| Lantos’ Tarnished Legacy
Pundits responded to news of the retirement of Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA) at the end of his current term with platitudes and praise. They have focused primarily on his heroic role as a Holocaust survivor and member of the anti-Nazi resistance in his native Hungary as well as his leadership on human rights issues in Congress, serving as the founder and longtime co-chair of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. There's no question that his personal history is both courageous and noble. Nor is there any debate that he stood up in support for the International Criminal Court, the people of the occupied nations of Tibet and East Timor, and the victims of oppression in Iran, Burma, Zimbabwe, Vietnam and other countries. At the same time, most peace and justice activists have found Lantos - who has chaired the House Committee on Foreign Affairs since the Democrats regained their Congressional majority - as a very inconsistent advocate for human rights.
The Vatican's Turn to Recant
Since the 1633 trial of Galileo, church relations with the world of science have often been strained. Galileo was put on trial by papal authorities for publishing a book defending Copernicus's theory that the earth revolves around the sun. Copernicus had died nearly a century before, and his "heliocentric" view of the solar system was already generally accepted by astronomers and even by some theologians. Nevertheless, the Vatican insisted Galileo stop discussing the idea; threatened by the Inquisition with torture, he recanted his views and spent the last nine years of his life under the equivalent of house arrest. The episode became symbolic of many things, all negative -- religious closed-mindedness, intolerance, antiscientific attitudes, etc.
Three and a half centuries later, it was the Vatican's turn to recant.
Straight from the heart
The Roger Dubuis features understated lines, in rose and white gold, polished or entirely set with diamonds. MyHeart features pendants, rings and earrings. Roger Dubuis was founded in 1995 by renowned watchmaker Carlos Dias, who started his jewellery line following the success of his watches. As a tribute to love, theres also an entirely diamond-set watch named TooMuch thats a real gem for haute joaillerie lovers. Placed in the centre, the diamond-set heart imparts a glamorous touch to the white mother-of-pearl dial while the diamond-pave bracelet echoes the rectangular shape of the case. Roger Dubuis is at Starhill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur. If you cant afford a diamond, and goodness knows they dont come cheap, maybe your gal will settle for something pretty for now until you can save up for a real stone.
Raining all over the WASL
So far, no complaints, although some at the table felt the gag didn't really work with the story. Coming up We're adding a page to tomorrow's paper for hurricane coverage, making room for photos from the scene. We'll also be scanning the blogs for first-person accounts, which we'll compile into a sidebar for tomorrow. .
Hot Ticket
Once a person has been sent a letter and voted into the Hall of Fame, it would be kind of like breaking a promise." That, of course, is something Larry Craig would never do. If you missed the Boise ceremony, stay tuned: Craig wants a national audience, too. In an interview with Matt Lauer that will air on NBC Tuesday night, Craig lashed out at Mitt Romney for dumping him the day the arrest story broke: "He not only threw me under his campaign bus, he backed up and ran over me again." Apparently, there's no "I Brake for Bad Boys" bumper sticker on the Mitt Mobile. For days, Romney has been fending off charges from John McCain and Rudy Giuliani that he can't be trusted. Now Mitt's constancy is under fire from Craig, the Republicans' leading authority on saying one thing and doing another.
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