Print edition for September 17, 2006

Breakthrough stemmed: A potential breakthrough in embryonic stem cell research that could have great benefits in Nevada has been called into question because misleading information about the technology appeared in media outlets across the country.

Squiggy's owners fire back at Council: The owners of Squiggy's bar are not going down without a fight.

Brian Greenspun warns political candidates not to forget about 'We the people': Specifically, the preamble which, for those of you who don't remember or never learned it, goes like this:

Jeff Simpson reflects on some Stardust memories as fabled resort heads for date with history books: The Strip mainstay that opened in 1958 has provided a lot of great memories, personal and professional.

Sun garners 15 top awards in 2006 state press contest: The Las Vegas Sun has won 15 first-place journalism awards of a possible 39 in the Nevada Press Association's 2006 Better Newspaper Contest, including the Sun's fourth community service award in the last six years. The results were announced last night at an awards banquet at the South Coast.

Letter: Easy way out of Iraq might be on the horizon: Meanwhile in Washington, President Bush must be shaking in his Texas boots because just recently the Iranian president asked for televised discussions about Iranian policy in the Middle East. Of course the Bush administration immediately refused any contact with a country declared evil and said this is a delaying tactic in Iran's nuclear ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Harnessing leapfrog growth shaping up as huge task: Click here for a printable graphic.

Porter vs. Hafen: By Tony Cook; In October 2003, U.S. Rep. Jon Porter voted in favor of giving U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan a $1,500 bonus.

FLASHPOINT for Sep 17, 2006: So everyone knows the president's numbers are in the tank - his national approval rating was at 38 percent in a poll taken this month by Harris Interactive for The Wall Street Journal and NBC News. George W. Bush's numbers are so bad - 61 percent negative rating! - that only Vice President Dick Cheney's numbers (64 percent negative) are worse among national leaders. This surely fills folks such as Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid with glee as he bludgeons the president. But not so fast, Senator. The same survey shows that nationally, Reid has only a 23 percent positive ...

Editorial: New openness on spending: Beginning Jan. 1, 2008, average citizens will be able to become budget hawks themselves. Using a new federal Web site, which is scheduled to be up and running by then, anyone who knows how to use a search engine will be able to discover how a lot of their tax money is being put to use.

Hal Rothman on the positives, social value of eminent domain: I figured if I could buy enough for a buck, I could sell them for two dollars apiece. I could not only make a little money, but I also would no longer have to pay for my own music. All that remained was to find a place close enough to the local university to capitalize on the fickle tastes of college students.

Jon Ralston on a scheme hatched by a consultant to use Overstock.com CEO's deep pockets to finance races: You find an out-of-state sugar daddy, induce him to commit six figures to the effort - and then launder, er disseminate, his cash through a series of political action committees.

Editorial: A bolt revolt: The mission eventually accomplished its goals, which will allow the space station to operate under solar power. But that news seemed almost anticlimactic compared to reports earlier in the week that astronauts dropped two bolts during construction, and that it took two of them to unscrew a third bolt, which for some reason wouldn't budge.

Editorial: Needed: A shot in the arm: Statewide the goal is for 80 percent of all children between 19 months and 35 months to receive vaccinations. Outside of Clark County the goal is fairly close to being met, with 76 percent being vaccinated, according to the latest survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Letter: Senators too soft on interrogation: Human Rights Watch says that water boarding, cold rooms and loud music (such as Red Hot Chili Peppers music) is torture. Well maybe that music is, I would call it torture. All kidding aside, I would not call this torture.

Letter: Bush disgraces 9/11 with political speech: President Bush said Monday in his nationally televised, politically motivated speech that Iraq is our key center in his declared war on terrorism.

Letter: Republicans finally look out for soldiers: President Bush said that it is important to be able to get information from detainees aware of new terrorist attacks. How many prisoners at Guantanamo have any "new" information? Many have been imprisoned for years. Alberto Gonzales was promoted to attorney general as his reward for redefining war crimes "torture" rules, allowing the president deniability of secret prisons, redefining excruciating pain, and twisting the Constitution to its very core.