The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Little Black Lies

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Little Black Lies: "Is this an example of what Mr. Bush famously called 'the soft bigotry of low expectations?' Maybe not: it isn't particularly soft to treat premature black deaths not as a tragedy we must end but as just another way to push your ideological agenda. But bigotry - yes, that sounds like the right word. "

Gov., Democrats Argue Over Budget

Gov., Democrats Argue Over Budget: "'He is actually vetoing legislation to give California lower prices on drugs,' Frommer said. That, he added 'shows the governor's ability to make decisions may be influenced by his contributors.'"

Guardian Unlimited | Life | Oil firms fund campaign to deny climate change

Guardian Unlimited | Life | Oil firms fund campaign to deny climate change: "Last month the Scientific Alliance published a joint report with the George C Marshall Institute in Washington that claimed to 'undermine' climate change claims. The Marshall institute received �51,000 from ExxonMobil for its 'global climate change programme' in 2003 and an undisclosed sum this month."

Gallagher Criticizes 'WP' Article; Kurtz Rebuts

Gallagher Criticizes 'WP' Article; Kurtz Rebuts: "As a journalist, however, when the question is raised 'Should you have disclosed?' the answer is always, yes. It was a mistake on my part not to have disclosed any government contract. It will not happen again.'

In response, Kurtz told E&P: 'It's too bad that Maggie Gallagher, in the process of apologizing for her mistake, has seen fit to blame the messenger. My story made quite clear that her work at HHS included writing brochures for the President's marriage initiative, ghostwriting a magazine article for a top official, and briefing other department officials on the issue. That sure sounds like promotion to me, but none of this would be a media controversy had Ms. Gallagher disclosed the contract in her writing trumpeting the Bush marriage plan.'"

Newsday.com: Blair: U.S. Needs to Integrate With World

Newsday.com: Blair: U.S. Needs to Integrate With World: "'If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set, it must be part of their agenda, too,'"

The New York Times > Movies > The Most Overrated Film of the Year

The New York Times > Movies > The Most Overrated Film of the Year: "It both satirizes and affirms a cherished male fantasy: that however antisocial, self-absorbed and downright unattractive a man may be, he can always be rescued by the love of a good woman."

Gore Vidal Walks and Talks to His Own Beat

Gore Vidal Walks and Talks to His Own Beat: "President Bush will be forced to resign or be driven from office. 'I can't believe the speed with which the entire republic fell apart. The U.S. Bill of Rights fell apart with Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Patriot Act,' he said of post-9/11 America.
'Preventive war became our national policy, which has not been any nation's policy since Hitler. A preventive war is about as un-American as you get. But that doesn't mean we haven't done it before,' he said.
'The worst (previous) example was the Mexican War. That brave moralist, Ulysses S. Grant, who had been a second lieutenant just out of West Point, hated that war and said ... that nations like individuals suffer for their transgressions.
'I believe the Civil War was the judgment of God on us for what we did to Mexico. God knows what we are going to get for Iraq.' "

CBC News:Look closely to find healthiest bread

CBC News:Look closely to find healthiest bread: "'What you should look for is at least five to six grams per serving or 2� to three grams per slice,' said Gallop. 'Look for the stone milled, 100 per cent whole wheat � that would certainly be your best bet.' "

Semantics Shape Social Security Debate (washingtonpost.com)

Semantics Shape Social Security Debate (washingtonpost.com): "Bush generally refers to 'personal accounts' but said during a September speech at a Republican fundraiser in Washington that he wanted to offer younger workers 'a private account that they can call their own, a private account they can pass on to the next generation, and a private account that government can't take away.' "

Semantics Shape Social Security Debate (washingtonpost.com)

Semantics Shape Social Security Debate (washingtonpost.com): "Republican officials have begun calling journalists to complain about references to 'private accounts,' even though Bush called them that three times in a speech last fall. "

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan: "'Renewed in our strength--tested, but not weary--we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.'
This is--how else to put it?--over the top."

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan: "somewhere between dreamy and disturbing"

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan: "'It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in the world.'"

FT.com / US / Inauguration 2005 - Bush vows to support democracy 'in every nation'

FT.com / US / Inauguration 2005 - Bush vows to support democracy 'in every nation': "The �edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people.�"

Two Elections - Why Iraq's vote is not like Palestine's. By Christopher�Hitchens

Two Elections - Why Iraq's vote is not like Palestine's. By Christopher�Hitchens: "She didn't ask. She didn't tell, and some of those who wanted to make a noise when she had only just died might profit from studying her good taste and reserve."

My Way News

My Way News: "'Negative feelings about Bush are high,' Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes which carried out the study, told the BBC. 'This is quite a grim picture for the United States.'"

Iraq New Terror Breeding Ground (washingtonpost.com)

Iraq New Terror Breeding Ground (washingtonpost.com): "Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of 'professionalized' terrorists, according to a report released yesterday by the National Intelligence Council, the CIA director's think tank. "

Pentagon reveals rejected chemical weapons - News | Print | New Scientist

Pentagon reveals rejected chemical weapons - News | Print | New Scientist: "an 'aphrodisiac' chemical weapon that would make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other. Provoking widespread homosexual behaviour among troops would cause a 'distasteful but completely non-lethal' blow to morale"

Yahoo! News - Wal-Mart's CEO on Offensive Against Critics

Yahoo! News - Wal-Mart's CEO on Offensive Against Critics: "'I liken it to being nibbled to death by guppies,' Scott said"

Group Says It Relocated 300 Orphans (washingtonpost.com)

Group Says It Relocated 300 Orphans (washingtonpost.com): "'Normally, Banda Aceh is closed to foreigners and closed to the gospel. But, because of this catastrophe, our partners there are earning the right to be heard and providing entrance for the gospel,' WorldHelp said in an appeal for funds on its Web site this week.
The appeal said WorldHelp was working with native-born Christians in Indonesia who want to 'plant Christian principles as early as possible' in the 300 Muslim children, all younger than 12, who lost their parents in the tsunami. "

Group Says It Relocated 300 Orphans (washingtonpost.com)

Group Says It Relocated 300 Orphans (washingtonpost.com): "'These children are homeless, destitute, traumatized, orphaned, with nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat. If we can place them in a Christian children's home, their faith in Christ could become the foothold to reach the Aceh people,' "

MSNBC - The 'Media Party' is over

MSNBC - The 'Media Party' is over: "The crusades of Vietnam and Watergate seemed like a good idea at the time, even a noble one, not only to the press but perhaps to a majority of Americans. The problem was that, once the AMMP declared its existence by taking sides, there was no going back. A party was born."

Michelle Malkin: Not for sale

Michelle Malkin: Not for sale: "Rabid liberal elitists expect and demand that 'women of color' in public and political life adopt their left-wing political orthodoxy. When we don't accept such tripe, their racist and sexist diatribes against us are unmatched."

little idiots from afar...

President outlines role of his faith - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - January 12, 2005

President outlines role of his faith - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - January 12, 2005: "'But the key thing is, is that we do have the capacity to allow faith programs to access enormous sums of social service money, which I think is important.' "

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2004�

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2004�: "'I think people attack me because they are fearful that I will then say that you're not equally as patriotic if you're not a religious person,' Mr. Bush said. 'I've never said that. I've never acted like that. I think that's just the way it is."

:: rogerebert.com :: essays

:: rogerebert.com :: essays: "In 30 years of teaching evening film classes for the University of Chicago, I have shown only one film that made the audience cry, and that was 'Tokyo Story.' You do not cry unless a film frees itself from its origins and enters into your own heart."

:: rogerebert.com :: reviews

:: rogerebert.com :: reviews: "Theological footnote: Every once in a while my Catholic grade school education sounds a dogma alarm. Jessie is not a Catholic, which perhaps explains why she thinks the term 'immaculate conception' refers to the birth of Jesus, when in fact it refers to the birth of Mary. "

:: rogerebert.com :: reviews

:: rogerebert.com :: reviews: "The reason we cannot accept pedophilia as we accept many other sexual practices is that it requires an innocent partner, whose life could be irreparably harmed. We do not have the right to do that. If there is no other way to achieve sexual satisfaction, that is our misfortune, but not an excuse. It is not the pedophile that is evil, but the pedophilia. That is true of all sins and crimes and those tempted to perform them: It is not that we are capable of transgression that condemns us, but that we are willing."

:: rogerebert.com :: reviews

:: rogerebert.com :: reviews: "Most of us have sexual desires within the areas accepted by society, and so never reflect that we did not choose them, but simply grew up and found that they were there."

The New York Times > Health > Mental Health & Behavior > The Secret Lives of Just About Everybody

The New York Times > Health > Mental Health & Behavior > The Secret Lives of Just About Everybody: "But in a series of experiments over the past decade, psychologists have identified a larger group they call repressors, an estimated 10 to 15 percent of the population, who are adept at ignoring or suppressing information that is embarrassing to them and thus well equipped to keep secrets, some psychologists say.
Repressors score low on questionnaires that measure anxiety and defensiveness - reporting, for example, that they are rarely resentful, worried about money, or troubled by nightmares and headaches. They think well of themselves and don't sweat the small stuff.
Although little is known about the mental development of such people, some psychologists believe they have learned to block distressing thoughts by distracting themselves with good memories. Over time - with practice, in effect - this may become habitual, blunting their access to potentially humiliating or threatening memories and secrets.
'This talent is likely to serve them well in the daily struggle to avoid unwanted thoughts of all kinds, including unwanted thoughts that arise from attempts to suppress secrets in the presence of others,' Dr. Wegner, of Harvard, said in an e-mail message. "

The New York Times > Health > Mental Health & Behavior > The Secret Lives of Just About Everybody

The New York Times > Health > Mental Health & Behavior > The Secret Lives of Just About Everybody: "In a very deep sense, you don't have a self unless you have a secret"

My Way News

My Way News: "'Don't cheerleaders all over America form pyramids six to eight times a year. Is that torture?' Guy Womack, Graner's attorney, said in opening arguments to the 10-member U.S. military jury at the reservist sergeant's court-martial."

Yahoo! News - Armstrong Williams: I Am Not Alone

Yahoo! News - Armstrong Williams: I Am Not Alone: "'This happens all the time,' he told me. 'There are others.'"

Yahoo! News - Cardinal Says Bush Broke Iraq Promise

Yahoo! News - Cardinal Says Bush Broke Iraq Promise: "'Unfortunately, the facts have demonstrated afterward that things took a different course � not rapid and not favorable,' the prelate told Telepace. 'Bush was wrong.' "

Yahoo! News - Administration Paid Commentator

Yahoo! News - Administration Paid Commentator: "Chicago-based Tribune Media Services dropped Williams's column yesterday, saying he had violated his contract. 'Accepting compensation in any form from an entity that serves as a subject of his weekly newspaper columns creates, at the very least, the appearance of a conflict of interest,' prompting readers to ask whether his opinions 'have been purchased by a third party,' a company statement said."

DRUDGE REPORT 2005�

DRUDGE REPORT 2005�: "has written a book that touts the importance of moderates to the future of the Republican Party and flays Bush and his team for ignoring the country's middle."

hmmm... sounds like the beginning of a campaign to make the moderate repubs the new dems. Not good for dems.