Quick News Round-Up

* Colleges are buckling under pressure, much of it from the Bush-run Education and Justice Departments, to open up affirmative action programs to everyone, including upperclass white males. The article states that many of the current moves by colleges and universities might be a pre-emptive attempt to protect themselves legally due to the changing nature of the Supreme Court (I.E. the Roberts and Alito appointments and the liklihood of a new case testing current affirmative action policies.)

* Yesterday was an incredibly bloody day in Iraq. 87 people have been found dead in Baghdad. Seems to be reprisal for attacks on Shiites that happened on Sunday. Key graf in terms of what the violence means:

While the shrine bombing and the reprisals that followed pushed the country to the brink of civil war, the new round of reprisal killings has led many people to worry about an extended tit-for-tat sectarian conflict.

* I have no idea what this means in terms of Israeli-Palestinian relations and their continuing conflict, but Israel just raided a Palestinian prison.

* Mad Cow Disease confirmed in Alabama. This is the third confirmed case in the U.S.

* Talks in France over a proposed youth job law seem to be intense. The proposed law, which both President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin support, would make it easier for firms to release, or "fire," young workers. Worker's rights groups and unions are strongly against the law.

This is just from the New York Times, I'll be back later with more.

- Glitter