic Party. Bush has every reason to treat her with respect -- and a degree of deference. He is right in thinking that they could well find common ground on immigration, education and perhaps even entitlements if they tried. But the acid test will be his willingness to open a genuine dialogue on Iraq.
Pelosi, who spent October out campaigning, showed a clearer grasp of the public mood than did Bush. He was still halfway between avowing a new open-minded readiness to listen and learn and his more familiar insistence on living in a world of moral absolutes. Thus the conflict between his welcoming fresh ideas on Iraq and insisting single-mindedly that "victory" is the only acceptable outcome for the military intervention that most of the voting public now judges a mistake.
The Democrats will offer Bush alternatives for Iraq and so, presumably, will the Baker-Hamilton commission when it meets with him next week and issues its report in December. James A. Baker III and Lee Hamilton and their colleagues are perfectly positioned to help break the deadlock on that policy -- if Bush is looking for an out.
The question is whether a president who couldn't recognize the reality of an approaching political landslide is any more discerning about spotting a policy and political disaster in the making in a far-off land.
The answer is not at all clear.
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Withdraw from Iraq
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Johannesburg, South Africa - The U.S. mid-term elections must bring accountability back into the political system -- whether at home or abroad. U.S. allies and friends as well as neutral observers are hopeful that the mid-term congressional elections will be a new beginning.
The new members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate who will be elected must show in their action that the much admired American representative democracy is still vibrant. Perhaps one way to bring about a new a new beginning, no matter who wins the majority in the House or Senate, is for the incumbents to seek greater accountability in policy-making from the executive. For starters, there has to be a change in foreign policy direction to restore confidence in the U.S. again. Iraq is perhaps the most obvious reason.
The new members must push for a clear and transparent time-table to withdraw from Iraq. No military solution is possible in the Iraqi conflict -- only a political one. Furthermore, the Iraqi war has damaged the United States' moral leadership in the world. The idea that democracy can be achieved by force is a delusion.
In fact, another way to make accountability a reality is to launch an investigation into the decision to go war in Iraq. The Iraqi war is at the heart of a U.S. foreign policy that has not only alienated friends, it has undermined the war on terror. Furthermore, the new members must also campaign for greater accountability in international policy-making, which means a greater U.S. effort to seek international consensus over international issues, such as climate change, trade, UN reform and development aid -- rather than acting unilaterally. In a globalized world where nations are increasingly interconnected, no country, no matter how powerful, can remain an island, cut-off from the consequences of its actions and policies.
By William M. Gumede | November 8, 2006; 4:08 PM ET Previous: Africa, Figth Hunger Not Homosexuals | Next: Withdraw U.S. Troops Gradually
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i think we should stay because if we retreat what did all the soldiers who died die for
Posted by: zach yadkinville north carolina | November 7, 2006 05:48 PM
Unfortunately Mr. Gumede forgot one minor detail of the USA Constitution, the President is the sole authority with respect to a war [whether that war is legal or illigal under international law]. While members of Congres and Senate might suggest change of course, the President legally may decline to follow the suggestions. Only certain power the Congress/Senate has is to cut all funding for Defence Department and War during budget deliberations, such a measure is inconcievable on one hand, and would have to be able to counteract a certain Presidential Veto, which is even more an unbelievable scenario. Remebering MR. Cheney's defence regarding the oil-discussions [as substantiated by the Judiciary] even serious investigation by Congress of the war [all asppects thereof] might end up in endless litigation, rather than straight answers for the benefit of the taxpaying citizen.
Unfortunately for Mr. Z Yadkenville, the sacrifice by US solders only result is a chaos in Iraq, and the death sentence of Mr. Hussain -- before he could testify as to the source of poison gas, intelligence pin-pointing Irani and Kurdish millitary targets etc. [as supplied by various millitary spy-satillites of which Iraq had none.
There are numerous uncharged War criminals in relation to Mr. Hussain's wars, with his imminent death lot of important evidence will disappear.
Wonder why the USA was so interested in Iraqi jurisdiction rather than the court at HAgue????
Posted by: Salamon, Canada | November 7, 2006 06:33 PM
Staying in the war because of those who have already died is ilke staying at the gambling table throwing away your life savings after you have already lost the money you started to gamble with.
This war is different because Congress did not declare it as require by our Constitution, they waived that authority over to the President. Their intention was that in case the choiuce to tgo or not go was wrong they could point a finger and still be re-elected. We have wishy washy congressmen and the recent elections proved that the US is tired of that.
Posted by: Robert, Angelus Oaks, CA, USA | November 8, 2006 12:43 AM
What about Vietnam, all those people died before it was realized that we need to get the heck out before anymore chaos happens, this is the same case, people have died, that is true, but we don't need to stay there any longer, and watch our soldiers fight a war that is damaging the morale of the United states, and having the people look badly upon our countries leadership, lets get out, and bring our guys home.
Posted by: Murphy, USA | November 8, 2006 03:04 PM
Do the Democrats really think that we can just withdraw from Iraq without any strings attached? What kind of message would that send to the world, to our enemies? I'll tell you, it will show the would that once again, we don't have the backbone to finish the job and only can tuck our tale and run away. If we leave Iraq, we are basically betraying every Iraqi citizen seeking a better country. We would be handing the world over to terrorist and Iraq would turn into the beginning of the end. We got ourselves into this mess, we got to finish it now at all costs. Withdrawing our troops would be a disaster for our future. Do Democrats really believe we can just withdraw and the terrorist are going to disappear? They are not going away. I do believe a new strategy needs implemented, but that doesn't involve America running away! We would be betraying more then the Iraqis, we would be betraying ourselves, our country, the world and the men and women that have died in this war.......
Posted by: Tulsa | November 9, 2006 04:25 AM
I will tell you what would happen if we withdraw from Iraq. Iraq would be 500 times worse then it could potentially have ever been under the rule of Saddam. Terrorist will own Iraq and make the Taliban look like kindergarten school. Basically it would result in attacks being carried out throughout the world and eventially reaching America in ways we could not imagine. It would weaken our image more then anything if we just quit. This can not happen. America can't "run away".
Posted by: Ok | November 9, 2006 04:29 AM
Ok, so we can't leave, how about we get all our troops out of central and southern Iraq, leave a division in Kurdistan and some ships in the Gulf. That way if we need to we can go back into Iraq, but our soldiers aren't travelling the country as moving targets every day.
Posted by: coffeemug | November 9, 2006 09:40 AM
"Should I stay or should I go now? If I go there will be trouble And if I stay it will be double So come on and let me know"
"Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair. In 77 and 69 revolution was in the air"
Punk is not dead !
Posted by: Zoltan, hungarian, Paris | November 10, 2006 04:51 AM
Why has it taken us this long to realize that democracy can not be imposed by force. Any college student who takes a world politics class knows this. Way to go post you finally figured it out.
Posted by: | November 10, 2006 02:18 PM
Here are our options: 1. Leave Iraq completely. I don't think anyone really considers this a serious option. It's only used as a political move.
2. Stay in Iraq and try to build some kind of nation. This will cost us all of our savings. Every part of our savings including everything we have in our homes and our stock markets will be transferred to China. And Iraq still may not become a stable region.
I don't want to sound hopeless. It just seems that the dictatorship there before was better than the bloodbath now and the squandered billions of dollars on a fruitless mission.
Posted by: Bradley, Raleigh, USA | November 12, 2006 11:04 PM
"1. Leave Iraq completely. I don't think anyone really considers this a serious option. "
I on the other hand think that 80% of the Iraqis consider this as a very likable option. Put other way round, does anyone believe the Iraqis favor permanent American military bases in Iraq ?
Posted by: Zoltan, hungarian, Paris | November 14, 2006 03:55 AM
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Democrats Take Control of Senate As Allen Concedes to Webb in Va.
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Democrat James Webb, who campaigned for Virginia's U.S. Senate seat by opposing the war in Iraq and calling for economic fairness, yesterday succeeded in his improbable bid to unseat Republican George Allen, giving the Democrats a 51-seat majority and control of both houses of Congress.
Webb's lead over Allen widened yesterday in the post-election vote canvass, and Allen graciously conceded to Webb to make the victory official. A short time later, Virginia's newest senator, who lives in Fairfax County, addressed a giddy crowd of hundreds of supporters in front of the Arlington County Courthouse.
His victory ended two days of suspense over which party would control the Senate. Going into Tuesday's election, the Democrats needed six seats for control, and it was Webb, a former Republican and Reagan administration official, who gave them the sixth seat.
"It is Virginia that turned the Senate blue," Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) told the cheering crowd.
Webb will take his place in a Congress in which Democrats will control both houses for the first time in 12 years.
"Mark Warner began a journey. Tim Kaine added on to it," a triumphant Webb said, referring to the state's back-to-back Democratic governors. "We are going to add on to it even more."
Webb said that Allen called him to concede and that the two former adversaries would have lunch next week. He called the campaign "unnecessarily brutal" and said he would talk to Allen about how they can help stop "the politics of divisiveness, character assassination, distraction."
A decorated former Marine with a son serving in Iraq, Webb wore combat boots throughout the campaign as a symbol of his early criticism of the conflict. Before speaking in Arlington, Webb took off the boots and held them in the air, delighting the crowd. He promised a new approach to the war that he said will lead to a diplomatic solution.
He also said, "We are going to work very hard on issues of economic fairness in a country that has become too divided by class."
Webb will join Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) in the Senate, where he will likely become a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a spokesman against the war with substantial credentials. Warner and Webb are part of a small fraternity, having both served as secretary of the Navy.
Webb, 60, was a Republican for most of his life and for a time served under the godfather of the modern GOP, President Ronald Reagan. But his election to the Senate delivered a final blow to the Republican Party.
"We will begin the process of putting this country back on the track where it needs to be," Webb said at yesterday's rally.
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Democrat James Webb, who campaigned for Virginia's U.S. Senate seat by opposing the war in Iraq and calling for economic fairness, yesterday succeeded in his improbable bid to unseat Republican George Allen, giving the Democrats a 51-seat majority and control of both houses of Congress.
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Democrats May Urge More Contact With U.S. Adversaries
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The Democratic takeover of Congress will raise the profile of lawmakers who have repeatedly urged the Bush administration to talk to key adversaries such as Iran, North Korea and Syria, increasing pressure on the White House to stop placing restrictions or conditions on such discussions.
The incoming chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House International Relations Committee -- Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Rep. Tom Lantos of California, respectively -- have long argued that the administration's approach to dealing with adversaries has hamstrung diplomacy. Iran and Syria are problematic neighbors of Iraq, and critics have charged that not talking to Damascus and Tehran has hurt efforts to end the violence in Iraq.
Although outgoing Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) is also an advocate of greater engagement, the new Democratic leaders say they are more likely to call hearings and demand explanations from administration officials. Lantos, who has often visited such countries as Libya and North Korea, said he is "passionately committed to having a dialogue with people we disagree with."
Since Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took office nearly two years ago, some restrictions on dealing with Iran and North Korea have been loosened. On North Korea, the administration has rejected calls for high-level bilateral contacts but allows them within six-nation negotiations focusing on North Korea's nuclear programs.
On Iran, the administration this year offered to join multilateral talks on Iran's nuclear program -- but only if Tehran first suspends uranium enrichment. There has been virtually no dialogue with Syria since its suspected involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
"This has spelled the death knell of the neo-conservative approach," Biden said. He added that "Secretary Rice is much more open to approaches different than Cheney and Rumsfeld than people think she is," although State Department officials disputed that.
The Iraq Study Group, headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and former representative Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.), is also expected to address the issue of whether dialogue with Iran and Syria would aid the war effort. President Bush and Democratic lawmakers have said they are eagerly awaiting the study group's conclusions.
State Department officials said yesterday they are open to ideas, but that the change in Congress will not directly affect administration policies. Officials said criticism of the administration's approach is often misguided. The administration considers talks with adversaries as a particular "card" to play in diplomacy, but merely talking does not represent a policy, one official said. Dialogue with Syria, for instance, has been limited because the administration did not want it to affect the U.N. investigation into Hariri's killing.
Another Rice aide said he does not think Democrats will press too hard at first because they are still vulnerable to charges of being weak on national security. But he acknowledged Congress would raise tough questions, noting that North Korea's recent decision to return to the six-party talks "relieved some of the pressure on us for that."
The nomination of Robert Gates as defense secretary could also change the dynamics of the administration's internal debates. Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is a fierce foe of engaging with enemies, but Gates two years ago co-wrote a Council on Foreign Relations report that called for a "direct dialogue" with Iran.
"The current lack of sustained engagement with Iran harms U.S. interests in a critical region," the report said, arguing the United States should explore "common interests" with Iran as it did with the Soviet Union or China when they were U.S. adversaries. The report suggested that lifting unilateral sanctions and allowing U.S.-Iranian commercial relations to flourish "could be a powerful tool" in dealing with Iran.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter and co-author of the report, said he hopes Gates's presence at Bush administration policy debates will bring a "a degree of rationality, common sense, balance and historical perspective" to the table.
Brzezinski, stressing he was speaking for himself, said the administration's requirement that Iran give up enrichment before talks can start is not a "fair bargain" because Iran has a right to enrich under the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and thus would be reluctant to give it up for simply talking. He said lifting trade embargoes or dismantling sanctions would be a greater inducement to start a productive dialogue with Iran on a range of issues.
Asked yesterday about Gates's writings on Iran, national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said: "The president and Bob Gates are pretty, pretty confident themselves that they're on the same page on the basic pillars of the president's foreign policy."
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Latest politics news headlines from Washington DC. Follow 2006 elections,campaigns,Democrats,Republicans,political cartoons,opinions from The Washington Post. Features government policy,government tech,political analysis and reports.
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Old Hands From the Family Business
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Nine months after invading Iraq, President Bush told an interviewer that he did not turn to his father for strength. "There is a higher father that I appeal to," he said. Nearly three years later, Bush may be appealing to his earthly father as well. Or at least to his people.
With the war in Iraq going badly and Congress captured by the opposition, a commander in chief who has labored to demonstrate independence from his presidential father is now seeking help from some key veterans of George H.W. Bush's team to salvage the remainder of his own administration.
A day after suffering a "thumping" in midterm elections, the president ousted Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a longtime rival of his father's, and replaced him with Robert M. Gates, his father's CIA director. And the president has invested great hope in James A. Baker III, his father's friend and secretary of state, to come up with a plan to correct the course in Iraq in a blue-ribbon commission report due as soon as next month.
"It certainly looks as if there is the handprint of Bush 41," said retired Army Col. F.W. "Bill" Smullen, a close aide to former secretary of state Colin L. Powell, using the nickname for the former president. The big question, though, is whether the change is real or simply a post-election gesture, added Smullen, now director of national security studies at Syracuse University. "With the changes in the Congress, it is going to have to be more than just window dressing."
The relationship between the 41st and 43rd presidents has been a source of running commentary and speculation for six years. The son has often seemed to go out of his way to identify himself with Ronald Reagan rather than his father, and his personnel and policy choices have often seemed at odds with the philosophy of the earlier Bush administration.
If the father was the patriarch of the realist school of foreign policy that aims to manage a combustible international order, the son brought to power neoconservatives who want to remake the world and spread democracy. The president has given speech after speech assailing past administrations for accepting tyranny in the Middle East in the belief that stability equaled security, a thesis that he says exploded tragically on Sept. 11, 2001.
The elder Bush was reported to have been skeptical of the way the younger Bush launched the war in Iraq in 2003 -- reports that were fueled in part by public comments before the invasion by Baker and Brent Scowcroft, the former president's national security adviser and close friend. Scowcroft later broke entirely with the current administration and was eased off the president's foreign intelligence advisory board.
Both Bushes get angry, however, at public suggestions of a rift, and some close to them say the Washington chattering class assumes far more than it knows. In this view, comments such as the "higher father" remark, made to journalist Bob Woodward, have been over-interpreted and exaggerated. Many people who serve in the current administration also served in the father's, including Vice President Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, belying the notion of competing camps.
Even if the theory about Bush family tension is overwrought, though, the existence of some type of rival factions has been a constant subtext of the current administration. The turn to representatives of the old GOP establishment, such as Baker and Gates, whether it has anything to do with paternal relations or not, has sent a signal that Washington perceives as a bid to bring more pragmatism to policymaking.
"I don't think anybody consciously said, 'Geez, let's bring the old team in,' " said one senior official in the Bush 41 White House. "I frankly think it's a natural default from the failure of the advice of the people they had. It was impossible to argue anymore that some of the people who got us into this mess were giving good advice."
James Jay Carafano, a national security specialist at the Heritage Foundation, said the emergence of Baker and Gates was a way to reach out to Democrats to forge a bipartisan consensus on what to do now in Iraq. "It's a sincere effort on the president's part to take politics off the table," he said. "These are both trusted guys who were never seen as especially political figures."
Even Scowcroft, once frozen out, has had some entree to the administration again in recent months. After writing an op-ed piece in The Washington Post in July advocating a comprehensive resolution of Middle East conflict, Scowcroft had dinner with Rice. She said the president would be interested in his ideas and suggested that he send Bush the column, according to people familiar with the situation.
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Nine months after invading Iraq, President Bush told an interviewer that he did not turn to his father for strength. "There is a higher father that I appeal to," he said. Nearly three years later, Bush may be appealing to his earthly father as well. Or at least to his people.
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Officials Held Hostage By Farmers in China
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BEIJING, Nov. 9 -- Hundreds of enraged farmers in southern China surrounded a granary and for nearly 24 hours held hostage dozens of officials and investors gathered inside, villagers said Thursday, in the latest sign of rural unrest in the region.
The officials and investors had gathered to mark the opening of the granary, which farmers said had been built on seized land for which they received inadequate compensation. Riot police, who arrived Wednesday evening and stood by through the night, forced their way into the granary and allowed the hostages to leave early Thursday afternoon, villagers said.
The incident, in Guangdong province's Sanzhou village, was the latest in a two-year string of such occurrences in rural China, often brought on by discontent among farmers over the seizure of fields by local officials, who then sell the land for development. The issue is particularly acute in Guangdong, where swift urban growth has put increasing pressure on farmland in the Pearl River Delta just north of Hong Kong.
The number of violent incidents nationwide climbed steadily in 2004 and 2005, generating concern in President Hu Jintao's government. In response, the government canceled traditional agricultural taxes and lavished heavy spending on rural areas. The number of violent protests has declined by 22 percent in the first nine months of 2006, to 17,900, according to Deputy Public Security Minister Liu Jinguo.
Sanzhou lies in the fertile delta about 15 miles south of Guangzhou, the sprawling capital of Guangdong province. Villagers reached by telephone said the granary was built on seized farmland with money invested by local businessmen and overseas Chinese from several Asian and European countries.
The amount investors paid for the land was significantly higher than the compensation farmers received, they complained. As has frequently been the case, villagers expressed suspicion that corrupt local officials pocketed at least part of the difference. Local officials also have often used profits on such transactions to bolster village, county and township budgets, a practice denounced recently by Premier Wen Jiabao.
Local officials declined to comment on the incident or its causes, referring questions to the provincial propaganda department in Guangzhou. An official there said he knew nothing about it.
The current local government and Communist Party leadership are not to blame, one villager said, because the deal was concluded under the former administration. "It was because the previous officials were corrupt that this happened," she said, speaking on condition that her name not be published for fear of retribution.
The Sanzhou villagers said that as far as they knew, no one was injured when police pushed their way into the building to release those trapped inside overnight. Guangzhou authorities have been particularly careful about the use of violence since last December, when police opened fire on protesters at Dongzhou, another village in the province, and killed a number of people.
In a separate incident over a land dispute, this one in Taigou village in Jiangsu province about 200 miles north of Shanghai, three farmers were seriously beaten and a number of others more lightly injured in a clash with security forces wielding truncheons, according to the farmers.
"They weren't policemen, but I think they were security people who worked for the government," said Shi Kai, 44, one of those involved in the fracas on Saturday.
Shi, who fled to Beijing, said he and about 70 others were set upon as they drove three-wheeled tractors toward the county seat to complain about the confiscation of communally owned land. Several villagers were hospitalized, including one who had seven stitches to close a wound in his head, Shi said.
The village leadership, including the Communist Party secretary and the mayor, took control of the land, sold some of it and rented the rest, Shi alleged. He said villagers became angered when they heard that authorities planned to build a highway near the village but that the villagers would not share in the compensation because the land was no longer registered to them.
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BEIJING, Nov. 9 -- Hundreds of enraged farmers in southern China surrounded a granary and for nearly 24 hours held hostage dozens of officials and investors gathered inside, villagers said Thursday, in the latest sign of rural unrest in the region.
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