News -- September 27, 2006

U.S. gets ‘Sovietized’ - "I recall these past horrors because of what this column has long called the gradual “Sovietization” of the United States. This shameful week, it became clear Canada is also afflicted. We have seen America’s president and vice president, sworn to uphold the Constitution, advocating some of the same interrogation techniques the KGB used at the Lubyanka. They apparently believe beating, freezing, sleep deprivation and near-drowning are necessary to prevent terrorist attacks. So did Stalin. The White House insisted that anyone — including Americans — could be kidnapped and tried in camera using “evidence” obtained by torturing other suspects. Bush & Co. deny the U.S. uses torture but reject the basic law of habeaus corpus and U.S. laws against the evil practice. The UN says Bush’s plans violate international law and the Geneva Conventions. This week’s tentative agreement between Bush and Congress may somewhat limit torture, but exempts U.S. officials from having to observe the Geneva Convention."

Terrorism report's release fuels political fight - "For Republicans, the excerpts of the document -- declassified under orders from President Bush on Tuesday -- are more evidence that Iraq is central to the war on terrorism and can't be abandoned without giving jihadists a crucial victory. For Democrats, the report furthers their argument that the 2003 Iraq invasion has inflamed anti-U.S. sentiments in the Muslim world and left the U.S. less safe."

Sobering Conclusions On Why Jihad Has Spread - "The overall estimate is bleak, with minor notes of optimism. It depicts a movement that is likely to grow more quickly than the West's ability to counter it over the next five years, as the Iraq war continues to breed "deep resentment" throughout the Muslim world, shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and cultivating new supporters for their ideology."

President Hologram - "All tyrannies are similar in one respect; they require a steady flow of propaganda to promote the interests of the state. That same rule applies to dictators, whose “strongman image” is vital to the maintenance of autocratic government and must be supported by a “cult of the personality.” ... This is nothing new; there’s a long tradition of inflating the virtues of the “Dear Leader” while exaggerating his manliness and steely resolve. What is new, however, is selecting a character who is entirely excluded from the policy-making apparatus and then using him as a mere vehicle for ideological extremism. That is new."

Going to War to Save His Own Ass? - "War talk is in the air again, and because of the looming November election, it has to be taken extra seriously."

Tehran denies secret nuke deal - "Iran yesterday said it is not negotiating a secret temporary shutdown of its uranium-enrichment program as part of ongoing talks with the European Union, rebutting Bush administration sources who told The Washington Times that such a deal is being discussed."

Fear the October Surprise - "In any case, the world is in for another six weeks of the greatest danger of nuclear war since the dark days of October of 1962. George 2nd is madder than a hatter. There is a good chance this administration will do anything to prevent the Democrats for taking either the House of Representatives or the Senate. It's entirely possible that Karl Rove will incinerate America before allowing the investigations that would be part and parcel of a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. They are the ones who vote on Impeachment and it's clear to anyone who listens to Americans speak these days, if we lived in a democracy, Bush would be toast."

Democrats defend 'our president' against international criticism - "The pretense that the Democratic Party represents some sort of opposition to the Bush administration was punctured again last week when leading Democrats vociferously condemned the anti-Bush speech given by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to the United Nations General Assembly."

The "Newsweek Cover" Story - "We see four covers of the current issue of Newsweek. There are the covers for Europe, Asia, and South America. And then there is the cover for the United States. The first three are identical. On it there is a most arresting image and a most important headline. The headline says "Losing Afghanistan." The image is a picture of what appears to be an Afghan tribesman with a resolute expression on his face and a menacing-looking mortar-launcher (I believe) in his hands. That's not the cover Newsweek used for the people of the United States, however. For us, the wise and good folks at Newsweek decided that it would be more appropriate to give us a cover with a picture of Annie Liebowitz and her several little kids, along with the headline, "My Life in Pictures." I guess Newsweek operates on a "need to know" basis, right?"

Report’s Startling Conclusion: Bombing People Really Pisses Them Off - "Whew! I’m glad that’s been cleared up."

I Pledge Allegiance to the Corporations... - "A simple summation of a highly complex answer is that powerful reactionary forces are consistently poised to suppress those who dare to challenge the tyranny of the de facto aristocracy and corporatocracy. And they have an extraordinary propaganda machine known as the mainstream media to sustain the myth that the United States is a nation governed by and for “We the People”."

Documents disclose 'shadow government' - ""The documents clearly reveal that SPP, working within the U.S. Department of Commerce, is far advanced in putting together a new regional infrastructure, creating a 'shadow' trilateral bureaucracy with Mexico and Canada that is aggressively rewriting a wide range of U.S. administrative law, all without congressional oversight or public disclosure," Corsi said."

God's boot camp? - "Already, the movie, which opens in L.A. this week, has split the Christian community and horrified those who fear the ascendance of the religious right on the national stage. ... The film's cherub-faced children cheer when asked if they'd be willing to give up their lives for Jesus, pray over a cardboard cutout of President Bush and sob as they plead for an end to abortion. One is home-schooled by a mother who teaches that "science doesn't prove anything.""

New Campaign Ads Have a Theme: Don’t Be Nice - "While Democrats have largely concentrated their efforts on the political records of Republicans, the Republicans have zeroed in more on candidates’ personal backgrounds."

How Progressives Can Win in the Long Run - "Right-wing groups spend ten times more on youth leadership development than progressives do. If we want to win, we need to start investing in the next generation of leaders."

'Border baby' boom strains S. Texas - "Rising numbers of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America are streaming into Texas to give birth, straining hospitals and costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, health officials say."

White House Said to Bar Hurricane Report - " The Bush administration has blocked release of a report that suggests global warming is contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal Nature reported Tuesday."

Psychos Need a Little Sympathy - "It's difficult to empathize with, let alone have sympathy for, a psychopath. But one scientist believes psychopaths, despite their sometimes terrifying behavior, deserve compassion."

Nanotechnology Risks Unknown - "The United States is the world leader in nanotechnology -- the newly blossoming science of making incredibly small materials and devices -- but is not paying enough attention to the environmental, health and safety risks posed by nanoscale products, says a report released yesterday by the independent National Research Council."

Muslim anger fear halts opera - "A leading opera house called off a production of Mozart's "Idomeneo" that features the severed head of the Prophet Mohammed, setting off a furious debate Tuesday over Islam, freedom of speech and the role of art."

Google Video plays school - "The University of California at Berkeley said Tuesday that it is using Google Video to deliver college courses, including lectures and symposia, free of charge."

Home videos, beauty contests and party stunts: the future of mobiles - "Mobile companies have been watching the rapid growth of networking and video-sharing websites such as MySpace and YouTube. They have realised that content created by users themselves might be just what they need to persuade their customers to do more with their phones than make calls and send text messages."

Mozilla releases Firefox 2 RC1 - "Using Firefox 2 is supposed to mean safer surfing. The browser will reportedly detect when a fraudulent site--like a bogus eBay or PayPal--has been accessed and will alert the user with a dialog box and grayed-out window, according to CNET Reviews' initial take on the browser."

Teens' T-Shirts Make Educators Squirm - "They're blatantly sexual, occasionally clever and often loaded with double meanings, forcing school administrators and other students to read provocations stripped across the chest, such as "yes, but not with u!," "Your Boyfriend Is a Good Kisser" and "two boys for every girl." Such T-shirts also are emblematic of the kind of sleazy-chic culture some teenagers now inhabit, in which status can be defined by images of sexual promiscuity that previous generations might have considered unhip."




Quote of the Day
"So we have politicians allowing the brave men and women in the United States armed services to make sacrifice after sacrifice in Iraq to preserve their political reputation. Not to preserve the security of the United States."
~ Scott Ritter

News -- September 26, 2006

A textbook definition of cowardice - "After five years of skirting even the most inarguable of facts — that he was President on 9/11 and he must bear some responsibility for his, and our, unreadiness, Mr. Bush has now moved, unmistakably and without conscience or shame, towards re-writing history, and attempting to make the responsibility, entirely Mr. Clinton’s."

The United States of Barbarism - "Thus, the “commander-in-chief” label automatically swallows up the rest of the Constitution. Yet, as Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh observed, “If the president has commander-in-chief power to commit torture, he has the power to commit genocide, to sanction slavery, to promote apartheid, to license summary execution.” This is the doctrine that the Senate-White House deal largely codifies. It will be up to the president to declare which interrogation methods U.S. agents can use — almost regardless of the Geneva Conventions. It will be up to the president to decree who will face “rough” interrogation. ... The torture scandal shows what happens when politicians and political appointees are permitted to redefine barbarism out of existence. If the government can effectively claim a right to torture, then all other limits on government power are practically irrelevant. What would it take to make the public acquiesce to the torture of Americans? Would simply applying an “odious” label (such as “cult member” at Waco, or “Muslim” with John Walker Lindh) to the victims be sufficient?" -- It is simply amazing that this is happening and the American people allow it.

White House admits Iraq fuels extremism - "The White House acknowledged that Iraq was among several factors that "fuel the spread of jihadism," but said that winning the war would dishearten potential terrorists." -- Unfortunately, it is a war that can not be won.

Iraq is 'cause celebre' for extremists - "In the bleak report, declassified and released Tuesday on Bush's orders, the nation's most veteran analysts conclude that despite serious damage to the leadership of al-Qaida, the threat from Islamic extremists has spread both in numbers and in geographic reach. Bush and his top advisers have said the formerly classified assessment of global terrorism supported their arguments that the world is safer because of the war. But more than three pages of stark judgments warning about the spread of terrorism contrasted with the administration's glass-half-full declarations."

US troop presence keeps neighbors from invading Iraq: Talabani - ""That's one of the main reasons why we think that we need an American presence, even symbolical, in the country to prevent our neighbors attacking us," he said at a forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a Washington think thank."

Olmert says Israel will not accept a nuclear Iran - ""Israel can't accept the possibility of Iranians having nuclear weapons and we will act together with the international forces, starting with the Americans, in order to prevent it," Olmert told The Jerusalem Post daily in an interview. Olmert said he thought U.S. President George W. Bush was "absolutely determined" to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Israel, he added, won't accept a situation in which Iran possesses such arms."

Iran close to nuclear suspension - "Iran is close to an agreement that would include a suspension of uranium enrichment but wants the deal to include a provision that the temporary halt be kept secret, according to Bush administration officials."

Taliban says bin Laden alive: Al Arabiya TV - "Dubai-based Al Arabiya television on Tuesday quoted a Taliban official as saying al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was alive and in good health." -- Of course the Emmanuel Goldstein of our time is still alive.

Bin Laden Rumors Again Come to Nothing - "He was blown up in the caves of Tora Bora. He was on dialysis and dying of kidney disease. He was in the hands of Pakistani intelligence and about to be turned over to the United States. Rumors of Osama bin Laden's death or capture go back years, and they have always proved greatly exaggerated."

American morality scam - "These two examples, and countless others like them, confirm an unfortunate and often dangerous reality: The human mind possesses the capability to rationalize anything, even when the foundations for these rationalizations are built upon specious arguments. ... This is why Bill Clinton’s lying about a sexual affair with a White House intern resulted in impeachment proceedings, while George W. Bush’s lying about the motivations for the war against Iraq has not. This is why concerns over possible price gouging by oil companies, ruthless war profiteering, corrupt elections, or the millions of Americans without health insurance are incessantly diverted by distractions like “gay marriage,” or “wars” against sexually oriented materials."

Detainee Measure to Have Fewer Restrictions - "Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed over the weekend to alter new legislation on military commissions to allow the United States to detain and try a wider range of foreign nationals than an earlier version of the bill permitted, according to government sources."

Vermont Congress candidate calls on Pentagon to arrest Bush, Cheney - "Former Army Lieutenant and candidate for Congress in Vermont, Dennis Morrisseau, today called for the arrest of President Bush and Vice President Cheney by the American military "if necessary" to prevent an unauthorized attack upon the nation of Iran."

Americans Skeptical About Gas Price Drop - "Almost half of all Americans believe the November elections have more influence than market forces. For them, the plunge at the pump is about politics, not economics."

GOP's uptick just in time for Election Day - "There has been a palpable shift in the mood in Washington in recent weeks. No longer are insiders in both parties sharing predictions of a Democratic rout of Republicans."

NYC Mulls Ban on Trans Fats in Eateries - "Three years after the city banned smoking in restaurants, health officials are talking about prohibiting something they say is almost as bad: artificial trans fatty acids. The city health department unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would bar cooks at any of the city's 24,600 food service establishments from using ingredients that contain the artery-clogging substance, commonly listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated oil."

Health insurance is twice inflation rate - "Altman said the rising gap between premium growth and wages is particularly startling when one takes a longer look back. Since 2000, health insurance premiums have gone up 78 percent; wages 20 percent."

Global Temperature Highest in Millennia - "The planet's temperature has climbed to levels not seen in thousands of years, warming that has begun to affect plants and animals, researchers report in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

Moving Beyond String Theory - "Strings are far from the only game in town. There are other, potentially equally promising approaches to unifying physics' two seemingly incompatible visions of the cosmos: general relativity and quantum mechanics."

Computers taught to sort opinion from fact - "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is funding a research project designed to teach computers to scan text and then sort opinion from fact."

Researchers Make Embryonic Stem Cells From Dead Human Embryo - "Scientists say they have made an embryonic stem cell line from a human embryo who died naturally. If so, they claim to have found another possibility for obtaining embryonic stem cells without purposefully destroying human life -- which prompts pro-life advocates to object to the research."

Tall Women More Likely to Have Twins - "A researcher who specializes in multiple-birth pregnancies has confirmed that taller women are more likely to have twins."

Teacher: Reprisals began after field trip - "A veteran Frisco art teacher says school administrators have retaliated against her because a student reportedly saw a nude sculpture during a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art. ... Ms. McGee told the board that the principal of Fisher Elementary School criticized her performance and threatened her job after a parent complained about the April field trip." -- I hate the fact that this country is so fucking afraid of nudity.

How To Land A Rich Man - "Apparently the entire feminist movement was some sort of hoax. Or so the recent rash of dating gurus and their controversial guidebooks on landing a rich guy would have you believe. Never mind equality, these women want money--and lots of it."

Women 'climax' more during lesbian sex - "While women often complain of their spouses’ inability to help them experience orgasm on a frequent basis, a recent survey reveals that females are more likely to ‘climax’ during lesbian sex than straight sex."

Vaccine aims to wipeout ear, sinus infections - "U.S. researchers said Tuesday that they are starting trials of a new vaccine aimed at wiping out childhood ear and sinus infections and many cases of bronchitis in adults."

Surgeons to Operate in Zero-Gravity - "Without gravity, things could float around." -- He's brilliant.




Quote of the Day
"History, as we know it, is a lie."
~ John Loengard, Dark Skies

News -- September 25, 2006

Newsweek International Covers -- Check out the left column: both the covers and the headlines.

Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terrorism Threat - "A stark assessment of terrorism trends by American intelligence agencies has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks." -- Duh.

Democrats: Leaked intel shows U.S. needs new leadership - "Democrats seized on leaks from an intelligence assessment that said the Iraq war has increased the terrorist threat, saying it provided further evidence that Americans should choose new leadership in the November elections."

Cheney says Democrats soft on national security - "Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday accused Democrats of being soft in the war on terrorism with a strategy of "resignation and defeatism in the face of determined enemies.""

Torture in Iraq 'worse than under Saddam' - "Torture in Iraq is worse now than it was under the regime of Saddam Hussein and "is totally out of hand", according to a United Nations investigator. "The situation is so bad many people say it is worse than it has been in the times of Saddam Hussein," said Manfred Nowak, a UN special investigator on torture, at a press conference in Geneva."

Take Your Torture and Go, George - "For God's sake, take your torture program and go. Take your secret prisons, your attack dogs, your electrodes, your water boards, your feeding tubes, your ceiling restraints, your whipping wires, your excruciating music, your sleep deprivation, your hobbles and cuffs. Take all such instruments and go. They're making things much worse, as I will show you."

BOYS GONE WILD - "Right-wing Republicans are weird. When gays and lesbians want to marry and raise kids in the suburbs, the right-wingers freak out. "Perverts!" they scream at these bland strivers. But when supposedly straight soldiers in the army, marines and CIA engage in male-on-male rape and other acts of homosexual sadism so bizarre and extreme they turn off the average, gay-marriage-craving civilian, Republican legislators think it's the best thing ever. ... Of course, America's state media censored the most disturbing images. Hundreds of photos showed sex acts between and among soldiers and detainees. Male prisoners were videotaped while being forced to masturbate and have sex with one another. They were forced to wear women's underwear. U.S. soldiers, CIA torturers and private mercenaries hired by the Bush Defense Department sodomized them with flashlights and possibly broomsticks. They were kept naked for days at a time. Some were smeared with feces."

Crisis Is Upon Us - "How can Bush administration war plans be reconciled with expert opinion that the consequences would be too dire for the U.S.? Perhaps the answer is that what appears as irrationality to experts is rationality to neoconservatives. Neocons seek maximum chaos and instability in the Middle East in order to justify long-term U.S. occupation of the region. Following this line of thought, neocons would regard the loss of a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf as a way to solidify public support for the war. American anger at the Iranians could even result in support for a military draft in order to win "the war on terror.""

US forces in Iraq to exceed 140,000 - "US officials said on Monday that American troop levels in Iraq were likely to remain well above 140,000 for the next few months, although they would not confirm reports that the 3,500-strong First Armoured Division had been ordered to remain in Iraq beyond its official tour of duty."

Egypt to begin nuclear programme - "On Thursday, Francis J. Ricciardone, the US ambassador to Egypt, said that the United States would have no objection to Egypt's peaceful use of nuclear energy."

Opec considers drop in output - "Oil exporting countries may consider a cut in output after crude prices fell below $60 a barrel on Monday for the first time in six months."

Will Democrats Ever Fight for What's Right? - "Thus, the election campaign of the next eight weeks will be very predictable. George Bush and the Republicans will raise security threats to orange and red, accuse the Democrats of wanting to "cut and run" from Iraq, and preach the old-time religion of tax cuts. The Democrats will complain that Bush isn't enacting enough Homeland Security measures (guarding our ports, bus stations, etc.) and that he bungled the war in Iraq. They will accuse Bush of giving away the farm to his wealthy pals, but they won't propose transferring much more than pocket change from rich to poor. And on Election Day, more than half of those eligible won't vote."

U.S. to Relax Air Travel Restrictions - "The government is relaxing its ban against carrying liquids and gels onto airliners, instituted after a plot to bomb jets flying into the United States was foiled, an administration official said Monday." -- Which means it was originally all bullshit.

Crude Awakening - "When the Taliban, the most anti-woman militia in Afghanistan's civil war, took over the country in 1996, they immediately forced women to leave their jobs, banned work outside the home, prohibited females from attending school and put women under house arrest, unable to go out in public unless accompanied by a close male relative and wearing a head-to-toe burqa. Women who violated Taliban decrees were beatened, imprisoned, even killed. Despite this, the U.S. government was on the fast track to recognize this unelected, oppressive regime as Afghanistan’s official government, and to prop up the militia with millions of taxpayer dollars. Why? In a word: oil."

The real reasons to hate the Pope - "The tragedy is that when there are so many good reasons to hate Joseph Ratzinger, this week’s rioters have chosen one of the few bogus ones. For over a decade now, he has been one of the primary defenders of priests who go to the poorest, most vulnerable people in the world and tell them condoms are the cause of AIDS. In the past year, I have sat in two Catholic churches thousands of miles apart and listened while a Catholic priest told illiterate people with no alternative sources of information that condoms come pre-infected with AIDS and are the reason people die of it. In Bukavu, a crater-city in Congo, and in the slums ringing Caracas, Venezuela, people believed it. They told me they “would not go to Heaven” if they used condoms, and that condoms contain tiny invisible holes through which the virus passes – the advice their priest had doled out. ... However much he swears it is not, this argument is deeply anti-Enlightenment. The central insight of the Enlightenment is that there are two fundamentally different ways to understand the world. One is divine revelation, where a being contacts you from another realm and discloses some truth. (Another word for this is ‘hallucination’). The second method is reason – observing the world empirically, and drawing conclusions from the things we observe. The ultimate expression of reason is the scientific method. These approaches are fundamentally contrasting, and you cannot simply weld them together with contorted theological trickery."

Enough With the 'One God' Stuff - "In the world today, one ancient religious ideology, monotheism, stands out as especially dangerous, repressive and loony. ... But monotheism posits one omnipotent, lonely sucker all by himself -- "the sky god" as Gore Vidal once called him. The first five books of the Hebrews' Bible reveal, not surprisingly, that the sky god is often angry, jealous, vengeful, and even murderous -- regularly toying with, manipulating and punishing the puny beings he creates to worship and amuse him. Not surprisingly, he's a self-absorbed ascetic who invents for his "children" bizarre, impossible-to-comply-with rules governing a multitude of tiny details of daily life. Sometimes he goes berserk about minor infractions; frequently he ignores major violations of his own rules. He's the original bad father, threatening awful punishments, with no wife, lover, siblings, friends, co-workers, neighbors or relatives to reign him in. Early Christians and then Muslims added to monotheism the great creative innovation of the promise of eternal life. A person gets to live forever if, and only if, that person closely follows the sky god's rules. This made monotheism much easier to sell, especially when coupled with the offer of extra credit toward salvation for converting others. It also made monotheism fantastically effective in motivating, inspiring, controlling and ruling people. Fueled by the monotheists' inexhaustible missionary zeal, in nearly 2,000 years this peculiar ideology has spread throughout much of the globe."

Global warming fear lights fire under Congress - "But the mounting scientific evidence that human activity is causing global temperatures to rise coupled with a growing public alarm -- fueled by former Vice President Gore's climate change documentary, "Inconvenient Truth," this summer -- has forced lawmakers to take up the issue."

Messages that go `poof' after sending them - "A hallmark of "Mission: Impossible" was the message that would self-destruct after a spy played it. Now a startup communications company promises that same level of secrecy with a Web-based messaging system designed to leave no traces."

What if Bionics Were Better - ""I would be inclined to go through with some pretty radical conceptual self-improvement procedures," Garner said. "I think of cosmetic surgery as collaborative art.... And when I next have disposable income, I'll be back in the O.R." ... Such desire for radical body transformation remains very much on the fringe, and represents behavior that many if not most people would consider taboo. But the distance between denial and acceptance could turn as much on what current machines can and can't do, as it does body image."

Grow Your Own Limbs - "In response to the hundreds of soldiers coming home from war with missing arms or legs, Darpa is spending millions of dollars to help scientists learn how people might one day regenerate their own limbs."

Is there anybody out there? How the men from the ministry hid the hunt for UFOs - "The Ministry of Defence went to extraordinary lengths to cover up its true involvement in investigating UFOs, according to secret documents revealed under the Freedom of Information Act."




Quote of the Day
"It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government."
~ Thomas Paine

News -- September 23, 2006

America legalizes torture - "This could not possibly have worked out any worse …"

Our Torturer-in-Chief - "If in doubt, take any of the "alternative" methods that Bush wants to use on U.S. detainees and imagine someone using those methods on your son or daughter. If the bad guys captured your son and tossed him, naked, into a cell kept at a temperature just slightly higher than an average refrigerator, then repeatedly doused him with ice water to induce hypothermia, would that be OK? What if they shackled him to a wall for days so he couldn't sit or lie down without hanging his whole body weight on his arms? What if they threatened to rape and kill his wife, or pretended they were burying him alive? What if they did all these things by turns? Would you have any problem deciding that these methods are cruel? Behind the antiseptic talk of "alternatives," "dietary modification" and "stress positions" lie methods designed to break human bodies and human minds. Legally and morally, many of the alternative interrogation methods championed by our president are torture, plain and simple. And there is no doubt at all that they're cruel, inhuman and degrading. ... After all, Common Article 3 is not exactly a recent innovation in international law. It's been around, with the very same language, since 1949, and the U.S. has never seen any problem with it before. We signed and ratified the Geneva Convention in 1949; in fact, American diplomats helped draft the language. And the War Crimes Act was passed overwhelmingly by a Republican-controlled Congress in 1996. There's nothing unexpected or vague about any of this. We know the article prohibits torture and the "torture lite" favored by the White House."

Backroom Deals in the Corridors of Power. Torturers Now Shielded from Prosecution - "On FOX & Friends First hosts Steve Doocy, Alisyn Camerota and Brian Kilmeade reported that the Bush administration and four recalcitrant Republican Sentators - John McCain, John Warner, Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham - have reached an agreement on the wording of a Senate bill that seeks to "clarify" the Geneva Convention's Article 3. After an all-day confab yesterday at the White House, a compromise was worked out that whitewashes what has been done to other human beings in our name and protects government-paid torturers from prosecution. Torquemada - the Spanish "hammer" against heresy - is cackling in the bowels of hell!"

Bushfraud Diversion - "Yesterday’s story leaked by U.S. Media that Bush threatened to bomb Pakistan after 9-11 is a diversion from the real story. The real story is that Musharraf, Pakistani President, knows that Bin Laden is dead and knows where he is buried. And knows that the bogeyman has gone to his maker aka kidney failure, Jan. 2002. It can now be reported that Bushfraud threatened to bomb Pakistan just one week ago when Musharraf threatened to tell the world that Bin Laden has been dead for three years."

France Looks Into bin Laden Death Report - "The French defense ministry on Saturday called for an internal investigation of the leak of an intelligence document that raises the possibility that Osama bin Laden may have died of typhoid in Pakistan a month ago but said the report of the death remained unverified."

As Crazy as It Sounds - "As crazy as it sounds, President George Bush might be planning to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities. ... The scariest part of this scenario is that Bush and his war hawks seem to believe that the Iranian people will blame their own government for the American attack, overthrow it and install a new government that will be eager to jump into bed with the U.S and Israel. That's really nuts."

The Global Community is Threatened with Endless Conflicts and Wars - "In a world scarred by violent conflicts and ideological confrontations, made worse by religious misinterpretations and cultural extremism and bigotry, the global community is threatened with endless conflicts and wars. The United Nations, set up to prevent wars and to achieve peaceful solutions to world conflicts has been denigrated by the very nations which founded it. Now peace is getting even further from becoming a reality. We are still primitive beacuse we believe in killing people to solve our problems."

'Egypt will pursue nuclear energy' - "President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday called for Egypt to pursue nuclear energy, as the US ambassador said Washington would be willing to help its Mideast ally develop a peaceful program."

One in Three in Poll Still Think Saddam Was Involved in 9/11 - "Who could guess, for example, amid pundit claims that most Americans favor harsh treatment of detainees abroad to help the war on terror, that 56% in the poll say that torture is always wrong and only 35% say it might "sometimes" be acceptable? By 63% to 32% they favor following international agreements on torture and not our own rules. And 49% want public criminal charges for terrorists as opposed to 46% favoring secret military proceedings. One of the more amazing results, though much in line with other surveys, is that almost one in three still say that Saddam Hussein "was personally involved" in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S."

Will The Next Election Be Hacked? - "Fresh disasters at the polls -- and new evidence from an industry insider -- prove that electronic voting machines can't be trusted."

Senator concerned about who will cut his grass - "Frist's main concern in the debate about the illegal immigration workers is who will cut his grass and maintain the landscape on his 5 billion dollar estate nestled in the country side of Tennessee (Pictured above). Senator Frist has noted that his entire landscaping crew is Hispanic in origin and that they are instrumental in maintaining the lawns on his estate."

Poll: Only 7 percent want Olmert as PM - "However, if one would like to believe the public opinion polls published in the newspapers ahead of Rosh Hashana, Olmert has good reasons to be concerned: The public, it appears, does not see him as the most suitable person anymore."

Villains of the Vatican - "Popes have only officially been infallible since 1870. The tradition, however, stretches back much further, and is part of Catholicism's eternal efforts to depict its leader as a holy man with a hotline to heaven; someone who is head and shoulders - in matters of faith and morals - above the rest of us, as we fall prey to secular whims, sexual urges and the blandishments of the devil. So each new incumbent is, in theory, as good as hand-picked by God. Which, unfortunately, means that even God himself is not infallible. For some of the men he has anointed have, like Benedict XVI, a habit of saying or doing the wrong thing, especially when it comes to their relationships with other faiths."

An Evolving Faith - "One might get the impression from such debate that if Darwin was right about biology, then God doesn't exist. Yet a broad and formidable intellectual tradition militates against such a conclusion. Some see evolution and religion as complementary in that they involve different types of knowledge and aspects of existence; the late paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould argued for this position, which he called "nonoverlapping magisteria." Others make arguments that evolution and religion are not just compatible but interrelated; one such view, stated by Anglican theologian and biochemist Arthur Peacocke, is that God operates "in, with and under" the evolutionary process."

Rewriting our religious history - "Why are many religious conservatives obsessed with invoking the Founding Fathers? That is, why is there such a brisk book trade in re-examining the founders’ lives? For the religious conservatives, the fight is about proving that America was set up as a Christian nation. And their efforts to rewrite American history are paying off, since a recent Pew Forum survey found that 67 percent of Americans believe this falsehood."

Believers say atheism no longer a 'dirty word' - "Horrified by escalating religious violence and alarmed by the Bush administration's "faith-based initiatives," which make government money available to religious organizations, atheists are coming out of the closet -- and organizing."

Violent Crime Rate Goes Up for First Time in 15 Years Following Massive GOP Cuts for Law Enforcement - "In addition to the jump in violent crime overall, the rates also increased last year for murder, robbery, and aggravated assault. The rates for every category dropped steadily under President Clinton and his massive funding boosts for law enforcement."

Proposed Ordinance asks Each Household to Have a Firearm - "The proposed ordinance is modeled after a similar plan that went into place in 1982 in Kennesaw, Ga. In that instance there was a dramatic decrease in criminal activity. Although crime isn't a huge problem for residents of Greenleaf, the growth in neighboring counties leads them to believe they too are in for some changes."

CDC Backs HIV Test for All Between 13-64 - "All Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 should be routinely tested for HIV to help catch infections earlier and stop the spread of the deadly virus, federal health recommendations announced Thursday say."

More TVs Than People in Average Home - " That threshold was crossed within the past two years, according to Nielsen Media Research. There are 2.73 TV sets in the typical home and 2.55 people, the researchers said." -- My family is bringing the average down.

High school's dances grind to a halt - ""It's feigning a sex act," Connolly said. But some students and parents don't see it that way. They say that like the jitterbug and disco before it, grinding is just a sign of the times."




Quote of the Day
"Democracies have certain things in common. They have a rule of law, and protection of minorities, a free press, and a viable political opposition."
~ President George W. Bush

Before You Enlist!

News -- September 21, 2006

Bush vows to hunt down bin Laden -- even in Pakistan - " "Osama bin Laden is in hiding and we're still spending a lot of time trying to find him," he said." -- Orwell rolls in his grave.

Mr Bush's mirage - "Anyone who seriously wanted to establish a model democracy in the Middle East would look first at Egypt. Nobody in their right mind would ever have considered Iraq as a possible model. Egypt is not only the most populous Arab country but it has the building blocks: a long-established parliamentary and electoral system (rigged, of course, but that could be changed), political parties that are not based on tribe, ethnicity or (for the most part) religion, numerous civil society institutions (albeit, many of them currently monopolised by the government) and, above all, genuine home-grown movements pressing for democracy. There are certainly many obstacles, such as the institutionalised corruption, but - more than any other Arab country - Egypt has the basic materials to work with. Instead of providing real support and encouragement for Egyptian activists and cracking the whip over Mubarak, the Bush administration chose to pursue its democratic fantasies elsewhere, in all the least promising places." -- The Iraq war is not about bringing democracy to the Middle East.

U.S. public takes dim view of job Congress is doing - "With less than seven weeks to go until the midterm elections, Americans have a distinctly negative view of the Republican-controlled Congress, with overwhelming majorities saying they disapprove of the job it is doing and that its members do not deserve re-election this fall, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll."

House acts to require voters to prove citizenship - "In a move to crack down against illegal immigrants voting in U.S. elections, the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to require Americans to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections."

War Is Horrible, but . . . - "Anyone who has done even a little reading about the theory and practice of war, whether in political theory, international relations, theology, history, or common journalistic commentary, has encountered a sentence of the form “war is horrible, but . . . .” In this construction, the phrase that follows the conjunction explains why a certain war was (or now is or someday will be) an action that ought to have been (or ought to be) undertaken notwithstanding its admitted horrors. The frequent, virtually formulaic use of this expression attests that nobody cares to argue, say, that war is a beautiful, humane, uplifting, or altogether splendid course of action and therefore the more often people fight, the better."

Goodbye Pill. Hello Sterilization. - "They're not alone. Dr. P.J. Mitchell, an obstetric surgeon in Nanaimo B.C., sees "maybe seven or eight women a week" who are considering tubal ligation: women both with and without children. "As many as 90 per cent of them go ahead with the surgery after receiving all the facts," he says. "Little seems to challenge their decisions.""

Many U.S. Couples Seek Embryo Screening - "Boy or girl? Almost half of U.S. fertility clinics that offer embryo screening say they allow couples to choose the sex of their child, the most extensive survey of the practice suggests. ... "There are thousands of babies born now that we know are going to be free of lethal and/or devastating genetic diseases. That's a good thing," he said. However, the survey findings also confirm many ethicists' fears that Americans increasingly are seeking "designer babies" not just free of medical defects but also possessing certain desirable traits."

What's Really Propping Up The Economy - "Since 2001, the health-care industry has added 1.7 million jobs. The rest of the private sector? None"

Woman jailed for months over $700 fine - "A U.S. woman held in jail for seven months longer than her original sentence because she was too poor to pay a $705 fine was freed on Wednesday, her attorney said."

Tweaked Firefox Lets You Surf Internet Without a Trace - "A tweaked version of Firefox that makes Web browsing anonymous has been released by a group of privacy-minded coders."

Royal Society tells Exxon: stop funding climate change denial - "In an unprecedented step, the Royal Society, Britain's premier scientific academy, has written to the oil giant to demand that the company withdraws support for dozens of groups that have "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence"."

DeVos wants schools to be able to teach intelligent design - "Republican gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos says he thinks Michigan's science curriculum should include a discussion about intelligent design, although he wouldn't require that it be taught in science classes. He says he'd like to see local school districts continue to be able to teach intelligent design if they choose to. He says teaching intelligent design along with evolution would help students discern the facts among different theories."

Skeleton Sheds Light on Ape-Man Species - "In a discovery sure to fuel an old debate about our evolutionary history, scientists have found a remarkably complete skeleton of a 3-year-old female from the ape-man species represented by "Lucy." The remains found in Africa are 3.3 million years old, making this the oldest known skeleton of such a youthful human ancestor."

Beliefwatch: 12/21/12 - "Followers of New Age spirituality have long turned to indigenous religions for wisdom and inspiration, so it has not escaped their notice that something big happens in 2012: the ancient and complex Mayan calendar—studied by astrology, spirituality and history buffs alike—has chugged along for 1,872,000 days, and its cycle stops (and restarts) on Dec. 21, 2012."

Cousteau: Irwin's tactics 'misleading' - "But, he added, Irwin would "interfere with nature, jump on animals, grab them, hold them, and have this very, very spectacular, dramatic way of presenting things. Of course, it goes very well on television. It sells, it appeals to a lot people, but I think it's very misleading. You don't touch nature, you just look at it. And that's why I'm still alive. I've been diving over 61 years - a lot many more years that he's been alive - and I don't mess with nature.""

One in 5 Americans wants cosmetic surgery someday - ""People are becoming more aware of cosmetic surgery and its benefits," Knezovich said, noting that an individual's change in appearance may make them feel better, which can consequently lead to their increased performance."

Second-hand smoke exposure boosts miscarriage risk - "Pregnant women who are exposed to second-hand smoke may be at heightened risk for suffering miscarriages, according to research from Sweden."

Kindergarten rhyming book stirs controversy - "A book of old-time playground rhymes recently distributed to the state’s kindergarten classes as part of an annual literacy program has created a stir because of its "rough-around-the-edges" verses that some parents and educators are calling inappropriate and rude. ... Girls go to Mars to get candy bars. Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider."

Motorola unveils phone vending machines - "The vending machinelike stores unveiled Wednesday will carry about 30 products, initially including 12 phones and 18 accessories, said Bob Many, Motorola's director of automated retailing."

Man gets home confinement for groping - "A man accused of fondling home health care nurses while posing as a mentally retarded person who needed diapers changed has been sentenced to a year on home confinement."




Quote of the Day
"I don't hate America. In fact, think it's one of the best countries anyone ever stole."
~ Mikey Z.

News -- September 20, 2006

Bush Desperate To Legislate Mengele Style Torture - "The Bush administration's desperation to legitimize and legislate torture in the face of revolt from Congress, the Senate and even Colin Powell, is an attempt to rescue the need to have a constant supply of phony intelligence obtained from torture to justify the war on terror - while the real horror of how the administration advocates sexually mutilating children under the same legal definition remains hidden from the U.S. public. ... It is common knowledge that evidence obtained from torture is completely unreliable and if anything only muddies the waters of intelligence. The Neo-Con architects of the war on terror could not care less whether the information obtained from torture is accurate or not, the agenda is to artificially manufacture the myth that there are numerous Al-Qaeda cells dotted around the world wanting to attack America." -- Disgusting.

Call Cruelty What It Is - "President Bush is urging Congress to let the CIA keep using "alternative" interrogation procedures -- which include, according to published accounts, forcing prisoners to stand for 40 hours, depriving them of sleep and use of the "cold cell," in which the prisoner is left naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees and doused with cold water. Bush insists that these techniques are not torture -- after all, they don't involve pulling out fingernails or applying electric shocks. He even says that he "would hope" the standards he's proposing are adopted by other countries. But before he again invites America's enemies to use such "alternative" methods on captured Americans, he might benefit from knowing a bit of their historical origins and from hearing accounts of those who have experienced them. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for the president's reading list." -- It amazes me how far this country has fallen in such little time.

Bush’s cruel and degrading presidency - "Washington is a moral swamp. When the chief executive can stand at the presidential podium and make an unabashed appeal for torture, then the American dream is dead. ... Who could ever have imagined the President of the United States making the case for torture like some flannel-mouth medicine man at a tent show?"

Control the Dictionary, Control the World - "Clinton tried to fudge the truth when he claimed he'd "never had sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," but he felt he could get away with that language because, in his mind, he defined "sexual relations" as referring to vaginal intercourse. Bush, with a straight face, tells us that he has never authorized torture, and he thinks he can get away with that lie because the public is mostly unaware that his administration has totally altered the definition of "torture.""

Mind Games - "I have no idea who Duffy's sources are, but there are at least two possibilities: The Bush administration really is gearing up for war, and some dissenting officers want to sound the alarm and rouse opposition. Or the administration wants to make the Iranians think an attack is brewing in order to pressure them into a diplomatic solution. The second scenario seems the saner of the two. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the more likely, but let's roll it out."

Cheney Says Hopes of World Rest on U.S. - "Vice President Dick Cheney cast the global war on terror on Tuesday as a "war of nerves," borrowing a phrase Harry Truman used to describe the Cold War. Cheney asserted that the hopes of the civilized world depend on a U.S. victory." -- How egocentric is that comment?

Bush owes us an apology - "With increasing rage, he and his administration have begun to tell us, we are not permitted to disagree with them, that we cannot be right, that Colin Powell cannot be right. And then there was that one, most awful phrase. In four simple words last Friday, the President brought into sharp focus what has been only vaguely clear these past five-and-a-half years - the way the terrain at night is perceptible only during an angry flash of lightning, and then, a second later, all again is dark. “It's unacceptable to think," he said. It is never unacceptable to think. And when a President says thinking is unacceptable, even on one topic, even in the heat of the moment, even in the turning of a phrase extracted from its context, he takes us toward a new and fearful path -- one heretofore the realm of science fiction authors and apocalyptic visionaries."

How Bad Is He? - "No one predicted just how radical a president George W. Bush would be. ... The sharpest criticism he made of Clinton's foreign policy was that he would be more mindful of the civil liberties of Arabs accused of terrorism: "Arab-Americans are racially profiled in what's called secret evidence. People are stopped, and we got to do something about that." This statement was not an off-the-cuff remark, but carefully crafted and presented in one of the debates with Vice President Al Gore."

Sick to Death of Bush - "From this moral high ground, the United States is assuring the world that a new facility for researching a horror shop of weaponized infectious diseases will be used purely for defensive purposes. The National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center’s (NBACC) $128 million, 160,000-square-foot facility is under construction at Fort Detrick, Md. There, the United States has already weaponized more than a dozen diseases—including anthrax, plague, botulism and ebola—and bioengineered war-friendly “improvements.” Scientists are also using DNA-synthesizing techniques to fabricate genetically altered or man-made viruses, and to study the feasibility of creating germ weapons targeting particular ethnicities. ... According to the Department of Defense, the secrecy surrounding the Fort Detrick expansion is necessary for national security. The interests of the public, administration officials argue (as they did to defend NSA spying), would be compromised by legislative and judicial meddling—a.k.a. the constitutionally mandated balance of powers. Odds are the Fort Detrick research exceeds the purely defensive, rendering the CBW treaty as quaint as the Geneva Conventions barring torture. But even if the research conformed to law, what nation would believe that the United States abides by treaty obligations that limit its “war on terror”? The possibilities for disaster are plentiful. By undermining the treaty, the United States greenlights other nations and groups to similarly “defend” themselves. And compared with making and delivering nukes, creating and distributing biowarfare agents is dead simple. A competent scientist with a good lab can cook up enough to sicken and kill thousands, perhaps millions." -- This should concern everyone.

Bill Would Remove Grounds for Impeachment, Bush Critics Suggest - "According to one anti-Bush group, the bill "would pardon President Bush for breaking the law by illegally wiretapping innocent Americans without warrants.""

The Presidential IQ Report - "According to statements in the report, there have been twelve presidents over the past 60 years, from F. D. Roosevelt to G. W. Bush who were all rated based on scholarly achievements, writings that they alone produced without aid of staff, their ability to speak with clarity, and several other psychological factors which were then scored in the Swanson/Crain system of intelligence ranking. The study determined the following IQs of each president as accurate to within five percentage points:" -- Very interesting. Especially the differences between the two parties.

Next Stop: Conscription - "Meanwhile, “centrist” Republicans and Democrats alike are promoting a “Universal Service” program in which all 18-year-olds of both sexes would be required to give a year or two of federally approved “service” as a condition of college admission. This would likely include a military reserve commitment and the option of active-duty service in the military." -- In other words: a draft.

Pope has joined US crusade, says Iran - "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday accused the Pope of committing the world's biggest Christian church to what he claimed was a "crusade" launched by President Bush against Islam."

At U.N., Chavez calls Bush 'the devil' - ""The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address on Tuesday and making the sign of the cross. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."" -- And that's what pisses me off the most: the Bush Adminstration does believe they are the owners of the world.

Iran's Ahmadinejad: 'Can't we just be friends?' - "In what might be construed as a charm offensive–at least an effort to lay out a less confrontational tone before Americans–Ahmadinejad asked, "Can't we just be friends?" He added, "We are in favor of dialogue … but under fair conditions." The Iranian president called as well for more society-to-society exchanges, including by scientists and policy specialists."

Dobbs: Voting machines put U.S. democracy at risk - "As of right now, there is little assurance your vote will count. As we've been reporting almost nightly on my broadcast for more than a year, electronic voting machines are placing our democracy at risk. Across the nation, eight out of every 10 voters will be casting their ballots this November on electronic voting machines. And these machines time and again have been demonstrated to be extremely vulnerable to tampering and error, and many of them have no voter-verified paper trail."

The Greatest Scam of All Time - "Washington's Enron-style accounting is now so widespread and so deeply ingrained, the nation could be bankrupt and not even know it. You go to work. You save and invest. You vote in the November election. And you assume that everything is business as usual. Then, one day, you wake up to the shocking discovery that it's not."

US deficit widens more than forecast - "The US current account deficit widened more than forecast last quarter to the second-largest on record as the trade gap expanded and more interest was paid to overseas investors, a government report showed."

MBA students likelier to cheat - "MBA students in Canada and the United States are more likely to cheat than students in other disciplines because they believe it is how the business world operates — and because they believe their peers cheat, according to a new study." -- The speed of the fall increases.

US federal judge declares boating illegal in all US navigable waters - "In a rather bizarre ruling that has marine industry officials worried, Judge Robert G. James of the United States District Court, Western Division of Louisiana, has said that it is criminal trespass for the American boating public to boat, fish, or hunt on the Mississippi River and other navigable waters in the US. ... The shallows of the navigable waters are no longer open to the public. That, in effect, makes boating illegal across most of the country."

America's Africa Corps - "The United States is moving closer to setting up an Africa Command to secure the rear flank of its global "war on terrorism", with eyes trained on vital oil reserves and lawless areas where terrorists have sought safe haven to regroup and strike against its interests."

Colorado State professor disputes global warming is human-caused - "Gray, who is a professor at Colorado State University, said human-induced global warming is a fear perpetuated by the media and scientists who are trying to get federal grants."

Professor is man of many battles - "If they cannot achieve economic and social equality under the current system, then they should seize political control by winning elections, he wrote in his latest book. If that fails, they should carve out a separate nation called Aztlan."

Gonzales Wants ISPs to Save User Data - "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday that Congress should require Internet providers to preserve customer records, asserting that prosecutors need them to fight child pornography." -- It always begins as "for the safety of the children."

Calif. sues 6 carmakers over greenhouse gases - "California filed suit against Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and three other carmakers on Wednesday, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have cost the state millions of dollars."

Scammers pretend to be fraud investigation agents for Visa and MasterCard in order to obtain credit card security codes. - " You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number."

Birth-control patch label warns of risk - "Women were warned Wednesday that their risk of blood clots in the legs and lungs may be higher if they use the birth-control patch instead of the pill."

Acne treatment could be trigger factor in suicide, say researchers - " An acne treatment blamed for triggering suicides in severely affected young people has been shown to cause depressive behaviour in animal tests, say researchers. The finding lends support to claims that the drug, not the acne, may have led to the affected individuals taking their own lives."

Music lessons help young child memories - "Parents who spend time and money to teach their children music, take heart -- a new Canadian study shows young children who take music lessons have better memories than their nonmusical peers."

A Question of Mind Over Matter - "The prosthetics of the future are more than physical attachments, they're intertwined with the human mind. They communicate with muscles, nerves and even neurons. And some of them are available today."

Restaurant at end of universe not so far off - "Executives and government officials meet to discuss commercializing space exploration. Hint: There will be a Starbucks."




Quote of the Day
"I know there is no evidence that shows the death penalty has a deterrent effect -- but I feel in my gut it must be true."
~ George W. Bush

News -- September 19, 2006

The US military and its cult of cruelty - "In the week that George Bush took to fantasising that his blood-soaked "war on terror" would lead the 21st century into a "shining age of human liberty" I went through my mail bag to find a frightening letter addressed to me by an American veteran whose son is serving as a lieutenant colonel and medical doctor with US forces in Baghdad. Put simply, my American friend believes the change of military creed under the Bush administration - from that of "soldier" to that of "warrior" - is encouraging American troops to commit atrocities."

Why I hate America - "The incomparable Ms. Roy says: "What does the term 'anti-American' mean? Does it mean you are anti-jazz or that you're opposed to freedom of speech? That you don't delight in Toni Morrison or John Updike? That you have a quarrel with giant sequoias?" (I'm a tree hugger remember? I don't argue with sequoias.) When pressed, I sometimes reply: "I don't hate America. In fact, think it's one of the best countries anyone ever stole." But, after the laughter dies down, I have a confession to make: If by "America" they mean the elected/appointed officials and the corporations that own them, well, I guess I do hate that America-with justification."

Bush to ask world to support Mideast democracy - "President Bush will challenge world leaders to do more to build democracy in the Middle East, when he speaks at the United Nations on Tuesday."

Bush approval rating rebounds in new poll - "The bounce comes with seven weeks before elections to deicide control of Congress amid falling gas prices and a renewed campaign by Bush to boost support for the Iraq war and to portray Republicans as more competent than Democrats on security, the newspaper said. ... For the first time since December 2005, a majority of people polled did not say the war in Iraq was a mistake. The respondents were evenly split at 49 percent to 49 percent, the report said."

Canada falsely accused torture victim - "The United States "very likely" sent a Canadian software engineer to Syria', where he was tortured, based on the false accusation by Canadian authorities that he was suspected of links to al-Qaida, according to a new government report."

Congress Considering Strip Searching Students - "Imagine an America in which school officials could strip search every student in their school based on the unsubstantiated tip that one of them might have a joint. Congress is voting on a bill Tuesday or Wednesday that could make these police state tactics more common."

Gore says tax pollution, not payrolls - "The pollution tax would replace all payroll taxes, including those for Social Security and unemployment compensation, Gore said. He said the overall level of taxation, would remain the same. "Instead of discouraging businesses from hiring more employees it would discourage business from producing more pollution," Gore said."

Financial future bleak for the iPod generation - "Quite apart from the ignominy of being known as the iPod generation - because they are insecure, pressurised, over-taxed and debt ridden - it seems unlikely that the under 35s will even be in a position to afford their electronic namesakes. They are facing a bleak financial future in which they will hand over almost half their salary to the taxman, according to a new study. The report, by the thinktank Reform, claims that millions of young people face a combination of rising debts, higher costs of living and low earnings growth. It also predicts that the average 20-35 year old graduate will face a tax burden of around 48%."

Some universities shift future professors' focus to teaching - "Universities are supposed to produce the next generation of college professors -- that is, people who will both conduct research and teach. But star researchers bring in money and prestige. It is an open secret that, for many top academic jobs, research potential is the first thing hiring committees look for. "At research institutions, that's what the currency is," said Jim Masterson, president of the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students. Now, however, some universities are taking their teacher-training missions more seriously. Partly, it's to provide better teaching for their own undergraduates, who with rising tuition are less hesitant to complain about incompetent TAs. And partly it's to help their graduate students when they go into a job market that seems moderately more interested in teaching skills than in the past."

New York the safest big U.S. city; one reported crime for every 37 people - " The large city with the highest crime rate was Dallas, with about one crime reported for every 12 people. Los Angeles ranked eighth, with about one crime for every 26 people."

Lawyer says FCC ordered study destroyed - "The Federal Communications Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV news coverage, a former lawyer at the agency says."

Evolution Attack Goes Global - "Religious critics of evolution have trained their sights on one of the world's pre-eminent fossil exhibits -- Louis and Richard Leakey's extensive skeletal collections illuminating the origins of man. Evangelical Christians in Kenya are demanding that the exhibit at Nairobi's National Museum edit out references to human evolution in order to prevent young African Christians from being taught falsehoods."

Study: ADHD cases linked to lead, smoking - "About one-third of attention deficit cases among U.S. children may be linked with tobacco smoke before birth or to lead exposure afterward, according to provocative new research. Even levels of lead the government considers acceptable appeared to increase a child's risk of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the study found."

U.S. war on drugs spreads to YouTube - "The White House is distributing government-produced, anti-drug videos on YouTube, the trendy Internet service that already features clips of wacky, drug-induced behavior and step-by-step instructions for growing marijuana plants."

Travis County debates weight-loss surgery as employee benefit - "Travis County is considering a pilot program to offer weight-loss surgery to its employees after a review suggested the move could save money in the long run."

Man rejects first penis transplant - "Although the operation was a surgical success, surgeons said they had to remove the penis two weeks later. "Because of a severe psychological problem of the recipient and his wife, the transplanted penis regretfully had to be cut off," Dr Hu said. An examination of the organ showed no signs of it being rejected by the body."

'Sexy substitute' gets no jail time - "A female high-school substitute teacher in Utah will serve no time behind bars for performing oral sex on a 17-year-old male student, despite comments from the judge that a man would have likely gone to prison. "If this was a 29-year-old male and a 17-year-old female, I would be inclined to order some incarceration," noted 3rd District Judge Mark Kouris during sentencing yesterday for Cameo Patch."

Laborer gets fired for good looks - "A teenage laborer in Surrey, England, was asked to find another job after his hunky physique distracted pupils at an all-girls school."

The Music Store in Your Pocket - "The first big deal about digital music was that you could use the internet to get music. The second big deal about digital music could be that you won't need a computer to use an online store."

Shark that walks on fins found in Papua New Guinea - "Scientists carrying out research in Papua New Guinea say they have discovered dozens of new species underwater, including a shark that walks on its fins and a shrimp that looks like a praying mantis. The research team from Conservation International, which is based in the US, claim to have found 52 new species, including 24 new species of fish, 20 species of coral and eight species of shrimp."

Lions dying in Indian zoo after failed experiment - "Twenty-one lions are dying in a zoo in north India after a cross-breeding experiment to boost the park's attractions went disastrously wrong."


No Bumper Sticker Today


Quote of the Day
"Do you ever get the feeling that there's something going on that we don't know about?"
~ Timothy Fenwick, Jr., Diner

News -- September 17, 2006

Arab op-ed: Pope’s remarks may lead to war - "The most extreme opinion was voiced by Hani Pahas in the London-based Arabic-language daily newspaper Al-Hayat, who wrote “the pope’s comments may lead to war; we fear that the pope’s statements may lead to a war that we, Muslims and Christians alike, are trying to prevent through dialogue between East and West."

Al-Qaida warning: Muslims leave U.S. - "The new al-Qaida field commander in Afghanistan is calling for Muslims to leave the U.S. – particularly Washington and New York – in anticipation of a major terror attack to rival Sept. 11, according to an interview by a Pakistani journalist. Abu Dawood told Hamid Mir, a reporter who has covered al-Qaida and met with Osama bin Laden, the attack is being coordinated by Adnan el-Shukrijumah and suggests it may involve some form of weapon of mass destruction smuggled across the Mexican border."

What war with Iran would look like - "The fact that all sides would risk losing so much in armed conflict doesn't mean they won't stumble into one anyway. So what would it look like? Interviews with dozens of experts and government officials in Washington, Tehran and elsewhere in the Middle East paint a sobering picture: Military action against Iran's nuclear facilities would have a decent chance of succeeding, but at a staggering cost." -- Based on the "experts" opinion on invading Iraq and what actually has happened in Iraq, we should expect this "sobering picture" to be much worse in reality.

U.S. holds AP photographer in Iraq 5 mos - " The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an Associated Press photographer for five months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing."

Bush hints at use of force in Darfur - "Mr Bush suggested that the world body would simply send troops "in order to save lives". Britain also upped the rhetoric, promising a "carrot and stick" approach to solving the three-year crisis, which has seen about 300,000 black Africans killed and 2.5 million displaced."

Experimental drug given to British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan - "Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq are being treated with an experimental blood-clotting drug that has not been fully tested. Because randomised controlled trials have not yet been carried out into the drug's effectiveness, it is impossible to know whether it is doing more harm than good to patients."

Rumsfeld Unveils New Justification For Iraq War: High Gas Prices - "The fact of the matter is - if Saddam Hussein were still in power in Iraq, he would be rolling in petrol dollars. Think of the price of oil today. He would have so much money."

Become an Insurgent - Vote Anti-War - "We have less than two months to turn this baby around. So, we've got to work tirelessly to spread the word and VOCALLY support the men and women who don't just promise to - but WILL fight for our rights and against the lies."

Big Brother is shouting at you - "Big Brother is not only watching you - now he's barking orders too. Britain's first 'talking' CCTV cameras have arrived, publicly berating bad behaviour and shaming offenders into acting more responsibly."

Police blotter: When can cops run license-plate searches? - "The U.S. Attorney's office appealed, saying that Americans have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their license-plate numbers, and therefore police need no probable cause to conduct computer checks."

The myth of fair elections in America - "The debacle surrounding the Republican victory in 2000 demonstrated to the world that America's electoral process is wide open to abuse. But as Paul Harris discovers, the system has actually worsened since then."

Major Problems At Polls Feared - "An overhaul in how states and localities record votes and administer elections since the Florida recount battle six years ago has created conditions that could trigger a repeat -- this time on a national scale -- of last week's Election Day debacle in the Maryland suburbs, election experts said."

77% Believe Iran is Likely to Have Nukes "Soon" - "Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Americans believe that Iran is likely to develop nuclear weapons in the near future. Most doubt that anything can be done to prevent such a development."

77% in U.S. Unable to Learn a Lesson - "77% of the people of this country believe that Iran will have nukes soon. So there’s your fake cassus belli, folks, it’s already done. (Not that Iran having nukes is any of America’s business, but neither I nor the Constitution set the premises around here.) Congratulations America! Your stupidity and child-like willingness to follow the leader will continue to get untold thousands of people killed."

Kansas schools take drug testing to extreme - "It is instituting random drug screening for all middle and high school students participating in — or even just attending — any extracurricular activity. That includes sports, clubs, field trips, driver’s education, even school plays. Those who don’t sign consent forms cannot attend games, go to school dances, join a club or so much as park their car on school property."

American Buddhism on the rise - ""People feel that Buddhist figures like the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh of Vietnam are contributing something, not trying to convert people," says Lama Surya Das, a highly trained American lama in the Tibetan tradition. "They are not building big temples, but offering wisdom and ways of reconciliation and peacemaking, which are so much needed." Even a larger factor, he suggests, is that Buddhism offers spiritual practices that Western religions haven't emphasized."

One preacher's message: Have hotter sex - "So I’m anticipating condemnation of American culture — especially America’s sexual culture — that has made conservative Christians feel besieged. But then Beam, a portly, silver-haired basso profundo dressed in khaki slacks, a sweater vest and brown tasseled loafers that make him look like a retired country-club golf pro, walks to the front of the room and proceeds to tell the men in the audience how to make their semen taste better. Sweet stuff works, he says, which provides a built-in excuse because "then you can say, 'I'm eating this cake for you, baby!'" Welcome to the world of hot Christian love."

Jesus Camp (PG-13) - "Jesus Camp explores American evangelical culture and the intersections of innocence and indoctrination, religion and politics. It offers no judgment on its subjects — and that's why it works. Fischer, after watching the film, told indieWIRE.com that she thought the filmmakers did a great job "captur[ing] the beautiful concepts of what we represent." Devil-worshipping pagans, political liberals and their ilk will likely see it differently."

Bush and the 'Third Awakening' - "Baker writes: "President Bush said yesterday that he senses a 'Third Awakening' of religious devotion in the United States that has coincided with the nation's struggle with international terrorists, a war that he depicted as 'a confrontation between good and evil.'"

Study says many Bible classes in Texas schools are biased - "The Texas Freedom Network does not oppose the teaching of Bible courses, but the group argues that most promote a narrow perspective and fail to meet minimum academic standards for teacher qualifications, curriculum or academic rigor."

Tourism slump worries US - "Moves are afoot to market America and regain valuable revenue from overseas visitors."

Pak girl raped for 'acquiring education' - "The News International on Saturday reported the case of one Mumtaz Mai and her daughter, Ghazala Shaheen Bathi, who were abducted, held in captivity and gang-raped for 12 days because daughter Ghazala dared to become educated. "

Students see sex attack footage - "GRAPHIC footage of a gang sex attack on a schoolgirl is being passed around Victorian students via mobile phone video messages."

My computer made me sick - "Don't visit that site, though. You might get swept up in what some people believe is a case of mass hysteria. If that's what Morgellon's is, it would be the first apparent case to spring from the Internet."

Fear over the 'lunchtime facelift' as experts say Botox is addictive - "The first study of its kind, carried out by a psychologist and plastic surgeon, suggests that four in 10 people who use Botox have a compulsion to do so repetitively, prompting fears that it is addictive."

Pose Like the Star You Are - "Most of these folks don't bleach their anuses, remove every last body hair or spend their working hours naked. The thrill is in the shared sexual energy among ordinary people, in starring in your own erotic film, and in awakening or reawakening your sex drive by remembering just how hot you really are."

Why is me time such a big deal? - "There are more than physical benefits to getting off this treadmill. Taking a break will actually make you discharge your responsibilities better. Galinsky's surveys show that people who are happiest at work are those who take time for themselves. "If you shift your focus, you go back to the other areas of life with more energy," she says. "You're less stressed, more satisfied with life in general.""




Quote of the Day
"Beware the leader who bangs the drum of war, in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch, And the blood boils with hate, And the mind has closed, the leader will have no need of seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."
~ Julius Caesar