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Feb. 10th, 2006 12:06 amDavid Ignatius has written a very brave article.
Feb. 10th, 2006
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Feb. 10th, 2006 12:33 amSmall typo, big headache
A typo in the budget-reconciliation bill may give congressional Democrats another shot at making political hay out of the $39 billion deficit-reduction measure President Bush signed yesterday.
Democratic leaders could block an attempt by Republicans to correct the clerical error and use the fight to highlight their fierce opposition to the legislation, which includes spending reductions in healthcare, education and other programs.
By doing so, Democrats would raise from the dead a yearlong fight against the budget cuts at the same time that they prepare to beat back another package of spending reductions called for in the president’s new budget.
Blocking a technical correction to legislation that has already been signed into law would be unusual, but budget battles on Capitol Hill are always partisan and House Democrats believe they have scored political points on fighting the GOP budget cuts.
Democratic objections could force both the House and Senate to vote on the measure yet again, though some sources on Capitol Hill said at press time that they expect another vote on a narrow part of the bill — not the entire measure.
House and Senate aides pointed fingers across the Capitol late yesterday, blaming each other’s clerks for changing the language after the House passed the bill.
[...] The error has caused significant tension on the Hill in recent days, with some suggesting that the person responsible for it should be fired.
A typo in the budget-reconciliation bill may give congressional Democrats another shot at making political hay out of the $39 billion deficit-reduction measure President Bush signed yesterday.
Democratic leaders could block an attempt by Republicans to correct the clerical error and use the fight to highlight their fierce opposition to the legislation, which includes spending reductions in healthcare, education and other programs.
By doing so, Democrats would raise from the dead a yearlong fight against the budget cuts at the same time that they prepare to beat back another package of spending reductions called for in the president’s new budget.
Blocking a technical correction to legislation that has already been signed into law would be unusual, but budget battles on Capitol Hill are always partisan and House Democrats believe they have scored political points on fighting the GOP budget cuts.
Democratic objections could force both the House and Senate to vote on the measure yet again, though some sources on Capitol Hill said at press time that they expect another vote on a narrow part of the bill — not the entire measure.
House and Senate aides pointed fingers across the Capitol late yesterday, blaming each other’s clerks for changing the language after the House passed the bill.
[...] The error has caused significant tension on the Hill in recent days, with some suggesting that the person responsible for it should be fired.
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Feb. 10th, 2006 01:05 amCheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information
I still think that "superiors" is key. What other bosses did Libby have?
I still think that "superiors" is key. What other bosses did Libby have?
(no subject)
Feb. 10th, 2006 03:28 pmBullied Mice Show Brain Reacts to Stress
Any bully's victim knows the experience can cause lingering fear. Now scientists watching big mice intimidate small ones have discovered the stress spurs genetic changes in the brain — a finding that may help research into depression and other mental illnesses.
The experiment suggests a part of the brain linked to addiction also plays a previously unsuspected role in illnesses characterized by chronic anxiety and social withdrawal, Texas researchers report Thursday in the journal Science.
In fact, a substance produced in the brain, called BDNF, seems to be the culprit, controlling whether the bullied mice turned into fearful hermits or not.
[...] BDNF is a chemical important for the growth and maturation of nerve cells. Some antidepressants are thought to increase BDNF levels in the hippocampus, helpfully boosting neurons.
But in this different brain region, encompassing the so-called mesolimbic dopamine pathway, Dr. Eric Nestler, UT Southwestern's psychiatry chairman, found too much BDNF was bad: The bullied mice experienced marked BDNF increases, which in turn switched on several hundred genes located deep in the front part of the brain. That unusual gene activation paralleled the animals' social withdrawal.
Then Nestler's team injected mice with a virus that switched off BDNF production only in this one brain region, and repeated the bullying experiment. Mice lacking the BDNF didn't become cowed — they essentially couldn't learn how to respond to this emotional threat, evidence of BDNF's role in social stress.
Any bully's victim knows the experience can cause lingering fear. Now scientists watching big mice intimidate small ones have discovered the stress spurs genetic changes in the brain — a finding that may help research into depression and other mental illnesses.
The experiment suggests a part of the brain linked to addiction also plays a previously unsuspected role in illnesses characterized by chronic anxiety and social withdrawal, Texas researchers report Thursday in the journal Science.
In fact, a substance produced in the brain, called BDNF, seems to be the culprit, controlling whether the bullied mice turned into fearful hermits or not.
[...] BDNF is a chemical important for the growth and maturation of nerve cells. Some antidepressants are thought to increase BDNF levels in the hippocampus, helpfully boosting neurons.
But in this different brain region, encompassing the so-called mesolimbic dopamine pathway, Dr. Eric Nestler, UT Southwestern's psychiatry chairman, found too much BDNF was bad: The bullied mice experienced marked BDNF increases, which in turn switched on several hundred genes located deep in the front part of the brain. That unusual gene activation paralleled the animals' social withdrawal.
Then Nestler's team injected mice with a virus that switched off BDNF production only in this one brain region, and repeated the bullying experiment. Mice lacking the BDNF didn't become cowed — they essentially couldn't learn how to respond to this emotional threat, evidence of BDNF's role in social stress.
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Feb. 10th, 2006 11:09 pmVA Nurse Investigated for "Sedition" for Criticizing Bush
Laura Berg is a clinical nurse specialist at the VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, where she has worked for 15 years.
Shortly after Katrina, she wrote a letter to the editor of the weekly paper the Alibi criticizing the Bush Administration.
After the paper published the letter in its September 15-21 issue, VA administrators seized her computer, alleged that she had written the letter on that computer, and accused her of "sedition."
Laura Berg is a clinical nurse specialist at the VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, where she has worked for 15 years.
Shortly after Katrina, she wrote a letter to the editor of the weekly paper the Alibi criticizing the Bush Administration.
After the paper published the letter in its September 15-21 issue, VA administrators seized her computer, alleged that she had written the letter on that computer, and accused her of "sedition."
