New York Times

December 18, 2004

In Congo War, Even Peacekeepers Add to Horror

The United Nations said recently that it had uncovered 150 allegations of sexual abuse committed by United Nations peacekeepers stationed in Congo, many of them here in Bunia where the population has already suffered horrendous atrocities committed by local fighters. The raping of women and girls is an all-too-common tactic in the war raging in Congo's eastern jungles involving numerous militia groups. In Bunia, a program run by Unicef has treated 2,000 victims of sexual violence in recent months. But it is not just the militia members who have been preying on the women. So, too, local women say, have some of the soldiers brought in to keep the peace.

New York Times

December 8, 2004

Iraq-Bound Troops Confront Rumsfeld Over Lack of Armor

 CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait, Dec. 8 - In an extraordinary exchange at this remote desert camp, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld found himself on the defensive today, fielding pointed questions from Iraq-bound troops who complained that they were being sent into combat with insufficient protection and aging equipment.

 Specialist Thomas Wilson, a scout with a Tennessee National Guard unit scheduled to roll into Iraq this week, said soldiers had to scrounge through local landfills here for pieces of rusty scrap metal and bulletproof glass - what they called "hillbilly armor" - to bolt on to their trucks for protection against roadside bombs in Iraq.

New York Times November 20, 2004

Negotiators Add Abortion Clause to Spending Bill

WASHINGTON, Saturday, Nov. 20 - House and Senate negotiators have tucked a potentially far-reaching anti-abortion provision into a $388 billion must-pass spending bill, complicating plans for Congress to wrap up its business and adjourn for the year.

The provision may be an early indication of the growing political muscle of social conservatives who provided crucial support for Republican candidates, including President Bush, in the election.

Los Angeles Times November 10, 2004 

CALIFORNIA: 'K-9' star Jim Belushi files a $4-million suit against former Catwoman, actress Julie Newmar, claiming harassment.

Newmar said she had no plans to file a countersuit. "We don't need more grief in the world," she said.

October 20, 2004 

New York Times October 10, 2004

“Bill Allows Atomic Waste to Remain in Tanks“

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 - House and Senate conferees have agreed to let the Energy Department leave some highly radioactive waste in tanks in South Carolina and Idaho, instead of pumping it out and preparing it for deep burial, effectively reversing a court ruling in a case brought by environmentalists last year.

MOSCOW, Sept. 14 - On Monday, President Vladimir V. Putin announced he would strip Russia's 89 regions of much of their authority and electoral legitimacy. On Tuesday, not one of the leaders of those regions said a public word of protest.

New York Times

June 9, 2004 New York Times

Bush Didn't Order Any Breach of Torture Laws, Ashcroft Says

WASHINGTON, June 8 — Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose subordinates have written confidential legal memorandums saying the administration is not bound by prohibitions against torture, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that President Bush had "made no order that would require or direct the violation" of either international treaties or domestic laws prohibiting torture.

New York Times, March 26, 2004

Leaders of G.O.P. Try to Discredit a Critic of Bush

Republican Congressional leaders said Friday that they would seek to declassify past Congressional testimony from Richard A. Clarke, President Bush’s former counterterrorism chief, in an effort to demonstrate that the former aide had lied this week about Mr. Bush's record.

The move on Capitol Hill signaled a new intensity in the campaign by the Bush administration and its Republican allies to undermine the credibility of Mr. Clarke, who served under several administrations.

New York Times February 3, 2004

After Flash of Flesh, CBS Again Is in Denial

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY

Wardrobe malfunction" was the term Justin Timberlake used to explain why he bared Janet Jackson's breast at the end of their Super Bowl duet. Like "erectile dysfunction," a term used in halftime advertisements for Cialis, it was a somewhat startling euphemism.

December 16, 2003, Tuesday, New York Times

"The family of the late Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina acknowledged on Monday that Essie Mae Washington-Williams, a retired teacher living in Los Angeles is the daughter of Mr. Thurmond and a black woman who worked for his family as a maid nearly 80 years ..."