The Republican's continued war on the judiciary is addressed in "Republican Lawmakers Fire Back at Judiciary" by Sheryl Gay Stolberg in this morning's New York Times:
Stepping up their assault on the federal judiciary, Congressional Republicans announced efforts on Thursday directed at overturning two recent Supreme Court decisions, one that allowed government to claim private property for economic development and another that stripped Kentucky courthouses of the Ten Commandments.
"This Congress is just not going to sit by and let an unaccountable judiciary make these kinds of decisions," said Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House Republican leader.
Which causes Rachel to wonder, "Why do they hate America!" (Rachel's humorously applying the fright-wing's own "logic" back at them.)
Joan notes that Edmund L. Andrews' "Senate Approves Free Trade Pact" needs to be read in relation to another story in this morning's paper, Juan Forero's "Report Criticizes Labor Standards in Central America." From Forero's article:
The Labor Rights Fund concluded in nearly 400 pages that while there were some adequate labor laws in Central America, there were systematic barriers to enforcing those laws. Recordkeeping is shoddy, giving workers little chance to make claims against employers, the reports said, and sanctions for violations are weak.
The fund also found problems ranging from discrimination against labor organizers to inadequate measures against child labor. El Salvador, for instance, the study found that it was not uncommon for foreign companies to close shop and leave without paying workers. The study also noted a failure to maintain safety, citing two accidents at a textile plant in 2002 in which 560 workers were overcome by fumes in chlorine spills. The ensuing investigations were shoddy, the study found.
[. . .]
But after the reports were submitted in early 2004, the Labor Department held them in secrecy, preventing their release to Congress and forbidding the fund to publish them, Mr. Levin, the Michigan representative, said.
Sheryl Gay Stolberg's "Researcher's Appraisals of Commentators Are Released" was pointed out by Eddie. Ruth's addressing that in her Morning Edition Report (provided I can get it copied and pasted from her e-mail in time) so we'll just note this from Stolberg:
A researcher secretly retained by the chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to monitor liberal bias in public radio and television set his sights on several media personalities, including Bill Moyers, Tucker Carlson, Tavis Smiley, David Brancaccio and Diane Rehm, according to documents made public Thursday.
Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, released 50 pages of what he called the "work product" of Fred Mann, a researcher who has been connected to conservative journalism centers and who was hired by the corporation's chairman, Kenneth Y. Tomlinson. Mr. Dorgan pronounced the work "a little nutty" and a sham.
Lonnie e-mails to note David S. Cloud and Carlotta Gall's "16 Bodies Recovered in Afghan Copter Crash:"
Nearly three days after a Chinook helicopter went down in heavy combat in eastern Afghanistan, American troops were able to reach the crash site and recovered the bodies of all 16 troops who were aboard, military officials said.
But Pentagon officials said Thursday that combat in the area was continuing and that commanders in Washington lacked complete information about troops who had been fighting insurgents in the vicinity when the helicopter crashed Tuesday.
For those wondering (like Marci), Isaiah's on vacation this week. There is a comic he e-mailed earlier this week and it will go up on Sunday. Since most members expect one of Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts to appear on Sunday, I've held it back. Isaiah may or may not have time for another. If he does, there will be more than one Sunday but there will be at least one.
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