Brian Gongol
(11.11.2005)
Liberty vs. Security
Proposal to lengthen period UK can hold suspects without charges goes down in flames; post-9/11 "security" measures in the US are being questioned, too. Liberty may be alive and well after all.
(11.11.2005)
Federal Land Sale Proposed; No One Seems to Know How Big
Some say 360,000 acres; others say 270 million. And there are questions about whether American Indian lands are affected.
(11.11.2005)
Mexico Wants Venezuela to Apologize
(Spanish) Venezuela's Hugo Chavez called Mexico's Vincente Fox an imperialist lapdog for supporting the FTAA
(11.11.2005)
Veterans' Day
(11.11.2005)
Germany Wants to Keep Ban on Arms Sales to China
(11.11.2005)
Talks on Free-Skies Agreements Start Next Week
US rules keep foreign airlines from flying between US airports, but that could change
(11.11.2005)
Doha Round of Trade Talks Stalling
"Substantial agreement" unlikely at meeting next month, and other free-trade efforts are hurting (like the FTAA). We need more and freer trade, under the rule of law respecting issues like intellectual-property rights.
(11.11.2005)
H5N1 Bird Flu Found in Kuwait
(11.11.2005)
Rioting Continues in Paris Region
Government bans mass rallies for the weekend, following e-mail and text-message campaigns calling for "violent acts" on Saturday. It all comes back to the economic environment, which has left more than 20% of young French people unemployed.
(11.11.2005)
How Preston Manning Saved Canada
Western reform politician led campaign against breakup in 1987. Canada will probably change anyway in the next few decades.
(11.11.2005)
Feds Sending Houston $101 Million for Housing Katrina Evacuees
(11.11.2005)
Zimbabwe's Dictator Tells US Ambassador: "Go to Hell"
The ambassador criticized Mugabe (the dictator) for mismanagement and corruption, which have kept Zimbabwe impoverished
(11.11.2005)
Pat Robertson Tells Pennsylvania City: God Doesn't Like You
City elected school board members who support the teaching of evolution. Robertson responds: "If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God; you just rejected him from your city." Absolute quackery.
(11.11.2005)
Professor Writes "The Physics of Superheroes"
Trying to popularize at least a bachelor's-degree-level understanding of physics within the general public
(11.11.2005)
Germany Finally Manages to Pick a Government
Merkel will be chancellor, with a left-right coalition. Their plan is to shut down all of Germany's nuclear power plants over the next 20 years.
(11.11.2005)
Syrian President Picks Bad Time to Start Fight with Western Countries
Promises limited cooperation with UN investigation of the killing of Lebanon's prime minister
(11.11.2005)
Seattle Report Says Homeless Die 30 Years Younger than National Average
Economic growth is about saving lives
(11.11.2005)
Salt Lake City Expects Biggest Construction Boom in Country
LDS church will be reconstructing about a billion dollars' worth of facilities in Salt Lake, with another billion or so in other construction expected
(11.11.2005)
Stupid Caption Gets Newspaper Copy Editor Fired
Added caption under photo of girls' soccer team saying celebration was about a teammate coming out of the closet. It went online and got him a pink slip.
(11.11.2005)
Campaign in Maine Wants to Put $0.20 a Gallon Tax on Poland Spring Bottled Water
Poland Spring is bottled in Maine, but the people behind the campaign don't like other states getting their water
(11.11.2005)
Good Days for the Telecom Business?
Revenue growing by 11% annually at Time Warner Telecom, Qwest thinks it might actually turn a profit (this would be a change for them), and Level 3 is buying out its competition
(11.11.2005)
Taiwan's President Wants Japan to Play Bigger Role in Eastern Asia
Half a century ago, Japan was the aggressor. Today, Taiwan's worried that rapidly-growing Red China is a serious security threat. How times change.
(11.11.2005)
Russia Bans Food Imports from Poland
It's impossible to understand world affairs without understanding the effects of economics
(11.11.2005)
Canadian Prisons Trying to Stop HIV, Hep C By Opening Tattoo Parlors
Could be a very interesting experiment in sociology -- do prisoners usually get tattoos because they're prohibited?
(11.11.2005)
In 2005, People Still Live Under Communist Dictatorships
Reading missives from North Korea's propaganda agency would be an exercise in hilarity ("[A]ll the Korean people are single-mindedly united around the WPK and leader Kim Jong Il, absolutely supporting and trusting the party headed by him")...except those are real people, 23 million of them, suffering under the hand of a totalitarian regime.
(11.11.2005)
Could Democrats Win Running as the Party of Fiscal Conservatism?
Election wins in VA, NJ may signal voter anger over the Bush Administration's lack of pocketbook restraint
(11.11.2005)
Arresting Ronald McDonald