AnnotatedOpinions.com

Weighing the benefits of a mammography: Although we all would like to think that public health pronouncements are the unmitigated truth about any issue, rarely is that the case. [LA Times]

Giving thanks in secular, holy ways: At Thanksgiving, the secular and religious impulses, usually taken to be antagonists, salute each other respect. [Boston Globe]

Ft. Hood and the bugaboo of ‘political correctness’: Look deeper at a killer and what do you usually find? An angry, crazy person. [LA Times]

The Church and the Capital: Washington lawmakers should negotiate the language of a same-sex marriage bill with the Catholic archdiocese without selling out same-sex couples. [New York Times]

Free speech: It’s the ACLU’s deal: For Americans liberal and  conservative, the organization continues to support their right to speak. [LA Times]

For American savers, the mattress beckons: Banks pay microscopic interest even as they recover. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

The Phantom Menace: The scare stories from Wall Street seem to be intimidating Washington from doing more to rescue the economy. [New York Times]

What the Pilgrims really sought: Their trip to the New World wasn’t about tolerance or diversity. It was about purity. [USA Today]

Tim DeChristopher’s wild legal ride: He disrupted an oil and gas lease auction last year by posing as a buyer. Now a judge has rejected his last-ditch defense strategy. [LA Times]  

Crunching the numbers on bioenergy rules: The right rules will encourage the development of fast-growing grasses and trees that can greatly increase the amount of carbon absorbed by plants on marginal land. [Boston Globe]

Hot times: As a crucial climate change conference nears, more evidence of a warming globe [Houston Chronicle]

Obama needs to feel the heat: The melting arctic ice is unimpressed with his climate-change efforts. [Washington Post]

A green future for old buildings: Many existing buildings, especially those built before World War II, embody environmental and energy-conscious design. [Boston Globe]  

GPS and Privacy Rights: A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., should rule that police need a warrant before putting a GPS device on a suspect’s car. [New York Times]

Heal thyself: The slow reaction by the Department of Veterans Affairs to a flawed cancer-treatment program in Philadelphia suggests an agency that would rather forget its mistakes than learn from them. [Philadelphia Inquirer]  

Afghanistan Plan C: Obama tries to think his way around the all-in-or-all-out dilemma. [Washington Post]

In El Salvador, a grim reflection, and a glimmer of hope: The president has bestowed the country’s highest honor on six Jesuit priests massacred 20 years ago, more evidence that peaceful change is possible, if slow to come. [LA Times]

India and us: South Asia is a tar pit filled with failed and dysfunctional states, save for one. [Washington Post]  

Slang from the mouths of babes [Chicago Tribune]

From vinyl to digital, my obsession lives on: Technology has made the pursuit of our pleasures much easier. But in so doing, I often wonder if it has made them less sacred. [Boston Globe]

A Luddite in the library: Search engines are all well and good, but sometimes the best place to find something is a library. [LA Times]  

CNN: Doubling down on straight news: Lou Dobbs’s departure from CNN is a welcome event, and the network deserves credit for replacing him with John King. [Boston Globe]

A Farewell to Lou: Lou Dobbs calls himself Mr. Independent, but he is closer in style and method to the right-wing ranters who mold the facts to shape the argument. [New York Times]

Calling the filibuster bluff: Democrats should force a real filibuster, make Joe Lieberman bring the business of the Senate to a screeching halt. [Boston Globe]

A false choice in health care battle: Where exactly do you draw a line when the opposition keeps moving it? [Boston Globe]

Close, but no cigar: The House’s health-care bill was put to the fiscal test, and it failed. [Washington Post]

Invisible wounds: Returning soldiers with mental health problems are ill-served by their country. [Houston Chronicle]

Vet Day memories: From heaven to hell. [USA Today]

Bring the troops home: Without clear goals, Obama shouldn’t be sending more soldiers to Afghanistan. [Washington Post]

Free to Lose: With long-term unemployment at its highest levels since the 1930s and on the rise, the U.S. should consider policies that address job growth directly. [New York Times]

No more ‘too big to fail’: The term must be excised from our vocabulary, says the chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase. [Washington Post]

Intel’s $1.25 Billion Settlement: Intel may have reached a deal withAdvanced Micro Devices, but that does little for consumers hurt by anticompetitive practices. [New York Times]

Sudan needs boldness: Will Obama insist on a policy that stops the rapes and the murders in Darfur? [Washington Post]

Saving the bluefin tuna: The industry may not want to hear it, but a complete ban on commercial fishing of the Atlantic bluefin tuna is called for. [LA Times]

Planetary heat and trade chill: How we can treat the problems together. [Washington Post]

The ‘Highly Qualified Teacher’ Dodge: Recent decisions in Washington continue to allow poorer schools to be disproportionately staffed by unqualified teachers. [New York Times]

Bad examples: Selling grades. [USA Today]

Fidel Castro’s long goodbye: The ailing former leader of Cuba remains true to his word: ‘I am a revolutionary, and revolutionaries do not retire.’ [LA Times]

Recall the Marshall Plan: With creative adaptation, the aid program that worked in Europe can work in Pakistan. [Washington Post]

Of Fruit Flies and Drones: President Obama has shown a quiet predilection for drone warfare, but the U.S. should not be targeting people for killing without a public debate. [New York Times]

Soaring pay for coaches throws academics for a loss: Beyond the elite teams, football ‘arms race’ too often a futile game. [USA Today]

What’s ‘Good Hair’? Rock confronts taboo [USA Today]

Veterans Day

·       A set of dog tags, a clipping, a father revealed: A reflection on Veterans Day of a son trying to reconcile two very different sides of his father. [Boston Globe]

·      On Veterans Day, feeling the cost of war: Afghanistan was abstract, until my friend’s flag-draped coffin came home. [LA Times]

·      Healing our troubled vets: Suicide, homelessness, stress disorders — caring for today’s veterans will be a long-term and costly commitment. [LA Times]

·       Homeless on Veterans Day: Washington and communities across the country should support a national drive to end veteran homelessness. [New York Times] 

·      Recalling ‘Mother of Normandy’: A Frenchwoman dedicated herself to tending the graves of American troops. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

·      Veterans Day [USA Today]

·    Standing tall in harm’s way: Still Army-strong – The image of a traumatized military stemming from Fort Hood doesn’t square with reality. [Washington Post]

·    Taking care of our military: It used to be said that for kids, the military took care of its own. Now help is needed. [Washington Post]

Cruel and unusual: No life without parole for juvenile offenders The Supreme Court should rule against life without parole for juvenile offenders. [Houston Chronicle]

A National Disgrace: A court’s overt disregard for the central role of judges in policing executive branch excesses has frightening implications for safeguarding civil liberties. [New York Times]

Obama’s duty to tamp down anti-Muslim bias [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Dithering heights: Filibustering Republicans and three Democratic enablers bring the Senate to a halt. [Washington Post]

Pawlenty: GOP’s newest ideological enforcer [Boston Globe]

A comprehensive solution to combustible markets: Barney Frank delineates his committee’s approach to preventing another financial collapse. [Boston Globe]

Cruel, Pointless Games: The case of the American hikers is only the latest example of the Iranian government misusing and undermining its judiciary for political ends. [New York Times]

Bodyguard of lies: The House health-reform bill looked better after I heard a GOP blizzard of falsehoods about it. [Washington Post]

No fount of wisdom for GOP: Health care is much too complicated for
Congress [Chicago Tribune]

The W. and Bill no-show: It’s too bad the two former presidents pulled out of two scheduled evenings of policy debates, er, policy discussions. [LA Times]

After the wall, Bush was right: The celebrations of the 20th  anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall this week failed to note that reunification of Germany was once a topic of great contention. [Boston Globe]

East Germans feel nostalgic for the bad old days [Chicago Tribune]

Army must be on guard for extremism: For Maj. Nidal Hasan, religion might just have been the lens through which his inner disquiet focused itself. [LA Times]

Fort Hood tragedy: Terror or typical workplace violence? [USA Today]

China, the U.S. and Taiwan: The U.S. could use arms sales as leverage to ease tensions between mainland China and Taiwan, pave the way for closer Sino-American ties and promote peace and stability in Asia. [LA Times]

‘One child’ horrors: Chinese government policy is leading to forced
abortions. [Washington Post]

Kabul, Taliban are talking: Karzai’s government is reaching out to the
insurgents – with U.S. support. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

A little steel, please: Afghanistan strategy could use a little passion from a professorial president. [Washington Post]

The Trouble With ‘Zero Tolerance’: Schools should not be criminalizing students for what are essentially normal childhood behaviors. [New York Times]

Getting in holiday spirit when out of work [Chicago Tribune]

Trucks, Trains and Trees: Without a new system for economic development in the timber-rich tropics, the only Amazon your grandchildren will ever know ends in dot-com and sells books. [New York Times]

Let’s end the War on Drugs [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

Growth, at last [Chicago Tribune]

Too Little of a Good Thing: The Obama stimulus plan is helping, but it not nearly enough. Unless something changes, high unemployment will continue for years to come. [New York Times]

Six Tests for Equality and Fairness: Political battles in six jurisdictions could have a profound impact on whether the United States will extend the right to marry to same-sex couples. [New York Times]

So what if they promote it? Let’s suppose, for a moment, that conservative critics are correct: Gay educators want to “promote homosexuality” in American schools. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Police these pills and powders: Congress should give the FDA the power it now lacks to regulate the dietary supplements industry. [Boston Globe]

Don’t count illegal immigrants? That doesn’t add up [LA Times]

‘Public option’ politics: The government-run option is a good compromise, but lawmakers avoided dealing with its true cost. [LA Times]

What’s next for health care: The battle now is not about whether to pass a bill, it’s over how to define the product. [Washington Post]

Adrift in an ocean of complexity: The important work of being informed about public issues has been crowded out of our lives at the very time that big money has found a way to insinuate itself into nearly every cavity of government. [Boston Globe]

Saving the news [Chicago Tribune]

The Court and Your Savings: Congress wisely put limits on the ability of mutual funds to overcharge investors. The Supreme Court needs to give the law the power that Congress intended. [New York Times]

Superpowers with super problems: Most Russians are peculiarly willing to accept their place. This is a horrifying idea to most Americans, who have deeply absorbed our sense of a Jeffersonian democracy. [Boston Globe]

Afghanistan’s drug war: The farmers aren’t the enemy – Opium cultivation and heroin production fuel corruption and aid the Taliban, but targeting the growers isn’t the answer. [LA Times]

Inside Iran’s opposition: Even if its leaders supplant the current regime, the biggest changes might be of style. [Washington Post]

Our sense of troubled normalcy returns: One year after the financial panic was at full bore the US economy is more shackled than ever to a military budget, which is money spent, for all its benefits, on death. [Boston Globe]

We’re killing communication: At 78 years old, I can authoritatively say that ‘talking’ isn’t what it used to be [USA Today]

The Shepard Fairey-AP case: A clearer picture: The dispute over the popular Obama poster gives the courts a chance to better explain what is fair use of creative works. [LA Times]

Cape Wind: The Wampanoag tribes’ attempt to block a clean energy project off the Massachusetts coast should be rejected by the responsible federal and state officials. [New York Times]

Wind power might blow a hole in bird populations: Some species will not nest near the turbines, while eagles, hawks and migratory flocks can be cut down by the spinning blades. [LA Times]

Shale game: A boom in natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania will ease energy demands and boost the state economy. But there’s reason to be concerned that environmental regulators won’t be able to keep up with this new gold rush. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Science, faith used to be allies: Tellingly, President Obama’s pick to head the National Institutes of Health — Francis Collins — touts this symbiotic relationship today. In recent years, some Americans have come to view science and religion as consistent antagonists, butting heads over everything from the origin of the cosmos to when human life begins (abortion) and when it ends (euthanasia). [USA
Today]  

Gov. races that teach: Lessons for Democrats and Republicans from Virginia and New Jersey. [Washington Post]  

Hillary Clinton: Corn tastes better in Karachi [Boston Globe]  

Michael Vick: a dog’s new best friend? The Humane Society’s arrangement with the convicted football player deserves the public’s support. [LA Times]  

Ongoing Agony of the Banks: If the federal government’s strategy to save the banks was meant to get them back into the business of lending, it has not worked yet. [New York Times]  

Suddenly, America digs farming: The Huffington Post’s ‘hot organic farmers’ and the Internet social game FarmVille may be signs of a growing interest in growing things. [LA Times]  

Democrats’ dodge on voting rights: D.C. representation in Congress isn’t being seen as the civil rights issue it is. [Washington Post]  

Block this music monopoly: Ticketmaster’s bid for a merger with Live Nation would hurt concert consumers. [Philadelphia Inquirer]  

Fitness: Marathon gripe session – Experienced runners are griping about how many slow pokes are signing up for marathons these days. [Boston Globe]  

Trust, Antitrust and Your Vote: If any one voting machine maker is allowed to dominate the market, there will be even greater reasons to worry about the vulnerability of future elections. [New York Times]  

Vaccine technology a recipe for disaster: Vaccine production relies on a time-consuming process that cannot be rushed, and therefore is completed too slowly to deal with new pandemics such as swine flu. [Boston Globe]  

A Watershed Decision: The Chesapeake Energy Corporation’s decision not to drill in New York City’s watershed is good news, but the threat has not disappeared. [New York Times]  

Food labels and unwise ‘Smart Choices’: Too many compromises — Froot Loops and Ritz Bits Peanut Butter Chocolatey Blast? — doomed a program to help consumers make nutritious selections in the grocery store. [LA Times]  

Israel must end provocative digs: The Netanyahu government should crack down on a group of extreme Israeli nationalists who are conducting provocative digs in East Jerusalem. [Boston Globe]  

A year ago, New York State joined nine other Eastern states from Maryland to Maine in an innovative program to control greenhouse gases by charging power plants a fee to emit carbon dioxide. Nine of the 10 agreed to use the proceeds exclusively for renewable energy, advanced technologies and other programs to address the challenge of global warming. New York did not . . .   

Now Gov. David Paterson has announced that he plans to take what is left in the fund, about $90 million, and use it to help close the state’s yawning budget deficit. The governor is desperate for  money: programs large and small are being slashed — including health care and education — and it can be fairly argued that nothing should be off-limits. That said, we strongly hope that the other states hold the line. We also urge Mr. Paterson not to make this a habit. . .  

[AO: I beg to disagree with the New York Times on this matter. Indeed, I urge Mr. Paterson and other governors to continue to make prudent decisions. When faced with ensuring that funds are available to provide necessary healthcare or continue essential education of our children, if finds are available in another program that does not present similar urgency, governors must make the appropriate decision to fund the higher priority necessities. Of course, governors should not make a habit of this. Ideally, governors will take steps to increase funding to the raided programs when the state’s budget is one again healthy. However, in a midst of a recession or depression, when people are going without needed healthcare and education of our children is at risk, money should not be expended on lower priority projects.]

Privacy and the Patriot Act: In the aftermath of 9/11, legislators cut legal corners to protect the nation. Congress should amend that now by revising certain expiring provisions of the law. [LA Times]  

Government helps keep consumers safe [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]  

Cheney: Whatever possessed him? The former vice president’s comments only help Obama politically — so much so that one wonders what’s inside Cheney’s head. [Boston Globe]  

Smoking out e-cigarettes: Forget industry protests; the FDA should be regulating the new product. [LA Times]  

The Cover-Up Continues: To ensure that the abuses of the Bush years are never repeated, the Obama administration should stop covering up the painful truths. [New York Times]  

The ticking time bomb on warming: The blur of details and fog of ideological attacks can obscure the truly essential in the current congressional debate about legislation to confront global warming while building a green economy: the stark need for immediate action. [Boston Globe]  

Trading in ‘cap and trade’: Focusing on specific industries rather than capping overall emissions work better for modernizing nations, although it may result in higher greenhouse gas levels in developed countries. [LA Times]  

Any malpractice reforms should put patients first [USA Today]  

After Reform Passes: If the Massachusetts experience is any guide, health care reform will have broad public support once it’s in place. [New York Times]  

Public plan danger: Will Obama allow Congress to use it as an excuse to dodge harder reforms? [Washington Post]  

Hospitals wage war against patient falls: The effort is laudable, as increasing public awareness of these events — and denying payment of related care in some cases — will help reduce them. [Boston Globe]  

Torching the Big Tent: The division of party support for a moderate Republican candidate says much about the Republicans’ glaring misunderstanding of American voters. [New York Times]  

Obama outs Fox, but reveals a big flaw [Chicago Tribune]  

Oklahoma vs. Women: A restraining order granted by an Oklahoma judge that blocks a new flanking maneuver on abortion from going into effect is a victory for reproductive freedom. [New York Times]  

‘Baby Einstein’ flunks the test [USA Today]  

Tax increases are coming because they’re necessary [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]  

Afghan success depends on understanding the enemy [USA Today]  

When ‘us’ isn’t so many: A New York congressional race may be a defining moment for the GOP. [Washington Post]  

Medicare: Only real advantage is the one insurers get [Philadelphia Inquirer]  

ICE numbers: Accurate counts on illegal detainees needed [Houston Chronicle]  

America, we’ve seen worse [USA Today]  

Clean Water: Still Elusive: The 1972 Clean Water Act has fallen well short of its goals; the time has come to strengthen enforcement and the law. [New York Times]  

Raising the debt ceiling: The Senate faces the painful duty of once again raising the limit on the national debt. [Washington Post]  

Open up Blackwater’s closed hearing: A judge’s decision to bar media and the public from a case involving the security firm’s role in the deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians is extreme and unjustifiable. [LA Times]  

Progress on Drunken Driving: Mandating ignition-interlock devices for all drunken-driving offenders is smart national safety policy. [New York Times]  

Unity doomed apartheid. Next up: climate change [USA Today]  

China leaving US behind in green energy: In contrast to a fragmented approach in the United States, China is investing deeply in renewable energy and is poised to become an unchallenged leader. [Boston Globe]  

The cars of N.Y. and L.A.: Drivers in both cities share some unique characteristics — but there is a fork in the road. [LA Times]  

Robert Mugabe vs. Zimbabwe: If the flawed power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe cannot be fixed, then new elections, supervised by the international community, must be scheduled. [New York Times]  

Iran talks we should end: A tribunal founded in settling the 1979 hostage crisis has outlived its usefulness. [Washington Post]  

Pakistan fights back: The offensive in South Waziristan is the latest sign it’s finally taking the Taliban seriously [Washington Post]  

The war on ACORN: Conservatives are distorting and playing up the community-organizing group’s so-called scandals, part of a broader effort to discredit progressive organizations and President Obama. [LA Times]  

A mother’s journey for reform: A battle begun for a chronically ill daughter to ensure insurance coverage for college students is won, but much more needs to be done for true health care reform. [Boston Globe]  

Detainee-abuse photos and democracy: Pending legislation that allows the pictures to be kept secret would grant the government broad authority to evade accountability now and in the future. [LA Times]

How to Waste Money and Ruin the Census: To ensure an accurate count and avoid massive waste, the Senate must strike down  ttempts,
like those from Senators David Vitter and Orrin Hatch, to change the 2010 census. [New York Times]  

‘Balloon Boy’ our punishment [Chicago Tribune]  

Anything to be on TV: The Heenes are perfect for a reality show, assuming they don’t go to jail [Washington Post]  

Reality bites: The hoax about a boy carried off in a weather balloon shows what happens to some parents when the fame and cash of “reality” TV beckon. [Philadelphia Inquirer]  

Falcon and the showman: In incidents like last week’s ‘balloon boy’ caper, we all share some blame when those without shame chase their 15 minutes of fame. [LA Times]  

The Heenes as parents [Chicago Tribune]  

Prescription for pot: The easing of federal pressure on medical marijuana suppliers and users is welcome news. [LA Times]  

End Afghan election crisis first: The Obama Administration should wait until the Afghan election controversy is resolved before making a decision on a new strategy and US troop levels. [Boston Globe]  

The Afghanistan problem: The huge cultural misunderstandings between Western forces and the Afghan people make it unlikely any counterinsurgency mission in the countryside will succeed. [LA Times]  

What Afghan alliance? There is almost no sense anywhere that the war is an international operation. [Washington Post]  

Safety Nets for the Rich: We’ve shoveled money at the rich and given banks and megacorporations everything they’ve wanted for decades but it’s time to realize that trickle-down economics is a fairy tale. [New York Times]  

Copyright: Fairey’s unfair use: Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the Obama “Hope” poster, now admits to having lied about which AP photo he used to create his famous image. [Boston Globe]  

Fighting swine flu: Editorial: The disease strikes hardest at children and young adults, yet the county’s inoculation program mostly neglects schools. [LA Times]  

Debate Is Good for Your Health: After a false start, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and insurers have come to satisfactory middle ground on how beneficiaries can be legally contacted and mobilized. [New York Times]  

Are baby boomers turning into outsiders? [Chicago Tribune]  

Talking to Sudan: If the Obama administration must negotiate with Sudan, and it must, incentives should be granted only for measurable progress, and Khartoum must be held to account for its horrors. [New  York Times]  

An insurgency swells, but Pakistan focuses on India: While violence  rom Taliban and Islamic fundamentalists is on the upswing in  Pakistan, its government and military appear to be lining their defenses against an old foe, India. [Boston Globe]  

Where the Wild Things Are: Psychologists and philosophers tend to gravitate toward very different views of conduct and whether we can truly say that there is such a thing as character. [New York Times]

Grandma’s greener than you: For all the hype about being eco-conscious today, seniors could teach the young about walking the walk rather than just talking the talk. [USA Today]  

Home Alone: President Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Congress must acknowledge the value of after-school programs, and must work to help them thrive — even in hard times. [New York Times]  

Feed hungry, then help them feed themselves [USA Today]  

Targeting gun shows: An N.Y. probe exposes loopholes that let criminals buy firearms — and the need for greater regulation. [LA Times]

Don’t water down climate bill: John Kerry and Barbara Boxer must resist industry pressure to water down their bill before passage in the Senate. [Boston Globe]

10,000: Then and Now: As the Dow passed the 10,000 milestone again, it was impossible to ignore the yawning chasm between the index’s performance and the dismal state of the American economy. [New York Times]  

Love him, hate him: Your reaction? Getting past all the ‘pundifying’ that some would call serious debate [Chicago Tribune]

Hunger breeds violence: Peacemaking strategies must include denying extremists recruits from a hungry population by providing food to alleviate the suffering. [LA Times]  

Seeding a Green Revolution: How Bill Gates is planning to take a bite out of hunger and malnutrition in Africa. [Washington Post]

A Hatchet Job So Bad It’s Good: The report released by the lobbying organization America’s Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP, was dismissed by experts as a hatchet job, but it may have led to a better bill. [New York Times]

Nobels prove Larry Summers’ 2005 comment about women wrong [Houston Chronicle]  

A few seconds for science: The medicine Nobel gives Americans a chance to reconsider their priorities. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

Kim Jong Il is no lame duck: North Korea’s leader no longer seems lame, which opens the door to further talks that could have beneficial — if not conclusive — results. [LA Times]

Contaminated Fuel Stock? There may be more time on the Iranian nuclear clock than some analysts had feared. [Washington Post]

Dobbs does CNN no favors with Latinos [USA Today]

Limbaugh: Socialism on the 50 yard line – The noted conservative commentator was actually spared the indignity of being part of one of the great socialist experiments in American life — the NFL, where draft order is determined in a way that rewards losers and punishes successful teams. [Boston Globe]

NFL Sacks Limbaugh: His Loudness was most unwelcome.  Washington
Post]  

Should comment board posts be anonymous? [Chicago Tribune]

Zero common sense: Delaware’s largest school district did well to ease its zero-tolerance weapons policy after a first-grader was suspended 45 days for possession of a three-in-one eating utensil. [Philadelphia Inquirer]  

Back Where He Belongs: While it is heartening that a Delaware school district has allowed Zachary Christie back to school, too many communities are hurting students with overzealous disciplinary measures. [New York Times]