President George Bush says that America is safer because of our war against Iraq. I respectfully disagree. For one thing, our "shock and awe" campaign has turned into a show and tell of America's military limitations. We have not been able to defeat the Iraqi...
Terrorism and the Election: Trial Balloons and Spin
Tom Ridge, the federal official in charge of defending the United States against terrorism, was on message when he told a July 14 news conference: "We don't do politics at Homeland Security." Such high-level claims of patriotic purity have been routine since 9/11. But...
Whom Did Martha Stewart Kill?
Martha Stewart has been sentenced to 5 months in prison and two years of supervised release for not telling the truth about a legal stock tip. The only thing she has been found guilty of is lying about a noncrime. Mrs. Stewart was neither charged with, nor found...
Biotech Art Case Continues; Artist Restricted
At a June 29 arraignment hearing, a judge ordered that University of Buffalo art professor Steven Kurtz report all future purchases of bio-matter to university and government agents, Assistant United States Attorney William Hochul, Jr., told The NewStandard. Kurtz,...
Report Reveals Lies, Not the Liar
LONDON - The long-awaited inquiry report into intelligence failures that led Britain to join the invasion of Iraq reveals what went wrong, but stops short of saying who went wrong. The 196-page report by Lord Butler discloses "serious flaws" in intelligence...
Toward More Intelligent Intelligence
Some observers believe that with the departure of George Tenet as CIA director, along with critical reports from both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the 9/11 commission (surely the House Intelligence Committee cannot be too far behind) regarding massive...
US Cuts Aid to Uzbekistan
This week's decision by the U.S. State Department to cut up to $18 million in aid to its staunchest anti-terrorism ally in Central Asia is being welcomed by human rights activists, who called the move long overdue. The slap at the government of President Islam...
Bush on the Bus
If Dick Cheney isn't F-you-ing Democrats on the floor of the U.S. Senate, George W. Bush is flipping off teenage boys in East Lampeter, PA, as the Bush-mobile swings through town and the residents come out to greet their sovereign Lord: "The action got started...
Role Reversal: A Response to Readers
In my June 29, 2004, column, "Role Reversal," I pointed out that now it is the Republicans who argue that government can be trusted with any amount of power in the name of the "war on terror." I quoted from Al Gore's speech at Georgetown University Law Center, in...
US, Israel Against the World on Wall
UNITED NATIONS - Lobbying has shifted into high gear on a resolution to be brought before the UN General Assembly on Friday that will call on Israel to tear down a wall it is building around the West Bank and pay reparations to affected Palestinians. The motion will...


