Checking Accounts
As Investigations Proliferate, Big Banks Feel Under the Gun
Links to Cash-Transfer Firms Raise Troubling Questions About Money Laundering
A Probe of Bank of America
By Glenn R. Simpson
Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK -- Until last year, federal prosecutors say, a tiny Brooklyn ice-cream shop was a vital cog in al Qaeda's global fund-raising operation.
Carnival French Ice Cream sold only the occasional cone from its ground-floor nook in a four-story walk-up in the Park Slope neighborhood. Its real function, according to the government, was to move money.
The shop took in $22 million between 1997 and 2003, the Justice Department alleges in federal court filings in New York. Prosecutors believe that Carnival diverted much of that money to a radical sheik in Yemen working with Osama bin Laden. The funds departed New York via the most modern and efficient method the American financial-services industry has to offer: an account at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
The Carnival case, according to prosecutors, illustrates how since the late 1990s, major U.S. banks doing business with suspect money-transfer outfits like the Brooklyn shop have wired billions of dollars into and out of New York for suspected terrorist and criminal organizations.
One Yemeni-American man has been convicted of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Carnival probe, and three others await trial on money-laundering and related charges.
Prosecutors haven't accused J.P. Morgan Chase of wrongdoing related to Carnival. But the bank and some of its major rivals now find themselves in law enforcement's cross hairs, as regulators and prosecutors crack down on what they say is widespread abuse in the $50 billion international money-transfer industry.
Bank executives say they are being asked to bear a heavy burden in seeking to root out criminals who use them to move money. The executives say they are avidly trying to comply, but the authorities counter that the industry must do even more. One unintended consequence of this friction is that banks are simply dropping many small money-transfer businesses as clients, a move that could hurt millions of poor immigrants who send cash to relatives overseas.
All of this activity is taking place in the shadow of sensational revelations earlier this year about how Riggs National Corp., a storied institution in Washington, for years failed to make required reports to regulators about hundreds of millions of dollars in suspicious transactions. The Riggs affair involved transactions by foreign officials. But as with some cases involving storefront money-transmitters, Riggs was shown to have failed to sound an alarm over large and seemingly dubious money movements.
Now, Robert Morgenthau, the local district attorney in Manhattan, has threatened to indict Bank of America Corp. on money-laundering charges related to a suspect Latin American firm, according to federal law-enforcement officials who have been briefed on the matter. Mr. Morgenthau, in an interview, acknowledges that he is talking with the bank over how to resolve allegations that it transferred hundreds of millions of dollars for a Uruguayan money-transmitting business linked to drug trafficking, tax fraud and other financial crimes.
Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton says it "does not comment on its relations with customers or communications with regulators and law enforcement." She adds that the bank takes its anti-money-laundering responsibilities "extremely seriously," and is "routinely cooperating and partnering with law enforcement to investigate and help prosecute any individuals who might attempt to misuse our banking operations."
Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress toughened requirements on banks to investigate their own customers and alert the government to fishy activity. But a spate of recent fines, criminal investigations and prosecutions is raising questions about how effectively banks are fulfilling their role as front-line cops in the offensive against financial impropriety.
In May, regulators imposed a $25 million fine on Riggs for its lapses; a federal criminal investigation is pending. In October, AmSouth Bancorp. of Birmingham, Ala., agreed to a pay $50 million in penalties for what federal banking regulators and prosecutors say was a breakdown in its money-laundering controls. And in November, The Wall Street Journal reported that Bank of New York Co. is negotiating with federal prosecutors to pay a fine of perhaps $24 million to avert a potential criminal indictment on charges that it failed to report suspicious activity at one of its branches. Bank of New York escaped criminal penalty in 2000 when a former executive and her husband pleaded guilty to laundering as much as $5 billion in suspect funds from Russia in the 1990s.
Some banking executives say that the government underestimated the challenges of outsourcing to the industry so much of an expensive and unpopular task. Simultaneously executing and scrutinizing trillions of dollars in daily transactions, the executives argue, is a profound logistical challenge.
By analogy, says William McDavid, general counsel at J.P. Morgan Chase, "think if you're running a railroad, and we say to you, 'We want you to monitor everyone who takes your train and see if their trip is legitimate.' " Still, he says J.P. Morgan Chase is spending tens of millions of dollars to comply with the law, adding in-house lawyers and accountants and new computer software for self-monitoring.
Regulators say they appreciate the logistical challenges banks face, but they note that this year's big cases aren't instances of banks missing an occasional check. Rather, banks seem to have ignored numerous transactions that should have raised red flags. Senior executives of Riggs, for instance, overlooked huge cash transactions by Saudi diplomats whom American law enforcement suspects of channeling money to extremist Islamic causes.
The Bank Secrecy Act requires banks to keep basic data on account holders -- such as the identities of all beneficial owners and their sources of income -- and to file reports with the government when they do anything defined by federal regulators as inherently "suspicious," such as the wiring of large sums by obscure companies in jurisdictions with notoriously weak regulation. The act also requires banks to report any cash transaction of $10,000 or more.
Even after Congress toughened the law, ambiguities remain. The USA Patriot Act, enacted in late 2001, added a new requirement that banks give more scrutiny to "high risk" customers. But it is unclear precisely what that term means. Similarly, the law was changed to require banks to conduct "special due diligence" on certain foreign financial firms with which they do business. But it isn't clear, American banks say, whether that applies only to foreign banks or also to overseas money-transfer companies.
Morgenthau Probe
In the Bank of America investigation, Mr. Morgenthau, the veteran Manhattan district attorney, says the bank has transferred hundreds of millions of dollars for a money transmitter in Uruguay called Lespan SA and its affiliates. The prosecutor and federal officials familiar with the matter say they suspect the money has come from Colombian drug trafficking and other criminal activity.
Alvaro Barriero, an official at Lespan subsidiary Gales Casa Cambio in Montevideo, says Lespan hasn't engaged in any illegal activity. The firm has a very active legal-compliance department, he says.
The Bank of America investigation could get much broader and sweep in other major banks as well. A related local prosecution earlier this year -- in which Mr. Morgenthau's office obtained the conviction of a New York money transmitter operating without a license -- yielded a mountain of data about wire transfers involving Lespan by Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup Inc. and Wachovia Corp. Mr. Morgenthau's staff is now reviewing transactions related to all four banks.
At The Wall Street Journal's request, the data-analysis firm I2 Inc. examined the wire transfers from the New York case, more than 300,000 transactions between 1997 and early 2003. The analysis found that the four banks, among others, moved hundreds of millions of dollars between New York and Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil at the behest of obscure firms in the British Virgin Islands, a well-known financial-secrecy haven.
"It's a matter of major concern that there was this gap in our supervision and control" of the financial system, Mr. Morgenthau says.
According to American and Brazilian officials, much of the money appears to have come from a lawless enclave known as the Tri-Border Area, a free-trade zone on the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The officials say the area is dominated by organized criminal groups, including narcotics traffickers and people raising money -- by means of smuggling and copyright piracy -- for the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. American and Brazilian investigators are looking at whether the big banks made an effort to determine how small firms in Uruguay and Paraguay could possibly have taken in so much cash from legitimate commerce. The investigators are also examining whether the banks inquired into the ownership of the British Virgin Islands companies.
Brazilian Investigation
The Brazilian government jointly is investigating political corruption, tax evasion and other alleged financial crimes involving Lespan. In connection with its probe, Brazilian officials have sent a 100-page document to the U.S. Justice Department, seeking assistance from American investigators. The Brazilian document confirms major aspects of the Journal's computer analysis of the more than 300,000 wire transfers that came to light in the local New York case. The Brazilian document, which became publicly available through filings in U.S. federal courts, names Wachovia and several other banks as conduits for Lespan.
The Journal's analysis of the evidence introduced in the local New York case provides only a sampling of this complex set of bank relationships with Lespan. The analysis shows that Lespan used Citigroup's Citibank unit to move nearly $142 million to New York. Wachovia wired at least $38 million into and out of Lespan's operations in South America. Lespan relied on Bank of America to move at least $8.8 million, the records show. All told, the analysis of the records shows that Lespan used major banks to move at least $265 million between the U.S. and Latin America.
J.P. Morgan Chase spokeswoman Judith Miller says, "Preventing money laundering is one of the highest priorities at J.P. Morgan Chase." Citigroup stopped doing business with Lespan in 2001 after detecting possible money-laundering, according to bank records and people familiar with the matter. A spokeswoman for Wachovia, Mary Eshet, says the bank has strong policies to prevent money laundering. She declines to comment further.
Dropping Transmitters
Big banks are scrambling to beef up their internal compliance staffs and acquire the latest software designed to flag suspicious transactions. One industry reaction that caught the government by surprise is that some banks are hastily ridding themselves of many of their money-transmitter clients. That threatens to hurt the money-transfer industry, which mainly serves the working immigrant poor.
In a letter distributed this fall, Citibank informed money transmitters that they are "no longer considered a part of our target market." The letter gave recipients two weeks to find a new bank.
Transmitters charge a fee to move funds for people who generally don't have bank accounts. The firms depend upon banks to carry out the transfers -- a mutually lucrative arrangement -- and have long operated with little regulation, making them vulnerable to exploitation by criminals and terrorists. It was only after it became known that the Sept. 11, 2001, plot was financed in large part through such transmitters that they were targeted by regulators.
The largest money-transmitting companies, such as Western Union, a unit of First Data Corp., have compliance units and elaborate surveillance systems. Even with those protections, Western Union has come under closer scrutiny by regulators. A majority of the industry consists of small independent outfits that generally don't have much in the way of internal policing. The industry exports a total of more than $20 billion from the U.S. every year.
Government officials are worried now that if money transferers can't go to banks, they will only be more likely to seek illegal methods of shipping cash. "It does no one any good if banks refuse to take these businesses -- that just encourages them to go underground," William Fox, the director of the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, said in a statement. "A transparent money-services sector is vital to the health of the world's economy."
David Landsman, executive director of the National Money Transmitters Association, said in a recent letter to his members that he has warned U.S. officials that up to 75% of the check-cashing and transfer firms in New York could soon go out of business. Mr. Landsman says in an interview that nearly all transmitters are legitimate and that they play a vital role in providing cash to developing economies. Without them, immigrant workers will be forced to pay much higher bank fees to wire money home, he predicts.
Yemeni Connection
Prosecutors have alleged that Carnival French Ice Cream was primarily an unlicensed money-transmission operation for Yemeni immigrants. Between Sept. 11, 2001, and last year, when it was shut down, the shop allegedly moved at least $5.3 million out of the country through J.P. Morgan Chase. Some of that money came from charitable collections at mosques.
Yet, according to J.P. Morgan Chase officials, there was little about Carnival that generated suspicion. In Park Slope, neighbors say the business fit right in with a pizza parlor, a cellphone store, a laundromat and other small shops on an ethnically mixed block.
The firm opened its first account in 1982 with Manufacturer's Hanover, which was later acquired by Chase Manhattan, which merged with J.P. Morgan. Over the years, Yemeni immigrants associated with Carnival set up a series of at least 10 other accounts at various other New York banks in the names of other small businesses, such as Prospect Deli in Brooklyn. Funds then flowed among the accounts, creating the appearance of a network of small businesses, perhaps jointly owned by a group of immigrant entrepreneurs, as is common in some big cities.
In reality, the government alleges, the other accounts were "feeder accounts" designed to avoid suspiciously large deposits into Carnival's primary Morgan account. These feeder accounts generally made deposits to Carnival's account below the $10,000 level that triggers a report to the federal government.
Once channeled into the main Carnival account, the money was wired to Yemen and other countries. But the feeders were a fraud, the FBI alleges in filings in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Prospect Deli, the FBI says, pumped some $3.8 million into Carnival's J.P. Morgan Chase account from December 1997 to April 2003, even though the deli went out of business in 2000.
While Carnival allegedly tried to hide its activity from the bank, an FBI agent involved in the case described in an arrest-warrant affidavit a number of "suspicious banking activities" for an account controlled by the ice-cream shop. The store's gross receipts from merchandise sales totaled less than $200,000 annually, FBI Agent Sharon Hassell said in the April 2003 sworn statement. Yet millions were wire-transferred out of its J.P Morgan Chase account "to a myriad of individuals, companies and foreign bank accounts, including banks in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Thailand and China."
J.P. Morgan Chase officials say they never suspected Carnival. They point out that on an average day, the bank processes more than 320,000 wire payments valued at nearly $2.3 trillion.
By the end of 2005, J. P. Morgan Chase says it will have spent more than $20 million on improved transaction-monitoring systems and software. In the future, the bank's new protections will detect and flag customers like Carnival, bank officials say.
INDUSTRY UNDER SCRUTINY
Some major cases from 2004 that raise questions about banks' self-policing:
• Riggs: Fined $25 million for failing to alert regulators to hundreds of millions of dollars of suspicious transfers involving foreign officials; a criminal investigation is pending.
• J.P. Morgan Chase: Transferred millions of dollars for a Brooklyn ice-cream shop that allegedly sent money to an al Qaeda ally in Yemen; the bank wasn't prosecuted.
• Bank of America: Under investigation in New York for its alleged role in transferring funds for a money transmitter in Uruguay purportedly tied to the narcotics trade; other major banks could be drawn into the case.
• Bank of New York: Negotiating with federal prosecutors to pay a fine of perhaps $24 million to avert a potential criminal indictment on charges that it failed to report suspicious activity at one of its branches.
• AmSouth: Agreed to pay $50 million in penalties for what federal banking regulators and prosecutors say was a breakdown in its money-laundering controls.
• ABN Amro: New York branch of Dutch banking giant reached an agreement with the Federal Reserve in July to overhaul its compliance operation and shed its ties to banks in Eastern Europe and Russia; Treasury and Justice department inquiries are pending. Source: WSJ research
Saturday, January 08, 2005
articles 1/8
The CIA and Riggs Bank
A Wall Street Journal story that the press gang should chase.
by Jack Shafer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Dead Voted in Governor's Race
County investigating 'ghost voter' cases
Palestine Votes
by David Warren
Ten Years Later
"Then the second wave of al-Qaeda attacks hit America." A leading expert on counterterrorism imagines the future history of the war on terror. A frightening picture of a country still at war in 2011
by Richard A. Clarke
Rising star
by Robert Novak
Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who was voted out of the House Republican leadership six years ago, is now the odds-on favorite to be the next majority leader if Rep. Tom DeLay is forced to resign.
Let Congress Lead
by David Brooks
Social Security Snares & Delusions
by Irwin Stelzer
Social Security Snares & Delusions
How not to squander political capital.
by Irwin M. Stelzer
Fighting the Wrong War
by Fredrick Kagan
Wisdom From the Other George W.
by Joseph Ellis
Can Dems Effectively Oppose the Rove Machine?
by Eleanor Clift
The Ever-Shifting, Deeply Conflicted Andrew Sullivan
by Justin Katz
How to Interrogate Terrorists
by Heather Mac Donald
More evolution
by David Warren
Think Rushmore
President Bush needs to carve out his place in history.
by Thomas Sowell
Triumph, Tragedy, Farce
Our ideas about adoption have changed in recent years. "Who's Your Daddy?" is one result.
by Sam Schulman
The War Against Rumsfeld
by David B. Rivkin Jr. and Rich Lowry
The Choice
Elections will be a plebiscite, too, on which version of Islam should prevail.
by Michael Novak
Key domestic political and policy issues for 2005
by Mark Alexander
The political establishment -- Republican and Democrat alike -- will feel increased pressure to move forward with (or beside) a bolder, fast-paced conservative agenda.
Why Syria thinks it can get away with backing the insurgency in Iraq
by Dore Gold
With all the focus on corruption in the UN’s Oil for Food program, there is yet another scandalous development at the UN, that has been barely noticed:
Time to vote
by Charles Krauthammer
Elections for the new Palestinian leader are on Sunday. Conveniently, this being a Palestinian election, we already know the winner. How has President-to-be Abbas been campaigning?
Angry with God
by Jeff Jacoby
An online poll at Beliefnet.com, the popular website on religion and spirituality, is asking what role God plays in natural disasters like the Indian Ocean tsunami that has devastated much of Asia.
The Alberto Gonzales show
by Jonah Goldberg
I wanted to avoid the usual cliches about watching the sausage get made, but the confirmation battle over Alberto Gonzales is a classic example of why these things are so unpleasant to watch.
Meet the young(er) boss
Older Americans are increasingly likely to work for someone younger - relationships that don't always run smoothly.
The Smoking Gun
The Case Against Michael Jackson
The Predator
The Telltale Splotch
House of Porn: Neverland's naughty stash discovered in raid
Urine Trouble: The strange story of a "spilled" sample
The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience
Why don't Christians live what they preach?
by Ronald J. Sider
A Wall Street Journal story that the press gang should chase.
by Jack Shafer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Dead Voted in Governor's Race
County investigating 'ghost voter' cases
Palestine Votes
by David Warren
Ten Years Later
"Then the second wave of al-Qaeda attacks hit America." A leading expert on counterterrorism imagines the future history of the war on terror. A frightening picture of a country still at war in 2011
by Richard A. Clarke
Rising star
by Robert Novak
Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who was voted out of the House Republican leadership six years ago, is now the odds-on favorite to be the next majority leader if Rep. Tom DeLay is forced to resign.
Let Congress Lead
by David Brooks
Social Security Snares & Delusions
by Irwin Stelzer
Social Security Snares & Delusions
How not to squander political capital.
by Irwin M. Stelzer
Fighting the Wrong War
by Fredrick Kagan
Wisdom From the Other George W.
by Joseph Ellis
Can Dems Effectively Oppose the Rove Machine?
by Eleanor Clift
The Ever-Shifting, Deeply Conflicted Andrew Sullivan
by Justin Katz
How to Interrogate Terrorists
by Heather Mac Donald
More evolution
by David Warren
Think Rushmore
President Bush needs to carve out his place in history.
by Thomas Sowell
Triumph, Tragedy, Farce
Our ideas about adoption have changed in recent years. "Who's Your Daddy?" is one result.
by Sam Schulman
The War Against Rumsfeld
by David B. Rivkin Jr. and Rich Lowry
The Choice
Elections will be a plebiscite, too, on which version of Islam should prevail.
by Michael Novak
Key domestic political and policy issues for 2005
by Mark Alexander
The political establishment -- Republican and Democrat alike -- will feel increased pressure to move forward with (or beside) a bolder, fast-paced conservative agenda.
Why Syria thinks it can get away with backing the insurgency in Iraq
by Dore Gold
With all the focus on corruption in the UN’s Oil for Food program, there is yet another scandalous development at the UN, that has been barely noticed:
Time to vote
by Charles Krauthammer
Elections for the new Palestinian leader are on Sunday. Conveniently, this being a Palestinian election, we already know the winner. How has President-to-be Abbas been campaigning?
Angry with God
by Jeff Jacoby
An online poll at Beliefnet.com, the popular website on religion and spirituality, is asking what role God plays in natural disasters like the Indian Ocean tsunami that has devastated much of Asia.
The Alberto Gonzales show
by Jonah Goldberg
I wanted to avoid the usual cliches about watching the sausage get made, but the confirmation battle over Alberto Gonzales is a classic example of why these things are so unpleasant to watch.
Meet the young(er) boss
Older Americans are increasingly likely to work for someone younger - relationships that don't always run smoothly.
The Smoking Gun
The Case Against Michael Jackson
The Predator
The Telltale Splotch
House of Porn: Neverland's naughty stash discovered in raid
Urine Trouble: The strange story of a "spilled" sample
The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience
Why don't Christians live what they preach?
by Ronald J. Sider
Friday, January 07, 2005
articles 1/7
Journalistic humility?
by Marvin Olasky
Put the two words 'journalistic humility' into the Lexis-Nexis electronic retrieval system.
Clarence Thomas as chief justice?
by Angela Onwuachi-Willig, professor at the University of California-Davis School of Law
"I am a card-carrying Democrat, and in all likelihood, I will die one. My liberal politics simply prevent me from ever jumping ship. But..."
QDR Time
The next Quadrennial Defense Review will reveal what lessons we've learned in the fight against terrorism.
by Tom Donnelly
The Need for Leadership in Darfur
The United States can--and should--step in and lead the fight against genocide in the Sudan.
by Eddie Beaver
The State of the Arnold
Gov. Schwarzenegger gives his State of the State address and puts Democrats on the defensive--again.
by Bill Whalen
GOP, You Are Warned
Immigration could cause a Republican crackup.
by David Frum
Judging Rumsfeld
The secretary has made mistakes, but war is a messy thing.
by Mackubin Thomas Owens
Don't bet against America
by Larry Kudlow
You wouldn't know it from the big media headlines, but 2004 was a pretty darn good year.
Warp speed
by George Will
A bad ending? Compared to what? Everything, as has been said since Einstein, is relative.
Non-human cloning
by Robert Novak
Since the Dec. 3 meeting of President Bush's Council on Bioethics, the struggle over embryonic stem cell research has been altered.
Liberals love America like O.J. loved Nicole
by Ann Coulter
America's stinginess is a long-standing leitmotif for liberals – which is getting hard to square with their love for America.
Wired
Instant Detox
Kick heroin in 24 hours - no willpower, withdrawal, or preaching required. Call it a cure. Call it junk science. Call it the one-step program.
Wired
The BlackBerry Brain Trust
First Mike Lazaridis reinvented the way we get email. His next step: rounding up a bunch of radical thinkers to reinvent physics itself.
wired.com
Traditional Radio Fights Back
LA Times
Dads getting their due in batch of family-affirming films
CNN from Consumer Reports
Inflation Hits Planned Parenthood
Condom testing reveals best brands
Planned Parenthood condom performs worst
by Marvin Olasky
Put the two words 'journalistic humility' into the Lexis-Nexis electronic retrieval system.
Clarence Thomas as chief justice?
by Angela Onwuachi-Willig, professor at the University of California-Davis School of Law
"I am a card-carrying Democrat, and in all likelihood, I will die one. My liberal politics simply prevent me from ever jumping ship. But..."
QDR Time
The next Quadrennial Defense Review will reveal what lessons we've learned in the fight against terrorism.
by Tom Donnelly
The Need for Leadership in Darfur
The United States can--and should--step in and lead the fight against genocide in the Sudan.
by Eddie Beaver
The State of the Arnold
Gov. Schwarzenegger gives his State of the State address and puts Democrats on the defensive--again.
by Bill Whalen
GOP, You Are Warned
Immigration could cause a Republican crackup.
by David Frum
Judging Rumsfeld
The secretary has made mistakes, but war is a messy thing.
by Mackubin Thomas Owens
Don't bet against America
by Larry Kudlow
You wouldn't know it from the big media headlines, but 2004 was a pretty darn good year.
Warp speed
by George Will
A bad ending? Compared to what? Everything, as has been said since Einstein, is relative.
Non-human cloning
by Robert Novak
Since the Dec. 3 meeting of President Bush's Council on Bioethics, the struggle over embryonic stem cell research has been altered.
Liberals love America like O.J. loved Nicole
by Ann Coulter
America's stinginess is a long-standing leitmotif for liberals – which is getting hard to square with their love for America.
Wired
Instant Detox
Kick heroin in 24 hours - no willpower, withdrawal, or preaching required. Call it a cure. Call it junk science. Call it the one-step program.
Wired
The BlackBerry Brain Trust
First Mike Lazaridis reinvented the way we get email. His next step: rounding up a bunch of radical thinkers to reinvent physics itself.
wired.com
Traditional Radio Fights Back
LA Times
Dads getting their due in batch of family-affirming films
CNN from Consumer Reports
Inflation Hits Planned Parenthood
Condom testing reveals best brands
Planned Parenthood condom performs worst
Thursday, January 06, 2005
A diet on activities
Parenting has become a competitive sport; I resolve to spend more time dining together
By William R. Mattox Jr.
This New Year, I've resolved to go on a diet that allows me to pull up to the family dinner table instead of requiring me to pull away from it. And if professor William Doherty of the University of Minnesota's department of family social science is right, this new diet ought to help me lose weight — even though that's not its main purpose.
The main purpose of my diet isn't to cut calories, carbs or fat. It's to trim the activities that many families with children overindulge in on evenings and weekends. I know from lots of firsthand exposure that the lives of children and families are made richer by participation in community-based activities such as sports leagues, music programs, scout troops, church groups and service clubs.
But a recent essay by Doherty and his colleague Barbara Carlson, one of 30 in the book Take Back Your Time, compiled by author John De Graaf, has convinced me that extracurricular activities are a lot like the foods found in the four basic food groups. Each is good for you up to a point — but overindulgence in any (or every) area tends to throw everything out of balance.
Which is exactly what Doherty says is happening in many American homes. “Well-intentioned parents are acting like recreation directors on a turbo-charged cruise ship,” he notes. Parents today have so many extracurricular activities on their household calendars that there's little room for such family activities as dinners, vacations, weekend outings and visits to relatives.
“In the face of competing demands, time is lost for family activities,” Doherty says. “We end up with overscheduled and underconnected families.”
In fact, citing a study by the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center, Doherty reports that only one in three U.S. families now dine together nightly, down from two in three in the mid-1970s. Moreover, the average length of these mealtimes has declined 10% since 1981. And a 2004 study of “high-mileage moms” by the non-profit Surface Transportation Policy Project found that recent road-time increases mean the average “soccer mom” now spends more minutes each day driving than eating.
Many of these moms could probably use a vacation. But Doherty cites polling data that show that the number of families taking at least one vacation together each year has declined 28% during the past two decades. In addition to charting the decline in family activities (and unstructured free time for kids), Doherty reports that kids today are spending more than twice as much time each week playing organized sports as they did in 1981. Moreover, the time kids devote to “passive, spectator leisure” (watching brother's football game or attending sister's ballet recital) has increased sixfold, from 30 minutes a week in 1981 to more than three hours per week today.
Doherty says a number of factors have contributed to this shift from unstructured to structured children's activities, including:
•A growing sense of danger in neighborhoods, which makes parents nervous about letting children play outdoors.
•A shrinking window of opportunity for extracurricular activities; longer school days and parental work hours push many activities into evenings and weekends.
•More intense youth sports programs, including traveling teams that encourage kids to play weekend tournaments year-round.
•Parental fears that their children will be left behind if they don't commit 110% to every activity.
“Parenting has become a competitive sport, with the trophies going to the busiest,” Doherty observes. And this wouldn't be so worrisome if the family activities being sacrificed weren't so important to the well-being of children.
For example, the University of Michigan study found that the amount of time children spend dining with their families is the single strongest predictor of student test scores and behavioral problems. That's right, eating family meals together has a more positive impact on student achievement than time spent attending school, studying, going to church, playing sports or participating in artistic endeavors.
In addition, a recent study in the Archives of Family Medicine found that children who regularly dine with their families eat better. They consume more fruits and vegetables, less fat, fewer fried foods, more vitamins and fewer sodas.
So, I'm going on an “activities diet” in 2005. Sure, I still plan on coaching my youngest son's Little League team and teaching a class at church. But I'm taking a break from traveling sports teams. I've already got our family vacation dates on the August calendar. And I'm seeing to it that our family eats many more evening meals together in 2005.
I'm sure it won't be easy to keep this New Year's resolution. But I'm going to give it a good try. Because even though I don't particularly like going on a crash diet, it sure beats letting our home become merely a place where people crash at night.
And even if going on an “activities diet” never becomes the latest fad, I'm convinced that it will help me become a better dad.
William R. Mattox Jr. is a writer in Virginia and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors.
By William R. Mattox Jr.
This New Year, I've resolved to go on a diet that allows me to pull up to the family dinner table instead of requiring me to pull away from it. And if professor William Doherty of the University of Minnesota's department of family social science is right, this new diet ought to help me lose weight — even though that's not its main purpose.
The main purpose of my diet isn't to cut calories, carbs or fat. It's to trim the activities that many families with children overindulge in on evenings and weekends. I know from lots of firsthand exposure that the lives of children and families are made richer by participation in community-based activities such as sports leagues, music programs, scout troops, church groups and service clubs.
But a recent essay by Doherty and his colleague Barbara Carlson, one of 30 in the book Take Back Your Time, compiled by author John De Graaf, has convinced me that extracurricular activities are a lot like the foods found in the four basic food groups. Each is good for you up to a point — but overindulgence in any (or every) area tends to throw everything out of balance.
Which is exactly what Doherty says is happening in many American homes. “Well-intentioned parents are acting like recreation directors on a turbo-charged cruise ship,” he notes. Parents today have so many extracurricular activities on their household calendars that there's little room for such family activities as dinners, vacations, weekend outings and visits to relatives.
“In the face of competing demands, time is lost for family activities,” Doherty says. “We end up with overscheduled and underconnected families.”
In fact, citing a study by the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center, Doherty reports that only one in three U.S. families now dine together nightly, down from two in three in the mid-1970s. Moreover, the average length of these mealtimes has declined 10% since 1981. And a 2004 study of “high-mileage moms” by the non-profit Surface Transportation Policy Project found that recent road-time increases mean the average “soccer mom” now spends more minutes each day driving than eating.
Many of these moms could probably use a vacation. But Doherty cites polling data that show that the number of families taking at least one vacation together each year has declined 28% during the past two decades. In addition to charting the decline in family activities (and unstructured free time for kids), Doherty reports that kids today are spending more than twice as much time each week playing organized sports as they did in 1981. Moreover, the time kids devote to “passive, spectator leisure” (watching brother's football game or attending sister's ballet recital) has increased sixfold, from 30 minutes a week in 1981 to more than three hours per week today.
Doherty says a number of factors have contributed to this shift from unstructured to structured children's activities, including:
•A growing sense of danger in neighborhoods, which makes parents nervous about letting children play outdoors.
•A shrinking window of opportunity for extracurricular activities; longer school days and parental work hours push many activities into evenings and weekends.
•More intense youth sports programs, including traveling teams that encourage kids to play weekend tournaments year-round.
•Parental fears that their children will be left behind if they don't commit 110% to every activity.
“Parenting has become a competitive sport, with the trophies going to the busiest,” Doherty observes. And this wouldn't be so worrisome if the family activities being sacrificed weren't so important to the well-being of children.
For example, the University of Michigan study found that the amount of time children spend dining with their families is the single strongest predictor of student test scores and behavioral problems. That's right, eating family meals together has a more positive impact on student achievement than time spent attending school, studying, going to church, playing sports or participating in artistic endeavors.
In addition, a recent study in the Archives of Family Medicine found that children who regularly dine with their families eat better. They consume more fruits and vegetables, less fat, fewer fried foods, more vitamins and fewer sodas.
So, I'm going on an “activities diet” in 2005. Sure, I still plan on coaching my youngest son's Little League team and teaching a class at church. But I'm taking a break from traveling sports teams. I've already got our family vacation dates on the August calendar. And I'm seeing to it that our family eats many more evening meals together in 2005.
I'm sure it won't be easy to keep this New Year's resolution. But I'm going to give it a good try. Because even though I don't particularly like going on a crash diet, it sure beats letting our home become merely a place where people crash at night.
And even if going on an “activities diet” never becomes the latest fad, I'm convinced that it will help me become a better dad.
William R. Mattox Jr. is a writer in Virginia and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors.
articles 1/6
AP
Dem Lays Out Case Against Bush's Ohio Win
The senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee protested President Bush's re-election Wednesday with a new report claiming serious election irregularities and "significant disenfranchisement" of voters in Ohio.
Wise Counsel
Putting Alberto Gonzales's "torture memo" in perspective.
by Douglas Kmiec
Two Internal Splits
by William Safire
War Prospects for 2005
by Brian Doherty
Who Should Be the Next Secretary of Homeland Security?
by Fred Kaplan
The Intifada Comes to Duke
A university plays host to anti-Semites and terror advocates.
by Eric Adler & Jack Langer
Iraq's Heritage
Despite progress, it remains in great danger.
by Aziz Hameed
'Torture' Showdown
By all means let's have a debate over interrogating terrorists.
Their Idea of a University
America's religious colleges are growing in popularity and quality.
by Charlotte Allen
If I Were a Democrat
Here's what I'd do.
by Peggy Noonan
The blame game
by Helle Dale
You might have thought the presidential election campaign had never finished, and that the media had come up with another reason for supporting John Kerry.
Voltaire's smile
by Tony Blankley
In the aftermath of the current tidal wave disaster, the world is choking on political calculations and miscalculations. The political consequences are almost as ugly as the physical consequences of the great tide.
The next Prime Minister of Israel
by Ben Shapiro
Feiglin shouldn't be ignored -- he should be encouraged. He embodies the future of Israel, a future in which true Jewish values will guide political decisions
Being John Kerry
by Kathleen Parker
As the new year begins with ritual reflection and resolution, Democrats are consumed with angst, ennui and uncertainty.
Are we a republic or a democracy?
by Walter E. Williams
We often hear the claim that our nation is a democracy. That wasn't the vision of the founders. They saw democracy as another form of tyranny.
I say it's odious, and the hell with it
by Jonah Goldberg
Is the United Nations an odious institution?
Playing with fire
by Linda Chavez
The first Hispanic ever nominated to be attorney general, Gonzales's life story exemplifies the American Dream.
Rolling Stone
U2 Postpone World Tour
Family illness pushes back "Bomb" trek
Dem Lays Out Case Against Bush's Ohio Win
The senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee protested President Bush's re-election Wednesday with a new report claiming serious election irregularities and "significant disenfranchisement" of voters in Ohio.
Wise Counsel
Putting Alberto Gonzales's "torture memo" in perspective.
by Douglas Kmiec
Two Internal Splits
by William Safire
War Prospects for 2005
by Brian Doherty
Who Should Be the Next Secretary of Homeland Security?
by Fred Kaplan
The Intifada Comes to Duke
A university plays host to anti-Semites and terror advocates.
by Eric Adler & Jack Langer
Iraq's Heritage
Despite progress, it remains in great danger.
by Aziz Hameed
'Torture' Showdown
By all means let's have a debate over interrogating terrorists.
Their Idea of a University
America's religious colleges are growing in popularity and quality.
by Charlotte Allen
If I Were a Democrat
Here's what I'd do.
by Peggy Noonan
The blame game
by Helle Dale
You might have thought the presidential election campaign had never finished, and that the media had come up with another reason for supporting John Kerry.
Voltaire's smile
by Tony Blankley
In the aftermath of the current tidal wave disaster, the world is choking on political calculations and miscalculations. The political consequences are almost as ugly as the physical consequences of the great tide.
The next Prime Minister of Israel
by Ben Shapiro
Feiglin shouldn't be ignored -- he should be encouraged. He embodies the future of Israel, a future in which true Jewish values will guide political decisions
Being John Kerry
by Kathleen Parker
As the new year begins with ritual reflection and resolution, Democrats are consumed with angst, ennui and uncertainty.
Are we a republic or a democracy?
by Walter E. Williams
We often hear the claim that our nation is a democracy. That wasn't the vision of the founders. They saw democracy as another form of tyranny.
I say it's odious, and the hell with it
by Jonah Goldberg
Is the United Nations an odious institution?
Playing with fire
by Linda Chavez
The first Hispanic ever nominated to be attorney general, Gonzales's life story exemplifies the American Dream.
Rolling Stone
U2 Postpone World Tour
Family illness pushes back "Bomb" trek
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
articles 1/4
A diet on activities
Parenting has become a competitive sport; I resolve to spend more time dining together
By William R. Mattox Jr.
Arafat Lives
by Efraim Karsh
So long as men of his kind remain in power, it is fantasy to suppose that Arabs and Israelis can forge, or be forced into, a lasting peace.
The Future Of a Once-Great Party
by William Bennett
A Tale of 2 Systems
by David Brooks
Justice Out of Balance
by Stephen Schwartz
Of Arms and Free Men
America: Just another imperial power?
by Jonathan Karl
The Mismatch Game
How law school race preferences harm black students.
by Terry Eastland
W. Post
Social Security Formula Weighed
Bush Plan Likely to Cut Initial Benefits
AP
Bush Soc. Sec. Plan to Allow Tax Diversion
Giving Iraq GI's Their Glory
by John Podhoretz
Does affirmative action produce more black lawyers?
by Star Parker
A new and provocative study on affirmative action, which will appear in the Stanford Law Review this month, is attracting such attention that there is a special click-through on the publication's Web site to field questions about it.
Exploiting a tragedy
by David Limbaugh
When you look at the Left's rush to judgment against the Bush administration for not reacting precisely according to its expectations (demands) concerning the tsunami disaster, you just have to wonder what kind of psychological forces motivate this group.
Tort reform
by Matt Towery
Before touching on the subject of so-called "tort reform," let me do what many congressmen and others often fail to do -- disclose my possible conflicts of interest.
The Intifada Comes to Duke
by Eric Adler & Jack Langer
Under the cover of "dialogue," a university plays host to apologists for terrorism.
Hail Estonia!
But America drops out of the top 10.
by Mary Anastasia O'Grady
We Are the World
By sending help to tsunami victims, America takes advantage of a public diplomacy opportunity.
by Brendan Miniter
AFP
Brainy women face handicap in marriage stakes: British survey
A high IQ is a hindrance for women wanting to get married while it is an asset for men, according to a study by four British universities published in The Sunday Times newspaper.
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
reviewed by Sam Schulman
On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins with Sandra Blakeslee
reviewed by Kevin Shapiro
Parenting has become a competitive sport; I resolve to spend more time dining together
By William R. Mattox Jr.
Arafat Lives
by Efraim Karsh
So long as men of his kind remain in power, it is fantasy to suppose that Arabs and Israelis can forge, or be forced into, a lasting peace.
The Future Of a Once-Great Party
by William Bennett
A Tale of 2 Systems
by David Brooks
Justice Out of Balance
by Stephen Schwartz
Of Arms and Free Men
America: Just another imperial power?
by Jonathan Karl
The Mismatch Game
How law school race preferences harm black students.
by Terry Eastland
W. Post
Social Security Formula Weighed
Bush Plan Likely to Cut Initial Benefits
AP
Bush Soc. Sec. Plan to Allow Tax Diversion
Giving Iraq GI's Their Glory
by John Podhoretz
Does affirmative action produce more black lawyers?
by Star Parker
A new and provocative study on affirmative action, which will appear in the Stanford Law Review this month, is attracting such attention that there is a special click-through on the publication's Web site to field questions about it.
Exploiting a tragedy
by David Limbaugh
When you look at the Left's rush to judgment against the Bush administration for not reacting precisely according to its expectations (demands) concerning the tsunami disaster, you just have to wonder what kind of psychological forces motivate this group.
Tort reform
by Matt Towery
Before touching on the subject of so-called "tort reform," let me do what many congressmen and others often fail to do -- disclose my possible conflicts of interest.
The Intifada Comes to Duke
by Eric Adler & Jack Langer
Under the cover of "dialogue," a university plays host to apologists for terrorism.
Hail Estonia!
But America drops out of the top 10.
by Mary Anastasia O'Grady
We Are the World
By sending help to tsunami victims, America takes advantage of a public diplomacy opportunity.
by Brendan Miniter
AFP
Brainy women face handicap in marriage stakes: British survey
A high IQ is a hindrance for women wanting to get married while it is an asset for men, according to a study by four British universities published in The Sunday Times newspaper.
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
reviewed by Sam Schulman
On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins with Sandra Blakeslee
reviewed by Kevin Shapiro
Monday, January 03, 2005
articles 1/3
NY Times
Secret Meeting, Clear Mission: 'Rescue' U.N.
A group of veteran foreign policy experts counseled U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in a secret meeting on how to repair lapses in his leadership.
LA Times
In Senate, Doctor Wants His Practice
Sen. Tom Coburn plans to challenge the rule that would bar him from practicing once in office.
W. Post
NSA Is Looking for New Ideas
The agency opens its doors to private companies for help fighting terrorism.
NY Times
Quietly but Firmly, Hastert Asserts His Power
Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House, is the man President Bush is counting on to enact his ambitious second-term agenda.
Wall Street Journal
Video Blogs Break Out With Tsunami Scenes
'I'm Going to Learn'
First, the blame. Then, the healing. In a new book, NEWSWEEK talks exclusively with John Kerry about why he lost—and looks at his plans for another run
Starr: Top 40 Sports Stories of 2004
2004 was the biggest year for sports news in recent memory. Our columnist recalls the high and low points of the last 12 months.
Newsweek
Evangelism: Go Tell It on the Subway
Voices of Freedom
A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq.
by Arthur Chrenkoff
A Liberal Case for Chief Justice Scalia
by Steven Lubet
Sharon the Optimist
by William Safire
The lessons of Clintoncare
by Michael Barone
To gauge the prospects of success, it may be helpful to compare Bush's formidable task with the No. 1 goal of the incoming Clinton administration in 1993, health-care finance overhaul.
Colin Powell's legacy
by Robert Novak
Colin Powell is no slug today. He is feisty, confident and, at 67, not nearly ready for retirement.
The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes Of 2004
by John Hawkins
The Last Laugh
Dave, we hardly knew ye
By Dave Barry
There comes a time in the life of every writer when he asks himself -- as Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Hemingway all surely asked themselves -- if he has any booger jokes left in him.
A Few Words on the Passing of Dave Barry's Column
(Or, one funny man with two first names takes on another)
By Steve Martin
Dave Barry is going on an "indefinite hiatus" only to attract attention to himself. Not famous enough, Dave? Why don't you go on hiatus! Oh, and make it indefinite. That'll grab some headlines.
Modern Reformation
Singing The Blues with Jesus
As people who possess eternal riches in Christ, we are often exhorted to live with contentment, a cheerful heart and a contagious smile. But when tragedy strikes, how are we to cope? In the Apostle John’s account of Lazarus’ death, we learn that Jesus was not afraid to grieve the loss of a friend. Scripture is clear: Jesus wept. Why does the gospel give us the permission to feel pain?
by Michael Horton
Modern Reformation
Ain't It Hard?: Suffering & Hope in the Blues
Like many of the Psalms, blues music may seem little more than a poetic expression of despair. However, there is hope expressed in its realistic, tell-it-like-it-is lyrics. The author offers fresh connections between the blues and Scripture, leaving us with a new appreciation for both.
by William Edgar
Secret Meeting, Clear Mission: 'Rescue' U.N.
A group of veteran foreign policy experts counseled U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in a secret meeting on how to repair lapses in his leadership.
LA Times
In Senate, Doctor Wants His Practice
Sen. Tom Coburn plans to challenge the rule that would bar him from practicing once in office.
W. Post
NSA Is Looking for New Ideas
The agency opens its doors to private companies for help fighting terrorism.
NY Times
Quietly but Firmly, Hastert Asserts His Power
Dennis Hastert, the speaker of the House, is the man President Bush is counting on to enact his ambitious second-term agenda.
Wall Street Journal
Video Blogs Break Out With Tsunami Scenes
'I'm Going to Learn'
First, the blame. Then, the healing. In a new book, NEWSWEEK talks exclusively with John Kerry about why he lost—and looks at his plans for another run
Starr: Top 40 Sports Stories of 2004
2004 was the biggest year for sports news in recent memory. Our columnist recalls the high and low points of the last 12 months.
Newsweek
Evangelism: Go Tell It on the Subway
Voices of Freedom
A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq.
by Arthur Chrenkoff
A Liberal Case for Chief Justice Scalia
by Steven Lubet
Sharon the Optimist
by William Safire
The lessons of Clintoncare
by Michael Barone
To gauge the prospects of success, it may be helpful to compare Bush's formidable task with the No. 1 goal of the incoming Clinton administration in 1993, health-care finance overhaul.
Colin Powell's legacy
by Robert Novak
Colin Powell is no slug today. He is feisty, confident and, at 67, not nearly ready for retirement.
The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes Of 2004
by John Hawkins
The Last Laugh
Dave, we hardly knew ye
By Dave Barry
There comes a time in the life of every writer when he asks himself -- as Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Hemingway all surely asked themselves -- if he has any booger jokes left in him.
A Few Words on the Passing of Dave Barry's Column
(Or, one funny man with two first names takes on another)
By Steve Martin
Dave Barry is going on an "indefinite hiatus" only to attract attention to himself. Not famous enough, Dave? Why don't you go on hiatus! Oh, and make it indefinite. That'll grab some headlines.
Modern Reformation
Singing The Blues with Jesus
As people who possess eternal riches in Christ, we are often exhorted to live with contentment, a cheerful heart and a contagious smile. But when tragedy strikes, how are we to cope? In the Apostle John’s account of Lazarus’ death, we learn that Jesus was not afraid to grieve the loss of a friend. Scripture is clear: Jesus wept. Why does the gospel give us the permission to feel pain?
by Michael Horton
Modern Reformation
Ain't It Hard?: Suffering & Hope in the Blues
Like many of the Psalms, blues music may seem little more than a poetic expression of despair. However, there is hope expressed in its realistic, tell-it-like-it-is lyrics. The author offers fresh connections between the blues and Scripture, leaving us with a new appreciation for both.
by William Edgar
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Religion in Its Place / Civil Society & Media Freedom
Religion in Its Place
By Jim Sleeper, a Lecturer in Political Science at Yale University. His books include The Closest of Strangers: Liberalism and the Politics of Race in New York (1990) and Liberal Racism (1997). This article is adapted from a paper presented at a symposium held by the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, a research center of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.
Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America was so nuanced a description of this country's unprecedentedly democratic civic society of the 1830s that it set a standard against which sociologists and policymakers are now diagnosing a precipitous decline in civic responsibility. And in some of today's assessments, Tocqueville's understanding has become the admonition he sometimes intended it to be: We're told that the American people are losing what he called "habits of the heart" that accustomed good republicans to fuse self-interest with a deep dedication to the public good without having to think all that much about it, let alone having to study doing it. It is as if the habits of our hearts have become irreversibly bad habits. What Tocqueville called "the slow and quiet action of society upon itself"--the little ways in which Americans taught one another to commingle personal and public good--inducts us now instead into a proliferating "logic" of mistrust: self-fulfilling expectations of others' bad faith prompt guarded, antisocial exchanges, litigation in situations once mediated by a simpler good faith, and credulous watching of Fox News.
Civil Society and Media Freedom: Problems of Purpose and Sustainability in Democratic Transition
By Craig L. LaMay, an assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, is the editor most recently of Journalism and the Debate Over Privacy (Erlbaum, 2003). He is currently writing a book on the role of media assistance in foreign aid and democracy promotion.
The problem of the press is confused because the critics and the apologists expect the press to … make up for all that was not foreseen in the theory of democracy. – Walter Lippmann, 1922
By Jim Sleeper, a Lecturer in Political Science at Yale University. His books include The Closest of Strangers: Liberalism and the Politics of Race in New York (1990) and Liberal Racism (1997). This article is adapted from a paper presented at a symposium held by the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, a research center of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University.
Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America was so nuanced a description of this country's unprecedentedly democratic civic society of the 1830s that it set a standard against which sociologists and policymakers are now diagnosing a precipitous decline in civic responsibility. And in some of today's assessments, Tocqueville's understanding has become the admonition he sometimes intended it to be: We're told that the American people are losing what he called "habits of the heart" that accustomed good republicans to fuse self-interest with a deep dedication to the public good without having to think all that much about it, let alone having to study doing it. It is as if the habits of our hearts have become irreversibly bad habits. What Tocqueville called "the slow and quiet action of society upon itself"--the little ways in which Americans taught one another to commingle personal and public good--inducts us now instead into a proliferating "logic" of mistrust: self-fulfilling expectations of others' bad faith prompt guarded, antisocial exchanges, litigation in situations once mediated by a simpler good faith, and credulous watching of Fox News.
Civil Society and Media Freedom: Problems of Purpose and Sustainability in Democratic Transition
By Craig L. LaMay, an assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, is the editor most recently of Journalism and the Debate Over Privacy (Erlbaum, 2003). He is currently writing a book on the role of media assistance in foreign aid and democracy promotion.
The problem of the press is confused because the critics and the apologists expect the press to … make up for all that was not foreseen in the theory of democracy. – Walter Lippmann, 1922
articles 1/2/05
NCAA Bowl Season Results
AP
Mom Forced to Choose Sons During Tsunami
Struggling in the raging flood waters, Jillian Searle had to make a choice: which son to hold on and which to let go.
NY Times Magazine
The War Inside the Arab Newsroom
Rahman Al-Rashed is trying to turn Al Arabiya into a new kind of Arab news channel, with fewer hostage tapes and more moderate voices. But that's hard to do when his employees aren't sure they want to change, American troops occasionally arrest his reporters and his anchors get personalized death threats from Iraqi insurgents.
The Struggle for the Middle East
Iraq, Iran, and democracy.
by Reuel Marc Gerecht
The Millennium War
A report from the Mesopotamian front.
by Austin Bay
It's the President's Party
Interview by Deborah Solomon
The head of the inaugural committee talks about canceling her wedding for Bush 41 and whether Bush 43 likes to dance.
Los Angeles Times
Magazine Toasts Unabashed Alcoholism
Modern Drunkard is an irreverent homage to the lifestyle of the chronically wasted, filtered through rose-colored shot glasses.
Judging Roe
by George Will
The American CEO
An idea about leadership is a major U.S. export.
by Peter Drucker
Hate speech from the left
by Jeff Jacoby
As it does every year, the empty folder I labeled 'Liberal Hate Speech' in January had grown to a thick sheaf of clippings by December.
Early tax reform?
by Robert Novak
While President Bush always has planned not to tackle tax reform until 2006 after the Social Security change is passed, the most influential tax drafter in Congress has been quietly planning to put Social Security and tax reform together.
The Incredible Shrinking Dems
It was an annus horribilis for America's minority party.
by Fred Barnes
The Case for Chief Justice Thomas
by James Taranto
Cosby's Critique Has Legs
by Gregory Kane
France: Our Oldest Enemy
by Robert Paxton
Why Americans Will Be Safer in 2005
by Dennis Bailey
America on the Move
Love it, hate it, embrace it, deny it, American power, American influence and American values are the defining features of today's interconnected world. Questions of an American "empire" — whether we have one, whether we want one, whether we can afford or keep one — aren't just the white-hot topic of the day among statesmen and political scientists.
Part I: America enjoys view from the top
Part II: America becomes global marketplace
Part III: World speaks our language and attends our colleges
Part IV: Second place not an option in U.S. sports
Part V: U.S. pop culture seen as plague
AP
Mom Forced to Choose Sons During Tsunami
Struggling in the raging flood waters, Jillian Searle had to make a choice: which son to hold on and which to let go.
NY Times Magazine
The War Inside the Arab Newsroom
Rahman Al-Rashed is trying to turn Al Arabiya into a new kind of Arab news channel, with fewer hostage tapes and more moderate voices. But that's hard to do when his employees aren't sure they want to change, American troops occasionally arrest his reporters and his anchors get personalized death threats from Iraqi insurgents.
The Struggle for the Middle East
Iraq, Iran, and democracy.
by Reuel Marc Gerecht
The Millennium War
A report from the Mesopotamian front.
by Austin Bay
It's the President's Party
Interview by Deborah Solomon
The head of the inaugural committee talks about canceling her wedding for Bush 41 and whether Bush 43 likes to dance.
Los Angeles Times
Magazine Toasts Unabashed Alcoholism
Modern Drunkard is an irreverent homage to the lifestyle of the chronically wasted, filtered through rose-colored shot glasses.
Judging Roe
by George Will
The American CEO
An idea about leadership is a major U.S. export.
by Peter Drucker
Hate speech from the left
by Jeff Jacoby
As it does every year, the empty folder I labeled 'Liberal Hate Speech' in January had grown to a thick sheaf of clippings by December.
Early tax reform?
by Robert Novak
While President Bush always has planned not to tackle tax reform until 2006 after the Social Security change is passed, the most influential tax drafter in Congress has been quietly planning to put Social Security and tax reform together.
The Incredible Shrinking Dems
It was an annus horribilis for America's minority party.
by Fred Barnes
The Case for Chief Justice Thomas
by James Taranto
Cosby's Critique Has Legs
by Gregory Kane
France: Our Oldest Enemy
by Robert Paxton
Why Americans Will Be Safer in 2005
by Dennis Bailey
America on the Move
Love it, hate it, embrace it, deny it, American power, American influence and American values are the defining features of today's interconnected world. Questions of an American "empire" — whether we have one, whether we want one, whether we can afford or keep one — aren't just the white-hot topic of the day among statesmen and political scientists.
Part I: America enjoys view from the top
Part II: America becomes global marketplace
Part III: World speaks our language and attends our colleges
Part IV: Second place not an option in U.S. sports
Part V: U.S. pop culture seen as plague
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Rose Bowl Guide
Michigan (9-2, #13 AP, #12 Coaches, #13 BCS) vs. Texas (10-1, #6 AP, #5 Coaches, #4 BCS)
Michigan Rose Bowl Guide
Table of Contents
Game Notes
Season in Review (Game Recaps)
Season in Review (Statistics)
Player Bios (Adams-Jackson)
Player Bios (Jamison-Woods)
Coaching Staff
Bowl History
Michigan has more wins that any football program in NCAA history, 842-274-36 (.7465277).
Michigan has the highest winning percentage of any team in the NCAA history (.7465277).
Michigan has a run of 107 straight AP polls (20 polls longer than Miami) in which it has been ranked in the Top 25, the longest streak in the nation. The streak, which is 80 week long, began Oct. 24, 1998.
Michigan is 262-82-10 (.756) all-time when listed in the AP Top 10, including a 38-17 mark during Lloyd Carr's coaching tenure.
Michigan has had 343 football games televised, which leads the NCAA.
Michigan has appeared in 30 straight bowls, the longest current streak in NCAA history.
The Wolverines set an NCAA record in 2004 by averaging 111,025 fans per game at Michigan Stadium.
The Michigan football program is the only Big Ten team in any sport to win a conference title in each decade. It is the winningest overall athletic program in Big Ten Conference history.
Michigan ranks #1 all-time in composite AP final football polls (1936-2003), passing Notre Dame for the top spot after last season's #6 final ranking.
Michigan has appeared in more Rose Bowls (19) than any other Big Ten Conference school. They are 8-10.
Michigan has 42 Big Ten titles (OSU -29) which is the most of any college football program in ANY conference.
Michigan has 11 national championships (5th all-time) to OSU's 7.
Lloyd Carr Stats
Head coach Lloyd Carr has a career winning percentage of .779 (95-28), ranking him fifth among active Division I coaches.
Michigan has a 35-18 overall record against AP nationally ranked teams under Lloyd Carr. The Wolverines have compiled a 125-104-8 (.542) all-time record against AP nationally ranked teams.
He now leads active Big Ten coaches with 63 conference wins (63-17).
His teams are an amazing 14-4 against Top 10 opponents and 7-2 against Top 5 opponents.
He grabbed the active career lead in Big Ten wins during the 2003 season.
He is the eighth coach in conference history to claim five or more Big Ten championships.
He is fourth among active Division I-A coaches with a .77236 winning percentage.
Michigan Rose Bowl Guide
Table of Contents
Game Notes
Season in Review (Game Recaps)
Season in Review (Statistics)
Player Bios (Adams-Jackson)
Player Bios (Jamison-Woods)
Coaching Staff
Bowl History
Michigan has more wins that any football program in NCAA history, 842-274-36 (.7465277).
Michigan has the highest winning percentage of any team in the NCAA history (.7465277).
Michigan has a run of 107 straight AP polls (20 polls longer than Miami) in which it has been ranked in the Top 25, the longest streak in the nation. The streak, which is 80 week long, began Oct. 24, 1998.
Michigan is 262-82-10 (.756) all-time when listed in the AP Top 10, including a 38-17 mark during Lloyd Carr's coaching tenure.
Michigan has had 343 football games televised, which leads the NCAA.
Michigan has appeared in 30 straight bowls, the longest current streak in NCAA history.
The Wolverines set an NCAA record in 2004 by averaging 111,025 fans per game at Michigan Stadium.
The Michigan football program is the only Big Ten team in any sport to win a conference title in each decade. It is the winningest overall athletic program in Big Ten Conference history.
Michigan ranks #1 all-time in composite AP final football polls (1936-2003), passing Notre Dame for the top spot after last season's #6 final ranking.
Michigan has appeared in more Rose Bowls (19) than any other Big Ten Conference school. They are 8-10.
Michigan has 42 Big Ten titles (OSU -29) which is the most of any college football program in ANY conference.
Michigan has 11 national championships (5th all-time) to OSU's 7.
Lloyd Carr Stats
Head coach Lloyd Carr has a career winning percentage of .779 (95-28), ranking him fifth among active Division I coaches.
Michigan has a 35-18 overall record against AP nationally ranked teams under Lloyd Carr. The Wolverines have compiled a 125-104-8 (.542) all-time record against AP nationally ranked teams.
He now leads active Big Ten coaches with 63 conference wins (63-17).
His teams are an amazing 14-4 against Top 10 opponents and 7-2 against Top 5 opponents.
He grabbed the active career lead in Big Ten wins during the 2003 season.
He is the eighth coach in conference history to claim five or more Big Ten championships.
He is fourth among active Division I-A coaches with a .77236 winning percentage.
Friday, December 31, 2004
No Doughnuts, Just Get Me Out of Here
New York Times
by Joe Venuti
SVP, J. P. Morgan Chase & Company
A few years ago I arrived in Providence, R.I., on a business trip, only to find that my hotel was full owing to some mix-up. Not only that, there was a college homecoming that weekend and all the other hotels were packed, too. Finally, I found a place to sleep at a bed and breakfast that was the last place listed in the Yellow Pages...
by Joe Venuti
SVP, J. P. Morgan Chase & Company
A few years ago I arrived in Providence, R.I., on a business trip, only to find that my hotel was full owing to some mix-up. Not only that, there was a college homecoming that weekend and all the other hotels were packed, too. Finally, I found a place to sleep at a bed and breakfast that was the last place listed in the Yellow Pages...
articles 12/31
Reuters
Men Prefer Subordinate Women to Equals
Men would rather marry their female assistants than equal-ranking women or their supervisors, according to social psychologists.
Commentary
Why the Democrats Keep Losing
by Joshua Muravchik
Joshua Muravchik is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. His analyses of previous presidential elections—“The New Politics & the Democrats” (with Penn Kemble, December 1972), “Why the Democrats Lost” (January 1985), “Why the Democrats Lost Again” (February 1989), “Why the Democrats Finally Won”(January 1993), and “Why the Republicans Lost, and Won” (January 1997)—are available at www.commentarymagazine.com.
The Shadow Internet
They take a single stolen file and pump out bootleg media by the millions. Inside the pirate networks that are terrorizing the entertainment industry.
My 2004
by Jonah Goldberg
I suppose I could stand above it all and proclaim with the voice of God and the eye of History (or the other way around, if you prefer) my absolute, ontologically certain, 100 percent definitive list of the most important stories of 2004.
Christian hypocrisy, atheist insanity
by Marvin Olasky
Stingy?
by Bruce Bartlett
The other day, a United Nations official accused the United States of being 'stingy' in terms of aid to tsunami victims in South Asia.
Gay marriage 'rights'
by Thomas Sowell
It's About the Tragedy - Not More Bush-Bashing
by John Podhoretz
Lessons for Democrats
by E. J. Dionne Jr.
GOP, You Are Warned
by David Frum
Minority Student Success
by Governor Jeb Bush
The U.N. Sex Scandal
Exploitation, abuse, and other humanitarian efforts.
by Joseph Loconte
The Hookie Awards
Hookie Awards, Part 2
by David Brooks
Exporting the Ukraine Miracle
by Max Boot
Boston Globe
For Army, a clash over supply, demand
Contractors stymied amid shortage of armored vehicles
New York Sun Staff Editorial
The Left and the Tsunami
Leave it to the American left to find a villain of the tsunami disaster - not Mother Nature but President Bush.
Intel's Cold Calculator
by John Hillen
America's Secret War: Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle Between America & Its Enemies
by George Friedman
Doubleday 368 Pages, $25.95
Men Prefer Subordinate Women to Equals
Men would rather marry their female assistants than equal-ranking women or their supervisors, according to social psychologists.
Commentary
Why the Democrats Keep Losing
by Joshua Muravchik
Joshua Muravchik is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. His analyses of previous presidential elections—“The New Politics & the Democrats” (with Penn Kemble, December 1972), “Why the Democrats Lost” (January 1985), “Why the Democrats Lost Again” (February 1989), “Why the Democrats Finally Won”(January 1993), and “Why the Republicans Lost, and Won” (January 1997)—are available at www.commentarymagazine.com.
The Shadow Internet
They take a single stolen file and pump out bootleg media by the millions. Inside the pirate networks that are terrorizing the entertainment industry.
My 2004
by Jonah Goldberg
I suppose I could stand above it all and proclaim with the voice of God and the eye of History (or the other way around, if you prefer) my absolute, ontologically certain, 100 percent definitive list of the most important stories of 2004.
Christian hypocrisy, atheist insanity
by Marvin Olasky
Stingy?
by Bruce Bartlett
The other day, a United Nations official accused the United States of being 'stingy' in terms of aid to tsunami victims in South Asia.
Gay marriage 'rights'
by Thomas Sowell
It's About the Tragedy - Not More Bush-Bashing
by John Podhoretz
Lessons for Democrats
by E. J. Dionne Jr.
GOP, You Are Warned
by David Frum
Minority Student Success
by Governor Jeb Bush
The U.N. Sex Scandal
Exploitation, abuse, and other humanitarian efforts.
by Joseph Loconte
The Hookie Awards
Hookie Awards, Part 2
by David Brooks
Exporting the Ukraine Miracle
by Max Boot
Boston Globe
For Army, a clash over supply, demand
Contractors stymied amid shortage of armored vehicles
New York Sun Staff Editorial
The Left and the Tsunami
Leave it to the American left to find a villain of the tsunami disaster - not Mother Nature but President Bush.
Intel's Cold Calculator
by John Hillen
America's Secret War: Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle Between America & Its Enemies
by George Friedman
Doubleday 368 Pages, $25.95
Thursday, December 30, 2004
articles 12/30
Washington Post
On Nov. 2, GOP Got More Bang For Its Billion, Analysis Shows
By Thomas B. Edsall and James V. Grimaldi
Pentagon ousts official who tied Russia, Iraq arms
By Bill Gertz
AP
FBI Probes Laser Beam Directed at Cockpit
Authorities are investigating a mysterious laser beam that was directed into the cockpit of a commercial jet traveling at more than 8,500 feet.
You go to war with the press you have
by Helmut Sonnenfeldt/Ron Nessen
The Man Who Stole the Secrets
The story of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen--from the KGB's point of view.
by Edward Epstein
Revering and reinventing history
by Suzanne Fields
Cheney reminded him that unlike the bombers and beheaders of Baghdad, the Americans are 'on the side of freedom.' The men shivering on the banks of the Delaware in 1776 understood that, too.
Free lunch 'safety': Part II
by Thomas Sowell
No one has to show that some particular medication is more dangerous than some particular recreation in order to get the medication banned while the recreational activity is allowed to go on.
Painkiller panic
by Alan Reynolds
Depending on which of two recent studies you may have read about, you might suppose the pain reliever Alleve (naproxen) will either reduce or increase the risk of heart attacks.
Hysteria
by Emmett Tyrrell
We now have journalistic hysteria over the Giant Pharmaceuticals and their alleged reckless pursuit of profit.
Barreling ahead into 2005
by Larry Kudlow
The U.S. economy is hitting on all cylinders as 2004 passes into 2005.
Welfare reality
by George Will
Angela Jobe, 38, is a grandmother who has lived most of her adult life at ground zero of the struggle to 'end welfare as we know it.'
What transition costs?
by Robert Novak
The Democratic Party establishment is appalled at the thought of private Social Security accounts turning ordinary Americans into owners of stocks and bonds and, therefore, potential Republicans.
Who Forgot China?
In the middle of fighting the global war on terror, America has forgotten about their "strategic competitor" to the East. The Chinese have noticed.
by Tom Donnelly
2004: Highlights and lowlifes
by Ann Coulter
The single biggest event of 2004 was the Election Day exit poll, which, like John Steinbeck's 'The Short Reign of Pippin IV,' made John Kerry the president for a few moments.
The Bush legacy will take a healing period
by Larry Elder
After Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush knew America could no longer tolerate the status quo, that only offense could guarantee security in the wake of this era's peril -- Islamic fascism.
Why the war in Iraq is an integral part of the war on terror
by Ben Shapiro
Since the invasion of Iraq, liberals have been arguing that the war in Iraq is not part of the broader war on terror.
That 'Sluggish' Economy
It's still the strongest in the world.
Disturbances in the Earth
The biggest story of 2004 is also the oldest story in the world.
by Peggy Noonan
Jimmy Carter's Misadventures
by Charlie Norwood
In a Clueless Party
By Michael Gecan
Iraqi Election is Osama's Nightmare
by Ralph Peters
The Pathetic Ethics of Jim McDermott
by Real Clear Politics
Movement Interruptus
September 11 slowed the Democratic trend that we predicted, but the coalition we foresaw is still taking shape.
By John B. Judis & Ruy Teixeira
Army Seeks to Save War-Torn Marriages
With studies showing divorce rates as high as 21 percent among couples where one spouse has been sent off to war, the Army is spending $2 million on a variety of marriage programs, including vouchers for romantic getaways to places like the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn.
U.S. News & World Report
Ways to fix your life: Quit your job
John Doyle was an overworked New York investment banker on the fast track. By most measures, he was a success. But he was also miserable. So during a semiannual review 2 1/2 years into the job, he simply quit. "Almost immediately I lost 35 pounds," says Doyle. For four months, he did little more than relax, rollerblade through Central Park, and read books. "Honestly, it was one of the happiest times in my life," he says.
On Nov. 2, GOP Got More Bang For Its Billion, Analysis Shows
By Thomas B. Edsall and James V. Grimaldi
Pentagon ousts official who tied Russia, Iraq arms
By Bill Gertz
AP
FBI Probes Laser Beam Directed at Cockpit
Authorities are investigating a mysterious laser beam that was directed into the cockpit of a commercial jet traveling at more than 8,500 feet.
You go to war with the press you have
by Helmut Sonnenfeldt/Ron Nessen
The Man Who Stole the Secrets
The story of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen--from the KGB's point of view.
by Edward Epstein
Revering and reinventing history
by Suzanne Fields
Cheney reminded him that unlike the bombers and beheaders of Baghdad, the Americans are 'on the side of freedom.' The men shivering on the banks of the Delaware in 1776 understood that, too.
Free lunch 'safety': Part II
by Thomas Sowell
No one has to show that some particular medication is more dangerous than some particular recreation in order to get the medication banned while the recreational activity is allowed to go on.
Painkiller panic
by Alan Reynolds
Depending on which of two recent studies you may have read about, you might suppose the pain reliever Alleve (naproxen) will either reduce or increase the risk of heart attacks.
Hysteria
by Emmett Tyrrell
We now have journalistic hysteria over the Giant Pharmaceuticals and their alleged reckless pursuit of profit.
Barreling ahead into 2005
by Larry Kudlow
The U.S. economy is hitting on all cylinders as 2004 passes into 2005.
Welfare reality
by George Will
Angela Jobe, 38, is a grandmother who has lived most of her adult life at ground zero of the struggle to 'end welfare as we know it.'
What transition costs?
by Robert Novak
The Democratic Party establishment is appalled at the thought of private Social Security accounts turning ordinary Americans into owners of stocks and bonds and, therefore, potential Republicans.
Who Forgot China?
In the middle of fighting the global war on terror, America has forgotten about their "strategic competitor" to the East. The Chinese have noticed.
by Tom Donnelly
2004: Highlights and lowlifes
by Ann Coulter
The single biggest event of 2004 was the Election Day exit poll, which, like John Steinbeck's 'The Short Reign of Pippin IV,' made John Kerry the president for a few moments.
The Bush legacy will take a healing period
by Larry Elder
After Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush knew America could no longer tolerate the status quo, that only offense could guarantee security in the wake of this era's peril -- Islamic fascism.
Why the war in Iraq is an integral part of the war on terror
by Ben Shapiro
Since the invasion of Iraq, liberals have been arguing that the war in Iraq is not part of the broader war on terror.
That 'Sluggish' Economy
It's still the strongest in the world.
Disturbances in the Earth
The biggest story of 2004 is also the oldest story in the world.
by Peggy Noonan
Jimmy Carter's Misadventures
by Charlie Norwood
In a Clueless Party
By Michael Gecan
Iraqi Election is Osama's Nightmare
by Ralph Peters
The Pathetic Ethics of Jim McDermott
by Real Clear Politics
Movement Interruptus
September 11 slowed the Democratic trend that we predicted, but the coalition we foresaw is still taking shape.
By John B. Judis & Ruy Teixeira
Army Seeks to Save War-Torn Marriages
With studies showing divorce rates as high as 21 percent among couples where one spouse has been sent off to war, the Army is spending $2 million on a variety of marriage programs, including vouchers for romantic getaways to places like the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn.
U.S. News & World Report
Ways to fix your life: Quit your job
John Doyle was an overworked New York investment banker on the fast track. By most measures, he was a success. But he was also miserable. So during a semiannual review 2 1/2 years into the job, he simply quit. "Almost immediately I lost 35 pounds," says Doyle. For four months, he did little more than relax, rollerblade through Central Park, and read books. "Honestly, it was one of the happiest times in my life," he says.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
articles 12/29
New Democrats Online
The Road Back
If Democrats want to be a majority party again, they need to win back the middle class.
By Al From and Bruce Reed
Wired News
Stem-Cell Method May Cheat Death
Reproduction experts in Chicago might have an elegant solution to the explosive moral dilemma posed by embryonic stem-cell research.
By Kristen Philipkoski.
Wired
The BitTorrent Effect
Movie studios hate it. File-swappers love it. Bram Cohen's blazing-fast P2P software has turned the Internet into a universal TiVo.
Time to Kill the Embargo
Press embargoes may have served a useful purpose at some point, but now they are mostly PR tools. So let the information flow.
by Adam L. Penenberg.
Blue: The Next Orange?
Forget reform. The U.N. needs regime change.
by Claudia Rosett
Leave Rumsfeld Be
He is not to blame for our difficulties.
by Victor Davis Hanson
Rumsfeld’s Baby and the Bathwater
The secretary, the military, and transformation.
By John Hillen
NY Times
Director of Analysis Branch at the C.I.A. Is Being Removed
NY Times
Looking for Cuts, Pentagon Turns to Jet Fighter Program
Is it Oslo mania all over again?
by Joel Mowbray
Just as Arafat delivered an accord as expected at Oslo, all indications are that Abbas will soon sign on the dotted line.
Kofi's stingy uncle
by Jonah Goldberg
As of this writing the death toll in Asia from the killer tsunami exceeds 50,000. Almost immediately, the United States put together an aid package of $15 million, with assurances that more will be on the way.
The undemocratic party
by Terence Jeffrey
If the process for confirming federal judges in the next session of Congress is anything like the last, the Democratic Party should change its name to the Undemocratic Party.
Americans pass gut check
by Tony Blankley
Osama Bin Laden is getting positively chatty these days. He has released his third video in as many months -- this time calling for Iraqis to boycott next month's elections.
Caricature References
By Richard Cohen
Newsweek reports that at a Washington dinner party I had an encounter with George Tenet, the former director of the CIA, whom I had earlier that day called "incompetent" and a "failure." Newsweek reports that Tenet exclaimed, "Hey, what did I ever do to you?" and then mockingly asked if I wanted to step outside. Newsweek, however, does not report what happened next: Tenet and I talked about our mothers.
The Philosophers' Blog
Where condescension is king.
by Ross Douthat
Embryology: Inconvenient Facts
by William L. Saunders, Jr.
A Unified Theory of the Old Media Collapse
Asymmetrical tolerance and the collapse of Big Media credibility: How 2004 brought doom to legacy media.
by Hugh Hewitt
Journalism & humility
The two rarely go together anymore, but by following the Bible a Christian journalist can aspire to be a humble truth teller. Other current options—subjectivity-balancing or ideological commitment—leave reporters standing on shifting sand.
by Marvin Olasky
Winning The Future: A 21st Century Contract with America
by Newt Gingrich
The dangers are manifold: Terrorism. Judges who think they’re God (and who are anti-God). Rising economic challenges from China and India. Immigrants and young Americans who know little about American history and values. Can America survive? Yes, says Newt Gingrich, and we as Americans can do more: We can create a safer, more prosperous, and healthier America for our children and grandchildren. How? By enacting a 21st Century Contract with America. When he was Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich issued his first Contract with America. What was the result? Sweeping reform that shocked Washington and spurred an economic recovery for the nation, including: the first major tax cut in sixteen years; real, lasting welfare reform; and four years of balanced budgets. But the challenges now are even starker, and Newt is back with a plan for American greatness that includes: · How to win the War on Terror – how Ronald Reagan’s winning strategy in the Cold War can be adapted and modified to win this new global struggle · How to reestablish God in American public life – without God, America ceases to be American, which is why leftists are so keen on banishing our Creator · How to reform Social Security – and improve your retirement earnings – before Social Security bankrupts the nation and the next generation of taxpayers · How to restore patriotism to American schools – and insist on patriotic learning for new immigrants · How to make American health care the global standard for excellence and accessibility – while reducing health care costs · And much more The challenges of the 21st Century are great, says Newt Gingrich, but so are the opportunities. The decisions we make over the next four years will determine our future. And no book can be more important for making the right choices than Newt Gingrich’s Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America
Ten years after Contract with America, its believers press on
By Carl Weiser
Bob Dylan, a Work in Progress
"I'm not part of no Movement," he once said.
by Nat Hentoff
Policy Review
Eminem Is Right
By Mary Eberstadt
The Media & Medievalism
A new tyranny rears its head
by Robert D. Kaplan
When War must be the answer
The case for force
by James V. Schall, S.J.
What Happened to Expository Preaching?
By Alistair Begg
Why is expository preaching absent from so many of today’s churches? Because of a loss of confidence in the Scriptures, preoccupation with the wrong battles, and a sad lack of excellent role models, many preachers compromise on their calling and revert to the expectations of the culture.
USA Today
U2's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb Named Album of The Year
The Road Back
If Democrats want to be a majority party again, they need to win back the middle class.
By Al From and Bruce Reed
Wired News
Stem-Cell Method May Cheat Death
Reproduction experts in Chicago might have an elegant solution to the explosive moral dilemma posed by embryonic stem-cell research.
By Kristen Philipkoski.
Wired
The BitTorrent Effect
Movie studios hate it. File-swappers love it. Bram Cohen's blazing-fast P2P software has turned the Internet into a universal TiVo.
Time to Kill the Embargo
Press embargoes may have served a useful purpose at some point, but now they are mostly PR tools. So let the information flow.
by Adam L. Penenberg.
Blue: The Next Orange?
Forget reform. The U.N. needs regime change.
by Claudia Rosett
Leave Rumsfeld Be
He is not to blame for our difficulties.
by Victor Davis Hanson
Rumsfeld’s Baby and the Bathwater
The secretary, the military, and transformation.
By John Hillen
NY Times
Director of Analysis Branch at the C.I.A. Is Being Removed
NY Times
Looking for Cuts, Pentagon Turns to Jet Fighter Program
Is it Oslo mania all over again?
by Joel Mowbray
Just as Arafat delivered an accord as expected at Oslo, all indications are that Abbas will soon sign on the dotted line.
Kofi's stingy uncle
by Jonah Goldberg
As of this writing the death toll in Asia from the killer tsunami exceeds 50,000. Almost immediately, the United States put together an aid package of $15 million, with assurances that more will be on the way.
The undemocratic party
by Terence Jeffrey
If the process for confirming federal judges in the next session of Congress is anything like the last, the Democratic Party should change its name to the Undemocratic Party.
Americans pass gut check
by Tony Blankley
Osama Bin Laden is getting positively chatty these days. He has released his third video in as many months -- this time calling for Iraqis to boycott next month's elections.
Caricature References
By Richard Cohen
Newsweek reports that at a Washington dinner party I had an encounter with George Tenet, the former director of the CIA, whom I had earlier that day called "incompetent" and a "failure." Newsweek reports that Tenet exclaimed, "Hey, what did I ever do to you?" and then mockingly asked if I wanted to step outside. Newsweek, however, does not report what happened next: Tenet and I talked about our mothers.
The Philosophers' Blog
Where condescension is king.
by Ross Douthat
Embryology: Inconvenient Facts
by William L. Saunders, Jr.
A Unified Theory of the Old Media Collapse
Asymmetrical tolerance and the collapse of Big Media credibility: How 2004 brought doom to legacy media.
by Hugh Hewitt
Journalism & humility
The two rarely go together anymore, but by following the Bible a Christian journalist can aspire to be a humble truth teller. Other current options—subjectivity-balancing or ideological commitment—leave reporters standing on shifting sand.
by Marvin Olasky
Winning The Future: A 21st Century Contract with America
by Newt Gingrich
The dangers are manifold: Terrorism. Judges who think they’re God (and who are anti-God). Rising economic challenges from China and India. Immigrants and young Americans who know little about American history and values. Can America survive? Yes, says Newt Gingrich, and we as Americans can do more: We can create a safer, more prosperous, and healthier America for our children and grandchildren. How? By enacting a 21st Century Contract with America. When he was Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich issued his first Contract with America. What was the result? Sweeping reform that shocked Washington and spurred an economic recovery for the nation, including: the first major tax cut in sixteen years; real, lasting welfare reform; and four years of balanced budgets. But the challenges now are even starker, and Newt is back with a plan for American greatness that includes: · How to win the War on Terror – how Ronald Reagan’s winning strategy in the Cold War can be adapted and modified to win this new global struggle · How to reestablish God in American public life – without God, America ceases to be American, which is why leftists are so keen on banishing our Creator · How to reform Social Security – and improve your retirement earnings – before Social Security bankrupts the nation and the next generation of taxpayers · How to restore patriotism to American schools – and insist on patriotic learning for new immigrants · How to make American health care the global standard for excellence and accessibility – while reducing health care costs · And much more The challenges of the 21st Century are great, says Newt Gingrich, but so are the opportunities. The decisions we make over the next four years will determine our future. And no book can be more important for making the right choices than Newt Gingrich’s Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America
Ten years after Contract with America, its believers press on
By Carl Weiser
Bob Dylan, a Work in Progress
"I'm not part of no Movement," he once said.
by Nat Hentoff
Policy Review
Eminem Is Right
By Mary Eberstadt
The Media & Medievalism
A new tyranny rears its head
by Robert D. Kaplan
When War must be the answer
The case for force
by James V. Schall, S.J.
What Happened to Expository Preaching?
By Alistair Begg
Why is expository preaching absent from so many of today’s churches? Because of a loss of confidence in the Scriptures, preoccupation with the wrong battles, and a sad lack of excellent role models, many preachers compromise on their calling and revert to the expectations of the culture.
USA Today
U2's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb Named Album of The Year
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
articles 12/28
AFP
Quake rattled Earth orbit, changed map of Asia: US geophysicist
An earthquake that unleashed deadly tidal waves on Asia was so powerful it made the Earth wobble on its axis and permanently altered the regional map, US geophysicists said.
The Future Iraq Deserves
A pluralist state built on a democratic social contract.
by Ahmad Chalabi
Shattered Glass, Battered Freedom
The concept of religious "tolerance" seems to be warping apace these days.
by Lionel Shriver
Wall Street Journal Editorial
Saying No to 'I Do'
The voters reject gay marriage. Now we need a cooling off period.
The Second Term Curse
by Brendan Miniter
Polygamy? Sure, It Makes Good Tax Sense
by Mark Steyn
The World's Most Extreme Affirmative Action Program
by Robert Guest
In the footsteps of FDR, Truman, JFK
by Jeff Jacoby
George W. Bush has articulated this conviction many times, so it comes as no surprise to hear him say it again.
The new status quo
by Michael Barone
Once upon a time, liberals were the folks who wanted to change society.
Coddling Kofi Annan
by Robert Novak
Sen. Norm Coleman bit his lip and kept silent when the State Department expressed confidence in United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The abolition of tenure
by Mike S. Adams
After every article I write lamenting the deplorable state of higher education, I get letters from readers that say 'thank God for tenure.'
The Struggle for the Middle East
Iraq, Iran, and democracy.
by Reuel Marc Gerecht
The Millennium War
A report from the Mesopotamian front.
by Austin Bay
Negotiating with Himself
The president's Social Security pitch needs some work.
by Fred Barnes
The Irish Times
Meet the Bomb Squad
As U2 end the year with their album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, at No. 1 in 30 countries, Bono and Larry Mullen tell Brian Boyd about how they still feel insecure, what they think of their contemporaries, and why they are endorsing iPods.
byFaithOnline.com (The Web Magazine of the Presbyterian Church of America)
How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb Rebuilds the Heart
By Chuck DeGroat
Rose Bowl Introduction: U-M, Texas to Meet for First Time
It will be Michigan vs. Texas in the 2005 Rose Bowl, marking the first time two of college football's most storied programs will face each other. The Big Ten co-champion Wolverines (9-2) and the Longhorns (10-1), a BCS at-large selection, will meet Jan. 1, 2005, at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST) in Pasadena, Calif. U-M, the Big Ten's Rose Bowl representative for the second straight year, will be making its ninth consecutive New Year's Day bowl appearance under coach Lloyd Carr.
Record Four Wolverines on AP All-America First Team
Seniors David Baas, Braylon Edwards, Marlin Jackson and Ernest Shazor were named to the Associated Press All-America first team.
Four Wolverines on Football Writers All-America Team
A school-record four players -- David Baas, Braylon Edwards, Marlin Jackson and Ernest Shazor -- made the FWAA All-America team.
Edwards Receives Biletnikoff Award as Top Receiver
Biletnikoff Award winner Braylon Edwards headed a Michigan quartet which received Walter Camp Foundation All-America honors.
Quake rattled Earth orbit, changed map of Asia: US geophysicist
An earthquake that unleashed deadly tidal waves on Asia was so powerful it made the Earth wobble on its axis and permanently altered the regional map, US geophysicists said.
The Future Iraq Deserves
A pluralist state built on a democratic social contract.
by Ahmad Chalabi
Shattered Glass, Battered Freedom
The concept of religious "tolerance" seems to be warping apace these days.
by Lionel Shriver
Wall Street Journal Editorial
Saying No to 'I Do'
The voters reject gay marriage. Now we need a cooling off period.
The Second Term Curse
by Brendan Miniter
Polygamy? Sure, It Makes Good Tax Sense
by Mark Steyn
The World's Most Extreme Affirmative Action Program
by Robert Guest
In the footsteps of FDR, Truman, JFK
by Jeff Jacoby
George W. Bush has articulated this conviction many times, so it comes as no surprise to hear him say it again.
The new status quo
by Michael Barone
Once upon a time, liberals were the folks who wanted to change society.
Coddling Kofi Annan
by Robert Novak
Sen. Norm Coleman bit his lip and kept silent when the State Department expressed confidence in United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The abolition of tenure
by Mike S. Adams
After every article I write lamenting the deplorable state of higher education, I get letters from readers that say 'thank God for tenure.'
The Struggle for the Middle East
Iraq, Iran, and democracy.
by Reuel Marc Gerecht
The Millennium War
A report from the Mesopotamian front.
by Austin Bay
Negotiating with Himself
The president's Social Security pitch needs some work.
by Fred Barnes
The Irish Times
Meet the Bomb Squad
As U2 end the year with their album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, at No. 1 in 30 countries, Bono and Larry Mullen tell Brian Boyd about how they still feel insecure, what they think of their contemporaries, and why they are endorsing iPods.
byFaithOnline.com (The Web Magazine of the Presbyterian Church of America)
How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb Rebuilds the Heart
By Chuck DeGroat
Rose Bowl Introduction: U-M, Texas to Meet for First Time
It will be Michigan vs. Texas in the 2005 Rose Bowl, marking the first time two of college football's most storied programs will face each other. The Big Ten co-champion Wolverines (9-2) and the Longhorns (10-1), a BCS at-large selection, will meet Jan. 1, 2005, at 2 p.m. PST (5 p.m. EST) in Pasadena, Calif. U-M, the Big Ten's Rose Bowl representative for the second straight year, will be making its ninth consecutive New Year's Day bowl appearance under coach Lloyd Carr.
Record Four Wolverines on AP All-America First Team
Seniors David Baas, Braylon Edwards, Marlin Jackson and Ernest Shazor were named to the Associated Press All-America first team.
Four Wolverines on Football Writers All-America Team
A school-record four players -- David Baas, Braylon Edwards, Marlin Jackson and Ernest Shazor -- made the FWAA All-America team.
Edwards Receives Biletnikoff Award as Top Receiver
Biletnikoff Award winner Braylon Edwards headed a Michigan quartet which received Walter Camp Foundation All-America honors.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
articles 12/21
The Imperial Idiom
Henry Rawlinson knew Baghdad and other hotspots. We could use his like today.
by Stuart Ferguson
A Lobbyist's Progress
Jack Abramoff and the end of the Republican Revolution.
by Andrew Ferguson
Holland Daze
The Dutch rethink multiculturalism.
Christopher Caldwell
Our Friends the Saudis
What is the world's oil-supplier of last resort up to?
by Irwin M. Stelzer
Getting Gaza Right
The key to progress for the Palestinians.
by Robert Satloff
"Christianophobia"
by David Warren
All the Votes Fit to Count
Ukraine gets to revote. Why can't Washington state?
by John Fund
The Real Reason Kofi Annan Must Go
Genocide, not oil money, is the proof of his failed leadership.
by Kenneth Cain
The Silent Majority
A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq.
by Arthur Chrenkoff
The Western Front
by Brendan Miniter
Are American soldiers doing the Lord's work in Iraq? You bet
Let the Afghan Poppies Bloom
How the drug war is undermining the war on terrorism.
by Christopher Hitchens
Iraqi Election Of Doom, Not
by Amir Taheri
Women in combat (again)
by Cal Thomas
Far more serious than the short-term consequences of some poorly armored vehicles in Iraq are the potential long-term consequences of putting female soldiers in ground combat units.
Byrd's nuclear option
by Robert Novak
The unprecedented Democratic plan to filibuster judicial nominations that do not meet liberal specifications has exceeded all expectations.
The 'Fair' Tax
by Matt Towery
Past polling has suggested that, when properly explained, the 'Fair Tax' proposal, which would end the federal government's fixation on punishing those who work hard, is extremely popular.
A case of collective projection
by David Limbaugh
Perhaps the perception that 'moral issues' contributed to President Bush’s re-election has heightened the secular Left’s irrational fear of Christians.
The answer to AIDS is values
by Star Parker
A recent Newsweek cover story has helped bring national attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African-American women. Unfortunately, its superficial and biased coverage is itself evidence of the scope of the crisis on which it reports.
From fetus to baby
by Rich Lowry
During the coverage of the crime, the status of the Bobbie Jo Stinnett's unborn girl steadily changed.
Wall Street Journal
Saddam's Regime Has Not Yet Been Defeated
Osama's New Strategy
by Arnaud de Borchgrave
Process But No Peace
by Victor Davis Hanson
The "Smart People" Think Rumsfeld Needs to Go
by Frank Gaffney
Scapegoat in Chief
by David Ignatius
Beltway Blunder
by John Podhoretz
Military is evolving
By Donald H. Rumsfeld
Make No Mistake
by David Brooks
NY Times
Diet Drinks Get Aliases
U2.com
‘The Gospel According to U2’
Henry Rawlinson knew Baghdad and other hotspots. We could use his like today.
by Stuart Ferguson
A Lobbyist's Progress
Jack Abramoff and the end of the Republican Revolution.
by Andrew Ferguson
Holland Daze
The Dutch rethink multiculturalism.
Christopher Caldwell
Our Friends the Saudis
What is the world's oil-supplier of last resort up to?
by Irwin M. Stelzer
Getting Gaza Right
The key to progress for the Palestinians.
by Robert Satloff
"Christianophobia"
by David Warren
All the Votes Fit to Count
Ukraine gets to revote. Why can't Washington state?
by John Fund
The Real Reason Kofi Annan Must Go
Genocide, not oil money, is the proof of his failed leadership.
by Kenneth Cain
The Silent Majority
A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq.
by Arthur Chrenkoff
The Western Front
by Brendan Miniter
Are American soldiers doing the Lord's work in Iraq? You bet
Let the Afghan Poppies Bloom
How the drug war is undermining the war on terrorism.
by Christopher Hitchens
Iraqi Election Of Doom, Not
by Amir Taheri
Women in combat (again)
by Cal Thomas
Far more serious than the short-term consequences of some poorly armored vehicles in Iraq are the potential long-term consequences of putting female soldiers in ground combat units.
Byrd's nuclear option
by Robert Novak
The unprecedented Democratic plan to filibuster judicial nominations that do not meet liberal specifications has exceeded all expectations.
The 'Fair' Tax
by Matt Towery
Past polling has suggested that, when properly explained, the 'Fair Tax' proposal, which would end the federal government's fixation on punishing those who work hard, is extremely popular.
A case of collective projection
by David Limbaugh
Perhaps the perception that 'moral issues' contributed to President Bush’s re-election has heightened the secular Left’s irrational fear of Christians.
The answer to AIDS is values
by Star Parker
A recent Newsweek cover story has helped bring national attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African-American women. Unfortunately, its superficial and biased coverage is itself evidence of the scope of the crisis on which it reports.
From fetus to baby
by Rich Lowry
During the coverage of the crime, the status of the Bobbie Jo Stinnett's unborn girl steadily changed.
Wall Street Journal
Saddam's Regime Has Not Yet Been Defeated
Osama's New Strategy
by Arnaud de Borchgrave
Process But No Peace
by Victor Davis Hanson
The "Smart People" Think Rumsfeld Needs to Go
by Frank Gaffney
Scapegoat in Chief
by David Ignatius
Beltway Blunder
by John Podhoretz
Military is evolving
By Donald H. Rumsfeld
Make No Mistake
by David Brooks
NY Times
Diet Drinks Get Aliases
U2.com
‘The Gospel According to U2’
Terrify No More
NBC Nightly News - June 9, 2003
See IJM and recent rescues in Cambodia featured on NBC.
ISBN: 0849918383
Format: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Page Count: 240
In a small village outside of Phnom Pehn, little children as young as five years old were forced to live as sex slaves. Day after day their hope was slipping away. Tireless workers from International Justice Mission (IJM) infiltrated the ring of brothels and gathered evidence to free the children. Headed up by former war-crimes investigator Gary Haugen, IJM faced impossible odds-police corruption, death threats, and mission-thwarting tip-offs. But they used their expert legal finesse and high-tech investigative techniques to save the lives of 37 young girls and secured the arrest and conviction of several perpetrators. Terrify No More focuses on this dramatic rescue story, and uses flashbacks to tell those of many other victims who were given a second chance at life by this amazing organization.
GARY HAUGEN is the president and founder of International Justice Mission, a non-profit human rights organization that investigates and intervenes on behalf of victims of oppression. Haugen received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago, cum laude, where he was the Ford Foundation Scholar in International Law. He is a former UN war-crimes investigator, and now lives with his wife, Jan, and their four children in the Washington D.C. area.
If you know of anyone that's interested, this orginazition is looking for a Vice President of Communications. International Justice Mission is a dynamic and highly professional organization that has experienced high-speed growth and an ever-increasing platform of work. Its focus mandates a law firm environment coupled with a global enterprise philosophy. Balancing these two structures, human rights advocacy necessitates substantial tools of organization, planning and management to ensure the most effective response to cases of abuse. IJM recognizes this fact and is therefore looking for candidates of excellence who are willing to devote their skills to serve those hurt by injustice.
See IJM and recent rescues in Cambodia featured on NBC.
ISBN: 0849918383
Format: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Page Count: 240
In a small village outside of Phnom Pehn, little children as young as five years old were forced to live as sex slaves. Day after day their hope was slipping away. Tireless workers from International Justice Mission (IJM) infiltrated the ring of brothels and gathered evidence to free the children. Headed up by former war-crimes investigator Gary Haugen, IJM faced impossible odds-police corruption, death threats, and mission-thwarting tip-offs. But they used their expert legal finesse and high-tech investigative techniques to save the lives of 37 young girls and secured the arrest and conviction of several perpetrators. Terrify No More focuses on this dramatic rescue story, and uses flashbacks to tell those of many other victims who were given a second chance at life by this amazing organization.
GARY HAUGEN is the president and founder of International Justice Mission, a non-profit human rights organization that investigates and intervenes on behalf of victims of oppression. Haugen received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, and his J.D. from the University of Chicago, cum laude, where he was the Ford Foundation Scholar in International Law. He is a former UN war-crimes investigator, and now lives with his wife, Jan, and their four children in the Washington D.C. area.
If you know of anyone that's interested, this orginazition is looking for a Vice President of Communications. International Justice Mission is a dynamic and highly professional organization that has experienced high-speed growth and an ever-increasing platform of work. Its focus mandates a law firm environment coupled with a global enterprise philosophy. Balancing these two structures, human rights advocacy necessitates substantial tools of organization, planning and management to ensure the most effective response to cases of abuse. IJM recognizes this fact and is therefore looking for candidates of excellence who are willing to devote their skills to serve those hurt by injustice.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
articles 12/19
The Parent Trap
by Susan M. Barbieri
Unlike the chasm that separated baby boom parents from their parents, many of today's teenagers' tastes in clothes and music, as well as their political and social beliefs, dovetail with those of their parents. They are part of a generation from ages 9 to 19 that looks to Mom and Dad as role models.
Reuters
Saudi Al Qaeda Urges Attacks on Oil Facilities-Web
AFP
Poor diet, inherited disease made Gollum mad
NY Times
Pentagon Seeks to Expand Role in Intelligence-Collecting
LA Times
Capitalizing on a Politician's Clout
The husband, daughter and son of Rep. Maxine Waters have business links to people the influential lawmaker has aided.
Still in shadow
By Megan K. Stack
The old Iraq is gone. To take the measure of the Iraq emerging in its place, Times foreign correspondent Megan K.Stack made repeat visits to the small city of Samawah in the Shiite heartland.
Philip Morris Image a Tough Sell
By Myron Levin
The top cigarette maker says it has changed. Many tobacco foes are not impressed.
NY Times
Some Bosses Let Workers Choose Their Own Bonuses
W. Post Magazine
The Wounds of War
Fewer American soldiers are dying by gunfire in Iraq than in previous wars, but more are battling serious injuries after they arrive home. Alan Babin would tell you just how tough it is, if he could
By Monte Reel
Maybe We're the Desperate Ones
By David Blum
NY Times
In Kerik, Bush Saw Values Crucial to Post-9/11 World
Your Blog or Mine?
by Jeffrey Rosen
WSJ Editorial
The Blue-State Tax Burden
Dems want to soak the rich, but not the states where they live.
Time
Person of the Year
For sticking to his guns (literally and figuratively), for reshaping the rules of politics to fit his ten-gallon-hat leadership style and for persuading a majority of voters that he deserved to be in the White House for another four years, George W. Bush is TIME's 2004 Person of the Year
Time
Interview With The President
On a sunny afternoon last week, President George W. Bush sat down in the Oval Office with White House correspondents Matthew Cooper and John Dickerson and editor at large Nancy Gibbs to talk about Iraq, his second term and how he views his place in history.
Time
The Rove Warrior
No adviser has ever dominated the White House like Karl Rove. So what does the President see in him, and what's he planning to do next?
Newsweek
Does Cosby Help?
He's railed at black kids for choosing bling over books. What they think—and what Cos must do to reach them
Searching for Mr. Wilson
by Michael Barone
Newsweek
A Buddy Picture
The controversy over Bernie Kerik's failed bid to run Homeland Security has hurt more than his reputation. Just ask his friend and business partner, Rudy Giuliani.
Time
Don't Call It A Dynasty
But that's what the Bush family is. So just how has America's most enduring political family endured, and who's next in line?
10 Things We Learned About Blogs
Radio had its golden age in the 1930s. In the 1950s, it was television's turn. Historians may well date the golden age of the blog from 2004—when Merriam-Webster.com's most searched—for definition was blog. How long can it last? Who knows? Here's what we discovered about the new medium this year
NY Post Editorial
Return of the Wacky Vet-Myth
W. Post
Baseball Battle Began Small
What MLB saw as deal-sweetener, D.C. Council saw as thumb in city's eye
Struggling for relevance
by Cal Thomas
It cannot be pleasant to be on a losing track when you are accustomed to winning. Ask the former Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins (4-9 so far) and their Hall of Fame head coach, Joe Gibbs.
by Susan M. Barbieri
Unlike the chasm that separated baby boom parents from their parents, many of today's teenagers' tastes in clothes and music, as well as their political and social beliefs, dovetail with those of their parents. They are part of a generation from ages 9 to 19 that looks to Mom and Dad as role models.
Reuters
Saudi Al Qaeda Urges Attacks on Oil Facilities-Web
AFP
Poor diet, inherited disease made Gollum mad
NY Times
Pentagon Seeks to Expand Role in Intelligence-Collecting
LA Times
Capitalizing on a Politician's Clout
The husband, daughter and son of Rep. Maxine Waters have business links to people the influential lawmaker has aided.
Still in shadow
By Megan K. Stack
The old Iraq is gone. To take the measure of the Iraq emerging in its place, Times foreign correspondent Megan K.Stack made repeat visits to the small city of Samawah in the Shiite heartland.
Philip Morris Image a Tough Sell
By Myron Levin
The top cigarette maker says it has changed. Many tobacco foes are not impressed.
NY Times
Some Bosses Let Workers Choose Their Own Bonuses
W. Post Magazine
The Wounds of War
Fewer American soldiers are dying by gunfire in Iraq than in previous wars, but more are battling serious injuries after they arrive home. Alan Babin would tell you just how tough it is, if he could
By Monte Reel
Maybe We're the Desperate Ones
By David Blum
NY Times
In Kerik, Bush Saw Values Crucial to Post-9/11 World
Your Blog or Mine?
by Jeffrey Rosen
WSJ Editorial
The Blue-State Tax Burden
Dems want to soak the rich, but not the states where they live.
Time
Person of the Year
For sticking to his guns (literally and figuratively), for reshaping the rules of politics to fit his ten-gallon-hat leadership style and for persuading a majority of voters that he deserved to be in the White House for another four years, George W. Bush is TIME's 2004 Person of the Year
Time
Interview With The President
On a sunny afternoon last week, President George W. Bush sat down in the Oval Office with White House correspondents Matthew Cooper and John Dickerson and editor at large Nancy Gibbs to talk about Iraq, his second term and how he views his place in history.
Time
The Rove Warrior
No adviser has ever dominated the White House like Karl Rove. So what does the President see in him, and what's he planning to do next?
Newsweek
Does Cosby Help?
He's railed at black kids for choosing bling over books. What they think—and what Cos must do to reach them
Searching for Mr. Wilson
by Michael Barone
Newsweek
A Buddy Picture
The controversy over Bernie Kerik's failed bid to run Homeland Security has hurt more than his reputation. Just ask his friend and business partner, Rudy Giuliani.
Time
Don't Call It A Dynasty
But that's what the Bush family is. So just how has America's most enduring political family endured, and who's next in line?
10 Things We Learned About Blogs
Radio had its golden age in the 1930s. In the 1950s, it was television's turn. Historians may well date the golden age of the blog from 2004—when Merriam-Webster.com's most searched—for definition was blog. How long can it last? Who knows? Here's what we discovered about the new medium this year
NY Post Editorial
Return of the Wacky Vet-Myth
W. Post
Baseball Battle Began Small
What MLB saw as deal-sweetener, D.C. Council saw as thumb in city's eye
Struggling for relevance
by Cal Thomas
It cannot be pleasant to be on a losing track when you are accustomed to winning. Ask the former Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins (4-9 so far) and their Hall of Fame head coach, Joe Gibbs.
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