BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Preparing For The Benchmarks by Steve Young Pronunciation: bench-marhk Function: noun Definition: depends Hold on tight. This one's gonna be a ripsnorter. This week we will witness the a significant moment in modern history. General David Petreaus will issue his status report to Congress detailing the results reflected in the Surge as dictated by President Bush in January this year. Sometime in and about the millisecond he opens his mouth, if not sooner, the politicians, pundits and presidential disseminators, will go to great lengths to explain the general's explanation. So it is that some instructions are necessary to help the layman understand the spin. From Brittanica... Main Entry: bench-mark 1 usually bench mark : a mark on a permanent object indicating elevation and serving as a reference in topographic surveys and tidal observations 2 a : a point of reference from which measurements may be made b : something that serves as a standard by which others may be measured or j...

IGNORED, MARGINALIZED OR SIMPLY BURIED Dr. Richard Carmona, the former U.S. surgeon general, has accused the Bush administration of political interference, such as censoring his speeches and preventing him from speaking publicly on issues such as contraceptives and abstinence-only sex education. "I was blocked at every turn . . . Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried, " Carmona testified before Congress. "The problem with this approach is that in public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing worse than ignoring science." Carmona's term expired in July 2006. The nominee to replace him, Dr. James Holsinger, has been denounced by the Human Rights Campaign, the HIV Medical Association and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for authoring a 1991 paper that made a medical argument against homosexuality. The American Public Health Association is a...