Entries for May 15, 2007

The U.S. military's decision to block access on Department of Defense-owned computers to popular sites like YouTube.com, MTV.com, and StupidVideos.com may have less of an effect on soldiers at war in Iraq and Afghanistan than the headlines initially suggest.

The policy does not affect the soldiers on larger bases, who can subscribe to Internet service provided by private contractors for $70 a month. Sites like YouTube will not be blocked on those computers, the military said. Soldiers on smaller bases generally have far more sporadic Internet access, but military officials add that they will continue to be able to access sites through computers at Internet cafes and calling centers.

When the new policy was announced, the initial concerns were that the military was censoring the information that soldiers surfing the Web could call up overseas--not to mention limiting their ability to upload potentially disturbing videos of their own. It's not a surprising concern, given that the announcement comes on the heels of a recent Department of Defense change in policy that now requires soldiers to have approval from their commanders for any blogs, photos, or E-mail correspondences that they send through their computers.

Update (5:15 p.m. ET): House Republican leadership aides today brushed aside complaints over the choice of Rep. Ken Calvert to replace embattled Rep. John Doolittle on the Appropriations Committee.

"We've not heard anybody complain directly," said one aide, who called U.S. News to dispute an earlier item (below).

The official said it was the GOP steering committee, not just Boehner, that picked Calvert after a "spirited discussion" of allegations that he benefited from a highway earmark.

"He answered all the questions and made everybody feel comfortable with it," said the official, who called the allegations "weak." Leadership officials chalked the controversy up to critics who succeeded in hyping it on the blogs, like Redstate.com, but said it is dying down.

The Associated Press is reporting the sudden death today of the controversial evangelist Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority and president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

Falwell leaves behind a complicated legacy, in which he made himself into one of the most influential and powerful figures of the Christian Right while simultaneously drawing fire from a spectrum of critics for bigotry, particularly regarding gays and lesbians.

Among the most puzzling aspects of his career was his longtime friendship with gay rights activist the Rev. Mel White, which U.S.News & World Report chronicled in October 1999.

Also, see U.S. News & World Report's profile of Liberty University, which Falwell founded in 1971.

President Bush may have historically low approval ratings, but at least he has this on his side: He's heading what may be only the second-most-unpopular branch of government after Congress, which has surpassed the president in Gallup Poll approval ratings only once since the Democrats took over in January. (Figures for the judicial branch were not available.)

New Gallup poll numbers out today put Bush at 33 percent over Congress's 29 percent job approval. A side-by-side comparison by News Desk of Congress's job approval over the past year, as compiled by PollingReport.com, with the corresponding presidential rating from the same survey, shows Congress surpassing Bush in popularity only once, in early February, when the Democratic-led body was riding a honeymoon of support after the change in party control. It didn't last.

--Chris Wilson

This morning's top stories:

• At least eight more people are dead in continued clashes between rival Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip, threatening the delicate unity government forced between the Hamas and Fatah movements.
• In Iraq, U.S. troops continue to search for three missing soldiers who they believe are being held by al Qaeda. Meanwhile, the terrorist group has warned them to call off the search.
• The second-in-command at the Justice Department, Paul McNulty, announced his resignation yesterday at a closed meeting of U.S. attorneys in San Antonio. His official letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales did not mention the scandal about the fired U.S. attorneys.
• Speaking on the last day of his visit to Brazil, Pope Benedict called on Latin American bishops to remain out of politics while continuing to fight for social justice and decried the gap between rich and poor in the region.