Escalation of US Iran military planning part of six-year Administration push - "In sum, the Bush Administration seems to have concluded that Iran is guilty until proven innocent and continues to maintain that the Persian Gulf belongs to Americans – not to Persians – setting the stage for a potential military strike."
U.S. troops authorized to kill Iranians in Iraq - "The Bush administration has authorized the U.S. military to kill or capture Iranian operatives inside Iraq as part of an aggressive new strategy to weaken Tehran's influence across the Middle East and compel it to give up its nuclear program, according to government and counterterrorism officials with direct knowledge of the effort."
Cheney held up Iraq probe, senator says - "Vice President Dick Cheney exerted ''constant'' pressure on the Republican former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee to stall an investigation into the Bush administration's use of flawed intelligence on Iraq, the panel's Democratic chairman charged Thursday."
Cheney's spokeswoman and Libby tell different stories - "Vice President Dick Cheney's spokeswoman testified she told I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby that a prominent war critic's wife was a CIA employee earlier than Libby has said he first learned the information from a reporter. On the third day of Libby's trial, Cathie Martin became the first member of Cheney's inner circle to contradict statements the former vice presidential aide has made."
Venezuela May Ask U.S. Envoy to Leave - "President Hugo Chavez warned Thursday that the U.S. ambassador could be asked to leave the country if he continues "meddling in Venezuela's affairs.""
Death and Taxes - "Recently a report has surfaced that nearly half a million current and former U.S. federal employees have not filed tax returns and that they collectively owe almost $3 billion. ... A reasonable extrapolation leads me to suspect that the number of individuals who no longer file must be in the millions. Whether they do so out of reluctance to pay taxes, disgust with the government, or abhorrence of the paperwork I cannot say."
Maine revolts against digital U.S. ID card - "Maine lawmakers on Thursday became the first in the nation to demand repeal of a federal law tightening identification requirements for drivers' licenses, a post-September 11 security measure that states say will cost them billions of dollars to administer."
Republican: Scripts need reviewing - "Citing the controversy surrounding the Dakota Fanning film Hounddog, the leader of the state Senate Republicans says he wants the government to review scripts before cameras start rolling in North Carolina." -- Um, no.
Outrageous Injustice - "He's 20 now. Just two years into a 10-year sentence without possibility of parole. ... Once, he was the homecoming king at Douglas County High. Now he's Georgia inmate No. 1187055, convicted of aggravated child molestation. When he was a senior in high school, he received oral sex from a 10th grader. He was 17. She was 15. Everyone, including the girl and the prosecution, agreed she initiated the act. But because of an archaic Georgia law, it was a misdemeanor for teenagers less than three years apart to have sexual intercourse, but a felony for the same kids to have oral sex. ... The position of Barker and the district attorney, McDade, who refused to comment, is that Wilson is guilty under the law and there is no room for mercy, though the facts seem to say they simply chose not to give it to Wilson. At the same time this trial was under way, a local high school teacher, a white female, was found guilty of having a sexual relationship with a student -- a true case of child molestation. The teacher received 90 days. Wilson received 3,650 days." -- Absolutely disgusting. This story should piss you off.
Former principal accused of possession of child porn - "Police say that among the thousands of pictures and movie clips they found on Deussing's computer were images of infants being tortured and raped. Children were forced to have sex with animals, and they also found a so-called snuff film, a movie showing what appears to be the violent murder of a woman. Police also say an animated cartoon on Deussing's computer was designed to teach young children how to have sex with adults."
Boys Face Charges Of Taping Sexual Assault On Children - "Two 13-year-old boys are accused of videotaping themselves sexually assaulting two 5-year-olds and a 3-year-old and also taping sexual contact between three young children, according to Lincoln police. ... The video, police said, shows one of the 13-year-olds using a device on one of the girls while the other teen was operating the camera. When police later reviewed the tape, an investigator said, it appeared the girl was in pain. "The sexual perpetrations of one of the victims was a violent act," Crosby said. The reports show that the video also shows one 5-year-old girl lying on a bed on top of the other 5-year old. The 3-year-old boy is also on the bed, exposed from the waist down, police reports show."
Incarceration Nation - "Viewed through an optimistic lens, the United States might genuinely be at the beginning of a trend toward real criminal justice reform. Meanwhile, millions of Americans have already paid far too high a price for shortsighted penological policies. Floridian Yraida Guanipa is among them."
The Dawkins Delusion - "An Oxford theologian contends that the aggressive rhetoric of Richard Dawkins' books masks a deep insecurity about the public credibility of atheism."
R.I. School Bans Talking at Lunch - "A Roman Catholic elementary school adopted new lunchroom rules this week requiring students to remain silent while eating. The move comes after three recent choking incidents in the cafeteria." -- Jesus Christ.
Ghost brides are murdered to give dead bachelors a wife in the afterlife - "The arrests have exposed a trade that places a higher value on women when they are dead than when they are alive." -- The creator's of the show Daria had it right: Sick, Sad, World.
U.N. climate report will shock the world - ""There are a lot of signs and evidence in this report which clearly establish not only the fact that climate change is taking place, but also that it really is human activity that is influencing that change," R.K. Pachauri, the IPCC chairman, told Reuters."
Global warming possibly linked to an enhanced risk of suicide - "For males, increasing anomalies in monthly average temperatures associated to a higher monthly suicide mean from May to August and, to a lower extent, in November and December. In January, on the other hand, increasing anomalies in monthly average temperatures appeared to be coupled to a lower number of suicides. For females, the links between temperature and suicides are less consistent than for males, and sometimes have a reverse sign, too."
Same-sex classes a growing trend in public schools - "More public school systems are looking at separating boys and girls, whether for certain classes or by entire schools, after the federal government opened the door last fall. Supporters say splitting students by sex minimizes distractions, helps them learn better and allows boys and girls to explore subjects they may not otherwise take."
New dinosaurs: Spelling, conversation skills - "The modern wired family is seeing a few mainstays going the way of the dinosaur: landlines, printed dictionaries, maps, newspapers and, of course, the need to remember phone numbers or learn to spell." -- Pathetic. Particularly the part about spelling.
New York Plans Official City Condom - "Available soon from City Hall: an official New York condom in a jazzy wrapper, perhaps one printed with a colorful subway map or some other city theme."
This Web site can name that tune - "Launching in beta mode on Friday, Midomi allows people to search for a song by singing, humming or whistling a bit of the tune. The site then offers search results that include commercially recorded tracks or versions of the song recorded by others who have used the site. The technology also lets people listen to the exact section of each of the results that matched their voice sample. People also can type in a song title or artist to get results. The system recognizes misspelled words."
Quote of the Day
"Only the poet can look beyond the detail and see the whole picture."
~ Helen Hayes
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