Where Was The Outcry After Bush's Iraq Joke? - "A quip by John Kerry in which he told a young audience that securing a good education would avoid them getting "stuck in Iraq" has been seized upon by Republican attack dogs as election fodder. The Senator's comment killed nobody but when Bush joked about not finding WMD in Iraq, he was making light of 655,00 dead victims and nearly 3,000 dead troops - but the media barely battered an eyelid and Bush never apologized."
Are Israelis gearing up to bomb Iran? - "The Middle East is abuzz with ugly rumours. One of them is so dire - and comes from sources in so many capital cities - that it has to be taken seriously. The suggestion is that the Israeli government has served notice on the White House that it must take pre-emptive action against Iran's sites of nuclear weapons development - or Israel will go it alone and do the job itself. Israel has apparently given Bush a deadline of six months." -- "Preemptive action" is just another name for aggression.
Russia, China Won't Back Iran Sanctions - ""We cannot support measures that in essence are aimed at isolating Iran from the outside world, including isolating people who are called upon to conduct negotiations on the nuclear program," the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying Wednesday."
Bush: Cheney, Rumsfeld will stay through '08 - "President Bush said Wednesday he wants Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney to remain in his administration until the end of his presidency, extending a job guarantee to two of the most-criticized members of his team." -- Incompetence and evil are rewarded.
Dean rips Bush, sees victory by Dems - "I think George Bush is the most incompetent president we've had in our lifetime. I mean, nobody would accuse President Nixon of being incompetent."
Florida Diebold machines help you pick the right candidate - "Apparently Diebold's problems aren't limited to Maryland, Georgia or Alaska -- what a shocker. Down in the Sunshine State, during a week of early voting before next week's nationwide midterm election, certain Diebold machines have been registering some votes for Democrats as selections for the Republican candidate."
Study: Big 3 news tilts vs. GOP - "Only 12 percent of election stories that aired on NBC, ABC or CBS were favorable toward Republican candidates, according to a study released yesterday by the District-based Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA)."
Syria switches to the Euro due to US sanctions - "A Syrian source told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that Syria has begun taking a number of significant steps to deal with US sanctions barring trade between the two countries. According to the report, Syria has decided to exchange its foreign currency surplus - some USD 20 million - to Euros, and use the sum to pay off external debts."
Alyssa Peterson Suicide - "According to the Army's investigation into her death, obtained by a KNAU reporter through the Freedom of Information Act, Peterson objected to the interrogation techniques used on prisoners. She refused to participate after only two nights working in the unit known as the cage. Army spokespersons for her unit have refused to describe the interrogation techniques Alyssa objected to. They say all records of those techniques have now been destroyed. ... But on the night of September 15th, 2003, Army investigators concluded she shot and killed herself with her service rifle." -- Interesting.
The White House makes an unholy mess of 'faith-based initiatives' - "In 2001, President Bush created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (OFBCI), thereby putting the compassion into “compassionate conservatism.” The problem, at least according to the Office’s online brochure, is that religious charities are restricted by “complicated rules” that are “inherently unfair.” The solution is hundreds of millions of dollars taken out of existing foundations and sent to Christian, and almost exclusively Christian, charities."
Secular Coalition offers prize for nontheist public official - "The Secular Coalition for America is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who can identify the highest-ranking elected nonbeliever currently serving in the U.S. government. "We're here to show that nontheists are good citizens and good patriots," said Lori Lipman Brown, director of the group, in a statement."
'Delusion ' asks worthwhile questions - "No wonder Richard Dawkins is grouchy. The British biologist, atheist, and author admits in "The God Delusion" that science can't prove there is no God. But it can prove that God almost certainly doesn't exist, he declares. He easily picks off the low-hanging fruit of fundamentalism and intelligent design; more ambitiously, he guns for the pro-God arguments made by Thomas Aquinas and religious scientists. He recites the history of atrocities committed in religion's name, pinning them on what he calls immoral Scriptures. This ground has been plowed before. Still, believers should read "The God Delusion." Once the spasms of outrage over its caustic tone pass, sophisticated folks will find much of its critique rigorously argued. It probably won't persuade them, but if it pushes them to shed complacency and ask questions of their faith, good."
A godless ramble against the ditherings of theologians - "I think all of us lack any god-presence in us, but many of us have had it hammered into us from birth that we should—we're trained to confuse any stirrings of appreciation of greater things for the diddling finger of a god, and we're also brought up to believe that those of us who notice the absence of any deities should be shunned."
Theist Arguments Getting Weaker - "Maybe it's just me. But having kept my finger for years on the pulse of the steady drumbeat of apologetics for organized religion, I'm getting the feeling that maybe, just maybe, the theists are starting to sound a little more desperate. The release of several bestselling books on atheism this year, including "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, "Breaking the Spell" by Daniel Dennett, and "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris, has prompted a slew of articles and editorials."
Battle of the New Atheism - "My friends, I must ask you an important question today: Where do you stand on God? It's a question you may prefer not to be asked. But I'm afraid I have no choice. We find ourselves, this very autumn, three-and-a-half centuries after the intellectual martyrdom of Galileo, caught up in a struggle of ultimate importance, when each one of us must make a commitment. It is time to declare our position. This is the challenge posed by the New Atheists."
For the wishy-washy, the apologists, the appeasers...rejoice! - "Where does this leave us, we who have been called upon to join this uncompromising war against faith? What shall we do, we potential enlistees? Myself, I've decided to refuse the call. The irony of the New Atheism — this prophetic attack on prophecy, this extremism in opposition to extremism — is too much for me."
Episcopalians to consecrate female bishop - "Episcopal Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, a former oceanographer who still pilots her own plane, will be consecrated the world's first female presiding bishop Saturday morning at the Washington National Cathedral."
Science Prays for Midterm Mercy - "Wired News weighs in on how the upcoming elections could affect stem cell research, global climate change, energy independence and research funding."
Big Brother Britain 2006: 'We are waking up to a surveillance society all around us' - "Britain has sleepwalked into becoming a surveillance society that increasingly intrudes into our private lives and impacts on everyday activities, the head of the information watchdog warns. New technology and "invisible" techniques are being used to gather a growing amount of information about UK citizens. The level of surveillance will grow even further in the next 10 years, which could result in a growing number of people being discriminated against and excluded from society, says a report by the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas."
Web inventor fears for the future - "The British developer of the world wide web says he is worried about the way it could be used to spread misinformation and "undemocratic forces"."
Changing How America Works - "Something's wrong when only the rich are getting richer, and average folks are feeling the squeeze. The answer isn't more education, or simply electing better leaders. We need widespread change."
Killing the Middle Class; How the Corporatocracy Sets the Rules of the "Game" To Create Peons - "If government can create conditions that cause a middle class to emerge, by implementing fair rules for business, progressive taxation, and free public education, the opposite is also true: government can create a corporatocracy by deregulating business, by cutting taxes on extreme wealth, and by privatizing as much of the commons as possible. Cons call this "starving the beast."Here's how you starve the beast:"
Jobless claims jump up - "The number of U.S. workers applying for jobless benefits rose by an unexpectedly large 18,000 last week to 327,000, but remains at levels that still point to a relatively healthy jobs market, government data showed Thursday."
Scientists Say White House Muzzled Them - "Two federal agencies are investigating whether the Bush administration tried to block government scientists from speaking freely about global warming and censor their research, a senator said Wednesday."
Nessie theory is knocked on head by scientists - "However, paleontologists have discovered that the bone structure of the plesiosaur's neck means it would not have been able to lift its head up swan-like out of the water."
Tankball: Paintball Grows Up - "Southfields is the birthplace of tankball — paintball taken to a whole new level. People come from all around the world to race around in tanks, launch paint-filled missiles and, in turn, avoid a tank round of green or red splattering ammunition."
Quote of the Day
"What a sad species of animal we belong to."
~ Albert Einstein
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