Controversy continued to swirl Monday over U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's sale of his Del Mar home to a Nevada company which then resold the home at a $700,000 loss.

Mitchell J. Wade is a corporate officer for the Nevada company that bought the home, records with the Nevada Secretary of State show.

The real estate deal has raised ethical questions because Wade is also president of a Washington D.C.-based contracting firm that has benefited from millions of dollars in defense contracts, some of which were approved by a committee on which Cunningham is a member.—WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer, North County Times.

George Bush ... addressed his visitor as "President Abbas", and not accidentally. The use of this appellation was a deliberate choice.

...

During the negotiations which led to the 1993 Oslo agreement, there was much controversy about the title appropriate for Yasser Arafat. The Palestinians demanded that he be called "President", the Israelis agreed only to refer to him as "Chairman".

Why? Well, "president" sounds like a head of state. States have presidents. Ordinary institutions normally have chairpersons. The Israeli negotiators did not agree at all that the Palestinian Authority, which was set up by the agreement, should have the attributes of a state.

... Arabic ... uses the same word for president and chairman. Both are called Ra'is (from Ras, head). Therefore the agreement says, in all its three versions (English, Hebrew and Arabic) that the chief of the Palestinian Authority will bear the title of "Ra'is".

Since then, all the Israeli media, as well as all Israeli politicians and diplomats, insisted on calling Arafat "Chairman of the Palestinian Authority". Nowadays, they stick this label on Abu-Mazen.

Therefore, when Bush calls his guest "President Abbas", it is a slap in the face for Israeli diplomacy and an intentional boost for the prestige of the Palestinian leader.—Uri Avnery

1. It's a criminal affair with no significant implications, and so it's none of our business
2. It's celebrity gossip and so it's none of our business