<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>washingtonpost.com - Editorials</title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/opinion/editorials?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><description>Editorials</description><language>en-us</language><ttl>15</ttl><image><title>washingtonpost.com</title><width>140</width><height>20</height><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com</link><url>http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/image/wp_web.gif</url></image><item><title><![CDATA[Darfur's Real Death Toll]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12485-2005Apr23.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12485-2005Apr23.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  THE BUSH administration's challenge on Darfur is to persuade the world to wake up to the severity of the crisis. On his recent visit to Sudan, Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick took a step in the opposite direction. He said that the State Department's estimate of deaths in Darfur was 60,000 to 160,000, a range that dramatically understates the true scale of the killing. If Mr. Zoellick wants to galvanize action on Darfur, he must take a fresh look at the numbers.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Senate's Hypocrisy]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12486-2005Apr23.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12486-2005Apr23.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  CONGRESS IS spitting fire about China's allegedly unfair trade practices, which it blames for the enormous U.S. trade deficit. But that deficit is as much a reflection of Congress's habit of spending more than it raises in taxes, which contributes to the dearth of national savings. For the latest example of shameless congressional pork, consider a bill recently marked up in the Senate to lavish at least $10 billion on the Army Corps of Engineers.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Viewer Beware]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12487-2005Apr23.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12487-2005Apr23.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  PRODUCT PLACEMENT has become a cynical fact of modern life. When you see a store logo in a movie or a character with a brand-name beverage, you can be pretty sure it didn't get there by chance: Money changed hands. What you might not know is that a similar but more insidious transaction takes place in television news.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[A 'Peaceful Rise'?]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10699-2005Apr22.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10699-2005Apr22.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  CHINA'S PROMISE of a "peaceful rise" to great power status sounded reassuring when it was first articulated by President Hu Jintao. As it has taken on substance over the past several years it has rung increasingly hollow. Mr. Hu's idea of "peaceful" so far has included the blunt suppression of democracy in Hong Kong; outreach to rogue regimes around the world, such as Iran and Sudan; double-digit annual increases in defense spending; adoption of a law committing China to a war of aggression against democratic Taiwan if it fails to satisfy Beijing's demands; and now, the crude use of nationalist sentiment to intimidate Japan. Far from ensuring stability, Mr. Hu's policy risks polarizing the region and forcing the United States and other outside powers to choose sides.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Spellings Test]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10701-2005Apr22.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10701-2005Apr22.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  EARLIER THIS MONTH the new education secretary, Margaret Spellings, announced her intention to enforce  the administration's 2002 No Child Left Behind Act with greater flexibility. The law, while simple enough in concept  --  it requires states to set up accountability systems and then to demonstrate annual improvement in student performance  --  has proved extremely complicated to carry out. Mrs. Spellings now proposes that states with strong accountability systems be allowed to waive some of the law's more intrusive provisions.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Facing Up to TRIM]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10702-2005Apr22.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10702-2005Apr22.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ OVER THE YEARS, various responsible leaders in Prince George's County have recognized that TRIM  --  the ill-conceived cap on county property taxes  --  can severely limit the local government's ability to address its financial problems. When assessments were stable or started to dip, the county's main source of revenue was stunted, no matter the needs. Urging repeal of a voter-imposed tax cap was no easy mission; today, as long-stagnant assessments have picked up dramatically, calls to lift the tax cap have given way to political cold feet and why-worry-now attitudes.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[New and Unimproved]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7925-2005Apr21.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7925-2005Apr21.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  "IT'S ABOUT gas prices, gas prices, gas prices." That is how House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) explained the House Republicans' passage of an energy bill yesterday. Yet President Bush, in a major energy speech on Wednesday, conceded that "an energy bill wouldn't change the price at the pump today." We are inclined to take the president's view, not only because it's silly to pretend that a single piece of legislation would immediately affect drivers, but because this particular piece of legislation is unlikely to bring them any relief  --  ever.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Breakdown in Ecuador]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7926-2005Apr21.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7926-2005Apr21.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  THE POLITICAL turmoil threatening  Latin America this year has now spread to Ecuador, a small and poor Andean country that already had more than its share of trouble. On Wednesday President Lucio Gutierrez was forced from power by a combination of angry crowds of demonstrators, a signal of no confidence from the military and a hasty vote by the Ecuadoran Congress. That last act, and the quick accession to power of Vice President Alfredo Palacio, provided a veneer of constitutionality to the curtailment of an elected president's term. But like Bolivia before it, Ecuador is suffering from a dangerous crumbling of the political order it has lived by since it embraced civilian democratic rule 25 years ago.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Giving Cover to Witnesses]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7927-2005Apr21.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7927-2005Apr21.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  IN BALTIMORE, murders are up and convictions are down. You read that correctly: Even as the city has gained the dubious distinction of having the nation's highest big-city murder rate, prosecutors say that conviction rates in homicide cases are falling. The main cause is that, increasingly, witnesses will not cooperate or testify, often because they are afraid. And no wonder: Since last September seven witnesses have been shot or murdered  --  a rate of about one a month. Other cases have been dropped for the same reason, not only in Baltimore but also in Prince George's County. This venomous trend, says the chief state prosecutor in Baltimore, Patricia C. Jessamy, "threatens to bring justice to a standstill."]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[An Ethics Offer]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6181-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6181-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  REPUBLICANS on the House ethics committee made a surprise offer yesterday to resolve a partisan standoff and launch an immediate investigation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.). The proposal represents welcome progress on the part of committee Republicans. It is important that a thorough investigation be conducted of the various allegations swirling around Mr. DeLay, and it's a healthy sign that four of the five Republicans on the committee said they are prepared to take that step.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[D.C. 1, Toxic Waste 1]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6182-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6182-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  CSX TRANSPORTATION, stung by its defeat in federal district court on Monday, rushed to the U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday and won a ruling blocking the D.C. law banning the transportation of highly toxic chemicals near the Capitol from taking effect yesterday. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, who had upheld the city's 90-day ban on CSX's freight cars bearing hazardous toxic materials, concluded that the federal government had failed to provide a consistent and comprehensive policy addressing the risk of terrorism on railcars transporting hazardous materials in the nation's capital, which faces disproportionate terrorist risks. In the absence of federal action to address the threat, Judge Sullivan ruled that the District had authority under its traditional police powers to prohibit certain hazardous materials from being transported through the city. However, CSX, claiming that only the federal government can regulate rail transport, sought and won a reversal from a three-judge appeals court.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Getting the Tally Right]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6183-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6183-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  IT'S SLIM PROGRESS, but at least this year Maryland's lawmakers did vote for an official review of electronic voting systems that  --  unlike the take-it-on-faith machines used last time  --  could tell voters if their election choices were recorded correctly. The essential but missing ingredient in the current system is a paper record showing each vote cast, which can be checked by voters before their selections are officially recorded. Such paper records also would facilitate recounts and audits if needed. The legislators should have insisted on this before, despite the reluctance of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) to embrace any change in the deal made for Diebold touch-screen machines. The technology exists to create audit trails, and the machines ought to be fitted and ready for next year's elections (which happen to include voting for governor).]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Best Days]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6184-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6184-2005Apr20.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  TOURISTS COME for the cherry blossoms, but Washingtonians know that the real spring show starts after the last pink petals have fluttered away. Other fruit trees, less pampered but no less exuberant, burst into bloom; sprays of dogwood and redbud interlace. The first green is light and feathery. In the early morning, even the squirrels seem a touch less purposeful and the woodpecker's tattoo a beat or two less urgent. It's a short but glorious interval, between the rains of March and the air conditioning of May, when life here isn't just about traffic and terrorism  --  when we remember that (in our opinion,  and who's going to prove us wrong?) Washington is the world's most beautiful city.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[A New Pope]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3011-2005Apr19.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3011-2005Apr19.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  "AN ADULT FAITH does not follow the waves of fashion and the latest novelty." With those words, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, concluded the last sermon he gave before the cardinals of the Catholic Church held their conclave in Rome. It is not for us to comment upon matters of Catholic doctrine, or indeed upon the internal deliberations of any religious institution. But as the international reaction to the death of Pope John Paul II demonstrated  --  and as the multinational, flag-waving crowd in St. Peter's Square yesterday proved once again  --  the leader of the Catholic Church has extraordinary political and moral influence around the world. There are areas  in which the new pope could have a tremendous impact, on both Catholics and non-Catholics, in this country and everywhere else, for better or for worse.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[School Bus Safety]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3012-2005Apr19.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3012-2005Apr19.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  THE HORRIFYINGLY mangled Arlington County school bus after its collision with  a garbage truck Monday morning, the heartbreaking photo of 9-year-old Lilibeth Gomez, who was killed in the crash  --  yesterday's front page showed every parent's nightmare. It evoked the terrible sense of dread that is the inevitable dark twin of the joy of parenthood, the knowledge that keeping your children safe can never be entirely within your control.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Sept. 11 Plea?]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3013-2005Apr19.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3013-2005Apr19.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  ZACARIAS MOUSSAOUI, the only person charged with a crime in connection with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,  is reportedly ready to plead guilty to the capital offenses with which he is charged. If Mr. Moussaoui is really prepared to acknowledge that he was a participant in the Sept. 11 conspiracy, as the government alleges, his plea could offer an unexpectedly constructive ending to the embarrassing spectacle his case has become.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Dollar Danger]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64605-2005Apr18.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64605-2005Apr18.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  TREASURY Secretary John W. Snow did his best to sound serious over the weekend about the fault lines in the world economy. He called on China to stop pegging its currency to the dollar, a reform intended to allow the Chinese currency to rise, easing the flood of cheap exports that contributes to the record U.S. trade deficit. At the same time, Mr. Snow promised cuts in the U.S. budget deficit, which would reduce the nation's consumption, including the consumption of imports; Japan and the European Union were urged to promote growth, which would suck in U.S. exports. All of these reforms are intended to bring the nation's trade deficit back toward balance. If they fail, markets may cut the trade deficit in their own blunt way  --  via a precipitous collapse of the dollar.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grading the Mayor]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64607-2005Apr18.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64607-2005Apr18.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  LAST WEEK, Parents United for the D.C. Public Schools issued a report card grading  Mayor Anthony A. Williams  on his 2006 budget for the city's regular public schools. It's not the kind of report card a student would want to take home. The grading covered his performance in 21  categories covering such items as the quality and retention of school staff,  instructional programs, and special education. On a five-point grading scale ranging from "A: Superior" to "F: Failure," Parents United flunked the mayor in each of the 21 categories. But was it a fair test? We don't think so.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Asbestos Milestone]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64608-2005Apr18.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64608-2005Apr18.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  WHAT MAY BE the last, best chance for fixing the tragically broken asbestos litigation system arrives in the Senate this week when Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and ranking  Democrat Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.)  push a long-awaited attempt at a bipartisan compromise. The problem is immense: In court, many asbestos victims have been unable to obtain quick and fair compensation for the terrible diseases inflicted by the insulation material. Meanwhile, numerous companies with little responsibility for the suffering have been bankrupted, in part by having to pay people who aren't really sick  --  and their lawyers. The massive quantity of litigation threatens companies ever more remotely connected to the actual production of asbestos.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Costs of Secrecy]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61586-2005Apr17.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61586-2005Apr17.html?nav=rss_opinion/editorials</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 8:23:16 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[  "THE PRESUMPTION ought to be that citizens ought to know as much as possible about decision making," President Bush told the convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors last week when asked about his administration's tight controls on information. "I know there is a feeling that we are too security-conscious. I think we are becoming balanced."]]></description><author></author></item></channel></rss>