The Evil Is In Our Government - "Is the Bush Regime a state sponsor of terrorism? A powerful case can be made that it is. ... Bush damns the "axis of evil." But who has the "axis of evil" attacked? Iran has attacked no one. North Korea has attacked no country for more than a half-century. Iraq attacked Kuwait a decade and a half ago, apparently after securing permission from the US ambassador. Isn’t the real axis of evil Bush-Blair-Olmert? Bush and Blair have attacked two countries, slaughtering their citizens. Olmert is urging them on to attack a third country – Iran. ... The US government has spent the past half century interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, overthrowing or assassinating their chosen leaders and imposing its puppets on foreign peoples. To what country has Iran done this, or Iraq, or North Korea? Americans think that they are the salt of the earth. The hubris that comes from this self-righteous belief makes Americans blind to the evil of their leaders. How can American leaders be evil when Americans are so good and so wonderful? ... The former terrible tyrant ruler of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, is on trial for killing 150 people. The US government murdered 500,000 Iraqi children prior to Bush’s invasion. When the US government murders people, whether Serbs, Branch Davidians at Waco, or Iraqi women and children, it is "collateral damage." But we put Saddam Hussein on trial for putting down rebellions. Gentle reader, do you believe that the Bush Regime will not shoot you down in the streets if you have a rebellion?"
Bush 'planted fake news stories on American TV' - "Federal authorities are actively investigating dozens of American television stations for broadcasting items produced by the Bush administration and major corporations, and passing them off as normal news. Some of the fake news segments talked up success in the war in Iraq, or promoted the companies' products."
OIL ON TROUBLED WATERS - "Amid the ever-escalating rhetoric between the United States and Venezuela, the president of the oil-rich Latin American country, Hugo Chavez, has been busily scoring points with low-income American consumers. Under a program sometimes dubbed petro-diplomacy, Citgo, Venezuela's wholly-owned gas and oil subsidiary, has been providing discounts of up to 60 per cent on heating oil to poor communities in the U.S. The program is currently operating in Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Most local politicians, desperate for ways to reduce energy costs for their constituents, have welcomed it with open arms."
Dixie Chicks — a profile in courage - "Now it all seems quaint, so three years ago. As in, before the WMDs turned up MIA, before the bungling of Hurricane Katrina, before the scandal of Abu Ghraib, before illegal spying on U.S. citizens, before 20,646 U.S. casualties in Iraq, 2,462 of them fatalities. These days, between 65 percent and 70 percent of us — the polls vary — have reservations about the leadership of George W. Bush. And Natalie Maines' assessment of this profoundly mediocre man seems almost ... charitable. Indeed, in a recent Rolling Stone cover story, Princeton history professor Sean Wilentz declares Bush a contender for the uncoveted title of worst president ever. So yes, the Chicks could have accepted vindication gracefully, taken a demure victory lap and gone quietly back to country. Instead, they release a song full of fighting words and, in interviews, declare their lack of regret and uninterest in rapprochement with the red-state musical establishment that made them stars. What a bracing display of guts. Watching, you wonder when is the last time you saw anyone in the pop-culture arena put their careers on the line for matters of principle. Surely, you don't have to go all the way back to Muhammad Ali in '66 saying, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong." Surely it only feels that way. Surely some singer, actor, athlete has taken a risk for right since then. But no names come immediately to mind. ... These are, should it have to be said, fearful times. Soldiers in harm's way, terrorism threats looming, government surveilling citizens. There is much cause for trepidation. But courage is courage only when fear is present. It matters only when something is at stake. For what it's worth, the Chicks' new single bombed on country radio, putting their careers further in question. It's a problem they wouldn't have had if they'd kept silent. Thankfully, they didn't. There's already too much of that going around."
Gonzales Gone Wild - "This assault on the meaning of the Fourth Amendment is, in my estimation, the biggest leap forward for totalitarianism in this country. The following is an excerpt from Alberto Gonzales' Fourth Amendment catechism (emphasis mine):"
Pitt anthropologist thinks Darwin's theory needs to evolve on some points - "He does take issue with two key parts of traditional Darwinian thinking, though -- gradualism and adaptation."
High-tech tags may track kids in TUSD - "Millions of consumers pay extra to put tracking devices in their cars in case of theft. But would parents want to shell out more money for something similar for their children? And would schools go for it? The answer seems to be yes. ... If the program is approved for a districtwide rollout in the fall, the company would give TUSD's 12,000 bus-riders from fifth grade down a plastic watchband, a small black box hooked to a belt loop or a key fob. The devices will let administrators, teachers and parents know when students get on a bus, when they get off, where they are at noon and when they're dropped off."
Officials in California TownSay Smoking Ban Is Working - "Ten weeks after they enacted the most draconian smoking ban in the nation, city officials in Calabasas, Calif., say the rules are having the desired impact -- reducing exposure to the secondhand smoke that can accumulate when smokers congregate outdoors and near building entrances."
Study: Sexual Desire is in Your Genes - "The researchers found that individual differences in human sexual desire can be attributed to genetic variations. The study is the first to provide data to show that common variations in the sequence of DNA impact on sexual desire, arousal and function, the researchers said."
"Weapon of Mass Destruction" Targets Sex Shop - "Detectives say it's an act of local terrorism. An adult bookstore is cleaning up after a chemical attack by a homemade device that investigators are calling a "weapon of mass destruction.""
Russian Scientists Harness Star Power in New Battery - "Russian scientists have invented a battery that can capture energy not only from the sun, but also from the stars, the head of a research center at the Dubna Nuclear Institute near Moscow, said."
U.S. is an impatient nation, poll finds - "We'll make this quick. We know you're busy. ... In short, Americans want it all NOW. Or awfully close to now."
Quote of the Day
"I'm not ready to make nice, I'm not ready to back down."
~ The Dixie Chicks, (Not Ready to Make Nice)
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