June 26, 2006

News -- June 26, 2006

Murtha says U.S. poses top threat to world peace - "American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to an audience of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon."

Gov't Break a Law? Change It - "The White House is nearing an agreement with Congress on legislation that would write President Bush's warrantless surveillance program into law, the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said Sunday."

Money-tracking leak angers Cheney - "US Vice-President Dick Cheney has condemned as "offensive" US media disclosures of a secret programme that probes global financial transactions."

Congressman: charge newspapers over reports on terrorist-tracing program - "King, a New York Republican, said he would write Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urging that the country's chief law enforcer "begin an investigation and prosecution of the New York Times - the reporters, the editors and the publisher." "We're at war, and for the Times to release information about secret operations and methods is treasonous," King told The Associated Press."

Today's Anti-Republicans, Tomorrow's Heroes? - "You may call us anti-Republican. I call myself pro-Constitution. Personally I am anti-Republican and anti-Democrat. I am not foolish enough to think politicians of either corporate party are going to save our nation."

Senate flag-burning amendment creates strange bedfellows - "The Senate's No. 2 Republican and Democratic leaders said Sunday there's no need for a constitutional amendment to ban flag-burning, which lawmakers plan to debate this week." -- It's a flag for Christ's sake.

GM to shed quarter of workforce this year - "General Motors will on Monday disclose details of one of most dramatic corporate downsizings in US history, exceeding a key target of its turnround plan and accelerating the demise of the privileged American car worker."

Kickbacks, cartels and chatrooms: how unscrupulous drug firms woo the public - "Drug companies use unscrupulous and unethical marketing tactics not only to influence doctors to prescribe their products but also subtly to persuade consumers that they need them, a report claims today. Consumers should be concerned because time and again the companies violate their own industry's ethical marketing codes. Patients' health may suffer if a drug like Vioxx - a painkiller later withdrawn - is over-promoted. Yet, says Consumers International, which has compiled the report, there is "a shocking lack of publicly available information about the $60bn [£33bn] spent annually by the industry on drug promotion"."

Morgellons - Weird 'Alien' bug hits USA - "Over 1000 people in Texas, Florida and California are saying that they are suffering from a nasty new skin complaint, but doctors are telling them they are 'delusional'. ... Victims feel like bugs are crawling under their skin. They have little blue fibers, and black specks and white threads coming out of their skins. Under the skin, those fibers are connected to what appears to be a cluster of fibers or in some instances, parasitic looking organisms."

Doctors Make Progress With Mysterious Disease - "Wymore says his tests rule out not only textile fibers, but also worms, insects, animal material and even human skin and hair. He says the filaments are not an external contamination. Instead, they are a substance that materializes somehow inside the body, apparent artifacts of something infectious. More results are expected soon. And Wymore says skin problems are not the worst symptoms. He says a neurotoxin or microorganism may disturb muscle control and memory."

Rape law expands to include alcohol - "The change, long sought by rape- victim advocates in Wisconsin, means that victims who are very drunk during a sexual encounter can be judged incapable of giving consent, triggering a possible second-degree sexual assault charge." -- This seems like a dangerous path for us to travel down.

Cell phone signals excite brain, study finds - "Cell phone emissions excite the part of the brain cortex nearest to the phone, but it is not clear if these effects are harmful, Italian researchers reported Monday."

Coming soon: Mind-reading computers - "An "emotionally aware" computer being developed by British and American scientists will be able to read an individual's thoughts by analyzing a combination of facial movements that represent underlying feelings."




Quote of the Day
"If there was any race other than the human race, I'd go join it."
~ Thomas Gore

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