News (Page 2) -- April 20, 2006

US Prepared to go it alone over Iran - "US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has invoked self-defence as a potential justification for military intervention in Iran. Rice said the US had the authority to act alone or with a coalition if the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme could not be resolved within the context of the United Nations Security Council." -- Self-defence?

A Crisis Almost Without Equal - "The alarm should be bi-partisan. Many Republicans fear their president's image as a bumbler will hurt their party for years. The rest may fret about the almost certain paralysis within the administration, or a reversal of certain favorite policies. A Gallup poll this week revealed that 44% of Republicans want some or all troops brought home from Iraq. Do they really believe that their president will do that any time soon, if ever? In any case, a Fox News poll this week shows his approval rating sinking to 33%, with grassroots Republicans abandoning Bush in droves. Democrats, meanwhile, cross their fingers that Bush doesn’t do something really stupid -- i.e. nuke Iran -- while they try to win control of at least one house in Congress by doing nothing yet somehow earning (they hope) the anti-Bush vote. Meanwhile, a severely weakened president retains, and has shown he is willing to use, all of his commander-in-chief authority, and then some. ... But rather than push impeachment for partisan reasons, the Democrats will actually put it off -- for partisan reasons. An unpopular president helps their drive for votes in November, and everything else is secondary. ... “If ours were a parliamentary democracy, the entire Bush team would be out of office by now, and deservedly so. ... But ours is not a parliamentary system, and while some may feel as if this administration's over, it isn't. So what to do? We can't just take a foreign policy timeout.” Perfectly said."

White House in Collapse - "The White House is crumbling internally. President Bush seems bewildered, no longer in charge. He wanders around the country talking about health savings accounts and other small-bore projects that mean little to most people. Nobody is listening."

Democrats: No Single Message Sums Us Up - "Ahead in polls, Democrats are divided over whether they already have — or even need — a national theme that tells voters exactly where the party stands." -- The American people should have more than two choices to choose from for president.

Pentagon Guantanamo List Angers Nations - "A chorus of complaints against the Bush administration erupted Thursday after the Pentagon released a previously secret list of the names and nationalities of 558 people held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay."

Grand Jury Hears Evidence Against Rove - "Just as the news broke Wednesday about Scott McClellan resigning as White House press secretary and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove shedding some of his policy duties, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald met with the grand jury hearing evidence in the CIA leak case and introduced additional evidence against Rove, attorneys and other US officials close to the investigation said."

The 'American Inquisition' - "It is time to ask whether the United States, with some of these same touchstones, is entering a period of its own peculiar Inquisition. Of course, there are no burning places for heretics in America now. No Tomás de Torquemada presides over this period of internal anxiety and investigation. But the word, inquisition, is not exclusive to Spain in the Middle Ages. It is a useful term for historians to characterize phases of history that are distinguished by religious intolerance, by Christian holy war and Islamic jihad, by racial profiling and xenophobia, by show trials, and by snooping of secret police."

Giant U.S. embassy rising in Baghdad - "The 104-acre complex - the size of about 80 football fields - will include two office buildings, one of them designed for future use as a school, six apartment buildings, a gym, a pool, a food court and its own power generation and water-treatment plants. The average Baghdad home has electricity only four hours a day, according to Bowen's office." -- Only a fool would still believe the invasion was about "liberating" Iraq.

The Billion-Dollar Baghdad Embassy - "U.S. embassies typically cover ten acres. This one, a 104-acre complex, will be comprised of 21 buildings, its own water wells, an electricity plant and wastewaster-treatment facility that makes the huge compound completely independent of Iraq , whose "interim government" sold the land to the U.S. in October 2004. Terms of the agreement do not appear to be readily accessible."

Kerry 'thinking hard' about 2008 run for president - "Former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said on Thursday he was seriously thinking about another White House bid in 2008 and will decide before the year is out." -- I think I'll run for president.

Record Increase in U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reported - "U.S. greenhouse gas emissions during 2004 increased by 1.7 percent from the previous year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which released the figures Monday. This was the largest annual amount ever produced by any country on record, said The Royal Society, the UK national academy of science, warning that urgent action is needed to curb emissions."

Teacher: "I never intended insult" - "The Bellevue Community College math instructor who wrote a racially insensitive math question came forward during an emotional campus meeting Wednesday, apologizing for what he termed an "egregious mistake." ... Ratener said he wanted to come forward before now but that threatening e-mails and phone calls to the college made him and his wife fearful for their family's safety. "Based on an avalanche of angry and hysterical e-mails, I knew I would be in the crosshairs," he said. After the meeting, Ratener called his wife and asked her and their two children to leave home and go someplace more safe. ... Ratener said the question originally had referred to comedian Gallagher, who smashed watermelons as part of his act, and that he changed it to Condoleezza because she was a more recognizable icon and because he likes the name. "Political beliefs or ideology wasn't part of this," Ratener said. "I have the utmost respect for the unbelievable accomplishments of Dr. Rice."" -- This is about the Condoleezza Rice math question and yes, it has been blown way out of proportion.

Malaysia denies capturing baby "Bigfoot" - "The paper quoted local residents as saying they had spoken to men who described shooting the creature with tranquiliser darts. The locals then peeked into the back of the their truck to see a large, hairy creature. But the department's director-general Datuk Musa Nordin denied the report."