The argument is that “normalcy” is granted as a privilege to Asian Americans in participation in the math and sciences field (as well as for whites, who are the universal “normal”). And although I believe we can establish that this is unearned for the individual, need I t be so for the category or race as a whole?

If we speak of races, of groups of men acting collectively as a single entity (which of course I do not personally believe in), shouldn’t that entity be subject to any judgments one might pass on them? Do we not do the same for companies we believe practice bad business? We judge the company, despite the fact that it is a collection of men, because it is an entity that acts with a recognizable, cohesive purpose. If any other collection of men also acts with a recognizable, cohesive purpose, what is wrong with judging the group?

So, if this “privilege” is earned for the race, is it possible to pass broad judgment on race without judging individuals? And if so, is it feasible to have laws allowing for judgments on race (ie profiling)?

The answer to the latter is no. Laws apply ultimately to individuals; there is no law that judges a race without judging individuals.

However, this is not true of the social sphere. We are able to distinguish between a person and a group to which that person belongs. Often, we separate an individual, in our mind, from the vague mass that is a group–the individual pops out. Group A may be known for being soft spoken, for example. When we encounter a member M of A who is loud, we have already created a partition. A is distinct. The individual, of course, is able to make another’s judgment on him/her coincide with the other’s judgment on a particular group to which the individual belongs. However, as a rule, we are able and we do consciously judge individuals separate from the group. We do not, for example, judge the employee of a company based on the company’s action, despite the employee’s membership in that group. And if we are able to make such a mental separation, there is not anything stopping us from passing judgment on groups. In fact, if we are able to make this separation, we ought to pass such judgments on entities as they have earned.

The trouble, I suppose, is that in order to pass an accurate judgment on a group, one would need access to some sort of experience covering a broad range of the group. The answer to this is, then, is statistics. In college: admit rates, major percentages, graduation rates. In the workplace: field percentages, administrative position percentages. In crime: prison percentages, relapse rates, arrest and conviction percentages. Et cetera. Via statistics, one can form an educated judgment that is justified, on some level.

Given this, I do not understand how persons can be offended when one notes some statistic. It’s a fact–are you angry at it? Or are you angry that I may be drawing conclusions based on this fact? It depends on the reasonableness of the conclusion right? If a group A is statistically known to be 5 times more likely to display behavior B than all other groups of that class, is it unreasonable to know in one’s head that that person M who I know to be in A is at least statistically 5 times more likely to display B? It would be unreasonable, surely, to “know” in one’s head that that person has in fact displayed that behavior. But can the former statement be reasonably attacked?

General - No Comments »

NYT
“Pelosi Unveils House Health Care Bill”
$1.055 trillion. Insurance for up to 36 million people. Expand Medicaid. Subsidies for moderate-income Americans for private or government plan. CBO says will reduce deficit by $104 billion over 10 years. Paid for by an income surtax on individuals earning more than $500,000, cuts to Medicare. New regulations, ie bar denial of coverage due to pre-existing medical conditions.

LAT
“House health compromise has ‘public option’ with a catch”
“The new bill would require the government to negotiate healthcare costs with providers rather than set the rates itself.” I can’t believe letting the government set its own rates was even considered.

WP
“House Democrats pass health-care bill”
Bill passes with Stupak amendment – bans government insurance plan from insuring for abortion procedures.

WP
“Reid says bill will include a public option”
The bill will let states opt out of the public option.

WP
Centrists unsure about Reid’s public option

WP
Bill in works to let U.S. dissolve failing firms
The legislation would let the government appropriate firms, dismantle them, and sell the remains. Republicans advocate adding a bankruptcy procedure to deal with troubled firms.

WP
“Economics of climate change in forefront”

WP
“Climate bill faces hurdles in Senate”
Cap and trade system with nuclear power.

NYT
“Bill Seeks to Shift Rescue Costs to Big Banks”
Money from assessments imposed on big financial companies will be used to soften the fall of firm failures.

NYT
“Loosening of F.B.I. Rules Stirs Privacy Concerns “
“Agents may begin such assessments against a target without a particular factual justification…Assessments permit agents to use potentially intrusive techniques, like sending confidential informants to infiltrate organizations and following and photographing targets in public…even if agents find nothing, the personal information they collect during assessments can be retained in F.B.I. databases…agents are permitted to consider political speech or religion as one criterion.” So they can do assessments whenever they want, and even if they find nothing via those assessments, the information from those assessments can be permanently kept. Great.

NYT
“U.S. Economy Began to Grow Again in 3rd Quarter”
“The nation’s gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the quarter that ended in September.”

NYT
“Shield Law Compromise Would Protect Reporters and Bloggers”

WP
1,600 are suggested daily for FBI’s list
“Number of names on terrorist watch list at 400,000, agency says.”

General - No Comments »

WP
“Alarm Bell on Health Reform”
Sen. Wyden (D-Oregon) has been a longtime supporter of health reform. But he warned in September that the plan offered by the Senate Finance Committee “would cost lower-income Americans too much and give many people too little choice of insurance plans.” Not to mention, it would FORCE you to get health insurance: “Those without coverage would face a fine of as much as $3,800…he said, “They’re going to say, ‘Huh? Health-care security means I pay a whole lot more than I’m paying today or I get to be exempt from it, or I pay a penalty?’ They’re not going to say that meets the definition of health-care security.”"

Politico
“Breaking down the Baucus bill”
A look at the Senate Finance Committee bill. “Baucus put the cost of his bill at $856 billion. It would require nearly all Americans to carry insurance and employers to help cover the costs of providing government subsidies, while prohibiting insurance companies from dropping or denying coverage for people with pre-existing conditions…The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would cost $774 billion over 10 years and cover 94 percent of Americans. It would leave 25 million people uninsured in 2019 — a third of whom are illegal immigrants — compared with 17 million in the House bill.” On how to pay for the plan: “Baucus proposed an excise tax on insurers for their top-of-the-line plans.”

NYT **
“To Explain Longevity Gap, Look Past Health System “
This article takes a fascinating look at why our health system is supposedly so terrible. It turns out that our medical system is actually quite good, and the longevity gap is due to getting sick more often, lifestyle choices (smoking), etc. A must read.

NYT **
“Health Care Overhaul and Mandatory Coverage Stir States’ Rights Claims “
Some states are looking at constitutional amendments as a way to shield their residents from mandatory coverage. ““States can no more nullify a federal law like this than they could nullify the civil rights laws by adopting constitutional amendments,” said Timothy Stoltzfus Jost…“They’re essentially saying that state constitutions are meaningless,” [Mr. Emmer] said, “and I disagree.”"

WP
“White House Seeks Renewal of Surveillance Laws”

NYT
“Justice Dept. to Limit Use of State Secrets Privilege”

WP
“Administration Won’t Seek New Detention System”

NYT Op-Ed
“An Incomplete State Secrets Fix”

ChattahBox
“White House Eyeing Phasing Out of Fossil Fuel Subsidies”

WP
“Regulating Carbon”

NYT
“Refitted to Bury Emissions, Plant Draws Attention “

NYT Op
“It’s Easy Being Green”

Grist
“Scientists identify “safe operating space for humanity” in seminal Nature study”

WP
“Senators Ready a Bill on Greenhouse Gases”
“Cuts Deeper Than House’s, Carbon Offsets Cheaper”

NYT
“E.P.A. Moves to Curtail Greenhouse Gas Emissions “

NYT
“Government Urges Changes to Google Books Deal”

WP
“FCC ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules Expected to Advance on Vote”

Yahoo
“In a first, an AIDS vaccine shows some success”

NYT
“Global Economic Forum to Expand Permanently”

NYT
“U.S. and Allies Warn Iran Over Nuclear ‘Deception’”

NYT
“Banks to Prepay Assessments to Rescue F.D.I.C.”

NYT
“White House Proposes Changes in Bill Protecting Reporters’ Confidentiality”
Proposed changes would weaken the bill.

NYT
“Iran Agrees to Send Enriched Uranium to Russia”

NYT
“Report Says Iran Has Data to Make a Nuclear Bomb”
According to the United Nations.

Jurist
“Pittsburgh’s Police State: Giving the First Amendment a Beating at the G-20″

ACLU
“House Approves Bill That Would Allow Suppression Of Torture Photos”

General - No Comments »

NYT
“In Latest Upheaval, China Applies New Strategies to Control Flow of Information”
“China is finding new ways not just to suppress bad news at the source, but also to spin whatever unflattering tidbits escape its control.”

NYT
“U.S.-Russia Nuclear Agreement Is First Step in Broad Effort”
“President Obama signed an agreement on Monday to cut American and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals by at least one-quarter.”

NYT
“Health Deals Could Harbor Hidden Costs”

Politico
“Independents begin to edge away from President Obama”
“Independent voters are deserting President Barack Obama nationally and especially in key swing states.”

NYT
“Democrats Say C.I.A. Deceived Congress”
“The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta, has told the House Intelligence Committee in closed-door testimony that the C.I.A. concealed “significant actions” from Congress from 2001 until late last month.”

NYT
“Cheney Is Linked to Concealment of C.I.A. Project”
“The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees.”

WP
“Lawmakers Warned About Health Costs”
“Douglas Elmendorf, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, said bills crafted by House leaders and the Senate health committee do not propose “the sort of fundamental changes” necessary to rein in the skyrocketing cost of government health programs, particularly Medicare. On the contrary, Elmendorf said, the measures would pile on an expensive new program to cover the uninsured.”

WP
“House Panel to Investigate Canceled CIA Program”
“The House intelligence committee announced yesterday it will investigate the CIA’s handling of its secret al-Qaeda assassination program, including whether Vice President Richard B. Cheney improperly intervened to stop the agency from telling Congress about the initiative.”

NYT
“Why We Must Ration Health Care”
“Is there any limit to how much you would want your insurer to pay for a drug that adds six months to someone’s life? If there is any point at which you say, “No, an extra six months isn’t worth that much,” then you think that health care should be rationed.”

NYT
“Race in 2028″
“By then, according to recent Supreme Court jurisprudence, some kinds of affirmative action may no longer be permissible.”

NYT
“Democrats May Limit Tax Increase for Health Plan”
“Democratic Congressional leaders, bowing to unease among lawmakers and governors in their own party on Monday, suggested scaling back a plan to tax top earners to pay for the sweeping legislation and signaled a retreat from their ambitious timetable.”

WP
“Health Care’s Sensible Center”
“Winning parties expand to encompass more of the ideological center, the undeniable Obama achievement. But this places centrists in positions of legislative influence, which enrages activists who feel the moment for ambition has finally arrived.

Thus the health-care debate taking place largely within Democratic ranks.”

NYT Op-Ed
“Their Own Private Guantánamo”
“Trial judges there have quietly decided 31 of some 200 cases brought by Guantánamo inmates seeking freedom…the federal judges in Washington have had to develop their own guidelines — functioning, in essence, as the country’s national security court.”

NYT
“As Health Bill Is Delayed, White House Negotiates”
“White House officials negotiated furiously on Thursday to keep major health care legislation on track after the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said his chamber would not vote on a health measure until after Congress returned from its summer recess.”

WP
“Researchers May Have Found Equivalent of Embryonic Stem Cells”
“Chinese scientists have bred mice from cells that might offer an alternative to human embryonic stem cells.”

General - No Comments »

WP
“The Iranian People Speak”
“The election results in Iran may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin.”

NYT
“Recount Offer Fails to Quell Political Tumult in Iran”
See title.

NYT
“Obama Warns Against Direct Involvement by U.S. in Iran”
“President Obama said Tuesday that it would be counterproductive for the United States “to be seen as meddling” in the disputed Iranian presidential election.” The correct stance, I think.

WP
“Obama Blueprint Deepens Federal Role in Markets”
The plan would allow the government to ” dismantle large firms that fall into trouble, avoiding a chaotic collapse that could disrupt the economy.” Of course, new regulations are in the plan.

NYT
“House Passes Bill to Address Threat of Climate Change”
“219 to 212, with 44 Democrats voting against it…The final bill has a goal of reducing greenhouse gases in the United States to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 83 percent by midcentury.” The cap and trade program will begin in 2012.

WP
“Wrong Way on Health ‘Reform’”
Several points against the health care plan.

NYT
“Cost Concerns as Obama Pushes Health Issue”
“One of the major health plans on the table would cost at least $1 trillion over 10 years yet leave tens of millions of people uninsured.”

WP
“Obama’s Health Plan Needs Spending Controls, CBO Says”
See title.

NYT
“Democrats Scramble to Cut Costs From Health Plan”
Actually, the title is a lie, since thye’re mostly scrambling to impose new taxes.

NYT
“Supreme Court Finds Bias Against White Firefighters”
“The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that white firefighters in New Haven were subjected to race discrimination when the city threw out a promotional examination on which they had done well and black firefighters poorly.” Thank you, SCOTUS.

NYT
“Franken’s Win Bolsters Democratic Grip in Senate”
Al Franken’s win in Minnesota gives the Democrats a 60-vote supramajority in the Senate.

NYT Op-Ed
“Firefighters and Race”
“On Monday, the Supreme Court dealt a blow to diversity in the American workplace.” I’m sorry–I wasn’t aware that diversity was an end to itself. I thought it was backed only for the purposes of nondiscrimination. When you sacrifice the original purpose to the front, all fails.

NYT
“Palin’s Move Shocks G.O.P. and Leaves Future Unclear”
“Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska abruptly announced on Friday that she was quitting at the end of the month.”

NYT
“Google Plans a PC Operating System”
See title.

General - No Comments »

NYT Op-Ed
“State of Paralysis”
A look at California’s financial woes, with blame placed on Proposition 13, which capped property taxes and barred all state taxes from increase without a 2/3 vote in both houses of the legislature.

NYT
“North Korea Claims to Conduct 2nd Nuclear Test”
North Korea detonates its second nuclear bomb underground.

WP
“How the Golden State Got Tarnished”
More on the failing state of California.

WP
“Riskiest Choice on Obama’s List Embodies His Criteria”
Sotomayor is apparently a follower of the principle of judicial restraint.

NYT
“California High Court Upholds Gay Marriage Ban”
The California Supreme Court verifies that Proposition 8 was, as a constitutional amendment, legal (constitutional revisions require state legislature support).

WP
North Korea Threatens to Attack South
North Korea claims that the truce that began in 1953 is invalid.

NYT
“China Is Said to Plan Strict Gas Mileage Rules”
“Chinese officials have drafted automotive fuel economy standards that are even more stringent than those outlined by President Obama.”

NYT
Obama Outlines Coordinated Cyber-Security Plan
“President Obama declared Friday that the country’s disparate efforts to “deter, prevent, detect and defend” against cyberattacks would now be run out of the White House, but he also promised that he would bar the federal government from regular monitoring of “private-sector networks” and the Internet traffic that has become the backbone of American communications.”

NYT
“Sotomayor’s Focus on Race Issues May Be Hurdle”
Sotomayor disapproved of the fact that UC Regents vs Bakke found quotas to be illegal for affirmative action purposes.

NYT
“Green Promise Seen in Switch to LED Lighting”
LED lighting lasts much longer and does not contain the mercury that CFLs do.

NYT
“Obama’s Test: Restoring G.M. at Arm’s Length”
Now that the government owns GM, it will be difficult for the company to resist demands from Congressmen. The administration has declared, “No plant decisions, no dealer decisions, no color-of-the-car decisions.” But it seems inevitable that the government will tamper with the company’s internal workings.

NYT
“G.M.’s New Owners, U.S. and Labor, Adjust to Roles”
The UAW owes 17.5% of GM and 55% of Chrysler. How will they handle that?

NYT
“In Global Shift, G.M. Plans Sale of Europe Unit”
Magna International is set on buying GM’s European operations.

NYT Op-Ed
“The Quagmire Ahead”
The article contains six highly poignant and interesting points that explain why Obama’s plan has a good likelihood of failing miserably. “The elemental facts about the Obama restructuring plan are these: Bureaucratically, the plan is smart. Financially, it is tough-minded. But when it comes to the corporate culture that is at the core of G.M.’s woes, the Obama approach is strangely oblivious. The Obama plan won’t revolutionize G.M.’s corporate culture. It could make things worse.”

WP
“Obama Calls for Fresh Start With Muslims”
“President Obama delivered a direct appeal to the Islamic world Thursday for a “new beginning” with the United States, acknowledging historical mistakes made over centuries in the name of culture and religion that he said are now overshadowed by shared interests.”

General - 1 Comment »

Proposition 8, the 2008 California initiative that banned gay marriages shortly after it was clarified to be legal, was upheld today in the state Supreme Court.

(Short divergence here: its irritating to me when people say the courts legalized this or that or should have legalized this or that. Courts don’t legislate. Therefore, they don’t “legalize.” When they–colloquial–”legalize” something, they are clarifying its legality. They are stating that it was legal before and that it is legal now. Something’s legality, in an objective sense, does not change due to a court interpretation.)

The argument against overruling the initiative rested on whether the initiative’s goals had to be carried out under a constitutional amendment or constitutional revision. Amendments can be carried out by initiatives, but must be limited in scope. Revisions can change anything in the state constitution, but require a 2/3 vote in each house of the state legislature. If the state Supreme Court found Prop 8 to be too wide in scope, its actions would be classed under constitutional revision. This would have meant that Prop 8 was illegal. Only as a constitutional amendment would Prop 8 be legal (which the Court found to be the case).

But the point of this post is this: Instead of bashing the Court, calling for the justices’ heads, and whatnot…They did the best they could, I’m sure. They interpreted the law as they read it, not as they wished to read it, and that was likely harder for them to do than for us to hear it. Remember, it was the Court that ruled that it was a violation of our constitution to ban gay marriages. If any entity believes it is wrong, according to our general state values, to ban gay marriage, it would be the Court. The bad guys here aren’t the justices on the Court. If the Court decides that Prop 8 qualifies as a constitutional amendment, we must accept that it was indeed legal, and that no one had cheated. We must not allow ourselves to indulge in the belief that the Court is stupid, is blind, or has it out for gay people.

A post I noticed on Facebook regarding the decision read: “Once upon a time…the Courts existed to DEFEND the rights of minorities against oppression by the majority…liberty: just another fairy tale in AmeriKKKa, 2009!” The courts don’t defend anything. Everything the people do, they do to themselves. The courts only relay that message, make us face the reality of the decisions we make. If we amend the US Constitution to say that minorities are no longer citizens, that’s what the courts must convey. The fault rests in the people, not in the courts. The people made this decision, and people must be allowed to make unwise as well as wise decisions. It is not the function of the Court to decide what is right and wrong, but only what is legal or not. It is the function of the people to divine what is right and wrong, and legislate accordingly.

So not only is railing against the Court useless, it’s unfair to the justices on it. The only productive step we can take next is to step up our efforts and overturn not the ruling, but Prop 8 at the ballot box. It amounts to the same thing to a lot of people, but there exists a big difference in where and with whom we place the fault.

The ruling of the Court is not an injustice. The injustice is Prop 8.

General - No Comments »

Politics

NYT
“As a Professor, Obama Held Pragmatic Views on Court”
Obama’s time as a law professor may influence his choice for the new Supreme Court justice. “In interviews, former colleagues and students say they have a fairly strong sense of the kind of justice he will favor: not a larger-than-life liberal to counter the conservative pyrotechnics of Justice Antonin Scalia, but a careful pragmatist with a limited view of the role of courts.”

NYT
“Pelosi Criticized Over Interrogation Briefings”
“Congressional Republicans on Friday accused Democrats of full complicity in the approval of the Bush administration’s brutal interrogations, citing a new accounting that shows frequent briefings for some top Democrats on waterboarding and other harsh methods starting in 2002.”

NYT
“Advocacy Groups Seek Disbarment of Ex-Bush Administration Lawyers”
“A coalition of left-wing advocacy groups filed legal ethics complaints on Monday against 12 former Bush administration lawyers, including three United States attorneys general, whom the groups accuse of helping to justify torture.” It’s a sticky issue–can they be disbarred for supposedly just offering their opinion on the matter (no matter how misguided)?

NYT
“Pelosi Acknowledges She Was Told of Waterboarding in 2003″
Pelosi asserts that she was misled by the CIA about its interrogation methods.

NYT
“President’s Detention Plan Tests American Legal Tradition”
Obama is proposing to hold terrorism suspects in the US indefinitely. It’s basically Guantanomo, except closer. Obama complains that some suspects can’t be tried, but they are also too dangerous to release. I say if they’re too dangerous to be released, we can determine this in court. If it’s not able to be determined in court, then where else could it be determined that they’re dangerous? Some arbitrary say-so from up top. Sounds totalitarian to me!

WP
“Uproar in D.C. as Same-Sex Marriage Gains”
The DC Council approves same sex marriage, 12 to 1. The question now falls to Congress and Obama, and whether they will block this action.

Financial

NYT
“Worries Rise on the Size of U.S. Debt”
“For all of 2009, the administration probably needs to borrow about $2 trillion. The rising tab has prompted warnings from the Treasury that the Congressionally mandated debt ceiling of $12.1 trillion will most likely be breached in the second half of this year…The Congressional Budget Office expects interest payments to more than quadruple in the next decade as Washington borrows and spends, to $806 billion by 2019 from $172 billion next year.” Why the hell do we even have a debt ceiling. It doesn’t do anything.

WP
“2010 Budget Details: Agency by Agency”
“$3.4 trillion budget includes spending to be dispersed among federal government agencies and eliminates 121 programs.”

NYT
“Recession Drains Social Security and Medicare”
“The Medicare fund that pays hospital bills for older Americans is expected to run out of money in 2017…The Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in 2037.”

WP
“Major Changes in the Way Credit Cards Work”
“President Obama yesterday signed into law a bill that would prevent credit card companies from raising interest rates arbitrarily and charging certain fees…Card executives have said the changes would prevent them from properly distinguishing between risky and non-risky borrowers and force them to charge everyone higher rates and annual fees or withhold credit.” I think I side with the execs.

Environmental

NYT
“China Outpaces U.S. in Cleaner Coal-Fired Plants”
Title.

NYT
“Obama to Toughen Rules on Emissions and Mileage”
The new national standard will match California’s. It will begin to take effect by 2012, and aims to make the fleet 40% more efficient by 2016.

Grist
“In landmark vote, House committee approves climate bill”
The Waxman-Markey bill moves out of committee with minimal interference from Republicans. “The bill would cut greenhouse-gas emissions about 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and about 80 percent by 2050, while promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency.” But there are huge, huge hurdles still to be conquered.

Other

WP
“N.Y. Times to File Notice It Will Close Boston Globe”
Though the move may be a tactical gesture to force more concessions from unions, it still speaks of the unstable condition of the newspaper industry.

NYT Op-Ed
“The American Press on Suicide Watch”
“Reporting the news can be expensive…we can’t have serious opinions about America’s role in combating the Taliban in Pakistan unless brave and knowledgeable correspondents (with security to protect them) tell us in real time what is actually going on there. We can’t know what is happening behind closed doors at corrupt, hard-to-penetrate institutions in Washington or Wall Street unless teams of reporters armed with the appropriate technical expertise and assiduously developed contacts are digging night and day…Just because information wants to be free on the Internet doesn’t mean it can always be free. Web advertising will never be profitable enough to support ambitious news gathering…The real question is for the public, not journalists: Does it want to pony up for news, whatever the media that prevail?”

CNN
“Web users skeptical about paying for content”
Discussions on how to charge for services rendered, especially in journalism.

WP
“A Faith for The Nones”
The author laments the gradual decrease in religiosity of the population, pointing out that “They are more generous with their time and money, not only in giving to religious causes but to secular ones. They join more voluntary associations, attend more public meetings, even let people cut in line in front of them more readily. Religious Americans are three to four times more socially engaged than the unaffiliated.” Personally, I’m not sure why those things are necessarily better. To each succeeding statement, I say, “So?” Stop fretting. Religiosity is not necessarily a good thing.

General - No Comments »

Torture

NYT
“Pressure Grows to Investigate Interrogations”
Obama promises not to prosecute CIA officers following orders, but does not extend the same grace to Bush lawyers like Bybee who developed the rationale for the torture. Obama also indicates that he will not oppose Congressional investigations.

Politico
“Leahy to keep with truth commission”
“Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) will continue to push for a “truth commission” to investigate the Bush administration’s detainee interrogation policy” after the four torture memos plus thousands of pictures of the torture were released.

Politico
“Liberals push Bybee impeachment”
Bybee, “while the top lawyer at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in August 2002, he approved and signed a legal opinion concluding that so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, including water-boarding, did not meet the definition of torture under federal law.” He is now a federal judge.

WP
“Where ‘Those Methods’ Lead”
It doesn’t matter whether torture is effective or now, gives reliable information or not. Whether any of these claims are true, the fact remains that it is illegal, and thus must be investigated.

Big Auto

WP
“GM’s New Road Map: Partial Nationalization”
Treasury would get 50% stake, UAW, 39%, investors, 10%, and shareholders 1%. Brands cut include Hummer, Saab, and Saturn.

NYT
“‘Surgical’ Bankruptcy Is Set for Chrysler”
Bankruptcy became inevitable after talks with a small group of debtholders broke down.

Science and Tech

CNN
“Hackers stole data on Pentagon’s newest fighter jet”
“Thousands of confidential files on the U.S. military’s most technologically advanced fighter aircraft have been compromised by unknown computer hackers over the past two years, according to senior defense officials.” Hackers also got into the Air Force’s air traffic control systems.

NYT
“U.S. Steps Up Effort on Digital Defenses”
“Just as the invention of the atomic bomb changed warfare and deterrence 64 years ago, a new international race has begun to develop cyberweapons and systems to protect against them.”

WP
“Engineering a Smart Grid For Energy’s Future”

Other

WP
“Key Posts Remain Vacant as Untested Pandemic Response Plan Implemented”
Bird flu all over world, kills first American in Texas. WHO pandemic level at 5, one step below full pandemic, advises all nations to mobilize drug stockpiles. Meanwhile, top health posts in the nation are unfilled–temporary workers currently occupy the posts.

WP
“Congress Approves Obama’s $3.4 Trillion Spending Blueprint”
$3.4 trillion budget resolution passed.

NYT
“No Racial Gap Seen in ’08 Vote Turnout”
“The longstanding gap between blacks and whites in voter participation evaporated in the presidential election last year, according to an analysis released Thursday” from the Pew Research Center.

General - No Comments »

Economic
NYT
“President Gives a Short Lifeline to Carmakers”
GM has 60 days, Chrysler has 30, to restructure. GM must extract concessions from the UAW and bondholders, and Chrysler must complete a merger with Fiat or the two will be cut off from bailout funds and have to file for bankruptcy.

WP
“Congress Approves Budget”
$3.5 trillion budget resolutions. Slightly less than Obama’s proposals for spending and taxcutting, but does focus on Obama’s goals: healthcare, education, and the environment.

NYT
“663,000 Jobs Lost in March; Total Tops 5 Million”
Unemployment at 8.5%.

NYT
“World Leaders Pledge $1.1 Trillion for Crisis”
G20 promise $1.1 trillion, most of which goes to the IMF to help developing countries.

International
WP
“Defiant N. Korea Launches Missile”
“North Korea launched a long-range missile Sunday morning, defying repeated international warnings, worrying its neighbors and setting up the prospect of increased sanctions.”

NYT Op-Ed
“The First Shrink”
“The Bush chuckleheads misread the world and insisted that everyone else go along with their deluded perception, and they bullied the world and got huffy if the world didn’t quickly fall in line.
President Obama, by contrast, employed smart psychology in the global club, even on small things, like asking other leaders if they wanted to start talking first at news conferences.”

NYT Op
Liberty, Equality, Envy
“THE feeling in Europe, and especially in France, about Barack Obama’s presidency is as clear as day: we are envious…we are envious because Americans are so evidently proud of their president. What is worse, we feel that Americans have a kind of faith in Barack Obama. We would love to feel the same way about our presidents and our leaders.”

National
CNN
Iowa court backs gay marriage
“The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously rejected a state law Friday that banned same-sex marriage, and opponents wasted little time in pushing for a state constitutional amendment that could send the issue to voters.”
NYT
“Iowa Court Voids Gay Marriage Ban”

WP
Vermont Legislature Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
The legislature managed to override the governor’s veto. This is the first time gay marriage has been legalized via the legislature. 

NYT
“A Push Is On for Same-Sex Marriage Rights Across New England”

WP
Protecting Sources
“Federal courts would be able to compel a journalist to reveal a confidential source only under specified conditions, such as if disclosure is needed to prevent death, bodily harm or a terrorist act, or to identify a person who leaked properly classified information in such a way as to cause “significant and articulable” harm to national security. In all cases, the judge also would have to find that the party seeking to compel disclosure had exhausted all reasonable alternative sources of the information.”

Science and Technology
NYT
“Brain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory”
“The drug blocks the activity of a substance that the brain apparently needs to retain much of its learned information. And if enhanced, the substance could help ward off dementias and other memory problems.”

ScienceDaily
“Robot Scientist Becomes First Machine To Discover New Scientific Knowledge”
First machine to independently discover new knowledge.

ScienceDaily
Virus-built Battery Could Power Cars, Electronic Devices
“For the first time, MIT researchers have shown they can genetically engineer viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery.”

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