Bush Accepts Iraq-Vietnam Comparison - "President Bush said in a one-on-one interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that a newspaper column comparing the current fighting in Iraq to the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam, which was widely seen as the turning point in that war, might be accurate."
'Dramatic change of direction' coming for Iraq - "Leaks from a U.S. task force headed by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III are contributing to the widespread sense that the Bush administration is preparing for a "course correction" in the coming months. The options cited most frequently in Washington include the partition of Iraq into three ethnic- or faith-based regions, and a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, with some remaining in neighboring countries to deal with major threats. Another scenario is being discussed -- and taken seriously in Iraq -- by many of Iraq's leading political players, under which the U.S.-trained army would overthrow struggling Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and replace him with a strongman who would restore order while Washington looks the other way."
North Korean General: 'War Is Inevitable' - "If President Bush continues to ask North Korea to "kneel," war "will be inevitable," and it would begin on the Korean Peninsula, North Korean Gen. Ri Chan Bok told "Good Morning America" anchor Diane Sawyer, in an exclusive interview inside North Korea."
Peace Activists Beware: Homeland Security May Be Reading Your E-Mail, and Passing it on to the Pentagon - "More information keeps coming out, thanks to the ACLU, about the Bush Administration’s equation of protest with terrorism—and the snooping it then engages in. Homeland Security is monitoring peace groups and even peering at their e-mails. It then shares that information with Joint Terrorism Task Forces, which include the FBI and state and local law enforcement, as well as with the Pentagon’s notorious Talon (Threat and Local Observation Notice) program."
Poll: Half of Americans think Congress is corrupt - "According to the poll, a majority disapproves of how both parties are handling their jobs in Congress. Just 42 percent approve of how the Democrats are doing in Congress, while 54 percent disapprove. The GOP fares even worse -- only 36 percent approve of their performance in Congress, while 61 percent disapprove."
Democrats would reverse Bush's work - "The Democrats' election-year agenda, which says what they will do if the voters put them back in charge of Congress, would seek to overturn or change just about everything President Bush and the Republicans have done since 2001. Key parts of their agenda call for repealing the bulk of the administration's tax cuts, ending the ban on federal funding for new lines of stem-cell research and limiting some of the investigative, prosecutorial and surveillance methods in the counterterrorism USA Patriot Act."
New Laws and Machines May Spell Voting Woes - "As dozens of states are enforcing new voter registration laws and switching to paperless electronic voting systems, officials across the country are bracing for an Election Day with long lines and heightened confusion, followed by an increase in the number of contested results." -- How convenient.
Doubts about vote count strong in U.S. - "Count on close, contentious elections to stir up public distrust in the vote count."
New Prime-Time TV Look for Elections - "Meanwhile, a study released by the Center for Media and Public Affairs on Wednesday found that the network evening-news programs are covering this year's midterm election campaign three times as heavily as they did in 2002."
Conservative voters likely to stay home - "The Republican Party can stave off defeat with a strong turnout on Nov. 7, party leaders are telling the faithful -- but they are finding it tough to sell that message to some disillusioned conservative voters."
Greasing the Skids - "Meanwhile, the White House was evading blame for gas prices having doubled like Olympian dodgeball champions. It's not us. It's unrest in Iraq. Nuclear threats from Iran. Growth in China. Economists said, It's supply and demand, stupid. Following their logic, and given the second-fastest drop in gas prices ever, we'd expect a noticeable reversal of those factors: an end to the war in Iraq, perhaps; India and China halting production; the Iranian president warmly embracing Bush and the home team. None of this happened. As far as supply goes, this spring US crude oil inventories were at their highest point since May 1998. ... To say the election has nothing to do with it would be naïve. To say gas prices won't be up again afterward would be wrong."
Space: It's Our Final Frontier - "President Bush has signed an order asserting the United States' right to deny adversaries access to space for hostile purposes. Bush also said the United States would oppose the development of treaties or other restrictions that seek to prohibit or limit U.S. access to or use of space."
US full of Internet addicts: study - "Most disturbing was the discovery that some people hid their Internet surfing, or went online to cure foul moods in ways that mirrored alcoholics using booze, according to the study's lead author, Elias Aboujaoude."
Human species 'may split in two' - "Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years' time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said. Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge."
Happy, confident students do worse in math - "Other countries do better than the United States because they seem to expect more from students, he said. That could also explain why high performers in other nations express less confidence and enjoyment in math. They consider their peer group to be star achievers."
SKorean scientists say cancer-killing virus developed - "When injected into cancerous tumors, the virus quickly multiplies in the cancer cells and kills them, the team said. The new adenovirus can target only cancer cells and does not harm normal cells, the team said."
Virtual colonoscopy accurate and 'less invasive' - "Here's welcome news for anyone alarmed by a standard "optical" colonoscopy, the oft-dreaded and unpopular exam for colon cancer that yields an accurate diagnosis, right along with patient discomfort and embarrassment."
Scientists create cloak of invisibility - "If you can hide something from microwaves, you can hide it from radar — a possibility that will fascinate the military."
Advocacy Groups Ignore Breast Cancer Hot Spots - "Certain parts of the country have significantly higher rates of breast cancer -- but major organizations won't invest in research to find out why."
125 arrested in child porn roundup - "Federal officials arrested more than 125 people Wednesday on charges of subscribing to a Web site that depicted children as young as infants engaged in sexual activities with adults."
Two arrested in brutal bathroom attack - "While one attacker held down the victim, the other forced the plumbing snake into his rectum and spun it several times, causing internal injuries, police said."
Quote of the Day
"But the Bill of Rights is a literal and absolute document. The First Amendment doesn't say you have a right to speak out unless the government has a 'compelling interest' in censoring the Internet. The Second Amendment doesn't say you have the right to keep and bear arms until some madman plants a bomb. The Fourth Amendment doesn't say you have a right to be secure from search and seizure unless some FBI agent thinks you fit the profile of a terrorist. The government has no right to interfere with any of these freedoms under any circumstances."
~ Harry Browne
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