Reid: Brief Troop Increase OK in Iraq - "The Senate's top Democrat offered qualified support Sunday for a plan to increase U.S. troops in Iraq, saying it would be acceptable as part of a broader strategy to bring combat forces home by 2008."
U.S. forces 'losing' in Iraq, Powell says - "The former secretary of state Colin Powell said Sunday that badly overstretched U.S. forces in Iraq were losing the war there and that a temporary U.S. troop surge probably would not help."
About Face: Soldiers Call for Iraq Withdrawal - "For the first time since Vietnam, an organized, robust movement of active-duty US military personnel has publicly surfaced to oppose a war in which they are serving."
Clandestine military teams clash with CIA, allies - "But the initiative has also led to several embarrassing incidents for the United States, including a shootout in Paraguay and the exposure of a sensitive intelligence operation in East Africa, according to current and former officials familiar with the matter. And to date, the Special Forces espionage effort has not led to the capture of a significant terrorism suspect." -- Isn't that nice.
Pentagon eyes $468.9 bln budget for fiscal 2008 - "The White House has approved a $468.9 billion budget for the Pentagon in fiscal year 2008, a six-percent increase over last year's request, according to a Defense Department document obtained by Reuters." -- When one has never had to worry about money, then one does not know how to budget, much less why it is necessary.
No release for Guantanamo detainees - "The hard core of detainees held at America's Guantanamo Bay detention camp will continue to be held indefinitely even if there is insufficient evidence to bring them to trial, a senior Bush administration official has warned."
Jimmy Carter: Jew-Hater, Genocide-Enabler, Liar - "Even as Islamic Hitlerites gather in Iran to deny the first Holocaust of the Jews and to plot the second, former president Jimmy Carter tours America with a new book that describes Jews as racists and oppressors, and suggests they are also a conspiratorial mafia that intimidates “critics,” controls America’s media and war policy, and are therefore also the source of Islamic terrorism and the Arabs’ genocidal campaign to eliminate them from the map of the Middle East."
White House Forbids Publication Of Op-Ed On Iran By Former Bush Official - "The column is critical of the administration’s refusal to engage Iran."
Russian riot police dominate at opposition rally - "Russia's fragmented opposition marshalled its thin ranks against President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, but a modest turnout at a Moscow rally -- dwarfed by the police presence -- only underscored his grip on power."
McCain’s Mutiny - "So John McCain has joined Bush in throwing a shit fit over the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations. What’s bothering him? Well, it’s certainly not the fact that no one who participated in the ISG had the foresight to oppose the war in the first place. McCain yelled at Baker and Hamilton last week because they didn’t like his proposal to increase troop strength in Iraq by a number somewhere between 20 and 40 thousand (about 100,000 short of anywhere near enough to establish a semblance of security there). But the real bone in McCain’s increasingly freakish craw? If the ISG recommendations are followed—an unlikely event considering Bush’s classic “whatever” dismissal—US combat troops will be out of Iraq before McCain has a chance to get his election on."
McCain Bill Is Lethal Injection For Internet Freedom - "Republican Senator John McCain has introduced legislation that would fine blogs up to $300,000 for offensive statements, photos and videos posted by visitors on comment boards, effectively nixing the open exchange of ideas on the Internet, providing a lethal injection for unrestrained opinion, and acting as the latest attack tool to chill freedom of speech on the world wide web."
North American Union leader says merger just crisis away - "Robert Pastor, a leading intellectual force in the move to create an EU-style North American Community, told WND he believes a new 9/11 crisis could be the catalyst to merge the U.S., Mexico and Canada."
Is America going broke? - "Record deficits, colossal debt and no clear plan for digging itself out. If the U.S. sinks, it will take Canada down with it."
Real U.S. shortfall: $4.6 trillion in red - "'Taxing 100% of all wages, salaries, corporate profits would not eliminate a deficit of this magnitude'"
Tax Leads Americans Abroad to Renounce U.S. - "But after Congress sharply raised taxes this year for many Americans living abroad, some international tax lawyers say they detect rising demand from citizens to renounce ties with the United States, the only developed country that taxes it citizens while they live overseas. Americans abroad are also taxed in the countries where they live."
Reporter Summoned to Testify Against War Resister - "The U.S. military subpoenaed an independent journalist Thursday, demanding she testify as a witness for the prosecution of First Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to be court-martialed for refusing to serve in Iraq. "This morning at 8:45 someone came to my house and delivered a subpoena," Sarah Olson, an Oakland, California-based journalist, told IPS. "It's absolutely outrageous. It's a journalist's job to report the news. It is not a journalist's job to testify against their own sources."
Boston Air Traffic Controller Says 9/11 An Inside Job - "This is the reason why, as Hordon stated, that we don't have complete access to flight data recorders and FAA tapes, which in the case of a conversation between six New York Air Route Traffic Control Center controllers was ordered to be shredded, because if studies of that evidence were undertaken it would become very clear as to who was really behind the attack."
Fear 'as bad as after 9/11' - "In this and similar enclaves, like those in northern New Jersey and Brooklyn, many Arab Muslims say their community is turning in on itself — shying away from a society increasingly inclined to equate Islam with terrorism. ... Some lie low. They won't contribute to a Muslim charity, at least not by check, and not if it works overseas. They watch what they say, especially on the phone. They think twice before trying to rent a truck, get a hunting license or take a flying lesson. ... Americans seem unsympathetic. Thirty-nine percent say they harbor at least some prejudice against Muslims, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll earlier this year. The same percentage favor requiring U.S. Muslims — citizens included — to carry special IDs. About a third say U.S. Muslims sympathize with al-Qaeda." -- Disgusting.
What the hell happened to Christianity? - "What the hell happened? Where did we go wrong? How was Christianity co-opted by a political party? Why are Christians supporting laws that force others to live by their standards? The answers to these questions are integral to the survival of Christianity."
8 Virginia flocks break away - "Eight Northern Virginia churches announced yesterday they will leave the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia after their congregations voted overwhelmingly to depart because of liberal trends in the 2.2-million-member Episcopal Church."
The Truth About The Tehran Holocaust Conference - By One Who Was There - "When Alexander Baron returned from the Holocaust Conference in Iran which he attended, he found that the conference Western media "reported" about might as well have been on a different planet."
Showdown Looms Over Domestic Spying - "Federal agents continue to eavesdrop on Americans' electronic communications without warrants a year after President Bush confirmed the practice, and experts say a new Congress' efforts to limit the program could trigger a constitutional showdown."
Even if they're off, cellphones allow FBI to listen in - "It should come as no surprise that cellphone calls may be tapped by law enforcement. But authorities also can use cellphones to eavesdrop on suspects, even when the devices are off."
Telephone lie detector claims to catch fibbers - "A new telephone lie detector system promises to pick up on tell-tale signs of stress in a caller's voice whenever they tell a fib. Available for free, the Kishkish lie detector can be easily downloaded from the web and used by those who make phone calls over the internet."
Perez Hilton takes their best shots - "If it turns out that what he does is copyright infringement — rather than a fair use of newsworthy images, as Hilton's attorney claims — it would not only put a serious crimp in the photo-driven field of gossip blogs, but possibly create new case law. "The effect would be to eliminate the ability to comment on and transform photographs under the fair-use exception to the Copyright Act," said Hilton's attorney, Bryan Freedman of Century City. It's one thing to take somebody's copyrighted work and turn around and sell it, he added, but to alter the work to achieve a satiric or humorous end is entirely different and is allowed under the law. ... "The way that Americans get their news and entertainment these days is a whole lot different from waiting for things to get printed, and that's what's at the crux of this whole ordeal," Lum added. "When he says he is fighting for all bloggers, he really is.""
The Virtual Taxman Cometh - "But what about stuff that stays inside the game? If you played WoW for three years and racked up $4,000 worth of avatars and gold, but never cashed out -- should you still be paying annual taxes on your increased value, as if it were income? This is where the rubber hits the road, because the profits currently locked up inside these worlds are becoming big enough -- hundreds of millions at least, and maybe billions -- that they are a juicy target for the IRS."
More Americans hungry, homeless in 2006- mayors - "More Americans went homeless and hungry in 2006 than the year before and children made up almost a quarter of those in emergency shelters, said a report released on Thursday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors."
We are about as smart as we're going to get, says IQ pioneer - "Far from indicating that now we really are getting dumber, this may suggest that certain of our cognitive functions have reached — or nearly reached — the upper limits of what they will ever achieve, Professor Flynn believes. In other words, we can’t get much better at the mental tasks we are good at, no matter how hard we try."
College Women at Risk for Psychiatric Illness at Politically Correct Campuses - "Dr. Anonymous, who chose to keep her identity secret out of fear of professional reprisal, identifies the damage done to women by the feminist ideology that proposes women are psychologically identical to men and encourages sexual promiscuity – as long as it is made “safe” with a condom."
Shorelines may be in greater peril than thought - "Previous estimates of how much the world's sea level will rise as a result of global warming may have seriously underestimated the problem, according to new research."
Penguins offer evidence of global warming - "The first Adelie penguin chicks of the season -- black fluffballs small enough to hold in the hand -- started hatching this month, and the simple fact that there are more of them in the south and fewer of them further north is a sign of global warming, scientists say."
Diabetes breakthrough - "In a discovery that has stunned even those behind it, scientists at a Toronto hospital say they have proof the body's nervous system helps trigger diabetes, opening the door to a potential near-cure of the disease that affects millions of Canadians."
Vegetarians are more intelligent, says study - "A study of thousands of men and women revealed that those who stick to a vegetarian diet have IQs that are around five points higher than those who regularly eat meat. ... There was no difference in IQ between strict vegetarians and those who classed themselves as veggie but still ate fish or chicken. However, vegans - vegetarians who also avoid dairy products - scored significantly lower, averaging an IQ score of 95 at the age of 10."
Race to the Moon for Nuclear Fuel - "NASA's proposed 2024 moon base will be a steppingstone to Mars, but it may also be a mining outpost. The moon is an abundant source of helium-3, a potent fuel for next-generation nuclear reactors. Trouble is, China, India and Russia have their eyes on it too."
Do people need the gizmos we're selling? - "During a recent three-day period, I was exposed to a new robotic vacuum cleaner, a new high-definition version of TiVo, a device to stream movies from a PC to a television, new game consoles, new MP3 players and, yes, even a belt buckle that plays videos. I can't help but wonder if consumers really want all this. Have we gone too far? Are we in step with the needs of today's American consumer? "
Being a celebrity is the 'best thing in the world' say children - "The poll of just under 1,500 youngsters ranked "God" as their tenth favourite thing in the world, with celebrity, "good looks" and being rich at one, two and three respectively."
Silly, Porn Ringtones Are for Adults - "We adults might find them funny and yet decide not to use them because, oh, for example, we have jobs where it would be better not to have our phones saying things like "Did I say you could answer that phone? *smack* No, I did not! *smack*" or playing synthesizer bow-wow music that could only be from a porn soundtrack."
Quote of the Day
"I understand the polls show only 18 percent of the American people support my position. But I have to do what's right... In war, my dear friends, there's no such thing as compromise. You either win or you lose."
~ Senator John McCain
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