In South, most call for new policy, own nukes - "In less than a week since North Korea claimed to have tested a nuclear weapon, public opinion in the South has turned sharply against a South Korean policy of engaging the enemy in the belief it will eventually bring peace on the divided peninsula." -- Those countries without nukes are at the mercy of those countries with nukes. This is not brain surgery here.
Bush Keeps Revising War Justification - "President Bush keeps revising his explanation for why the U.S. is in Iraq, moving from narrow military objectives at first to history-of-civilization stakes now."
U.S. wasted chance to improve the world: Gorbachev - "Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who played a key role in ending the Cold War, said the United States had squandered an opportunity to improve global politics after the Cold War, a paper said on Friday."
Can We Call It Genocide Now? - "Bush's "war on terror" is, in fact, a war on Iraqi civilians."
Muslims are the new Jews - "Especially since July 7, it has become acceptable to say the most ignorant, degrading things about Islam. And then we all sit around wondering why young Muslim men appear to be getting angrier and more politicised, or why “westernised” young Muslim women whose mothers go bare-headed are suddenly, defiantly, opting for the full-on niqab-style veil that leaves only a slit for the eyes."
Guantanamo detainees go to Afghanistan - "Sixteen Afghans and one Iranian released from years in captivity at Guantanamo Bay prison arrived in Afghanistan on Thursday, an Afghan official said, maintaining that "most" of the detainees had been falsely accused." -- Disgusting.
Sowing the Seeds of Fascism in America - "Author Stan Goff, a retired 26-year veteran of the U.S. Army Special Forces, sounds a warning call that many of the historical precursors of fascism—white supremacy, militarization of culture, vigilantism, masculine fear of female power, xenophobia and economic destabilization—are ascendant in America today."
Sources: Inquiry opened over Kolbe, male ex-pages - "The U.S. attorney in Arizona has begun a preliminary inquiry into a 1996 camping trip that included Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Arizona, and two male former congressional pages, according to two federal law enforcement officials who are familiar with the issue. The officials said the initial assessment stems from a single allegation regarding Kolbe's behavior on the trip."
Conspiracy of Silence -- If you have not yet seen this video, you should take the time to watch it.
Bush Is Said to Have No Plan if GOP Loses - "Some Republican strategists are increasingly upset with what they consider the overconfidence of President Bush and his senior advisers about the midterm elections November 7–a concern aggravated by the president's news conference this week." -- The adminstration does seem rather confident. Diebold anyone?
White House Upbeat About GOP Prospects - "The question is whether this is a case of justified confidence -- based on Bush's and Rove's electoral record and knowledge of the money, technology and other assets at their command -- or of self-delusion. Even many Republicans suspect the latter."
Category 5 Hurricane Heads for House GOP - "Let's get the disclaimer out of the way: there are 25 days between now and the November 7 election and things could well change, making what follows obsolete. That said, this is without question the worst political situation for the GOP since the Watergate disaster in 1974. I think a 30-seat gain today for Democrats is more likely to occur than a 15-seat gain, the minimum that would tip the majority. The chances of that number going higher are also strong, unless something occurs that fundamentally changes the dynamic of this election. This is what Republican strategists' nightmares look like." -- Does "something" equal Diebold? or Nuking Iran? or False flag operation carried out within US borders?
Bush signs law on security for US ports, ban on online gambling - "Republicans backing the provision said it was designed to protect youngsters from the financial and moral damage of online gambling, but opponents said it could prove extremely difficult to enforce. Critics also said that gambling businesses that cater to horse-racing and state lotteries, which enjoy powerful political patronage, were exempted from the law." -- It's not about "protecting the children".
The Democrats' fresh face -"First-term Sen. Barack Obama has the charisma and ambition to run for president, but is he ready to answer the tough questions? Foremost among them is whether he will run in 2008, and he's not denying it. But the mania surrounding the Illinois Democrat's book tour is reminiscent of the Colin Powell mania in 1995, when the general leveraged speculation of a presidential run into huge book sales. And that's not all they have in common."
Democratic Faces That Could Launch Thousands of Votes - "Attractive politicians have an edge over not-so-attractive ones. The phenomenon is resonating especially this year. By a combination of luck and design, Democrats seem to be fielding an uncommonly high number of uncommonly good-looking candidates. The beauty gap between the parties, some on Capitol Hill muse, could even be a factor in who controls Congress after Election Day."
Bush Buys Land in Northern Paraguay - "An Argentine official regarded the intention of the George W. Bush family to settle on the Acuifero Guarani (Paraguay) as surprising, besides being a bad signal for the governments of the region."
25 Days and even The Crickets are Quiet. - "Adolph ‘the butcher of Beruit’ Olmert is jumping up and down and screaming about Iran; Iran needs to be destroyed now before they start dropping nuclear fueled ski-resorts on Tel Aviv. The weird thing is that Iran doesn’t pose any kind of a nuclear threat so it’s got to be something else. Also, this has been in operation since before the Afghan and Iraq incursions, which were all about making an Iranian Sandwich; lots of Ketchup, hold the mayo …so maybe it has to do with oil or something. Lucky North Korea, they don’t have any oil."
Mega-Merger vs. Internet Freedom - "At issue is whether the AT&T colossus should be allowed to gobble up the nation’s third-largest phone company in its relentless march to re-assemble the Ma Bell monopoly. But the stakes are much higher today than when – prior to its 1984 antitrust break up – just one phone monopoly ruled the nation’s copper wires and rotary phones. In 2006, AT&T is poised to control all electronic media – not just telephones, but TV, music and the Web – that will enter homes via its same Internet “tube.” The corporate giant – led by monopolist-in-chief Ed Whitacre – sees Net Neutrality as a major obstacle to this multibillion-dollar scheme. Without Net Neutrality, he’s free to toss the open, egalitarian Internet out the window."
US Corporations Are Opposing New Rights for Chinese Workers - "The New York Times reported on its front page today that US-based corporations are fighting a proposed Chinese law that seeks to protect workers’ rights. The law is “setting off a battle with American and other foreign corporations that have lobbied against it by hinting that they may build fewer factories here.” The Times reports that Global Labor Strategies, a group that supports labor rights policies, is releasing a report in New York and Boston “denouncing American corporations for opposing legislation that would give Chinese workers stronger rights.” “‘You have big corporations opposing basically modest reforms,” said Tim Costello, an official of the group and a longtime labor union advocate. “This flies in the face of the idea that globalization and corporations will raise standards around the world.’”"
Airport to tag passengers - "People will be told to wear radio tags round their necks when they get to the airport. The tag would notify a computer system of their identity and whereabouts. The system would then track their activities in the airport using a network of high definition cameras."
Teen Questioned for Online Bush Threats - "The 14-year-old freshman was taken out of class Wednesday and questioned for about 15 minutes by two Secret Service agents. The incident has upset her parents, who said the agents should have included them when they questioned their daughter."
GOP Raises Religion in Court Race, Calling Democrat an Atheist - "The Austin-based Republican Party of Texas played the religion card in a Sept. 21 online newsletter. As alleged in the newsletter, Texarkana solo E. Ben Franks, Democratic nominee for a seat on the 6th Court of Appeals, "is reported to be a professed atheist" and apparently believes the Bible is a "collection of myths.'" But Franks says he has never professed to be an atheist and is not a member of any atheist organization. Franks says no one with the Republican Party ever asked him whether he professes to be an atheist. However, he says he's not surprised by the allegation."
Good Without God - "Yet today it’s not too much of a stretch to call atheism “the new homosexuality.” If you think back to the animosity and discrimination -- and sometimes outright violence -- that was inflicted on homosexuals 50 or 100 years ago, you have some idea of the social disapproval of atheism today. ... But it is a one-sided war. Secular humanists mostly want to be left alone. They do not want God and religion rammed in their face, as is typically the case in most of the world. They do tend to get a bit testy when things go too far, as when their children are forced to recite prayers at school. But they do not -- repeat not -- conduct Crusades, Inquisitions, or pogroms. They do not declare jihads or fatwas (by the way, I am totally in agreement with those Muslims who define jihad as "inner striving"). Secular humanists do not torture or kill believers simply for believing. No, it is religious believers who perpetrate violence. Anger and violence are important and powerful tools for enforcing religious conformity. That's why it's especially ironic that the God-believer's first -- and cheapest -- shot at secular humanists is to accuse them of amorality or immorality. To fundamentalists, secular people are...well, the devil. Atheists have no God, therefore no morality. I've heard this charge repeated over and over, and I am really tired of it. ... Secular humanists have nothing to apologize for. We bear no animosity toward people who disagree with us. We don't kill people over the meaning of ancient texts. And we do not force our religion into the faces and lives of others by putting our ideals on parade, insisting that all politicians adhere to them, or staging in-your-face public celebrations of our values. Gay Pride parades take place all over this great land of ours. Can you imagine the animosity that would greet a Humanist Pride celebration? ... Secular humanists know that the truth of human experience is that certain virtues, practices, and habits of mind and character make for a better life. We have outgrown the need for an invisible punishing deity to instill morality in us through fear. We know we can be good without God. And I think it would be a better world if everyone else could figure out how to do the same thing."
Schools must teach evolution - "Teachers should teach evolution in science class, the board said unanimously. It did not endorse intelligent design, though teachers can still discuss it in class."
Does creationism have a place in the classroom? - "A creationist group, Truth in Science, has targeted thousands of secondary schools in the UK with an information pack that is being used by believers and unwary teachers to bring religious dogma into science classrooms."
Keep Darwin's 'lies' out of Polish schools: education official - "Orzechowski said the theory was "a feeble idea of an aged non-believer," who had come up with it "perhaps because he was a vegetarian and lacked fire inside him.""
God Doesn't Follow the Law - "The Internal Revenue Service allows religion a freedom from regulation that exists nowhere else in American monetary life. Religious entities, an IRS spokesman assures, are the only non-profits not required to report their finances, nor are they even asked to file for a tax exemption, and thus there is no figure for the number and kind of entities receiving exemptions. The popular understanding of the First Amendment would appear to render this approach an absolute: If taxation be the power to destroy, then its application to religion, it is argued, is the incipient abridgement of free exercise."
If your family doesn't have a faith, how do you explain god to kids? - "Even if their parents never mention religion, children learn elsewhere - from movies, music or, most significantly, their peers. Faith may be optional in America, but its cultural imprint is broad and deep."
It's John Paul II, the cartoon hero - "The Vatican will make history this week when it releases a cartoon film about the life of Pope John Paul II."
Christian BA employee to take legal action over suspension for wearing cross - "A committed Christian said today she planned to take legal action against her employers British Airways after the airline ruled that displaying her crucifix breached uniform rules."
Nobel prize links poverty reduction to peace - "Attack the causes of poverty and you remove the roots of conflict -- that is the message the Nobel Committee wanted to send out by awarding its Peace Prize to the creator of a micro-credit scheme which benefits millions, analysts said on Friday."
It’s Official: To Be Married Means to Be Outnumbered - "The numbers by no means suggests marriage is dead or necessarily that a tipping point has been reached. The total number of married couples is higher than ever, and most Americans eventually marry. But marriage has been facing more competition. A growing number of adults are spending more of their lives single or living unmarried with partners, and the potential social and economic implications are profound."
Credit Card Fees, Interest Rates Are Out of Control - "This report confirms what our years of research have shown us, and what American families are feeling across the country as they try to make ends meet: Credit card issuers are out of control and using the fragile economic conditions of America's households to send profits through the roof."
10 more infected with W. Nile - "Ten new local cases of West Nile virus were confirmed Wednesday, bringing the total number of residents known to be infected to 28, officials with the Pima County Health Department said."
Scientist: Global warming to hit West hard - "Global warming is nearly irrefutable; the West will feel it more severely and sooner than the rest of the country; and it will have serious consequences for our snowpack, stream flows, water availability and the chances for flooding."
Scalpel-free obesity surgery on the horizon - "Stomach-stapling surgery to combat obesity may be done in the future with a tube inserted through the mouth, making the procedure safer than using an incision and opening the way for more people to undergo it, doctors say."
Diet products "boost appetite" - "Rather than diet food, people should eat healthier, with fewer processed grains and more "super foods" such as beans, nuts, vegetables and omega-3 oils, Prof Dingle said. Instead of diet or soft drinks, people should drink water, which was healthier."
Quote of the Day
"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin."
~ Cardinal Bellarmino 1615, during the trial of Galileo.
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