News reports say that federal authorities are confident that a top research scientist charged with creating new defenses against biological agents is responsible for the 2001 mailings of letters containing anthrax spores that kiled 5 people and wounded 17 more. However, in the wake of that scientist's apparent July 29 suicide, friends, colleagues and independent observers are skeptical.

Despite the talk among public figures and commentators about the need for unifying ideas in today's political arena, the presidential candidates and their policies regarding Iraq couldn't be less suited to cross the aisle of partisan politics. In the presidential race, Senators Clinton and Obama have both put forward proposals to end the military conflict-- by bringing troops home or redeploying them elsewhere. Senator McCain believes that we need to stick with the status-quo and advocates sending even more troops.

Last month, Congress passed a defense budget that will cost American taxpayers over $500 billion dollars...and when you add in the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the numbers get closer to $1 trillion. To put these numbers in context, the United States spends more than the next 45 highest spending countries in the world combined. In our own budget, the defense portion of the budget (again, minus the wars) takes up 54% of the money that Congress has available to spend this year.

Unlike domestic policy, the American public is usually willing to leave foreign affairs to the "experts" unless things are seriously off course. According to polling done by Public Agenda, the contemporary anxiety indicator stands at 136 on a scale where 150 indicates a collapse of confidence in the government's foreign policy. In general, over the past two years, Americans have less and less confidence that our present strategies will enhance US security.

This week, Congress will debate whether a temporary law that enhanced the Bush administration's power to conduct warrantless surveillance should be made permanent. What's especially controversial is that the new law would immunize cooperating telecommunications companies from prosecution.