The month's top articles

3/22/2004 The Guardian (London) ************ VoteMeter	Bush ignored terror threat, claims ex-aide George Bush's re-election campaign suffered a blow yesterday when the president's former chief counter-terrorism adviser accused him of doing "a terrible job" in protecting America against attack, largely because of a fixation on Iraq.
3/22/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Despite the Sluggish Economy, Welfare Rolls Actually Shrank In a trend that has surprised many experts, the federal welfare rolls have declined over the last three years, even as unemployment, poverty and the number of food stamp recipients have surged in a weak economy.
3/10/2004 Los Angeles Times ************ VoteMeter	Obesity Gaining on Tobacco as Top Killer Bad diets and inactivity are rampant and could cancel out many health advances, studies say.
3/21/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	New Studies Question Value of Opening Arteries A new and emerging understanding of how heart attacks occur indicates that increasingly popular aggressive treatments may be doing little or nothing to prevent them.
3/31/2004 Los Angeles Times ************ VoteMeter	A Dose of Denial How drug makers sought to keep popular cold and diet remedies on store shelves after their own study linked them to strokes.
3/30/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	At the Center of the Storm Over Bush And Science The average scientific dispute is a joust in obscurity, a clash over technical matters that few but the immediate combatants grasp or are even aware of.
3/29/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Hamas Leader Calls Bush Foe of Muslims The new Hamas leader, Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantisi, said Sunday that President Bush is the enemy of Muslims and that God has declared war on the United States.
3/25/2004 Toronto Star ************ VoteMeter	Fog of war still hasn't lifted One year after the bombing of Baghdad, we know that the White House and the Pentagon prevaricated their way into Iraq. This while the media waved them on in a flag-flying frenzy that CBS's Dan Rather called "patriotism run amok."
3/21/2004 The Guardian (London) ************ VoteMeter	Iraq: Blair and Bush seek new UN backing The United Nations is to be given a lead role in post-occupation Iraq under British and American plans to shore up crumbling international support for the continuing military presence in the country.
3/10/2004 Washington Post ************ VoteMeter	From Hubble: Now, That's Deep Snapshot Back to Edge of Big Bang Shows Chaotic Galaxies
3/10/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Images Reveal Deepest Glance Into Universe Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope said Tuesday that they had reached far enough out in space and back in time to be within "a stone's throw" of the Big Bang itself.
3/29/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Summit's Collapse Leaves Arab Leaders in Disarray Arab governments were in disarray on Sunday after the Arab League summit meeting, set to grapple with vital regional issues like democratic reform, Arab-Israeli bloodshed and the American occupation of Iraq, was abruptly called off ...
3/28/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Plan to Battle AIDS Worldwide Is Falling Short 14 months after President Bush promised $15 billion for AIDS treatment in poor countries, shortages of money and battles over patents have kept antiretroviral drugs from reaching more than 90 percent of the poor people who need them.
3/20/2004 Toronto Star ************ VoteMeter	Sudanese atrocities likened to Rwanda Pro-government Arab militias in western Sudan's Darfur region are carrying out systematic killings of African villagers…
3/19/2004 The Guardian (London) ************ VoteMeter	Barry Buzan Professor of International Studies at the London School of Economics and director of a project at the Copenhagen Peace Institute One sees the difficulty so of trying to impose or even give a democracy to a country with a society that's as fragmented as it is in Iraq.
3/14/2004 The Guardian (London) ************ VoteMeter	African Aids drug plan faces collapse Some countries, particularly the United States, are balking at supporting the project, Aids workers say
4/1/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	U.S. Optimism Is Tested Again After Ambush Kills 4 in Iraq But along with the publicly expressed confidence, there are hints that American generals are not as sure as they were only weeks ago that they have turned a corner in the conflict.
3/28/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	China Moves Toward Another West: Central Asia An agreement this month to build a oil pipeline through this tiny hamlet makes it the center of an explosion of economic activity in what only recently was one of the most backward corners of China.
3/27/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	8 Hostages Executed in Pakistan Siege Eight Pakistani soldiers who had been taken hostage by militants...have been executed, officials said Friday, in the latest sign that the effort by Pakistan's government to flush foreign militants from the region has gone badly awry.
3/26/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	U.S. Officials Fashion Legal Basis to Keep Force in Iraq … officials say they believe an existing United Nations resolution approving the presence of a multinational force in Iraq, approved by the Security Council in October gives American commanders the authority needed …
3/25/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Corporate Tax Bill Hits Wall in Senate After Debate on Overtime After months of arduous negotiations, Senate Republicans veered close to defeat on Wednesday in their effort to overhaul corporate tax laws and resolve a $4 billion trade battle with the European Union.
3/25/2004 Toronto Star ************ VoteMeter	Genetic mutation may have separated man, apelike kin Touching off a scientific furor, researchers say they may have discovered the mutation that caused the earliest humans to branch off from their apelike ancestors — a gene that led to smaller, weaker jaws and, ultimately, bigger brains.
3/20/2004 Los Angeles Times ************ VoteMeter	Tapes Bolster Electricity Claims Newly released recordings of Nevada power traders allegedly gaming the Western electricity market...give California officials fresh ammunition in their fight to prove that consumers deserve $9 billion in refunds...
3/19/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Addressing the Unthinkable, U.S. Revives Study of Fallout The goal, officials and weapons experts both inside and outside the government say, is to figure out quickly who exploded such a bomb and where the nuclear material came from. That would clarify the options for striking back.
3/18/2004 The Guardian (London) ************ VoteMeter	Voices on Iraq: one year on Hans von Sponeck, former UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, on the trauma faced by Iraqis.
3/10/2004 Los Angeles Times ************ VoteMeter	Is Recovery Without Jobs Now the Norm? With advances in technology, rising productivity rates and the outsourcing of work to foreign countries, more economic activity won't translate into more jobs.
4/1/2004 Toronto Star ************ VoteMeter	British Muslims take on terror British Muslim leaders yesterday urged every imam to help police fight terrorism after the arrest of eight men stoked fears that disaffected young Britons may be as much of a threat as foreign militants.
3/31/2004 Independent (London) ************ VoteMeter	GM giant abandons bid to grow crops in Britain In a huge blow to the genetically modified food lobby, Bayer Cropscience has given up attempts to grow commercial GM maize in Britain.
3/25/2004 Toronto Star ************ VoteMeter	Corn sweetener linked to obesity Researchers say they've found more evidence of a link between a rapid rise in obesity and a corn product used to sweeten soft drinks and food since the 1970s.
3/24/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Medicare Overseers Expect Costs to Soar in Coming Decades Medicare's financial condition has significantly deteriorated, partly because of exploding health costs and partly because of the new Medicare law, the government reported on Tuesday.
3/23/2004 Washington Post ************ VoteMeter	The Book on Richard Clarke Style Served Him Well But Made Enemies
3/20/2004 Los Angeles Times ************ VoteMeter	Homeopathic Remedies Thrive in Mainstream Despite a lack of supportive studies, the drugs are gaining popularity.
3/20/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	New York Hospital Is Ordered to Release Abortion Records A federal judge in Manhattan has ordered New York-Presbyterian Hospital to turn over to the Justice Department records on abortions performed there…
3/19/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	A Year Later, an Iraqi Family Is Free but Wary As tanks rolled into her neighborhood and Iraqi soldiers took up defensive positions, she boxed up the family's china and the one television set and the little gold cups with "ahlan wa sahlan," or "welcome," stamped on them.
3/18/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Taiwan Voters Weighing How Far to Push China The election on Saturday hinges on how far Taiwan residents want to push the idea that they belong to a separate nation.
3/17/2004 Toronto Star ************ VoteMeter	Canada warned of 'untested' defence system A former senior Pentagon official has offered a blunt warning to the Canadian government: It is considering signing on to a missile defence system that's untested, over budget and likely to fuel the global arms race.
3/15/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Scientists Begin to Question Benefit of 'Good' Cholesterol some scientists say, new and continuing studies have called into question whether high levels of the good cholesterol are always good and, when they are beneficial, how much.
3/14/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	China's Economic Engine Needs Power (Lots of It) How and where will China get the energy it needs to maintain its economic growth? And how much will the environment suffer for it?
3/13/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	G.E. Signals a Growing Interest in Solar General Electric will acquire the major assets of the largest American-owned maker of solar equipment, in a move the solar power industry sees as a major vote of confidence in the business.
3/31/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Defying Bush, Senate Increases Child Care Funds for the Poor Over strenuous objections from the White House, the Senate voted on Tuesday for a significant increase in money to provide child care to welfare recipients and other low-income families.
3/30/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Trials Open Across Nation on Abortion-Procedure Ban The new federal law banning a procedure that the government calls partial-birth abortion compromises reproductive choice for women, and is vague and unconstitutional, a lawyer argued yesterday in Federal District Court in New York,...
3/30/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Supreme Court to Consider Role of Intent in Age Bias The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to settle one of the most disputed questions in civil rights law: how to win an age discrimination case in the absence of proof that an employer deliberately singled out older workers for unfavorable treatment.
3/27/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Fast Saliva Test for H.I.V. Gains Federal Approval Public health officials hope the new test will encourage wider and more frequent testing.
3/26/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Kerry Is Sticking With Plan to Raise Auto Fuel Efficiency In the face of rising gasoline prices and stagnating fuel efficiency, Senator John Kerry is sticking with a plan he backed in the Senate to increase the nation's fuel economy standards 50 percent by 2015.
3/24/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Online Swindlers, Called 'Phishers,' Lure Unwary Phishing attacks are growing rapidly, impersonating Internet service providers, online merchants and banks. Government officials and private investigators say all signs point to gangs of organized criminals
3/20/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Hussein's Fall Leads Syrians to Test Government Limits A year ago, it would have been inconceivable for a citizen of Syria, run by the Baath Party of President Bashar al-Assad, to make a documentary film with the working title, "Fifteen Reasons Why I Hate the Baath."
3/19/2004 The Guardian (London) ************ VoteMeter	Peacekeeping reinforcements arrive in Kosovo Their arrival comes after days of clashes between ethnic Albanians and Serbs left 31 people dead, around 500 injured, and buildings destroyed.
3/17/2004 New York Times ************ VoteMeter	Citing Low Hiring, Fed Leaves Rates Alone The decision to leave interest rates unchanged had been widely expected by analysts and investors, and it reinforced expectations that the Fed would refrain from raising rates until much later this year or perhaps next year.
3/15/2004 The Guardian (London) ************ VoteMeter	New Spanish PM promises Iraq withdrawal The prime minister elect used his first full media interview since last night to affirm that he intended to follow through on what had become a key election promise.
3/14/2004 Los Angeles Times ************ VoteMeter	Putin's Popularity Veils Uncertainty for Russia The president is likely to be reelected today. His ability to address festering needs and commitment to civil liberties are unknown.
3/14/2004 Los Angeles Times ************ VoteMeter	Strengths, Limits of U.S. Foreign Policy Evident When the United States invaded Iraq a year ago this week, the action transformed American foreign policy in the Middle East and around the world — but not always as its strategists intended.
3/12/2004 Toronto Star ************ VoteMeter	S. Korean president impeached President Roh Moo-hyun was stripped of his constitutional powers today in an unprecedented impeachment vote that rattled a government already struggling to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis and revive an economic recovery.
4/1/2004 Independent (London) ********** VoteMeter	Breakthrough on rat genome gives hope of new cancer drugs Scientists have decoded the full DNA sequence of the laboratory rat, a breakthrough they believe will revolutionise the investigation of the human genes behind serious illnesses such as cancer.
3/31/2004 New York Times ********** VoteMeter	3rd Day of Violence Claims 23 Lives in Uzbekistan As many as 23 people were reported dead on Tuesday in bombings and gun battles in Uzbekistan during a third day of violence in a strategic ally of the United States that borders Afghanistan.
3/19/2004 Los Angeles Times ********** VoteMeter	Strained U.S.-European Relations Turn Pragmatic Europe can't shake the bowlegged cowboy peeking out from a too-big Stetson, arms bent and ready to draw. This political caricature of President Bush endures, even as transatlantic relations have improved...
3/16/2004 New York Times ********** VoteMeter	Greenspan Shifts View on Deficits Consumer debt is hitting record levels...Many mainstream economists are worried about these trends, but Alan Greenspan, arguably the most powerful and influential economist in the land, is not as concerned.
3/15/2004 Los Angeles Times ********** VoteMeter	Technically Speaking, Still a Tech Hub The Silicon Valley remains a land of headquarters, but much of the work has shifted to cheaper labor markets overseas.
3/14/2004 New York Times ********** VoteMeter	Life Is Hard and Short in Haiti's Bleak Villages What that means is a hungry life and an early death for five million people in Haiti's little villages…
3/12/2004 Washington Post ********** VoteMeter	California High Court Halts Gay Marriages The California Supreme Court ...ordered hearings within three months to decide the legality of the unions.
3/11/2004 New York Times ********** VoteMeter	Alarm Raised Over Quality of Uranium Found in Iran United Nations nuclear inspectors have found traces of extremely highly enriched uranium in Iran, of a purity reserved for use in a nuclear bomb…
3/7/2004 San Francisco Chronicle ********** VoteMeter	THE OBESITY CRISIS Perils of portion distortion Why Americans don't know when enough is enough For the last 30 years, the amount of food designed to be eaten at one sitting has ballooned to such an extent that most diners no longer have any idea what constitutes a reasonable amount of food.
3/9/2004 Los Angeles Times ******** VoteMeter	Cholesterol Drug Regimen Offers Major Benefits for Heart Patients In a study, high doses of statins cut the risk of death in subsequent cardiac arrest.
3/8/2004 Washington Post ******** VoteMeter	Car Culture Captivates China Sales Boom Along With Potential Problems
3/8/2004 Los Angeles Times ******** VoteMeter	No Safe Arbor in the City Trees are disappearing from urban areas. Most people don't realize the significance of the loss, but one man is fighting for a place in the shade.
3/6/2004 The Guardian (London) ****** VoteMeter	Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters.
3/9/2004 The Guardian (London) **** VoteMeter	GM maize given official go-ahead The government today took the historic - and possibly irreversible - decision to allow commercial GM crops to be grown in Britain for the first time.
3/9/2004 The Guardian (London) **** VoteMeter	Conquering the divide Can Iraq's Sunni and Shia Muslims get on? Juan Cole examines a fraught relationship that is crucial to the future of the country
3/6/2004 BBC News **** VoteMeter	GM crop go-ahead 'irresponsible' Major new field tests should be done before any genetically modified crops are allowed to be grown commercially in Britain, MPs have told the government.
3/6/2004 New York Times **** VoteMeter	Administration Sets Forth a Limited View on Privacy In a sharp departure from its past insistence on the sanctity of medical records, the Bush administration has set forth a new, more limited view of privacy rights as it tries to force hospitals and clinics to turn over records of hundreds of abortions.
3/6/2004 Los Angeles Times **** VoteMeter	New Doubts Raised Over What Killed Off Dinosaurs Scientists investigating a vast crater off Mexico's Yucatan peninsula are questioning a popular theory about dinosaurs, saying the collision that formed the crater happened too far back in time to have caused their extinction by itself.
3/9/2004 The Guardian (London) ** VoteMeter	A family in conflict The Khadr family has shocked Canada with TV revelations about their links with al-Qaida and training in Bin Laden's camps
3/9/2004 Washington Post ** VoteMeter	Finding Strengths and Weaknesses in No Child Left Behind stories about how the new federal No Child Left Behind law is affecting children in our public school classrooms
3/9/2004 New York Times ** VoteMeter	Using New Medicare Billions, H.M.O.'s Again Court Elderly No fewer than five H.M.O. companies are scrambling to sign up elderly members...prompted by the Bush administration's plan to pump $46 billion into these programs over the next 10 years.
3/8/2004 Washington Post ** VoteMeter	Military Spending Sparks Warnings A sharp jump in military spending has lifted defense budgets to levels...prompting warnings by lawmakers and defense analysts.
3/7/2004 Toronto Star ** VoteMeter	So, where did the water on Mars come from? The only reasonable answer is comets. Comets were formed farther out from the sun than Earth, but in such abundance that they also rained down in the early solar system.
3/7/2004 Toronto Star ** VoteMeter	Canada listens to world as partner in spy system Every day, billions of telephone calls, e-mails, faxes, radio transmissions, even Internet downloads are captured by orbiting satellites monitoring signals on Earth, then processed by high-powered computers.
3/6/2004 The Guardian (London) ** VoteMeter	Why Blair was convinced by the intelligence in his fight against evil In this extract, Hans Blix casts light on the PM's crucial role.
3/6/2004 The Guardian (London) ** VoteMeter	Cuba? It was great, say boys freed from US prison camp Asadullah strives to make his point, switching to English lest there be any mistaking him. "I am lucky I went there, and now I miss it. Cuba was great," said the 14-year-old, knotting his brow in the effort to make sure he is understood.