The Daily James

The slumping American economy has proved to be a boon to the Army's efforts to recruit the 100,000 enlisted soldiers it says it needs this year to fill its active-duty and reserve ranks, senior Army officials say, so far relieving concerns that the turmoil in Iraq could crimp new enlistments.

If the objective is to squash Bush's war advantage, vote Dean and move on to domestic policy. Vote for the general and you're stuck talking war till next November with a candidate who is not up to it.

Unless, of course, there's a third scenario, which, given last week's lamentable performance, makes a strange kind of sense. General Clark is merely an unwitting "stalking horse", designed to weaken both Dean and Bush just enough to enable the Democrats' real white knight to jump in: waiting in the wings, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The 11-judge panel that will reconsider the California recall case includes eight appointed by Democratic presidents and just three appointed by Republicans, which at first blush might hearten the civil rights groups that had persuaded three judges, all appointed by Democrats, to delay the election in a decision issued Monday.

But the consensus among legal experts yesterday was that most of the judges on the larger panel of the court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, are either aligned with the circuit's more conservative wing or are moderate in the sense of avoiding drastic actions like calling off elections...

Howard J. Bashman, a specialist in appellate law in Philadelphia, agreed, calling the panel about as conservative as one is likely to find on the Ninth Circuit.

The best sign that you are in love with someone is when you can rip off the stinkiest, rottenest, foulest, loudest fart possible while sitting on the lounge watching TV and NOT blame it on the dog.

If any one figure sums up the illusions and errors of the 1990s, it is Clark. Clark was the general who led the U.S. into a purely humanitarian war in Kosovo – at exactly the moment that the Clinton administration was disregarding the gathering threat to the United States from Middle Eastern terrorism. Clark has criticized the supposed and alleged errors of U.S. planning in Iraq – notwithstanding that his campaign in Kosovo was based on an unending series of errors, above all his claim that his air campaigns could destroy Serbian military capabilities without harming the Serbian civilian population.

Now that Anne Summers ("Bush can expect a hot welcome", Herald, September 15) has prepared the way for a toxic cocktail of anti-war demonstrators, disgruntled Iraqi nationalists and disappointed farmers, may I suggest another scenario for our visitor.

Bush may wish to thank some of the families of ADF personnel who served in the second Gulf war, brief ordinary refugees who had fled the murderous Saddam regime on his plans, and exchange dialogue with farming families seeking to break down trade barriers.

Ugly and unproductive demonstrations can only harm Australia's interests and feed the ego of media commentators.

Noel Hadjimichael, Mount Annan, September 15.

I would like to thank Anne Summers for reminding me about George Bush's visit. I will finalise my banner and go out there and join the demonstration, but I may be the only one there in support of his visit.

While George Bush may not be the greatest orator or carry the charisma of Bill Clinton, he at least had the gumption of not being fooled by the likes of Saddam, Arafat and their brand of ideology. Sadly history has demonstrated that the eloquent and charismatic leaders in the past have been totally hoodwinked.

Good on ya, George.

Leslie W. Rosen, Woollahra, September 15.

Bunnings Warehouse, in an initiative with Keep Australia Beautiful, will add a 10 cent levy to disposable plastic bags distributed in its 176 stores throughout the country.

NSW Minister for Western Sydney Diane Beamer, who launched the initiative in Sydney today, said this was a win-win deal for the environment.

"Customers will think twice before using the disposable plastic bags," Ms Beamer said.