USA Today: 'Axis of evil' lashes out at Bush comments

Reuters: Possible Al Qaeda plot to attack nuclear plants

William Safire: To fight freedom's fight -- "When a dramatist places a gun on the table in the first act, the astute playgoer knows that the weapon will be used before the drama ends." Interesting peek at what we'll likely see happen in the very near future. although Rumsfeld says elsewhere that expanded military action is 'not imminent.'

Reuters: Rumsfeld urges huge military modernization -- $379 billion for fiscal 2003, to be precise. "The speech augured well for, among others, the top five U.S. defense contractors." No kidding. Nice segue from Bush's Tuesday comments about the '100,000 terrorists' ticking like timebombs.

AP: Bush sees widespread terrorism -- "The White House is telling Americans they face danger from up to 100,000 terrorists trained in Afghanistan and deployed worldwide — a force much larger than outlined before. . . . But intelligence experts were skeptical of the high estimate of Afghan terrorist recruits." [From Tuesday]

SF Chronicle: Memo details Cheney-Enron links -- "While the White House insists that details of its talks with Enron officials remain secret, a memo outlining those discussions reveals the extent to which the Houston energy giant lobbied to influence government policy."

Immigration judges rebuke Ashcroft, call for independence -- "In a rebuke to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, the nation's immigration judges are asking Congress to remove their courts from control of the Justice Department. The judges are particularly concerned about complaints that America's 'core legal values' have been compromised since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a 20-page report sent to Congress by the union representing the judges." [LA Times, via Smirking Chimp]

Meantime, we're being exhorted by the prez to change our soft culture. This is apparently a reference to former President Clinton (a cheap shot from an administration that promises to be embroiled in a different sort of scandal). In addition, "Bush has unveiled plans for a USA Freedom Corps to oversee an unprecedented expansion of volunteer programs, including a new Citizen Corps to fight terrorism at the local level." [Reuters] And this entails what, exactly?

We're taking the big plunge and signing up for satellite network access, since there are no options for cable, DSL or wireless out here in the boonies. Hopefully in a week or so, it'll be up and running.

Why on earth is Marin County, California, the breast cancer capital of the world? [BBC Sci/Tech] Something weird has got to be going on.

Motley Fool: "...There is no technological reason for Apple to worry about .NET."

AP: Thousands evacuated at S.F. airport -- "Thousands of people were evacuated from San Francisco International Airport early Wednesday after security guards detected explosives residue on the shoes of a man who disappeared into the crowd, an airport spokesman said."

BBC: New drugs give cheats the edge -- "Drugs designed to combat cancer and kidney failure are being abused by athletes...."

Joan Walsh: Bill Clinton and the state of the other union -- "It was hard not to dwell on the difference between the scripted and simplistic Bush -- who deserves credit for ably prosecuting the war, but can't adequately explain the global forces that led to it -- and the intelligent and spontaneous Clinton, with his global vision as well as his scary grasp of arcane details."

Reuters: GAO Filing Suit Against White House, Sources Say -- "The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, will announce on Wednesday it is taking the White House to court to get details of how a task force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney formulated its energy plan, congressional sources said."

'Axis of evil' -- "In his first State of the Union address, Mr. Bush seemed to be outlining a rationale for future action, if he deems it necessary, not only against terrorists but against any hostile states developing weapons of mass destruction." (NY Times, free registration required)

NY Times: Bush reconsiders stand on treating captives of war -- They're still ''killers'' but might be protected under the Geneva Convention. As Anthony Lewis and the Observer tried to point out over the weekend, the issue is not personal sympathy for these individuals, but rather how the US reflects itself abroad.

NY Times: Bush says privacy is needed on data from Enron talks -- "President Bush today defended his refusal to turn over to Congress information about contacts between Enron and the administration's energy task force, saying the request was 'an encroachment on the executive branch's ability to conduct business.'" Reminds me of Adam Curry's tag line, 'There are no secrets, only information you don't yet have.' ;-)

Reuters: Bush speech to highlight wartime, domestic themes -- "President Bush will seek to parlay his popularity as a wartime leader into support for a more contentious domestic agenda on Tuesday as he gives his first State of the Union address to an election-year Congress." I can hardly wait...

Reuters: Saudi leader reaffirms U.S. ties, but is critical -- The dance continues...

Reuters: Cheney says won't turn over energy papers to GAO -- "Despite the threat of an unprecedented lawsuit, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Sunday he would not give congressional investigators internal documents related to development of the administration's energy plan, including additional information on Enron Corp."

Reuters: Rumsfeld says Afghan prisoners are not POWs and will never, ever, ever be, in spite of international criticism and pleas by Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Observer: Powell urges PoW status for al-Qaeda captives -- "The proposal would radically transform conditions under which the prisoners are being kept and clarify their legal status."

Maureen Dowd: Planet of the privileged -- "On Planet Enron, the president, his words muffled by the brown paper bag on his head, could strike a chord complaining that his mother-in-law had lost $8,000 on Enron stock when less connected mortals lost their entire retirements." (NY Times, free registration required)

Anthony Lewis: Captives and the Law -- "The Bush administration has done well militarily in Afghanistan, but it has badly fumbled the question of justice for its captives. It has failed to understand the power of the human rights ideal in today's world — and America's stake in living up to that ideal." (NY Times, free registration required)

Washington Post: GAO vows to sue for Cheney files - Hill Probes Enron Influence on Task Force

AP: Ex-Enron executive found dead in apparent suicide.

NY Times: Prime Minister of India says missile test good for security -- An Indian official stated that the timing was solely due to technical reasons. However, "retired military officers here said India is clearly sending a signal to Pakistan and the world that is will not de-escalate its massive military buildup unless its conditions are met." (Free registration required)

AP: Many Cuba detainees may be sent home -- "It also was unclear whether the United States would demand that detainees be returned on condition they be put on trial at home."

Along the lines of yesterday's post concerning treatment of asylum-seekers in the U.S., forget trying Australia -- "As temperatures soared Friday toward 104 degrees, a shimmering heat haze enveloped the camp where more than 200 refugees have been on a hunger strike for 10 days to protest the government's handling of their asylum claims." Numerous suicide attempts have been reported as well. [AP]

Reuters: India flexes muscles with missile test -- "Analysts said the test -- on the eve of India's most important national celebration, Republic Day -- was meant to send a message to the world that New Delhi is resolved in the standoff with Pakistan." Talk about rattling a very large sabre...

BBC: Scientists develop cloning alternative -- "A team of American scientists claim to have found an new way to use gene cloning to cure diseases such as Alzheimer's and arthritis without using human embryos." How long before the Bush administration complains about this? Perhaps researchers should abandon the word ''cloning'' (baggage-laden term) for something more neutral like ''replicating.''

Bruce Schneier: Trust, but verify, Microsoft's pledge --"Microsoft is going to have to say things like: 'We're going to put the entire .Net initiative on hold, probably for years, while we work the security problems out.' They're going to have to stop all development on operating system features while they go through their existing code, line by line, fixing vulnerabilities, eliminating insecure functionality and adding security features." [CNET] I'm not holding my breath...

Reuters: Torture victims can face tough treatment in U.S. -- "Jean Pierre Kamwa escaped from torture in prison in Cameroon and came to the United States to ask for political asylum. He was immediately handcuffed, shackled and taken to an American jail where he was held for five months before his claim was accepted.... While in prison, guards addressed him by his number, 739. He said he had no privacy and was treated by the guards without courtesy or dignity. It took him two months to find a human rights lawyer willing to take his case without pay. Three months later, he was freed." This is apparently the norm, not a fluke.

Yesterday, while reading about Rumsfeld's defense of the ''fair and humane'' treatment of al-Qaeda/Taliban prisoners being held in Cuba, I kept thinking about our local dog pound (which is not exactly one of the greatest animal shelters I've seen). Oddly, the dogs have a roof over their head. I can picture the local media furor if these mutts were left in steel cages exposed to the elements. Rummy's retort, one might guess, is that the dogs didn't try to kill Americans. Still...

NY Times: U.S. suspends the transport of terror supsects to Cuba -- The base in Guantánamo Bay is running out of room. There is also US concern over recent international criticism. "'A lot of the European reaction to Guantánamo is not because people care about the feelings of the prisoners there,' said Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform, a research group in London. 'It's touched a neuralgic point, which is the European concern that America doesn't believe in international law, doesn't believe in submitting itself to rules, organizations or norms that limit its freedom of action.'" (Free registration required)

Reuters: Kenneth Lay resigns as Enron chairman and CEO but will remain on the company's board of directors.

USA Today: Detainee information prevented more attacks -- "FBI director Robert Mueller said Wednesday that information gathered by FBI agents in the interrogation of detainees at this Army base [in Kandahar] had prevented new terrorist acts against American targets worldwide."

Wired: Broadband Cowboy: "As Beltway bureaucrats keep America in the wireless Dark Ages, a spectrum revolt is brewing in the heart of Indian country."

Using Apple's iDisk on OS X 10.1

I thought I'd try this out. iDisk uses WebDAV, and it's slower than molasses on my system, for reasons I don't yet understand. The following is more for my reference than anything else.

There are security issues to consider. Open Door Networks reports in OS X 10.1 Security Alert that clicking on the iDisk icon in the Finder, or using the ''Go'' menu leaves the user's password vulnerable. Apple is apparently aware of this problem.

Using the ''old'' way to connect, afp://idisk.mac.com is apparently secure, but the connection reportedly times out.

I want to snoop around some more on this subject, since it's pretty appealing being offered a free 10 meg of server space; however, it's virtually useless at this point due to the speed problem.

Boston Globe: Pashtun ire toward US grows -- "The US military is facing growing anger in the Pashtun heartland of Afghanistan that Osama bin Laden long called home, endangering popular support for the nation's interim government and alienating local commanders whose backing is necessary for the continued pursuit of bin Laden's network."

Robert Scheer: Enron got its money's worth -- "One of the major falsehoods being bandied about by apologists for the Bush administration is that while Enron may have bankrolled much of the president's political career it got nothing for those bucks once George W. occupied the White House. That is nonsense." [When LA Times link rots, article is also available here.]

BBC: "A US company has developed a program that is said to be able to sift through text to spot when people are lying or confused about facts." I can see a fun spin-off for this -- parsing web sites, like HTML validators. Could get interesting.

CNET: Yahoo to put price on searches, apparently in an effort to offset declining ad revenue. Hey, Google is free, but I guess it doesn't index Yahoo.

Reuters: US plans 'do not call' list for telemarketers -- Yessss!!!

Reuters: Rumsfeld lashes at critics of prisoner treatment -- Nothing but fair and humane...

Reuters: AOL's Netscape sues Microsoft for anti-trust damages

NY Times: K-Mart files for bankruptcy

NY Times: Ex-official says Enron employees shredded papers

Paul Krugman: A Fiscal Fantasy -- "...The chest-thumping you hear is the sound of an administration trying to prevent any rational discussion of the fiscal mess its tax plan has created." (NY Times, free registration required)

It feels like Spring today, yet looking at the weather service, it's supposed to snow tomorrow. No, no! ;-)

Boston Globe: CIA takes on major new military role -- "Questioned about a need for public discussion of the CIA's expanding role in military affairs, including the emerging belief of many analysts that the CIA is building a shadow military organization, the senior US official said: 'If we didn't think it was appropriate, we wouldn't be doing it. If the commander in chief didn't think it appropriate, we wouldn't be doing it....'"

Washington Post: U.S. sets pledge on Afghan renewal -- "The United States today pledged $297 million for Afghan reconstruction over the coming year, a donation that Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said signaled a long-term commitment to helping the country rebuild after decades of war." However, much of the pledge is not new funding.

Thomas L. Friedman: Pakistan's Constitution Avenue -- "Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's Jan. 12 speech to his nation has the potential — the potential — to be the kind of mind-set-shattering breakthrough for the Muslim world that has not been seen since Anwar el-Sadat's 1977 visit to Israel." (NY Times, free registration required)

Reuters: Andersen CEO sees nothing illegal at Enron -- Just a few ''errors in judgement.''

LA Times: Congressional investigators turn their attention to Cheney -- "Vice President Dick Cheney sought to help Enron Corp. last year in a multimillion-dollar dispute over a power plant in India, but his only goal was to advance U.S. interests, the White House said Friday." [When LA Times link rots, article is also available here.]

Economist: What to do with al-Qaeda prisoners -- "The United States sees the al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners whom it has in custody as important tools in its effort to root out and shut down Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network. But concern about how America is dealing with these prisoners could undermine that effort."

Washington Post: AOL in negotiations to buy RedHat -- "The AOL online software, which consumers can install for free from the Web or a compact disk, is now designed to run on Microsoft's Windows operating system. But the AOL software could be configured to override Windows and launch a version of Red Hat's Linux operating system." (Linux is definitely cool, but it still isn't ready for prime time on the desktop, IMHO.)

NY Times op-ed: Two approaches to cloning -- "The National Academy of Sciences called yesterday for a legally enforceable ban on human reproductive cloning aimed at creating a child — but strongly endorsed cloning to derive stem cells that hold great promise for curing a wide range of human diseases. . . . Unfortunately, President Bush, pandering to religious conservatives, opposes cloning for any purpose, whether to produce a child or to cure disease."

eWeek: Automatic updates give XP users new headaches -- Windows XP is so busy constantly downloading patches to the operating system, no one has any idea what it's doing.

Spencer Katt's Jan. 14 column discusses the large number of Windows XP users who don't realize they're signing up for a Passport account in order to access something on the web. (My advice: Downgrade to Windows 98 or buy a Macintosh.)

Reuters: Experts say 'About time' on Microsoft security -- "In the past, Microsoft dismissed criticism, arguing that customers demanded functionality and convenience over security. But an increase in the number of Microsoft-specific security problems over the past year have raised concerns just as the company begins rolling out its .NET platform."

Guardian: Saudis tell US forces to get out -- "Saudi Arabia's rulers are poised to throw US strategy in the Middle East into disarray by asking Washington to pull its forces out of the kingdom because they have become a 'political liability.'"

Frank Rich: The United States of Enron -- "As the world knows now, George W. Bush told two lies when first asked about his ties to the top guy in what may prove the largest corporate flimflam in history." (NY Times, free registration required)

Washington Post: China finds bugs planted on top plane built in U.S. -- China says Presiden'ts jet wired.

Reuters: More shelling as Pakistan awaits India response

Political Wire: Politicians give back Enron money, except those in Texas [Via dangerousmeta!]

AP: U.S. offers support to Nepal -- "The United States is willing to help the leaders of Nepal fend off a violent Maoist uprising, possibly including an expansion of existing military assistance, a senior State Department official said Saturday."

NY Times: Truth Is Out: This Season Will Be Last for 'X-Files' -- Bummer. But the show just hasn't been the same minus David Duchovny and with Gillian Anderson being largely absent.

Interesting comments today from a friend who teaches in the secondary-school system: Somehow, they, they kids, think that since everything they know that is important to them has flowed into them as entertainment, with no or little effort on their part, that school should function the same way.

I'm determined to get Radio 8 working under OS X if it kills me. Nearly has, so far... ;-)

NY Times op-ed: Boutique medicine -- "The question, of course, is how many doctors can limit their practice to people who can afford several thousand dollars in additional medical expenses each year before the system as a whole starts to suffer."

Reuters: Andersen knew of Enron's worries in Feb., memo shows -- Andersen claims this is all just part of their normal annual client review procedure.

Reuters: Ford posts $5.07 billion loss

Washington Post: For India, deterrence may not prevent war -- India's leaders say "conventional conflict between the two nations would not necessarily spiral into a nuclear exchange, suggesting that the Cold War deterrence theory applies differently to South Asia in the 21st century than it did to the superpowers of the 20th century."

On the flip side to the above, Secretary of State Colin Powell says India, Pakistan tensions ease. [AP]

BBC: Software security law call -- "An influential body of researchers is calling on the US Government to draft laws that would punish software firms that do not do enough to make their products secure." Notice which company's products are prominently featured in the photo. ;-) [Via dangerousmeta!]

Reuters: Report says civil rights of homeless under attack-- "The civil rights of homeless Americans are under attack coast-to-coast through laws designed to criminalize homelessness by banning such things as sleeping in public, according to a new report released on Tuesday."

'American Taliban' John Walker will not be tried by a military tribunal, but in civilian court. He faces possible life imprisonment but not execution. [Reuters]

Washington Post: Andersen fires lead Enron auditor "as part of its inquiry into the destruction of Enron-related documents."

ABC: CIA believes bin Laden escaped -- "An intelligence analysis sent to the CIA director last week concluded Osama bin Laden has escaped American efforts to find him in Afghanistan and that he most likely has fled the entire region by sea."

AP: "An Enron employee warned company Chairman Kenneth Lay last August that 'we will implode in a wave of accounting scandals' unless the company halted practices that eventually sent it into bankruptcy."

AP: Countries toughen anti-terror laws -- "In parliament chambers and cabinet rooms around the globe, the fears and suspicions of a world on edge are fast translating into the cold legal language of police power."

Michael Byers: US doesn't have the right to decide who is or isn't a POW -- "The Geneva convention also makes it clear that it isn't for Rumsfeld to decide whether the detainees are ordinary criminal suspects rather than PoWs." [Guardian]

AP: Bush wasn't informed of Enron calls -- "Two Bush cabinet members said Sunday they never considered intervening in Enron's spiral toward bankruptcy, nor informed President Bush of requests for help from the fallen energy giant." Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's comment is priceless: "Companies come and go. It's ... part of the genius of capitalism." Tell that to all the former employees who lost their pensions.

In yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dan brown suggests it's time to appoint a special prosecutor in the Bush-Enron matter.

Check out my new Radio 8 weblog. There isn't a heck of a lot there yet, but I'm working on some ideas. The tricky part will be coordinating between two sites that are managed differently.

This weekend will probably be consumed with experimenting with Radio Userland version 8 for Mac OS X. It's pretty amazing, but I'm looking to bypass some of the novice "instant web site" features and continue working on the site in the manner to which I'm accustomed. I would also like RU not to dial up every time it launches. ;-)

CNN's transcript of American Morning with Paula Zahn (Jan. 8) features a brief interview with Richard Butler, former U.N. weapons inspector. The theme: An explosive new book published in France alleges that the United States was in negotiations to do a deal with the Taliban for an oil pipeline in Afghanistan. [Via Doc Searls]

Enron may have screwed India worse than it did California.

Pacific Newswire: Bush energy move terrifies Middle East -- "The Bush administration yesterday switched automotive policy away from promoting high-mileage, gasoline-powered cars in favor of research on hydrogen-based fuel cells. Many in the American energy community reacted critically, noting that fuel cells are at least a decade away and calling for more immediate steps to halt Detroit's production of gas-guzzlers. But in the Middle East, reaction was apocalyptic."

Reuters: New York dentist can settle fate of migrants -- "Based on his determination of whether they are 18 or older, his youthful subjects, many of whom say they are fleeing persecution and torture, may be summarily deported, placed in juvenile detention or sent to adult jail, where they may languish for months or years."

Washington Post: Enron saga could dog Bush in election year -- "It's too soon to say whether Enron Corp.'s spectacular collapse will become a bona fide Washington scandal, but the classic elements suddenly burst into view yesterday -- disclosures of destroyed documents, phone calls to the White House from a big political contributor, an attorney general's recusal and damage control efforts by the president."

On the potential-scandal subject, a friend writes, "[Republican] scandals are so hard to get the public titillated over. The Dems always do sex and we understand that. GOP scandals require an MBA to understand what is going on."

I'm getting a sweaty mouse finger waiting for the release later today of Radio Userland 8.0.

Ray Hartman: What About John? - Ashcroft deserves a better role in the Enron scandal -- Follow the campaign money...

Chicago Tribune: Criminal inquiry hits Enron -- "The ties between Enron and the Bush team were evident in the 2000 campaign. Lay was one of 214 Bush 'Pioneers,' supporters who raised at least $100,000 for the president during the campaign."

NY Times: White House moves to contain political damage from Enron turmoil -- "Questions about Enron, and this morning's disclosure that its chief executive had reached out to two Cabinet secretaries, dominated the midday news briefing by Mr. Fleischer." (Free registration required)

Reuters: Ashcroft recuses himself from Enron case -- "The amount of Lay's contribution [to Ashcroft] was many times greater than the maximum allowable contribution by individuals to federal candidates, which is just $2,000, and it appears to have been given in a manner that many campaign finance experts believe thwarted the intent of election laws...."

Joe Conason: Is George W. Bush God's president? -- "If the President is indeed guided by Providence in lavishing additional billions upon those who already enjoy so much material abundance—even while the numbers of unemployed, uninsured and homeless soar—then his ascension may represent a millennial reversal of heavenly policy." [New York Observer, may not be permanent link]

Thomas L. Friedman: Who's Home, Who's Not -- "We all, parents and politicians, have to learn how to thrive in a riskier world — not how to simply survive until the utopia of a risk-free world is created. Let's start the dialogue about it with a town hall meeting led by Dick Cheney — in his house." (NY Times, free registration required)

CNN: Marine tanker plane crashes in Pakistan

MSNBC: Man accused of nuclear plant threats -- The San Onofre reactor was a familiar sight driving south down the California coast. This appears to be a potential workplace-violence issue, not terrorist activity.

Reuters: Justice Det. opens criminal probe of Enron

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking turned sixty on Tuesday -- a miracle of sorts.

I've been using Mac OS X on and off the last several weeks, and it is very impressive, especially from a stability standpoint. However, the old classic OS 9.x operating system still blows the new one out of the water in terms of speed.

Christian Science Monitor: Political dissent can bring federal agents to door -- "The incident, which ended after an hour of questioning, represents more than just a disturbing day for one museum staffer. Across the US, growing numbers of Americans are facing similar interrogations - apparently, they say, because they have criticized the government, President Bush, or the war on terrorism."

Washington Post: The president's political potshot -- "The real allegation, which Mr. Bush did not parry because he cannot, is that the tax cuts have pushed the federal budget from surplus back into deficit, thereby squeezing the government's ability to beef up military spending and homeland defense while taking care of the nation's other needs -- notably, the long-term shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare and the immediate gaps in health insurance for more than 40 million Americans."

Reuters: Japan scientists grow artificial eyeball

Eric Margolis: More than Bush bargained for? - American involvement has South Asia on the brink of nuclear war

CNET: Is CD copy-protection illegal? -- Anti-copying technology may violate the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, wich allows consumers to copy albums they have purchased for personal use.

Politech: The Justice Department's hoax 'domestic terrorism' statistics -- "An investigation by the Miami Herald found that the department routinely overstates the number of terrorist arrests and convictions it makes every year. It does so, apparently, to cook the numbers for Congress, as a way to justify its annual $22-billion budget of which counterterrorism is a part." Sheeeeesh...

Michael Kinsley: Listening to our inner Ashcroft - The right not to watch what you say -- "If you don't watch what you say, you risk getting run over by the Great American Umbrage Machine. The U.S. political system protects freedom of speech from formal suppression better than any other nation on earth. But American culture is less tolerant of aberrant views and behavior than many others, and that tolerance has eroded further since Sept. 11."

Paul Krugman: America the Polarized -- "...The moral of this story is that the political struggles in Washington right now are not petty squabbles. The right is on the offensive; the left — occupying the position formerly known as the center — wants to hold the line. Many commentators still delude themselves with the comforting notion that all this partisanship is a temporary aberration." (NY Times, free registration required)

Reuters: Salt Lake has eye out for bin Laden -- "Call it paranoia, a bad case of the jitters or just wishful thinking but there has been a rash of Osama bin Laden sightings in and around Salt Lake City with the 2002 Winter Olympic now just over a month away."

BBC: US teenage mayor takes office -- Christopher Portman, aged 19, is the new mayor of Mercer, Pennsylvania. Gosh...

Opine Bovine: Wash it away -- Having just had to put down one of our four dogs, this story brought tears to my eyes. [Via Scripting News]

William Safire: Executive privilege again -- "At issue here is Congress's responsibility and authority to examine the misdeeds of the executive branch in a thorough manner — with an eye toward legislation to make criminal those policies evidently adopted by a regional division of our F.B.I. to subvert the law in the name of the law." (NY Times, free registration required)

Robert Scheer: Enron is a cancer on the presidency -- "The media, which had hounded Bill Clinton on his Whitewater connections, have allowed Bush to maintain the fiction that his--and his father's--administration had nothing to do with the debacle that is Enron."

Arthur Katz: The search for bin Ashcroft -- "No public appearances, no speeches, and the few mentions of him in the media have all been retrospective. Moreover, there are not a few signs that the Bush administration is in retreat from some of Ashcroft's more outrageous positions."

Economist: Ring in the euro -- Twelve European countries' currencies begin to be phased out.

David S. Broder: Bush's stealthy pursuit of a partisan agenda -- "Two days after Christmas . . . the White House announced the rejection of regulations that would have barred companies that repeatedly violate environmental and workplace standards from receiving government contracts." [Washington Post]

Thomas L. Friedman: Let's roll -- "[Bush] has tried to use the tremendous upsurge in patriotism, bipartisanship and volunteerism triggered by the tragedy of Sept. 11 to drive a narrow, right-wing agenda from Sept. 10 into a Sept. 12 world. It's wrong. It won't work. It sells the country short and it will ultimately sell the Bush presidency short." (NY Times, free registration required)

Reuters: India says it would use all military might in defense -- "Nuclear-armed India said Wednesday it was prepared to use its full military might to defend itself amid threats by Pakistan-based Islamic guerrilla groups to mount further attacks on the country."