President's
\ncriticism of the press<\/p>\n
Press freedom is considered one of the most outstanding fruits
\nof the reform movement.<\/p>\n
The system of government may change and presidents may come
\nand go, but freedom of the press will stay triumphant.<\/p>\n
Previously, the power of the press was deemed as poisonous,
\nlike a devil haunting the authorities.<\/p>\n
Because of that, the press should be tamed and be controlled
\nto become free and responsible.<\/p>\n
The free and responsible press years ago was dominated by the
\nauthorities and the irresponsible press had to be destroyed.<\/p>\n
However, times have changed. The system of the reform
\ngovernment has swept away the authoritarian government which
\nregarded the press as poison.<\/p>\n
We are living in a democratic era, where freedom of the press
\nis a pillar of democracy.<\/p>\n
Indeed, the press have power but are not always true. They
\nneither determine nor dominate the truth. Thus, the critical
\npress can also be criticized.<\/p>\n
This criticism was made by Indonesian President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri on Thursday when she opened the 21st Congress of
\nthe Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) in Palangka Raya,
\nCentral Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The president's criticism is that press freedom should be able
\nto create a right 'corridor' and to play a role in the nation's
\ndevelopment. -- Media Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Human abuse<\/p>\n
We accept that there are religious dictates and cultural
\nsensitivities, but we cannot accept that tenets or customs
\njustify human abuse.<\/p>\n
An immigrant to Britain was jailed for life for slitting his
\ndaughter's throat. He is a Muslim and she had begun dating a
\nChristian. This so-called \"honor killing\" was frankly an
\natrocious deed.<\/p>\n
That statement is not a criticism of his faith. The followers
\nof every major religion have at some time acted extremely badly.
\nBut where are the voices of condemnation?<\/p>\n
In the second case, a 12-year-old Romanian gypsy princess was
\nmarried off against her will. No doubt in Roma culture there are
\nprecedents for this sort of thing.<\/p>\n
But, for goodness sake, we are living in the 21st century. It
\nis an age when the talk universally is about freedom of choice,
\nfreedom of spirit.<\/p>\n
Now one 18-year-old is dead, that choice denied, and an even
\nyounger girl faces the possibility of having her spirit crushed.<\/p>\n
We cannot change Kurdish tradition or alter Roma custom, but
\nwe can ask whether we treat our own daughters with dignity.<\/p>\n
-- The Star, Johannesburg, South Africa<\/p>\n
The leak of a CIA agent's name<\/p>\n
Revealing the name of a CIA operative is a serious federal
\ncrime. Whether one or more officials within the White House
\ncommitted such an offense by leaking a CIA agent's name to the
\npress is therefore a serious concern. So serious that, despite
\nthe CIA's recent letter requesting a Justice Department inquiry,
\nthis is a matter for a special counsel to investigate.<\/p>\n
What is known so far is this: At least six journalists
\nreceived calls during July from administration officials who
\nidentified the operative. She just happened to be the wife of a
\nformer ambassador who had publicly declared after a mission to
\nNiger that there was no evidence to support the claim that the
\nregime of Saddam Hussein had tried to buy \"yellowcake\" uranium
\nore for possible use in a nuclear weapon. His conclusion forced
\nthe White House to retract the claim, which President Bush had
\nincluded in his State of the Union address last January. ...<\/p>\n
According to The Washington Post, the CIA asked the Justice
\nDepartment about a possible investigation soon after Mr. Novak's
\ncolumn appeared. Yet even as recently as Sept. 16, when reporters
\nquestioned the White House about the column, there was no call by
\nthe Bush administration for an inquiry, only a summary denial
\nthat anyone within the White House was authorized to reveal an
\nagent's name.<\/p>\n
This lax approach to what is on its face a serious breach of
\nthe law is the strongest reason for assigning an independent
\ncounsel to investigate - and to do it now.<\/p>\n
-- Times Union, Albany, New York<\/p>\n
, on British Prime Minister Tony Blair's difficulties over Iraq:<\/p>\n
Blair has only himself to blame for ending up in this
\nsituation.<\/p>\n
Just like Bush, he did not have the courage before the Iraq
\nwar to say openly that a war of \"prevention\" was being waged to
\nremove a potential danger, not an actual one.<\/p>\n
Instead, his spin doctors thought up urgent threats that could
\nnot be backed up afterward.<\/p>\n
That Blair now says Iraq is a better place without Saddam
\nHussein is not false, but this is only somewhat comforting for an
\nopen society because it - rightfully - demands sincerity from its
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
-- Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich, Germany<\/p>\n
Voting against the recall<\/p>\n
Californina's recall election ...is happening because one
\nwealthy Southern Californian decided to use some of his money to
\nhire professional signature gatherers, and, aided by volunteers,
\nthey collected sufficient signatures. And because millions of
\nCalifornians are unhappy about the economy but don't want more
\nspending cuts or a tax increase. ...<\/p>\n
Gray Davis is only the fourth Democrat to govern California in
\nthe past 100 years. His election broke 16 years of GOP rule. ...
\nImagine the outcry if Hillary Clinton set out to remove President
\nBush from office, because the economy took a nose dive during his
\nterm, which it has. That's what's happening here. ...<\/p>\n
True, Gov. Davis has not been an inspirational leader; he
\nmisread the 2001 energy crunch and is obsessed with fund-raising.
\nOf course, the same could be said of many other pols. ...<\/p>\n
If the recall effort succeeds, the chaos in Sacramento would
\nnegatively impact California's prospects for economy recovery.
\nDiscontent with the new governor would prompt demands for another
\nrecall.<\/p>\n
-- The Monterey County Herald, Monterey, California<\/p>\n
Poverty in the U.S.<\/p>\n
The sharp jump in poverty announced by the government last
\nFriday should come as no surprise to anyone who has tracked the
\nailing economy these last few months. ...<\/p>\n
What should be surprising, even alarming, is the reaction of
\nthe Bush administration, which seems to range from indifference
\nto petulance. Just three weeks ago, Health and Human Services
\nSecretary Tommy Thompson announced proudly that the number of
\npeople receiving welfare benefits continued to fall last year.
\nDoes the administration really believe that when the number of
\npeople who need public assistance goes up, the number who
\nactually receive it should go down? ...<\/p>\n
Cash welfare is only one example of this administration's tin
\near with respect to economic hardship. ...<\/p>\n
Americans have turned a skeptical eye on anti-poverty policy
\never since President Ronald Reagan famously announced, \"We
\ndeclared a war on poverty, and poverty won.\" Well, poverty did
\nnot win. The number of poor Americans, especially the elderly and
\nthe young, plummeted between 1960 and 1970, the years when
\nCongress created food stamps, Medicaid and other food and housing
\nprograms. When the U.S. economy is strong, as it was during the
\n1990s, it reinforces a fine set of American virtues, including
\nhard work and self-reliance. When the economy is weak, as it is
\ntoday, it should remind us why Americans created programs to
\nassist each other in the first place.<\/p>\n
-- Star Tribune, Minneapolis<\/p>\n
---
\nLos Angeles Times, on why the recall is wrong:<\/p>\n
Californians are faced with the most important election in
\nrecent memory: the decision on whether to remove and replace Gov.
\nGray Davis. ...<\/p>\n
Davis is a leader of intellect but of no soul. He is a
\ncompetent policy wonk who ... can't get legislators of his own
\nDemocratic Party to, as he once put it, \"implement my vision.\"
\nFor one thing, nobody knows what that vision is. ...<\/p>\n
He has spent too much time avoiding issues: not dealing with
\nthe energy crisis and not ... cultivating legislative
\nrelationships that could have made him an effective governor.<\/p>\n
Davis is, however, a moderate Democrat who has been in step
\nwith what most Californians want in environmental protection and
\npersonal freedoms. ... But what Davis will most be remembered for
\nis relentless fund-raising from deep-pockets labor and corporate
\ndonors. ...<\/p>\n
... So why not replace him? ... The alternatives - as much as
\ntruth hurts in this nation-sized state that deserves better - are
\nnot superior to Davis. In fact, they are potentially worse. ...
\n---<\/p>\n
GetAP 1.00 -- OCT 3, 2003 00:17:10
\n;AP;
\nANPA ..r..
\nNA-GEN--Editorial Roundup
\nBy The Associated Press=
\nJP\/<\/p>\n
By The Associated Press=
\nA selection of excerpts from editorials in newspapers worldwide:
\n---<\/p>\n
Corriere della Sera, Milan, Italy, on the blackouts in Europe
\nand North America:<\/p>\n
The now-periodic collapse of major utilities, since the mid-
\nAugust blackout in New York, has relaunched the habit of
\n\"doomwriting,\" an exercise in catastrophic forecasts of collapse.<\/p>\n
Each time there follow disputed or inconsistent explanations:
\na high-tension line is down or a computer has failed, the mass
\nconsumption of energy has overloaded an obsolete infrastructure,
\na fuse has blown.<\/p>\n
But is that all? In the search for a more general
\nexplanation ... one suspect has come to the fore. Perhaps the
\norganizational and technical systems, in our times, have reached
\never less manageable dimensions.<\/p>\n
The so-called revolution of growing expectations in the
\neconomy of the last half century can not continue forever - not
\nwith the use of nonrenewable natural resources and atmospheric
\npollution, the greenhouse effect, acid rain, smog, industrial
\nwaste spreading even in our congested cities and suburbs.
\n---
\nAsahi Shimbun, Tokyo, on Russia's international role:<\/p>\n
Russia has not had superpower status for some time. But as a
\npermanent member of the U.N. Security Council, it still has a
\nheavy responsibility for world peace and stability. It is both a
\npart of Europe and a friend of the United States. It is expected
\nPresident Vladimir Putin will use that relationship to help mend
\na world fractured over the war in Iraq.<\/p>\n
Much is expected of Russia, but there is still much about
\nRussia that is ambiguous.<\/p>\n
On one hand, Russia talks of the importance of international
\ncooperation. But when talk turns to the situation in Chechnya,
\nRussia considers it a purely domestic concern and rejects all
\noffers at international mediation. Russia is deeply concerned
\nwith the nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran, yet remains
\nindifferent to improving human rights in these and other
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
Russia is often complex and difficult to fathom. While the
\ncountry needs international help to scrap its nuclear submarines,
\na newly minted Russian billionaire can pay a huge sum for an
\nEnglish soccer team.<\/p>\n
The Soviet Union collapsed 12 years ago. Isn't it about time
\nRussia freed itself from superpower politics to be a normal
\nEuropean nation? That would make its diplomacy more persuasive.
\n---
\nGoteborgs-Posten, Goteborg, Sweden, on French Foreign Minister Dominque de Villepin:<\/p>\n
In a situation where the United Nations is shortly expected to
\nput forward a new resolution proposal on Iraq in the security
\ncouncil, French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin is doing
\nwhat he does best - talking and putting up smoke screens.<\/p>\n
Monsieur de Villepin however makes a realistic judgment when
\nhe opposes the United States' and Israel's boycott of Yasser
\nArafat. This man remains and keeps his position with legitimate
\nauthority from the Palestinians.<\/p>\n
The tragedy is that Israel's government through their heedless
\ndecision to \"eliminate\" Arafat, through deportation or something
\neven worse, have made the Palestinian veteran's political star
\nshine brighter than on many a bad day.
\n---
\nAftenbladet, Stavanger, Norway, on the blackouts in Europe and North America,<\/p>\n
It's almost enough to make one believe it was more than
\ncoincidental. Over the weekend, Italy, last week Sweden and
\nDenmark, in late August London, in mid-August large parts of the
\nUnited States and Canada.<\/p>\n
Millions without electricity.<\/p>\n
So far, nothing has indicated that the power failures were due
\nto sabotage or terrorism, but they certainly show how vulnerable
\nour modern society is. And none of the power failures occurred
\nunder extreme weather. Local bad weather is something nationwide
\nelectricity networks have to be able to stand.<\/p>\n
Is privatization compromising security? Is the power network
\nout of date? Are better emergency solutions needed? The questions
\nare many, and the answers must be found.
\n---
\nDer Bund, Bern, Switzerland, on the power outage in Italy:<\/p>\n
A whole country without power. Five people die. The economy
\nloses 100 million. That's what happened on Sunday in Italy, and
\nalready fingers are pointing at Switzerland. Others put the blame
\nfor the blackout the EU's forced liberalization of the
\nelectricity market.<\/p>\n
What's the answer? Fact: Switzerland provides half of Italy's
\nimported electricity. We get money from it. We were also involved
\nin the early events that finally led to the lights going out
\nacross Italy. So are we also guilty? Together with Italy's other
\nneighbors, Switzerland was able to continue to meet Italy's
\ndemands for half an hour despite the loss of one line. They could
\nhave done it for longer if the Italian network operator had acted
\nas planned. But it didn't, despite being told of the situation
\nearlier. To that extent it seems somewhat hasty to sneeringly
\npoint the finger at the \"perfect Swiss,\" as one big German
\nnewspaper did.<\/p>\n
The Swiss electricity suppliers justly see the events of
\nSunday as a success, because along with the other suppliers they
\nwere able to prevent the lights going out in other countries.
\nThat sort of scenario is possible, as was seen in the United
\nStates recently.<\/p>\n
Is the liberalization of the energy market also to blame? This
\nargument also doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Switzerland of course
\nhas refused to open up its market. Germany, on the other hand,
\nhas one of the most open electricity markets in Western Europe.
\nBoth countries possess stable electricity supplies.<\/p>\n
The blame really does lie in Italy, whose output capacity is
\nvery low. That's why a small breakdown led to such a big outage.
\nIt's as simple as that.<\/p>\n
---<\/p>\n
The Guardian, London, on the Labor party's debate:<\/p>\n
Last year in Blackpool (the governing) Labor (party) held a
\nstage-managed debate on Iraq which passed a dog's dinner of a
\nresolution. This year, Labor has gone one better - or rather one
\nworse. After a year in which politics have been utterly dominated
\nby Iraq, Labor's union-heavy voting system yesterday chose to
\nleave the subject off the agenda altogether. Yesterday's decision
\nwould be funny if it was not so tragic. It raises the question of
\nwhether this week's Labor conference really has any point in it
\nat all, and whether democracy and the Labor party are subjects
\nwhich can any longer be mentioned in the same sentence. In any
\nevent, this was not the action of a serious party.<\/p>\n
We cannot say we were not warned. In his BBC \"Breakfast with
\nFrost\" interview yesterday, Tony Blair had plenty to say about
\nIraq, but nothing but contempt for his critics. With the benefit
\nof hindsight, he was asked early on, what would you have done
\ndifferently over Iraq? Mr. Blair's reply was astonishingly
\ndirect: \"Nothing. I would have done exactly the same.\" And so it
\nwent on for the next half-hour, on domestic policy and
\ninternational policy alike. Nothing to apologize for. We have
\ndone the right thing. I am proud of what we have done. Anyone who
\nhas been secretly nursing the hope that tomorrow's speech might
\nreveal a newly conciliatory prime minister need have no illusions
\nnow. Mr. Blair is not only not for turning. He has no interest in
\nwhat his critics have to say. In fact, he seems to despise the
\nwhole lot of us. ...<\/p>\n
---<\/p>\n
The Daily Telegraph, London on misplaced anger during Italy's
\nblackout:<\/p>\n
There is something about catastrophe that brings out the
\nprimitive in us. Urbane businessmen, caught up in an earthquake,
\ncross their fingers and mutter imprecations to the gods. And so
\nit is with power cuts. The millions of Italians affected by a
\ntotal electricity failure yesterday displayed many of the
\nprimordial instincts of our race, including one of the oldest of
\nall: to blame your woes on outsiders. At first, it was all said
\nto be the fault of the French. Then, as the lights stayed out,
\nanger shifted towards the Swiss.<\/p>\n
The accusations were reminiscent of those that flew about
\nduring the recent blackout in North America, when state and
\nprovincial governors queued up to blame each other. In fact, as
\nfar as we can tell, the accident was caused by a tree blowing
\nagainst a cable near the Swiss town of Brunnen - although holding
\nthe government of even that beautifully administered state
\nresponsible for such mishaps seems a little harsh.<\/p>\n
In Brussels, too, people reverted to their basic instincts.
\nThe EU's Energy Commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, immediately
\ndeclared that the blackout was an argument for - what else? -
\ndeeper European integration. Quite how this would have made a
\ndifference, Switzerland being outside the EU, is unclear. It is
\nfair to point out, though, that opening Europe's energy markets
\nwould make such events less likely. The more varied our
\nelectricity supplies, the less reliant we become on each
\nsource. ...
\n--- MORE[<\/p>\n
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