Editorial Observer: There Is Silence in the Streets; Where Have All the Protesters Gone? (NYT)

decline of the left

and news is just soap opera

By ANDREW ROSENTHAL

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young once echoed and personified a powerful political movement. Now their songs are just entertainment, something to leave behind in the concert hall.

Homestretch for a Hack (NYT)

favoring-the-usa trick deplored

Ousted last November in an ethics scandal at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Kenneth Tomlinson has been up to his old tricks at the Voice of America.

Raising Nicotine Doses, on the Sly (NYT)

adding horse poop to tobacco

It turns out the tobacco industry has been sneakily making cigarettes more addictive.

Stars in Their Eyes (NYT)

it's always worked

the point is to compicate the life of the offense beyond what it can afford to gamble on

the NYT dislikes taking away any military advantage from tyrants

There should be an honest assessment of whether the United States missile defense system has any chance of working and how much more will have to be spent before it does.

Don’t Pave It Over (NYT)

bear habitat

The development of Super Slab, an unnecessary new toll road southeast of Denver, should be stopped before the planning goes any further.

For Congress in Brooklyn (NYT)

endorsed by the same people who write our editorials

The New York Times endorses David Yassky in the Democratic primary in Brooklyn’s 11th Congressional District.

Downward Mobility (NYT)

NYT subscription base falloff

Even the best numbers from yesterday’s Census Bureau report for 2005 are bad news for most Americans.

Death of a Supercentenarian (NYT)

death keeps social security solvent

it's only death that permits the institution of retirement

the longer people live, the higher the retirement age has to be

The death of the oldest woman in the world is a reminder of how absolute the boundary of human longevity really is.

The Falling Paycheck (NYT)

history in the making

The Bush-era economy is flagging, without American workers having ever experienced a period of solid prosperity.

Mexico’s Recount (NYT)

Bush steals the Mexican election

It is time for Andrés Manuel López Obrador to end the protests and pledge to respect the Mexican electoral tribunal’s final decision on the country's presidential election.

A Tribute for the Living (NYT)

local politicians unobserved

government being infinitely wasteful is not a friendly conclusion

Officials from the federal government down to city leaders must address the pressing needs of an exhausted, frayed populace in New Orleans.

Editorial Observer: What Is the Latest Thing to Be Discouraged About? The Rise of Pessimism (NYT)

soap opera news

soul searching, inner struggle and everlasting frustration

By ADAM COHEN

Part of President Bush’s legacy may well be that he robbed America of its optimism.

The Safer Cigarette Delusion (NYT)

readers of connect-the-dot moonbat editorials need to realize that they're only after their eyeballs to sell to advertisers

Smokers of light or low-tar cigarettes need to realize that the tobacco industry is not so much concerned about their health as it is worried about their quitting smoking.

A Fixation With Secrecy (NYT)

treason trial rehearsal

The Bush administration's secrecy fixation is a threat to democracy and an insult to honest history.

It’s Not Easy Being Blue (NYT)

europower to match strong deplorings

but no violence please

If the big powers want the United Nations to keep the peace, they’re going to have to put more of their own troops on the line.

Of Shame and Face (NYT)

staff comes even before tyrants for NYT love

China needs to be told that it is not off the hook so long as the conviction of journalist Zhao Han stands.

At the Founding of the National Parks (NYT)

keep the rabble out of the pristine wilderness

The constant popularity of the nation’s parks means that they risk being loved to death.

Strange Priorities (NYT)

little-people tax deplored

maybe perception would be different if the NYT noticed who pays income taxes and what voting bloc has zero stake in whether the rates go up again

``yeah, raise the rates, i don't pay it''

A perception of unfairness is bad for the tax system, and a pair of new I.R.S. policies virtually screams “only little people pay taxes.”

Exploding the Charter School Myth (NYT)

teachers' union not considered the problem

or ability to discipline, as if children should be protected from the consequences of their actions

Congress needs to grasp the obvious: the quality of the teacher corps is more crucial to school reform than anything else.

The Bashful Candidate (NYT)

not as strong as a needs-to editorial

apparently cuomo doesn't need to

Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner in the Democratic primary race for attorney general of New York, should accept his opponents’ invitations to debate.

Greening Up the Grass Roots (NYT)

nyt is as sober as a liberal judge

The Federal Election Commission should not allow another slathering of special-interest money for supposedly “grass-roots” ads.

Stem Cells Without Embryo Loss (NYT)

islamic nutballs not mentioned in any great-lengths category

Opposition to the new extraction method illustrates the great lengths to which scientists must go to shape research to fit the dictates of religious conservatives.

No Place for Cluster Bombs (NYT)

noncombatants are not protected when mingled with combatants

NYT just wants to make the technique successful

``after all the terrorists don't know any better''

protect them from the consequences of their actions, the cry of the left, as if they're not fully people

Attacking guerrilla or terrorist sanctuaries in populated areas is not a mission that calls for cluster weapons, and the United States should not be supplying them.

A (Terror) Fish Story (NYT)

yet the NYT has faith in bureaucrats

Jim Bensman went to a hearing about fish and wound up as a potential terrorism suspect.

And Now There Are Eight (NYT)

traditions are always wrong if they come from white men

Pluto, with its small size and oddball orbit, should never have been deemed a planet in the first place.

Easier Access to Morning-After Pills (NYT)

the NYT likes to supervise, so that's a plus

on the other hand, right wing social extremists like to supervise, so that's a minus

but that gives the NYT another issue to become outraged about, so it's really a plus

all in all, the ox comes out okay

Thursday’s decision will not please advocates of unrestricted access to the emergency contraceptive, but it is an acceptable compromise.

Wanted: Scarier Intelligence (NYT)

iran is our friend

The reason the intelligence community is not certain when Iran might have a nuclear bomb is that the situation is so murky — not that the agencies are too wimpy to tell the scary truth.

A Matter of Appearances (NYT)

trick distracted NYT from noticing judicial opinion is sophomoric

Before ruling on the Bush administration’s wiretapping program, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor should have disclosed any potential conflicts of interest.

Losing Afghanistan (NYT)

parade needed in war on terror

Nearly five years after American military forces helped topple the Taliban government there is no victory in the war for Afghanistan.

Phantom of the Options (NYT)

stock options not like prostitution

Just because the victims are harder to spot doesn’t mean that secretly backdating or otherwise manipulating the timing of an options grant is a victimless crime.

Mission Unaccomplished (NYT)

flat-out wrong is so bad that it needs no argument

It is flat-out wrong to declare victory as if the hard part of welfare reform is over.

Seeing the Dark (NYT)

mr wizard

This is a mysterious universe, and the more we know about it the more mysterious it seems.

The Democrats’ New Calendar (NYT)

choose all candidates at the beginning of each century and get a real jump on things

Party leaders deserve some credit for adding diversity to the early primary mix.

Pension Giveaway (NYT)

what word is not mentioned

unions

who supports unions in every editorial?

While some New York City officials can be wildly irresponsible when it comes to pensions, the real culprits are the members of the State Legislature.

Safe Drug Testing in Prisons (NYT)

concern for public relations

the posture of the left

every problem is solved by setting up a coercive orgnization and staffing it with ``good'' people

but every organization itself takes on its own goals

that's how it survives

there results : perverse consequences

but, for the left, the posture is everything

The savage and dishonorable legacy of drug testing in prison makes it imperative that any change be carried out carefully, with maximum transparency and concern for inmate safety.

Where the Books Are (NYT)

going to alphabetically

The reference collection in the Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library follows a system used nowhere else. That is all changing, at last.

A Victory for Cleaner Air (NYT)

rolling blackouts

the perfect compromise

Americans who live in areas with substandard air won another important round last week in the tortured legal battle to force power companies, other industrial polluters and the Bush administration itself to obey the Clean Air Act.

Public Pensions in Trouble (NYT)

compensated for by their doing nothing useful while they were working

New York is not alone in wrestling with pension burdens. But the sheer size of its work force makes it a useful harbinger of the coming financial storm.

The Spoils (NYT)

would any responsibility fall on the leftist pull-out editorials of the nyt inducing the bombers to hang in there

offer reward for mayhem and you'll get mayhem

It would be another tragedy of the war in Iraq if Americans came away believing that they have no responsibility and no means for stopping genocide.

Hillary Clinton’s Low Profile (NYT)

a ``should'' editorial stereotyping women

Senator Hillary Clinton should change her mind about refusing to debate Jonathan Tasini, her challenger for the Democratic nomination.

Enter Search Term Here, Forever (NYT)

the real message is that somebody has figured out how to back up data

Congress, the Federal Trade Commission and Internet companies should do more to protect their customers' privacy rights.

Waiting for Jacques (NYT)

Zut! French disrespect from the NYT

UPDATE : I recommend strong international sanctions on the French

After insisting for years that they be treated like a superpower, the French are behaving as if they have no responsibility for helping dig out of the Lebanon mess.

Tobacco Racketeers Get Off Easy (NYT)

big food is next

The prospects for reining in this rogue industry seem limited unless Congress finds the gumption to crack down.

Hokum on Homeland Security (NYT)

NYT notices terrorist threat

would like local funds to allocate as it sees fit

While the administration has been pouring its energies and money into Iraq, it has fallen far behind on steps needed to protect the homeland.

Save the Endangered Whistle-Blower (NYT)

whistleblower wrongdoing

If ever government whistle-blowers needed protection from official retaliation it is now.

Hold the Champagne (NYT)

stagnating wages deplored

instead of taken as proof that inflation is low

when the price of oil goes up, that isn't inflation. if the Fed conceals the fact from the economy by printing money, that's inflation

what the economy does when it's done right is cease doing things that are uneconomic with high-priced oil and start doing what replaces those activities.

this means layoffs are necessary and desireable

it's how adaption is done.

adaption does not occur in command economies and they therefore cannot compete with free economies, which quickly start doing what people actually want instead.

one good sign : stagnating wages.

Today’s economy has problems that go beyond price inflation.

Testing Time for Israel’s Leaders (NYT)

what do we find at the bottom of this editorial

it's Bush's fault

Public dissatisfaction with the monthlong Lebanon war could prove politically costly to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Amir Peretz.

The Betrayal of Memory (NYT)

impenetrable prose newly disparaged

With the revelation of his military service in the SS during World War II, Gunter Grass has become his own final chapter.

Navigating Kosovo’s Future (NYT)

contradictory ideas proposed

The most promising way to encourage further progress is by moving ahead to a carefully conditioned form of limited autonomy.

A Retreat Toward Watergate (NYT)

1. invent a public problem

2. fund it

3. take a cut of the flow of funds

the bureaucratic instinct, invisible to the left

Public financing has served the nation well, and a responsible Congress would save it.

Ruling for the Law (NYT)

fall-out-of-chair surprise

everything you read has it as the sloppiest opinion ever, and then comes the NYT editorial

democrats appointing judges is a bad idea

With a careful, thoroughly grounded opinion, one judge in Michigan has done what 535 members of Congress have so abysmally failed to do.

Dissing Pluto and the Other Plutons (NYT)

planet is ordinary language, and includes nine

scientific language is not more precise, but more specialized

it's parasitic on ordinary langauge

the nyt wants ordinary use to be revealed as stupid because it gives the ``expert'' the authority it craves for itself

The astronomical union ought to summon the courage to scratch Pluto from the list of planets.

A Debt Unpaid (NYT)

or you could use it as a bombing range

The ultimate responsibility for cleaning up 60 years worth of bomb fragments and an untold amount of unexploded ordnance on the island of Vieques falls to the Navy.

The New Jersey Follies (NYT)

Conflict of interest is the pulley on which good character is hoist into public view - S.T.Coleridge

New Jersey’s attorney general, Zulima Farber, had no excuse for not knowing how important it was to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

Already Falling Behind (NYT)

hire hezbollah to rebuild new orleans, causing a labor shortage in lebanon

iran's oil money recycled

Washington’s pledges of aid must be quickly translated into tangible on-the-ground help or Hezbollah will clinch the battle for Lebanese hearts and minds even before the peacekeepers arrive.

Of Math Proofs and Millionaires (NYT)

NYT does not notice that the mathematician is a male

the sex that has obsessions about knowing things once and for all, ``at least in this obscure corner''

hence winds up in a nearly 100% male occupation

females can't sustain the delusion of importance, opting instead for some kind of social life.

not a difference of talent, but of interest

We just want to celebrate the dedication — some might call it obsession — that led a reclusive Russian mathematician to solve a problem that once seemed insoluble.

A Discouraging Word (NYT)

virginians deplored

a ``should'' editorial is slightly more aloof than a ``needs to'' editorial

As he looks beyond Virginia, Senator George Allen should get used to the idea that people are noticing his behavior.

Now Some Good News (NYT)

unquagmire thanks to UN and high altitude bombing

Bosnia is a mostly harmonious, increasingly prosperous country on the way to becoming normal.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad ... (NYT)

``quagmire'' thought of

The insurgency rages on, and no one knows when, how or if it might end.

Editorial Observer: Has Bush v. Gore Become the Case That Must Not Be Named? (NYT)

lefty fetish wearing thin

``recount until I win''

By ADAM COHEN

The ruling that stopped the Florida recount and handed the presidency to George W. Bush is disappearing down the legal world’s version of the memory hole.

Who’s Afraid of Shirin Ebadi? (NYT)

another ``need to'' editorial

nyt religious police needed

The United States and Europe need to make clear that Tehran’s poor treatment of its citizens as well as its nuclear ambitions are unacceptable.

A Public Rebuilding Downtown (NYT)

the seven warning signs of government funding

When the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation disappears, who watches over the master plan to make certain the ground zero site works harmoniously?

Help Wanted: Qualified Judges (NYT)

maybe, nyt, he nominated the judges he wanted

The Bush administration should withdraw the latest judicial nominee and four others that are in limbo.

Shoot First — No Questions Asked (NYT)

the nyt barometer

whatever this is falls into the Good Law area of the dial

If ever a law was designed as a get-out-of-jail-free card for the trigger-happy gun owner, it’s one that comes to us via the gun lobby and the State of Florida.

An Unwelcome Visitor Center (NYT)

build two visitor centers

At best, a visitor center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial can offer only a sanitized glimpse of the war. At worst, it will become a political battleground.

Still Spinning (NYT)

or he may not, depending on the women of the NYT for analysis

President Bush — who just days ago was trumpeting the war in Lebanon as an opportunity for remaking the Middle East — may find a nuclear-empowered Iran his real legacy.

Rewriting the Geneva Conventions (NYT)

the conventions protect signatories when both sides have signed

they say nothing when either side doesn't

that's an inducement to sign

islamonutballs aren't interested either way

killing the infidel is the point, for them, if it makes good TV video for snuff film enthusiasts, with subsequent interviews with the grieving family for the women viewers.

The Geneva Conventions protect Americans. If this country changes the rules, it’s changing the rules for Americans taken prisoner abroad.

Our Porous Air Defenses on 9/11 (NYT)

we don't have a defense against airliners

idiots

Someone has to explain why the military could not come up with the real story until the 9/11 commission forced it to admit the truth.

The Pension Pinata (NYT)

what happened to moral equivalence?

not when it involves extraction of money

The pension reform bill is an almost perfect example of Congress’s inability to do anything good without tacking on some bad accommodation for special interests.

High-Tech Smear Tactics (NYT)

another passive ``must''!

prerecorded dishonest phone calls differ from editorials how?

Prerecorded dishonest phone calls coarsen political discourse and need to be discouraged as strongly as possible.

One Month Later in Lebanon (NYT)

the passive ``must'' is a constant of leftist solutions

The resolution that the United Nations Security Council finally passed will have to be put into effect as quickly and thoroughly as possible, and must lead to a lasting political solution that can avoid future conflicts.

The Liquid Bomb Threat (NYT)

or you could profile islamic males

Forcing passengers to check most of their items and bring very little aboard with them might be the surest and cheapest route to greater security.

What Will the License Plates Say? (NYT)

live free or die

Instead of arguing about the state pie or state dirt, lawmakers should go back to the classics, and pick a new state mammal, flower, tree and bird every decade or so.

Build Green, Make Green (NYT)

they're seeing the light on lower costs

nyt has not made the connection between price and choice

it operates all over, if you let it

Companies are seeing the light on what are known as green buildings and the lower operating costs that come with them.

When Politicians Outrun Themselves (NYT)

the money culture comes from the government taking a cut of vast money flows in various social programs

the more you regulate, the more money is interested in having a say

no longer a side effect, it's the chief effect of social engineering.

not only does regulation reduce liberty, but the fixes to regulation are now proposed as needing liberty reduction as well.

recognize side effects at the start, and you're a conservative.

don't, and you're a liberal.

It will be fascinating to watch this November as Republicans fight to keep Tom DeLay’s long Texas shadow from being cast nationally as a symbol of the money culture that infects the Capitol.

The London Plot (NYT)

theater of the left takes a blow from the theater of the right

still, there is the plot itself that you could look at

It comes like a punch to the gut, at times like these, when our leaders blatantly use the nation’s trauma for political gain.

Rebooting Veterans Affairs (NYT)

add one to everybody's social security number

Management change at Veterans Affairs is hardly the full solution for the problem of securing vital government records.

Street-Corner Solidarity (NYT)

guest voter program

The bold idea behind labor’s embrace of immigrants is that third-world outsourcing should stop at our borders — that the best way to help all workers is to start with those at the bottom.

90 Miles and Light-Years Away (NYT)

cuba : where big things happen

The policies of self-isolation will ensure that the United States is the last to know when big things happen — and will have no one in Cuba to talk to when they do.

Voter Suppression in Missouri (NYT)

voter fraud suppression hurts democratic party

Unduly onerous voter ID laws violate equal protection, and when voters have to pay to get them, they are an illegal poll tax.

The Measles Vaccine Follies (NYT)

irrational fears is the whole MSM news audience hook

Irrational fears of vaccination seem to have been responsible for an outbreak of measles in Indiana last year.

Lessons From Prudhoe Bay (NYT)

and true journalism isn't connect-the-dots idiocy

True energy security does not entail more drilling, especially in Alaska.

Revenge of the Irate Moderates (NYT)

irate is one of the middle eastern states too, same as what the political left is in

The defeat of Senator Joseph Lieberman at the hands of a Connecticut businessman is bound to send a message to politicians of both parties that voters are angry over the war in Iraq.

A Manatee Comes to Manhattan (NYT)

non-native invasive species introduced in hudson river

The manatee nation appears to have sent another emissary northward.

A Reprieve for Public Lands (NYT)

the generic ``needs'' construction

The administration’s policy of indiscriminately fast-tracking leases in fragile wilderness areas needs a fresh look.

The Non-Working Man’s Burden (NYT)

benefits produce idle men, what a surprise

It is disturbing that the labor market has not been as tight as one might assume from the jobless rate.

Start Talking (NYT)

editorial from grade b western

i'll have sarsparilla

The United States needs to offer a serious high-level discussion with Syria, and it needs to do it now.

Next: Is Hot Fudge Nonfattening? (NYT)

the wound lobby invades science for funding

An inquiry into the claim that wounds heal better when exposed to air totally upended our thinking on the issue.

The Brooke Astor Effect (NYT)

scandal never heard of makes the editorial page

it offers another program to take over funds, though

The scandal over Brooke Astor’s care has had the healthy side effect of getting people talking about the needs of the elderly.

Drug-Fueled Sports Superstars (NYT)

tarnished sports are the worst kind

If drug tests on two athletes hold up as valid, they will illustrate how tarnished the sports of cycling and track remain despite efforts to clean them up.

A Truce for Lebanon (NYT)

israel is already imposing a truce

NYT always prefers bromides

The international community must impose a truce, to be followed by a political settlement and the dispatch of a robust international force to patrol Lebanon’s border with Israel.

The Challenge of Rebuilding (NYT)

call for rent control

More than a year and a half after a powerful tsunami laid waste to Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and beyond, people are still waiting for permanent homes in the worst-hit areas.

A Timetable Isn’t an Exit Strategy (NYT)

NYT pretends to be the adult

there is no disengagement from Iraq called for.

whatever it takes, we'll do. that's the fixed star in all this.

A serious plan for disengagement from Iraq is not well tailored to the campaign trail. Real withdrawal will be messy and unpleasant.

A Shrine to Japan’s Tainted Past (NYT)

the kowtow index

By GARY J. BASS

It would be diplomatically shrewd and morally wise for Japan's Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, to stop visiting a war shrine in Tokyo that honors war criminals.

Editorial Observer: A Letter to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. (NYT)

pesky young people keep coming and having to find a job

By TERESA TRITCH

If the Bush years have shown us anything, it’s that broad prosperity does not flow automatically from economic growth.

California Leads on Warming (NYT)

the fruitcase index

Tony Blair, the British prime minister, who worries about global warming more than any other world leader, has finally found an important American ally: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.

Listening to the Lawyers (NYT)

except of course that they're prisoners of war

There is a real chance to create a system that is fair, legal and internationally respectable to try the inmates at Guantanamo Bay.