[Bush] seems to [have] a deeply seated conviction that under his leadership, America is right and does not need the discipline of rules. He does not seem to understand that the rules are what makes this nation as good as it can be.

Bush Untethered - New York Times

BRITAIN last night threw down a direct challenge to Paul Wolfowitz’s leadership of the World Bank as the Government announced that it was withholding a £50 million payment in protest at the conditions attached to aid for poorer countries

Benn keeps back £50m in poverty protest to World Bank - Britain - Times Online

a sanctury for the bonobo
the apes who settle disputes by having sex

In pictures - Saving the bonobo - BBC News

The Taleban have ousted Afghan security forces from a district headquarters in the western Farah province after days of heavy fighting, police say.

when are the west and nato going to get serious about fighting the Taliban
this is the 21st century battle i'm not convinced we can afford to lose (i'm not convinced we can afford to lose in iraq either now we're there however the Taleban are a clear and present danger)

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Taleban 'seize Afghan district'

A Nasa satellite has documented startling changes in Arctic sea ice cover between 2004 and 2005.

The extent of "perennial" ice - thick ice which remains all year round - declined by 14%, losing an area the size of Pakistan or Turkey.
...
Continuous scatterometer data has been available only since 1999, so for comparison researchers must use the records of summer ice extent - which is almost, but not exactly, the same thing as perennial ice extent.

"If we average that over the long term we find a reduction of between 6.4% and 7.8% per decade," said Dr Nghiem. "What we have here is 14% in one year - 18 times the previous rate."

The key questions are what caused it, and whether it is an anomaly or the first sign of a major change of pace for Arctic melting.

possably an anomally?
possably not

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Drastic' shrinkage in Arctic ice

The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's trial has said the former Iraqi leader was not a dictator, but had only been made to seem like one by his aides.

and Stalin was a naughty pixie

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Judge says Saddam 'not dictator'

We had elections in New York and around the country on Tuesday. But it seems to me that the biggest issue of our time is getting very short shrift from the politicians, and that’s the fact that the very character of the United States is changing, and not for the better.
Skip to next paragraph

One of the things that stands out in my mind amid the memories of the carnage and chaos of Sept. 11, 2001, is the eerie quiet — an almost prayerful quiet — that hovered over a scene on the western edge of Manhattan that afternoon.

I stood for a long time outside the triage center that had been set up at the Chelsea Piers sports and entertainment complex. Sunlight glistened off the roofs of ambulances lined up in military fashion on the West Side Highway. Doctors, nurses and other medical personnel were standing by, waiting for what they thought would be the arrival of legions of seriously wounded victims in need of emergency care.

There seemed to be very little talking. As I recall, most of the people maintained a kind of stunned, awed silence.

The expected onslaught of victims never came. As the afternoon faded, I headed east, along with others, toward the morgue at Bellevue Hospital.

What I thought was the greatest expression of the American character in my lifetime occurred in the immediate aftermath of those catastrophic attacks. The country came together in the kind of resolute unity that I imagined was similar to the feeling most Americans felt after Pearl Harbor. We soon knew who the enemy was, and there was remarkable agreement on what needed to be done. Americans were united and the world was with us.

For a brief moment.

The invasion of Iraq marked the beginning of the change in the American character. During the Cuban missile crisis, when the hawks were hot for bombing — or an invasion — Robert Kennedy counseled against a U.S. first strike. That’s not something the U.S. would do, he said.

Fast-forward 40 years or so and not only does the U.S. launch an unprovoked invasion and occupation of a small nation — Iraq — but it does so in response to an attack inside the U.S. that the small nation had nothing to do with.

Who are we?

Another example: There was a time, I thought, when there was general agreement among Americans that torture was beyond the pale. But when people are frightened enough, nothing is beyond the pale. And we’re in an era in which the highest leaders in the land stoke — rather than attempt to allay — the fears of ordinary citizens. Islamic terrorists are equated with Nazi Germany. We’re told that we’re in a clash of civilizations.

If, as President Bush says, we’re engaged in “the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century,” why isn’t the entire nation mobilizing to meet this dire threat?

The president put us on this path away from the better angels of our nature, and he has shown no inclination to turn ... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

The Stranger in the Mirror - Bob Herbert - New York Times

bposert wrote:
Great article on how Orwellian our government is becoming.

security directives and secret diktats

When a legal challenge was brought against an aviation security directive concerning passenger identification checks, a government lawyer expressed his confidence in the constitutionality of the secret law— even as he told a federal judge that the law itself could not be seen by the judiciary! Here is a telling excerpt from the court session:

Judge: What is the rule, if at all, concerning
identification?

Government Attorney: The identification
check, every passenger is requested
to produce identification. As I’ve
indicated, the statute provides one of
the purposes to check whether that
person is amongst those known to
pose a risk to aviation safety. The other
reason it’s used for purposes of the prescreening
system, is this a person—

Judge: I understand, you said all of
that. You were saying the rule is not
void for vagueness and we can move
on. I just want to know what the rule is
that isn’t void.

Government Attorney: If you are asking
me to disclose what’s in the security
directives, I can’t do it.
...
The possibility that Americans will now be held accountable for noncompliance with unknowable regulations is not the subject of heated debate in Congress. Indeed, it has not been debated at all.

i hadn't heard about this
has anybody read Kafka's The Trial recently? seems apposite

RE: Doublespeak and the War on Terrorism

Madrid fashion week, one of Spain's most prestigious shows, is banning underweight models on the basis of their body mass index (BMI).

UN health experts recommend a BMI of between 18.5 and about 25, and some models may fall well below the minimum.

The Spanish Association of Fashion Designers has decided to ban models who have a BMI of less than 18.

excellent
not a moment too soon

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Madrid bans waifs from catwalks

This story, in today's Guardian, is just mind-blowing. The common sleeping pill zolpidem, sold in the US under the name Ambien, can reverse serious brain damage and wake up patients in persistent vegetative states!

The hospital ward sister, Lucy Hughes, was periodically concerned that involuntary spasms in Louis's left arm, that resulted in him tearing at his mattress, might be a sign that deep inside he might be uncomfortable. In 1999, five years after Louis's accident, she suggested to Sienie that the family's GP, Dr Wally Nel, be asked to prescribe a sedative. Nel prescribed Stilnox, the brand name in South Africa for zolpidem. "I crushed it up and gave it to him in a bottle with a soft drink," Sienie recalls. "He couldn't swallow properly then, but I helped him and sat at his bedside. After about 25 minutes, I heard him making a sound like 'mmm'. He hadn't made a sound for five years.

"Then he turned his head in my direction. I said, 'Louis, can you hear me?' And he said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Say hello, Louis', and he said, 'Hello, mummy.' I couldn't believe it. I just cried and cried."

Zolpidem seems to work on PVS patients about 60% of the time, and is effective in the treatment of other brain injuries. Parts of the brain considered "dead" because of zero activity (but not deterioration or necrosis) return to life. It's not a cure -- the pill must be taken on an ongoing basis -- but it is a nearly-miraculous treatment.

Boing Boing: Ambien awakens persistent vegetative state victims