April 7, 2006

News -- April 7, 2006

Thought Control - "Like all imperialist forces, the US is heavily relaying on misinformation propaganda campaign to promote and enhance its imperialist ideology. Violence and war crimes against defenceless civilians are depicted as “fighting the enemy”. The mass murder of Iraqi civilians by US forces is normalised and welcomed with deafening silence. The purpose is thought control, or as it is called “perception management” designed to enhance US images. The campaign is part of a wider Western strategy to mislead the public, remove historical memory and justify more wars. ... The three-year US Occupation of Iraq is becoming increasingly violent and the occupying forces are killing Iraqi civilians with impunity while encouraging Iraqis to fight each other. The atrocity is aided by massive Western propaganda campaign to demonise Iraqis and portray not only Iraqis but also Muslims in general as fanatic and violent."

Evidence Suggests White House Conspiracy - "Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald stated in a court filing late Wednesday in the CIA leak case that his investigators have obtained evidence during the course of the two-year-old probe that proves several White House officials conspired to discredit former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a critic of the administration's pre-war Iraq intelligence."

AT&T Forwards ALL Internet Traffic Into NSA Says EFF - ""The evidence that we are filing supports our claim that AT&T is diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "More than just threatening individuals' privacy, AT&T's apparent choice to give the government secret, direct access to millions of ordinary Americans' Internet communications is a threat to the Constitution itself. We are asking the Court to put a stop to it now.""

China has U.S. anti-missile tech, via transfer from Israel - "China covertly obtained Patriot anti-missile system technology from Israel during the 1990s, according to U.S. officials."

Judge in Israel Lobbyists' Trial Told Evidence 'Overwhelming' - "Prosecutors told a federal judge in a recent brief that they have "overwhelming evidence" that two pro-Israel lobbyists deliberately broke the law when they obtained classified information from government officials."

Strange way to win hearts and minds - "Despite public statements after the Abu Ghraib scandal indicating that the United States would reduce the Iraqi prison population, the Brookings Iraq Index released this week shows it has more than doubled since June 2004. There are now around 15,000 Iraqi prisoners held by U.S. and Allied forces, in addition to those held by the local authorities. Compare that to the estimated size of the insurgency, between 15,000 and 20,000, and that gives an indication of how wide the net has been cast."

Bush, GOP Approval Ratings Find New Lows - "Democratic leaders predicted they will seize control of one or both chambers of Congress in November. Republicans said they feared the worst unless the political landscape quickly changes."

Killing us softly with his wrong. - "Looks like Bush's plan to save Social Security is to kill us off quickly so we won't use it. There's an old saying here in rural eastern Oklahoma, "You don't shit in your own front yard". Now most three year olds know and understand this. But our president who has graduated from Yale and Harvard (which has lowered my opinion of Ivy League schools) is, as usual, clueless."

Helen and Sylvia, the new face of terrorism - "Helen John, 68, and Sylvia Boyes, 62, both veterans of the Greenham Common protests 25 years ago, were arrested on Saturday after deliberately setting out to highlight a change in the law which civil liberties groups say will criminalise free speech and further undermine the right to peaceful demonstration."

Decided or Not, Giuliani Charts a Path to 2008 - "Mr. Giuliani's advisers say he will decide around the end of the year whether to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2008."

San Diego Fence Provides Lessons in Border Control - "Today, Henry is assistant chief of the Border Patrol's San Diego sector. He says apprehensions here are down 95 percent, from 100,000 a year to 5,000 a year, largely because the single strand of cable marking the border was replaced by double -- and in some places, triple -- fencing."

AZ Poll: 82 percent say make English state's official language - " An English language ballot measure is under consideration by the state Legislature and could go to voters in November."

The Gospel According to Judas Iscariot - "My criticism is that given headlines such as these (and there are plenty more out there), those who would criticize Christian doctrine are, on the surface, led to believe that a new scripturally authentic document has been found that blows holes in orthodox Christian beliefs. Even the article I've cited here, which gives explicit statements indicating that text was most probably the work of the Gnostics, is given the title "Judas: this is what really happened", giving the casual peruser the impression that the found text describes "what really happened". By using titles such as these, these news sources are giving ammunition to folks who mislead those who don't bother to do their own research."

Teens charged under terror law - "Four teenagers accused of plotting to kill about 25 people in a lunch-period massacre at Winslow Township High School were charged today with terrorism, a crime no one has ever been convicted of in New Jersey."

'Gays' history in the making - "A bill requiring students to learn about the contributions homosexuals have made to society and that could remove gender-specific terms including "mom" and "dad" from textbooks is making progress in California. The state's Senate Judiciary Committee has approved SB 1437, which would mandate grades 1-12 buy books "accurately'' portraying "the sexual diversity of our society.'' It also requires students hear history lessons on "the contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender to the economic, political, and social development of California and the United States of America.''" -- Why are the sexual orientations important to people's contributions to history?

Unemployment rate matches 5-year low - "The unemployment rate slipped to 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent, the Labor Department said, matching the low hit in January, which had been the lowest rate since July 2001."

Google aims to track users with wi-fi - "Google aims to be able to track its users to within 100-200 feet of their location through new wireless networks in order to serve them with relevant advertising from local businesses."

Contact lens wearers warned about eye fungus - "Symptoms can include blurry vision, pain or redness, increased sensitivity to light and excessive discharge from the eye. It is not transmitted from person to person. ... Alfonso said the only common denominators are that most patients wore contacts and lived in a warm place where the fungus grew abundantly."

Cats could fuel bird flu pandemic - "Cats are significantly more likely to catch and pass on bird flu than has generally been thought and could help the virus to mutate to cause a human pandemic, scientists said today."

Viruses 'trained' to build tiny batteries - "Researchers trying to make tiny machines have turned to the power of nature, engineering a virus to attract metals and then using it to build minute wires for microscopic batteries."

Pair of black holes locked in death dance - "Two supermassive black holes have been found to be spiraling toward a merger, astronomers said today. ... Mergers between black holes are thought to be one way they grow. ... "We now know that they are coupled, but more like the mating of black widow spiders. One of the black holes invariably will eat the other.""

Erotica Finds Home in Mainstream Publishing - "Erotica has a long history, dating back to the Marquis to Sade and the 1954 book, "Story of O." But despite its popularity, particularly among women, the genre has had a more underground following and has never really reached a mainstream audience. Nevertheless, it's hard to ignore sales figures like Engler's and the emerging popularity of other publishers, such as Red Sage Publishers, which also started as an online business."

LOL - "The most common definition I've read for LOL is that it means "laugh out loud". It could also mean "lots of love". Or it could mean "lust of life" or "look out, loudmouth," or, my favorite, "ladies ogle Luis"... but I'm not talking about any of those today. I'm focusing on "laugh out loud"."




Quote of the Day
"I'm not dealing with reality because reality is overrated."
~ Melanie Boyer

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