U.S. Government

Bottom Line Environmental Protection

The controversial head of an obscure agency in the White House is a "lightening rod" for criticism of Bush administration regulatory actions. John D. Graham runs the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and is "known as a stickler for the bottom line," the Seattle Times' Alex Fryer writes. "Through rigorous analysis, Graham wants to create 'smart' regulation that protects the environment at lower cost. But it is a process fraught with subjectivity.

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Sorry, No Hablo Diplomacia

"Mixed messages, poor coordination and inadequately trained officials" are hampering America's overseas diplomacy, concludes the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. Many ambassadors - "the primary messengers for policy goals in their host country" - "are uncomfortable serving as advocates in the media and in front of mass audiences." More than one-fifth of U.S.

No

Whistleblowers on Trial: Does Not Refute

Dozens of cases - including that of the chief Medicare actuary, who was threatened with dismissal "if he provided data to Congress showing the cost of the new Medicare law" - have motivated Congress "to increase protections for federal employees who expose fraud, waste and wrongdoing." But the U.S.

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US Panel Critical of Public Diplomacy Efforts

"US efforts to win over the world's Muslims via news broadcasts, cultural exchanges, and other initiatives to explain American policies to skeptical audiences abroad are uncoordinated and underfunded, and risk sending contradictory messages about US intentions, according to a report by a bipartisan review panel appointed by President Bush," the Boston Globe writes.

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K Street: Dems Need Not Apply?

Firms on Washington DC's lobbying row, K Street, are "aggressively courting GOP lawmakers who have announced their retirements, suggesting that the business community is confident the GOP will retain the Speaker's gavel in January." The trend "is stoking talk on Capitol Hill that the 'K Street Project'" - an effort launched by Grover Norquist and

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Hijacking Catastrophe

A new video from the Media Education Foundation examines how the Bush administration uses the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to manipulate Americans. Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire places the last three years of White House deceptions in a global context, asking questions seldom posed by mainstream corporate media. The hour-long documentary features nearly twenty political observers, including Lt.

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Bush Campaign Grabs For Iraqi Gold

George W. Bush's re-election campaign has been accused of appropriating the Olympics for political means. A recent Bush/Cheney advertisement that links Iraq's and Afghanistan's participation in the Olympic games with the White House's "war on terror" is drawing criticism. "To the embarrassment of their media handlers in Athens, members of the Iraqi football team have reacted furiously to the news that their efforts are being used to aid Mr Bush's efforts to win a second term in the White House," The Guardian reports.

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Got the Big Stick; Need to Learn to Speak Softly

Condoleezza Rice admitted, "We are obviously not very well organized for the side of public diplomacy." The 9/11 Commission warned, "If the United States does not act aggressively to define itself in the Islamic world, the extremists will gladly do the job for us." Former State Departmen

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