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Saturday, August 03, 2002

posted by gbarto at 5:22 PM:
But is she staying?

Chinese Girl Found on East Coast
Twelve-year-old Yukun Jia discovered safe with relatives
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posted by gbarto at 5:18 PM:
I'm a week off the ball here, but do see Will Warren's latest on the ongoing diet wars.
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posted by gbarto at 5:16 PM:
Bjørn's back and mocking the latest mucked-up effort at a peace process.
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posted by gbarto at 4:24 PM:
Natalie Solent was writing on phonics, etc., over at Samizdata. I found it at Joanne Jacobs. And herewith, my own comments:

Phonics are downplayed by some, boosted by others. And most of the perspective comes from English teachers attempting to get the little ones to learn their own language. But phonics is not just about mastering one's native tongue. It's about understanding how language, as an oral/aural phenomenon works. And if one wishes to see the bankruptcy of the whole language approach, one need only look at how bewildered students taught with whole language become when learning a foreign tongue.

When learning English (in England or the U.S. - or even Canada or Australia, one presumes), there are lots of inputs that help out the whole language teacher. There are billboards, text messages on television (even in car commercials, never mind Sesame Street). What's more, if you don't recognize a word, mum or dad is usually willing to help out. As a result, it is possible to flash words at kids - words that they already know and understand in the spoken language - and get them to associate letter groupings with the words.

Learning a foreign language doesn't work like putting writing with a language one is already on the way to mastering. In a French class, one will find students confusing horses and hair (chevaux and cheveux) and worse because they've never learned to sound out a word, and can no longer offer a guess that makes sense. Granted, French spelling is at times as bewildering as English spelling. Nonetheless, observing some simple rules one can read it aloud passably, even without knowing what one is saying. But without an understanding of the need to sound things out one syllable at a time, one will soon be taking mice for smiles (souris/sourire), boiling their first drafts (bouilloner/brouillon) and making other ludicrous guesses at words that sound familiar but aren't yet truly learned. And then when it comes time to write something down, things get even worse.

When I taught my first French class, this did not seem like a problem; I taught the phonetics of the French language piece by piece and when a student tried to guess at an unfamiliar word, I said, "Sound it out," and the student did. A couple years in, however, and "sound it out" started drawing vacant stares. And all of a sudden, I found that I was teaching English phonics and English spelling rules so that my students would know what was going on when they learned French phonics and French spelling rules. It seemed that some had been memorizing lists their whole lives, with only a shaky understanding of the connection between the letters on the page and the sounds on their lips. Which meant that when it came time to put new sounds on those lips - the "u" with rounded lips versus the "ou" which sounds more like "oo" (as in Pooh) in English, for example, it was difficult to explain how simple it really was: the one was written "ou," the other "u," and all you had to do was pronounce the one written there on the sheet. Total lack of comprehension. And so they would say, "J'ai vous, un ami" - I have you, a friend - instead of "J'ai vu un ami" - I saw a friend, and so on, and the like because they really hadn't gotten the hang of reading, western style. It was like all the memory games to associate the word "fish" with a little swimmy thing had turned the four letters into a peculiar ideograph or glyph and when suddenly "poison" (like English) and "poisson" (French for fish) came into the picture and they had to guess at another funny letter-jumble, it was just too much to bear.

All this to say that the few anecdotes and light-hearted rambling above are about something deadly serious: Whether children have a solid connection between the language they speak and the language they write. When the two separate, illiteracy and subliteracy are the result. But when the two are put together soundly, an understanding of language can come about that is so strong that even foreign languages can come to be more than jumbles of letters and gibberish in the air. Which is why I'm voting for the phonics movement.
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posted by gbarto at 4:09 PM:
A few days old, but Matt Welch has also been saying nice things about Gray Davis.
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posted by gbarto at 3:39 PM:
Incidentally, the cloud of smoke seems to have been near the armory; we're guessing it was a training exercise since there seems to have been no to-do about it.
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posted by gbarto at 3:38 PM:
Idea: Turn empty lots into homes
Silicon Valley has plenty of places to park but not enough places to live, according to a coalition of community groups that says the solution is right in front of us: Turn empty parking spaces into homes.

I'd sure like to know where all those parking places are. But here's another thought: Why not turn defunct businesses and little used parks into parking? Then we could cut poverty and pollution since you'd no longer need a full tank of gas to keep running until you found a parking space.
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posted by gbarto at 3:33 PM:

Shady Gray



Here's what the California papers are playing right now:

Jury award compounds Simon's woes
In a decision certain to undermine Bill Simon's gubernatorial campaign, a Los Angeles jury on Wednesday ordered his firm to pay $65 million for defrauding and destroying a pay phone company.

And they're grateful to get to play on this instead of having to focus on their bud, Gray Davis and his latest. It did top the Mercury News the other day, but it seems to me it ought to be getting more play:

Davis Donors Dump Dioxin in San Francisco Bay


Did California polluters pay for permit change with campaign contributions?



Here's the Mercury News:
Permit OK'd after donation to Davis
State officials allowed one of California's largest polluters to increase toxic discharges into San Francisco Bay shortly after the company donated $70,500 to Gov. Gray Davis, a Mercury News investigation has found.

You may think we're picking on the governor, so let's pile on a little more:
Highlights from the guv's term we first mentioned July 18:

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posted by gbarto at 3:18 PM:
Members of Congress Defiant About Polygraph Tests

Don't you people get it? Those are for other people.

Just like airport check-in lines (why waste your time with that when you can fly Eli Lilly?).
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Friday, August 02, 2002

posted by gbarto at 11:53 PM:
Still nothing on whatever happened near San Jose; we'll see what tomorrow reports; the web is dead and local news is useless. Perhaps just a factory fire that we saw at the hottest moment; we'll see.
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posted by gbarto at 11:45 PM:
French news:
Le Monde leads with "Vast reprisals in Trans-Jordan area". Secondary lead: Turkey Abolishes Death Penalty, this as part of its bid to join the EU.

At Libé the lead is "The Mafia and Figure Skating, a strange pair on the ice."
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posted by gbarto at 11:02 PM:
Hmmmmm. Coming up Highway 17 toward Los Gatos, my fiancée saw a hell of an explosion about 9:15; still no idea what it was and the local media probably won't offer anything until the major wires report so not sure when - if ever - we'll find out what it is. Would appreciate info if anyone has any.
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posted by gbarto at 11:21 AM:
Time to Pack Heat, Ladies
Louisiana gov. advises women scared of serial killer to get guns

At least he knows what a citizens' militia is. But of course that citizens' militia is usually only supposed to be activated because a) the government is incapable of providing security or b) the government is a threat to security.

In other news, he's advising those who live in areas with fire hazards to buy buckets and supersoakers.
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posted by gbarto at 11:18 AM:
Reading, Writing and Lawsuits
Teachers are being sued by parents for giving students failing grades

And next they'll be complaining that the kids aren't getting an education again.

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posted by gbarto at 1:55 AM:
Send this to Joe Biden: Den Beste's explanation of why the Bushies are right that Saddaam should go.
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posted by gbarto at 1:47 AM:
A Dog's Life has some lovely thoughts on - would you believe it? - dogs! After this post, scroll up or down for some things that will make you wonder if dogs really are that smart, considering the stuff they put up with from the folks who call them their best friends. And if you can help, do so.
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posted by gbarto at 1:39 AM:
Le Monde: Israel launches a vigorous response.

Le Figaro leads with the news that the salaries of parliamentarians will be "regularized" or "revalued" after the Jospin government tabled the issue. The measure will give the parliamentarians nice pay raises, but the final salaries will be comparable with what other European ministers and legislators were making; before, they made about half to two-thirds as much as their counterparts in other countries. So explains the drafter of the legislation; Chirac and Raffarin have both washed their hands of the measure.

Le Figaro also tells us that Bush is breaking with the "Iranian moderates," with Energy Secretary Spence Abraham ratcheting up the pressure on Russia to stop giving the regime nuclear technology and Bush making it known that he favors the "Iranian people" and not any government that in any way answers to the needs of the theocrats.

Libé, like Le Figaro, leads with the pay raise for the Assemblée. Their second lead is the tension in Washington over an invasion of Iraq.
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Thursday, August 01, 2002

posted by gbarto at 9:02 PM:
We've had tragedy averted (kidnapped girls freed, kidnapper shot) and the Israelis are on the move. This we know, and will have further comment tonight. For the moment, just a short note:

It's your chance to feed the Turkey and get cool stuff! Of course if you want you can just put some money in the tip jar (be sure to let me know, I like to get the chance to say thanks), but there are also two, count 'em, two pages of recommended reading from the TurkeyBlog now. They are here (for French lit and computer stuff) and here (Sci-fi and philosophy) and if you buy from either (or even look up a book using the search box a small percentage goes into our server costs, etc. Thank you.
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posted by gbarto at 11:55 AM:
Watch out for the new coffee laws in Berkeley, where a can of Folger's crystals will land you in the can.
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posted by gbarto at 11:53 AM:
While Slate's policing the NYT, Natalie Solent is keeping an eye on the guardian and its pro-Palestinian sympathies.
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posted by gbarto at 11:40 AM:
We're running a little late, but here's your French news round-up:
Says Le Monde: "For UN, there was no massacre at Jenin"; they also note that Russia is threatening to intervene in Chechnya, this just a week or two after Putin and Chirac exchanged glowing sentiments for one another and Chirac said he understood Putin's concerns, vis-à-vis the separatist republic.

Le Figaro leads with Jean-Pierre Raffarin's first informal press conference, in which he sketched out his idea for where France should be going and how it should get there. He's optimistic about his ability to turn France around and convinced he's already on the right path; we'll see about that, but the political headlines sure are different than they were six months ago.

By the way, McDonald's vandal and Palestinian sympathizer José Bové is out of prison.

Libé, like Le Monde, leads with "United Nations: No Massacre at Jenin." Libé also notes the release of José Bové and his intention to re-enter the fray immediately (he said "battle," but we know better than that).
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posted by gbarto at 11:28 AM:
Slate becomes Bush-Cheney flak vehicle? Who knew? But Today's Papers says of an NYT investigation of Cheney's handling of a purchase of a company with asbestos liabilities:
The Times wonders whether Cheney might not have properly vetted the company before he negotiated to buy it. So, what did the paper find? Not much. Despite the article's suggestive headline, "CHENEY'S ROLE IN ACQUISITION UNDER SCRUTINY," it doesn't quote anybody questioning the deal, nor does it say that anybody is scrutinizing it. In fact, it doesn't offer any significant evidence that Cheney messed up....

Overall, the Cheney story seems like a worthy fishing expedition that happened to come up empty—and yet still got Page One play.
Additionally, Kausfiles asks, "Cheney is guilty of ... what?" His answer:
[The piece is] written clearly enough -- which makes it easy to see that it's not even close to damning. No fire, no smoke to speak of -- not even the general perception of smoke that's sometimes generated by the very incomprehensibility of Gerth's prose.

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Wednesday, July 31, 2002

posted by gbarto at 12:09 PM:
Here's what the Jerusalem Post has for news at this hour:
SEVEN DEAD, 86 WOUNDED IN HEBREW UNIVERSITY BLAST
By TOVAH LAZAROFF AND STUART WINER
All of those killed are not Israeli citizens. Hamas claims responsibility for the deadly attack. Twelve wounded are in critical or serious condition.

White House slams attack as 'horrific act of terror'
By JANINE ZACHARIA

EU condemns bombing yet defends new aid package for Palestinian Authority
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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posted by gbarto at 12:06 PM:
Man Accused of Selling Fake IDs to Sept. 11 Hijackers Flees to Egypt
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posted by gbarto at 12:03 PM:
Mob Beats Two Men to Death in Chicago
CHICAGO — Two men whose van jumped a curb and crashed into pedestrians died after an angry mob pulled them out and beat them with bricks, witnesses and police said.

What do they think this is? A fucking sharia state? This is sick and the people involved needed to spend a long time - say, the rest of their lives - in prison, thinking it over. Because in the US, we use due process, not goddamned mob justice where the witnesses play judge, jury and executioner. Sick and repulsive.
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posted by gbarto at 11:59 AM:
In a time of crisis, you can always count on Time Warner:

Time Warner Charges Flood Victims $300 for Each Damaged Cable Box
This has to be read to be believed. No wonder corporate America is such an easy target. I'm not sure of the total cost involved, but I think that if I were the head of AT&T cable, I'd be offering to replace the boxes, just to stick it to Time Warner and be well positioned the next time there's a dispute about who in the cable industry truly tries to work with consumers.
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posted by gbarto at 11:46 AM:
Two Americans Dead in Jerusalem Blast
Five others dead at Hebrew University; 85 hurt; Hamas claims responsibility; Israelis say they'll strike back in hours

So much for our optimistic note two days ago. Incidentally, says Fox, "Arab students were believed to be among the casualties." But since Hamas does not exist to help Arabs, but only to murder Jews, this is no big deal to them. It is safe to say that if they were given the choice of seeing every Jew and every Palestinian die or seeing a million Palestinians and ten Jews survive in the end, they'd choose the first, so black is their rage. They say this attack was in response to the Israeli attack on the home of Hamas' military leader last week. So this, then, is war. Israel should wage it to the fullest, and the US, who has new casualties in this part of the terror war, ought be firmly on its side. But note in this that it is war not with the Palestinians, but with Hamas. The Palestinian people again have a choice: are they on the side of peace, which means supporting Israel and the Palestinians in a quest for peace while opposing Hamas for its violent interruptions of the peace process? Or are they on the side of war, opposing Arafat's claimed desire for peace and supporting Hamas vision of conflict lasting until one side is dead? They'd best choose wisely.

Of course this comes after Israel Hands Cash to Arafat, because as we know, Arafat is not really a peacemaker: his capabilities run from null to killer; he's far too weak to put down the hatred he's unleashed for his purposes in the past.

Elsewhere, Gunman Kills 8 in Beirut Office.
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posted by gbarto at 12:22 AM:
Went to see "Read My Lips," the latest French flick to hit theaters. It ain't Amelie, with its charm, its delight, its whimsy, its joy. It is, however, a bizarre but extremely well done film with some engaging actors. Emmanuelle Devos plays a deaf secretary who with her fellow outcast, a felon turned secretarial assistant, finds love and adventure - and a lot of money, filched from gangsters.

As far as my loyalties go, I prefer Amelie, which is certainly among the most delightful movies ever made, whether one thinks it high art or not. But "Read My Lips" shows that Amelie was not just a fluke, that the French are indeed capable of making exciting, innovative movies with a lot to offer beyond existential angst about bicycles. Have a look if it makes it to a cinema nearby - which it well may; while I saw it at the Indie theater in San Jose, it is showing up in some genuine multiplexes.
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posted by gbarto at 12:14 AM:
Free Speech for the Few
Girl sues high school for not letting her criticize gay lifestyle

B-b-b-b-but this free speech stuff was only supposed to offend conservatives! The problem here is the girl really should have better things to do with her time than worry about this stuff. And the folks trying to shut her up should really have better things to do with their time than fuss with one girl with an opinion that's hardly mainstream. To misquote the adage, let her open her mouth and prove herself a fool. Right now the PC censors are merely creating the impression of an equivalency of intolerance for differences.
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posted by gbarto at 12:03 AM:
Torricelli Gets Senate Spanking
Senate Ethics Committee 'severely' admonishes embattled New Jersey Democrat for accepting gifts from a campaign contributor

But seriously, folks, we told you a week ago that Daschle and friends weren't willing to risk the Torch's seat with things this tight. Nothing short of a felony conviction will get the Democrats to demand better of their own.


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Tuesday, July 30, 2002

posted by gbarto at 11:53 PM:
French news round-up:
Le Monde leads with "The Difficult Franco-German Understanding," specifically about agricultural policies. It's a real concern since if the two biggest countries in the EU can't get it together, there are real consequences for the functioning of the Union and its possibilities for enlargement. The two parties claim they'll work it out by December. We shall see.

Le Monde also has the latest Suicide Bombing, a real one in that the only fatality was the Palestinian bomber; seven Israelis were wounded, but none killed. It happened, by the way, in the center of Jerusalem.

Le Figaro leads with news that in "Traffic Enforcement: Alcohol takes center stage". The French-German talks and Suicide Bombing are the second and third leads.

Libération leads with "Drugs on the Podium"; the third place finisher (?) in the Tour de France is facing questions about drug charges; his wife was suspended from the race.

Libé also notes that the Congo and Rwanda have finally made peace, though more from exhaustion than from renewed goodwill.
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posted by gbarto at 2:11 AM:
Le Figaro, as Le Monde, is headlining the news that the France is being taken out of Air France. Says Le Figaro, Francis Mer Puts Air France on the Path to Privatization.

However, Libération breaks with the other two majors, headlining the Plight of the Romanians. Nicolas Sarkozy, Minister of the Interior, thus manages to get one headline. He met with his opposite number from Romania to discuss the abuse of the handicapped and exploited minors.
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posted by gbarto at 2:02 AM:
Reports Le Monde:
Air France: On the Path to Privatization
The French government hopes to reduce its stake from 54% to 20% so the airline can consolidate, modernize and build stronger alliances than it can currently.
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Monday, July 29, 2002

posted by gbarto at 12:13 PM:
Palestinian Passive Resistance
Nablus ignores military curfew, opens shops as soldiers stand by

Finally, they've started to figure it out. Though there's a curfew, banks and stores were open and people were going to them. And the Israeli military, wisely, was not interfering.
Nablus Gov. Mahmoud Aloul said the protest could spread to "every city and every town exposed to such order." He told The Associated Press: "It's a way of civic resistance and it's a legitimate way, because we are not carrying weapons we are not killing anybody."
If this is the stuff that curfew violation is to be made of, then we're all for it. And if it spreads, as the mayor says it might, who knows? We might have an orderly Palestine of the sort with which Israel can do business in a few months. Much remains to be seen, but for the moment, at least, one Palestinian town has figured out the right way to position themselves in this dispute. May others follow.
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posted by gbarto at 12:05 PM:
New dog breeds at A Dog's Life. Example: A bloodhound and labrador = a blabrador, a dog that barks constantly. Cute list.
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posted by gbarto at 12:41 AM:
Cue the Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme music: It's return of the disappearing telecom revenues!
Qwest to Restate Earnings
Officials cite accounting errors, including overstated revenues
Said one company official, "We can't even spell! Why'd they think we could add?"
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posted by gbarto at 12:38 AM:
French news round-up:
Le Monde leads with "Pedophilia: the Pope's shame," presumably referring to how he felt about it, not his individual shame. He called upon the faithful to rally around the clergy, the vast majority of whom are purported to be good and virtuous. Probably has a point, though the actions of the Church hierarchy to protect those who weren't virtuous raises problems with his assurances about a trustworthy clergy. It is understandable that Catholics might feel, to paraphrase Bush, that the Church must decide if it's with them, or with the pedophiles.

Meanwhile, we knew it would come to this, but how ugly still it seems:
ISRAËL-PALESTINE: Nouvelles violences, espoirs d'accalmie / Renewed violence, lessening hopes
At Hebron, Jewish colonists threw stones and shot at Palestinian homes. One Palestinian adolescent died.
It is at this point that the Jews have to rethink the colonisation program; at the least, they have to set some clear limits for settlers. Because the bottom line is that heretofore one has been able to point to a difference between Israeli troops - organized, official representatives of the state - acting (relatively) responsibly and systematically within official guidelines while Palestinians lashed out with no intent other than to harm. The settlers are doing what months of Palestinian diplomatic charades could not: bring moral equivalency between the two camps.

Le Figaro leads with Raffarin's visit to Corsica, where he met up with Interior Minister Sarkozy. At issue, whether Corsican nationalists can be convinced to sing along with the Marseillaise or if the island is to go even further along its own path. It should be noted that Mérimée's Colomba (the author also wrote Carmen) from one and a half centuries ago was tinkering with the differences between Corsica and France and the separate cultures they possessed; this is nothing new.

Libé, however, has the scoop on Corsica, an interview with Raffarin in which he says he plans to make Corsica a precursor for his plans for decentralization.
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Sunday, July 28, 2002

posted by gbarto at 12:21 PM:
Natalie Solent on Michael Bellesiles, the anti-gun historian who turned fraudulent in an effort to sustain his thesis. I, too, feel sorry for the guy. In American academe there are certain touchstones treated as articles of truth: Reagan was an idiot, McCarthy found zero Communists, the Cold War was unnecessary and America's love affair with guns is a misguided aberration. Bellesiles was already leaning toward his thesis and it was just the sort of thing to put him on the map in a competitive field. Like the folks who came up with "cold fusion", the poor bastard just couldn't help himself when the spotlight beckoned. This is, of course, Bellesiles' own damn fault. But it's also the fault of institutions - colleagues, reviewers, fact-checkers and publishers - who let one of their own wander into an ambush hoping that if he survived then their faulty thesis could claim to have been tested. The value of the professional community in this area is now apparent: Bellesiles is denounced or ignored by all but a few colleagues now, having only recently been the talk of the town. And the people who were so happy to lend their names to his thesis are now like the rats fleeing the sinking ship - glad for the ride but more than happy to let Bellesiles take the fall alone for what was really a conspiracy of ignorance.
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posted by gbarto at 11:52 AM:
House Approves Trade Deal
Predawn 215-212 vote would give president broad negotiating authority

Bravo to the House; let's hope the Senate will do the right thing.
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posted by gbarto at 11:47 AM:
Conflicting Accounts of Gifts to Torricelli

A quick primer: The ones that sound bad are probably true. The ones that don't sound so bad are the ones the Senate ethics probe will believe. Because the Senate's too close for Daschle and friends to let a little thing like ethics or the integrity of the chamber get in the way of their slim majority.
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posted by gbarto at 11:44 AM:

Armstrong remporte
son quatrième Tour


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posted by gbarto at 12:25 AM:
French news: Le Monde leads with news that legal action is now pending years after an anti-terrorist group set up by then president François Mitterand's government illegally tapped the phones of 150 people. It also has the air disaster in the Ukraine and word that Lance Armstrong is again on the path to victory.

Elsewhere, Libé tells us that Jean Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister of the Republic dropped by Corsica; Sarkozy's been around there lately too.
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posted by gbarto at 12:17 AM:
Hmm. Among those at whose records Princeton peeked was Lauren Bush. Didn't the legacy thing pretty much assure her place anyway? All in all, I'm not sure I'd want to go to Princeton (as if I'd have been a candidate); they don't seem very sharp there.
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posted by gbarto at 12:14 AM:
83 dead in Ukraine air show crash
Ukraine’s president pledged to punish fired the air force chief and called for an end to all such shows.
The text is discombobulated, but I like the message. Of course this poses one problem: too often, military leaders in democracies feel like they have to put on such shows to rally support from a public that doesn't understand where its tax dollars are going. It's even worse in dictatorships where shows of strength seem imperative for wowing "the people". But with accidents like this, the publicity gains from from airshows aren't worth much anyway.
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posted by gbarto at 12:08 AM:
Thank God! All the miners are safe!
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