Why women should be pissed off and eager to vote:

Number of publications on women's rights that the Labor Department has removed from its website since 1999 : 25

Why all of us should be pissed off and want to vote:

Weeks the Patriot Act allowed the government this year to delay the ACLU's announcement of a suit over the Act itself : 3

Why the major political parties should want us to vote:

Number of states where a shift of no more than three seats this fall could change party control of a legislative chamber: 23

Why our votes might not count:

Seconds it took a Maryland consultant last winter to pick a Diebold voting machine's lock and remove its memory card : 10

... because of the pain and suffering and anguish that I have caused to my beloved family, my parents, my wife, my friends, I would almost rather have this moment pass.

For this is an intensely personal decision, and not one typically for the public domain. Yet, it cannot and should not pass.

I am also here today because, shamefully, I engaged in (an) adult consensual affair with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony. It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable.

Indeed, I did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong. It constituted a critical lapse in judgment and a personal failure on my part for which I am solely and completely responsible.

I know that my public comments and my silence about this matter gave a false impression. I misled people, including even my wife. I deeply regret that.

... this matter is between me, the two people I love most -- my wife and our daughter -- and our God. I must put it right, and I am prepared to do whatever it takes to do so.

Rep. Porter Goss may regret being interviewed for Michael Moore's Bush-bashing headliner of the summer, "Fahrenheit 9/11," and not just because the movie flashed his office phone number across the screen.

Wouldn't you know it, the man whom President Bush just nominated as CIA director touched on his CIA involvement -- past and future -- during an interview with Moore's production crew (sans Moore) in March. If you don't recall seeing that in the movie, that's because you didn't. The clip was edited out. (We bet Moore's kicking himself now.)

According to the transcript obtained from Moore's camp, Goss, when asked about his past in the CIA, responded: "It is true I was in CIA from approximately the late '50s to approximately the early '70s. And it's true I was a case officer, clandestine services office, and yes, I do understand the core mission of the business." Perhaps he should have stopped yakking there.

Alas, the Florida Republican continued: "I couldn't get a job with CIA today. I am not qualified. I don't have the language skills. I, you know, my language skills were Romance languages and stuff. We're looking for Arabists today. I don't have the cultural background, probably. And I certainly don't have the technical skills, uh, as my children remind me every day: 'Dad, you got to get better on your computer.' Uh, so, the things that you need to have, I don't have."

When we asked Goss's office about the honest answer, spokeswoman Julie Almacy told us: "When he was a case officer, the language and technical requirements were different. So, the statement is correct in the context of the guidelines for a new hire of a case officer."

Ohhh, now we get it. Luckily for Goss, "case officer" is a completely different job from "director."

A force of 150 Rwandan troops are expected to arrive in Sudan over the weekend to protect African Union (AU) ceasefire monitors in Darfur.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Murigande said their mandate did not include the protection of civilians. But the deployment of 2,500 AU peacekeepers is being considered, UN special envoy Jan Pronk said.

While establishing a no-fly zone would be essential, it would be a mistake to underestimate Sudan's ability to defend the sovereignty of its airspace. Although its population remains horribly impoverished, Sudan has used its substantial oil revenues to more than double the size of its air force since 2000.

Over the past four years, Sudan has purchased at least 34 new fighter jets from China ... Russia has already supplied Sudan with a large number of MiG-24 Hind helicopter gunships, and it recently sold Sudan a dozen fourth-generation MiG-29 fighter jets, which are considered to be on par with the most advanced U.S. fighters. Both China and Russia have supplied Sudan with modern radar stations for command and control. ... this is not an air force to be taken lightly.

The best possible outcome for the 2004 presidential election would be for John Kerry to lose the popular vote but win in the Electoral College. Obviously it would satisfy a primitive hunger for payback to thwart Republicans in the most significant way that Democrats were thwarted in 2000.

But there's a high-minded reason, too: It would give both parties a common interest in abolishing the Electoral College and establishing the popular vote as the means by which presidents are chosen.

... The sheer idiocy of the Electoral College is a subject that got appallingly little attention amid the chad-obsessed frenzy surrounding the 2000 election. There's a bit more discussion of the problem now ... Concern, I'm happy to report, spreads across the ideological spectrum.

In a June 14 cover package, Business Week ran two separate stories arguing for the Electoral College's elimination. In a July 4 review of Hendrik Hertzberg's superb new anthology, Politics, Richard Brookhiser, a conservative ... predicted [that] "the calls for change will be deafening."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

In a stunning declaration, Gov. James E. McGreevey acknowledged that he had an extramarital affair with another man and announced his resignation Thursday. "My truth is that I am a gay American," he said.

"Shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affairs with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony," the married father of two said. "It was wrong, it was foolish, it was inexcusable."

The Democrat said his resignation would be effective Nov. 15. McGreevey said he would step down because his secret -- both his sexuality and his affair -- leaves the governor's office vulnerable.

The former suburban mayor took office 2-1/2 years ago, and despite inheriting a $5 billion budget deficit, he steadfastly refused to boost income taxes for most New Jerseyans, instead raising taxes on millionaires, casinos and cigarettes. But he has been dogged by several scandals involving fund-raising.

In an empassioned statement delivered live on national TV, McGreevey, 47, said he resigned because his conduct left the governor's office vulnerable to political attacks. McGreevey's wife was at his side and family were in attendance.

"I am a gay American," was the statement that followed several minutes of McGreevey describing (at a news conference) the soul-searching he said he has been doing since childhood.

The governor said the fact of his being gay should have no impact on his being governor, but he conceeded that the political realities of his office and his adultery left him open to attack, and that resigning was "the right thing to do."

... the arrest four days earlier of a senior al Qaeda figure ... (was announced) at midnight (July 29) in Pakistan. That was afternoon in Boston, where convening Democrats were suspicious.

… Regarding the war on terrorism, a sizable minority believes that the government's words and deeds merit deep skepticism. The hard core of this minority is the Michael Moore-Howard Dean cohort of fanatics, but the minority is much larger than that …

Writing in the New Republic, three non-fanatics -- John Judis, Spencer Ackerman and Massoud Ansari -- note that last month the magazine reported that the Bush administration was pressuring Pakistan to deliver a "high-value target" (HVT) in time for the November election. A Pakistani intelligence official says a colleague was told during a spring visit to the White House that "it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven or twenty-eight July" -- during the Democratic convention.

A spokesman for the National Security Council says the New Republic's story is not confirmed by Pakistan's announcement on the 29th, the day of John Kerry's acceptance speech, of the arrest four days earlier of a senior al Qaeda figure. The announcement was made at midnight in Pakistan. That was afternoon in Boston, where convening Democrats were suspicious.

Such suspicions are hardly self-validating. However, the government should take care not to inadvertently foment them.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Thursday accused Western nations of interfering in its troubled western Darfur region to try to exploit Sudan's gold and oil resources. … Bashir on Thursday said Western nations, especially Britain, were inflaming the Darfur fighting to destabilize wider Sudan.

"There is an agenda to seek for petrol and gold in the region," he told a women's union meeting on Darfur in Khartoum on Thursday.

"This highlife that they (the West) enjoy now is a result of the theft of the colonies and their riches and peoples," he added with specific reference to Britain, which granted Sudan independence in 1956.Ah, yes -- when all else fails, when the world no longer believes you have any desire to end the genocidal massacres in Darfur, take a cue from Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and play the “colonialism” card.

In addition to this demagoguery, the Sudanese government continues to enforce some restrictions on aid flights into the country, resulting in what U.N. officials have called "major delays" in the deployment of relief workers.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I neglected to mention in yesterday’s edition of “Daily Darfur” that on the day before an op-ed column by Senate Majority Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) called the Darfur genocide a “regional” issue that would have to be solved by Africans, BBC News was reporting that the Sudanese foreign minister had refused to allow a proposed contingent of African Union peacekeepers to enter the country.

So what now, Senator Frist? Is this still a crisis that Africa will solve on its own?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The P.M. News, a newspaper based in the Nigerian capital of Lagos, decries the fact that African leaders have taken only tepid steps to address the unfolding genocide in Darfur. In an editorial published Wednesday, the newspaper urges Africans to create the equivalent of a NATO-style, rapid-response force to address such crises:

The events in Darfur Province of Sudan constitute a major concern for the international community, yet it is hard to see what African leaders, through the African Union (AU), [have] done to stem the blood-letting. The rebel forces have tightened their control of Northern Sudan, while government officials control the South. The country is politically unstable, with the economy clearly on a nosedive.

Once again, it is the West that appears most concerned, especially about the shameful slaughter of men and women.

It is estimated that if things do not stabilise in Darfur, over a million people could be lost to blood-letting and starvation in six months.

… Right now no garrisoning or disarming of rebels is taking place. African leaders are simply reluctant to send in troops.

The practical solution is clear. Africa ought to have a swift intervention force that can be called up at any time to deal with a serious situation such as the ethnic cleansing taking place in Darfur, Sudan.

… whenever there is a threat of catastrophe on the continent they can move in quickly to avert it or mitigate the crisis. Of course they will need to be backed by diplomats adept at winning the peace. It would be the African version of NATO.

… What this means is that every time crisis breaks out in Africa we will not be looking forward to a George Bush sacrificing the lives of American soldiers to end it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

An Arab Janjaweed militiaman. This militia group has raped and killed thousands in Darfur.

Kerry and running mate John Edwards had the backing of 47 percent, Bush and Vice President Cheney had the support of 41 percent and independent Ralph Nader and his running mate Peter Camejo had 4 percent in the Quinnipiac University poll (which was released Thursday).

Bush and Kerry were deadlocked in Florida at 43 percent each in a Quinnipiac poll in late June.
The August poll found Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, getting tepid reviews from Floridians. They were evenly split on whether they approve or disapprove of the job the second-term governor is doing.

The survey also found fewer than half, 47 percent, were "very confident" that their vote would count. Only one in five said the same about new touch-screen voting machines that will be used this year in 15 of the state's largest counties.

Peter Sprigg begins his new book on same-sex marriage, Outrage, with a paradox: Most Americans oppose it, "yet in terms of political action, the pro-family, pro-marriage majority has been strangely muted." Sprigg attributes this to a lack of intellectual ammunition and aims to remedy that deficiency with this book.

[Sprigg] counters what he regards as his opponents' strongest argument: that gay marriage is a "civil right," a suggestion he says is positively insulting to those who have experienced the brutal denial of true civil rights.

He shows that the African-American community, where acute family deterioration precludes the luxury of indulging in fashionable social experiments, opposes same-sex marriage by a larger margin than whites.

Why does manhood matter? Because we're at war. What kind of leader do you want when armed lunatics are trying to kill you and your family? Do you need a master of nuance or a leader of men? Do you want Alan Alda or Braveheart?

Karl Rove, the president's chief political advisor, is looking to the GOP's traditional base -- fundamentalist evangelical Christians -- to put Bush over the top this year. Will a revivified and politically-focused men's movement from the 1990s bail Bush Out?

... "Promise Keepers has always been disingenuous about politics," Fred Clarkson, author of "Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy," said in an e-mail exchange. "While always claiming to be apolitical, many PK rallies (although not all) in its heyday featured prominent conservative politicians and overt political and even electoral content. Denunciations of abortion and homosexuality were routine. It was just a matter of time before PK developed an overt public policy agenda."

... In early June of this year, nearly 10,000 men hooked up at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York for the year's first Promise Keeper event. Each year's events have a specific theme; this year PK events are called "UPRISING: The Revolution of a Man's Soul."

... "Karl Rove complained after the 2000 election that Bush got about 4 million fewer votes from conservative evangelicals than he had expected," said Clarkson, who has reported extensively on the Promise Keepers movement.

"The political mobilization of the Promise Keepers, if that's what this is, could help pick up the slack. It seems to have a more ambitious season of rallies planned for this year which suggests a possible election year up-tick in activity combined with a more overt political agenda," Clarkson added. "PK has not gotten much attention from the media and the political community, which tend to have the nasty habit of failing to pay attention to trends on the Christian Right."

... (MSNBC officials said that the) channel has different rules for news anchors and what it called opinion anchors. Joe Scarborough, host of the nightly "Scarborough Country'' program, could be seen on news reports on Tuesday standing and applauding numerous times during the president's speech.

Mr. Bush even cited him in his speech, saying he appreciated Mr. Scarborough's presence in the district he once served as a Republican congressman. "I'm glad he did it,'' said Rick Kaplan, the president of MSNBC, of Mr. Scarborough's appearance. "It was good for the profile of the show to remind people he has an inside view of politics." Mr. Kaplan said the channel had separate standards for what it considered its news anchors, who include all four others who lead prime-time programs on the channel: Chris Matthews, Dan Abrams, Deborah Norville and Keith Olbermann.

It was good for the profile of the show to remind people he has his head so far up the president's ass that it's likely to pop out of Bush's belly-button any day now.

Unless the genocide in Darfur is halted immediately, tens of thousands more will die before the end of the year.

The crisis in Darfur is a regional problem that demands an African remedy. It requires forces capable of providing security in a timely and credible manner. Such a remedy is available. Forces led by the African Union (AU) are already deploying to the region. They can be complemented by troops from Khartoum and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which stands ready to provide thousands of well-trained soldiers to protect the people of Darfur.

The treaty would enshrine a new reality ... Interfering in a genocidal state's internal affairs ... was not only authorized but required by the convention. If a government committed or permitted genocide, signatories would have to take steps to prevent, suppress, and punish the crime ...

Rape and other forms of sexual violence against Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa women and girls from the displaced communities is taking place on a daily basis in Darfur.

... Even when displaced women and girls remain in or around the government-controlled towns, they continue to be regularly raped and often brutally beaten.

O'REILLY: And where did you get that little “evil” quote, by the way? You don't listen to The Radio Factor.
KRUGMAN: Oh, no, but I get—but they have video clips. They have, they have a clip.
O'REILLY: Oh, who—well, who gave it to you?
KRUGMAN: Yeah, it is Media Matters.
O'REILLY: Media Matters! Oh, I see! A real objective web site!
KRUGMAN: Hey, wait a second—
O’REILLY: Hey, Mr. Propaganda, you ought to take and do your own research, pal, and stop taking the left-wing garbage and throwing it out there for the folks.
KRUGMAN: What have I said that’s false?
O'REILLY: Do your own research!
KRUGMAN: Come on.
O'REILLY: That's out of context, and you know it.
KRUGMAN: It helps me. It is not.
O'REILLY: It helps you, baloney!
KRUGMAN: They've got the clip. You guys can listen to it.
O'REILLY: You are about the most unobjective person on the face of the—Media Matters!
KRUGMAN: Oh, come on.
O'REILLY: Why don't you just call Fidel? Call him up and have at it. He'll tell you what’s going on.
KRUGMAN: Oh, wonderful. Now that we got the great (unintelligible) ends up being a Communist.
O'REILLY: Media Matters! Oh, my. That's like me calling some Klan operation.
KRUGMAN: Hey.
O'REILLY: Why don't I call the Ku Klux Klan?

A cornerstone of the Bush campaign was the claim that "we have turned the corner" economically and we are on the right path. But these new numbers undercut that claim and give powerful new ammunition to the Kerry campaign.

... The corresponding 300-plus point drop in the Dow Jones Thursday and Friday also points out the fragile nature of today's markets. Worry about the "recovery" still motivates traders. Politically, this drop could not come at a worse time, as a big chunk of today's Bush voters are members of the 'investor class.' Thus, economic troubles such as these cut right into Bush's base.

If they feel it in their portfolios, their intensity to support Bush may drop off a bit while Kerry's supporters are white-hot with the desire to remove Bush from office at all cost.

Democrat Barack Obama said Monday he will engage in fewer than the six debates he previously agreed to in the U.S. Senate race -- prompting newly minted GOP rival Alan Keyes to accuse Obama of running scared and cowering 'in timidity' at the prospect of facing him."

"That suggests doesn't it -- if right now they're scaling back -- a certain lack of confidence that there's any substance there," Keyes said of Obama.

Obama insisted he had no fear of facing the former radio and television personality from Maryland, but said he would not abide by the deal he reached with Republican Jack Ryan before the Wilmette investment banker dropped out of the race in June.

"That was a special for in-state residents," Obama quipped.

"I believe it's the right authority for a president to have."

"I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war."

"... as President, I will bring back this nation's time-honored tradition: the United States of America never goes to war because we want to, we only go to war because we have to.

"Before you go to battle, you have to be able to look a parent in the eye and truthfully say: 'I tried everything possible to avoid sending your son or daughter into harm's way. But we had no choice. We had to protect the American people, fundamental American values from a threat that was real and imminent.' So, lesson one, this is the only justification for going to war."

Scenario A:
Iraq -- 1991

Brutal dictator whose military forces had just
invaded a neighboring country without
provocation?
Yes.

An Iraqi regime that had firm control of its border
and could move its military forces at will?
Yes.

Active production and stockpiles of weapons
of mass destruction?
Yes. In fact, coalition forces expected the Iraqis
to use chemical weapons.

The administration (Bush I) displayed
a willingness and ability to seek multilateral action?
Yes.

Kerry's vote: AGAINST the Iraq I resolution

Scenario B:
Iraq -- 2002

Brutal dictator whose military forces had just
invaded a neighboring country without
provocation?
No.

An Iraqi regime that had firm control of its border
and could move its military forces at will?
No; the no-fly zones rendered most of the country
off limits to Saddam's air force.

Active production and stockpiles of weapons
of mass destruction?
No. (Remember, Kerry said that even if he knew this
in 2002, he'd have voted for the resolution)

The administration (Bush II) displayed
a willingness and ability to seek multilateral action?
No.

Kerry's vote: FOR the Iraq II resolution

Most U.S. high-school students believe the government will restart the military draft during their lifetimes, and shrinking numbers are optimistic about the country's future, a new poll finds.

Among teenagers, 55 percent say young Americans will be required to serve in the military, up from 45 percent last year, according to "The State of Our Nation's Youth,'' an annual survey by the Horatio Alger Association.

... Former President Nixon halted the draft in 1973. Pentagon leaders and numerous generals and admirals have said it should not be resumed because the volunteer military is more efficient. Critics including Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry have accused the Pentagon of engaging in a "backdoor draft" to compensate for manpower shortages in Iraq with wholesale mobilizations National Guard and Reserve units and other retention tactics.

In the poll, respondents were asked their views of a mandatory military service requirement of two years, and 70 percent of students were opposed.

that Mr. Alexander reimburse the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for the $193,000 the committee used to help him win this seat in the 2002 general and run-off elections.

Hawa Bashi's new home is the shade beneath a thorny little tree the locals call katera, where she holds her 2-year-old son, Hari, close.

The pair, with Bashi's two other children, is among tens of thousands who fled black African villages in the Darfur region when Sudan's army and the Janjaweed Arab militias arrived to destroy them. While many went to refugee camps across the Chad border, others, including Bashi and her fading infant, ran only as far as a nearby valley.

Today she and her neighbours beneath the trees - 25 children and seven women in all - got lucky. Soldiers from the rebel Sudanese Liberation Army controlling the area distributed a quarter sack of maize flour to each family. Still, the help might be too little, too late for Hari.

He can no longer walk and has trouble sitting upright. He is severely malnourished and has lost almost all interest in food. He is so weak he can't even wave off the flies that nest in the corners of his eyes. Bashi's older daughters are cooking go, a paste made of maize flour served with sami, a local spice.

"He won't eat more than two spoons," his mother explains, smiling sadly. "I don't know what to do."

The information requested from Mr. Cooper and Mr. Russert is very limited, all available alternative means of obtaining the information have been exhausted, the testimony sought is necessary for the completion of the investigation, and the testimony sought is expected to constitute direct evidence of innocence or guilt.

As late as 2000, his 1992 Senate campaign owed creditors $54,000, though Keyes ultimately settled the debt by paying a percentage of what the campaign owed. He still owes creditors a total of $524,000 for his 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns, according to federal campaign filings. But he told the State Central Committee that he is taking care of that debt, Syverson said.

RUSSERT: In your book, you write this about President Bush: "You have to get through a little Texas cocky, but other than that we have a good relationship." What does that mean, "a little Texas cocky"?

REP. HASTERT: Yeah, I think there's something about Texas. I mean, they have a pride in their state and Texas sometimes comes through. I have a great relationship with Tom DeLay, but I think he's a little Texas cocky once in a while, too.

RUSSERT: You think the president's too cocky?

REP. HASTERT: No. I said a little Texas cocky, you just need to get through it.

RUSSERT: Is he a little too cocky?

REP. HASTERT: No.

RUSSERT: ... Why should, why did the Republican Party of Illinois say, "We can't find any Republicans in our state to run for the Senate. We had to go to Maryland to find somebody"?

REP. HASTERT: Well, it's kind of like New York going to Arkansas, I guess, to find a U.S. senator, but anyway, let's -- look, look, look.

RUSSERT: But it's interesting you said that because Alan Keyes ... was asked to run for the Senate in New York the same year Hillary Clinton ran in 2000 and this is what Alan Keyes had to say. "I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton's willingness to go into a state she doesn't even live in and pretend to represent people there. So I certainly wouldn't imitate it ..."

REP. HASTERT: You know, I reminded Alan when I talked to him for the first time the other day about that statement, and I said, "You know, I guess we all regret things we've said in the past." And I think he probably will, too. But, you know, the fact is Hillary Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate in New York, and now she's talked about being a potential U.S. presidential candidate in the future. So it really hasn't hurt her too much or New York, from what I see. The point is: How do we get there? .... I spent five weeks trying to find good people, everywhere from a good state senator that we had by the name of Steve Rauschenberger, who I thought he could have...

RUSSERT: But you're drafting someone from another state.

REP. HASTERT: But wait. Wait. Well, let me go down through the process. And, you know, he didn't have enough money. I talked to Mike Ditka, and I decided maybe he made a good decision. I talked to a guy name Gary Fenzig, who was a great star, Harvard-Yale, star for the Chicago Bears. He couldn't. And the problem in Illinois, you've got to have $10 million to run; $6 million or $7 million of that has to be done for name I.D. I got down last week to interviewing a 70-year-old guy, who was a great farm broadcaster in Illinois. He decided since his health problems, he couldn't do it. You know, we were down -- we needed to find somebody to run, somebody who wanted to run. And, you know, Alan Keyes wants to run, and I hope he's a good candidate.

Former Republican Senator [and commission member] Slade Gorton revealed that one key factor was Attorney General John Ashcroft's surprise attack on Jamie Gorelick, the only woman on the commission.

Gorton: "The summary was that Jamie Gorelick ended up with nine brothers."

And those brothers, he said, didn't buy into Ashcroft's effort to undermine her credibility during a hearing when he released a classified memo Gorelick had written as Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton administration. The memo dealt with the separation of law enforcement and intelligence operations, a critical part of the panel's investigation.

But Ashcroft's maneuver boomeranged.

Gorton: "It had a unifying impact on members of the commission, Republicans and Democrats alike."

An 'Alternative' View of Civics, History and the Arts

1. Congress is made up of two houses -- the Senate for Democrats and the House for Republicans.

2. The U.S. is made up of 53 states. Our flag was not updated to reflect the addition of Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico to the "original" 50 states.

3. The federal "administrative" branch oversees the Treasury Department.

4. World War II occurred from 1938 to 1942.

5. One of the great works of drama is the play, "Death of a Traveling Salesman."

My decision to accept the challenge of the Illinois Republican Party is based on deep issues of national principle that are the sort of issues that require we put our allegiance to state sovereignty second to our allegiances to the national principles that make us a free people and are actually the basis of our union.

... [Keyes] said the people of Illinois need his help in making sure that someone who holds principles contrary to those of Abraham Lincoln is not elected. "You have to ask yourself: Are we in a position where if I do nothing the principles of national union will be sacrificed?" he said.

Mr. Keyes loves the limelight and to hear himself speak ... So it comes as no surprise that he would drop everything and hustle out to Illinois where he has never lived, to run for an office he can't win, and for a cause -- his own -- that deserves to lose. But that Mr. Keyes would allow himself to be drafted because of his skin color is beyond anything we would have expected, given his own long-standing vocal opposition to race-conscious decision making.

Who out there believes for one second that the Illinois Republican Party would have reached halfway across the country for a candidate with Mr. Keyes's losing track record if the Democratic candidate were not African American? That Mr. Keyes succumbed to their blandishments is a sad commentary on the needs of his ego ...

With the fire of a general ordering his troops into the valley of death, Keyes promised "a battle like this nation has never seen," and an ongoing debate unequalled since Lincoln vs. Douglas.

A Rwandan sacked from the United Nations after being accused of war crimes is entitled to compensation for lost earnings, a UN employment tribunal has ruled.

The decision has enraged senior UN staff and investigators who tried - and failed - to have the man charged with genocide.

It has caused particular disgust because Callixte Mbarushimana, an ethnic Hutu assigned to protect UN staff during the 1994 genocide in his country, is alleged to have participated in the killing of 32 Tutsis, including some of his UN colleagues.

[edit]

An indictment against Mbarushimana, based on accounts from 24 witnesses, was drawn up but set aside after the Security Council decided to pursue only the most senior planners of the genocide.

Mbarushimana went on to hold UN posts for several more years, in Angola and Kosovo, before being dismissed after media reports named him as a killer.

He accused what he termed as "ill-intentioned circles" with a "secret agenda" of fabricating reports of marginalisation, ethnic cleansing, genocide and rape in Darfur and bringing the problem to the corridors of the UN.

A day in Darfur is as close as you'll ever get to walking back and forth through the looking glass. In Darfur you might, as I did, witness an eight-pound 3-year-old who will be dead in a few hours; then the next day you're back in the United States, where 60 percent of the population is overweight.

This is something few can grasp even if they see it. I spent a troubled period recovering from injuries received in the Vietnam War. After that I believed I was immune to personal tragedies. I'm not. Darfur is as close to hell on earth as we can imagine.

Dr. Jonathan Spector is at war with malnutrition -- Darfur's biggest killer.

Dr. Spector is midway through a stint for the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres in Al-Geneina, the capital of western Darfur.

He is a long way from his pediatric practice back in Boston.

"In a developed country this child would be in intensive care, he would be on monitors, oxygen a ventilator," he says, as he examines an infant.

"He doesn't actually meet the malnutrition criteria for our camp because he's not severely malnourished. He's moderately malnourished."