11/29 - Richard Preston
- Cunningham Plea. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-California) pled guilty on November 28 to (1) conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud and tax evasion and (2) tax evasion. Cunningham resigned from Congress later that day. According to a press release giving details about the charges (on-line here), Cunningham admitted receiving at least $2.4 million in bribes. Cunningham had defended his conduct earlier in the year, such as with a June 23 statement on-line here.
- The Word: Confidence. Canada's ruling Liberal party collapsed on November 28 with a no-confidence vote following the release of an initial report into allegations that the Liberal Party misused money that was intended for a sponsorship program. New parliamentary elections have been scheduled for January 23.
As Stephen noted, President George W. Bush's approval ratings have declined in recent months to their lowest level, as tracked by the Gallup organization. Since late July, Gallup polls have shown more people expressing disapproval of Bush's handling of the presidency than approval; polls taken from November 11 to 13 show 60 percent disapproval and 37 percent disapproval. The following graph is based on Gallup data:
Polls also show that that less than half of the American people agree with statements that Bush is trustworthy and honest or that Bush can manage the government effectively.
- Avian Flu. Health officials around the world have expressed concerns about possible outbreaks of avian influenza since 1997, when the first documented cases of human infection (including six deaths) from the HN51 strain were observed in Hong Kong and when Hong Kong's entire poultry population was destroyed within days to avert a possible pandemic. Outbreaks were first reported in southeastern Asia and have been reported in Russia, Kazakhstan and eastern Europe. Since 2004, there have been 133 reported cases of human infection of the HN51 strain in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and China, including 68 deaths (WHO information on-line here). More information about avian flu is available on-line here and here.
President George W. Bush announced a strategy on November 1 (transcript on-line here) to deal with an avian flu pandemic, focusing on early detection and containment of outbreaks anywhere in the world, development and stockpiling of vaccines in the United States, and developing emergency plans with state and local officials. Bush requested $7.1 billion in emergency funding, including $251 million to help foreign detection and containment efforts, $1.2 billion to purchase vaccines from manufacturers for 20 million people, $2.8 billion for technological research, and $583 million for pandemic planning.
"There is no pandemic flu in our country or in the world at this time -- but if we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare, and one day many lives could be needlessly lost because we failed to act today," Bush said.
11/28 - Brian Greene
- Holiday Shopping. According to the National Retail Federation, 145 million shoppers went to stores over the Thanksgiving weekend, with more than 60 million shoppers visiting stores on November 25, or "Black Friday." The NRF reported that total weekend spending was $27.8 billion, about 20 percent more than last year. The NRF release is on-line here.
- The Word: Never. Debate over when U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Iraq has resulted in two Congressional votes in recent weeks.
In the House of Representatives, debate centered around Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pennsylvania), who served in the Marines in Vietnam and who called in a November 17 speech (on-line here) for the United States to announce before Iraq's December 15 election that U.S. forces would be redeployed. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) criticized Murtha on November 18, implying that Murtha was a coward and sparking debate within the House. The House voted 403-3 on November 18 against a measure calling for immediate withdrawal. Notably, Murtha himself did not vote for immediate withdrawal; he said in his November 17 speech that he would redeploy troops "consistent with the safety of U.S. forces" and still maintain a smaller presence.
In the Senate, debate centered around two amendments that would require the president to submit unclassified reports on U.S. military operations in Iraq every three months. The Senate voted 79-19 in favor of one such amendment but voted 50-48 against a similar version that was sponsored by Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan) and that would have required the president to submit a "campaign plan with estimated dates for the phased redeployment of the United States Armed Forces from Iraq."
President George W. Bush has linked U.S. withdrawal to the status of Iraq military training and forces. Bush has said several times during the summer that U.S. troop withdrawals would occur only once Iraqi forces were prepared to defend themselves (see this August 24 speech on-line here) for an example).
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's full comments in her November 22 interview with Fox News (on-line here) tied withdrawals to Iraq readiness and are not inconsistent with Bush's position. When asked if withdrawals would come soon, Rice said that "we want to get to the place that Iraqis are doing this on their own. They're more and more capable. I do not think that American forces need to be there in the numbers that they are now because -- for very much longer because Iraqis are stepping up."
- Stephen Settles the Debate: Faith vs. Science. Debate over evolution continues with some school boards taking measures to promote criticism of evolutionary theory and to promote intelligent design arguments that purely natural forces cannot explain the development of life fully and that an intelligent cause was involved. On November 8, the Kansas Board of Education voted 6-4 to approve standards that included questions about evolution, while voters in Pennsylvania ousted some of the local school board members who had approved a statement questioning evolution that is now being challenged with a federal lawsuit.
Polls taken by the Gallup organization in recent years have found that many people do believe God had some role in the creation or development of humanity. Polls from September 2005 (discussed in a Gallup article on-line here) found that 53 percent of those polled believed that God created humanity as it is now, that 31 percent of those polled believed that humanity developed over time with the guidance of God (a view consistent with that of intelligent design), and that 12 percent believed that humanity developed without God's guidance. At the same time, Gallup found that 58 percent of Americans said creationism was definitely or probably true and 55 percent also said evolution was definitely or probably true.
11/17 - Tim Robbins
- The Word: McConaughey. People named actor Matthew McConaughey its sexiest man alive (on-line here).
- Threat Down: C-Sections, Children, Indians, PBS, Bears. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported (on-line here) that the cesarean delivery rate rote 6 percent in 2004 to 29.1 percent of all births.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed legislation on November 15 to provide health insurance for Illinois children. A release is on-line here and a related website is on-line here.
A federal appeals court on November 15 vacated a lower court's order requiring a historical accounting of the money owed to beneficiaries of accounts maintained by the federal government for individual Indians. The now vacated order resulted from a lawsuit filed in 1996 by Indians alleging mishandling of such accounts.
Former Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson has been criticized for partisan involvement in broadcasting by the Public Broadcasting Service. The CPB's inspector general stated in a recent report (on-line here) that they had found evidence that Tomlinson "violated statutory provisions and the Director's Code of Ethics by dealing directly with one of the creators of a new public affairs program" and that evidence suggested that Tomlinson had also violated statutory provisions by using "political tests" in recruiting a CPB official. The CPB announced reform measures on November 15 in response to the report (release on-line here.
- Reference to Oil Executives. The Washington Post reported on November 16 that a White House document showed that executives from big oil companies met with aides from Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 as the task force was developing a national energy plan issued in May 2001 (on-line here). Some criticized the secret manner in which the task force did its work, accusing the task force of giving energy industry executives and lobbyists improper influence over energy policies and legislation, and some advocacy and environmental groups brought a lawsuit to get information about the task force's meetings.
Three oil executives reportedly denied participating in these meetings at a November 9 Senate hearing about their companies' profits and about high gas prices; two others said that they did not know. Oil executives were not required to take an oath before speaking at the hearing; statements from the hearing are on-line here.
11/16 - Rev. Al Sharpton
- Japan Wedding. Princess Sayako, 36, the only daughter of Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, married commoner Yoshiki Koroda, 40, on November 15 and gave up her royal status.
- The Word: The Orient. President George W. Bush left on a weeklong trip to Asia on November 14; he will visit Japan, South Korea, China and Mongolia. National Security advisor Stephen Hadley discussed the trip in a November 10 press briefing on-line here.
- Bring Them Back or Leave Them Dead: Asian Edition. South Korean researchers announced on August 3, 2005 that they had cloned a common domestic dog, named Snuppy for "Seoul National University puppy" (release on-line here).
- Reference to Vieques. Rev. Al Sharpton protested Navy training exercises using live and inert ordinance at Vieques Island, which the Navy owns about two-thirds of. In 2000, President Bill Clinton authorized a referendum by which Puerto Ricans would vote to either have the Navy leave the island by May 2003 or to receive economic assistance in exchange for continued exercises. In June 2001, after months of highly public protests, the Bush administration announced it would halt all exercises in Vieques by May 2003 regardless of how such a referendum would come out.
- Formidable Opponent. The Bush administration has criticized explicit prohibitions of torture that may be enacted in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and its connections to administration policies. On October 5, the Senate approved in a 90-9 vote (vote on-line here) a measure (S. Amendment 1977 to HR 2863) that explicitly would prevent the torture of anyone in U.S. custody "regardless of nationality or physical location." The measure was sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and would amend the FY2006 defense appropriations bill.
The White House reportedly has threatened to veto the amended appropriations bill unless an exception is allowed for certain cases at the president's determination. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on October 5 (on-line here) that the amendment was "unnecessary and duplicative" and given other laws and constitutional prohibitions and would "limit the President's ability as Commander-in-Chief to effectively carry out the war on terrorism."
When asked about the legislation at a November 7 press conference in Panama (transcript on-line here), President George W. Bush in Panama referred to efforts against terrorists and said that "anything we do to that effort, to that end, in this effort, any activity we conduct, is within the law. We do not torture."
11/16 - Matt Taibbi
- The Word: Information. The Senate voted 79-19 on November 15 in favor of S.A. 2518, an amendment that would require the president to submit unclassified reports on U.S. military operations in Iraq every three months. Such reports would include the status of efforts to train Iraqi security forces and the number of battalions of Iraqi forces that can operate independently in counterinsurgency operations. The Senate voted 50-48 against a similar amendment that also would have required the president to submit a "campaign plan with estimated dates for the phased redeployment of the United States Armed Forces from Iraq." President George W. Bush said of the Senate vote that his administration was "more than willing" to report on progress in Iraq (transcript on-line here).
The status of Iraq military training has become an important barometer of U.S. success in Iraq, especially since Bush has said several times that U.S. troop withdrawals would occur only once Iraqi forces were prepared to defend themselves.
Bush said in an October 1, 2005 radio address (on-line here), that the Iraqi security forces had at that time "more than 100 battalions operating throughout the country, and our commanders report that the Iraqi forces are serving with increasing effectiveness."
However, some said this was inconsistent with a statement by General George Casey in a September 29 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the number of battalions classified as trained at a level one rating had gone from three to one. Casey said during a September 30 press briefing (on-line here) that unit readiness fluctuates naturally, that the level one standard is "very, very high" and that "[w]e set that standard knowing full well that it was going to be a long time before all Iraqi units got in that category. And so the fact that there's only one or three units, that is not necessarily important to me right now. Next year at this time, I'll be much more concerned about it. Right now I'm not."
Casey said that the more relevant measurement was the number of battalions trained at level two. "[W]hile these numbers are classified, the numbers of units in level two have doubled since May. So that's where we should be focusing our attention at this point," he said.
- Better Know a District. Rep. Mark Udall is on-line here.
11/14 - Former Sen. Bob Kerrey
- County Music Awards. The 2005 Country Music Awards (on-line here) is being shown on CBS on November 15.
- The Word: Testerone. Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi reportedly confessed to participating in the terrorist attacks that resulted in 57 deaths at three hotels in Amman, Jordan on November 9; she reportedly had walked into the Radisson SAS hotel with a belt of explosives but failed to detonate because she had left a component behind.
- Reference to Bush Speech. President George W. Bush defended his administration's handling of pre-war intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in a November 11 speech (transcript on-line here). "While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began," Bush said. "Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war. These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs."
Bush was referring to the Senate Intelligence Committee, which released a report on July 7, 2004 in which it concluded that most of the major judgments in the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate about Iraq – especially the judgment that Iraq "is reconstituting its nuclear program," "has chemical and biological weapons," and was actively developing biological weapons – were overstated or not supported by the underlying intelligence. The Senate Intelligence Committee also concluded that the intelligence community "suffered from a collective presumption that Iraq had an active and growing weapons of mass destruction program" and that this presumption was so strong "that formalized [intelligence community] mechanisms established to challenge assumptions and group think were not utilized."
As Bush cited, the committee reported that it "did not find any evidence that intelligence analysts changed their judgments [about Iraq] as a result of political pressure, altered or produced intelligence products to conform with Administration policy, or that anyone even attempted to coerce, influence or pressure analysts to do so. When asked whether analysts were pressured in any way to alter their assessments or make their judgments conform with Administration policies on Iraq's WMD programs, not a single analyst answered 'yes.'" See pages 272-85 of the report, which is available on-line here.
The Senate Intelligence Committee had agreed in February 2004 to review additional issues such as whether U.S. government officials' prewar statements about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were justified, but did not address them in its July 2004 report. The Senate held a closed session on November 1 to discuss the status of this additional review. Following the closed session, senators agreed to have a bipartisan group evaluate the status of the review and report back by November 14.
Republicans and Democrats clashed after the closed session regarding who had delayed the progress of the report thus far. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a November 1 statement (on-line here) that some work had been finished long ago, that Democrats had "obstructed" his presentation of this work in a May 17, 2005 meeting, and that Republicans had informed Democratic staff on October 31 that they wanted to conclude the work. Senator Nelson Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), ranking Democratic members of the intelligence committee, said in a November 1 statement (on-line here) that Democrats' questioning of the White House's actions had been "thwarted" and said in a November 2 statement (on-line here) that Roberts' recollection of the May 17 meeting was incorrect. "The important fact that should be known is that no committee member has seen one page of a draft report related to the Phase II investigation into prewar intelligence," Rockefeller said.
- Reference to Withdrawals. The status of Iraq military training has become an important barometer of U.S. success in Iraq, especially since President George W. Bush said several times during the summer that U.S. troop withdrawals would occur only once Iraqi forces were prepared to defend themselves (see this August 24 speech on-line here) for an example).
Bush said in an October 1, 2005 radio address (on-line here), that the Iraqi security forces had at that time "more than 100 battalions operating throughout the country, and our commanders report that the Iraqi forces are serving with increasing effectiveness."
Some said this was inconsistent with a statement by General George Casey in a September 29 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the number of battalions classified as trained at a level one rating had gone from three to one. Casey said during a September 30 press briefing (on-line here) that unit readiness fluctuates naturally, that the level one standard is "very, very high" and that "[w]e set that standard knowing full well that it was going to be a long time before all Iraqi units got in that category. And so the fact that there's only one or three units, that is not necessarily important to me right now. Next year at this time, I'll be much more concerned about it. Right now I'm not."
Casey said that the more relevant measurement was the number of battalions trained at level two. "[W]hile these numbers are classified, the numbers of units in level two have doubled since May. So that's where we should be focusing our attention at this point," he said.
11/10 - Cokie Roberts
- Oil Executives. Five top oil executives spoke about their companies' profits and high gas prices at a November 9 Senate hearing; they were not required to take an oath before speaking. Statements from the hearing are on-line here.
U.S. retail gasoline prices (info on-line here) have increased dramatically in recent years, with retail gasoline prices increasing from about $1.00 a gallon in January 2002 to $2.20 in April 2005. Prices jumped to $3.04 per gallon as of early September 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast states and the oil refineries there; such prices were highs even when inflation is taken into account; gasoline in the 1970s cost around $3 per gallon when adjusted. Prices then declined to $2.34 per gallon by early November.
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras also testified in the November 9 hearing (release on-line here), saying that the FTC was monitoring gas prices and that hurricane damage to Gulf Coast oil infrastructure may effect prices for months. She said that federal legislation preventing "price gouging" could be difficult to enforce and "would unnecessarily hurt consumers," and that use of current antitrust laws would be better.
- The Word: Armistice. November 11 is recognized as Veterans Day to honor U.S. veterans of all wars; it originally was designated as Armistice Day to mark the temporary cessation of hostilities that went into effect on November 11, 1918 (World War I officially ended months later when the Treaty of Versailles was signed0). The Department of Veterans Affairs has information about Veterans Day on-line here.
President George W. Bush has said several times that U.S. troop withdrawals would occur only once Iraqi forces were prepared to defend themselves (see this August 24 speech on-line here).
- Viewer Mail. Bush administration official I. Lewis Libby was indicted on October 28 on charges relating to giving false information in the investigation regarding the leak of an undercover CIA agent who is married to a critic of the Bush administration. According to the October 28 indictment (on-line here), Libby told federal investigators on two occasions and federal grand jurors on two other occasions that he had learned about Plame's status as a CIA agent from Tim Russert of NBC News in a July 10, 2003 conversation. According to the indictment, Libby actually had learned about and had discussed Valerie Plame's status on several occasions in June 2003 and earlier in July. For more, go here.
- The Da Colbert Code: Karl Rove. The October 28 indictment of I. Lewis Libby did not identify who provided the information about undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame to conservative columnist Robert Novak. It does say that Libby spoke on July 10 or 11 to a "senior official in the White House ("Official A") who advised Libby of a conservation Official A had earlier that week with columnist Robert Novak in which Wilson's wife was discussed as a CIA employee involved in Wilson's trip. Libby was advised by Official A that Novak would be writing a story about Wilson's wife."
This senior official may be Karl Rove. Matthew Cooper of Time has said that he discussed Wilson's wife with Rove on July 11. Moreover, White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who said on September 29, 2003 that the idea that Rove was the leak was a "ridiculous suggestion" (transcript on-line here) and who said on October 10, 2003 that Rove had provided assurances that he was not involved (transcript on-line here), declined in July 2005 press conferences to answer questions on Rove or to back up his prior statements, saying on July 12 (on-line here) that it was "not the appropriate time to talk about those questions while the investigation is continuing."
Whether this senior official committed a crime is unclear and depends on the state of knowledge of that official at the time. Under 50 USC 421(b) (on-line here), "[w]hoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified information, learns the identify of a covert agent and intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both."
For more information about the CIA leak case, go here.
- The Da Colbert Code: Samuel Alito. President George W. Bush nominated Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on October 31 to fill the Supreme Court position held by Sandra Day O'Connor, the post that Harriet Miers had been nominated for before she withdrew her nomination. Alito was a federal prosecutor, argued 12 cases on behalf of the federal government in the Supreme Court, and has served as a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware) for 15 years. A transcript of the announcement is on-line here and a White House fact sheet on Alito is on-line here.
The Alito nomination is likely to be controversial, given Alito's conservative reputation. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), who cited Alito on October 30 as someone Bush should not nominate, said in an Oct. 31 statement (on-line here) that he was "disappointed" in the nomination because Bush had not consulted with Senate democrats and had did not add to the diversity of the Supreme Court. "I look forward to meeting Judge Alito and learning why those who want to pack the Court with judicial activists are so much more enthusiastic about him than they were about Harriet Miers," Reid said.
11/9 - Mary Roach
- Scott McClellan. White House spokesman Scott McClellan was being asked about anti-torture legislation in the clip shown in this episode, which was from a November 8 press briefing (transcript on-line here). The Senate recently approved a measure to prevent the torture of anyone in U.S. custody "regardless of nationality or physical location," though some have reported that the White House opposes the measure unless there is an exemption for certain cases at the president's discretion. McClellan has denied that the White House has asked for an exemption for torture. McClellan said on November 8 that "[t]here are already laws and rules that are on the books, and we follow those laws and rules. What we need to make sure is that we are able to carry out the war on terrorism as effectively as possible … not only to protect Americans from an attack, but to prevent an attack from happening in the first place."
- The Word: Willy Loman. California voters rejected eight ballot measures on November 8, including four pushed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger which would have increased the time teachers have to work before they get tenure (Proposition #74), prohibited political contributions by public-employee unions without individual employees' prior consent (Prohibition #75), limited state spending (Proposition #76), and removed direct redistricting powers from legislators (Proposition #77).
Democrats also won two key gubernatorial races, with Sen. John Corzine beating Republican Doug Forrester in New Jersey by 8 percent of the vote and Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine beating Republican Jerry Kilgore by 5 percent. New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a Republican, won a second term by defeating Fernando Ferrer.
- All You Need to Know. The Kansas Board of Education voted 6-4 on November 8 to approve standards that included questions about evolution. This vote seems the latest front for advocates for intelligent design, a theory that purely natural forces cannot explain the development of life fully and that an intelligent cause was involved. Also on Tuesday, voters in Pennsylvania ousted some of the local school board members who had approved a statement questioning evolution that is now being challenged with a federal lawsuit.
Regarding North Korea, North Korea agreed in six-party talks on September 19 to a Statement of Principles that called for its abandoning nuclear weapons, but a possible sticking point remains on the timing of the United States providing a light-water nuclear reactor. The United States agreed in the statement to provide such a reactor "at an appropriate time," but North Korea said on September 20 that they want the reactor before abandoning any nuclear weapons programs.
Regarding oil executives, five top executives spoke about their companies' profits and high gas prices at a November 9 Senate hearing. Statements from the hearing are on-line here.
Regarding secret prisons, the Washington Post reported on November 2 that the CIA had been detaining al-Qaeda members in a secret facility in Eastern Europe and that this facility was part of a covert prison system established after the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to the Post, sources reported that about 30 detainees were considered major terrorism suspects and were held by the CIA in complete isolation and without legal rights at such secret facilities, known as "black sites."
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley declined to acknowledge the existence of such secret detention centers in a November 2 press briefing (on-linehere). "There have been some press reports this morning that have touched on that subject. And as you can appreciate, they raise some issues about possible intelligence operations. And as you know, we don't talk about intelligence operations from this podium," he said.
Hadley did say that such sites, assuming they existed, complied with U.S. law and international obligations. "The President has insisted that whether it is in the public, or is in the private, the same principles will apply, and the same principles will be respected. And to the extent people do not meet up, measure up to those principles, there will be accountability and responsibility," he said.
- Reference to Florida Gun Law. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence recently began a campaign warning Florida tourists and potential tourists about a new state law that exempts more assaults and homicides as justifiable self-defense and that went into effect on October 1, 2005.
Generally, the use of deadly force is justified as self-defense only when one can prove that he or she (1) had reasonable grounds to believe and did actually believe that he or she was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm which he or she could only prevent by using deadly force, (2) had not used all proper means to avoid physical combat before resorting to the use of deadly force, and (3) had used no more force that was reasonably necessary. Under the new Florida law, people have no duty to retreat when they (1) reasonably believe deadly force is "necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony" or (2) are in their home facing certain intruders (see here and here).
- Better Know a District. Representative John Mica is on-line here.
11/8 - Catherine Crier
- Anti-Torture Legislation. Explicit prohibitions of torture may be enacted in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and its connections to policies enacted by the Bush administration. On October 5, the Senate approved in a 90-9 vote (vote on-line here) a measure (S. Amendment 1977 to HR 2863) that explicitly would prevent the torture of anyone in U.S. custody "regardless of nationality or physical location." The measure was sponsored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and would amend the FY2006 defense appropriations bill.
The White House reportedly has threatened to veto the amended appropriations bill unless an exception is allowed for certain cases at the president's determination. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on October 5 (on-line here) that the amendment was "unnecessary and duplicative" and given other laws and constitutional prohibitions and would "limit the President's ability as Commander-in-Chief to effectively carry out the war on terrorism."
When asked about the legislation at a November 7 press conference in Panama (transcript on-line here), President George W. Bush in Panama referred to efforts against terrorists and said that "anything we do to that effort, to that end, in this effort, any activity we conduct, is within the law. We do not torture."
- The Word: T.O. (Totally Obnoxious). The Philadelphia Eagles announced on November 5 that wide receiver Terrell Owens had been suspended by the team for "conduct detrimental to the team." Coverage of this suspension is collected on-line here.
- Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger. Yale University announced on November 2 (release on-line here) that the Yale School of Music had received a $100 million gift that would subsidize tuition for all students. The gift will also fund new technology and community efforts.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory reported on November 13 that massive black holes at the center of the Milky Way galaxy helped form new stars (releases on-line here and here).
11/7 - New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
- Rioting Do's & Don'ts. Many cities in France have experienced civil unrest since October 27, when two youths, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traore, reportedly died in an electrical accident while trying to avoid questioning by police regarding a possible break-in at a construction site. There reportedly were incidents in more than 200 towns and around 400 arrests on November 6, the 11th day of the unrest, and the first death resulting from the unrest occurred on November 7, when a French man died from injuries he had sustained days earlier.
Riots also occurred in Argentina, where President George W. Bush attended the Summit of the Americas from November 3 to 5. Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, who has been critical of the United States in recent months and has said that Venezuela would end its cooperation with U.S. anti-drug activities, rallied protesters during the summit, and some protesters turned violent.
- The Word: Hoser. Regarding lumber, the United States has challenged Canada's exports of softwood lumber several times since the early 1980s, arguing that Canadian programs conferring harvesting rights on government-owned forestlands constituted a subsidy. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Commerce determined that such programs did constitute such a subsidy and calculated that subsidy to be 19.34 percent ad valorem. This decision was challenged by Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement. A NAFTA panel in August 2003 agreed with the U.S. decision about Canada's programs but found that the amount of the subsidy had not been properly calculated. The United States and Canada continued to have disputes about how the benefit should be calculated.
Regarding drugs, many people have turned in recent years for their prescription-drug needs to Canada, where the price of many prescription drugs is controlled by the Canadian government's Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. About 12 million prescription-drug products with a value of about $700 million entered the United States from Canada in 2003 via Internet sales and trips to Canada, according to a December 2004 report by the Department of Health and Human Services' Task Force on Drug Importation (on-line here). Many of these imports were in violation of U.S. federal law, specifically 21 USC 384, which currently allows only pharmacists and wholesalers to import prescription drugs, among other things, into the United States. Individuals are not allowed to import prescription drugs directly.
- Threat Down: Pirates! Canadian Optometrists! Professional Musicians! NASCAR Romance Novels! Bears! Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman reportedly has apologized for calling Canadian optometrists "a bunch of terrorists" after a recent fundraiser. Smitherman's spokesman said that his comments were a reaction to some optometrists who suggested withdrawing services over a fee dispute.
The 2005 Radio City Christmas Spectacular, featuring the Rockettes, is now performing with a recorded score instead of a live orchestra, due to a labor dispute between Radio City Entertainment and Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians over the terms of a new contract and accusations of lying.
I. Lewis Libby was indicted on October 28 on five counts relating to giving false information in the investigation regarding the leak of an undercover CIA agent who is married to a critic of the Bush administration. According to the October 28 indictment (on-line here), Libby told federal investigators on two occasions and federal grand jurors on two other occasions that he had learned about Plame's status as a CIA agent from Tim Russert of NBC News in a July 10, 2003 conversation. According to the indictment, Libby actually had learned about and had discussed Valerie Plame's status on several occasions in June 2003 and earlier in July. Libby's first novel, The Apprentice, has become a popular item since his indictment.
11/3 - Bradley Whitford
- Oliver Stone Movie. Director Oliver Stone recently began filming scenes in New York for an untitled movie focusing on two policemen who were at the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 attacks. The movie stars Nicholas Cage.
- The Word: Shhhh!... The Washington Post reported on November 2 that the CIA had been detaining al-Qaeda members in a secret facility in Eastern Europe and that this facility was part of a covert prison system established after the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to the Post, sources reported that about 30 detainees were considered major terrorism suspects and were held by the CIA in complete isolation and without legal rights at such secret facilities, known as "black sites."
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley declined to acknowledge the existence of such secret detention centers in a November 2 press briefing (on-linehere). "There have been some press reports this morning that have touched on that subject. And as you can appreciate, they raise some issues about possible intelligence operations. And as you know, we don't talk about intelligence operations from this podium," he said.
Hadley did say that such sites, assuming they existed, complied with U.S. law and international obligations. "The President has insisted that whether it is in the public, or is in the private, the same principles will apply, and the same principles will be respected. And to the extent people do not meet up, measure up to those principles, there will be accountability and responsibility," he said.
- Better Know a District. Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones is on-line here. As noted, Tubbs was one of 11 House members to vote on March 21, 2003 against H. Con. Res. 104, in which Congress expressed "the unequivocal support and appreciation of the Nation" to President George W. Bush "for his firm leadership and decisive action in the conduct of military operations in Iraq as part of the on-going Global War on Terrorism," to the military, and to the families of the military. Tubbs said in a March 21, 2003 statement (on-line here) that she opposed this resolution because provisions within sought to establish that Iraq posed a continuing threat to the United States and that Iraq was specifically associated with the September 11, 2001 attacks. She also said that she supported a resolution with different wording.
Tubbs did object in January 2005 to the certification of Ohio's electoral votes in favor of President George W. Bush (statement on-line here); this objection led to Congressional discussion but did not prevent the certification of the votes or Bush's victory.
11/2 - Bruce Feiler
- Reference to Religious Controversies. Stephen references some religious controversies while discussing the supposed fatwa for his comments about Ramadan. Regarding fatwas (a religious edict), in 1989, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued one calling for Muslims to kill "The Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie and his publishers for alleged blasphemy. Muslims did cause the deaths of several people involved in publishing Rushdie's book, but support for the fatwa dwindled over the years. In 1998, Iran's government announced that it would not threaten Rushdie or anyone associated with "The Satanic Verses," though some religious leaders say that the fatwa is irrevocable and a private foundation continued to offer a bounty on Rushdie's life.
Regarding Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger has acknowledged that he was in the Hitler Youth in 1941 and 1942, when he was a teenager. The New York Times reported on April 21 that historians and Jewish groups saw the pope's wartime record as common to young German men at the time and as having little significance today. Pope Benedict XVI reportedly was involved in Pope John Paul II's apology for the role Catholics played in the Holocaust.
Regarding Madonna and Judaism, the singer has been criticized for the song "Isaac" on her album "Confessions on a Dance Floor" by some rabbis who said that the son was about a 16h century Jewish mystic, Yitzhak Luria. Madonna reportedly has said that the song is not about Luria and that she did not know who Luria was beforehand.
- Closed Senate Session. The Senate held a closed session on November 1 to discuss the status of a review of the Bush administration's use of intelligence to justify the Iraq war. The Senate Intelligence Committee had agreed in February 2004 to review issues such as whether U.S. government officials' prewar statements about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were justified, but did not address them in a July 2004 report related to the intelligence community's pre-war assessments (the July 2004 report is on-line here). Following the closed session, senators agreed to have a bipartisan group evaluate the status of the review and report back by November 14.
Republicans and Democrats have clashed over who has delayed the progress of the report thus far. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a November 1 statement (on-line here) that some work had been finished long ago, that Democrats had "obstructed" his presentation of this work in a May 17, 2005 meeting, and that Republicans had informed Democratic staff on October 31 that they wanted to conclude the work. Senator Nelson Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), ranking Democratic members of the intelligence committee, said in a November 1 statement (on-line here) that Democrats' questioning of the White House's actions had been "thwarted" and said in a November 2 statement (on-line here) that Roberts' recollection of the May 17 meeting was incorrect. "The important fact that should be known is that no committee member has seen one page of a draft report related to the Phase II investigation into prewar intelligence," Rockefeller said.
As for Rule 21, the text of that rule is on-line here.
- The Word: Cat. Dogcatradio.com is on-line here. Washington University School of Medicine researchers published a study on November 1 showing that male mice make ultrasonic vocalizations to attract female mice; a press release about this (along with a modified audio example) is on-line here and a PDF of the study is on-line here.
- I Called It. The New York Times story Stephen refers to is a November 1, 2005 story about Wal-Mart's efforts to respond to criticisms of the company, including a "war room" such as political campaigns use. Wal-Mart has taken other steps to counter negative publicity about its business practices, such as placing full-page ads in newspapers earlier this year and creating a new promotional website, www.walmartfacts.com, on-line here. A new documentary criticizing Wal-Mart premieres in movie theaters and on DVD in November; information about that is on-line here.
11/1 - Ken Burns
- The Word: Camilla-Mania. Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, began a weeklong visit to the United States on November 1. They were married on April 9, 2005. Prince Charles previously married Diana Spencer in 1981; the two divorced in 1996 and Princess Diana died a year later.
- Emergency Evacuation Manual. The Department of Homeland Security has information for emergency planning for businesses here and for individuals here.
- Ken Burns. PBS has a website about Ken Burns' work here.
- Formidable Opponent. This Colbert-Colbert debate was inspired by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's October 19, 2005 statement ("If we are to show ourselves worthy of calling ourselves members of humankind, we must rise to this challenge. Our response will be no less than a measure of our humanity."), which was made in the context of soliciting more aid for the survivors of the devastating October 8 earthquake in Pakistan (transcript on-line here). The death toll resulting from that earthquake was about 42,000 as of mid-October, but reportedly was more than 70,000 as of early November. U.N. and Pakistani government officials have said that more aid will be needed for emergency aid work, reconstruction, and winter shelter for those who lost their homes.
