Monthly Archives: February 2004

Day In and Day Out

One day last week – Wednesday, February 18 – 60 leading scientists issued a joint statement accusing the Bush administration of repeatedly distorting scientific information and abusing the scientific process to further its political goals.
The next day – Thursday, February 19 – a scientific panel assembled by the Bush administration announced that it is ethically [...]

Democracy One-Oh-One

There’s an old saying about paybacks; if you want proof of its veracity, cast a cold eye toward Iraq. Through most of Iraq’s history, the nation was dominated by Sunni Muslim Arabs, to the detriment of Kurds in the north and Shi’ite Arabs in the south. Although Sunnis account for only 20 percent [...]

The Wrath of Khan

I’ve developed a thick callus over my sense of the absurd through the years, but now and then something cuts right through and exposes the raw skin beneath. My flesh has been laid bare in recent days by the surreal nonchalance attending the revelation that Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist has been out peddling history’s [...]

Bush Knew

Abraham Lincoln, whose 195th birthday is coming up, is remembered as a moral force in American history. He was also a shrewd politician. He was in shrewd mode when he said, “You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you [...]