CNN: Judith Miller praises jail officials

Alexandria, Virginia(AP)-"New York Times reporter Judith Miller imprisoned for refusing to name a confidential source, said she is allowed to read and write in jail but has been outside just twice in three weeks according to press freedom advocates."

Despite blogger criticism of the "liberal" press, and the security issues surrounding the press, journalists should not have to go to jail for protecting their sources. It is an intrusion on the First Amendment.

ABCnews: Some documents to be released

Washington DC- "Risking a showdown with Democrats, the White House said Tuesday it won't release documents that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts prepared while working on cases to argue on behalf of the first Bush administration..."

One of the duties of a Judge, or in this case a Justice, is to follow established precedent regardless of one's personal or political views, and to apply the law impartially, that is, without prejudice.

Nominee John Roberts said he will do that.

However, the process has become severely politicized and publicized which does not bode well for the doctrine of Separation of Powers. A Justice of the Supreme Court is not supposed to be swayed by political forces, nor publicity. Yet both the press and the politicians are exerting a great amount of pressure on him. They need to cut it out.

CNN: Shuttle managers optimistic

One is reminded of the study that Richard Feynman did on Space Shuttle Challenger, in which Mr. Feynman stated:

"The Space Shuttle Main Engine was handled in a different manner, top down, we might say. The engine was designed and put together all at once with relatively little detailed preliminary study of the material and components. Then when troubles are found in the bearings, turbine blades, coolant pipes, etc., it is more expensive and difficult to discover the causes and make changes....

A further disadvantage of the top-down method is that, if an understanding of a fault is obtained, a simple fix, such as a new shape for the turbine housing, may be impossible to implement without a redesign of the entire engine.

The Space Shuttle Main Engine is a very remarkable machine. It has a greater ratio of thrust to weight than any previous engine. It is built at the edge of or outside of, previous engineering experience. Therefore, as expected, many different kinds of flaws and difficultires ahve turned up. Because, unfortunately, it was built in the top-down manner, they are difficult to find and to fix...."

Report to the Space Shuttle Challenger Inquiry.

I for one hope that the managers have truly found what the problem is, and that the astronauts are not relying on "finger crossing".

NYTimes: Who's afraid of China Inc?

In one sense, it is beneficial that China become more interdependent with the US. China may become less communist and more capitalist, once it realizes that there is no benefit to attempting to "dominate" the world through ideology.

The bottom line is whether people will benefit from your economic system.

China may become enculturated and realize that it has nothing to fear from capitalism U.S. style.

Of course, this does not mean that the US should carte blanche open its doors to China without the requisite security checks. Such a path would not be beneficial to the US at all.

Achieving balance in this regard can be reached. We have the minds and the will to do it.

BBC: London bombs kill at least 50 people. What should we do now?

London- The terrorists have attacked London, but they have failed to realize that the people of the world have become even more galvanized against their cause. Terrorism has had the opposite effect: You cannot terrorize anyone without risking the complete and utter anger of the terrorized and the unity and solidarity of its victims.

Just look at Britain during WWII. Or the US after Pearl Harbor.

Violence will never achieve the desired goal.

Experts have said repeatedly that there is no way that one can stop what happened in London, or Madrid, and that it is inevitable. Time and again, authorities have said, leave security to the experts. Well, it is time to change that thinking. The general populace must be educated on how to combat terror wherever it can occur. And the training should start now.

Those of us who cherish our civil liberties know that security is just as important, because in these days, you cannot have one without the other.