5/18 - Ted Daeschler
- Proms. A press release on Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue's post-prom party is on-line here.
- The Word: Libya. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced on May 15 that the United States was removing Libya from the U.S.'s list of state sponsors of terrorism and was restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya because of Libya's cooperation after September 11. "Libya is an important model as nations around the world press for changes in behavior by the Iranian and North Korean regimes -- changes that could be vital to international peace and security," Rice said (statement on-line here).
Libya has long been considered a state sponsor of terrorism because of its involvement in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. Libya took a major step in rehabilitating itself in 1999 when it surrendered two citizens alleged to be involved in the Lockerbie bombing. Libya agreed in December 2003 to eliminate its chemical and nuclear weapons programs and to cooperate with international inspection agencies, a move that the Bush administration hailed as a result of the war on terror and the war in Iraq.
- Difference Makers. The Minuteman Project (on-line here) has organized hundreds of citizens to patrol the US-Mexico border in Arizona in order to stop illegal immigration. Regarding the Minutemen, President George W. Bush said in March 2005 (on-line here) that he was "against vigilantes in the United States of America. I'm for enforcing law in a rational way. That's why you got a Border Patrol, and they ought to be in charge of enforcing the border." White House spokesman Scott McClellan further elaborated that Bush supported citizens monitoring for illegal activity and reporting that to proper authorities, but opposed citizens trying to enforce laws themselves (transcript on-line here).
Various surveys have estimated that the number of illegal immigrants grew dramatically over the 1990s. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated in 2003 that there were 7 million illegal immigrants in the United States in January 2000, almost doubling since 1990 (on-line as a PDF here). A more recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center (on-line as a PDF here) estimated that there were 10.3 million illegal aliens in the United States in March 2004.
- Intermediate Fossil. An April 5 press release about the discovery of a fossil that may represent an intermediate stage between fishes and land animals is on-line here.
5/17 - Jonathan Alter
- Reagan Dime. The U.S. Mint has information about coin specifications on-line here. Some Republicans have at times proposed legislation to change U.S. currency to depict President Ronald Reagan, but these proposals have not been successful. Rep. Mark Souder (R-Indiana) sponsored an unsuccessful bill in 2003 (H.R. 3633 in the 108th Congress) to change the face of the dime from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's to Reagan's, and Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Arizona) sponsored a similarly unsuccessful bill in 2005 to put Reagan on the $10 bill.
- The Word: Democrats. President George W. Bush's May 15 address on immigration reform is on-line here. In the speech, he called for greater border security, including the use of new technology and the deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard members to the Mexican border. "The United States is not going to militarize the southern border. Mexico is our neighbor, and our friend," he said. He also called for a temporary worker program and for a program that would allow illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for many years to be able to apply for citizenship. "What I've just described is not amnesty, it is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen," he said.
The Republican-led House of Representatives voted in December in favor of a border-security bill that would make living in the United States illegally into a criminal felony (doing so is now a violation of civil immigration law subject to deportation, not jail time) and could subject priests and social workers to jail time for assisting illegal immigrants (H.R. 4437) on December 16 (239 for and 182 against). It also provides for more fences and security measures along parts of the Mexican border.
A Senate immigration bill that was backed by Democrats and Republicans and that would have provided amnesty for many illegal immigrants failed to be voted upon before Congress broke on April 7 for a recess, with Democrats blocking some Republican amendments to the bill that Democrats said would have reduced the effectiveness of the amnesty provisions. The compromise bill would have allowed some illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for more than five years to become citizens, forced illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for two to five years to leave and apply to be part of a new guest-worker program, and forced illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for less than two years to leave without eligibility for return.
- Better Know a President. The White House has information on President Theodore Roosevelt on-line here.
5/16 - Tyson Slocum
- Bush Address. President George W. Bush's May 15 address on immigration reform is on-line here. In the speech, he called for greater border security, including the use of new technology and the deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard members to the Mexican border. "The United States is not going to militarize the southern border. Mexico is our neighbor, and our friend," he said. He also called for a temporary worker program and for a program that would allow illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for many years to be able to apply for citizenship. "What I've just described is not amnesty, it is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen," he said.
- The Word: Inoculation. Information about the HBO documentary "Baghdad E/R" is on-line here. The New York Times reported on May 14 that army officials were reducing their involvement in an advance screening of the documentary because of concerns of the film's effect on public opinion (article on-line here).
Regarding journalism, ABC News reporters Brian Ross and Richard Esposito said in a May 15 blog entry (on-line here) that they had been told that the federal government was tracking the telephone numbers they called as part of a CIA leak investigation. A May 15 New York Times article about the steady and rising increase in journalism students is on-line here.
- Organ Donation. An April 26 USA Today article about the illegal trade in body parts is on-line here. A May 15 op-ed piece in the New York Times recommending allowing legal trade in organ donations is on-line here (federal law (on-line here) currently prohibits the sale or acquisition of human organs). According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (on-line here, there are more than 90,000 people waiting for organs as of mid-May 2006; about 66,000 are waiting for kidneys and about 17,000 are waiting for livers.
- Reference to CAFE Standards. President George W. Bush said on April 27 (on-line here) that one way to deal with higher gas prices is to allow him to increase automobile Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which are the fuel economy of a manufacturer’s fleet of certain passenger cars or light trucks for a given year.
CAFE standards for passenger cars have not increased for more than a decade and have not risen above the level set for the 1985 model year. Congress set the CAFE standard for passenger cars at 27.5 for the model year 1985 and thereafter, though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is authorized to increase or decrease the standard. Manufacturers that fail to meet CAFE standards pay fines based on their vehicles and their fuel efficiency. The NHTSA has an overview of CAFE on-line here.
- Tyson Slocum. The Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Program is on-line here.
5/15 - Kevin Phillips
- Iran Letter. A translation of the letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to U.S. President George Bush on May 8 is on-line here. The letter poses questions to Bush about the handling of the war on terror, the war in Iraq, and the creation of Israel, among other things, and it refers only indirectly to the ongoing concern over Iran's development of nuclear power and its potential development of nuclear weapons: "Why is it that any technological and scientific achievement reached in the Middle East regions is translated into and portrayed as a threat to the Zionist regime? Is not scientific R&D one of the basic rights of nations[?]"
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on May 8 (transcript on-line here) that the letter, which she described as "broadly philosophical," did not mark an opening in discussions with Iran. "There is nothing in this letter that in any way addresses any of the issues really that are on the table in the international community -- the nuclear program -- in a straightforward way -- the terrorism issue," she said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on May 9 (transcript on-line here) that the letter "appears to be more about trying to change the subject."
- The Word: Lunchables. President George W. Bush's May 15 address on immigration reform is on-line here. The town of Ave Maria in Florida is on-line here.
In Bush's speech, he called for greater border security, including the use of new technology and the deployment of up to 6,000 National Guard members to the Mexican border. "The United States is not going to militarize the southern border. Mexico is our neighbor, and our friend," he said. He also called for a temporary worker program and for a program that would allow illegal immigrants who have been in the United States for many years to be able to apply for citizenship. "What I've just described is not amnesty, it is a way for those who have broken the law to pay their debt to society, and demonstrate the character that makes a good citizen," he said.
The House of Representatives voted in December in favor of a border-security bill that would make living in the United States illegally into a criminal felony (doing so is now a violation of civil immigration law subject to deportation, not jail time) and could subject priests and social workers to jail time for assisting illegal immigrants (H.R. 4437) on December 16 (239 for and 182 against). It also provides for more fences and security measures along parts of the Mexican border.
A compromise Senate immigration bill that was announced on April 6 and that would have provided amnesty for many illegal immigrants failed to be voted upon before Congress broke on April 7 for a recess, with Democrats blocking some Republican amendments to the bill that Democrats said would have reduced the effectiveness of the amnesty provisions. The compromise bill would have allowed some illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for more than five years to become citizens, forced illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for two to five years to leave and apply to be part of a new guest-worker program, and forced illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for less than two years to leave without eligibility for return.
Various surveys have estimated that the number of illegal immigrants grew dramatically over the 1990s. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated in 2003 that there were 7 million illegal immigrants in the United States in January 2000, almost doubling since 1990 (on-line as a PDF here). A more recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center (on-line as a PDF here) estimated that there were 10.3 million illegal aliens in the United States in March 2004.
- All You Need to Know. A court filing by prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald reportedly states that Vice President Dick Cheney annotated the July 2003 New York Times piece by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose wife was identified as an undercover CIA agent soon afterwards. The filing was made in the case against I. Lewis Libby, who was indicted on October 28 for giving false information in Fitzgerald's investigation.
President George W. Bush nominated General Mike Hayden, who previously served as director of the National Security Agency and currently is the deputy director of national intelligence overseeing day-to-day intelligence activities (resume on-line here), on May 8 to become the new head of the CIA (on-line here). The NSA has been criticized in recent months for its surveillance programs.
Accu-Weather.com's forecast of the 2006 hurricane season is on-line here. According to the forecast, six tropical cyclones will make landfall in the United States, of which three will be Category 3 or greater hurricanes.
The first enrollment period for the new Medicare prescription drug program ended on May 15. Medicare recipients who want to enroll in the program afterwards may be charged a penalty or wait for the next open enrollment period, which begins on November 15. Information about the program is on-line here.
As for future demographics, the U.S. Census projected in 2004 that the white, non-Hispanic part of the population would be 50.1 percent in 2050, compared to roughly 83 percent in 1970 and 69.4 percent in 2000. Census projections indicate that Asian and Hispanic populations will see the largest growth between 2000 and 2050. Data about these projections is on-line here and data about historical trends is on-line here.
5/11 - Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
- West Wing. The NBC show "The West Wing" ends on May 14 after depicting a fictional White House administration for the past seven years. I've footnoted every episode of the series here and am hosting a party in New York for the final episode; email me at footnotetv@gmail.com if you want to come by.
As for pardons, many pardons have been controversial. Bill Clinton did spark widespread controversy on his last day in office by pardoning two fugitives who were still wanted on charges of insider trading, Marc Rich and Pincus Green. Shortly thereafter, George W. Bush criticized Clinton's decision but defended his prerogative (on-line here).
Other pardons have been controversial. In 1974, Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon who had resigned from the Presidency due to the Watergate scandal. On Christmas Eve 1992, just weeks before leaving office, George Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and six other former Reagan administration officials for their involvement with the Iran-contra scandal mere days before Weinberger was to stand trial on perjury charges.
In 1977, Jimmy Carter proclaimed amnesty for those who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War, extending a more limited amnesty offered by Ford. In September 1979, Carter also commuted the sentences of Oscar Collazo, a Puerto Rican nationalist who had tried to kill Truman in 1950, and others who had fired on the House of Representatives in 1954, apparently to get Cuba to release U.S. nationals held prisoner at the time.
- Putin Speech. Russian President Vladimir Putin called for measures that would help increase Russia's population in a May 10 address to Russia's Federal Assembly (on-line here). Among other things, he proposed increased childcare benefits to help increase the birth rate and reverse an overall population decline of about 700,000 people a year.
"Our aim should be at the least to encourage families to have a second child. What stops young families, women, from making such a decision today, especially when we’re talking of having a second or third child? The answers are well known. They include low incomes, inadequate housing conditions, doubts as to their own ability to ensure the child a decent level of healthcare and education, and – let’s be honest – sometimes doubts as to whether they will even be able to feed the child," he said.
Putin's comment about the wolf apparently was a response to recent criticism by Vice President Dick Cheney of Russia's commitment to democratic reform. Cheney said during a May 5 visit to Lithuania (transcript on-line here) that "opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade. In many areas of civil society -- from religion and the news media, to advocacy groups and political parties -- the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people."
Putin's comment came in the context of the need for maintaining a strong defense in the face of the size of the United States military. "We also need to build our home and make it strong and well protected. We see, after all, what is going on in the world. The wolf knows who to eat, as the saying goes. It knows who to eat and is not about to listen to anyone, it seems. How quickly all the pathos of the need to fight for human rights and democracy is laid aside the moment the need to realise one’s own interests comes to the fore. In the name of one’s own interests everything is possible, it turns out, and there are no limits."
- The Word: Fill 'Er Up. U.S. retail gasoline prices have increased in recent weeks and are now about twice as much as they were in 2003. The graph below is based on information on-line here.
President George W. Bush said on April 25 (transcript on-line here) that he was trying to fight higher gas prices in several ways. Among other things, he said that he had directed the federal government to investigate illegal price manipulation (this is the manipulation Bush referred to when he said that "this administration is not going to tolerate manipulation"), had ordered the Department of Energy to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during the summer (the federal government regularly stockpiles oil) in order to reduce demand and thus help lower gas prices, and was encouraging the temporary lifting of fuel requirements.
Senate Republicans proposed on April 27 a legislative package that would have provided consumers with a $100 gas tax rebate and would have had various measures to increase gas production and supply (release on-line here). Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said on May 1 that the rebate would amount to a nine-month rebate on federal gas taxes (statement on-line here), but many people criticized the rebate and the measure is not expected to be part of new legislation.
- Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger. An article about the rising cost of a penny and a nickel due to rising metal costs is on-line here.
- Madeleine Albright. Her book "The Mighty and the Almighty : Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs" is on-line via Amazon here.
5/10 - William Bastone
- Bird Flu. Health and government officials around the world are watching the spread of avian flu, concerned about the possibility that the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form that is contagious among humans and cause a worldwide pandemic that could result in the deaths of millions of people.
The World Health Organization has warned that if avian flu becomes contagious among humans and causes a pandemic, widespread illness will occur, medical supplies will be inadequate, millions of peoples will die (WHO's "conservative" estimate is 2 million to 7.4 million people), and there will be great economic and social disruption (see reference here). The Bush administration has warned that 2 million people could die in the United States alone as a result of a modern pandemic.
As of May 2006, avian flu has been reported in birds in Asia, Europe and Africa (WHO maps of infected areas are on-line here). There have been 206 confirmed human cases of avian influenza in the countries shown in shades of red to white below, resulting in 114 deaths (WHO data on-line here).
- The Word: Athletes Are Above the Law. A May 4, 2006 USA Today article about athletes sentenced to perform community service for offenses such as assault, drunk driving, drug possession, and vehicular homicide is on-line here.
- Better Know a District. Rep. Lee Terry (R-Nebraska) is on-line here.
Japan has banned the importation of U.S. beef since January 2006, citing safety concerns. Japan previously banned U.S. beef imports in 2003 after the first discovered incident of mad cow disease in the United States but lifted the ban in late 2005. Japan resumed its ban after a shipment of veal was sent to Japan containing backbone, a substance prohibited by a trade agreement. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report on its investigation into the January 2006 shipment on-line here.
- William Bastone. The Smoking Gun is on-line here. An investigative piece on author James Frey and his book "A Million Little Pieces" (on-line here) led to widespread criticism of Frey, including a January 26 show by Oprah Winfrey (on-line here), who had featured Frey's book in her book club in October 2005.
5/9 - Frank Rich
- David Blaine. After staying in a water-filled globe at New York's Lincoln Center from May 1 to May 8, David Blaine (on-line here) attempted but failed to set a new record for holding his breath.
- Moussaoui. A federal jury decided on May 3 that Zacarias Moussaoui, who pled guilty on April 22, 2005 to conspiring to commit the September 11, 2001 attacks, should receive a life sentence instead of being executed (jury form on-line here). Moussaou moved on May 8 to withdraw his April 2005 guilty plea, stating in an affidavit that he had decided to lie about his role in the 9/11 attacks because he had incorrectly believed that he would be executed no matter what and that he now saw from the jury's decision that he could receive a fair trial (motion and affidavit on-line here). The motion was denied on May 8 as too late (denial on-line here).
According to the second superseding indictment (on-line here), Moussaoui came to the United States in February 2001, took flight lessons in August 2001, and lied about why he was present in the United States to federal agents. Moussaoui was in a Minnesota jail on September 11.
- The Word: Superegomaniac. The Wikipedia entry on Sigmund Freud is on-line here.
- Movies that are Destroying America. The documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," features former Vice President Al Gore and is on-line here. Many people do agree that global average surface temperature has increased over the 100 years by about one degree and that higher concentrations of greenhouse gases relating to human activity such as the use of fossil fuels have contributed to this increase. President George W. Bush himself acknowledged the temperature increase and the greenhouse effect in a June 11, 2001 speech (on-line here), though he also raised questions about how much was known and what should be done in response.
5/8 - Shere Hite
- Goss Resignation. CIA Director Porter Goss announced on May 5 that he would be stepping down from the post he has held for 18 months (statement on-line here and Bush comment on-line here). Bush nominated General Mike Hayden, who previously served as director of the National Security Agency and currently is the deputy director of national intelligence overseeing day-to-day intelligence activities (resume on-line here), on May 8 to take Goss's place (on-line here).
According to some reports, Goss was forced to resign in order to replace him with someone who would focus the agency on intelligence collection and away from intelligence analysis, a function under the purview of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte. The CIA has also been criticized in recent months for its connection to prison abuse in Iraq and for potential leaks.
The rumors about prostitutes and connections to former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-California), who pled guilty in November 2005 to bribery and tax evasion charges, relate to K.D. "Dusty" Foggo, who resigned as executive director of the CIA following Goss's announcement. Foggo reportedly is being investigated for his possible connection to a businessman who may have provided illicit materials to Cunningham.
- The Word: Not. An April 30 article by Boston Globe reporter Charlie Savage highlighted the extent to which President George W. Bush has issued signing statements to express his interpretations of federal legislation. According to one survey (on-line here), Bush issued 505 such statements by the end of 2004 and had issued more than his predecessors.
Bush's December 2005 signing statement regarding the ban on torture is on-line here. In the statement, Bush indicated that he would construe a ban on the torture of detainees in a manner "consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power, which will assist in achieving the shared objective of the Congress and the President, evidenced in Title X, of protecting the American people from further terrorist attacks."
- Threat Down: Salaries! No Threat #4. The Pope! Geography Police! Bears! The survey estimating the equivalent salary of stay-at-home mothers at $134,121 was by Salary.com and is on-line here. The site's "Mom Salary Wizard" is on-line here.
The Vatican is studying the use of condoms to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as AIDS, according to recent reports. The study may signal the possible acceptance of condoms as the lesser of two evils compared to the spread of disease.
The National Geographic study of young people's knowledge about geography is on-line here. National Geographic has launched a new campaign (on-line here) to improve such knowledge.
An article about the bear shooting and the possibility that it resulted from cross-species mating is on-line here.
- Shere Hite. Her website is on-line here. Her book, the "Shere Hite Reader," is available on Amazon here.
5/4 - Rick Reilly
- National Day of Prayer. Under 36 USC 119, which was established in 1952 (on-line here), the president shall issue a proclamation each year designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer "on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals." The proclamation for 2006 is on-line here. The official website for the National Day of Prayer is on-line here.
- The Word: Indulgence. The Chinese government's state-authorized Catholic church consecrated two bishops who had not been recognized by the Vatican in the past week, installing one on April 30 and another on May 3; the Vatican excommunicated these bishops in response. The Chinese government does not allow its state-authorized Catholic church to recognize the Vatican's authority, and many Catholics in China thus follow an underground church (source on-line here). While some bishops named by the government have conflicted with those named by the Vatican, many bishops of the state-authorized church have been recognized by the Vatican as well. Another issue between the Chinese government and the Vatican is the Vatican's recognition of Taiwan.
- Better Know a District. Rep. Earl Blumenauer is on-line here.
- Reference to Barry Bonds. According to a new book about San Francisco Giants player Barry Bonds, "Game of Shadows," Bonds used performance-enhancing drugs including steroids for at least five seasons. Bonds' weight trainer Greg Anderson and others pled guilty in July 2005 to conspiring to distribute and distributing illegal steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs to athletes (on-line here).
- Rick Reilly. His novel "Shanks for Nothing" is available on Amazon here.
5/3 - Paul Rieckhoff
- The Word: Name Game. In a report released on April 27 on the government response to Hurricane Katrina, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee recommended, among other things, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency be replaced by a new agency, the National Preparedness and Response Authority, that would still be within the Department of Homeland Security but would have a bigger budget and would communicate directly to the president in event of a disaster. The report is on-line here.
Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend said on April 27 (on-line here) that the White House and the Senate committee shared the same goal of having a strong disaster-relief agency and that they had many similar recommendations except for the abolishment of FEMA. "As we're heading into this hurricane season, now is not the time to really look at moving organizational boxes," she said of the recommendation for abolishing FEMA.
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) said in response (statement on-line here) that "we recognize that our recommendations will not be enacted in the next five weeks, before the next hurricane season begins. But we can not stay with the same deeply flawed system that has proven that it simply does not work."
- Stephen's Sound Advice. U.S. retail gasoline prices have increased in recent weeks, approaching the levels seen in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. Retail prices are now about twice as much as they were in 2003, and are approaching the inflation-adjusted highs of the 1970s. The graph below is based on information on-line here.
President George W. Bush said on April 25 (transcript on-line here) that he was trying to fight higher gas prices in several ways. Among other things, he said that he had directed the federal government to investigate illegal price manipulation (this is the manipulation Bush referred to when he said that "this administration is not going to tolerate manipulation"), had ordered the Department of Energy to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during the summer (the federal government regularly stockpiles oil) in order to reduce demand and thus help lower gas prices, and was encouraging the temporary lifting of fuel requirements.
Senate Republicans proposed on April 27 a legislative package that would have provided consumers with a $100 gas tax rebate and would have had various measures to increase gas production and supply (release on-line here). Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said on May 1 that the rebate would amount to a nine-month rebate on federal gas taxes (statement on-line here), but many people criticized the rebate and the measure is not expected to be part of new legislation.
- Paul Rieckhoff. His book "Chasing Ghosts" is available on Amazon here. He is the founder of the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, which is on-line here.
5/2 - Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee
- David Blaine. David Blaine (on-line here) is staying in a water-filled globe at New York's Lincoln Center from May 1 to May 8 and will attempt to make a new record for holding his breath at the end of the stunt. The finale will be televised on ABC.
- The Word: Healthy Appetite. The study Stephen refers to is described in a press release on-line here. The study tracked 216 families and found that 67 percent of those children who made small changes to their exercise and/or dietary habits maintained or reduced their percent body-mass index, compared to 53 percent of those children in the control group.
- Reference to Protests. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country participated in protests and a boycott on May 1 in order to show the impact that illegal immigrants have on the economy and to show opposition to proposed legislation that would toughen penalties against illegal immigrants.
The House of Representatives voted in December in favor of a border-security bill that would make living in the United States illegally into a criminal felony (doing so is now a violation of civil immigration law subject to deportation, not jail time) and could subject priests and social workers to jail time for assisting illegal immigrants (H.R. 4437) on December 16 (239 for and 182 against). The House bill does not provide for a temporary worker program, which President George W. Bush has called for and which would allow illegal aliens currently in the United States to pay a fee and become legally eligible for jobs which U.S. employers cannot fill with U.S. workers.
A compromise Senate immigration bill that was announced on April 6 and that would have provided amnesty for many illegal immigrants failed to be voted upon before Congress broke on April 7 for a recess, with Democrats blocking some Republican amendments to the bill that Democrats said would have reduced the effectiveness of the amnesty provisions. The compromise bill would have allowed some illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for more than five years to become citizens, forced illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for two to five years to leave and apply to be part of a new guest-worker program, and forced illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for less than two years to leave without eligibility for return.
Various surveys have estimated that the number of illegal immigrants grew dramatically over the 1990s. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated in 2003 that there were 7 million illegal immigrants in the United States in January 2000, almost doubling since 1990 (on-line here). A more recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center (on-line here) estimated that there were 10.3 million illegal aliens in the United States in March 2004.
- Stephen Colbert as Press Secretary. This video was shown at the recent White House Correspondents Association dinner, where Stephen spoke; an article about Stephen's remarks is on-line here. President George W. Bush announced on April 26 that Fox News commentator Tony Snow, who was a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush's administration, would succeed Scott McClellan as White House spokesman. Transcript on-line here.
The questions regarding Karl Rove are from a July 11, 2005 press conference (on-line here) in which Scott McClellan was grilled about the possibility that Rove may have disclosed the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame to conservative columnist Robert Novak in July 2003. 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 regarding a continuing investigation.
The question by longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas – "why did you really want to go to war" – was from a March 21, 2006 press conference (on-line here). Bush said in response that he did not want to go to war, that his foreign policy changed after September 11, and that Saddam Hussein posed a threat. "No President wants war. Everything you may have heard is that, but it's just simply not true," Bush said.
- Governor Huckabee. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has spoken frequently about the importance of healthier lifestyles and his own experience losing weight after being diagnosed with diabetes in 2003. A letter is on-line here and another account is on-line here.
5/1 - Jon Meacham
- Reference to Protests. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country participated in protests and a boycott on May 1 in order to show the impact that illegal immigrants have on the economy and to show opposition to proposed legislation that would toughen penalties against illegal immigrants.
The House of Representatives voted in December in favor of a border-security bill that would make living in the United States illegally into a criminal felony (doing so is now a violation of civil immigration law subject to deportation, not jail time) and could subject priests and social workers to jail time for assisting illegal immigrants (H.R. 4437) on December 16 (239 for and 182 against). The House bill does not provide for a temporary worker program, which President George W. Bush has called for and which would allow illegal aliens currently in the United States to pay a fee and become legally eligible for jobs which U.S. employers cannot fill with U.S. workers.
A compromise Senate immigration bill that was announced on April 6 and that would have provided amnesty for many illegal immigrants failed to be voted upon before Congress broke on April 7 for a recess, with Democrats blocking some Republican amendments to the bill that Democrats said would have reduced the effectiveness of the amnesty provisions. The compromise bill would have allowed some illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for more than five years to become citizens, forced illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for two to five years to leave and apply to be part of a new guest-worker program, and forced illegal immigrants who had been in the United States for less than two years to leave without eligibility for return.
Various surveys have estimated that the number of illegal immigrants grew dramatically over the 1990s. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated in 2003 that there were 7 million illegal immigrants in the United States in January 2000, almost doubling since 1990 (on-line here). A more recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center (on-line here) estimated that there were 10.3 million illegal aliens in the United States in March 2004.
- Correspondents Dinner. An article about Stephen Colbert's remarks at this year's White House Correspondents Association Dinner is on-line here.
- The Word: Drug-Fueled Sex Crime. Actor George Clooney recently visited the Darfur region of Sudan to help document conditions in refugee camps and spoke about his visit in a National Press Club appearance with Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois). The ongoing crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan stems from a rebellion that began in February 2003. In response, the government's armed forces and government-supported tribal militia now known as the Jingaweit reportedly have attacked the region's civilian population. Tens of thousands of civilians have reportedly died as a result of such fighting, and more than 1.5 million persons in the region have been displaced.
President George W. Bush called the ongoing crisis "genocide" in a September 9, 2004 statement (on-line here), though a commission established by the United Nations concluded in a January 2005 report that the government had not pursued a policy of genocide even if some individuals may have committed acts with genocidal intent.
- Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger. Exxon announced on April 27 (press release on-line here) that it had $8.4 billion in earnings in the first quarter of 2006, an increase of $540 million from the first quarter of 2005. The earnings reportedly were the highest the company had seen in the first quarter of a year, but the earnings per share was reportedly less than the consensus of analysts, and Exxon share prices dropped slightly in trading after the announcement.
Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly announced last week that women would be allowed to attend sporting events (article on-line here). According to the State Department's human rights report on Iran (on-line here), the Iranian government enforces gender segregation in most public places. As for the Iranian hostage crisis, militant Iranian students occupied the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, beginning in November 1979 and lasting to January 1981.
The Doonesbury character B.D., who was wounded while serving in Iraq, has in recent strips received counseling and acknowledged his guilt over causing civilian deaths while ordering his convoy to escape enemy fire. Doonesbury is on-line here and the series depicting BD's memory of what happened begins here.
Chicago's City Council voted on April 26 to ban the sale of foie gras by imposing a $500 fine for its sale. California enacted a similar law in 2004 that would go into effect in 2012. Farm Sanctuary, a group that supported the ban, has information on its campaign and the issue on-line here.
- Spam Anniversary. A piece by Brad Templeton, chairman of the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, about the first piece of unsolicited junk mail and its 25th anniversary is on-line here.
