TWO GOOD ESSAYS FROM THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

What the hell?

Attack on consumer reporting, First Amendment

For many years people have had the opportunity to read independent evaluations in publications such as Consumer Reports regarding the safety and value of cars and other products. While consumers might disagree with some evaluations, the reports generally have proved useful to shoppers trying to decide which brand or model to buy.

But independent consumer reports could become things of the past due to a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California. Unless reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the ruling opens the way for corporations and businesses to put a freeze on independent consumer reporting through threats of multimillion-dollar lawsuits that claim bias or actual malice on the part of the reporting organization.

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truth is first casualty in intelligence reviews

If the CIA reports on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction and his nuclear capability were unfounded, then the president's primary pretext for going to war also lacked foundation. If the CIA's nuanced analysis was wrong and irresponsible, then the unshaded, loudly proclaimed intelligence independently gathered by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his Pentagon aides was even further from the mark.

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