March 23, 2007

Defense spending soars to highest levels since World War II - "As the Iraq war enters a fifth year, the conflict that President Bush's aides once said would all but pay for itself with oil revenues is fueling the highest level of defense spending since World War II."

Army Revises Upward Number of Desertions in ’06 - "A total of 3,196 active-duty soldiers deserted the Army last year, or 853 more than previously reported, according to revised figures from the Army. The new calculations by the Army, which had about 500,000 active-duty troops at the end of 2006, significantly alter the annual desertion totals since the 2000 fiscal year."

New to Job, Gates Argued for Closing Guantánamo - "Mr. Gates’s arguments were rejected after Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and some other government lawyers expressed strong objections to moving detainees to the United States, a stance that was backed by the office of Vice President Dick Cheney, administration officials said."

FOX News Threatens Sheen & Cuban Not to Make Film - "FOX News' Bill O'Reilly warned actor Charlie Sheen not to do narration for a theatrical version of Loose Change, threatening "If he voices this, he's through" and stating plainly, "Don't do this. You're not gonna come back from it if you do." ... Guest Gerald Posner-- also a shill/author for the JFK official story-- slandered that O'Donnell's posting of information about the WTC7 collapse shouldn't be allowed and is like saying the "Holocaust didn't exist." This anti-semitic theme was repeated by he and other guests in attempts to compare Loose Change "propaganda" with that of the 3rd Reich and to link 9/11 Truth with theories that Israel carried out the attacks."

D.C. voting rights stall in House - "House Republicans derailed efforts yesterday to give the District congressional representation when they injected the city's gun ban into the debate and turned an expected vote into a tumult."

Fewer pledge allegiance to the GOP - "What's more, the survey found, public attitudes are drifting toward Democrats' values: Support for government aid to the disadvantaged has grown since the mid-1990s, skepticism about the use of military force has increased and support for traditional family values has decreased. The findings suggest that the challenges for the GOP reach beyond the unpopularity of the war in Iraq and Bush."

Europe claims Israel preparing for war - "One senior European Union official told Assad the Israeli government instructed its major hospitals not to allow staff to take vacation time during the summer months for fear a conflict will break out during that period, according to the Baath party source."

'Bombs more precious than children' - "A 'music video' broadcast on a Palestinian Hamas TV station on Wednesday had a simple message for its viewers: Carrying out a suicide bomb attack is more important than raising one's children."

Woman re-interprets Koran with feminist view - "The new version, translated by an Iranian-American, will be published in April and comes after Muslim feminists from around the world gathered in New York last November and vowed to create the first women's council to interpret the Koran and make the religion more friendly toward women."

Catholic school bans pupils from MySpace - "Friday is the deadline for students at St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic School to follow orders or risk suspension. School Principal Sister Margaret Van Velzen sent letters home to parents this week saying, in part, that if families allow children to continue their MySpace.com sites, they will not be allowed to return to school. The school plans to use its computer-savvy staff members to monitor the site for student activity.The principal declined comment, but St. Hugo office manager Judy Martinek said the principal just wants to keep the students safe." -- Banning them from MySpace doesn't keep them safe you idiot, educating them does.

Son of TIA Will Mine Asian Data - "Nearly four years after Congress pulled the plug on what critics assailed as an Orwellian scheme to spy on private citizens, Singapore is set to launch an even more ambitious incarnation of the Pentagon's controversial Total Information Awareness program -- an effort to collect and mine data across all government agencies in the hopes of pinpointing threats to national security."

Lure of U.S. unravels Mexican family ties - "As the immigration boom enters its third decade, many Mexicans have committed themselves to one side of the border or the other, weakening family ties -- often forever."

Tourists cause global warming - "Holidaymakers may be ruining their favourite destinations through pollution and greenhouse gases, making the tourism industry one of the world's worst polluters, experts say."

SC Advances Bill to Require Ultrasound Before Abortion - "Members voted 91-to-23 on Wednesday in favor of a bill that does not contain any exception for women who are the victims of rape or incest."

World's first 'spinal transplant' carried out - "Spinal discs from accident victims were transplanted into patients with disc degeneration in the cervical spine, the area nearest the neck."

Alcohol joins heroin in danger drug list - "ALCOHOL and tobacco have been given top 10 rankings in a new table of the most dangerous drugs compiled by British experts."

Survey ranks Nevada the most dangerous state... again - "Once again, Nevada has a ranking and reputation Metro isn't too proud of: The most dangerous state in the country."

UFOs flew over Phoenix in '97, Symington says - "Former Gov. Fife Symington says now that those strange lights that appeared over Phoenix a decade ago were from another world and that he had a close encounter with an alien craft on March 13, 1997."

8 Signs Google is Planning to Build a National Wireless Network - "Google tries to hide it, but this article provides 8 reasons why one of the world's most successful companies is trying to build a national wireless network."

British father hang himself on live webcam - "A father of two has filmed himself committing suicide live over the internet via a webcam."

College students to pay more for birth control pills - "Prices for oral contraceptives, or birth control pills, are doubling and tripling at student health centers, the result of a complex change in the Medicaid rebate law that essentially ends an incentive for drug companies to provide deep discounts to colleges."

Harvard abstinence group fights back - "Sometime between the founding of a student-run porn magazine and the day the campus health center advertised “Free Lube,” Harvard University seniors Sarah Kinsella and Justin Murray decided to fight back against what they see as too much mindless sex at the Ivy League school."

America's Next Top (Dead) Model - "You know, this is just fucked. Apparently America's Next Top Model had a recent episode where the models took part in a "beautiful corpses" photoshoot. You can see all the pics here; they are massively disturbing. But perhaps even worse than the pictures of women who are beaten, shot, strangled, drowned, stabbed, decapitated and more, were the reactions of the judges to the pictures: "




Quote of the Day
"Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats."
~ Howard Aiken