If you happen to be undergoing anger-management therapy, reading Lachman's newest book will probably test your recovery.Long-time residents of New York, those who have chosen to stay, have watched a steady decline grip many parts of the state. While other regions of the country enjoyed the go-go days of the 90's, New York was still hunkered down in a recession. Eliot Spitzer caused an uproar when he compared Upstate to Appalachia, but for many New Yorkers, the analogy fit.Lachman's "Three Men in a Room: the Inside Story of Power and�Betrayal in an American Statehouse" gives the ultimate insider's view of

From today's New York Times: "Few Veteran Diplomats Accept Mission to Iraq.... The White House's strategy calls on diplomats to head to some of Iraq's most hostile regions, but many refuse to go.""Edwards and Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had distinct perspectives on Iraq, but their other differences were, if anything, more revealing": The American Prospect's Harold Meyerson, reporting on Clinton's, Edwards', and Obama's pitches to the Democratic National Committee.In The Nation, John Nichols looks at the implications of the mistrial declared yesterday in the court martial of Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada, who refused to be sent to Iraq

In the Washington Post: "Intelligence provided by former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith to buttress the White House case for invading Iraq included ‘reporting of dubious quality or reliability' that supported the political views of senior administration officials rather than the conclusions of the intelligence community, according to a report by the Pentagon's inspector general." The Post article is based on portions of the report that were released yesterday by Michigan Senator Carl Levin.

ON OBAMA: In Rolling Stone, "Destiny's Child." "No candidate since Robert F. Kennedy has sparked as much campaign-trail heat as Barack Obama. But can the one-term senator craft a platform to match his charisma?"ON IRAN: From today's Guardian Unlimited: "Target Iran: US able to strike in the spring.""US preparations for an air strike against Iran are at an advanced stage, in spite of repeated public denials by the Bush administration, according to informed sources in Washington."The present military build-up in the Gulf would allow the US to mount an attack by the spring. But the sources said that if there

In today's New York Times, Paul Krugman's "Scary Movie 2,"�listing the signs�that indicate that the Bush administration is preparing to attack Iran. Among them: as it did before the Iraq war, the administration has set up "a special intelligence unit to cook up rationales for war," Krugman writes. And the person heading it is Abram Shulsky, who headed the unit that "helped sell the Iraq war with false claims about links to Al Qaeda."The scariest part of Krugman's column: his�theory about why the administration is accusing Iran of meddling in Iraq. "Because there's no way Congress will approve another war

On Iran: Ruth Coniff, writing in The Progressive ("The Anonymous Briefing on Iran's Weapons"): "On BBC radio Monday morning military analysts pointed out that the bomb-making technology the Administration says must come from Iran has also been found in Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah, armed by Iran and actively supporting Shia factions in Iraq, is just as likely a culprit for these weapons in Iraq as the Iranian government. And, from that BBC piece, a lengthy analysis of the Bush administration's claims about Iran and the weapons, including the report that British troops doubt that the weapons come from Iran.On Schumer:

� "Every single week, the American people spend $2 billion on Iraq --- much of it for troops and materials, but plenty of it for schools, hospitals and electricity for Iraqis. Their oil money hasn't paid for reconstruction. We have," writes Cynthia Tucker for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Tucker aptly points out how the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are quietly, but surely pushing the US into "a deep sea of red ink." Similar to charges on a VISA card, the mounting costs of war don't feel like real expenses to most Americans.But real they are indeed, as state's

Is he trying to scare the Iranians? Maybe not. But the president's sure scaring me.At a news conference earlier today, President Bush was ramping up the rhetoric, insisting that the al-Quds Force, a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in Iran, is supplying weapons to Iraqi insurgents."I can't say it more plainly," Bush said. "There are weapons in Iraq that are harming US troops because of the Quds Force. As you know, I hope, the Quds Force is a part of the Iranian government. Whether Ahmadinejad ordered the Quds Force to do this, I don't think we know. But

�In The Nation: "Targeting Tehran," Michael Klare's review of the Bush ramp-up, rhetorical and physical, over Iran. Among the latter: "The deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region, along with an accompanying array of cruisers, destroyers and submarines. Several additional US and British naval minesweepers are also being sent to the Gulf -- a clear indication that senior commanders anticipate Iranian efforts to block vital oil routes in response to any US airstrikes."And "The decision to replace the outgoing head of the US Central Command -- which oversees US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and the surrounding

IRAQ: "Apocalypse Not," Robert Dreyfuss's myth-buster in Washington Monthly. "Much of Washington assumes that leaving Iraq will lead to a bigger bloodbath," writes Dreyfuss. "It's time to question that assumption." IRAQ: "A New Paradigm for Peace," Jeremy Brecher's article in The Nation, suggesting that there are ways to deal with the situation in Iraq without condemning Iraq to even more bloodletting.

Yesterday couldn't have been a good day for developer Fred Rainaldi. He went before the city's Zoning Board to present his latest plans for a Rite Aid at the Monroe Avenue-South Goodman Street intersection. And he was met with more than 50 opponents who, for more than two hours, criticized his plan sharply. Rainaldi's Rite Aid building would be more than 15,000 square feet --- substantially larger than the Zoning Ordinance allows. He would demolish the 20-unit brick apartment building on the corner, along with the rear portion of the Monroe Theater (now the fruit-colored Show World).Rainaldi has been trying

From The Guardian: "Gunmen, children, brutality and bombs - Iraq's dirty war," on Iraqi insurgents' use of children and women as human shields in their fights with US troops. "The Iraq Effect: War Has Increased Terrorism Worldwide," Mother Jones' analysis -- with charts -- of terrorist attacks before and since the invasion of Iraq.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS: "The Sanity of Jimmy Carter," in The Nation, Editor Katrina vanden Heuvel's tribute to the former president, under attack for his latest book, "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. "At a time when there is too little honesty or boldness in our politics, Jimmy Carter speaks his mind, with sanity and humanity," writes vanden Heuvel. "His ideas deserve discussion and debate, not vituperation and ad hominem attack." IRAN WATCH: "The Redirection," Seymour Hersh's latest analysis and warning about the Bush administration's preparations for war against Iran.