U.S. soldiers returning from the Iraq War with physical or psychological wounds are getting poor treatment from the military and veterans' health care systems, say a majority of Americans polled by Harvard University.

People with a close family member now in the military, or who served in the past, had an even dimmer view of the quality of care offered to soldiers and veterans.

“There is a sense that this system has failed people who are wounded in Iraq,” said Robert Blendon, a Harvard professor who directs the university's program on public opinion and health and social policy. “More than six in 10 Americans believe that people are not receiving high-quality care.”

The survey follows highly publicized reports on inadequate treatment for soldiers who have suffered physical and mental injuries in the war, including a series of articles about decrepit conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington that won the Washington Post a Pulitzer Prize.

The survey also found that of the presidential candidates, Republican John McCain is viewed as most likely to improve veterans' health care.

At that moment, Cynthia became one of a growing number of parents who are, by necessity, stepping back into the role of caregiver for their children who are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with debilitating and often long-term injuries. According to officials from three national organizations—the Wounded Warrior Project, The Military Family Network,, and the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes— an estimated 10,000 recent veterans of these conflicts now depend on their parents for their care. Working unheralded, these parents have quit jobs, shelved retirement plans, and relocated so they can be with their injured sons and daughters. Many have become warriors themselves, fighting to make sure this new wave of injured veterans gets the medical care and rehabilitation it needs.

...I’m honored to hold Senator Kennedy’s seat in the United States Senate from the state of New York...

Rubin says in the Huffington Post that he provided "a full question and a full answer. Nothing was left out of the question or the answer. Nothing is taken out of context."

I think it was a mistake for Rubin not to have released both portions at once. It's not that McCain's second answer totally undercuts the first, but it certainly qualifies it and provides a fuller picture. I don't think Rubin was trying to be intentionally misleading, but he gave the media only part of the story.

CNN Reports: Jamie Rubin Lied

Here's the transcript:

    CNN'S DANA BASH: "You remember these interviews were done shortly after Hamas won the Palestinian elections. Lou, the McCain campaign just in the past couple of hours, found a link to more of Jamie Rubin's interview from back then. In it, I'll read you a quote from the rest of or at least more of the interview, In that quote Sen. McCain says, 'I think part of the relationship will be dictated by how Hamas acts, not how the United States acts.' Now the McCain campaign, as you can image, says that this is proof that Senator McCain has been consistent all along, and I should tell you that CNN asked Jamie Rubin earlier today for the rest of the interview or at least for a transcript and he said he didn't have it. He said he only had this particular quote he said that was e-mailed to him."

    CNN'S LOU DOBBS: "Well that seems, certainly to, as you report, to substantiate precisely what Senator McCain is saying."

Yes, it does seem to substantiate precisely what Senator McCain is saying. Rubin initially claimed that McCain "was ready to do business with a Hamas-led government." But the full transcript shows that any business with Hamas was contingent on Hamas meeting certain conditions, i.e. renouncing violence and recognizing Israel's right to exist. This is no different than his position today.

Rubin now offers a pathetic defense of his smear at the Huffington Post, complete with the exculpatory response from McCain that engagement would depend on Hamas, not the United States. But does anyone believe that he had not seen the full transcript before writing his piece in the Post? Or that the paper's editors would have allowed him to publish this smear if they'd seen the full transcript themselves? The Post got hoodwinked, and they must be furious. It's hard to imagine they don't rebuke Rubin with a prominent correction in tomorrow's paper.

· A listing in the May 16 Weekend section incorrectly said that a program at the Arlington Planetarium is for ages 7 and older. "Larry, Cat in Space" is for ages 2 and older. Also, admission is $3, not $2.50. For seniors and children 12 and younger, it is $2, not $1.50.

· The Working item in the May 15 Business section mischaracterized Charmaine Ruppolt's commute. She bicycles to Washington from Alexandria, not Arlington. Also, she said she skips about three weeks of bike commuting a year because of vacations and bad weather, not simply because of weather.

· The Alexandria-Arlington Community Events section on May 15 incorrectly said that the Del Ray House and Garden Tour's sponsor is Del Ray Artisans. It is Del Ray Citizens Association. Tickets for today's event are available at A Show of Hands and Del Ray Farmers Market.

· The nutritional analysis for the Honey Double Gingerbread recipe in the May 14 Food section gave an incorrect amount of fiber. It is 0 grams, not 26 grams.

· A May 13 Health-section item about chocolate and pregnancy incorrectly said researchers tested women's blood in their first and second trimesters. The tests were done in the first and third trimesters.

Well, there really is no junk-mail...well, everybody wants to get a check or a birthday card, but it takes just as much man-power to deliver it as their precious little greeting cards...

Massachusetts lawmakers desperate for additional revenue are eyeing the endowments of deep-pocketed private colleges to bolster the state's coffers by more than $1 billion a year, asserting that the schools' rising fortunes undercut their nonprofit status.

Legislators have asked state finance officials to study a plan that would impose a 2.5% annual assessment on colleges with endowments over $1 billion, an amount now exceeded by nine Massachusetts institutions.

"The biggest mistake by Clinton was in presuming that Indiana was like just another Rust Belt state. The reality is that it is a microcosm of the entire nation, with the almost all the same socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. In some ways, its combination of rural and urban gives it more of a resemblance to nearby Illinois or New York than Ohio or Iowa. "

Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson failed a sobriety test while operating a 30-foot boat, then resisted arrest before being hit with pepper spray and dragged ashore by officers.