Washington Post
Bush's Approval Rating Drops To New Low in Wake of Storm
He Says Race Didn't Affect Efforts; Blacks in Poll Disagree
By Michael A. Fletcher and Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, September 13, 2005; Page A08
Touring devastated portions of New Orleans yesterday, President Bush sought to reassure the public that the government is responding to Hurricane Katrina with equity and dispatch, even as his standing hit record lows amid broad support for an independent investigation of the federal response to the storm.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that clear majorities of Americans disapprove of the way officials at all levels of government are handling the recovery from Katrina. A 54 percent majority disapproved of Bush's response to Katrina, while an even larger majority -- 57 percent -- say state and local officials should bear responsibility for the problems.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/12/AR2005091200668.html
More Join Guantanamo Hunger Strike
Detainees Demand Hearings, Allege Beatings by Guards
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 13, 2005; Page A03
A month-old hunger strike at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has grown to include at least 128 detainees, 18 of whom are forcibly receiving intravenous fluids or nutrition in the prison hospital, military officials and detainee lawyers said yesterday.
The captives are protesting their indefinite imprisonment and what they describe as beatings administered by the prison's Immediate Response Force (IRF)-- squads of military personnel who are dispatched to put down disturbances in detainees' cells. Some have said they will refuse to eat until the military gives them a fair hearing or they die, according to their
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/12/AR2005091201690.html
5-Week-Old Born in N.Va. To Comatose Mother Dies
By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 13, 2005; Page A01
Susan Anne Catherine Torres, whose mother was declared brain-dead and kept on life-support for three months so she could be born, died early yesterday. She was 5 weeks and 5 days old.
The baby contracted a disease that can afflict premature infants, which led to an infection and a perforated intestine that finally overwhelmed her tiny body, according to hospital officials and the baby's uncle, Justin Torres, whose only public words yesterday were the ones he wrote.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/12/AR2005091200669.html
Los Angeles Times
As Lights Go Out, Power Worries Rise
Mistake by DWP workers cuts electricity across the L.A. area. Public officials express doubts about the city system's integrity.
By Sharon Bernstein, Hector Becerra and Mitchell Landsberg, Times Staff Writers
A mistake on a single bundle of wires Monday cascaded into a major blackout in and around Los Angeles, inconveniencing millions of people and renewing questions about the vulnerability of the region's power system.
Coming one day after a purported Al Qaeda threat of attack on the city, the midday outage pricked nerves and caused isolated incidents of panic. Plumes of flame and smoke heightened the drama as refineries, temporarily shut by the outage, flared off excess gases.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-power13sep13,0,1192306.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Roberts Sees Role as Judicial 'Umpire'
'I have no platform,' the chief justice nominee tells senators at start of confirmation hearings.
By David G. Savage, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — Judge John G. Roberts Jr., President Bush's choice for chief justice of the United States, said Monday that he aspired to a humble and limited role as leader of the Supreme Court, more akin to an umpire who calls the balls and strikes rather than the star player who is the center of attention.
"Justices and judges are servants of the law, not the other way around," Roberts told the Senate Judiciary Committee. "Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them. Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-roberts13sep13,0,6212450.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Polluted paradise
Giant trees, magnificent vistas, pristine wilderness. Well, reconsider the pristine part. The air in Sequoia-Kings Canyon is smoggier than New York City's.
By Gary Polakovic, Times Staff Writer
Up here, atop Beetle Rock, a precipice more than one mile high in the Sierra, air at dawn is clear, invisible, exactly as it should be. Two mule deer bucks in velvet saunter through the forest, and a sow bear and cub scratch out bugs from a big tree near Giant Grove.
Down below, 30 miles away in the San Joaquin Valley, sunrise illuminates haze like a flashlight shot through tea. The smear of smog spreads wide over Central California, constrained only by the horizon and a tabletop-flat layer of warm air called an inversion that holds a brownish haze low to valley farms and cities and highways. For now, at least, the high country is untouched.
Yet as the sun climbs, California heats up; people awaken, start their machines and pump tons of emissions into the sky. The air pollution, stratified over Visalia like the layers of a cake, begins to cook and mix and expand. The ozone gauge at Beetle Rock starts ticking upwards from .066 part per million and will soon climb toward the unhealthful mark. The smog is coming.
http://www.latimes.com/travel/outdoors/la-os-smogparknew13sep13,0,5175419.story?coll=la-story-footer&track=pacifictime
Michael Moore Today
Veteran's for Peace
On September 2, 2005 the Veterans for Peace Bus from Mendocino County, CA took a detour to help the victims of hurricane Katrina. We arrived in Covington, LA with food and supplies that Camp Casey had sent from Crawford, Texas.
We are moving some of the Camp Casey operations from the Pine View Middle School to The Green Room at 521 Boston Street in Covington - More information coming ASAP.
Please see drop off and volunteer info below as that is accruate as of September 9th.
We are using the school to support Veterans For Peace hurricane relief efforts for the people of the region. We are supporting The Red Cross with power, medical supplies, kitchen service, food bank and distribution, internet communications and trained medical personnel.
http://www.vfproadtrips.org/
Wednesday, September 7th, 2005
Here's How You Can Make an Immediate Difference in Louisiana
Friends,
There is much to be said and done about the manmade annihilation of New Orleans, caused NOT by a hurricane but by the very specific decisions made by the Bush administration in the past four and a half years. Do not listen to anyone who says we can discuss all this later. No, we can't. Our country is in an immediate state of vulnerability. More hurricanes and other disasters are on the way, and a lazy bunch of self-satisfied lunatics are still running the show.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2005-09-07
A Letter to All Who Voted for George W. Bush from Michael Moore
To All My Fellow Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush:
On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?
How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?
That's right. Horse shows.
I really want to know -- and I ask you this in all sincerity and with all due respect -- how do you feel about the utter contempt Mr. Bush has shown for your safety? C'mon, give me just a moment of honesty. Don't start ranting on about how this disaster in New Orleans was the fault of one of the poorest cities in America. Put aside your hatred of Democrats and liberals and anyone with the last name of Clinton. Just look me in the eye and tell me our President did the right thing after 9/11 by naming a horse show runner as the top man to protect us in case of an emergency or catastrophe.
I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.
Are we safer now than before 9/11? When you learn that behind the horse show runner, the #2 and #3 men in charge of emergency preparedness have zero experience in emergency preparedness, do you think we are safer?
When you look at Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, a man with little experience in national security, do you feel secure?
When men who never served in the military and have never seen young men die in battle send our young people off to war, do you think they know how to conduct a war? Do they know what it means to have your legs blown off for a threat that was never there?
Do you really believe that turning over important government services to private corporations has resulted in better services for the people?
Why do you hate our federal government so much? You have voted for politicians for the past 25 years whose main goal has been to de-fund the federal government. Do you think that cutting federal programs like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been good or bad for America? GOOD OR BAD?
With the nation's debt at an all-time high, do you think tax cuts for the rich are still a good idea? Will you give yours back so hundreds of thousands of homeless in New Orleans can have a home?
Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us? Hurricane Katrina came in and blew off the facade that we were a nation with liberty and justice for all. The wind howled and the water rose and what was revealed was that the poor in America shall be left to suffer and die while the President of the United States fiddles and tells them to eat cake.
That's not a joke. The day the hurricane hit and the levees broke, Mr. Bush, John McCain and their rich pals were stuffing themselves with cake. A full day after the levees broke (the same levees whose repair funding he had cut), Mr. Bush was playing a guitar some country singer gave him. All this while New Orleans sank under water.
It would take ANOTHER day before the President would do a flyover in his jumbo jet, peeking out the window at the misery 2500 feet below him as he flew back to his second home in DC. It would then be TWO MORE DAYS before a trickle of federal aid and troops would arrive. This was no seven minutes in a sitting trance while children read "My Pet Goat" to him. This was FOUR DAYS of doing nothing other than saying "Brownie (FEMA director Michael Brown), you're doing a heck of a job!"
My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?
And on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?
Our vulnerability is not just about dealing with terrorists or natural disasters. We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together. The middle class can't pay the mortgage or the hospital bills and 45 million have no health coverage whatsoever.
Are we safe? Do you really feel safe? You can only move so far out and build so many gated communities before the fruit of what you've sown will be crashing through your walls and demanding retribution. Do you really want to wait until that happens? Or is it your hope that if they are left alone long enough to soil themselves and shoot themselves and drown in the filth that fills the street that maybe the problem will somehow go away?
I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours. And you know, for our peace and safety and security, this has to be fixed. What do you propose?
I have an idea, and it isn't a horse show.
Yours,
Michael Moore
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
mmflint@aol.com
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=185
Roberts: 'I Have No Agenda'
Associated Press
Following are excerpts from the opening statement of John G. Roberts Jr. yesterday at the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for his nomination to be chief justice of the United States, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions:
Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around. Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id-4067
People for the American Way
Oppose Roberts for Chief Justice
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Your action today is critical in alerting the Senate that the American people are unwilling to allow the position of Chief Justice to be filled by a candidate as troubling as John Roberts. With so many rights and liberties already hanging by a thread at the Supreme Court, it is all the more critical that the next Chief Justice be someone that Americans can count on to protect their rights and freedoms.
http://www.savethecourt.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=mwK0JbNTJrF&b=1022811&action=4318&template=x.ascx
US could withdraw 50,000 troops by year end-Talabani
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (Reuters) - The United States could withdraw as many as 50,000 troops from Iraq by the end of the year because there are enough Iraqi forces ready to begin taking control of parts of the country, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told the Washington Post.
In an interview with the newspaper that was published on Tuesday, Talabani said he would discuss reductions in U.S. forces during a private meeting with President George W. Bush and said he thought the United States could pull some troops out immediately.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4064
Embattled FEMA Director Mike Brown Resigns
By Ron Fournier / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown said Monday he has resigned "in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president," three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
Brown, under fire for FEMA's performance in the Gulf Coast, said he feared he had become a distraction.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=4062
A Day of Contradictions
By Dana Milbank
Saturday, September 3, 2005; Page A15
"I'm looking forward to my trip down there," President Bush said in the White House driveway yesterday morning before leaving to tour the storm wreckage.
Something must have happened in flight, because when he arrived in Mobile, Ala., two hours later, he reported: "I'm not looking forward to this trip."
Who's Blogging?
Read what bloggers are saying about this article.
What scenes of Washington politics would you like Dana Milbank to write about? E-mail your suggestions of people, places or events -- along with your name and hometown to Sketch@washpost.com.
For Bush, it was that kind of day. Nursing the lowest standing of his presidency, he could have used another bullhorn-atop-the-wreckage moment to symbolize his strong leadership.
Instead, while a flood of sewage and corpses filled lawless New Orleans, Bush found himself in an awkward photo op in an airport hangar, accepting hosannas from government officials and a pair of Republican governors.
"Thank you for all the help," Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said.
"Your people have been great," Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said.
When it was his turn to talk, Bush congratulated the governors, then turned to FEMA Director Mike Brown and said, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
Addressing another member of his party, Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.), Bush promised: "Out of the rubble of Trent Lott's house -- he lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."
The performance, broadcast on most networks, drew ridicule from CNN anchor Daryn Kagan. "The president, finally making it to the Gulf Coast after five days . . . getting a briefing that frankly he could have gotten back at the White House," she said. "A lot of that seemed like a political opportunity for the cameras and the Republican governors."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202215.html
The Boston Globe
44 found dead in New Orleans hospital
FEMA chief quits; Bush views city
By Christopher Rowland and Stephen Smith, Globe Staff September 13, 2005
NEW ORLEANS -- Forty-four bodies have been recovered in an evacuated hospital, officials announced yesterday, as the federal official in charge of the initial response to Hurricane Katrina resigned under fire, and as President Bush took a firsthand look at flood damage in parts of the city.
The bodies of the 44 patients, the largest group found so far, were removed Sunday from the Memorial Medical Center, a state health official and hospital representatives said yesterday.
The hospital, in the Mid-City neighborhood had been surrounded by water, stranding patients and staff inside for four days after the hurricane struck.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/09/13/44_found_dead_in_new_orleans_hospital/
Ophelia pounds beaches with heavy surf
Waves crash on shore near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton, N.C., as tropical storm Ophelia lurks off of the east coast on Monday, Sept. 12, 2005. Ophelia was a minimal hurricane early Monday with sustained winds of 75 mph, but by midday it had weakened to about 70 mph, 4 mph below the threshold, the National Hurricane Center said. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
By Paul Nowell, Associated Press Writer September 13, 2005
ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. --Ophelia's fitful spinning off the Carolina coast continued early Tuesday, as the on-again-off-again tropical storm exasperated residents and pounded beaches with heavy surf.
The storm's outer bands of rain were expected to begin drenching the coast by early Wednesday as Ophelia bobs slowly to the northwest and gets better organized.
Nonresidents were ordered to leave one of North Carolina's Outer Banks islands, school systems in five counties were closed and 300 National Guard troops were sent to staging points along the coast.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/13/ophelia_pounds_beaches_with_heavy_surf/
Senate votes on EPA mercury emission rules
By Jim Abrams, Associated Press Writer September 13, 2005
WASHINGTON --Senators are challenging the Bush administration over its approach to reducing power plant emissions of mercury, a toxic metal that poses serious threats of neurological damage to newborn and young children.
The White House insists its market-based approach to curtailing mercury pollution is effective and founded on sound science, and warned that the president will veto any legislation that would overturn rules on mercury emissions finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency last March.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/13/senate_votes_on_epa_mercury_emission_rules/
U.S. world position in education slipping
By Ben Feller, AP Education Writer September 13, 2005
WASHINGTON --The United States is losing ground in education, as peers across the globe zoom by with bigger gains in student achievement and school graduations, a study shows.
Among adults age 25 to 34, the U.S. is ninth among industrialized nations in the share of its population that has at least a high school degree. In the same age group, the United States ranks seventh, with Belgium, in the share of people who hold a college degree.
By both measures, the United States was first in the world as recently as 20 years ago, said Barry McGaw, director of education for the Paris-based Organization for Cooperation and Development. The 30-nation organization develops the yearly rankings as a way for countries to evaluate their education systems and determine whether to change their policies.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/13/us_world_position_in_education_slipping/
Court mulls release of Columbine videos
This undated file photo shows yearbook photos of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. The Colorado Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2005, on whether videotapes and diaries made by the Columbine High School gunmen can be released publicly. The parents of Klebold and Harris argue that the items are privately owned and not subject to a state open-records law. (AP Photos/File)
By Jon Sarche, Associated Press Writer September 13, 2005
DENVER --Reporters have already seen and written about the Columbine "basement tapes" of killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold showing off their arsenal and eagerly talking about their plan to attack their high school.
But the gunmen's parents are fighting a newspaper's request for public release of the videos, audio recordings and writings Harris and Klebold made in the months before they killed 12 students and a teacher in April 1999.
The Colorado Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday from The Denver Post, the parents and the Jefferson County sheriff's office, which also opposes the release.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/13/court_mulls_release_of_columbine_videos/
Major developments in Katrina's aftermath
By The Associated Press September 13, 2005
Major developments in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
-- More than 40 bodies are discovered in a New Orleans hospital. One official says a few of the patients died before the hurricane struck, while another says some patients died waiting to be evacuated when temperatures hit 106 degrees.
-- Officials say nearly two-thirds of southeastern Louisiana's water treatment plants are up and running. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport plans to resume limited passenger service Tuesday morning.
-- It will be at least three months before New Orleans' public water system is fully operational, according to a California National Guard engineer working on the systems. Some homes have running water now, but it's mostly untreated river water.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/13/major_developments_in_katrinas_aftermath/
Palestinians told to end looting, start rebuilding
By Nidal al-Mughrabi September 13, 2005
NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Palestinians began to clear away a vast swathe of rubble in abandoned Jewish settlements and knocked down remains of a charred synagogue on Tuesday after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.
"The nightmare is over, the occupation has gone and Gaza is now without settlers ... Today we begin the work of rebuilding," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie said in Neve Dekalim, the site of what had been Israel's largest settlement in Gaza.
He urged the hundreds of Palestinians who continued to pour into the area to celebrate Israel's pullout but to stop looting synagogue buildings and farm equipment left behind after 38 years of occupation.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/09/13/palestinians_told_to_end_looting_start_rebuilding/
Hewlett-Packard cutting 968 UK jobs
September 13, 2005
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. computer giant Hewlett-Packard <HPQ.N> said on Tuesday it would cut 968 jobs in Britain over the next 12 months.
The job cuts will be made at Hewlett-Packard's five British sites: Bracknell, Bristol, Glasgow, Reading and Warrington, a spokesman told Reuters, adding that it would cut 5,900 jobs in total across its EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.
Hewlett-Packard said in July it would slash about 10 percent of its work force in a sweeping move by new Chief Executive Mark Hurd to cut costs by $1.9 billion a year and compete better in cutthroat computer and printer markets.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/13/hewlett_packard_cutting_968_uk_jobs_1126611311/
Guardian Unlimited
Eleven Children Found Caged in Ohio Home
Tuesday September 13, 2005 4:01 AM
WAKEMAN, Ohio (AP) - Sheriff's deputies found 11 children locked in cages with alarms in a north Ohio home, and prosecutors are looking into possible charges of abuse and neglect.
The children, ages 1 to 14, were in nine cages in the walls of a house outside this city of about 1,000 about 50 miles west of Cleveland, according to the Huron County Sheriff's Office. They had no blankets or pillows, and the cages were rigged with alarms that sounded if the cages were opened, Lt. Randy Sommers said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5274120,00.html
Race not an issue in Katrina disaster, says Bush
· President uses city tour to defend federal recovery
· Beleaguered emergency services chief finally quits
Jamie Wilson in New Orleans, Julian Borger in Washington and Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
Tuesday September 13, 2005
George Bush and the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, get a briefing from former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown (centre) in Mobile, Alabama. Photohgraph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty
The director of the much-criticised federal emergency management agency, Michael Brown, resigned yesterday. The news of his resignation came as George Bush, on his first visit to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, rejected suggestions that race had played a role in the slow government response to the flooding of the city.
Insisting it had been his decision to step down, Mr Brown said he had resigned to give the beleaguered agency a chance to refocus on the rescue and recovery effort. "As I told the president, it is important that I leave now to avoid further distraction from the ongoing mission of Fema," Mr Brown said in a statement.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1568694,00.html
Insurer doubles forecast of Katrina claims
Jill Treanor
Tuesday September 13, 2005
The Guardian
Estimates of the insurance bill to clean up after Hurricane Katrina rose yesterday when Swiss Re doubled its predictions for the size of its claims but admitted it was difficult to be certain about the final cost.
Swiss Re, the world's second-largest reinsurance firm, admitted it had been too conservative in its early estimates as it doubled its forecast for the total industry cost to $40bn (£22bn) and doubled the estimate for its own claims to $1.2bn.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1568765,00.html
America? 'It was like a scene from Africa'
Tuesday September 13, 2005
The Guardian
I was at home watching television when I learned that Afghanistan was giving $100,000 to help the hurricane victims in America. I think President Karzai has done us proud by doing this. The images of Americans carrying their luggage and leaving their homes behind reminded me of the time my family had to flee to Pakistan after the Taliban took over. We were arrested, held for days, robbed; it was a very tough time.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1568660,00.html
Doubts over value of £3bn Sure Start
Flagship government scheme to help deprived youngsters may be failing
Lucy Ward, social affairs correspondent
Tuesday September 13, 2005
The Guardian
The first major evaluation of the government's flagship £3bn Sure Start programme for deprived preschool children and their families has revealed no overall improvement in the areas targeted by the initiative.
Although some Sure Start schemes were successful, an independent study by academics at Birkbeck College, London - due to be published by the government next month - revealed that Sure Start as a whole failed to boost youngsters' development, language and behaviour. It also showed children of teenage mothers did worse in Sure Start areas than elsewhere.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,1074,1568732,00.html
Bush summons spirit of 9/11 to help repair his hurricane-damaged ratings
· White House talks of reconstruction 'tsar'
· Rescuers say flood toll may be lower than feared
Julian Borger in Washington and Jamie Wilson
Monday September 12, 2005
The Guardian
President George Bush yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks by flying to New Orleans in an effort to restore national unity after the political and physical devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
After observing a moment's silence on the White House lawn for the victims of the 2001 attacks, Mr Bush left for New Orleans, where he was immediately helicoptered aboard a naval assault ship, the USS Iwo Jima, docked in the city centre. He is due to venture forth into the streets today in a military Humvee to inspect the damage and the reconstruction, before flying on to Mississippi.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1567701,00.html
Power to the victims of New Orleans
With the poor gone, developers are planning to gentrify the city
Naomi Klein
Friday September 9, 2005
The Guardian
On September 4, six days after Katrina hit, I saw the first glimmer of hope. "The people of New Orleans will not go quietly into the night, scattering across this country to become homeless in countless other cities while federal relief funds are funnelled into rebuilding casinos, hotels, chemical plants. We will not stand idly by while this disaster is used as an opportunity to replace our homes with newly built mansions and condos in a gentrified New Orleans."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1565939,00.html
continued ...
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
September 10, 2005. Pascagoula, Mississippi.
This picture bothered me a bit. I have long been a fan of brick structures in areas with turbulent weather especially tornadoes. There are other pictures on this blog that bear that out. The idea that a brick structure will withstand nearly any force of nature including hurricanes/tornadoes with the exception of a roof, but, people would be safe in that structure.
This defies that.
The house next door is not a brick structure and is standing. The hammock is near the top of the trees but the trees are standing with some fallen branches. This is supposed to be a brick house and not just a foundation.
It is an odd occurrence.
A worry.
But, most certainly an event that defies any force I have noted about such a storm before. It had to be a tornado OR whirlpool. The more I look at the branches lying about it seems like a severe whirlpool to me.
Photographer states :: A brick house once stood here, wiped away by Katrina. Notice the hammock up in the trees in the background. Taken in Pascagoula, Mississippi almost two weeks after Katrina hit.
Morning Papers cont
The Indystar
Today's editorial
Danger lurks within America's borders
Our position: While focusing on foreign terrorism, nation must not lose sight of domestic threats.
The recent indictment of four men who planned to attack synagogues, National Guard recruitment centers and an Israeli consulate office in Los Angeles should serve as a reminder that not all terrorist threats stem from Middle Eastern radicals.
Some are homegrown.
Authorities need to pay particular attention to the nation's prisons, where a mixture of black and white supremacist groups, gangs and radical Muslims blend into a stew of dangerous allies against America.
The groups often share similar anti-Semitic and anti-government views, along with a penchant for violence.
A federal grand jury in California indicted the four men Aug. 31, accusing them of plotting terrorist attacks against the U.S. At least two members of the group met as inmates in state prison in California. Authorities said they have found no evidence tying the men to foreign terrorist organizations.
The 9/11 attacks shifted the nation's focus from domestic terrorism to foreign threats. But danger from domestic groups remains real, as does the possibility of links between domestic and foreign terrorists. While there is no evidence that Arab terrorists have conducted joint operations with any domestic groups, there have been communications between American and Muslim radicals, as well as alliances among black and white separatist organizations.
"Prisons continue to be fertile ground for extremists who exploit both a prisoner's conversion to Islam while still in prison, as well as their socio-economic status and placement in the community upon their release," FBI Director Robert Mueller warned a Senate Intelligence Committee.
Authorities say domestic terrorists are more likely to target a Midwestern city than New York or Washington. That makes Indianapolis vulnerable.
The Oklahoma City bombing taught that terrorists don't always come from outside the nation. Sometimes the most dangerous are lurking within.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/OPINION/509120319
State to aid Gary's efforts to keep branch open
Hundreds of Gary residents, including Willie Cain (left) and Jonathan Boose, staged a Statehouse protest today against the closing of the Gary BMV branch. The Daniels administration said it would work with the city as it explores options for keeping the branch open. -- Charlie Nye / The Star
By Mary Beth Schneider
Temporarily satisfying a couple hundred Gary residents protesting at the Statehouse, Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration said it would work with Gary to find a way to keep open a full-service license branch there.
Bureau of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Joel Silverman met early today with Gary Mayor Scott King and Democrat legislators from Lake County, and reiterated that the branch will close Saturday. He has proposed keeping open a mini-branch, with one employee handling drivers' license and state ID card requests, at a local mental health center.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/NEWS01/50912012
State extends air pollution alert
Related news from the Web
Latest headlines by topic:
By Tammy Webber
tammy.webber@indystar.com
Hoosiers in urban areas should limit outdoor activities at least through Tuesday because of ongoing air pollution, state environmental officials said.
Stagnant weather has trapped microscopic bits of soot dust and liquid droplets near the ground, leading the state to extend alerts for the northwest Indiana, Indianapolis, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Terre Haute and Louisville, Ky., areas.
Children, the elderly and people with heart and breathing problems are at highest risk for health problems because the tiny particles can lodge deep in the lungs and cause breathing and cardiac problems.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/NEWS01/50912017
Plane crashes in field, catches fire; 4 dead
Wabash -- A plane crashed in a bean field Saturday night and flipped, killing four people returning home from a dinner trip, Indiana State Police said.
The pilot and his three passengers all died at the scene, the Wabash County coroner's office said. Three of the four were members of a Lagro family.
Police identified the dead as John Swan, 56; Kathy Swan, 54; James Swan, 25; and Vanessa Baer, 22, North Urbana. Family members said John Swan was flying the plane.
Police found the plane, a 1967 Piper Cheyenne Six, about 9 p.m. in a field in southern Wabash County. Investigators said preliminary findings showed the plane's right wing hit the ground and broke off along with the front gear. The plane then flipped onto its top and caught fire.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/NEWS01/509120418
Martha comes back like true diva
On the rise: Martha Stewart is aggressively trying to reclaim her good name. Her talk show debuts at 9 a.m. today on WISH . -- Frank Franklin II / Associated Press
By David Carr
The New York Times
Two years after trying to scrub Martha Stewart, the person, out of Martha Stewart, the brand, Martha Stewart, the business, has a new strategy: Martha Stewart, every day.
"I always disagreed with the separation of the name and the brand and the person," Stewart said, with a bit of a laugh at the fact that she is all three. "To build on that name and brand is one thing. To divorce the name and the brand from the person was not an approach that I agreed with."
Stewart, who is now free of her court-mandated monitoring bracelet, is chopping away at the substantial list of chores that piled up for the 10 months while she was in prison and under house arrest.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/LIVING/509120302
EurasiaNet
RUSSIA ADAPTS POLICY TO ADDRESS RIFT WITHIN CIS
Igor Torbakov 9/12/05
Russian policy makers are striving to develop a post-CIS paradigm, in which Moscow distinguishes between "loyal" and "disloyal" neighbors and uses its economic power, namely is energy resources, to reward the Kremlin’s friends and to punish its antagonists within the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Despite an attempt to put an optimistic spin on the latest CIS summit in late August, most Russian policy makers have concluded that the CIS is no longer salvageable as an institution that can advance the Kremlin’s political and economic agenda in the former Soviet space. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. At the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the creation of a panel of experts that would consider ways to revamp the organization in a manner more satisfactory to the Kremlin. But even while that proposal moves forward, Russian officials and experts are mulling alternatives that would enable Russia to more efficiently expand its economic reach in the region.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav091205a.shtml
A BASE OR NOT A BASE FOR AZERBAIJAN?
Alman Mir Ismail 9/12/05
As the Azerbaijani parliamentary election campaign gathers pace, local media speculation is building about the possible establishment of a US military facility in Azerbaijan.
Both US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have firmly dismissed the possibility that the US would open a permanent military base on Azerbaijani territory. "I have said this before, and I repeat: ‘Azerbaijan will not host American military bases on its territory," the president said on August 19 while visiting the Agsu, Gabala and Oguz regions. Harnish has similarly denied that Washington has made Aliyev any official request for bases. "[W]e are not going to locate our military bases in the territory of Azerbaijan," the US ambassador told Azerbaijani journalists on August 26, the Russian-language newspaper Zerkalo reported Harnish as saying.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav091205ru.shtml
KAZAKHSTAN’S LEADER CLEARS THE DECKS FOR ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL RUN
Ibragim Alibekov 9/09/05
Kazakhstan has pushed up its presidential election date to December 4, and the incumbent, Nursultan Nazarbayev, seems perfectly positioned to secure a third, seven-year term.
Nazarbayev, who has presided over Kazakhstan’s boom economy since the country gained independence in 1991, was formally nominated on September 9 by the Otan Party. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The presidential vote was originally scheduled for 2006, but parliament on September 7 decided to move up election-day. Nazarbayev’s main challenger in the election is expected to be Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, a leader of the For a Just Kazakhstan opposition movement.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090905.shtml
GERMANY TAKES LOW-KEY APPROACH TOWARD UZBEKISTAN
Anja Schoeller-Schletter 9/07/05
While Uzbekistan has made a highly publicized decision to evict US military forces from an airbase at Karshi-Khanabad, it does not appear that Tashkent will take similar action against German troops stationed at a facility near Termez, along the Uzbek-Afghan border.
The German government has maintained a low-key approach toward Uzbekistan since the Andijan events in May. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Germany’s reticence is partly explained by the fact that political leaders have been preoccupied with the country’s looming parliamentary elections. Polls show that Gerhard Schroeder’s incumbent Social Democratic Party-Greens coalition will be hard-pressed to retain power in the September 18 vote.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090705.shtml
TURKMENISTAN BASE RUMOR LIKELY PART OF A RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN
Stephen Blank 9/07/05
A EurasiaNet Commentary
Russian media outlets continue to publish articles claiming that the United States may establish a military base in Turkmenistan. The circumstances surrounding the media reports suggest that Russia is carrying out a disinformation campaign designed to exert pressure on Turkmenistan to adhere to Moscow’s geopolitical line in Central Asia.
The Russian media reports about the possible US base in Turkmenistan began to surface in late August, following Turkmenistan’s decision to de-emphasize its membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Helping to stoke the base rumors was an August 23 visit by US Gen. John Abizaid, chief of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), to Ashgabat.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090705a.shtml
REPORT: NO BIG GAINS TO ARMENIA IF TURKEY LIFTS BLOCKADE
Haroutiun Khachatrian 8/09/05
A controversial report by an Armenian research and consulting group claims that reopening the Armenian-Turkish border would have a much smaller impact on Armenia’s economy than commonly believed.
The report was presented July 13 by the Armenian-European Political Legal Advice Center (AEPLAC), a prominent think tank sponsored by the European Union. It contended that Armenia would see its economy expand by only $20-23 million annually, or just 0.67 percent of its current Gross Domestic Product, if Turkey decided to lift its 12-year blockade of the Armenian border. Over the next five years, Armenia’s GDP would see an additional 2.7 percent increase over the country’s level in 2004.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/business/articles/eav080905.shtml
UZBEKISTAN: ANDIJON AND THE ’INFORMATION WAR’
Daniel Kimmage 9/11/05
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL
The horrific violence that struck Andijon in May unfolded in the space of 24 hours. But the struggle to define the event -- to reveal the facts and to explain their significance -- continues. Inside Uzbekistan, the struggle to define Andijon has been fierce, pitting Uzbek officialdom and the media and means at its disposal against a limited number of nongovernment media and a small community of activists who have no other access to the broader public. The result has been, to quote Uzbek President Islam Karimov, an "information war" that has already claimed its first casualties and is poised to provide the troubling backdrop to whatever will happen next in Uzbekistan.
As presented by President Karimov, government spokespeople, and journalists in state-controlled media, the core of the official story is that a group of armed religious extremists tried to foment an Islamist coup in Andijon. The terrorists seized government buildings, took hostages, tortured and murdered officials, and finally initiated a violent confrontation with the security forces that had surrounded them. The ensuing bloodshed claimed 187 lives, the Uzbek Prosecutor-General’s Office maintains.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/pp091105.shtml
DISSENT OVER LAND REFORM MAY PORTEND UNREST IN MONGOLIA
12/20/02
Activists in Ulanbataar say that 2003 could be a pivotal year in Mongolia, with intense debate arising out of discontent with a law on land privatization that is due to take effect in May. Organizations and opposition parties are gearing up to fight a new land policy that critics say discriminates against the rural poor by delivering outsize payments to large landholders. Experts who do not necessarily oppose this new policy also see it as cause for worry. The government’s handling of land legislation, these people say, raises questions about the future of democracy in Mongolia.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav122002.shtml
THE CIS: THE END OF THE ROAD?
Sergei Blagov 8/29/05
The Commonwealth of Independent States appears near the end of its existence. Even if the organization does survive, it will do so in a significantly different form, political analysts say.
Established amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, the CIS has largely failed to fulfill its potential as an institution for the promotion of closer political and economic links. Many member states have been unable to set aside concerns that Russia, the organization’s dominant partner, wants to use the CIS as a vehicle for the preservation of Moscow’s influence in the former Soviet space. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. As a result, agreements among member states routinely went unimplemented.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav082905.shtml
KAZAKHSTAN’S LEADER CLEARS THE DECKS FOR ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL RUN
Ibragim Alibekov 9/09/05
Kazakhstan has pushed up its presidential election date to December 4, and the incumbent, Nursultan Nazarbayev, seems perfectly positioned to secure a third, seven-year term.
Nazarbayev, who has presided over Kazakhstan’s boom economy since the country gained independence in 1991, was formally nominated on September 9 by the Otan Party. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The presidential vote was originally scheduled for 2006, but parliament on September 7 decided to move up election-day. Nazarbayev’s main challenger in the election is expected to be Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, a leader of the For a Just Kazakhstan opposition movement.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090905.shtml
NAGORNO-KARABAKH: PEACE ON THE HORIZON?
Haroutiun Khachatrian 8/17/05
Armenian leaders are hopeful, but cautious as they approach what could prove to be pivotal talks concerning the future of the Nagorno-Karabakh territory.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian will try to break the existing deadlock in the Karabakh talks when he meets Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev August 26, amid a summit of Commonwealth of Independent States member states. As a prelude to those discussions, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov are expected to hold talks in Moscow on August 23.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav081705b.shtml
AFGHAN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES: A CHANCE FOR CHANGE
Ahmed Rashid 8/04/05
A EurasiaNet Commentary
An extraordinary series of reports by Afghan and international experts on the 27 long years of bloody human rights abuses in Afghanistan are for the first time placing enormous pressure on the Afghan government, the US administration in Afghanistan and the United Nations to take steps against the perpetrators, many of whom remain in positions of influence and power.
Until now, the US and Afghan governments have begged off starting any process of accountability of war criminals for a variety of reasons, including the lack of a judicial system in Afghanistan. However, a verdict in an extraordinary trial at the Old Bailey in London may show a way out.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav080405.shtml
AFGHANISTAN: NATO LOOKS TO EXPAND MISSION AFTER SEPTEMBER ELECTIONS
Ron Synovitz 9/05/05
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has completed the deployment of an additional 2,000 troops to support Afghanistan’s upcoming parliamentary elections. With a total of 11,000 troops across the country, ISAF is now larger and more widely deployed than it has ever been during nearly four years of UN-backed political reforms known as the Bonn Process. In addition, NATO’s top commander says the alliance is now planning for an expanded role that would merge UN-mandated security assistance with US-led combat operations.
NATO’s top commander, US General James Jones, says the alliance is now "correctly poised and sized" for its security mission during Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections on September 18.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp090505.shtml
PAKISTAN SAYS DEAD MILITANTS HAD KAZAKH PASSPORTS
7/18/05
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL
The Pakistani military suggested today that a group of militants killed in a firefight near the Afghan border yesterday were Kazakh nationals, while a Kazakh diplomatic source insisted it is too early to be certain that they were Kazakh citizens.
Pakistani military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan announced the Kazakh connection in a statement today in Islamabad to AFP.
But a spokesman for the Kazakh Embassy in Islamabad, Yernur Tuyaqbaev, told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service today that it is too early to be certain whether or not those killed are Kazakh nationals.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/pp071805.shtml
INITIAL RESULTS OF AFGHAN GOVERNMENT ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN ARE POSITIVE - REPORT
Claudio Franco 9/08/05
Amid an upswing in violence in Afghanistan ahead of parliamentary elections, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has reported encouraging news on the Afghan government’s efforts to curb narcotics production.
Clashes between security forces and Islamic militants have intensified in recent weeks, as Afghanistan prepares to hold long-anticipated parliamentary elections September 18. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In early September, for example, a joint operation mounted by US and Afghan troops in southern Kandahar Province resulted in the deaths of 13 militants and the capture of 44 others.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090805.shtml
The New York Times
Covering New Orleans: The Decade Before the Storm
By BYRON CALAME
Published: September 11, 2005
THE early coverage of the devastation of New Orleans revealed a depth of poverty and a troubled levee system that caught many by surprise. As a national newspaper with high aspirations, The New York Times assumes a responsibility to alert its readers to significant problems as they emerge in major cities such as New Orleans.
Poverty so pervasive that it hampered evacuation would seem to have been worthy of The Times's attention before it emerged as a pivotal challenge two weeks ago. And the inadequacies of the levee system deserved to be brought to the attention of readers more clearly long before the storm hit.
Yet a look back over the past 10 years of Times coverage of New Orleans in its news columns raises serious questions about how well the paper helped readers recognize and understand these two major problems that have compounded the devastation and tragedy of the storm.
Poverty emerged as a life-and-death issue as Hurricane Katrina approached the city on Sunday, Aug. 28, and it became clear that many poor residents didn't have cars in which to evacuate. To make matters worse, many poor residents lived in low-lying areas where flooding arrived the soonest and rose the highest.
As we're now being reminded almost daily, more than two-thirds of the residents of New Orleans are black, and about one in four citizens lives in poverty. The Times has noted that in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood, which was inundated by the floodwaters, 98 percent of the residents are black and more than a third live in poverty.
"As a close reader of The Times and of poverty trends," S. M. Miller, of Brookline, Mass., told me in an e-mail last week, "I was surprised to learn of the poverty conditions that prevailed in New Orleans. ... Why didn't the economic-social-racial conditions in New Orleans get some attention in the paper?" His conclusion: "The Times let us down."
Indeed, over the past decade Times readers would have been hard-pressed to find a news headline about the poverty in the midst of the city that brings to the minds of many Americans the revelry of Mardi Gras and Bourbon Street. A search of substantive Times news articles about New Orleans since September 1995, conducted with the help of a researcher for the paper, found none that focused on the city's poor and the racial dimension of poverty. And there were only two articles about the city - both feature stories - that contained a few paragraphs on poverty and race.
Poverty's presence was vividly described in a November 2000 feature article in the Weekend section. "Poverty persists, cheek by jowl with wealth, much of it inherited," the article said. "A block or two from mansions with palm-shaded gardens stand crude unpainted bungalows fronting on crumbling streets, more reminiscent of the third world than dot-com America." It added: "Most of the poor, in a city almost three-quarters black, are African-American." Unfortunately, however, finding these words required reading to the 16th paragraph of the 3,700-word article.
A 1996 Sunday Magazine profile of the city's police superintendent noted that more residents of New Orleans lived in poverty then than in any other large American city except Detroit. The article suggested that the ghettos of New Orleans "have been ignored for decades because even though black politicians have controlled City Hall since 1978, African-Americans have never broken the white hold on economic power." These insights didn't come until the 12th paragraph of the 3,400-word article.
What readers would have been more likely to find in The Times's past decade of news coverage of New Orleans were stylishly written articles about the city's charm, cuisine and colorful characters. While some of those articles dealt with crime in the city's predominantly black neighborhoods, the issue of poverty was seldom explored in any depth.
Levees obviously remain a central issue in the crisis. As experts expected, Katrina showed that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane would send water over the top of the city's levees and flood its below-sea-level "bowl." But the breaches in levees and canal walls made things dramatically worse and raised broader questions about the area's flood control system.
What had The Times's news columns provided over the past decade to help its readers understand the New Orleans levee system? One major article that focused on levees. The 2,100-word article on the front of the Science section in 2002 made clear that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane would send water over the top of the levees. While the public editor's focus is on news coverage, there was also an Editorial Observer commentary in 2002 that took a detailed look at the problem, based on reporting in New Orleans. But neither the news article nor the editorial commentary prepared readers for the possibility of breaches in the levees or canal walls.
The article in the Science section did paint a prescient picture: "Water cascading over the levee wall ... is just one part of the nightmare, the experts say. Draining the city after the storm moves away may take weeks, they point out. The city would be trapped inside the levees, steeped in a worsening 'witches' brew' of pollutants like sewage, landfill waste, chemicals and the bodies of drowned humans and animals."
Given the dimensions of poverty in New Orleans and the city's dependence on a levee system, The Times's news coverage of these problems over the past decade falls far short of what its readers have a right to expect of a national newspaper.
Sources and Motives
When anonymous sources are used in articles, The Times's policy calls for telling readers as much as possible about their motivation. At the same time, however, named sources are showing up in the paper without relevant background information that would help readers assess their comments. In a similar vein, readers also deserve to know relevant facts about Op-Ed page contributors and individuals who write letters to the editor.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the City Council, a May article reported, had agreed to adopt proposed legislation that would establish so-called potty parity for restrooms in certain public places. The proposal, now enacted, requires the affected establishments to provide women with roughly two bathroom stalls for each stall or urinal available to men.
This assessment appeared in the fourth paragraph of the article: " 'I think it's very important, because New York City tends to set the standard, as they did when they banned smoking, which was immediately followed in many other jurisdictions,' said John F. Banzhaf III, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University who has studied the issue."
Saying Mr. Banzhaf has "studied the issue" suggests that he was a detached expert. In fact, Mr. Banzhaf has been a party to at least one formal complaint filed with the Department of Education about a public facility on a college campus and has been referred to as the "Father of Potty Parity." Readers absolutely deserved to know this.
This problem can exist in the opinion pages, too, even though the expectations of readers coming to those pages should be a little different. In a recent Op-Ed article about Internet companies and revolutionary technology, "Irreplaceable Exuberance," the author identification line read simply: "Henry Blodget, a former Wall Street analyst, writes frequently for Slate."
Missing was the fact that Mr. Blodget has been barred from the securities business for life under a 2003 agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He had also paid a $4 million fine. It wasn't enough, it seems to me, for Mr. Blodget to remark in a parenthetical aside well down in his article, "This was an unfortunate theory of mine - one that, along with some e-mails that caught the notice of the Securities and Exchange Commission, helped my Wall Street career go the way of eToys."
Finally, there's the Book Review section's egalitarian treatment of its letters to the editor. Its policy is to use just the letter writer's name and city, eschewing titles and other claims to fame. The Aug. 21 issue published several letters that quarreled with a recent cover essay on possible media bias by Richard A. Posner.
One of the more robust letters - in both its passion and its length - was signed by plain Bill Keller, New York. It was, indeed, the same Bill Keller who is executive editor of The Times. Several readers have asked why notice was not taken of his special position.
"After all," said Peter M. Knapp, of Pembroke, Mass., "he was writing as a twice-vested insider on a matter, published in his own newspaper, about his profession." He added, "If there was ever a case for 'disclosure,' this certainly is it."
The public editor serves as the readers' representative. His opinions and conclusions are his own. His column appears at least twice monthly in this section.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/opinion/11publiceditor.html
Sydney Morning Herald
Synagogues burn as Gaza changes hands
By Ed O'Loughlin Herald Correspondent in Gaza
September 13, 2005
Ablaze … Palestinian militants watch the former Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom burn.
Photo: AFP
In the dark hours before dawn yesterday the last Israeli tank reversed out of its bulldozed position somewhere in Gaza, at Netzarim or Elei Sinai or Kfar Darom, perhaps for good.
At 2 am, tracer bullets darted over Gaza City, as Palestinian soldiers saluted the fires that were springing up against the southern sky. The settlements were burning; after 38 years of at best strained coexistence, the Israelis were gone.
Jubilant Palestinians planted flags on the rubble of Jewish settlements and set synagogues ablaze. "This is a day of happiness and joy that the Palestinian people have not witnessed for a century," the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/synagogues-burn-as-gaza-changes-hands/2005/09/12/1126377257159.html
continued …
Today's editorial
Danger lurks within America's borders
Our position: While focusing on foreign terrorism, nation must not lose sight of domestic threats.
The recent indictment of four men who planned to attack synagogues, National Guard recruitment centers and an Israeli consulate office in Los Angeles should serve as a reminder that not all terrorist threats stem from Middle Eastern radicals.
Some are homegrown.
Authorities need to pay particular attention to the nation's prisons, where a mixture of black and white supremacist groups, gangs and radical Muslims blend into a stew of dangerous allies against America.
The groups often share similar anti-Semitic and anti-government views, along with a penchant for violence.
A federal grand jury in California indicted the four men Aug. 31, accusing them of plotting terrorist attacks against the U.S. At least two members of the group met as inmates in state prison in California. Authorities said they have found no evidence tying the men to foreign terrorist organizations.
The 9/11 attacks shifted the nation's focus from domestic terrorism to foreign threats. But danger from domestic groups remains real, as does the possibility of links between domestic and foreign terrorists. While there is no evidence that Arab terrorists have conducted joint operations with any domestic groups, there have been communications between American and Muslim radicals, as well as alliances among black and white separatist organizations.
"Prisons continue to be fertile ground for extremists who exploit both a prisoner's conversion to Islam while still in prison, as well as their socio-economic status and placement in the community upon their release," FBI Director Robert Mueller warned a Senate Intelligence Committee.
Authorities say domestic terrorists are more likely to target a Midwestern city than New York or Washington. That makes Indianapolis vulnerable.
The Oklahoma City bombing taught that terrorists don't always come from outside the nation. Sometimes the most dangerous are lurking within.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/OPINION/509120319
State to aid Gary's efforts to keep branch open
Hundreds of Gary residents, including Willie Cain (left) and Jonathan Boose, staged a Statehouse protest today against the closing of the Gary BMV branch. The Daniels administration said it would work with the city as it explores options for keeping the branch open. -- Charlie Nye / The Star
By Mary Beth Schneider
Temporarily satisfying a couple hundred Gary residents protesting at the Statehouse, Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration said it would work with Gary to find a way to keep open a full-service license branch there.
Bureau of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Joel Silverman met early today with Gary Mayor Scott King and Democrat legislators from Lake County, and reiterated that the branch will close Saturday. He has proposed keeping open a mini-branch, with one employee handling drivers' license and state ID card requests, at a local mental health center.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/NEWS01/50912012
State extends air pollution alert
Related news from the Web
Latest headlines by topic:
By Tammy Webber
tammy.webber@indystar.com
Hoosiers in urban areas should limit outdoor activities at least through Tuesday because of ongoing air pollution, state environmental officials said.
Stagnant weather has trapped microscopic bits of soot dust and liquid droplets near the ground, leading the state to extend alerts for the northwest Indiana, Indianapolis, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Terre Haute and Louisville, Ky., areas.
Children, the elderly and people with heart and breathing problems are at highest risk for health problems because the tiny particles can lodge deep in the lungs and cause breathing and cardiac problems.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/NEWS01/50912017
Plane crashes in field, catches fire; 4 dead
Wabash -- A plane crashed in a bean field Saturday night and flipped, killing four people returning home from a dinner trip, Indiana State Police said.
The pilot and his three passengers all died at the scene, the Wabash County coroner's office said. Three of the four were members of a Lagro family.
Police identified the dead as John Swan, 56; Kathy Swan, 54; James Swan, 25; and Vanessa Baer, 22, North Urbana. Family members said John Swan was flying the plane.
Police found the plane, a 1967 Piper Cheyenne Six, about 9 p.m. in a field in southern Wabash County. Investigators said preliminary findings showed the plane's right wing hit the ground and broke off along with the front gear. The plane then flipped onto its top and caught fire.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/NEWS01/509120418
Martha comes back like true diva
On the rise: Martha Stewart is aggressively trying to reclaim her good name. Her talk show debuts at 9 a.m. today on WISH . -- Frank Franklin II / Associated Press
By David Carr
The New York Times
Two years after trying to scrub Martha Stewart, the person, out of Martha Stewart, the brand, Martha Stewart, the business, has a new strategy: Martha Stewart, every day.
"I always disagreed with the separation of the name and the brand and the person," Stewart said, with a bit of a laugh at the fact that she is all three. "To build on that name and brand is one thing. To divorce the name and the brand from the person was not an approach that I agreed with."
Stewart, who is now free of her court-mandated monitoring bracelet, is chopping away at the substantial list of chores that piled up for the 10 months while she was in prison and under house arrest.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/LIVING/509120302
EurasiaNet
RUSSIA ADAPTS POLICY TO ADDRESS RIFT WITHIN CIS
Igor Torbakov 9/12/05
Russian policy makers are striving to develop a post-CIS paradigm, in which Moscow distinguishes between "loyal" and "disloyal" neighbors and uses its economic power, namely is energy resources, to reward the Kremlin’s friends and to punish its antagonists within the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Despite an attempt to put an optimistic spin on the latest CIS summit in late August, most Russian policy makers have concluded that the CIS is no longer salvageable as an institution that can advance the Kremlin’s political and economic agenda in the former Soviet space. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. At the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the creation of a panel of experts that would consider ways to revamp the organization in a manner more satisfactory to the Kremlin. But even while that proposal moves forward, Russian officials and experts are mulling alternatives that would enable Russia to more efficiently expand its economic reach in the region.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav091205a.shtml
A BASE OR NOT A BASE FOR AZERBAIJAN?
Alman Mir Ismail 9/12/05
As the Azerbaijani parliamentary election campaign gathers pace, local media speculation is building about the possible establishment of a US military facility in Azerbaijan.
Both US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have firmly dismissed the possibility that the US would open a permanent military base on Azerbaijani territory. "I have said this before, and I repeat: ‘Azerbaijan will not host American military bases on its territory," the president said on August 19 while visiting the Agsu, Gabala and Oguz regions. Harnish has similarly denied that Washington has made Aliyev any official request for bases. "[W]e are not going to locate our military bases in the territory of Azerbaijan," the US ambassador told Azerbaijani journalists on August 26, the Russian-language newspaper Zerkalo reported Harnish as saying.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav091205ru.shtml
KAZAKHSTAN’S LEADER CLEARS THE DECKS FOR ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL RUN
Ibragim Alibekov 9/09/05
Kazakhstan has pushed up its presidential election date to December 4, and the incumbent, Nursultan Nazarbayev, seems perfectly positioned to secure a third, seven-year term.
Nazarbayev, who has presided over Kazakhstan’s boom economy since the country gained independence in 1991, was formally nominated on September 9 by the Otan Party. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The presidential vote was originally scheduled for 2006, but parliament on September 7 decided to move up election-day. Nazarbayev’s main challenger in the election is expected to be Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, a leader of the For a Just Kazakhstan opposition movement.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090905.shtml
GERMANY TAKES LOW-KEY APPROACH TOWARD UZBEKISTAN
Anja Schoeller-Schletter 9/07/05
While Uzbekistan has made a highly publicized decision to evict US military forces from an airbase at Karshi-Khanabad, it does not appear that Tashkent will take similar action against German troops stationed at a facility near Termez, along the Uzbek-Afghan border.
The German government has maintained a low-key approach toward Uzbekistan since the Andijan events in May. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Germany’s reticence is partly explained by the fact that political leaders have been preoccupied with the country’s looming parliamentary elections. Polls show that Gerhard Schroeder’s incumbent Social Democratic Party-Greens coalition will be hard-pressed to retain power in the September 18 vote.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090705.shtml
TURKMENISTAN BASE RUMOR LIKELY PART OF A RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN
Stephen Blank 9/07/05
A EurasiaNet Commentary
Russian media outlets continue to publish articles claiming that the United States may establish a military base in Turkmenistan. The circumstances surrounding the media reports suggest that Russia is carrying out a disinformation campaign designed to exert pressure on Turkmenistan to adhere to Moscow’s geopolitical line in Central Asia.
The Russian media reports about the possible US base in Turkmenistan began to surface in late August, following Turkmenistan’s decision to de-emphasize its membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Helping to stoke the base rumors was an August 23 visit by US Gen. John Abizaid, chief of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), to Ashgabat.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090705a.shtml
REPORT: NO BIG GAINS TO ARMENIA IF TURKEY LIFTS BLOCKADE
Haroutiun Khachatrian 8/09/05
A controversial report by an Armenian research and consulting group claims that reopening the Armenian-Turkish border would have a much smaller impact on Armenia’s economy than commonly believed.
The report was presented July 13 by the Armenian-European Political Legal Advice Center (AEPLAC), a prominent think tank sponsored by the European Union. It contended that Armenia would see its economy expand by only $20-23 million annually, or just 0.67 percent of its current Gross Domestic Product, if Turkey decided to lift its 12-year blockade of the Armenian border. Over the next five years, Armenia’s GDP would see an additional 2.7 percent increase over the country’s level in 2004.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/business/articles/eav080905.shtml
UZBEKISTAN: ANDIJON AND THE ’INFORMATION WAR’
Daniel Kimmage 9/11/05
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL
The horrific violence that struck Andijon in May unfolded in the space of 24 hours. But the struggle to define the event -- to reveal the facts and to explain their significance -- continues. Inside Uzbekistan, the struggle to define Andijon has been fierce, pitting Uzbek officialdom and the media and means at its disposal against a limited number of nongovernment media and a small community of activists who have no other access to the broader public. The result has been, to quote Uzbek President Islam Karimov, an "information war" that has already claimed its first casualties and is poised to provide the troubling backdrop to whatever will happen next in Uzbekistan.
As presented by President Karimov, government spokespeople, and journalists in state-controlled media, the core of the official story is that a group of armed religious extremists tried to foment an Islamist coup in Andijon. The terrorists seized government buildings, took hostages, tortured and murdered officials, and finally initiated a violent confrontation with the security forces that had surrounded them. The ensuing bloodshed claimed 187 lives, the Uzbek Prosecutor-General’s Office maintains.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/pp091105.shtml
DISSENT OVER LAND REFORM MAY PORTEND UNREST IN MONGOLIA
12/20/02
Activists in Ulanbataar say that 2003 could be a pivotal year in Mongolia, with intense debate arising out of discontent with a law on land privatization that is due to take effect in May. Organizations and opposition parties are gearing up to fight a new land policy that critics say discriminates against the rural poor by delivering outsize payments to large landholders. Experts who do not necessarily oppose this new policy also see it as cause for worry. The government’s handling of land legislation, these people say, raises questions about the future of democracy in Mongolia.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/rights/articles/eav122002.shtml
THE CIS: THE END OF THE ROAD?
Sergei Blagov 8/29/05
The Commonwealth of Independent States appears near the end of its existence. Even if the organization does survive, it will do so in a significantly different form, political analysts say.
Established amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, the CIS has largely failed to fulfill its potential as an institution for the promotion of closer political and economic links. Many member states have been unable to set aside concerns that Russia, the organization’s dominant partner, wants to use the CIS as a vehicle for the preservation of Moscow’s influence in the former Soviet space. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. As a result, agreements among member states routinely went unimplemented.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav082905.shtml
KAZAKHSTAN’S LEADER CLEARS THE DECKS FOR ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL RUN
Ibragim Alibekov 9/09/05
Kazakhstan has pushed up its presidential election date to December 4, and the incumbent, Nursultan Nazarbayev, seems perfectly positioned to secure a third, seven-year term.
Nazarbayev, who has presided over Kazakhstan’s boom economy since the country gained independence in 1991, was formally nominated on September 9 by the Otan Party. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The presidential vote was originally scheduled for 2006, but parliament on September 7 decided to move up election-day. Nazarbayev’s main challenger in the election is expected to be Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, a leader of the For a Just Kazakhstan opposition movement.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090905.shtml
NAGORNO-KARABAKH: PEACE ON THE HORIZON?
Haroutiun Khachatrian 8/17/05
Armenian leaders are hopeful, but cautious as they approach what could prove to be pivotal talks concerning the future of the Nagorno-Karabakh territory.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian will try to break the existing deadlock in the Karabakh talks when he meets Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev August 26, amid a summit of Commonwealth of Independent States member states. As a prelude to those discussions, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov are expected to hold talks in Moscow on August 23.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav081705b.shtml
AFGHAN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES: A CHANCE FOR CHANGE
Ahmed Rashid 8/04/05
A EurasiaNet Commentary
An extraordinary series of reports by Afghan and international experts on the 27 long years of bloody human rights abuses in Afghanistan are for the first time placing enormous pressure on the Afghan government, the US administration in Afghanistan and the United Nations to take steps against the perpetrators, many of whom remain in positions of influence and power.
Until now, the US and Afghan governments have begged off starting any process of accountability of war criminals for a variety of reasons, including the lack of a judicial system in Afghanistan. However, a verdict in an extraordinary trial at the Old Bailey in London may show a way out.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/eav080405.shtml
AFGHANISTAN: NATO LOOKS TO EXPAND MISSION AFTER SEPTEMBER ELECTIONS
Ron Synovitz 9/05/05
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL
The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has completed the deployment of an additional 2,000 troops to support Afghanistan’s upcoming parliamentary elections. With a total of 11,000 troops across the country, ISAF is now larger and more widely deployed than it has ever been during nearly four years of UN-backed political reforms known as the Bonn Process. In addition, NATO’s top commander says the alliance is now planning for an expanded role that would merge UN-mandated security assistance with US-led combat operations.
NATO’s top commander, US General James Jones, says the alliance is now "correctly poised and sized" for its security mission during Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections on September 18.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp090505.shtml
PAKISTAN SAYS DEAD MILITANTS HAD KAZAKH PASSPORTS
7/18/05
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL
The Pakistani military suggested today that a group of militants killed in a firefight near the Afghan border yesterday were Kazakh nationals, while a Kazakh diplomatic source insisted it is too early to be certain that they were Kazakh citizens.
Pakistani military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan announced the Kazakh connection in a statement today in Islamabad to AFP.
But a spokesman for the Kazakh Embassy in Islamabad, Yernur Tuyaqbaev, told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service today that it is too early to be certain whether or not those killed are Kazakh nationals.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/pp071805.shtml
INITIAL RESULTS OF AFGHAN GOVERNMENT ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN ARE POSITIVE - REPORT
Claudio Franco 9/08/05
Amid an upswing in violence in Afghanistan ahead of parliamentary elections, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has reported encouraging news on the Afghan government’s efforts to curb narcotics production.
Clashes between security forces and Islamic militants have intensified in recent weeks, as Afghanistan prepares to hold long-anticipated parliamentary elections September 18. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In early September, for example, a joint operation mounted by US and Afghan troops in southern Kandahar Province resulted in the deaths of 13 militants and the capture of 44 others.
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav090805.shtml
The New York Times
Covering New Orleans: The Decade Before the Storm
By BYRON CALAME
Published: September 11, 2005
THE early coverage of the devastation of New Orleans revealed a depth of poverty and a troubled levee system that caught many by surprise. As a national newspaper with high aspirations, The New York Times assumes a responsibility to alert its readers to significant problems as they emerge in major cities such as New Orleans.
Poverty so pervasive that it hampered evacuation would seem to have been worthy of The Times's attention before it emerged as a pivotal challenge two weeks ago. And the inadequacies of the levee system deserved to be brought to the attention of readers more clearly long before the storm hit.
Yet a look back over the past 10 years of Times coverage of New Orleans in its news columns raises serious questions about how well the paper helped readers recognize and understand these two major problems that have compounded the devastation and tragedy of the storm.
Poverty emerged as a life-and-death issue as Hurricane Katrina approached the city on Sunday, Aug. 28, and it became clear that many poor residents didn't have cars in which to evacuate. To make matters worse, many poor residents lived in low-lying areas where flooding arrived the soonest and rose the highest.
As we're now being reminded almost daily, more than two-thirds of the residents of New Orleans are black, and about one in four citizens lives in poverty. The Times has noted that in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood, which was inundated by the floodwaters, 98 percent of the residents are black and more than a third live in poverty.
"As a close reader of The Times and of poverty trends," S. M. Miller, of Brookline, Mass., told me in an e-mail last week, "I was surprised to learn of the poverty conditions that prevailed in New Orleans. ... Why didn't the economic-social-racial conditions in New Orleans get some attention in the paper?" His conclusion: "The Times let us down."
Indeed, over the past decade Times readers would have been hard-pressed to find a news headline about the poverty in the midst of the city that brings to the minds of many Americans the revelry of Mardi Gras and Bourbon Street. A search of substantive Times news articles about New Orleans since September 1995, conducted with the help of a researcher for the paper, found none that focused on the city's poor and the racial dimension of poverty. And there were only two articles about the city - both feature stories - that contained a few paragraphs on poverty and race.
Poverty's presence was vividly described in a November 2000 feature article in the Weekend section. "Poverty persists, cheek by jowl with wealth, much of it inherited," the article said. "A block or two from mansions with palm-shaded gardens stand crude unpainted bungalows fronting on crumbling streets, more reminiscent of the third world than dot-com America." It added: "Most of the poor, in a city almost three-quarters black, are African-American." Unfortunately, however, finding these words required reading to the 16th paragraph of the 3,700-word article.
A 1996 Sunday Magazine profile of the city's police superintendent noted that more residents of New Orleans lived in poverty then than in any other large American city except Detroit. The article suggested that the ghettos of New Orleans "have been ignored for decades because even though black politicians have controlled City Hall since 1978, African-Americans have never broken the white hold on economic power." These insights didn't come until the 12th paragraph of the 3,400-word article.
What readers would have been more likely to find in The Times's past decade of news coverage of New Orleans were stylishly written articles about the city's charm, cuisine and colorful characters. While some of those articles dealt with crime in the city's predominantly black neighborhoods, the issue of poverty was seldom explored in any depth.
Levees obviously remain a central issue in the crisis. As experts expected, Katrina showed that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane would send water over the top of the city's levees and flood its below-sea-level "bowl." But the breaches in levees and canal walls made things dramatically worse and raised broader questions about the area's flood control system.
What had The Times's news columns provided over the past decade to help its readers understand the New Orleans levee system? One major article that focused on levees. The 2,100-word article on the front of the Science section in 2002 made clear that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane would send water over the top of the levees. While the public editor's focus is on news coverage, there was also an Editorial Observer commentary in 2002 that took a detailed look at the problem, based on reporting in New Orleans. But neither the news article nor the editorial commentary prepared readers for the possibility of breaches in the levees or canal walls.
The article in the Science section did paint a prescient picture: "Water cascading over the levee wall ... is just one part of the nightmare, the experts say. Draining the city after the storm moves away may take weeks, they point out. The city would be trapped inside the levees, steeped in a worsening 'witches' brew' of pollutants like sewage, landfill waste, chemicals and the bodies of drowned humans and animals."
Given the dimensions of poverty in New Orleans and the city's dependence on a levee system, The Times's news coverage of these problems over the past decade falls far short of what its readers have a right to expect of a national newspaper.
Sources and Motives
When anonymous sources are used in articles, The Times's policy calls for telling readers as much as possible about their motivation. At the same time, however, named sources are showing up in the paper without relevant background information that would help readers assess their comments. In a similar vein, readers also deserve to know relevant facts about Op-Ed page contributors and individuals who write letters to the editor.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the City Council, a May article reported, had agreed to adopt proposed legislation that would establish so-called potty parity for restrooms in certain public places. The proposal, now enacted, requires the affected establishments to provide women with roughly two bathroom stalls for each stall or urinal available to men.
This assessment appeared in the fourth paragraph of the article: " 'I think it's very important, because New York City tends to set the standard, as they did when they banned smoking, which was immediately followed in many other jurisdictions,' said John F. Banzhaf III, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University who has studied the issue."
Saying Mr. Banzhaf has "studied the issue" suggests that he was a detached expert. In fact, Mr. Banzhaf has been a party to at least one formal complaint filed with the Department of Education about a public facility on a college campus and has been referred to as the "Father of Potty Parity." Readers absolutely deserved to know this.
This problem can exist in the opinion pages, too, even though the expectations of readers coming to those pages should be a little different. In a recent Op-Ed article about Internet companies and revolutionary technology, "Irreplaceable Exuberance," the author identification line read simply: "Henry Blodget, a former Wall Street analyst, writes frequently for Slate."
Missing was the fact that Mr. Blodget has been barred from the securities business for life under a 2003 agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He had also paid a $4 million fine. It wasn't enough, it seems to me, for Mr. Blodget to remark in a parenthetical aside well down in his article, "This was an unfortunate theory of mine - one that, along with some e-mails that caught the notice of the Securities and Exchange Commission, helped my Wall Street career go the way of eToys."
Finally, there's the Book Review section's egalitarian treatment of its letters to the editor. Its policy is to use just the letter writer's name and city, eschewing titles and other claims to fame. The Aug. 21 issue published several letters that quarreled with a recent cover essay on possible media bias by Richard A. Posner.
One of the more robust letters - in both its passion and its length - was signed by plain Bill Keller, New York. It was, indeed, the same Bill Keller who is executive editor of The Times. Several readers have asked why notice was not taken of his special position.
"After all," said Peter M. Knapp, of Pembroke, Mass., "he was writing as a twice-vested insider on a matter, published in his own newspaper, about his profession." He added, "If there was ever a case for 'disclosure,' this certainly is it."
The public editor serves as the readers' representative. His opinions and conclusions are his own. His column appears at least twice monthly in this section.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/opinion/11publiceditor.html
Sydney Morning Herald
Synagogues burn as Gaza changes hands
By Ed O'Loughlin Herald Correspondent in Gaza
September 13, 2005
Ablaze … Palestinian militants watch the former Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom burn.
Photo: AFP
In the dark hours before dawn yesterday the last Israeli tank reversed out of its bulldozed position somewhere in Gaza, at Netzarim or Elei Sinai or Kfar Darom, perhaps for good.
At 2 am, tracer bullets darted over Gaza City, as Palestinian soldiers saluted the fires that were springing up against the southern sky. The settlements were burning; after 38 years of at best strained coexistence, the Israelis were gone.
Jubilant Palestinians planted flags on the rubble of Jewish settlements and set synagogues ablaze. "This is a day of happiness and joy that the Palestinian people have not witnessed for a century," the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/synagogues-burn-as-gaza-changes-hands/2005/09/12/1126377257159.html
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