'Innocent Until Proved Guilty?' - "A Pentagon study obtained by ABC News finds that a new kind of voice lie detector used by the U.S. military and American police departments is no better than "flipping a coin" in detecting lies. Until the Pentagon ordered a halt to its use, the Voice Stress Analyzer was being used by military intelligence interrogators at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq. Several suspected terrorists were released from custody based on the machine's results and former Iraqi deputy prime minister Tariz Aziz was one of the many "high value targets" who were hooked up to the now discredited machine."
'Cheney and Halliburton hold title — top earners in Iraq' - " There has never been an investigation into Cheney's involvement in awarding Halliburton no-bid contracts making the company the number one war profiteerer in Iraq. Apparently people have forgotten about the March 5, 2003 e-mail between the Army Corps of Engineers and a Pentagon employee that stated the contract "has been coordinated w VP's office." People also seem to have forgotten that Cheney continues to own stock in Halliburton. Stock that has risen in leaps and bounds since its former CEO moved into the White House and developed the most prolific war profiteering scheme of all time."
Corporate Profits surge to 40-year high - "For all of 2005, before-tax profits totaled $1.35 trillion, up from $1.16 trillion in 2004 and just $767 billion in 2001. Meanwhile, the share of national income going to wage and salary workers has fallen to 56.9%. Except for a brief period in 1997, that's the lowest share for labor income since 1966."
Inside Trading: Congress for sale - "Unfortunately, Congress forgot itself. It remains perfectly legal for a member of Congress to buy and sell stocks based on information that's not available to the public. Last year it was reported that a "political intelligence" firm tipped off its clients to an undelivered speech by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on asbestos liability. The information was profitable to those in the know."
Vision Quest - "None of these aims have been harmed in the slightest by Iraq's death spiral into civil war. The Bush faction's war profiteering and fraud -- on a scale surpassing anything ever seen in world history -- has fueled a ruthless political machine that, despite its growing unpopularity with the U.S. people, now controls all three branches of government and has overthrown the Constitution, openly declaring that its leader is beyond the reach of "judicial review, congressional oversight or international law," as The Washington Post reported, rather belatedly, this week. Swollen by the swag of aggressive war, the elite interests represented by the Bush regime -- oil, military-related industries and predatory venture capitalists like the Carlyle Group -- have had their already inordinate sway over American society and policy increased by several magnitudes. They will remain ascendant for decades to come, no matter what happens in Iraq, or in any U.S. election."
Interview of the Vice President by Tony Snow - "Q I want to be clear because I've heard you say this, and I've heard the President say it, but I want you to say it for my listeners, which is that the White House has never argued that Saddam was directly involved in September 11th, correct? THE VICE PRESIDENT: That's correct. We had one report early on from another intelligence service that suggested that the lead hijacker, Mohamed Atta, had met with Iraqi intelligence officials in Prague, Czechoslovakia. And that reporting waxed and waned where the degree of confidence in it, and so forth, has been pretty well knocked down now at this stage, that that meeting ever took place. So we've never made the case, or argued the case that somehow Osama bin Laden [sic] was directly involved in 9/11. That evidence has never been forthcoming. But there -- that's a separate proposition from the question of whether or not there was some kind of a relationship between the Iraqi government, Iraqi intelligence services and the al Qaeda organization."
The Lobby Strikes Back - "Harvard study of Israeli lobby's influence costs the academic dean of the Kennedy School his job. ... Now, somebody please tell me that Mearsheimer and Walt have overplayed the power and influence of the Lobby in American political life."
Scholarship and the History of the Bible - "Today I'm writing about the possibility of Georgia approving a law that allows historic Bible study in public high schools. ... I have four concerns with this proposition (well, four that I'll share here): ... In the end, my concerns are that this is nothing but someone's attempt to indoctrinate students into a religion, or to indoctrinate students into a narrow, western-centric perspective. Neither of these agendas have anything to do with honest, academic persuits."
General Motors building $600 to $650 million US plant in Mexico - "General Motors Corp., which is closing plants in the United States, says it will spend $600 million to $650 million US to build a small car assembly plant in Mexico, employing 1,800 to 2,300 workers. It is to open in 2008. ... The plant will produce compact and subcompact vehicles, he said, adding that GM does not plan to sell any of them in the United States."
Pacific Ocean getting warmer, more acidic - "Testing by U.S. scientists finds that the Pacific Ocean is getting warmer and more acidic, while the amount of oxygen is decreasing."
Third teenage girl charged in child pornography case - "The 16-year-old from Lincoln was arrested and charged with conspiracy. She's accused of taking explicit photos of two friends, 19-year-old Elizabeth Muller of North Smithfield and a 16-year-old girl from Lincoln whose name hasn't been released. The photos were later posted on their MySpace Web sites. The name of the third girl, who was charged Wednesday, also has not been released. The other two teens were arrested earlier this week and charged with child pornography." -- Seems these three girls knew what they were doing and were acting with mutual consent.
Three Men Charged in 'Dungeon' Castration - "Three men have been arrested on charges of performing castrations on apparently willing participants in a sadomasochistic "dungeon" in a rural house, authorities said Friday."
Mumps In Iowa - "It first showed up in January and by the end of February. Iowa had 26 cases of the mumps. Three weeks later, that number more than doubled. Today, health officials believe there are more than 200 Iowans with the disease. Iowa hasn't seen an outbreak like this in nearly 20 years. About one-third of Iowa counties are reporting cases of mumps. Dubuque county alone has already had 85 cases this year. But who's at risk? Health officials say it's not kids that should worry as much as the Baby Boomer generation. That's the age group health officials say might not have had a second dose of the M.M.R., or measles, mumps, rubella vaccine."
Alcohol: No Heart Benefit After All? - "Drink to your health — not for it. Moderate drinking does not protect against death from heart disease, a new study suggests."
Up With Grups* - "This is an obituary for the generation gap. It is a story about 40-year-old men and women who look, talk, act, and dress like people who are 22 years old. It’s not about a fad but about a phenomenon that looks to be permanent."
Quote of the Day
"Birth, School, Work, Death."
~ The Godfathers
No comments:
Post a Comment