We have turned Iraq into the most hellish place on Earth - "The truth is that the English-speaking world still cannot kick the habit of imposing its own values on the rest, and must pay the price for its arrogance."
Iraq better off under Saddam, says Blix - "Former United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix on Wednesday described the United States-led invasion of Iraq as a "pure failure" that had left the country worse off than under the rule of Saddam Hussein. In unusually harsh comments to Danish newspaper Politiken, the diplomatic Swede said the US government had ended up in a situation in which neither staying nor leaving Iraq were good options."
Chomsky On "Terrorism" - "But what I write causes extreme anger for the very simple reason that I use the U.S. government's official definition of terrorism from the official U.S. code of laws. If you use that definition, it follows very quickly that the U.S. is the leading terrorist state and a major sponsor of terrorism and since that conclusion is unacceptable, it arouses furious anger. But the problem lies in the unwillingness to recognize that your own terrorism is terrorism. This is not just true of the United States, it's true quite generally. Terrorism is something that they do to us. In both cases, it's terrorism and we have to get over that if we're serious about the question."
New Rules - "And finally, New Rule, in two parts: A) You can't call yourself a think tank if all your ideas are stupid. And B), if you're someone from one of the think tanks that dreamed up the Iraq War, and who predicted that we'd be greeted as liberators, and that we wouldn't need a lot of troops, and that Iraqi oil would pay for the war, that the WMD's would be found, that the looting wasn't problematic, and the mission was accomplished, that the insurgency was in its last throes, that things would get better after the people voted, after the government was formed, after we got Saddam, after we got his kids, after we got Zarqawi, and that the whole bloody mess wouldn't turn into a civil war...you have to stop making predictions!"
Report: Iran has expanded nuke program - "Iran has doubled its capacity to enrich uranium by successfully executing the process with a second network of centrifuges, a semiofficial news agency reported Friday, sending a defiant new message to the U.N. Security Council."
Now Europe Targets Bloggers As Terrorists - "Bush administration efforts to infiltrate, misdirect, regulate and pollute the Internet with Neo-Con propaganda, as well as their openly stated agenda to target American bloggers as terrorists, is now being aped by the British government across the pond as well as other major European countries."
The Book of Rahm - "Last week in CounterPunch (1), I wrote that the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Congressman Rahm Emanuel, had worked hard to guarantee that Democratic candidates in key toss-up House races were pro-war. In this he was largely successful, because of the money he commands and the celebrity politicians who reliably respond to his call, ensuring that 20 of the 22 Democratic candidates in these districts are pro-war. So the fix is in for the coming elections." -- We have no choice.
Report Warns of Potential Voting Problems in 10 States - "The report by Electionline.org says those states, and possibly others, could encounter trouble on Election Day because they have a combustible mix of fledgling voting-machine technology, confusion over voting procedures or recent litigation over election rules -- and close races."
The Torture Election - " The stakes, as President Bush likes to say--and on this point he is correct--could scarcely be higher. But they include one stake he never mentions: the future of constitutional government in the United States, which his presidency and his party have put in serious jeopardy. The old (lower case) republican system of checks and balances and popular liberties, you might say, is in danger of replacement by a new (upper case) Republican system of arbitrary one-party rule organized around an all-powerful presidency. That many-sided danger, of course, is the subject of this series of articles. It is simply impossible to know in advance when, in a great constitutional crisis, the decisive turning point--the irrevocable capsizing--might come. We are left wondering whether we are witnessing just one more swing of the familiar old American political "pendulum," bound by its own weight to swing back in the opposite direction, or whether this time the pendulum is about to fly off its hinge and land us with a crash in territory that we have never visited before."
G.O.P. Moves Fast to Reignite Issue of Gay Marriage - "“It’s an issue that’s going to play a big role in the next 12 days,” Mr. Allen’s campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, said in an interview." -- This is one reason why politics has such a bad name.
Hillary comes out for same-sex marriage, sort of ... - "When she ran for Senate in 2000, she said she opposed same-sex marriage. But that position didn't reflect the "many long conversations" she's had since with "friends" and others, and that her thinking "has certainly evolved.""
Poll: Middle class voters abandoning GOP - "The 2006 election is shaping up to be a repeat of 1994. This time, Democrats are favored to sweep Republicans from power in the House after a dozen years of GOP rule."
Mexican president criticizes U.S. fence - ""It is an embarrassment for the United States," Fox said. "It is proof, perhaps, that the United States does not see immigration as a subject that corresponds to both countries.""
Carlyle Group reportedly among possible bidders for Tribune Co. -- Hmmmm.
Economy weakest in 3 years - "Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economy, grew at a annual 1.6 percent rate in the quarter, the Commerce Department said, down from the 2.6 percent rate in the second quarter."
A Better Way to Build a Face - "Scientists are poised to perform the first full-face transplant, but a group of Stanford surgeons hopes to eliminate the need for the drastic surgery altogether by learning to regenerate the skin on the face."
Report: College degree worth extra $23,000 a year - "That is the average gap in earnings between adults with bachelor's degrees and those with high school diplomas, according to data from the Census Bureau. College graduates made an average of $51,554 in 2004, the most recent figures available, compared with $28,645 for adults with a high school diploma. High school dropouts earned an average of $19,169 and those with advanced college degrees made an average of $78,093."
Methamphetamine Menace Fastest Rising Drug Threat - "According to a report in Issue #37 of The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the trafficking of methamphetamine and its abuse has been spreading eastward over the past decade. The number of meth labs seized increased 25% between 2001 and 2004. The report also points out in detail, state-by-state, the use of the drug from 12-year-olds on up to adults. This class of drugs are easily manufactured with readily accessible over-the-counter medications and substances. For a few dollars these chemicals can be procured and created in homes, offices, schools--anywhere one can secret them. Not only are they easy to produce, but the procedures for manufacture can be found in any of numerous venues, primarily websites that detail their deadly production."
Industrial design takes cues from bugs, leaves, crabs - "Scientists call it biomimicry when human-made designs are inspired by nature. Though it's not mainstream quite yet, biomimicry is a fast-growing field of research and development in corporate and academic environments because some believe it could help solve global energy problems, reduce waste and promote sustainability."
South Park mocks Steve Irwin - "South Park maker Comedy Central defended the episode. A spokesperson for the company said: "It has offended people in the past and probably will again. Regular watchers would not be shocked."" -- No, I was not shocked.
Subliminal Nude Pictures Focus Attention - "Nothing focuses the mind's eye like an erotic picture, according to the results of a new study. Even when such pictures were actively canceled out, subliminal images of female nudes helped heterosexual men find the orientation of a briefly shown abstract shape. Such nudity-driven focusing worked almost as well for women, as long as the image accorded with their sexual preference."
Hang on to your dog: meet the vicious 10ft terror bird - "The phorusrhacids were vicious flightless birds able to snap up dog-sized creatures that flourished in South America between 60 million and two million years ago. The find suggests that these monstrous birds, which are thought to have weighed up to half a ton, were probably more agile and less portly than previously thought."
Quote of the Day
"The problem lies in the unwillingness to recognise that your own terrorism is terrorism."
~ Noam Chomsky
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