News -- September 8, 2005

To Those Who Voted for Bush: Do You Get It Now? - "Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Rice and Chertoff and the others simply have got to go, along with the other fools and criminals down there in his bunker. Bush and Cheney either must be encouraged by GOP powerbrokers to resign, or they must be impeached. They each took a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution and all American citizens. They have shredded the Constitution -- in the name of "anti-terrorism," they have denuded the Bill of Rights -- and they have clearly demonstrated that they are incapable of protecting the citizenry, either in Iraq or here at home. Clear dereliction of duty."
http://www.crisispapers.org/essays-w/getitnow.htm

Abu Ghraib abuse: new revelations of top-level involvement - "Preliminary hearings are under way in Fort Meade, Maryland for two low-level dog handlers at the Abu Ghraib prison complex in Iraq. According to testimony from US soldiers in the case, the use of dogs to abuse and intimidate Iraqi prisoners is a technique that was brought to Abu Ghraib from Guantánamo Bay, under the direction of a top military general dispatched by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld."
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/aug2005/guan-a01.shtml

Memos Show Oil Companies Closed Refineries to Hike Profits - "Take this internal Texaco strategy memo: "[T]he most critical factor facing the refining industry on the West Coast is the surplus of refining capacity, and the surplus gasoline production capacity. (The same situation exists for the entire U.S. refining industry.) Supply significantly exceeds demand year-round. This results in very poor refinery margins and very poor refinery financial results. Significant events need to occur to assist in reducing supplies and/or increasing the demand for gasoline." The memo went on to discuss a sucessful campaign in Washington State to shrink refined supply by removing other additives in the gasoline that filled gas volume."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-court/memos-show-oil-companies-_b_6980.html

Government Intervention in Stock Market is Detailed by New Report - ""Given the available information, we do not believe there can be any doubt that the U.S. government has intervened to support the stock market. Too much credible information exists to deny this. Yet virtually no one ever mentions government intervention publicly, preferring instead to pretend as if such activities have never taken place and never would. It is time that market participants, the media and, most of all, the government acknowledge what should be blatantly obvious to anyone who reviews the public record on the matter: These markets have been interfered with on numerous occasions. Our primary concern is that what apparently started as a stopgap measure may have morphed into a serious moral hazard situation, with market manipulation an endemic feature of the U.S. stock market."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050906/65371.html?.v=1

Saddam did not confess to mass killings - lawyer - ""There was no confession by the president and all the investigations in this case do not implicate him at all," Khalil Dulaimi said in a statement sent to Reuters."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050908/wl_nm/iraq_saddam_lawyer_dc_5

Arnold to terminate same-sex marriage - "California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, citing a ballot measure supporting traditional marriage, promised yesterday to veto the first state legislation approving same-sex marriage."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46212

Poll: Most Voters Not Inclined to Re-Elect Arnold - "The nonpartisan Field Poll found that just 36 percent of voters would support Schwarzenegger if he runs for re-election, while 56 percent would not. In February, those numbers were almost reversed, with 56 percent saying they were in favor of returning the Republican governor for a second term."
http://www.sacunion.com/pages/state_capitol/articles/6092/

Bush orders FEMA to protect Upsidedownland - "Welcome to upside-down-land: the areas at risk for Katrina were quite remarkably the areas not included in Bush's declaration of emergency.What the hell?" -- Check out the map.
http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/637/1/

Cheney, Gonzales Tour Stricken Gulf Coast - "Cheney's plane took him on a course over heavily damaged houses as he arrived to this Gulf Coast town destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. After meeting with state and local officials, Cheney and his wife, Lynne, toured a particularly damaged part of the town." -- And Dick finally crawls out of his cave.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050908/ap_on_re_us/katrina_cheney_hk2

Cheney Runs Into Trouble With the Locals -- CNN aired this video of an interview with Dick in Mississippi; a passerby said "Go fuck yourself Cheney. Go fuck yourself." Live on camera. Priceless.
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/08/cheney-runs-into-trouble-with-the-locals/

Truth-in-campaign law struck down - "A state law prohibiting political candidates from lying about their opponents is an unconstitutional violation of free speech and chills political discourse, a state appeals court ruled yesterday." -- In other words, lying in political ads is ok to do. What is this, Bizarroland?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002479741_pdc08m.html

Changes in the brain may explain teenage troubles - "The ability of boys and girls to decode social cues and recognize emotions, particularly anger and sadness, dips between the ages of 12 and 14, researchers at University College London and the Institute of Child Health have discovered."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050908/sc_nm/brain_dc

Canadians beat U.S. Army to New Orleans suburb - "A Canadian search-and-rescue team reached a flooded New Orleans suburb to help save trapped residents five days before the U.S. military, a Louisiana state senator said on Wednesday." -- How does this happen?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/canada_canadians_neworelans_col

Astrodome Radio Station Blocked - "Although the group trying to organize the station has wrangled three 90-day licenses from the FCC, as of Thursday, they were being stymied by a handful of temporary administrators content to maintain radio silence. ... "She said she was afraid of 'people fighting over the radios,'" said Liz Surley, a KAMP volunteer. "She made us promise not to play any rap music, because she thought it might incite some of the evacuees to violence.""
http://www.wired.com/news/hurricane/0,2904,68806,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_4

Forensic TV shows help criminals escape police? - "Television shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, depicting forensic scientists at work, are helping criminals avoid identification, New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday. Not only are the criminals getting detailed insights into police detection methods and how to avoid them, but the shows have led juries to expect too much certainty from scientific witnesses. "Jurors who watch CSI believe that those scenarios, where forensic scientists are always right, are really what happens.""
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050908/od_nm/forensics_dc;_ylt=A9FJqYObgSBDaE8A5gUSH9EA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Popular Walrus Cam to Go Offline for Hunt - "Popular Web cameras that allow viewers to watch live video of Pacific walruses will be shut off this week at the request of Alaska Natives. Leaders do not want viewers to see the animals shot and butchered during a fall subsistence hunt, fearing widespread Internet images could threaten the tradition." -- You think?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050908/ap_on_sc/walrus_cam




Quote of the Day
"I believe God wants me to be President."
~ George W. Bush