``I must give him his due. He has considerably cretinized me.'' Lautréamont

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Sunday, May 27, 2007

Why So Little Posting?

Blogger no longer works with my desktop machine, a Windows 95 system with Netscape 4.0

So I have to unplug it and plug in my laptop/camera accessory to post anything.

Cleaning Up the Clean Water Act (NYT)

laws say whatever the most active activists say they do

A series of murky Supreme Court decisions have left the agencies responsible for enforcing the Clean Water Act in a state of confused paralysis.

Good News for Middle Schoolers (NYT)

standard lowered

The jump in New York’s reading scores suggests that with attention and creativity, even middle schoolers can flourish as readers.

War Without End (NYT)

war ends with victory

As disjointed as the Democrats have been, their approach makes far more sense than President Bush’s denial of Iraq’s civil war and his war-without-end against terror.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

The Scent of Lilacs (NYT)

rural hicks imagined

By VERLYN KLINKENBORG

When I smell lilacs, I see a nearly bare yard in a small town and children playing in the weight of their scent, not knowing what it will come to mean to them in time.

A Dangerously Depleted Guard (NYT)

readiness concern on the left

Nearly 90 percent of stateside National Guard units are rated less than fully ready because of equipment and training shortfalls.

The Immigration Deal (NYT)

doesn't go far enough, in other words.

The Senate last week seized a once-in-a-generation opportunity to overhaul a broken system and emerged with a deeply flawed compromise.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Appointed Hobblers of Government (NYT)

no lefties in manufacturing

The nomination of Michael Baroody, lobbyist for the powerful National Association of Manufacturers, to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission must surely take the fox-in-the-henhouse statuette.

Private Equity Goes Prime Time (NYT)

break it up and sell it off

The announcement earlier this week that Cerberus Capital Management was taking control of Chrysler has made the clubby, backroom industry the center of attention like never before.

Rudeness, Realism and Russia (NYT)

responsibly engaging the world is code for central planning.

The greatest challenge is for Russians to get over their debilitating rancor and responsibly engage the world they are so keen to join.

Rose Garden Charade (NYT)

content-filled editorial

Confronted with the growing urgency of the climate change issue, President Bush stepped before the cameras in the Rose Garden the other day and said, essentially, nothing.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Bringing Lobbyists to Heel (NYT)

money not going to NYT

It’s crunch time for House Democrats to deliver on their vow to rein in power lobbyists who sully Congress by purchasing privileged access with outsized campaign donations.

End of the Affair (NYT)

unions

How does an American manufacturing icon like Chrysler get so cheap so fast?

The Unkept Promise on Voting (NYT)

like not using electronic voting machines

Congress should move quickly to pass a bill introduced by Representative Rush Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, that would finally impose a paper trail requirement on electronic voting machines.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The New French President’s Roots Are Worth Remembering (NYT)

pants not worn in southern France

By SERGE SCHMEMANN

Reflections on a visit to the ancestral estate of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president-elect.

Cameras in the Courts (NYT)

soap opera = serious

Televising trials in New York would put legal battles in a more serious, more informative context.

Mammograms in Decline (NYT)

gravity prevails

The decline in American women who get annual mammograms is disturbing because it means that more women will fail to get the early detection that increases their chances of survival.

In Divided New Orleans (NYT)

liberal rathole guilt dispersed

We — the federal, state and city governments; elected officials and the citizens who hire them — have failed spectacularly to rebuild New Orleans.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

In Los Angeles, Where the Police Were Unable to Contain Themselves (NYT)

reporters attacked, always deplored by the NYT

viewers loved it

By CAROLYN CURIEL

On May 1, members of a Police Department riot control unit violently and unnecessarily dispersed participants in a pro-immigrant march. It was the biggest fiasco since the last time the L.A.P.D. clashed with a minority group.

The Mayor Strikes a Nerve (NYT)

pose as citizens arming themselves against the left

The Virginia Legislature has tailored a new law to try to stop New York City’s use of private investigators who pose as shoppers and videotape illegal gun purchases.

Iran’s American Prisoner (NYT)

nutballism unacknowledged in the incentive structure

The world and the citizens of Iran are watching to see how its leaders treat Haleh Esfandiari, an advocate of improved relations between Washington and Tehran who was arrested this week.

A Feeble Performance (NYT)

through the moral looking-glass

The purge of nine United States attorneys is part of a long chain of evidence that Alberto Gonzales does not have the ability or the moral compass to do his vitally important job.

Monday, May 07, 2007

In Forgotten New Orleans, Life and Hope Stir at the Bottom (NYT)

life on the dole recommended

By LAWRENCE DOWNES

Civil society is still torn up in New Orleans, but older, more primal arrangements are asserting themselves: predator and prey, friends and family, supply and demand.

Still Best in Show (NYT)

gold has fluctuated in real value over a factor of ten since 1980

If America gave up its position as the regulatory gold standard, foreign companies might have far less incentive to list their shares on American exchanges.

After the Pet Food Contamination (NYT)

weakness in marxist country not noticed

The purchase of toxic pet food ingredients from China is a chilling warning about the weakness of the nation’s defenses against tainted imported foods.

The Soft Bigotry of Iraq (NYT)

series of tests invented to produce failure

called destructive denial

Each time Baghdad fails a test, President Bush engages in the kind of destructive denial he called, in another context, the soft bigotry of low expectations.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Unwanted Folk (NYT)

old guys remember her

Why was Joan Baez considered too objectionable to participate in a concert for injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center?

Toward a Federal Shield Law (NYT)

moral calculation by our betters leaves them better off than us. coincidence!

The real benefit for society of a journalists’ shield law is that it protects sources, allowing whistle-blowers or other insiders to expose wrongdoing in government and the private sector.

An Exit Strategy for Guantanamo (NYT)

open a tent city in Queens for prisoners of war

Senator Dianne Feinstein has introduced legislation aimed at closing the five-year-old military prison. It deserves passage by a bipartisan, veto-proof majority.

Dirty Tricks by Phone (NYT)

simpler : turn the ringer off.

Lawmakers should protect the positive aspects of campaign calls, while getting tough on their use as an election-season dirty trick.

The Other Boot (NYT)

logic and good sense means leftist meddling in this case

no tariffs at all, is actual logic and good sense

The capricious system of tariffs that raise the price of goods are all too often based on outdated political considerations that defy logic and good sense.

Family Values, Betrayed (NYT)

hispanics vote democrat

Closing the door to family-based immigration would be unjust and unworkable, and a mockery of the values that conservatives profess.

The Gipper as Diarist (NYT)

ralph waldo emerson similar

Anyone hungering for historical disclosure and nuance in Ronald Reagan’s presidential diaries will have to settle for a prosaic and amiably unrevealing drone.

My Warming Garden (NYT)

rising seas blamed

Growing seasons are changing, and more quickly than anyone could imagine.

Denial and Democracy in Egypt (NYT)

fervor measurement

With so many other things to worry about in the Middle East, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Bush also seem to have lost their earlier fervor for Egyptian democracy.

A Scandal That Keeps Growing (NYT)

scandal hyped

At best, the firing of eight United States attorneys is an example of such profound incompetence that it should cost Attorney General Alberto Gonzales his job. At worst, it was a political purge followed by a cover-up.

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