So much for promises to restore the rule of law. Obama Justice Department was supposed to be non-political and independent of the White House. Yeah, right and that bridge in Brooklyn is still on the market.

Opposition to U.S. trial likely to keep mastermind of 9/11 attacks in detention

Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, will probably remain in military detention without trial for the foreseeable future, according to Obama administration officials.

The administration has concluded that it cannot put Mohammed on trial in federal court because of the opposition of lawmakers in Congress and in New York. There is also little internal support for resurrecting a military prosecution at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The latter option would alienate liberal supporters.

The administration asserts that it can hold Mohammed and other al-Qaeda operatives under the laws of war, a principle that has been upheld by the courts when Guantanamo Bay detainees have challenged their detention.

More Bush. More War forever

And that’s why this decision almost guarantees that the AUMF just became a forever war-at least one lasting the next twenty to forty years of KSM’s life. Because the government has apparently decided to hold KSM with no more solid legal justification than the war, which judges have interpreted to be the AUMF. Which means the government is going to have to sustain some claim that that AUMF remains in effect, even if we go broke and withdraw from Afghanistan as a result (that seems to be the only thing that will make us withdraw, in spite of the fact that we’re not going to do any good there).

Nine years ago, a British Embassy employee  wrote,

As long as the war against terrorism in the widest sense continued, the US/UK would have rights to continue to detain those they had been fighting against (even if the fighting in Afghanistan itself were over). [Redacted] conceded that the strength of such a case would depend on the plausibility of the argument that the war was continuing.

The decision to hold KSM indefinitely has now flipped that equation: so long as the only justification for holding KSM is the claim we’re at war, we’ll have to remain at war.

And all those bonus powers a President gets with the claim that we’re at war? They’re all wrapped up now, in the necessity to hold KSM forever.

h/t emptywheel @ FDL

“Punting the Pundits“ is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with Christiane Amanpour: Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., join Ms. Amanpour to debate the administration’s foreign policy, the role of the U.S. in the world, the formation of a new Iraqi coalition in Iraq, from which Graham has just returned from a congressional delegation visit, and the chances for a bipartisan foreign policy in the new Congress.

She also brings together top voices on the economy with two members of the deficit commission, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and chairman and CEO of Honeywell International, David Cote.  

At the Round Table with George Will, Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus and Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution the mixed messages from the White House on  the Bush Tax cuts and President Bush’s new book, “Decision Points.”

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: Mr. Scheiffer will be joined this Sunday by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. and Sen.-elect Rand Paul, R-Ky.

The Chris Matthews Show: This Week’s Guests Gloria Borger, CNN Senior Political Analyst, Howard Fineman, The Huffington Post, Senior Political Editor, Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune Columnist and Kelly O’Donnell, NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent will be Mr. Matthew’s guests to discuss these topics.

Which Republican Sees the Best Shot to Run as the Un-Obama in 2012?

The House Republican Plan for 280 Hearings in 2011 to Investigate the Obama Administration

Meet the Press with David Gregory: In his first television interview since Democrats suffered big losses in the midterm elections, Mr. Gregory will sit down with President Obama’s top advisor, David Axelrod and have an exclusive interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

Joining Mr. Gregory for a Round Table discussion of the Deficit Commission Chair Report and the Bush Tax Cuts will be former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA), former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) and  Co-Author of “All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis”, Bethany McLean of Vanity Fair.  

As my good friend BillinPortland puts it:

On Meet the Press Sunday: Newt Gingrich, John McCain, Alan Greenspan and Harold Ford. A perfect 10 on the Wanker Scale!!!

State of the Union with Candy Crowley: This Sunday, the focus is on the president’s Asia trip, the Deficit Commission report and the agenda for the lame duck congress. Joining us, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)and  Senator Mark Warner (D-VA).

Then, after an historic election, the balance of power in the House tips to Republican control. What will it mean for the Democrats? We’ll talk to Congressmen James Clyburn of South Carolina and Heath Shuler of North Carolina.

And insight and analysis on the new balance of power with former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn and former Republican Congressman Tom Davis.

Fareed Zakaris: GPS: Mr. Zakaria will be on Hong Kong to talk about President Obama’s Asia trip and America’s diminished influence. He will have a one on one discussion with elder statesmen, George Shultz about the current state of the economy, his advice for fixing it, and his thoughts on world affairs.

Fareeed will then look at the inventions that are coming out of the tiny city-state of Singapore. Next up, what was accomplished on Obama’s trip overseas? GPS has gathered a panel of experts, one from each of the President’s four stops, to break down what Obama’s visit means for the future of U.S-Asian relations.

And finally, a last look at the President shouldn’t be sentimental about at least one aspect of his childhood home of Indonesia.

Frank Rich: Who Will Stand Up to the Superrich?

(In) the aftermath of the Great Democratic Shellacking of 2010, one election night subplot quickly receded into the footnotes: the drubbing received by very wealthy Americans, most of them Republican, who tried to buy Senate seats and governor’s mansions. Americans don’t hate rich people. They admire and often idolize success. But Californians took a hearty dislike to Meg Whitman, who sacrificed $143 million of her eBay fortune – not to mention her undocumented former housekeeper – to a gubernatorial race she lost by double digits. Connecticut voters K.O.’d the World Wrestling groin-kicker, Linda McMahon, and West Virginians did likewise to the limestone-and-steel magnate John Raese, the senatorial hopeful who told an interviewer without apparent irony, “I made my money the old-fashioned way – I inherited it.”

To my mind, these losers deserve a salute nonetheless. They all had run businesses that actually created jobs (Raese included). They all wanted to enter public service to give back to the country that allowed them to prosper. And by losing so decisively, they gave us a ray of hope in dark times. Their defeats reminded us that despite much recent evidence to the contrary the inmates don’t always end up running the asylum of American politics.

The wealthy Americans we should worry about instead are the ones who implicitly won the election – those who take far more from America than they give back. They were not on the ballot, and most of them are not household names. Unlike Whitman and the other defeated self-financing candidates, they are all but certain to cash in on the Nov. 2 results. There’s no one in Washington in either party with the fortitude to try to stop them from grabbing anything that’s not nailed down.

Nicholas D. Kristof: Here’s a Woman Fighting Terrorism. With Microloans.

An old friend of mine here fights terrorists, but not the way you’re thinking. She could barely defeat a truculent child in hand-to-hand combat, and if she ever picked up an AK-47 – well, you’d pray it was unloaded.

Roshaneh Zafar is an American- educated banker who fights extremism with microfinance. She has dedicated her life to empowering some of Pakistan’s most impoverished women and giving them the tools to run businesses of their own. The United States should learn from warriors like her.

Bullets and drones may kill terrorists, but Roshaneh creates jobs and educational opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people – draining the swamps that breed terrorists.

“Charity is limited, but capitalism isn’t,” Roshaneh said. “If you want to change the world, you need market-based solutions.” That’s the point of microfinance – typically, lending very poor people small amounts of money so that they can buy a rickshaw or raw materials and start a tiny business.

Mark Engler: Tax Cuts and Trade: Is Obama Triangulating?

It was about this far into his first term-back in late 1994 and early 1995-when President Bill Clinton truly fell under the spell of malevolent strategist Dick Morris. Stung by the heavy losses brought on by the “Republican Revolution” in the 1994 midterms, Clinton began to believe that his only route to reelection was to tack to the right and steal some of the conservatives’ thunder on issues like welfare reform and federal deficits.

Morris, who was only forced out of the White House after a sex scandal and who has since exposed his true political stripes as a FoxNews commentator, thought triangulation both a brilliant political strategy and a generator of fine public policy. The remaining liberals in the Clinton administration disagreed. As the Economist notes, George Stephanopoulos incisively labeled it “a fancy word for betrayal.”

Not yet two weeks after the 2010 midterms, and just two years after Obama’s campaign of “hope” and “change,” there are troubling signs that the current president might be tempted to follow the same path as Clinton.

Steven Hill: Europe Ponders U.S. Elections Results

For several weeks before the recent U.S. election, there was much nervous speculation among Europeans as they watched the fluctuations of the poll numbers. Now that the results are in, Europeans are perplexed by this turn back toward the politics of the Bush-Cheney era.

Like the rest of the world, Europe cheered the election of Barack Obama as a change from the economic and foreign policy disasters of his predecessor. Yet just two years later the US government is returning to Bush-lite. How could this be, Europeans are wondering? The American electorate is looking like a coyote with its leg caught in a trap, chewing its own leg off to get out of the trap.

Europeans are puzzled by the success of the populist Tea Party movement, which seemingly wants to roll back the last two years and return to how things were at the end of the Bush-Cheney years. Even conservatives in Europe are scratching their heads over their transatlantic allies — “Americans don’t want health care??? How can these Tea Party people say ‘Get government out of my Medicare’ — don’t they know Medicare IS a government program???”

William Rivers Pitt: A Small Fraction of a Man

George W. Bush was all over my television this past week, all over the newspapers, and the feelings inspired by his sudden reappearance are almost beyond my capacity to describe. There was the story about his hearty approval of waterboarding. There was the story that had him contemplating dropping Dick Cheney from the administration. There was the story that had him describing himself as a “dissenter” on the Iraq invasion. He did interviews, and excerpts of his new book dribbled out, and it was all too much to endure.

This is the guy, I thought to myself when I saw his face or heard his voice. This is the guy.

This is the guy who took a massive Clinton administration budget surplus and gave it away to his friends at the top of the tax bracket, a move that laid the groundwork for our current economic calamity.

One and done.

An interesting feature of the Yas Marina race is that it takes place at dusk and will finish under the lights like Singapore.

All the Top Qualifiers used Softs and they start on the same rubber.  The Bridgestone guys still swear they’re only good for about 10 laps, so perhaps we’ll see some early pits that mix up the field.  Were I a back marker I’d at least consider giving the Prime tire tactic a shot.  They take 2 laps to warm up and then they’re just as good as the Softs.

Something that doesn’t often get mentioned is that now days Drivers, while they are paid by the Teams, are also expected to bring their own sponsorship money to the table, effectively buying their seat.  While I don’t think any Team would start a Driver they thought was slow just for the money, I can’t see how this situation is good for the sport.

For all it’s recent expansion Formula One is on the financial edge and a lot of the rule changes are compromises to make it cheaper to field a Team (not that this helped the US effort much because it’s still very expensive).  I think this is an unfortunate development.

One change in particular I disagree with is the restriction on track testing time.  While it makes it cheaper for new Teams, it also prevents them from learning the things they need to know to be competitive.  For instance the Virgin Cars still don’t have enough fuel on board to go the whole race at top speed.

If “cost cutting” rule changes continue Formula One will degenerate into the Open Wheel NASCAR Bumper Car sport that IndyCar and all the ‘strict’ formulas have become and while you may think it’s thrilling to have the cars all bunched up so there are lots of chunks of twisted flaming metal, I don’t really watch for the wrecks.

That’s what Monster Jam is for.

I promised I’d talk about Auto World and Ferrari World, but I think most of it is in the links.  I will say that I had a chance to go to Auto World twice and I found it kind of sad in the same way Lake Compounce is sad.  The second time was the revival and they were only running the ‘Historic Flint’ front end, not that the back was much of a much.  An up escalator past painted walls with a sound track about making cars.  A moving Airport slide walk past cam driven HMS Pinafore wave cut outs of engines and stuff with a sound track about making cars.  A down escalator past painted walls with a sound track about making cars.  No wonder my Grandma thought Michael Moore was a smart ass.  Ferrari World is said to have the world’s fastest roller coaster.  We’ll see how long it lasts.

I really, really, really encourage you to click through on Yas Marina Qualifying, it’s a much better piece.

Pretty tables below.

• Yas Marina Qualifying
• F1 Official Site
• Speed Racecast

Repeat at 4:30 pm.

Starting Grid

Driver Standings

Team Standings

Burma’s Suu Kyi tells followers not to give up hope

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged thousands of her supporters not to give up hope, a day after her release from house arrest.

The BBC  14 November 2010

“There is no reason to lose heart,” she told a crowd outside the headquarters of her NLD party in Rangoon.

Ms Suu Kyi was released by the military when her sentence ended on Saturday.

World leaders and human rights groups have welcomed her release. She has spent 15 of the last 21 years either under house arrest or in prison.

On Sunday, Ms Suu Kyi’s car was surrounded by a large crowd of supporters as it approached the NLD’s headquarters.

People chanted “We love Suu”, amid thunderous applause..

Shooting star show’s brilliant history

Leonid meteor storm has made deep and terrifying impression on Americans

By Joe Rao

The Leonid meteor shower is back this month and poised to hit its peak next week. But there’s a long history associated with the annual skywatching event.

It all began on the night of Nov. 12, 1833, when the Western Hemisphere unexpectedly came under attack by a firestorm of shooting stars that were reportedly silent, but overwhelming filled the sky.

During this historic display, which was seen under clear skies across the eastern United States, an estimated 240,000 meteors were observed.

USA

Karzai wants U.S. to reduce military operations in Afghanistan

 

By Joshua Partlow

Washington Post Foreign Service

Sunday, November 14, 2010; 12:52 AM

KABUL- President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday that the United States must reduce the visibility and intensity of its military operations in Afghanistan and end the increased U.S. Special Operations forces night raids that aggravate Afghans and could exacerbate the Taliban insurgency.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Karzai said that he wanted American troops off the roads and out of Afghan homes and that the long-term presence of so many foreign soldiers would only worsen the war. His comments placed him at odds with U.S. commander Gen. David H. Petraeus, who has made capture-and-kill missions a central component of his counterinsurgency strategy, and who claims the 30,000 new troops have made substantial progress in beating backthe insurgency.

Just an ugly lump of rock? Not quite. It happens to be worth $1bn

US court sifts six claimants’ murky tales about the discovery, sale and theft of the world’s biggest Emerald

By Guy Adams in Los Angeles Sunday, 14 November 2010

There is a touch of the Indiana Jones about the case in which Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Kronstadt is hearing evidence. Its back-story reads like the script to a Hollywood movie, and the value of its outcome, which by some estimates could be as much as $1bn, puts it easily into blockbuster territory.

At stake is the ownership of the Bahia Emerald, a vast uncut gem embedded in a block of grey rock. It weighs 840lbs(341kg) or 180,000 carats, which is roughly the same as a small horse. Currently, it sits in a locked room at the CitySheriff’s Department.

Europe

Ireland’s young flee abroad as economic meltdown looms

Many young people are seeking to emigrate rather than face a life of hardship as the republic lurches towards financial collapse  

David Sharrock in Dublin

The Observer, Sunday 14 November 2010  

Student Niamh Buffini works hard and plays hard. As Ireland’s No 1 taekwondo martial arts practitioner – she is rated 12th in the world – her ambitions include winning Olympic gold for Ireland.

But by the end of this month her future will have been decided by forces not just beyond her control but seemingly those of her government also. Ireland is on the cusp of insolvency. Some economists argue that it already is.

Buffini will soon learn if her fees at the Institute of Technology in Tallaght, south Dublin, have climbed beyond her means. Her father is a self-employed builder, which has recently become a euphemism for “unemployed”.

Sergei Magnitsky: family remember Russian lawyer one year after his death

The case of Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian lawyer who died in prison, is being brought to the attention of MPs this week, a year after his death

By Andrew Osborn, Moscow 6:00AM GMT 14 Nov 2010

In the eyes of his supporters, he was a martyr in the fight against corruption, who paid the ultimate price for his dogged pursuit of one of Russia’s biggest-ever tax scandals.

In the eyes of the Kremlin, though, Sergei Magnitsky was a criminal himself, whose death while waiting trial in a “dungeon-like” prison merited no further investigation.

Now, exactly a year after he was found dead in a filthy, squalid jail cell, Mr Magnitsky’s mother and colleagues are to mount a brazen challenge to Moscow’s official silence with a specially commissioned documentary to be shown to British parliamentarians on Tuesday.

Middle East

Allawi’s Sunni-backed bloc returns to parliament after walkout

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki now has until late December to form a cabinet, a process expected to be nearly as difficult as agreeing on who would be prime minister.

By Sahar Issa, Correspondent / November 13, 2010  

Baghdad

Iraq averted a new political crisis Saturday when the head of the main Sunni-backed bloc ended a walkout and returned to parliament, paving the way for the formation of a new government.

Ayad Allawi, head of the secular Iraqiya bloc, had walked out of the first session Thursday along with dozens of party members to protest what they said was the breach of an agreement to lift a ban on three of their members accused of Baathist ties.

“Iraqiya will take an active role in a government that will work towards real national participation within the agreements that we reached with the other political blocs,” Haider al-Mullah, a spokesman for Iraqiya, told reporters at parliament.

Israel to debate US settlement deal

US offers incentives for a 90-day building freeze in West Bank, but the proposal does not include East Jerusalem.  

Last Modified: 14 Nov 2010 0  

The US has offered Israel an incentive package to reinstate a 90-day moratorium on West Bank settlement building, in an effort to revive stalled peace talks with the Palestinians, diplomatic sources said.

The proposed moratorium, which would not include building in occupied East Jerusalem, is to be discussed in Israel’s weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

The potential freeze would cover future construction as well as works that were undertaken since September 26 when the previous 10-month government moratorium expired, sources said.

The US promised Israel it would not ask for an additional settlement freeze after the 90-day period and that they would back up the proposed moratorium with security measures, the sources said.

Asia

Exclusive: Afghanistan – behind enemy lines

James Fergusson returns after three years to Chak, just 40 miles from Kabul, to find the Taliban’s grip is far stronger than the West will admit

Sunday, 14 November 2010

The sound of a propeller engine is audible the moment my fixer and I climb out of the car, causing us new arrivals from Kabul to glance sharply upwards. I have never heard a military drone in action before, and it is entirely invisible in the cold night sky, yet there is no doubt what it is. My first visit to the Taliban since 2007 has only just begun and I am already regretting it. What if the drone is the Hellfire-missile-carrying kind?

Three years ago, the Taliban’s control over this district, Chak, and the 112,000 Pashtun farmers who live here, was restricted to the hours of darkness – although the local commander, Abdullah, vowed to me that he would soon be in full control.

Bangladesh strikes after eviction

Shutdown called by opposition closes schools and businesses after former prime minister was forced to leave her house.  

Last Modified: 14 Nov 2010

A nationwide general strike has emptied the streets of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, and other cities a day after a suicide bombing killed three people and clashes between polioce and protesters injured more than 100 others.

Businesses and schools across the country were closed on Sunday as a result of the shutdown called to protest against the eviction of Begum Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The strike halted almost all transportation in Dhaka, a city of about 12 million people, just as the majority-Muslim country begins to celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday.

A police officer in Dhaka’s city centre told the Reuters news agency that the strike, the first of its kind since 2007, had so far gone peacefully, but that the police were prepared for trouble.

Africa

The doctor who heals victims of Congo’s war rapes

Gynaecologist Denis Mukwege operates in a war where sexual assault is used as a weapon

Alex Duval Smith in Bukavu

The Observer, Sunday 14 November 2010  

Deep in the eastern Congo, in the thick of a conflict that plumbs the depths of human cruelty, one doctor in a single-storey hospital is keeping hope alive. Gynaecologist Denis Mukwege draws his strength, he says, from the indomitable spirit of the most weakened of victims – women raped in a calculated act of war who arrive, “broken, waiting for death, hiding their faces”, at his hospital. “Often they cannot talk, walk or eat,” he says.

A 14-year war that is, in effect, a continuation of the genocide that took place in neighbouring Rwanda has become a “gynocide”, in which rape is used to tear the bonds of a community apart and facilitate access to mineral wealth.

Latin America

Haiti: Where is the UN? Where is the help?

Thousands may be dead as scale of cholera epidemic is underestimated

By Nina Lakhani Sunday, 14 November 2010

Thousands of Haitians infected with cholera could be suffering and dying without any help as aid agencies warn they are overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster. The official death toll of 800 is widely regarded to be a “serious underestimate”, as only cases confirmed by the national laboratory are being counted. Thousands may already be dead.

Across the impoverished nation, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières has set up makeshift hospitals on the streets and in car parks, as its doctors and nurses try and cope with the daily influx of sick patients.

Ignoring Asia A Blog

(2 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Crossposted at Daily Kos and Docudharma

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PLEASE READ THIS: There are another 20 or so editorial cartoons and videos posted in the comments section of the GOS.  Check ’em out.

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THE WEEK IN EDITORIAL CARTOONS

This weekly diary takes a look at the past week’s important news stories from the perspective of our leading editorial cartoonists (including a few foreign ones) with analysis and commentary added in by me.

When evaluating a cartoon, ask yourself these questions:

1. Does a cartoon add to my existing knowledge base and help crystallize my thinking about the issue depicted?

2. Does the cartoonist have any obvious biases that distort reality?

3. Is the cartoonist reflecting prevailing public opinion or trying to shape it?

The answers will help determine the effectiveness of the cartoonist’s message.

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INTRODUCTION

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When Greek philosopher Socrates — regarded as the father of Western philosophy — said that “an unexamined life is not worth living,” he could have easily been talking about the likes of George W. Bush.  Having watched a few of his television interviews and read articles written about his memoirs Decision Points, I was again reminded as to how incurious and clueless a person Bush is in matters of great importance that profoundly — and adversely — affected tens of millions of Americans during his two terms as President of the United States.  

A couple of the interviewers from Fox News told Bush that he looked completely relaxed and in good spirits.  Bush replied that he was at peace with himself and enjoying life, as if his presidency had been a spectacular success and had made significant progress in improving the lives of ordinary, average Americans.  The reality is that that his tenure in office resulted in creating unprecedented domestic economic problems while succeeding in diminishing this country’s standing around the world.    

Given Bush’s intellectually lazy approach to life, it wasn’t altogether surprising that a story surfaced yesterday in which it was alleged that Bush had engaged in a bit of plagiarism in “writing” his book

Bush’s Book Controversy

According to a Huffington Post article, former President George W. Bush lifted passages from books written by his advisers for his memoir, “Decision Points.”  In other words, Bush’s book has done what any good memoir should do: Shed new light on the author.  We now know that he’s even dumber than we thought.

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But if you already bought Bush’s book thinking you were getting only his own thoughts, you haven’t entirely wasted your money.  Finding lifted passages in Bush’s book is like an Easter egg hunt.  Look for passages with a number of quotes back to back and then slap the passage into Google Books or plagiarism detection software you might have access to.  The slideshow below shows what HuffPost has found so far.  If you find any more, send the passage to [email protected] and we’ll verify it and add it to the list.

(Bruce Beattie, Comics.com (Daytona Beach News-Journal))

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George W. Bush is counting on the fact that the country is suffering from a serious case of amnesia and that most of us have forgotten the serious damage his administration did and the carnage it inflicted upon the American people.  The list of transgressions by the Bush Administration is too long and has been well-documented on this web site over the years.  And often.  After eight years of outright lies, deceit, dishonesty, misinformation, arrogance, and corruption, here’s a brief — though incomplete summary — of his eight years in office while the so-called “adults” were entrusted to run the country’s affairs

(Bush + Cheney = Nixon by RJ Matson,

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Buy this cartoon)

• Bush’s ascendancy to the presidency in December 2000 came only after an assist from the Supreme Court of the United States.  Consistent with his political party’s decades-long stated beliefs, if ever there was a “States Rights” case, it was Bush v Gore.  Given the unusual circumstances, humility and bipartisanship would have been in order but neither was employed in governing the country.
• His National Security Team was asleep at the switch in 2001 and did (almost) nothing in preventing the greatest attack on the lower 48 states since the War of 1812.
• Bush and the Republican Congress exploited the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (which cost 3000 American lives) at every conceivable juncture for purely partisan advantages, with most of the planners still at large.
• Beating the drums of war for well over a year and subverting decades of American foreign policy traditions by shunning traditional allies, Bush concocted false reasons for an unnecessary and “preemptive” war while wasting hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars and undermining America’s diplomatic position in the world.  In doing so, his Defense Department badly underestimated the troops needed for occupying Iraq and preventing tens of thousands of American and Iraqi casualties — (Jeff Parker, Comics.com – Florida Today).
• Bush created climate of fear and paranoia (not seen since the days of the despised Nixon Administration) during which the Congress of the United States subverted the Constitution of the United States by suspending numerous laws dealing with war detainees, illegal wiretapping, and sanctioning prisoner torture in violation of the Geneva Conventions.



• His Department of Homeland Security and FEMA were guilty of criminal negligence in coordinating rescue efforts and saving hundreds of lives following Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast in 2005.
• From neglecting the environment to not protecting civil liberties to its disdain for science and rational thinking, the Bush Administration frittered away years of progress made in several areas of domestic policy.
• His economic policies resulted in fiscal mismanagement, widened income and wealth inequality, and imposed trillions of dollars of debt on American families, one that many future generations will have to work hard to pay down.  The virtual collapse and meltdown of the financial system in late 2008 was a parting gift to his successor, the results of which are clearly evident to this day in the country’s precarious economic condition.

(Deadly Intersection by J.D. Crowe, Mobile Register, Buy this cartoon)

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Bush Buys War on Credit by Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon and Orwell Man Bush Defends Wiretapping by Andy Singer, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

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Bush’s Memoir by Chan Lowe, Comics.com, see reader comments in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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As Lowe recounts on his blog, if one event symbolized the incompetence of the Bush Administration, it was its response to Hurricane Katrina which devastated the City of New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast in August 2005

For me, one of the most telling moments of the George W. Bush presidency occurred during a press conference.  A newsman asked him if he could name any mistakes he had made, and the question took the President aback.  None that he could think of, he responded after some thought.  Some would call this evidence of his resoluteness; others, of his foolhardiness.  In any case, we knew that his decision to invade Iraq was not something that kept him awake at night.  What does keep him awake?  Evidently, the verdict of history, because he is now seeking to shape it.

I haven’t read his memoir, but one of the mistakes he finally acknowledges — according to interviews — is allowing the release of the photo that was taken of him looking bemusedly down from Air Force One at New Orleans after Katrina.  He hasn’t mentioned the way he bungled the Katrina response as one of his mistakes, but maybe that’s in the book.

It is Bush’s right to put his own gloss on his moment in history.  We should take his effort with the same grain of salt that we view all Presidential memoirs.  One pundit called it a first “baby step” in his attempt at rehabilitation.  Some would say he doesn’t need rehabilitating, which tells you how controversial a figure he remains, and will continue to remain for some time… memoir or no memoir.

The Bush Memoir by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Dan Summers, Comics.com (Orlando Sentinel)

Bill Schorr, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon

New Peace Symbol by Aislin, Montreal Gazette, Buy this cartoon

Decision Points by Martin Sutovec, Freelance Cartoonist (Slovakia), Buy this cartoon

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1. Torture, Iraq, and Preemptive Wars

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For a number of years we were told repeatedly by this fear-mongering and manipulative Bush Administration that we were in the midst of a “War on Terror.”  It characterized it as the defining struggle of our times.  A great fight to the death in which the forces of light were being threatened by the forces of darkness.  We were reminded at every moment that our country (and civilization) was under attack not for our hegemonic policies but for our way of life.  Terrorists, they told us, despised freedom and liberty as if we were the only ones who had exclusive rights for and a monopoly on these universal concepts.  Others were asked to align themselves either with us or against us.  For if they did not, they too would experience our wrath.

As Jones points out, every justification conjured up by the Bush Administration and its enablers to initiate the War in Iraq proved to be not only false but demonstrably so.  The lessons of history so brilliantly captured in this Robert Fisk essay were completely ignored

Bush says the most painful thing for him to endure during his presidency was rapper/musician Kanye West calling him a racist.  I guess that whole starting a war against an enemy who never attacked us, never finding the evidence you reasoned with for starting the war, and inflicting casualties among thousands of civilians and our military wasn’t as troubling for him.

But damn that Kanye.

Bush’s Shoes by Bob Englehart, Hartford Courant, Buy this cartoon

Ted Rall, Universal Press Syndicate/GOComics

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

CIA Torture Cases by Rainer Hachfeld, Neues Deutschland (Germany), Buy this cartoon

Jeff Danziger, New York Times Syndicate/Yahoo Comics

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Bush Book by Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Buy this cartoon

Vic Harville, Stephens Media Group (Little Rock, AR), Buy this cartoon

Joel Pett, Lexington Herald-Leader/McLatchy Cartoons

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Bush Farewell by Mike Keefe, Denver Post, Buy this cartoon

Gary Markstein, Comics.com (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

Dick Cheney and George W. Bush by Taylor Jones,

Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

:: ::

2. Bush’s Economic “Philosophy” and His Contributions to the Economy

:: ::

By any measure, the Bush Administration’s economic performance was the worst in modern American history

The Sad History of Trusting the GOP on the Economy

To be sure, George W. Bush provided the perfect bookend to era of modern Republican economic management ushered by Herbert Hoover.  The verdict on President Bush’s reign of ruin was pronounced even before Barack Obama took the oath of office. January 9, 2009, the Republican-friendly Wall Street Journal summed it up with an article titled simply, “Bush on Jobs: the Worst Track Record on Record.” (The Journal’s interactive table quantifies his comparative failure.)  Just days after the Washington Post documented that George W. Bush presided over the worst eight-year economic performance in the modern American presidency, the New York Times… featured an analysis (“Economic Setbacks That Define the Bush Years”) comparing presidential performance going back to Eisenhower.  As the Times showed, George W. Bush, the first MBA president, was a historic failure when it came to expanding GDP, producing jobs and fueling stock market growth.

But it was the release of a Census Bureau report in September (“Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008”) which in 67 pages laid bare the economic devastation and human toll during the Bush presidency.  As The Atlantic (“Closing The Book On The Bush Legacy”) rightly noted, “It’s not a record many Republicans are likely to point to with pride”:

:: ::

On every major measurement, the Census Bureau report shows that the country lost ground during Bush’s two terms.  While Bush was in office, the median household income declined, poverty increased, childhood poverty increased even more, and the number of Americans without health insurance spiked.  By contrast, the country’s condition improved on each of those measures during Bill Clinton’s two terms, often substantially.

Free Marketeers by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Bob Gorrell, Nationally Syndicated Cartoonist, Buy this cartoon

Unemployed by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon

Steve Benson, Comics.com (Arizona Republic)

Stuart Carlson, Universal Press Syndicate

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Bush Farewell by Steve Greenberg, VCReporter (Ventura, CA), Buy this cartoon

Lee Judge, Kansas City Star/McLatchy Cartoons

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Buying the Bush Book by Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner, Buy this cartoon

Bush Error Tax Cuts by John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune, Buy this cartoon

The George W Bush Liberry by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon

George W. Bush’s new book for sale by Chris Britt, Comics.com, see reader comments in the State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)

Devil May Care Capitalism by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Bush on Mt. Rushmore by Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

The Bush Legacy by Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner, Buy this cartoon

Cleanup by David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Star, Buy this cartoon

Bush Book by Aislin, Montreal Gazette, Buy this cartoon

:: ::

3. Tony Blair: Bush’s Foreign Policy Partner in Crime

Foreign policy is the collective face a nation puts forth for the rest of the world to accept or reject; admire or detest; cooperate with or defy; and emulate or ignore.

The objective of foreign policy goals is not just to advance our “vital national interests” but also to project our values of fairness, cooperation, and morality for mutual benefit.  Consistent with traditions established by both Democratic and Republican Administrations since World War II, an important and essential component had been the pursuit of these goals with the help of our traditional allies.    

And yet, during the Bush Years, American foreign policy was the face of a dominant bully hellbent on intimidating other countries to get in line with and support our perverted agendas, with little or no success.  In other words, in collusion with the British government of Prime Minister Tony Blair, our foreign policy face was that of The Ugly American

Chip Bok, Comics.com

Tony Blair’s Book Annoys Queeny by Brian Adcock, The Scotland, Buy this cartoon

Bush and Blair Buddies by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Iraq War Logs by Paresh Nath, Khaleej Times (UAE), Buy this cartoon

Coffee or Tea by Mike Lane, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon

Dwayne Booth, Mr. Fish, Buy this cartoon

Stephane Peray, The Nation (Bangkok, Thailand), Buy this cartoon

Downing Street Memo Cut by Mike Lane, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon

Tony Blair’s Memoirs by Patrick Chappatte, International Herald Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Bush Shoe Sale by Paul Zanetti, Freelance Cartoonist (Australia), Buy this cartoon

Iraqi Warming by Christo Komarnitski, Freelance Cartoonist (Bulgaria), Buy this cartoon

Blair and WMD’s by Mike Lane, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon

Blair’s Autobiography by Paresh Nath, Khaleej Times (UAE), Buy this cartoon

Bush Rides Into the Sunset by Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner, Buy this cartoon

Tony Blair by Adam Zyglis, Buffalo News, Buy this cartoon

Bush Band Live in Baghdad by Christo Komarnitski, Freelance Cartoonist (Bulgaria), Buy this cartoon

Iraq Inquiry and Blair by Rainer Hachfeld, Neues Deutschland (Germany), Buy this cartoon

Cover My Back by Olle Johansson, Freelance Cartoonist (Sweden), Buy this cartoon

Blair and History by Cam Cardow, Ottawa Citizen, Buy this cartoon

:: ::

4. Bush and Hurricane Katrina: Nothing Short of Criminal Negligence

:: ::

Crowe tells a story that I had never heard before in which he details who had first used Bush’s famous words to FEMA Director Michael Brown, shortly after Hurricane Katrina crashed along the shores of the Gulf Coast

The George W. Bush book, Decision Points, has been released. To the American reading public.  Safely after the midterm elections.  And get this: It’s a book with words.  I know, right?

Now, did Bush write his memoirs by his own self?  If he did, I’ll be interested in seeing the word ‘nookular’ in print.  Also ‘turr’.  As in the ‘war on turr.’  Dubya can’t say the word ‘memoirs’ without it soundin’ like ‘them WARS.’…

From his book, Bush says: “I asked Bob (Riley) and Haley (Barbour) if they were getting the federal support they needed.  Both told me that they were.  ‘That Mike Brown is doing a heck of a job,’ Bob said.  I knew Mike was under pressure, and I wanted to boost his morale.  When I spoke to the press a few minutes later, I repeated the praise.

‘Brownie,’ I said, ‘you’re doing a heck of a job.’

And now he’s passin’ the Brownie buck to Gov. Bob Riley.  If Bush had been on top of things, maybe he could have come up with his own lame material… It’s not Bush’s fault, of course.  How’d he know the line he stole from a respected Republican governor was gonna go nookular?

Bush Tours New Orleans by Christo Komarnitski, Freelance Cartoonist (Bulgaria), Buy this cartoon

Bush’s Book by Cam Cardow, Ottawa Citizen, Buy this cartoon

Shark Infested Waters by Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon

Lalo Alcaraz, LA Weekly, Buy this cartoon

New Orleans Gone by Cam Cardow, Ottawa Citizen, Buy this cartoon

Bush’s Book Tour by John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Our Republican Paradise by Andy Singer, Politicalcartoons.com,

Buy this cartoon

Levee of Lame Excuses by Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon

G.W. Bush and His Book by Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

My Pet Scapegoat by J.D. Crowe, Mobile Register, Buy this cartoon

Bush Memoir by Mike Keefe, Denver Post, Buy this cartoon

President Bush Plays Jack Bauer In “24” by RJ Matson, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Buy this cartoon

:: ::

5. Bush’s Sordid Legacy

:: ::

Under normal circumstances, it takes historians many years (even decades) to fully evaluate any president’s performance in office.  As I detailed in two comments this past summer, the reasons are many — Why Do Perceptions of Leaders Change?  

• Documents are declassified that shed light on previously unknown facts.
• Former high-level government officials write ‘insider’ accounts of their service providing details heretofore unknown to historians.
• Events happen, perspectives change decades after policies are implemented.
• Leaders themselves contribute to their re-evaluation in significant ways.

The above does not apply to George W. Bush’s administration.  In 2006, Historian Sean Wilentz of Princeton University wrote this article in Rolling Stone magazine which explained how many historians viewed Bush’s performance

George W. Bush’s presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace.  Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents.  And that may be the best-case scenario.  Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history…

Another president once explained that the judgments of history cannot be defied or dismissed, even by a president.  “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history,” said Abraham Lincoln.  “We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves.  No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us.  The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.”

:: ::

Well over two hundred years ago, the founders of this country introduced a political system of checks and balances and though not altogether perfect, it, nonetheless, contains within it a remedy and mechanism for self-correction.  The Bush Administration is no exception to that most basic of democratic principles nor is it exempt from being accountable for its actions.  

Editorial Cartoonist Bob Englehart evaluates the damage done over eight years of George W. Bush

We ran this photo of the billboard on Page A3 yesterday and I couldn’t resist.  Do I miss W?  Do I miss polio?  I can’t think of one thing I miss about him.  Fact is, if he were in charge, unemployment would be at 50 percent and we’d be at war with the whole world.

Even worse, the Queen of Hearts and her tea party would be running the country.  If you want a feel for what that would be like, let your thoughts drift to Germany after World War I when all the wrong people gained power.  Obama a Nazi, indeed.  Look in the mirror, tea bagger, and see what hatred really looks like.

The sign depicted in my cartoon is the actual billboard in Minnesota.  It was financed by some local businessmen with a bug up their seated parts.  I don’t usually combine art with photography, but this one works.  Sometimes this job is way too easy.

:: ::

In Bookstores Now by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see the large number of reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press

:: ::

A Note About the Diary Poll

I have no idea if there will be a movie made based on Bush’s memoirs, Decision Points. And even if one is made by a supporter as to how accurate it will be of the Bush record.

Numerous best-selling books have been the basis of the some of the best movies ever made.  The diary poll only reflects a few that I chose.  The ones I chose are not necessarily the best ever.  See this list which includes many more books and may very well include your favorites — Books Made Into Movies.

Remember to take the diary poll.

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Some premiers.  College Throwball, ABC’s choice of 3- Clemson @ Florida State or Oklahoma State @ Texas or USC @ Arizona.

People go, man aren’t you afraid that you’re going to hell?  No, no, BECAUSE I WAS MARRIED FOR TWO FUCKING YEARS!

Hell would be like Club Med, I could be a Tour Guide in Hell.

• ABC Family– Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (arguably the best novel of the bunch.  The movie’s cinematography is too dark at the climax, but the entry of the rival Schools is a lot of fun.)
• AMC– Troy (Joey?)
• Bravo– House marathon
• Comedy– Sam Kinison Tribute
• Discovery– Swamp Loggers marathon
• E!– Bridget Jones’s Diary
• ESPN– College Throwball, South Carolina @ Florida, Nevada @ Fresno State
• ESPN2– College Throwball, Mississippi State at Alabama
• FX– Baby Mama
• Oxygen– America’s Next Top Model (premier), Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
• Sci Fi– The Land That Time Forgot (not the good 1975 version), The Lost Future x 2
• Turner Classic– The Best Years of Our Lives
• TBS– Meet the Parents,
• TNT– Why Did I Get Married?, Daddy’s Little Girls
• Toon– Shrek
• TV Guide– Driving Miss Daisy (in the news), Coal Miner’s Daughter (useless)
• USA– The Golden Compass, National Treasure: Book of Secrets
• Vs.– College Throwball, Oregon at California

Later-

• ABC Family– Trading Places (you should see it if you haven’t, economics)
• AMC– The Perfect Storm
• FX– It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League
• Sci Fi– Lost City Raiders
• TBS– The Longest Yard (not the good 1974 version)
• Turner Classic– Mrs. Miniver, The Little Foxes
• TNT– The Preacher’s Wife
• USA– The Bourne Ultimatum
• Vs.- Semi-Pro Throwball, Nighthawks @ Mountain Lions

SNL- Scarlett Johansson and Arcade Fire.  GitS: SAC 2nd Gig– Night Cruise, Cash Eye (Episodes 2 & 3 of the 2nd Gig Series)

I WANT MY RECORDS BACK!  I WANT MY FUCKING RECORDS BACK!

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 Newly freed Suu Kyi prepares to address supporters

AFP

29 mins ago

2 Suu Kyi supporters hope, pray for her freedom

AFP

Fri Nov 12, 4:22 pm ET

3 World leaders hail Suu Kyi’s release

AFP

Sat Nov 13, 11:48 am ET

4 Myanmar frees democracy icon Suu Kyi

by Hla Hla Htay, AFP

Sat Nov 13, 11:46 am ET

5 Airbase attacked, 10 killed in Afghan market bombing

by Sardar Ahmad, AFP

1 hr 48 mins ago

6 Iraqi MPs salvage power-sharing pact after walk-out

by Salam Faraj, AFP

2 hrs 44 mins ago

7 Iraq MPs attempt to salvage power-sharing deal

by Prashant Rao, AFP

Sat Nov 13, 9:17 am ET

8 With Haiti cholera toll rising, so do appeals for aid

by Clarens Renois, AFP

Sat Nov 13, 1:55 pm ET

9 China rebuffs US pressure at Asian economic summit

by Frank Zeller, AFP

Sat Nov 13, 10:44 am ET

10 Japan hosts APEC meet in shadow of rows with China, Russia

AFP

Fri Nov 12, 4:32 pm ET

11 China-US spat hobbles G20 push on world economy

by Jitendra Joshi, AFP

Fri Nov 12, 7:07 pm ET

12 Eastern Europe’s first science centre wows in Poland

by Mary Sibierski, AFP

Fri Nov 12, 5:52 pm ET

13 Film on climate change bad boy says ‘Cool It’ over panic

by Nina Larson, AFP

Sat Nov 13, 1:45 pm ET

Moron.

14 China ‘lays down gauntlet’ at Asian Games

by Martin Parry, AFP

Sat Nov 13, 1:49 am ET

15 Myanmar pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi freed

By Aung Hla Tun, Reuters

2 hrs 19 mins ago

16 IMF says Ireland can manage amid EU rescue talks

By Jan Strupczewski and Carmel Crimmins, Reuters

Sat Nov 13, 2:02 pm ET

17 Ireland in aid talks with EU, rescue likely: sources

By Jan Strupczewski and Padraic Halpin, Reuters

Fri Nov 12, 2:59 pm ET

18 French government resigns ahead of reshuffle

By James Regan, Reuters

1 hr 13 mins ago

19 U.S. and China stick to guns on global balancing at APEC

By Kiyoshi Takenaka and Gleb Bryanski, Reuters

Sat Nov 13, 7:17 am ET

20 GM has orders for $60 billion in stock: sources

By Clare Baldwin and Soyoung Kim, Reuters

Fri Nov 12, 7:02 pm ET

21 Taliban mount series of attacks in Afghanistan

By Rafiq Sherzad, Reuters

Sat Nov 13, 11:52 am ET

22 G20 closes ranks but skims over toughest tasks

By Alex Richardson and David Ljunggren, Reuters

Fri Nov 12, 3:37 pm ET

23 Report cautions Obama on high cost of Afghan war

By David Alexander, Reuters

Fri Nov 12, 2:19 pm ET

24 Special Report: The two lives of Angela Merkel

By Andreas Rinke and Stephen Brown, Reuters

Fri Nov 12, 6:59 am ET

25 Private banks keep hiring as rich get richer

By Tommy Wilkes, Reuters

Fri Nov 12, 6:02 am ET

26 Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi released

Associated Press

23 mins ago

27 Supporters await Suu Kyi’s release in Myanmar

Associated Press

Sat Nov 13, 12:57 am ET

28 Insurgents attack NATO base in eastern Afghanistan

By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press

12 mins ago

29 Election shows work for Obama to win back voters

By LIZ “Sprinkles” SIDOTI AND JENNIFER AGIESTA, Associated Press

58 mins ago

30 GOP lawmakers take tough stand on Bush tax cuts

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press

1 hr 1 min ago

31 [Government sells spoils of Madoff’s lavish life ]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101113/ap_on_bi_ge/us_madoff_auction

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press

37 mins ago

32 Palin’s TV series a stage for political future?

By RACHEL D’ORO, Associated Press

1 hr 1 min ago

33 Freshmen arrive for crash-course on Congress

By LAURIE KELLMAN and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press

21 mins ago

34 After G-20 rancor, Pac Rim leaders push free trade

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press

Sat Nov 13, 7:25 am ET

35 Big stock offerings next week could boost markets

By DANIEL WAGNER, AP Business Writer

Sat Nov 13, 10:28 am ET

36 AP source: WH moves to break impasse on arms pact

By DESMOND BUTLER, Associated Press

Sat Nov 13, 7:25 am ET

37 Murkowski confident in re-election chances

By BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press

Sat Nov 13, 7:26 am ET

38 Doctors brace for possible big Medicare pay cuts

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

Sat Nov 13, 12:16 am ET

39 Catholic bishops: More exorcists needed

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer

Sat Nov 13, 12:19 am ET

40 Republicans near extinction in Hawaii Senate

By MARK NIESSE, Associated Press

2 hrs 30 mins ago

This is what would have happened in Congress if Institutional Democrats weren’t such fucking COWARDS!

41 China to play role in General Motors IPO

By SHARON SILKE CARTY, AP Auto Writer

2 hrs 59 mins ago

42 Va. sturgeon may be key to ancient fish’s recovery

By STEVE SZKOTAK, Associated Press

Sat Nov 13, 12:44 pm ET

43 Teachers take charge to save ailing public schools

By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press

Sat Nov 13, 12:31 pm ET

44 Brother’s transplant gift carries unbearable cost

By PAULINE ARRILLAGA, AP National Writer

Sat Nov 13, 12:06 pm ET

45 Scalia, Breyer bandy about how to decide cases

By BETSY BLANEY, Associated Press

Fri Nov 12, 10:42 pm ET

46 AP Interview: Baucus’ dealmaking to be tested

By MATT GOURAS, Associated Press

Fri Nov 12, 7:43 pm ET

47 Hero pilot criticizes new FAA rules on fatigue

By CHARLES WILSON, Associated Press

Fri Nov 12, 7:21 pm ET

48 Witness: Cop said looters ‘deserved to be shot’

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press

Fri Nov 12, 5:12 pm ET

WIMPS “R” US

It was reported that hammocks are becoming trendy among Tokyoites, in part because lying in one “feels similar to being in the mother’s womb.”

The number of “citizens’ farms” rented out by local governments has increased threefold during the past 15 years.

Declaring that “the Democratic Party of Japan is in bad shape,” 63-year-old former PM Yukio Hatoyama put off retirement from the House of Representatives.

The environment ministry said it is launching a “no-holds-barred campaign” to eradicate the Java mongoose in Okinawa. The creature has been deemed an invasive alien species that threatens local wildlife.

STATS

82

Number of bear attacks in Japan between April and September of this year

52

Number of bear attacks all of last year

132,720

Foreign students in Japan, a record high, according to the Japan Student Services Organization

¥210,000

Price of a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila that Asahi Breweries will offer to mark the brand’s 250th anniversary

SLOW NEWS WEEK

The Asahi Shimbun apologized to Kyodo News for plagiarizing one of the wire service’s stories. Somewhat improbably, the article in question had to do with “a Kyoto University professor and other researchers confirm[ing] that a painting believed to depict Manichaean cosmology exists in Japan.”

Ninety-one-year-old diplomat and author Eikichi Hayashiya became the first Japanese person to receive an honorary doctorate from Salamanca University in Spain.

A 22-year-old Yamanashi man who stole the identity of more than a dozen Mixi users said he did it because he enjoyed “chatting with women.”

Takashimaya announced that it is planning to open a shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City in 2012.

There’s Dope  

In The Office

Tsukiji To Tourists

Please Don’t Come

I Don’t Think

Those Belong To You  

Leaked video raises secrecy-law questions



By NATSUKO FUKUE, ALEX MARTIN and MIZUHO AOKI

Staff writers  

It was Wednesday when a coast guard officer dropped a bombshell on his skipper and sparked a national sensation.

The 43-year-old chief navigator of the patrol ship Uranami, stationed in Kobe, reportedly admitted he posted video clips on the Internet showing a Chinese trawler ramming Japanese patrol craft off the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, shaking the Cabinet to the core.

Soup of the day



By Chris Betros  

As soon as you walk into the offices of Campbell Japan Inc, you face an array of colorful soup cans, packets of Pepperidge Farm cookies, Tim Tams and V8 vegetable juice. But soup is what the company is famous for worldwide.

Excluding miso soup, Japan’s soup market is worth about $700 million annually, of which canned soup accounts for only 5% of the total. Of the canned soup segment, Campbell’s has the lion’s share at about 80% with corn potage its biggest seller.

Overseeing the Japan operations is Soji Numano. Fluent in English, Numano has been with Campbell’s since 1988, heading the Tokyo office since 2000. Before joining Campbell’s, he worked in the marketing department of rival Heinz for 13 years.

Welcome to the Stars Hollow Health and Fitness weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

[

Heart attack sufferers delay seeking treatment

(Reuters Health) – Despite expert recommendations to seek treatment if shortness of breath, chest discomfort and other telltale signs of a heart attack don’t improve after five minutes, a new study suggests that typical sufferers still stall more than two hours.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., with about 1.25 million heart attacks occurring each year and a quarter of patients succumbing to the event.

About half of all heart attack deaths occur within one hour — usually outside of a hospital.

“In the past decade, we’ve made dramatic improvements in how quickly we provide heart attack care,” lead researcher Dr. Henry H. Ting, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Reuters Health.

Gout Cases on the Rise in U.S.

Survey Shows More Than 8 Million Americans Have Gout

Nov. 10, 2010 (Atlanta) — The latest figures on gout are in, and they’re disappointing, researchers say. Following a doubling of cases of the painful and often disabling arthritic condition from the 1960s to the 1990s, gout rates continued to rise through 2008, the most recent year studied.

In a national health survey conducted in 2007 and 2008, 8.3 million Americans reported they had been told by their doctor they have gout.

That corresponds to 3.9% of U.S. adults — and represents a substantial rise from the 2.7% prevalence rate reported in the late 1980s and early 1990s, says Yanyan Zhu, PhD, a research assistant professor in clinical epidemiology at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Spouse can help in painful bladder problem

(Reuters Health) – Spouses who provide pleasant distractions can take their partners’ minds off an exhausting and excruciating bladder condition, a new study finds.

“Our data suggest that providing support in the form of reading to the person in pain, or simply talking to them about your day, present events or the children can be useful in taking their mind off their pain,” lead author Jessica Ginting of Queen’s University in Canada told Reuters Health.

Herbal medicine may ease constipation

(Reuters Health) – People suffering from serious constipation may get some relief from a Chinese herbal medicine consisting of hemp seed and other herbs, a new study finds.

Participants who took 7.5 grams twice a day of hemp seed pill (HSP), which consists of six different herbs, reported some improvements in their symptoms of constipation and fared better than people taking a placebo pill. “We believe HSP works to alleviate constipation,” study author Dr. Zhao-Xiang Bian of Hong Kong Baptist University told Reuters Health.

Bone loss more common in HIV

(Reuters Health) – People with HIV are much more likely to develop bone disease, or be on their way to developing it, a new study shows.

In a group of people with HIV, researchers found eight in 10 had either osteoporosis, the brittle-bone disease that raises the risk of fractures, or osteopenia, abnormally low bone mass that could progress to osteoporosis.

It’s unclear exactly why people with HIV are more likely to experience bone loss, study author Dr. Anna Bonjoch of the Lluita contra la SIDA Foundation in Barcelona, Spain, told Reuters Health.

Lupus Linked to Increased Risk of Cancer

Higher Lymphoma Rates Among Systemic Lupus Patients Appears to Drive Trend

Nov. 9, 2010 (Atlanta) — People with systemic lupus are 15% times more likely to develop cancer compared with the general population, suggest findings of a study involving nearly 13,500 people with systemic lupus.

The higher malignancy rate among people with systemic lupus is driven mainly by an increased risk of cancers of the white blood cells, particularly a threefold increased risk of lymphoma, says researcher Sasha R. Bernatsky, MD, assistant professor in the divisions of rheumatology and clinical epidemiology at McGill University in Montreal.

Because lymphoma is a relatively rare cancer, however, the absolute risk of any person with lupus developing it is still quite low, she tells WebMD.

Doctors urge caution with popular energy drinks

(Reuters Health) – Even though energy drinks are hugely popular and can be bought just about anywhere from corner markets to big-box stores to gyms, researchers writing in this month’s Mayo Clinic Proceedings urge caution in using them and endorse federal regulation.

“What we know is that a typical energy drink can have as much as a quarter cup of sugar, and more caffeine than a strong cup of coffee,” the leader researcher, Dr. John Higgins of The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, told Reuters Health.

Study on acne suicide risk fuels debate over drugs

(Reuters) – People with severe acne are at increased risk of attempting suicide, scientists said on Friday in a study which fuels a debate about whether acne drugs such as Roche’s Accutane prompt suicidal thoughts.

Swedish scientists found patients had an additional suicide risk for up to a year after treatment with isotretinoin, the generic version of Accutane, which is commonly prescribed for people with severe acne.

Despite labels, some vaginal lubricants harm sperm

(Reuters Health) – Some vaginal lubricants labeled as “not spermicidal” may not be so harmless to sperm, and could actually thwart their egg-bound journey, suggests a new Swiss study.

Researchers studied four gels in the lab, of which only one — Pre-Seed — appeared not to be toxic to sperm.

Women who suffer from vaginal dryness often use lubricants to improve the comfort of intercourse. The gels can also be employed to ease the insertion of medical devices, including probes used for imaging tests during the course of fertility treatment.

FDA Proposes New Cigarette Warning Labels

New Warning Labels Would Be Larger and More Graphic

Nov. 10, 2010 –The FDA is proposing new cigarette warning labels that will be larger and more visible on cigarette packages and in advertisements in an effort to reduce the number of tobacco-related illnesses and deaths.

The proposed images are graphic: a thin, sickly patient in bed, a breastfeeding mother blowing smoke in the baby’s face, a corpse, and a smoker injecting a cigarette in the arm like a hypodermic needle.

The proposal was announced today at a news conference by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and FDA officials. “Today marks an important milestone in protecting our children and the health of the American public,” Sebelius said.

Some 200,000 at risk of cholera in Haiti, U.N. says

(Reuters) – Up to 200,000 Haitians could contract cholera as the outbreak that has already killed 800 is set to spread across the battered Caribbean nation of nearly 10 million, the United Nations said on Friday.

That would be double the 100,000 cases during a huge cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe between August 2008 and July 2009, which killed 4,287 people. The U.N. forecast of the number of cases in Haiti was based partly on the Zimbabwe toll.

In a strategy plan drawn up with Haiti’s government and aid agencies, the U.N. said Haiti needs $163.9 million in aid over the next year to combat the epidemic, the country’s first cholera outbreak in a century. Cholera could also spread to the neighboring Dominican Republic, it said.

Acute polio outbreak kills nearly 100 in Congo: WHO

(Reuters) – Polio has killed nearly 100 people, mainly young adults, in the Republic of Congo and paralyzed more than twice as many in the past six weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

The crippling viral disease normally strikes children under five years of age, making the acute, fast-spreading outbreak unusual, the U.N. agency said.

“Most of the cases have involved young adults aged between 15 and 29. This illustrates that populations are at risk because they have not been exposed to a full immunization,” it said.

It marks the latest setback to a global campaign begun more than 20 years ago to wipe out polio, for which there is no cure, only preventive vaccines.

Miami has first dengue fever case in 50 years

(Reuters) – Health authorities in Miami, one of Florida’s top tourist attractions, have reported the first case of dengue fever in 50 years, an official said on Friday.

The person diagnosed with the sometimes deadly mosquito-born virus has fully recovered after a brief hospitalization, said Liliana Rivera, a director at the Miami-Dade County Health Department.

The case comes four months after officials announced more than 1,000 people in Key West, Florida, were believed to have been infected with dengue last year, marking its reemergence in the southeast U.S. state for the first time in decades.

Sterile mosquitoes use sex to kill in dengue trial

(Reuters) – British scientists have created genetically sterile mosquitoes which use sex to kill off others in their species, and researchers say early field trials suggest the idea could help to halt the rapid spread of dengue fever.

Scientists from a firm called Oxitec ran a small trial with the Mosquito Research and Control Unit (MRCU) in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. This found that releasing 3 million of the genetically altered bugs into a small area managed to cut the species population by 80 percent in six months.

Dengue fever, a disease which causes severe flu-like symptoms and can kill, is spread through the bite of infected female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

WHO says deadly TB preventable, urges action

(Reuters) – Health authorities worldwide must do more to combat tuberculosis, which killed an estimated 1.7 million people last year, mainly adults in their prime in Africa and Asia, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

Tuberculosis can be cured in six months if detected and treated early but can spread rapidly among people suffering from malnutrition or the HIV/AIDS infection, the U.N. agency said in its annual report, “Global Tuberculosis Control 2010.”

“There are still 1.7 million deaths every year from a disease that is perfectly curable in 2010,” Mario Raviglione, director of WHO’s Stop TB Department, told a news conference.

Flu shots safe for pregnant women, study finds

(Reuters Health) – Adding to evidence that the flu shot is safe during pregnancy, a U.S. government study found no unusual complications among pregnant women who’ve received the vaccine in the past 20 years.

Researchers found that between 1990 and 2009, there were 175 reports of possibly vaccine-related medical complications among pregnant women submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

That amounts to an estimated rate of 12.5 reported complications per one million pregnant women vaccinated against the flu.

Pregnancy after 45 carries risks

(Reuters Health) – For the few women who manage to get pregnant after age 45, both they and their babies have a higher risk of complications, Israeli researchers have found.

For instance, they are about three times more likely than younger women to experience diabetes and high blood pressure during their pregnancies, the researchers report in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

White women’s skin may show wrinkles sooner

(Reuters Health) – White women may be quicker to develop wrinkles after menopause than black women, and the effects seem to have more to do with age than declining estrogen levels, a small study suggests.

The findings, say researchers, may give lighter skinned women yet more reason to protect their skin from sun damage, since that may be a culprit in the earlier signs of aging among white women.

It has long been thought that darker skin is likely to be more resistant to the signs of aging than lighter skin, as the melanin in dark skin offers some natural protection against sun damage. But there has been little research into whether there are actual objective racial differences in skin aging.

Cancer patients pick antidepressant for hot flashes

(Reuters Health) – Breast cancer survivors who struggle with hot flashes may find respite in an antidepressant, according to a new study that suggests the medication should be the go-to drug when the overheating is severe.

Most women get hot flashes when their estrogen levels start to plummet in menopause, but the symptoms may be especially taxing for breast cancer patients who’ve received chemotherapy or estrogen-blocking drugs.

However, doctors are reluctant to prescribe hormone replacement therapy — the standard drug therapy — to such women, because it might fuel tumor growth.

Instead, they’ve begun using antidepressants and gabapentin (Neurontin), an epilepsy medicine also used to treat certain types of pain.

Painkillers in Pregnancy Linked to Male Infertility

Study Suggests Even Tylenol During Pregnancy May Affect Male Testes

Nov. 12, 2010 — Common over-the-counter painkillers taken during pregnancy may be to blame for a global rise in male infertility.

Even acetaminophen (Tylenol) may put a developing boy’s future reproductive health at risk, suggest findings from a study of some 2,300 Danish and Finnish women by Henrik Leffers, MD, PhD, of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues.

The researchers suggest that acetaminophen, ibuprofen, aspirin, and other NSAID painkillers act as hormonal “endocrine disruptors” and interfere with normal male sexual development. Chemicals in the environment, such as phthalates, act as endocrine disruptors and have in the past been blamed for harmful effects on human sexual development.

Prostate Cancer Treatment May Up Colon Cancer Risk

(Reuters Health) – Men who opt for hormone-blocking therapy to treat prostate cancer may be increasing their risk of developing colon cancer, hints a study published this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

So-called “androgen deprivation therapy,” or ADT, suppresses production of the male hormone testosterone, which helps drive the growth of prostate cancer. ADT is widely used to treat prostate cancer, despite increasing recognition that it carries serious potential risks, including diabetes and obesity, which are known risk factors for colon cancer.

Just last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled that certain hormone treatments for prostate cancer must carry new warnings about an increased risk of diabetes and heart problems. Those medications include Lupron, Zoladex, Trelstar, and Eligard.

Special formula may help prevent childhood diabetes: study

(Reuters) – Researchers said on Wednesday they found some evidence that keeping babies off cow’s milk may help prevent the development of type 1 diabetes in children with an inherited risk of the disease.

The children will have to be followed for years to be sure, but the Finnish researchers found indirect evidence that giving the babies a special formula may have helped.

The study of 230 Finnish infants who had stopped receiving breast milk was a preliminary test of the treatment. A much larger study of 2,160 babies, now ongoing in 15 countries, is expected to provide a definitive answer to the question in 2017.

Teens carry extra pounds into adulthood, add more

(Reuters Health) – The U.S. might be missing an opportunity to rein-in bulging waistlines, according to a new report that shows many obese teens put on extra weight as they grow up.

In a nationally representative study of American youth, researchers found that nearly one in 12 teenagers became severely obese as they entered adulthood — landing them some 100 pounds above their ideal weight.

And of those who were obese to begin with, about half the girls and more than a third of the boys grew into the larger-size category, raising their odds of developing heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancers.

Many Sleep-Deprived Americans Blame Stress

Sleeping Problems Affect Millions, and Health, Job Performance, and Relationships Often Suffer, Study Finds

Nov. 12, 2010 — Millions of Americans say they’re not getting enough sleep and that the lack of shut-eye affects their personal relationships, job performance, and mental and physical health, according to a new study.

A global survey of more than 30,000 people in 23 countries commissioned by the Philips Center for Health and Well-Being shows that people in the U.S. have one of the highest rates of sleep deprivation. The survey finds that 37% of Americans feel they don’t get enough sleep. Only France at 45% and Taiwan at 50% had higher incidences of sleep deprivation.

Playing Tetris May Reduce Traumatic Flashbacks

Study Examines Potential of Computer Games as Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Nov. 11, 2010 — Some computer games are more effective than others at reducing traumatic flashbacks, according to a study.

Researchers led by Emily Holmes, a senior research fellow at Oxford University in England, compared the effects of playing two different types of computer games — Tetris and Pub Quiz Machine 2008 — or doing nothing when trying to minimize traumatic flashbacks.

The study showed those who played Tetris experienced fewer traumatic flashbacks while those who played PubQuiz actually experienced more.

Tetris is a puzzle computer game involving the manipulation of colored blocks; Pub Quiz is a computerized word game.

Wandering Mind May Lead to Unhappiness

Researchers Say People Are Most Happy Having Sex, Exercising, Socializing, Mainly Because Such Activities Help Keep the Mind From Wandering

Nov. 11, 2010 — People are happiest when having sex, exercising, or talking to others — in large part because such activities require enough concentration to keep their minds from wandering, new research indicates.

In general, people spend almost half their waking hours thinking about something other than what they are doing in the present, and this “mind wandering” typically causes unhappiness, study author Matthew A. Killingsworth, a doctoral student at Harvard University, tells WebMD.

Chocolate eaters may have healthier hearts: study

(Reuters Health) – Older women who eat more chocolate are less likely to develop heart problems over a nearly 10-year-period, new study findings report.

The authors found that women older than 70 who ate chocolate at least once per week were 35 percent less likely to be hospitalized or die from heart disease over the course of the study, and nearly 60 percent less likely to be hospitalized or die from heart failure.

What’s nice, study author Dr. Joshua Lewis told Reuters Health, is that women did not have to eat a ton of chocolate to see benefits.

Cherries May Cut Risk of Gout Flare-ups

Eating About 20 Cherries a Day Halved Gout Patients’ Risk of Recurrent Attacks, Study Finds

Nov. 11, 2010 (Atlanta) — People with gout may be able to cut in half their risk of recurrent attacks by eating about 20 cherries a day, preliminary research suggests.

The findings support years of anecdotal reports from patients that cherries help keep the inflammatory arthritic condition in check, doctors here say.

Still, the study does not prove cause and effect, just that there appears to be an association between eating cherries and a lower risk of recurrent gout attacks. People with gout who eat cherries may share some other characteristic that makes them less prone to flare-ups.

“Punting the Pundits“ is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

Dan Fromkin: Bush’s Waterboarding Admission Prompts Calls For Criminal Probe

WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday joined a growing chorus in the human rights community calling for a special prosecutor to investigate whether former president George W. Bush violated federal statutes prohibiting torture.

In his new memoir and ensuing book tour, Bush has repeatedly admitted that he directly authorized the waterboarding of three terror suspects. Use of the waterboard, which creates the sensation of drowning, has been an iconic and almost universally condemned form of torture since the time of the Spanish Inquisition.

Except for a brief period during which a handful of Bush administration lawyers insisted that the exigencies of interrogating terror suspects justified its use, waterboarding has always been considered illegal by the Justice Department. It is also a clear violation of international torture conventions.

Robert Reich: Why We Should Beware Budget-Deficit Mania

We’re in for another round of budget-deficit mania.

The first draft of the President’s deficit commission, written by its co-chairmen Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, is a pastiche of ideas – some good, some dumb, some intriguing, some wacky. The only unifying principle behind their effort seems to be to throw enough at the wall that something’s bound to stick.

At their best, presidential commissions focus the public’s attention – not only on the right solution to some important problem but also on the right problem. Sadly, this preliminary report does neither.

As to solution, the report mentions but doesn’t emphasize the biggest driver of future deficits – the relentless rise in health-care costs coupled with the pending corrosion of 77 million boomer bodies. This is 70 percent of the problem, but it gets about 3 percent of the space in the draft.

Paul Krugman: For Lenders, the Name of the Game Is Extend and Pretend

I’m finding it difficult to write about the recent foreclosure mess in the United States.

Amid the revelations in October that so many mortgage lenders might have been sloppy when processing foreclosure paperwork, attorneys general in all 50 states have now announced they are investigating lenders’ foreclosure practices.

It’s clear that there has been massive malfeasance on the part of the banks (again), but it’s less easy to decide what should be done about it.

One thing is obvious: the main argument in favor of turning a blind eye to this whole situation and avoiding a temporary freeze on foreclosures is wrong.

William John Cox: The Youth Vote and the War of 2012

In one of the most striking political comebacks in US history, the Republican Party marched in lockstep to victory in the midterm elections and seized control of the House of Representatives and statehouses across the nation. The Republicans made a battle plan and disciplined their troops and the corporations paid for the ammunition.

Unless the Democrats do something drastically differently during the next two years, the rich and powerful will cement their victory around the body of democracy and dump the barrel of freedom into the deep, dark waters of cash politics, where it will be lost forever.

Bob Herbert: Killing and Dying

In the spring of 2007, American soldiers in the Second Platoon of Battle Company, part of a regiment in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, began a 15-month deployment in the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan. It was one of the most dangerous places in the country.

A feature-length film called “Restrepo” documents the soldiers’ experiences and captures the almost primeval elements – the living, breathing, killing and dying – of a combat tour with a close-up intensity that is, frankly, chilling.

When the guys, many of them unbearably young, show up in the grim, mountainous, sparsely populated landscape, they react with what seems like a combination of awe and dread. One said his mind told him he would die there. Another wondered, “What are we doing here?”

Johann Hari: Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats Have Betrayed Britain

Two months before the general election, Nick Clegg — the leader of the Liberal Democrat party — warned there would be “riots” on the streets if the Conservatives won the election and introduced extreme cuts. Now the riots have begun — and Clegg himself is the chief cutter, installed as Deputy Prime Minister of a slash-and-burn Conservative government.

There was a whiplash moment this Wednesday. Inside the House of Commons, a pale-faced and barely coherent Clegg was championing the trebling of fees for university students at Prime Minister’s Question Time, despite the fact that he promised before the election to “implacably oppose” this move because it would be “a disaster.” Then, in a low rumble, the chants of the 50,000 betrayed and protesting students massed outside began to echo into the chamber. He began to stumble: “We have stuck to our ambition… our wider ambition… ” (Laughter, jeers). “Our policy is more progressive… ” (Hoots from all sides, including his own.) “The truth is before the election we didn’t know… ” The chants got louder, and the excuses got more contorted.

Clegg is one of the great mysteries of British politics. Before the election, he told us “there isn’t a serious economist in the world who agrees with the Conservatives… [that] we should pull the rug out from under the economy with immediate spending cuts.” Now he is one of the leading champions of doing exactly that. In just a few days after the election, he cleared a space in his swanky new ministerial offices and staged a bonfire of his principles.

David Sirota: The High Cost of Low Prices

First, it was the new $200 printer-within hours of being extracted from its bubble-wrap womb, the contraption started making an awful wheezing sound.

Then it was the $10 stopwatch we bought to time my wife’s labor contractions-the moment it was torn out of its blister package, its digital screen flamed out.

Then it was our 3-year-old $500 television-the fuzzy lines started during late-night “Seinfeld” reruns and haven’t stopped.

And finally, it was the $25 lamp for my e-book reader-the light looked so useful … until it started emitting a hideous blue tint.

Welcome to my most recent teeth-clenching weekend spent in return lines at discount electronics stores-a weekend no doubt typical in what journalist Ellen Ruppel Shell calls the current age of “Cheap.” In her new book by that name, she argues that our economy has been reorganized around goods that sacrifice craftsmanship on the altar of low price.

Alexander Cockburn: A Bitter Woman

Americans keep odd things up on the mantelpiece, or in the fridge: Dad’s ashes in a biscuit tin or, in Barbara Bush’s case, as her eldest son has just disclosed on national TV, the fetus she miscarried, put in a mason jar and then handed to the teenage George Jr., to take to the hospital. Imagine! “George, honey, could you hold this while I get the car keys?” “What is it, Mom?”

I interviewed Barbara Bush in 1979, when George Sr. was vainly challenging Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination. This was a time when her image handlers were trying to get round the fact that with her defiant white hair, she looked like her husband’s mother. They sold her as “the Silver Fox” — America’s matriarch.

She was horrible. Bitterness seeped out of her like blood from an underdone rib-eye. Every banal question elicited a hiss of derision and contempt.