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(10/11/06 3:04am)
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Republican Sen. John McCain on Tuesday accused former President Clinton, the husband of his potential 2008 White House rival, of failing to act in the 1990s to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons.\n"I would remind Senator (Hillary) Clinton and other Democrats critical of the Bush administration's policies that the framework agreement her husband's administration negotiated was a failure," McCain said at a news conference after a campaign appearance for Republican Senate candidate Mike Bouchard.\n"The Koreans received millions and millions in energy assistance. They've diverted millions of dollars of food assistance to their military," he said.\nDemocrats have argued President Clinton presented his successor with a framework for dealing with North Korea and the Republican fumbled the opportunity. In October 2000, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright made a ground-breaking visit to Pyongyang to explore a missile deal with Chairman Kim Jong Il. There was even talk of a visit by President Clinton.\nReports this week suggesting North Korea tested a nuclear device prompted a number of Democrats to criticize Bush, arguing that he focused on Iraq, a country without weapons of mass destruction, while ignoring legitimate threats from Pyongyang.\nSen. Clinton's spokesman dismissed McCain's criticism and argued that it was time for a new policy from the president.\n"Now is not the time to play politics of the most dangerous kind -- with our policy on North Korea," Philippe Reines, spokesman for Clinton, said in a statement. "History is clear that nothing the Bush administration has done has stopped the North Koreans from openly testing a nuclear weapon and presenting a new danger to the region of the world."\nFive years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bush "has allowed the 'axis of evil' to spin out of control. Our Iraq policy is a failure. Iran is going nuclear and North Korea is testing nuclear weapons," the statement said.\nMcCain's criticism also elicited a strong response from Democratic Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 presidential nominee and a potential 2008 candidate.\n"He must be trying to burnish his credentials for the nomination process," said Kerry, who labeled McCain's comments "flat politics and incorrect."\n"The truth is the Clinton administration knew full well they didn't have a perfect agreement. But at least they were talking. At least we had inspectors going in and we knew where the (nuclear fuel) rods were. This way, we don't know where the rods are, the rods are gone. There are no inspectors. Ask any American which way is better," Kerry said.\nThe Massachusetts senator made the remarks in Nevada during a campaign appearance with Elizabeth Carter, wife of Democratic Senate candidate Jack Carter.\nIn U.S.-North Korea relations, the initial breakthrough occurred in October 1994 when U.S. negotiators persuaded North Korea to freeze its nuclear program, with on-site monitoring by U.N. inspectors. In exchange, the United States, with input from South Korea and Japan, promised major steps to ease North Korea's acute energy shortage.\nThese commitments were inherited by the Bush administration, which made clear almost from the outset that it believed the Clinton policy ignored key elements of North Korea's activities, especially the threat posed by the hundreds of thousands of troops on permanent duty along the Demilitarized Zone with South Korea.\nMcCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he backed tough U.N. sanctions against North Korea in response to the reported test. The measures, he said, should include a military embargo, financial and trade sanctions and the right to inspect all cargo in and out of North Korea.\nThe Arizona senator and New York Sen. Clinton are considered their parties' front-runners for the 2008 presidential election.
(10/11/06 3:04am)
Statistics should affect vote\nAbby Schwimmer\nThe phone rings. You pick up the receiver, and the voice on the other end of the line "regrets to inform you" of what every military family fears: Your son or daughter, husband or wife has been critically injured in the war in Iraq. \nThis is the sad reality faced by the thousands of families of those serving overseas. Their loved ones will return home mere shells of their former selves, with amputated arms and legs, serious internal injuries and horrific memories that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.\nAnd what are these men and women fighting for? The war has not only failed to achieve its objectives, but it has exacerbated existing tensions so much that Baghdad is now on the brink of civil war. The numbers speak for themselves. This country needs a change in leadership, and the choices voters make this November will reflect that.\nAmerican honor first priority\nBrian Stewart\nOn the heels of reports that America has suffered its worst casualties in Iraq since November 2004, the question on the political table two years later seems to be whether the mission there is worth completing.\nToo many people think it isn't. The Democratic sheep have been set baa-ing about how we are "less safe" -- duh, we're fighting a war. And even Republicans have been too timid to speak the obvious truth: Those who invoke the cost of war -- in blood and treasure -- as reason to go back on the solemn promises made to commendable Iraqi allies wish to sell national honor for peace.\nGeorge Orwell memorably advised that "the quickest way of ending a war is to lose it." The more we use statistics to justify capitulation and the less we use first principles to justify victory, the less you will hear the United States billed as a mature superpower -- and deservedly so.
(10/11/06 3:03am)
Iran won't retreat from nuclear program\nTEHRAN, Iran -- Iran will not retreat from its nuclear program, Tehran's hard-line leaders said Tuesday, one day after North Korea announced it had conducted a nuclear weapons test. "Our policy is clear: progress, offering transparent logic and insisting on the rights of the nation without retreat," supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, according to state-run television.
(10/11/06 3:00am)
UNITED NATIONS -- North Korea must face "some punitive actions" for testing a nuclear device, China's U.N. ambassador said Tuesday, suggesting that Beijing may be willing to impose some form of Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.\nChina's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters that the council must give a "firm, constructive, appropriate but prudent response" to North Korea.\n"I think there has to be some punitive actions, but also I think these actions have to be appropriate," he said.\nWang spoke before a meeting of the five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Japan, to discuss a U.S.-proposed draft Security Council resolution. The resolution would impose an array of sanctions, including a ban on imports of military goods and luxury items and crack down on illegal financial dealings.\nWhile the U.S. and its allies want a swift, tough resolution, the question has been how much punishment China would allow. China has been North Korea's major ally and a source of both food and fuel for the desperately poor nation of 23 million.\nWang's comments suggested that Beijing will at least allow some muscle in the resolution.\nThe meeting ended without any decision. Experts from the 15 Security Council nations planned to convene again to discuss the American draft.\n"We're making progress, and we'll keep at it steadily," Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said.\nIn Beijing earlier Tuesday, China's Foreign Ministry vented its anger against its communist ally over the test for a second day, with a spokesman saying that relations had been damaged.\n"The nuclear test will undoubtedly exert a negative impact on our relations," the spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said at a routine media briefing. He said Monday's test was done "flagrantly, and in disregard of the international community's shared opposition."\nWang went a step further than Liu, who said the time was not right for punishment, much less military action.\nChina finds North Korea as a useful if irritating buffer against U.S. forces stationed in South Korea. The worry for Beijing is that too much pressure could cause economically unsteady North Korea to collapse, sending North Koreans streaming across the border into northeast China and inviting intervention by the American military.\nThe North, meanwhile, stepped up its threats aimed at Washington, saying it could fire a nuclear-tipped missile unless the United States acts to resolve its standoff with Pyongyang, the Yonhap News Agency reported from Beijing.\n"We hope the situation will be resolved before an unfortunate incident of us firing a nuclear missile comes," Yonhap quoted an unidentified North Korean official as saying. "That depends on how the U.S. will act."\nThe official said the nuclear test was "an expression of our intention to face the United States across the negotiating table," reported Yonhap, which didn't say how or where it contacted the official, or why no name was given.
(10/11/06 2:55am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana House Republicans will seek legislation designed to crack down on illegal immigration in Indiana, although some of their proposals announced Tuesday are already covered under federal law.\n"Hoosiers are concerned that individuals living in this country illegally are receiving state benefits paid for by Hoosier tax dollars," said Rep. John Smith, R-Kokomo. "It's a problem that negatively affects every citizen in Indiana."\nRep. Eric Turner, R-Gas City, said Republicans hoped the plan would have a "chilling effect" on the flow of illegal immigration in Indiana.\nSome of the proposals were designed to ensure that state agencies comply with federal laws by denying illegal immigrants public benefits such as assisted housing, post-secondary education, unemployment assistance and health care paid through Medicaid. Republicans said a state law would reinforce such federal restrictions.\nAnother provision would require the Indiana State Police to seek a pilot program with the federal government that would broaden the authority of troopers to investigate immigration violations and detain illegal residents. Florida, Alabama and Arkansas already have such programs, Republicans said, and Colorado and Georgia enacted laws this year allowing them to enforce immigration laws.
(10/11/06 2:55am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- North Korea's nuclear test is a sign of the difficulties the United States will face with that country for years to come, Sen. Richard Lugar said Tuesday.\nLugar, chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, said he backed the Bush administration's decision to reject direct negotiations with the North Koreans.\nHe said he believes the United States should work closely with South Korea, China, Japan and Russia in responding to the nuclear test because those countries face more immediate danger.\n"Diplomacy still has a chance," the Indiana Republican said. "There is a possibility a formula can be found in which the North Koreans want to re-enter the world, want to deal with their neighbors. Otherwise, they are going to remain isolated, whether there are sanctions or not."\nDespite his hopes, Lugar said he did not expect a resolution to be reached with North Korea anytime soon.\n"I don't see that coming in the next few days or weeks," Lugar said. "I think we have a lot of further diplomatic consolidation to do in the meanwhile."\nEven if North Korea's communist government agreed to give up its nuclear ambitions, Lugar says its secretive history would leave doubts about whether it is hiding weapons.
(10/10/06 11:53am)
In my time in Bloomington, I've come to realize a few things: IU parking is a rip-off, riding the buses sucks and hardly anyone in this town knows how to drive. While I've seen idiot drivers from all over the country, Indiana drivers are among the worst. Don't worry, I'm not one of those trendy East coast kids dissing you redneck Indiana hicks. I'm actually from the Hoosier state, and because of my citizenship here, I've witnessed some spectacular feats in reckless driving.
(10/09/06 3:27pm)
"Have you been going to church?"\n"Mom, every time I go, every prayer I say feels like a lie."\nPause.\n"Well, I'm glad you're going to church."\nMy parents, upon whom I am -- regrettably -- financially dependent, have implemented a new rule that requires I attend a legitimate Sunday service each week. I can see where they are coming from. Really, I can. What I can't do, though, when it comes to something as important as faith and spirituality, is lie. In fact, when it comes to any part of my essence or my soul, I can't reconcile being anything but honest.\nMy parents have had a few days with me that probably made their hair a little grayer -- the day I said I wasn't Catholic, the day I said I was an actress, the day I said I was no longer an actress (YES!) but now a poet (Oh.), and this is not even bringing up all the smaller instances of letting them down over the years with bad grades, car accidents, negligence of household duties and other general evidence of my irresponsibility. My room is messy; I'm hopelessly lazy; I'm stubborn and self-righteous. And all of this drives my parents insane. And they tell me how insane it drives them. It drives them very insane.\nBut, I really can't care. And if I weren't financially dependent, I really wouldn't care. I love my parents, and I am pretty sure they love me too and that transcends the expectations they have for me and my life.\nOne of my roommates is currently going through a quarter-life crisis. She was raised in a family of dentists and has wanted to join their ranks since age 6. However, she hates her chemistry classes and has a passion for art. Every semester, she comes to the same crossroads: Am I doing the right thing? She asks this question of both her mother and I, and, as can be expected, we are the angel and devil on her shoulders (not necessarily respectively). Her mother has expectations for her to be a dentist, to lead a legitimate life free from financial insecurity. I have the expectation for her to live her passions, to create, to inspire, and be inspired. I tell her to get an art history degree and work in a gallery. I want her to tell her mother to stick it because it's her life, and it's short, and if you aren't doing art, what are you doing anyway?\nIt's a question of legitimacy, of validating your life. And I guess what I'm trying to say is that parents shouldn't be the source of this validation. You should be your own. It's tempting to seek your parents' approval as a means of feeling good about your life choices. But ultimately, it's your regret and your time that's been wasted on something your parents, and not you, were passionate about. So tell your parents, respectfully, to shut up, and do what you want.
(10/09/06 4:32am)
The IU women's volleyball squad came up short against Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa in their bid to snap a four-game losing streak Friday night.\nThe Hoosiers were swept three games to none, which dropped their record to 10-8 overall and 1-5 in conference play. The Hawkeyes notched their first win of the Big Ten season in the defeat but followed it up with a loss Saturday night to Purdue. Iowa is currently 12-6 overall and 1-5 in the conference.\nThe Hoosiers lost the first game 30-20. The Hawkeyes separated themselves with a 5-0 scoring run in the middle of the initial game. From there, Iowa took the second game 30-24 and finished the sweep by taking the third and final game 30-23.\nSophomore Erica Short led IU offensively with 14 kills. Iowa had three players earn double-digits in kills. Consequently, Iowa amassed 53 kills to IU's 39.\nTwo players for the Hoosiers came up with double-digit digs. Sophomore Juli Pierce led the way with 12 digs, while Short had 10. \nThe Hoosiers will look to get back in the win column Friday night in Minneapolis against the Golden Gophers.
(10/09/06 4:27am)
our seconds. In the words of immortal actor Al Pacino, four seconds is a lifetime. In a life's length, then, the Hoosiers' questions were unanswered. Did they leave too few seconds on the clock? Would the snap be flawless? Would the hold be firm? Would the kick fit between the uprights? \nIn four seconds unanswered, the IU football team knelt in a straight line, shoulder-to-shoulder, along the sideline ready to embrace questions that the football gods would soon answer. In the four seconds -- three more than what was on the play clock -- the football spun in the air, and everything else that hung in the balance remained unanswered. \nThis is sport. It is the four seconds in which everyone involved, player and patron, cannot exhale in ecstasy or inhale in indignation. Instead, we all lay perfectly motionless. In our personal purgatory we have no other choice than to watch, wait and pray. \nThis is sport -- the game of inches. Had the field goal gone several inches to the left -- I wouldn't be writing this column. Instead (and once more) I would be walking and whistling through the graveyard where another IU football game lay wasted six feet below. \nIn that moment -- in those four seconds unanswered -- IU kicker Austin Starr's kick sliced through the air, saddling the left upright. In that fourth second, men wearing black and white striped shirts signaled with both hands, each pointing that IU led Illinois. \nIn every aspect Saturday, the Hoosiers did it together -- to the "T." It was a total team effort. When the offense ignited, the defense stalled. When the defense came together, the offense fell apart. When either side of the ball tripped over each other, it was special teams that picked them both up. \nMarcus Thigpen returned a kickoff for six points for the third time this season, while Lance Bennett remained allergic to the football, sneezing away every punt return offered to him. Kellen Lewis finished the game with a career-high 20 completions for 240 yards, throwing an amazingly accurate ball. Meanwhile, James Hardy forgot how to catch any ball -- dropping key completions early in the game -- but did redeem himself with five catches for 67 yards. \nNone of that matters now because of one kick. One kick that dissolved a 17-game road conference losing streak dating back to 2001. One kick that dismissed seven consecutive Big Ten losses since Oct. 15, 2005 against Iowa. One kick that disarmed a current three game-losing streak for the Hoosiers.\nIt was one kick that wiped clean IU's slate of stagnation. \nHey, IU -- have you heard? The Hoosiers won Saturday. On the legs of Marcus Thigpen, the arm of Kellen Lewis, the head of Terry Hoeppner and the foot of Austin Starr. \nThis is sport. It requires a team effort that might last nine innings, three periods, two halves or four quarters. It wasn't four quarters that mattered most; rather it was four seconds. In four seconds unanswered, the IU football team knelt in a straight line, shoulder-to-shoulder along the sideline, awaiting their collective football fate. \nThat was when Starr, in the lazy Saturday sun, sliced the football through the sky to capture IU's third win of the season. \nThough a football game might last four quarters and a football season might last 12 games, a lifetime lasts four seconds. In a life's length, in four seconds, the Hoosiers' questions were finally answered.
(10/09/06 4:13am)
NEW YORK -- The online hangout MySpace.com will organize 20 concerts featuring bands promoted on its site as part of a campaign to raise awareness and money for humanitarian relief in Sudan.\nThe site, which grew in popularity thanks to its early adoption by emerging bands and their fans, has in recent months taken a more active role in promoting social causes, such as environmental awareness and voter registration.\n"The crisis in Darfur is a global concern and as a global community we have a responsibility to take action," Chris DeWolfe, MySpace's chief executive, said in a statement. "MySpace's reach gives us an extraordinary opportunity to spread the word and empower individuals to help address the horrors in Darfur."\nSome 2.5 million people have been made homeless by three years of fighting between the Sudanese government and rebel groups in the vast, arid Darfur region of western Sudan. At least another 200,000 people have been killed since hostilities erupted.\nJust last week, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that Darfur is creeping ever closer to catastrophe, with rape and violence on the rise and humanitarian access at its lowest level since 2004.\nThe Oct. 21 concerts will take place in Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco, Calif.; Melbourne and St. Petersburg, Fla.; Atlanta; Louisville, Ky.; Minneapolis.; Reno, Nev.; Baltimore, Asheville and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Medford, Ore.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Charleston, S.C.; Seattle and Spokane, Wash.; Milwaukee; and Washington, D.C. A Canadian show will take place in Toronto.\nBands -- pop, rock, country and reggae, among others -- agreed to donate part of their ticket proceeds to Oxfam's relief efforts in Sudan and neighboring Chad.\nThe campaign also includes a public service announcement featuring Samuel L. Jackson. Besides MySpace, it will appear on television and in movie theaters before films released by 20th Century Fox, which, like MySpace, is owned by News Corp.
(10/09/06 4:12am)
HAVANA -- The ailing Fidel Castro is not dying but is recovering from an illness, his younger brother and Cuba's acting president said Sunday in response to rumors that the leader was on his deathbed.\nRaul Castro, who has been standing in for his brother since July 31, was responding to recent reports including one in Time magazine that said Castro apparently has terminal cancer. Castro is recovering from intestinal surgery, but the lack of details from the Cuban government regarding the nature of his illness has sparked a number of rumors about his health.\n"He is not dying like some of the press in Miami is saying," Raul Castro told a youth congress in Havana. "He is constantly getting better."\nThe younger Castro said Fidel has a telephone next to him, "and he's using it more and more every day." He said he had a long working session with his brother just two days ago.\nFidel, 80, has not appeared publicly since July 26, and no new photographs of the leader have been released in three weeks. He was last shown receiving private visits by world leaders in mid-Sept. during the Nonaligned Movement summit, which was hosted by Cuba.\nIn late Sept., the elder Castro did not meet with visiting Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, whose two-day trip to Cuba marked the highest-level visit from Russia since President Vladimir Putin came to the island in 2000.\nLast week, local media reported Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told Cubans that Castro will return to his post as maximum leader, but he did not say when.\n"This takes time, but he's right there," Raul Castro said Sunday. "Little by little, he's working."\nThe acting president presided over the closing session of a state-sponsored youth congress, which brought together 900 schoolchildren aged 6 to 12, an age group known as "pioneers" on the communist-run island.\nThe children gave their support to the ailing Castro in a message published Sunday on a government-run newspaper's Web site, saying his presence was felt at the event.\nThey also said they would defend the island's revolution against any assault by the U.S. government, calling President Bush and his supporters "cockroaches."\n"To Bush and his followers, we say stop being foolish, and that they are truly a bunch of cockroaches," they said in their message. "Don't mess with us because the pioneers are also ready to defend the \nRevolution"
(10/09/06 4:12am)
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Monday it has performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test. The country's official Korean Central News Agency said the test was performed successfully, and there was no radioactive leakage from the site.\n"The nuclear test is a historic event that brought happiness to our military and people," KCNA said.\nSouth Korea's Yonhap news agency said the test was conducted 9:36 p.m. EDT Sunday in Hwaderi near Kilju city, citing defense officials.
(10/09/06 3:57am)
Saturday night, Lindsey and I bet on what time Tamir of Balkan Beat Box would remove his shirt. We argued whether his wearing a sweater would make him de-robe sooner or later. I guessed that he would be shirtless by 11 at the 10:30 p.m. show. By 10:59 we had a shirtless Tamir rapping and ending the show an hour later by climbing on the speaker and proclaiming, "I'm on the speaker because I have something to say."\nYungchen Lhamo was so sweet I want her to tuck me into bed everynight. She took the stage after we learned her name meant "goddess of melody and song." Never has a name been so appropriate since Dick Cheney. Lhamo had the audience spellbound as her angelic voice floated above the "Om" she had the crowd hum.\nI checked out Yerba Buena's set just in time to hear them say, "No, that last song was in English." \nMichael on "The Office" should have brought this band in for diversity day. It's a motley crew of a drummer that looked like an early 1980s Stevie Wonder with long corn rows, yellow mesh shirt, pink pants and aviators and monstrous, tattooed guns. To add to that mix, there's a Latin-looking singer, a middle-aged white guy with an awkward dress shirt, an African American woman with Lauren Hill-esque poofy hair and a flowy dress and two tough looking Cuban guys.
(10/09/06 3:56am)
Well, I sure did.\nI was on my way to the Union Board tent to see the DJ show when I heard the bass from Balkan Beat Box -- from three blocks away. I had promised myself that I would save them until tomorrow, but I just couldn't do it.\nI managed to wriggle my way through the leaping crowd and see the guys of the group. It was love at first sight. Two saxophone players were absolutely wailing away. The drummer was without a shirt and was running across the stage, dropping ashes from his cigarette as he ran. The turntable guy actually jumped up onto the table. There is no other way to describe the adrenaline than to just shout, "HELL YEAH!" I had heard that these boys were good, but I had no idea.\nI took notes and pictures for as long as I could, but the temptation was just too strong. The camera went into the bag, the bag went on the ground next to me and before I knew it I was whirling and twirling away.
(10/09/06 3:21am)
SERVED -- Sophomore Sigrid Fischer serves the ball at the Hoosier Classic Sunday morning. Fischer and senior Cecile Perton closed out the Classic with two doubles victories at the Varsity Tennis Center.
(10/09/06 2:53am)
"Men can be feminists."\n"Cultural conceptions that blame women for their own sexual assault are devastatingly inaccurate and must be erased from society's thinking."\n"Raising awareness about the prevalence of sexual assault -- especially imposing that knowledge upon men -- is essential to make occurrences diminish."\nThese major themes of IU's Take Back the Night held Thursday evening are incredibly progressive and necessary, especially in our culture where one in eight women on a university campus will experience sexual assault, as Carol McCord, assistant dean for the Office of Women's Affairs, pointed out in her address to the crowd.\nStill, as I sat on the cold grass in Dunn Meadow in front of the stage -- shivering but enthralled -- I couldn't help but think about the disconcerting implications of some of the other rhetoric that is inherently a part of Take Back the Night ceremonies. \n"Tonight we are safe to walk alone," said one speaker at the event, addressing women. \nWhen I heard that, I couldn't help but recall the night before, when, near midnight after a long workday, I'd had the urge to go for a long, exhaustive run. I didn't hesitate; I wasn't worried about my safety on the Woodlawn track that late evening.\nShould I have felt unsafe? \nWas I safe at night only on the eve of Take Back the Night?\nCertainly not. And, in all fairness, I know that the benevolent campus organizations hosting the event weren't implying that idea.\nMy memory was activated that evening, though, as I recalled moments as a high school student and as a freshman at IU, being frightened to my core walking home to Forest Quad late at night, usually after ushering at IU Auditorium events. No way would I have signed up for a night class.\nI avoided walking alone at night at all costs.\nI was too scared.\nCertainly my fear stemmed from my mother's warnings to me as a girl and from watching too many "Dateline" episodes warning parents to help their daughters (never their sons) be safe on spring break or when they go to parties (Hold onto your drink the entire night! Don't wear a skirt the width of a belt! etc.).\nLuckily, a couple of media literacy classes and years of life experience later, the security I've obtained through knowledge allows me to make a conscious choice to not live my life in restrictive, culturally constructed and institutionalized walls.\nSo it was a little disturbing Thursday evening when ideas about women inherently being victims were reinforced by some of the language at Take Back the Night.\nAnd this is not to say that women aren't inherently victims. Under a false consciousness, we probably are. This is not to chastise or attempt to cancel any future Take Back the Night ceremonies. The awareness generated from such an event is invaluable.\nI suppose the ideal, then, as mentioned that evening by guest speakers, is to live in a culture where Take Back the Night ceremonies aren't necessary at all.
(10/09/06 2:52am)
Senator didn't tell Congress about stock options\nRICHMOND, Va. -- For the past five years, Sen. George Allen, has failed to tell Congress about stock options he got for his work as a director of a high-tech company. The Virginia Republican also asked the Army to help another business that gave him similar options. Congressional rules require senators to disclose to the Senate all deferred compensation, such as stock options. The rules also urge senators to avoid taking any official action that could benefit them financially or appear to do so.
(10/09/06 2:52am)
The Republicans are not doing any favors to help themselves remain in power, but allow me to make a few swift points about the opposition party, if I may. The latest crowd-pleasing Democratic talking point is that America should "redeploy" out of Iraq. The adjectives often placed before this euphemism are "responsible" or even "strategic." This can usually be diluted for what it is: a wholesale retreat. \nHaving lost every major election since Vietnam in which national security played a starring role, Democrats have figured that honesty in talking up their anti-national security credentials isn't exactly the best policy. Hence redeployment and not "Come home, America!" So much for the courage of one's convictions. \nThese Defeaticrats assert (and change the subject before anyone argues) that Iraq is a "distraction" from the war on terror and that the heavy lifting should be left to the United Nations. Never mind that among our chief enemies in Iraq is the self-designated "al Qaida in Mesopotamia" and that coalition forces are there under a U.N. mandate for the democratization and reconstruction of the country. Where does their redeploy ploy lead to? According to John Murtha: Okinawa. That's right, folks. Japan, which America effectively pacified more than half a century ago, is the place where those serious-minded Democrats now want to take their stand against the, uh, shoguns. \nIn what sense can one "withdraw" from any theater in this global war, let alone what our enemies have defined as the central one? When one thinks about the myriad forces meddling in Iraqi affairs, it becomes clear that Iraq is only the present staging ground in what will be a longer fight. "Victory" (a word rarely heard when Democrats explain their "new direction") in that fight will require further use of the skills being acquired there.\nSo on closer inspection, redeployment isn't such a bad idea. Powerful forces in Iran and Syria are determined to wait out the Americans -- and a "transformational" agenda geared at democratic reform across the region. The U.S. government hasn't exactly done its utmost to bring to heel those most hostile to that mission. It is time to end this growing hypocrisy and shame. An American ultimatum will force these reactionary powers to relent or to contend against a military force far more experienced and effective than ever. The chance is fleeting for Mr. President to even the score. He should seize it. \nSo for my own part, I believe that redeployment deserves to be taken up by all serious advocates of prosecuting a vigorous war on terror. And when it is used to advocate exit from Iraq to another place selected by virtue of its distance from the enemy, it should be recognized as the dumb and dishonorable misuse of a worthy expression. Convinced that the war on terror must be fought and won, we should all praise Democrats for imparting a buzz word to our evolving wartime lexicon that holds such promise for victory in Iraq and in the larger war of which Iraq has always been an indispensable part.
(10/09/06 2:51am)
What is the one thing that can put a real damper on a (Republican) party? Illegal wire-tapping? Nope. Misleading and frightening an entire country in order to attack sovereign nations? Think again. Exchanging sexually explicit text messages with 16-year-old pages when you're a representative? Bingo. \nWith Mark Foley's recent sexual indiscretions coming to light, the GOP is scattering like roaches. Terrified, its members are scrambling to find a finger to point, a way to place the heat on someone else's back. It's refreshing to see the GOP mouthpieces be anything but cool and collected. And I must say to Rep. Foley, well-done. This is infinitely better than anything the Democrats could have come up with for campaign mud-slinging. Your horny ass has single-handedly taken the legs out from underneath the arrogant, religious right. It's about time someone took the "party of morality" off its high horse, because nothing is so disgusting as hypocrisy. And the kicker? You might be prosecuted under the child protection legislation you helped pass. Oh, sweet irony! \nAll sarcasm aside, Foley is scum who has selfishly hurt innumerable people who trusted him. He hurt the young man (or possibly men) who came for a learning experience and instead got exploited. He hurt the GOP irreparably before the upcoming elections. He hurt the democratic system and his constituents who put their faith in him to lead justly. And now he suddenly has the gall to bring up an allegation that he was molested by a priest? Give me a break! \nFoley seems to be thwarting trust all over the place. A recent Newsweek poll showed that since the scandal, Bush's approval rate has plummeted to a record low of 33 percent. For the first time since 2001, the Democrats own the majority of trust in issues of morality, spending, health care, immigration and the economy. Also taking a beating is the public's belief in the causes and rationality of the Iraq War. Though I surmise that the new wave of doubt is connected to Bob Woodward's expose, Foley couldn't have helped matters either. \nIn comparing Newsweek's data to polls in the last decade, it looks to me that the American people are not swayed considerably by illegal, unconstitutional acts. Nor are they concerned so much with mounting death tolls, global despise or squandered resources. They are not, on the whole, terribly worried about crime, poverty or education (though it looks good to say so at the PTA). \nHave we really watched so many episodes of "Desperate Housewives" that the only thing to get our attention is a man's sexual indiscretions? Are you really going to connect an entire party to one idiot's mistake? I would hope that America is a little more critical than that. If you value democracy and desire representatives who support your political views, whatever they might be, then resist the knee-jerk reaction to punish the party for Foley's mistakes. Punish it instead for the things that truly matter.