March 7, 2007

How Much More Harm Can Bush Do? - "How did the "war on terror" become a war on the Iraqi people? We have heard every answer: intelligence mistakes, incompetence, and evil machinations. Whichever answer we take, the killing and destruction continue. Why? It has recently come to light that the U.S. government has imposed an oil deal on the puppet Iraqi government that turns Iraqi oil over to U.S. and British firms for exploitation. Bush-Cheney have not brought Iraqis democracy, but they have stolen their oil revenues. The profits of the military-industrial complex are soaring, and higher military budgets are being appropriated. The value of Cheney's Halliburton stock options has not merely doubled or tripled but multiplied by a factor of 32."

Iraq refugee: 'I feel disaster' as crisis grows - "Abtan and his family are like hundreds of thousands of other Iraqis who have fled their country amid the deadly violence that has wracked the nation and is creating what the international community calls a growing humanitarian crisis. The United Nations estimates 700,000 Iraqis have fled to Jordan -- more than one-tenth the entire kingdom's population. As many as 1 million more Iraqis are estimated to have sought refuge in Syria, about 120,000 are in Egypt and 40,000 in Lebanon, according to the United Nations."

Impeaching Bush, State by State - "Forget bird flu, impeachment is spreading across the nation, state by state."

Jurors wonder why others weren't also on trial - "A question occupied the jurors in the trial of Lewis "Scooter" Libby as they sat through 14 days of testimony and deliberated for 10 more days: Why is Libby the only person on trial?"

Pentagon closes Guantánamo Bay hearings to media - "Reporters will be barred from hearings that begin Friday in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for the 14 suspected terrorists who were transferred last year from secret CIA prisons, officials said Tuesday."

A Barack-star no more - "Last week Barack Obama performed an inadvertent public service by taking two of my favorite hobbyhorses for a ride round the electoral ring. One was the corrupting power of money in presidential primaries, and the second was demonstrating that the Israel lobby was every bit as powerful as it has traditionally claimed on its website, even as it denounces anyone else who says so."

Aipac Will Press for Hard Line on Iran Regime - "The Democratic-controlled Congress is moving to outflank both the Bush administration and the United Nations with the toughest set of sanctions against Iran that have ever been proposed."

Bush says Chavez's economic model leads to poverty - ""I strongly believe that government-run industry is inefficient and will lead to more poverty," Bush replied to a question on Chavez's economic model, which includes nationalizations and muscular state intervention."

France bans citizen journalists from reporting violence - "The French Constitutional Council has approved a law that criminalizes the filming or broadcasting of acts of violence by people other than professional journalists. The law could lead to the imprisonment of eyewitnesses who film acts of police violence, or operators of Web sites publishing the images, one French civil liberties group warned on Tuesday."

Students, principal hold press conferences in vagina controversy - "The three female high school students suspended for using the word vagina during an open mic night session at their school and the principal who meted out the punishment for what he said was insubordination, not censorship, held dueling press conferences late this afternoon." -- Vagina, vagina, vagina! Idiot.

Dawn of the GM babies? - "Scientists will be able to carry out genetic experiments on human embryos for the first time under controversial Government plans."

One in four older women abused by partner - "A survey of women over the age of 65 in Washington and Idaho found about one-quarter have been the victim of physical, sexual or psychological violence."

Harsh Words Die Hard on the Web - "Though it is difficult to prove a direct link, the woman thinks she is a victim of a new form of reputation-maligning: online postings with offensive content and personal attacks that can be stored forever and are easily accessible through a Google search."

U.S. Lags Behind Other Nations in College Graduates - "U.S. colleges must increase the rate at which they graduate students by more than a third each year or fall 16 million behind the number needed to compete economically with other countries in 2025, the Lumina Foundation for Education said."

Makers of Sodas Try a New Pitch: They’re Healthy - "That may strike some as an oxymoron. But for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, it’s a marketing opportunity."

Diamond star thrills astronomers - "Twinkling in the sky is a diamond star of 10 billion trillion trillion carats, astronomers have discovered. The cosmic diamond is a chunk of crystallised carbon, 4,000 km across, some 50 light-years from the Earth in the constellation Centaurus."

Circumcision may lift HIV risk for women - "Circumcision may reduce men's chances of contracting HIV by up to 60 percent — but early results suggest the procedure may put women at increased risk of infection, according to preliminary data presented Tuesday."

Sexless and Proud - "Asexuals Say They're Misunderstood in a Sex-Obsessed World."

A View to a Kill - "Brace yourself: Every hunt you've ever seen on a nature show has been a scam."

Lottery: Winning tickets sold in Georgia, New Jersey - "At least two people can claim a share of a record $370 million lottery jackpot, and there could be more winners."




Quote of the Day
"I guess I think of lotteries as a tax on the mathematically challenged."
~ Roger Jones