For US troops, war becomes long, deadly fight to rebuild Iraq. BAQUBAH, Iraq — Two years after President Bush stood under a ''Mission Accomplished” banner and declared that the United States had prevailed in the lightning-swift battle of Iraq, American troops labor each day on a different mission: a slow, painstaking, and often deadly effort [...]

At Installation Mass, New Pope Strikes a Tone of Openness. The Mass, which drew 350,000 spectators, marked an important moment in the transformation of Benedict XVI. By IAN FISHERand LAURIE GOODSTEIN. [NYT > Home Page]

Pope sees special ties with Judaism. VATICAN CITY — On his first full day in office, Pope Benedict XVI dashed off a key invitation to tomorrow's installation ceremony: to Riccardo Di Segni, the chief rabbi of Rome. [Boston Globe -- Front Page]

Why Current Intellectual Property Law is So Wrong-Headed. Jamie Boyle: Deconstructing Stupidity. It is as if we had signed an international stupidity pact, one that required us to ignore the evidence, to hand out new rights without asking for the simplest assessment of need. If the stakes were trivial, no one would care. But intellectual [...]

Pope Has Gained the Insight to Address Abuse, Aides Say. The man who is now pope was greatly responsible for deciding whether and how to discipline priests accused of sexual abuse. By LAURIE GOODSTEIN. [NYT > Home Page]

Victorianization Update. While I was away, the Republicans have continued their push to create a neo-Victorian America with: the anti-entrepreneurial “Indentured Servitude Promotion Act“, the “American Aristocracy Tax“, and a crackdown on moral turpitude in the media Of course, Victorianization wouldn't be complete without a good dash of hypocrisy. More signs that are becoming a [...]

Failures of Airport Screening. According to the AP: Security at American airports is no better under federal control than it was before the Sept. 11 attacks, a congressman says two government reports will conclude. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, and the Homeland Security Department's inspector general are expected to release their [...]

State-Sponsored Identity Theft. In an Ohio sting operation at a strip bar, a 22-year-old student intern with the United States Marshals Service was given a fake identity so she could work undercover at the club. But instead of giving her a fabricated identity, the police gave her the identity of another woman living in another [...]

Security as a Trade-Off. The Economist has an excellent editorial on security trade-offs. You need to subscribe to read the whole thing, but here's my favorite paragraph: The second point is that all technologies have both good and bad uses. There is currently a debate about whether it is safe to install mobile antennas in [...]

Another good BW article. Chinese energy inefficiency. China spends three times the world average on energy — and seven times what Japan spends — to produce $1 of gross domestic product. At $100 oil, what happens to China? Additionally, it's clear that bilateral Chinese oil deals will prevent shortages (when they occur). Will the US [...]