Bush Insists He Has Made America Safer (and the Nazi's made the trains run on time) Faced with polls that show many believe the terror threat against them has increased due to the Iraq war, Bush argued that wars against Iraq, Afghanistan (news - web sites) and al Qaeda have made them safer, as has diplomacy that led Libya to surrender its weapons of mass destruction programs. Yahoo News

I write badly, therefore I am a would-be terroristSuddenly a light went on in my head. I remembered the passenger on my left leaning forward in his seat as I scribbled while we waited for takeoff. Seconds later, he'd clambered hastily over me without apology to make his way to the front of the plane. I'd assumed intestinal complications, but now that I thought about it, he hadn't used the bathroom. He'd spoken briefly with the flight attendants and returned to his seat. As the security woman looked at me, I now realized the passenger had been about as interested in my puzzling prowess as she was. Houston Chronicle

Bush Insists He Has Made America Safer (and the Nazi's made the trains run on time) Faced with polls that show many believe the terror threat against them has increased due to the Iraq war, Bush argued that wars against Iraq, Afghanistan (news - web sites) and al Qaeda have made them safer, as has diplomacy that led Libya to surrender its weapons of mass destruction programs. Yahoo News

America's Chechnya....it has something of Vietnam in its asymmetric nature, something of Algeria in its tactical quality, and there are probably some lessons to be learned from all sorts of comparisons with other wars from history. To make a contemporary comparison, in its domestic political dynamic, and to a degree in its expeditionary, overwhelming-force military technique, U.S. President George W. Bush's venture in Iraq can be compared with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin's war in Chechnya. World Press Review

U.S. Elections 2004 Comment and analysis from the world's press on the upcoming U.S. elections World Press Review

Philippines to pull out of Iraq Philippines to pull out of Iraq World Press Review

Congo uranium mine collapses Part of a uranium mine has collapsed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least nine people. BBC News

High prices for gas, milk push struggling families to brink Last month, the Consumer Price Index, the government's most closely watched inflation barometer, posted its largest increase in more than three years, the Labor Department said. The main culprits were gasoline--which has dipped in recent days but still remains about 30 percent higher than a year ago--and galloping food costs, especially dairy products, which jumped at the most rapid pace since World War II. Chicago Tribune

Will U.S. Foreign Policy Increase Terrorism? As long as American foreign policy remains the same and the Palestinian issue is left unresolved, the U.S. war on terror will increase terrorism by 100 percent, said Lebanese Shiite Muslim leader Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah World Press Review

Polls show a growing progressive electorateNobody thinks it will happen without incredibly hard work against an ugly and well-financed Republican campaign of fear, and victory may still depend on tight votes in swing states. But voters are expressing deepening awareness that America is on the wrong track and growing disapproval of Bush�s performance on the war and the economy. In These Times

Joyce letter smashes sale record
An erotic letter sent by author James Joyce to his wife has fetched a record �240,800 at auction in London. BBC News

Brando's last role: an evil old lady Marlon Brando fulfilled a lifelong ambition in his final film: to play an old lady. True to his Method training, the actor donned a blond wig and full drag for the part, even though the film was animated. Guardian

Bush's helping hands: Media scrubs president from Ken Lay coverage a review of mainstream press coverage since news of the Lay indictment first broke Wednesday afternoon indicates most news outlets, minus the San Francisco Chronicle and a handful of others, have completely downplayed the Bush connection, or simply ignored it all together. That, of course, is good news for the White House, which now wants nothing to do with the disgraced energy executive, once on the short list to be in Bush's cabinet. Salon

Big brother in the bookstore Many legislators on Capitol Hill will own up to supporting the Patriot Act, even with some of its more noxious provisions, in a 9/11-induced haze. But there are a few politicians in Washington -- especially those surrounding President Bush -- who continue to insist that, somehow, keeping track of what books ordinary Americans check out of the library will stop the next al-Qaida plot. Bush himself seems intent on keeping every part of the law on the books, a fact underscored yesterday when the White House threatened to veto a spending bill if it contained amendments weakening the government's power to spy on Americans' reading habits. Salon

Ultimate dot-com survivor faces new challenges WebMD, a health care company forged by two high-profile entrepreneurs at the height of the dot-com boom, is fabulously successful by one important measure: It's still here. CNET News

Turbulent skies Innovative and bold low-cost carriers have transformed the airline industry on both sides of the Atlantic. But are they now doomed to lose their momentum?
The Economist

The big one After more than two years of investigation, prosecutors have filed charges against Kenneth Lay, the former chairman of Enron. But though the bankrupt energy-trading company has become a synonym for corporate fraud, �Kenny Boy� may yet wriggle off the hook. The Economist

American shame; Islamist snuff movies It's a tough call whether Abu Musab al-Zarqawi�the Jordanian "militant" who is reportedly responsible for the videotaped butchery of Nicholas Berg�is more stupid than he is brutal, or whether he is a bigger monster than he is a fool. Zarqawi's own nauseating videotape makes the case for his indescribable brutality. Reason

So much for the moral president Pentagon Admits Iraq Methods Violated Geneva Rules Yahoo News

A failure of leadership at the highest levels Around the halls of the Pentagon, a term of caustic derision has emerged for the enlisted soldiers at the heart of the furor over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal: the six morons who lost the war. The Army Times