Palestinian voters availed themselves of the time- honored democratic right to "throw the bums out" in their first legislative elections in a decade Wednesday exactly the kind of action implicit in President Bush's push for democracy in the Middle East. But by snubbing the Fatah Party of US-supported Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in favor of the radical Islamist group Hamas, Palestinians also put the Bush administration in a difficult spot. The US might now seem hypocritical to many Arabs - encouraging democracy in the Middle East, while rejecting the choices that result from its exercise. At the same time, questions mount over whether Mr. Bush's campaign for democracy is encouraging the empowerment of Islamist militants across the region. "This [election result] is really going to scare ... other governments in the region, and the Egyptians in particular are going to tell the US, 'We told you so,' ...
http://www.csmonitor.com
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Editor - 22:51:00 01-26-06
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 U.S. Military Releases Half of Iraqi Women in Its Prisons |
The American military said Thursday that it had released half the Iraqi women held in its prisons, but it said the release had been previously scheduled and was unrelated to demands made by the kidnappers of the American journalist Jill Carroll.The military freed 5 of the 10 Iraqi women in its custody late Thursday afternoon as part of a regular prisoner release that included more than 400 Iraqis, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman. The release drew attention because advance news of it came after Ms. Carroll's captors made their demands last week, saying in a videotape that they would kill her if the United States did not release all Iraqi women from its jails in 72 hours. But the military said the review of the Iraqi prisoners' cases came long before the kidnappers set their deadline, which expired last Friday. "We do not negotiate or bend to demands of terrorists," Colonel Johnson said....
http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/fairenough/nyt012.html
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Editor - 22:38:00 01-26-06
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| What Growth? Economy Is Getting Worse Under Bush, Americans Say |
The U.S. economy was robust by almost every measure last year, prompting President George W. Bush to say that 2006 began ``with a full head of steam'' and he will make things even better. Most Americans don't buy it. By a 59 % to 37 % margin, Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling the economy, according to a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll this week. About six out of 10 say the economy will stay the same in the next six months, while more say it will worsen than say it will improve. And by 47 % to 22 %, the public says the country is worse off economically since Bush became president. The disconnect between the poll numbers and the economic data reflects anxiety about structural changes in the economy, said Vin Weber, a Washington lobbyist and former Republican representative in Congress who is close to the Bush administration. ``Americans have seen their basic conceptual view of the American economy shattered, and it hasn't been replaced by anything,'' he says. ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aKYq5qLthXqg&refer=us
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Editor - 21:34:00 01-26-06
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| No booze or jokes for Googlers in China |
Google's new China search engine not only censors many Web sites that question the Chinese government, but it goes further than similar services from Microsoft and Yahoo by targeting teen pregnancy, homosexuality, dating, beer and jokes. In addition, CNET News.com has found that contrary to Google co-founder Sergey Brin's promise to inform users when their search results are censored, the company frequently filters out sites without revealing it. Some of the blackballing appeared to be a mistake. The University of Pennsylvania's entire engineering school server--which hosted one Falun Gong site--was blocked from Google's Google.cn China site. So was an Essex County Web site, which sports the word "sex"--as in "Essex"--in its domain name. Google.cn also doesn't display search.msn.com to someone who's hunting for the rival Microsoft service. ...
http://news.com.com/What+Google+censors+in+China/2100-1030_3-6031727.html
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Editor - 21:06:00 01-26-06
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| 11,500 Dead Washingtonians Still Registered To Vote |
A statewide computer sweep of voter registration records in Washington found 11,500 voters listed as dead by the state Health Department. The sweep this month also found 36,000 voters who appear to be registered in two counties. The manager of the new $6 million database project, Pam Floyd, says the names have been flagged for further scrutiny. Snohomish County immediately canceled the voter registrations for the more than 1,400 dead people. ...
http://www.komotv.com/stories/41519.htm
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Editor - 20:42:00 01-26-06
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| Sens. Want Independent Corruption Probe |
Two Senate Democrats called Thursday for the appointment of a special counsel to take over investigation of the corruption scandal spawned by lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The switch ``would ensure that the investigation and prosecution will proceed without fear or favor and provide the public with full confidence that no one in this country is above the law,'' Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Ken Salazar of Colorado wrote Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The two Democrats said that so far, the public integrity section of the Justice Department, which is in charge of the probe, has ``pursued this case appropriately.'' Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said ``there is no legal or ethical reason why the attorney general would need to recuse himself from this investigation as it continues to move forward successfully with a career prosecution team.'' ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5574108,00.html
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Editor - 20:11:00 01-26-06
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