Crying wolf?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Crying wolf?

At his news conference last week, he said Congress needs to close “a dangerous intelligence gap” caused by technological advances that terrorists can now exploit. But Democratic leaders, including Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, argue that the administration “has resorted to scare tactics and political games” in making its case. The Democrats say that Bush is just crying wolf and that they need more time to work out a decent bill. In a big sticking point, Democrats say there is no need for retroactive liability protection for telecommunications companies and other firms that in the past helped monitor what the administration calls suspected terrorists. Those efforts might have involved invasions of privacy best addressed in court, the critics say. But to the administration, those companies were protecting American lives and should not be penalized by “abusive lawsuits” designed to “line the pockets of class-action trial lawyers.” The outlook is for an eventual compromise but lasting recriminations.

- The Fight Over Domestic Eavesdropping, USNews.com, February 28, 2008.

2. A senior marine researcher has accused Australian scientists of “crying wolf” over the threat of climate change to the Great Barrier Reef, exposing deep division about its vulnerability.

Peter Ridd’s rejection of the consensus position that the reef is doomed unless greenhouse emissions are checked comes as new research on the Keppel group, hugging Queensland’s central coast, reveals its resilience after coral bleaching. Professor Ridd, a physicist with Townsville’s James Cook University who has spent 25 years investigating the impact of coastal runoff and other problems for the reef, challenged the widely accepted notion that coral bleaching would wipe it out if climate change continued to increase sea surface temperatures. Instead of dying, the reef could expand south towards Brisbane as waters below it became warmer and more tolerable for corals, he said.