To the Point

Judging US Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito

President Bush's latest nominee is a mainstream conservative to supporters, but liberal opponents call him a dangerous ideologue way to the right of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The American Bar Association, no special friend of the Bush White House, gives Alito its highest recommendation, but his opponents say their concerns go all the way back to his application for work in the Justice Department of President Ronald Reagan. On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin its hearings on Alito, who has been making judicial decisions for 15 years. The hearings were expected to zero in on abortion, minority rights and the separation of church and state, but recent revelations of unauthorized spying have raised the question of checks on presidential power. We get a preview of next week's debate. Making News: Sharon's Health Leaves Israeli Politics, Peace Process UncertainSecretary of State Condoleezza Rice has cancelled a trip to Australia and Asia out of concern for Israel's Ariel Sharon, who is in "serious but stable" condition showing "some improvement" after his third brain surgery in just three days. The Prime Minister's own doctors conclude that irreversible brain damage means he will never resume office, much less take part in upcoming elections. Schlomo Avineri is Professor of Political Science at Hebrew University.Reporter's Notebook: Can Facial Gestures Help Screeners Find Threats at Airports?While we all read people's faces, some are better at it than others. Since September 11, airport screeners have been trained to learn the emotions conveyed by such expressions. Is it science or art? Can it lead to abuses? Mark Frank, Associate Professor at the School of Informatics at the State University at Buffalo, works with screeners on "behavior detection," the science of determining who can get right on the plane and who should be pulled aside.