News -- October 5, 2006

Welcome to Fascist America! - "My fellow Americans, it’s official now: We live in a fascist nation. ... I mean honest-to-goodness, old-fashioned, 1930s style fascism, featuring such old favourites as: Secret prisons – they’re back! Torture – we’re doing it. Spying on all citizens. Arrests and indefinite imprisonment without trial. Rampant militarism. Secret detention. Enforced disappearance. Denial and restriction of habeas corpus. Prolonged incommunicado detention. Unfair trial procedures."

Blogger credited in discovering identity - "Kerr, of Moore, is the author of the blog Passionate America, which is being credited with discovering the identity of the former House page who may have exchanged inappropriate instant messages with former Rep. Mark Foley, and that the former page now works for Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate Ernest Istook."

Al Qaeda Tapes: Direct Link To Military Psyops And Donald Rumsfeld - "Following on from our three features on the latest dubious Al Qaeda video, We can reveal that further investigation into the origin of Al Qaeda video and tape release leads straight back to US military intelligence and Donald Rumsfeld."

Cheney: GOP ‘will retain control’ - "“I’m a huge Denny Hastert fan — I think he’s a great speaker,” Cheney said in his private cabin aboard Air Force Two. “And it makes no sense at all for him to think about stepping down.”... Cheney flatly rejected predictions by pundits that Democrats will take control of the House and Senate in November. “We will retain control of both houses,” he said." -- Diebold anyone?

Cheating the machine / The perils of electronic voting go on display - "Appearing before the House Administration Committee, Edward W. Felten, a professor of computer science and public affairs at Princeton University, showed how he could put a virus on an electronic voting machine -- a Diebold AccuVote-TS -- so that it would wrongly record votes."

Poll: Democrats have a shot at capturing the Senate - "Democratic Senate candidates are tied, have a slight edge or an outright lead in every one of 10 pivotal battleground states. No Democrat trails in those races; no Republican leads. Democrats must gain six seats to capture control of the 100-member Senate."

Man files suit over Cheney encounter - ""Many of us fantasize what would we do if we had the opportunity to really tell Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney how we feel," said Howards, 54, of Golden. "And to be honest, when I passed him, my initial thought was to keep walking. And then I said, I couldn't with a clear conscience let this opportunity pass." So Howards approached the vice president and told him, " 'Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible.' And I moved on. I didn't want to give anybody any excuses to come after me." ... The agent, Howards said, "came out of the shadows and literally said, 'Did you assault the vice president?' ... Howards denied touching Cheney, repeated for the agent what he had said to the vice president, and promptly found himself being handcuffed and taken to the Eagle County Jail, where he said he remained cuffed for three hours prior to being bailed out by his wife."

Awaiting the Rebellion - "Eventually however (and it won't be long now) it's the grunts who will begin to revolt, first in small ways (as in the 101st in late 1968, "No sir. We are not going up that hill again.") and then, quickly thereafter (As in 1973, "F___ you, asshole.") By that time the media may get wind of things and spin it exponentially out of control. That’s what I think.” So do I."

Men And Women Of Faith: Sweep Out Morally Corrupted Republican Congress - "It what may be one of the greatest disgraces in Congressional history there are now senior Republicans, including the Speaker's best friend Congressman Lahood, suggesting the page program be abolished. ... Punish the pages and protect the politicians? No. Let's keep the pages and get rid of the politicians who threaten them. Let's respect the pages and get rid of the politicians with such little confidence in their own moral bearing they no longer believe they can protect them. Let's get rid of those who treat this sordid episode as just another example of one party corruption in Washington."

$20 million Iraq victory party - "The funds for ''commemoration of success'' in Iraq and Afghanistan were originally tucked into last year's defense measure, but they went unspent amid an uptick in violence in both countries that forced the Pentagon to extend tours of duty for thousands of troops."

More Finger-Pointing - "So you had the top aide to the House's senior GOP campaign guy trying to keep the seedy details out of the media. No wonder some critics are charging cover-up. That's what's driving this whole thing, the sense that key Republicans were more concerned with the politics of the Foley mess than protecting the teenagers he was hitting up online."

Fox had Foley emails, chose not to run - "Fox News had copies of emails written by Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) to a Louisiana boy, but chose not to run the story, according to a passage in an Associated Press report."

NEW LOWS FOR DRUDGE: PLAYING THE FOLEY VICTIM CARD - "Are there no lows to which Drudge won't stoop? The headline reads: "CLAIM: FILTHY FOLEY ONLINE MESSAGES WERE PAGE PRANK GONE AWRY." Oh, really? You mean Foley didn't ask about penis length? Or masturbation? Or wonder if he "made him a little horny?" No, actually — even Drudge can't deny that Foley did all those things. His point is that those sneaky, evil pages tricked the poor hapless six-term Congressman into writing lurid sexually-charged messages. What? You mean Foley didn't make the pages horny? Well, I never!"

HR 4239 Could Label You as a Terrorist - "If HR 4239 becomes law, anyone who causes an animal industry to lose 10,000 in revenues by exposing their abusive practices could be fined, jailed and labeled a terrorist." -- Huh? Terrorist? The umbrella gets larger.

Closeted Gay Republicans and a Party in Political Free-Fall - "The LA Times has outed Kirk Fordham today. He will not be the last closeted gay Republican outed by this scandal." -- Nail them all for their hypocrisy.

Court temporarily OKs domestic spying - "The Bush administration can continue its warrantless surveillance program while it appeals a judge's ruling that the program is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday."

Unlikely Terrorists On No-Fly List - "60 Minutes, in collaboration with the National Security News Service, has obtained the secret list used to screen airline passengers for terrorists and discovered it includes names of people not likely to cause terror, including the president of Bolivia, people who are dead and names so common, they are shared by thousands of innocent fliers."

US set to cut deal with Taliban - "Alarm bells are going off in the US political and strategic community over the Bush administration's weighing the option of bringing Taliban back into the power equation in Afghanistan."

Google Again Censors, Stifles 9/11 Film's Growth - "Google Video has re-imposed a crass censorship policy to intentionally stifle the growth of Alex Jones' Terror Storm documentary and prevent it from reaching tens of millions of people by covertly editing viewer statistics and blocking the film from entering its popular categories."

'Too Many Guns' Wreaking Havoc at Schools, Group Says - ""This shooting -- and the ones last week in Colorado and Wisconsin, and every school shooting in the past 10 years -- all had one thing in common," Gottlieb observed. "They all happened in so-called 'gun-free school zones,' where students and adult staff are essentially helpless."

Values Voter Summit: Is the Anti-Christ Gay? - "McKissic denounced as “insulting, offensive, demeaning, and racist” the gay right’s movement trying to “hitch itself” to civil rights. Gays, he said, can’t “compare their sin to my skin.” He repeated the classic charge that gays “can’t reproduce so they have to recruit.” But he was just warming up. The civil rights movement, he said, was grounded in moral authority, truth and righteousness, the impetus to freedom, constitutional authority, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In contrast, he said, the gay rights movement was inspired “from the pit of hell itself,” and has a “satanic anointment.” The gay rights movement was birthed and inspired by the anti-Christ. He suggested that the anti-Christ is himself gay, citing a verse from the book of Daniel saying the anti-Christ will have no desire for a woman."

Little terrors on rampage in "Jesus Camp" - "The compelling documentary "Jesus Camp," which Magnolia Pictures opened in select cities Friday ahead of its New York and L.A. bows September 22, demonstrates how those qualities are being cultivated in a generation of pintsize proselytizers. Beyond their deadly earnestness, these children of the evangelical Christian right are being groomed as soldiers in a self-declared culture war to reclaim America for Christ."

'Jesus Camp' is the year's scariest movie - "WANNA SEE something really scary? Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's truly frightening documentary Jesus Camp shows extreme evangelicals at work, indoctrinating the children of tomorrow. At a South Dakota camp, operated by Becky Fischer, director of Kids in Ministry International, some 50 children assemble, not learning Christ's message so much as being exposed to political fury. An unidentified minister—a ringer for Harvey Keitel—brings rubber fetuses for the children to fondle. The kids are scared until they weep. They absorb the message that just as some Muslim children are being prepared to trade their lives for their faith, so too must they be ready to fight. We see a ceremonial blessing of a cardboard stand-up of George W. Bush, placed on a mantle of fleecy cotton representing heaven; this idol is saluted in a gabbling oratory of worshippers speaking in tongues." -- Jesus.

TX Supreme Court Takes Up Church Case - "Theologians are watching to see if a ruling could make it easier for church members to sue a pastor with a professional counseling license who talked to them as a religious leader."

At Church, an 'ATM for Jesus' - "It was one of Stevens Creek's three "Giving Kiosks": a sleek black pedestal topped with a computer screen, numeric keypad and magnetic-strip reader. Prompted by the on-screen instructions, Marshall performed a ritual more common in quickie marts than a house of God: He pulled out a bank card, swiped it and punched in some numbers.The machine spat out a receipt. Marshall's $400 donation was routed to church coffers before he had found his seat for evening worship."

Atheists blamed for societal corruption - "Religion has gained major importance in the lives of many Americans. A Sept. 11 Newsweek article cited a poll that found Americans believe in God by a margin of 92 to six. These numbers are up significantly from previous years. But the increased emphasis on faith has brought unnecessary suspicion and prejudice toward those not so religiously inclined. In fact, a study conducted at the University of Minnesota found a large portion of the American public views atheists as a threat to the American way of life. The prejudice that this belief suggests toward atheism is ridiculous and offensive as well as dangerous. The pretense of this opinion is laughable. Can a nation who prides itself on freedom of religion really view atheism—which can be labeled a religion—as dangerous? The statement that atheism is a threat implies some action should be taken against atheists to eliminate the danger. And this would go against the American way as dictated in the Constitution, a tangible guideline for American society." -- I am honored to be a member of the minority.

Wisconsin lawmaker urges arming teachers - "It might not be politically correct, but it has worked effectively in other countries, Republican Rep. Frank Lasee said Wednesday."

Bush signs the fence bill - "President Bush yesterday signed into law the annual homeland-security spending bill that provides the first down payment for 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border."

Bush Dismantles Child Care - "America's child care crunch is more dire than ever, thanks to Bush's gutting of government programs that assist working families."

Will Bush Pardon Scooter Libby? - "The case against the Valerie Plame leaker is alive and well, but Republicans are working hard to get Cheney's right-hand man off the hook."

Time Warner Gives Bush-Bashing Comic the Hook - "Is Time Warner getting into the censorship business? A host of Showtime at the Apollo claims he got the hook for angering top brass at the media megaconglomerate with jokes about President George W. Bush. Comic Paul Mooney (most recently of Chappelle's Show) was midway through a taping of the famed Harlem theater's weekly variety show when the plug was abruptly pulled."

Teen ticketed for Hacky Sac - "A 17-year-old Boulder High senior faces a $250 fine — stiffer than a ticket for speeding through a school zone — for playing Hacky Sac. His offense: "releasing projectiles" on the Pearl Street Mall."

The century of drought - "One third of the planet will be desert by the year 2100, say climate experts in the most dire warning yet of the effects of global warming. ... It is one of the most dire forecasts so far of the potential effects of rising temperatures around the world - yet it may be an underestimation, the scientists involved said yesterday."

U.S. Northeast could warm drastically by 2100: study - "If greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current course, Massachusetts may feel more like sultry South Carolina by century's end, researchers said on Wednesday in a report on clear signs of global warming in the U.S. Northeast. The region, comprising nine of the 50 U.S. states, is critical, since it alone is the world's seventh-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, just behind the entire nation of Germany and ahead of all of Canada, said Cameron Wake, a University of New Hampshire climate scientist and a co-author of the report."

Privatize the Amazon rainforest says UK minister - " The scheme, which has been endorsed by Prime Minister Tony Blair, would seek to protect the region's biodiversity while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming. According to The Telegraph the plan would "involve the creation of an international body to buy the rainforest before setting up a trust to sell trees" and buyers would become "stake-holders" in the rainforest."

Software to monitor overseas opinions of U.S. - "A consortium of major universities, using Department of Homeland Security money, is developing software that would let the government monitor negative opinions of the United States or its leaders in newspapers and other publications overseas."

Scientists teleport two different objects - "Beaming people in "Star Trek" fashion is still in the realms of science fiction, but physicists in Denmark have teleported information from light to matter bringing quantum communication and computing closer to reality."

Study: Vaccine promising for hay fever relief - "Could the sneezy, runny-eyed misery of hay fever one day be a thing of the past? Scientists are reporting encouraging results from early tests of a vaccine they hope will give long-lasting relief from this seasonal scourge."

Scientists to create 'frankenbunny' in big research leap - "Scientists are planning to create a "frankenrabbit" by fusing together human cells with a rabbit egg."




Quote of the Day
"The cosmos is a gigantic flywheel making 10,000 revolutions a minute. Man is a sick fly taking a dizzy ride on it. Religion is the theory that the wheel was designed and set spinning to give him the ride."
~ H.L. Mencken

News -- October 4, 2006

GOP unworthy of governing - "This column is going to make me very unpopular with Republicans. I don't care. It must be said. Following the revelations about Florida Rep. Mark Foley's sexually suggestive e-mails to a 16-year-old congressional page, I have concluded Republicans are unworthy of retaining control of the federal government. I sincerely regret this is the case. I would much prefer that there were a real viable alternative to the Democrats, who are not only unworthy, but also unacceptable. But wishful thinking is not going to protect our country. Wishful thinking is not going to expand freedom, promote justice and restore morality to America. It's time to recognize the two-party system is just flat broken. The Foley case is a great illustration. It's not just what one unfit congressman did. It is how his colleagues, mindful only of defending their own positions of power, reacted. ... Republicans will pay a price for this error. And they should." -- I know it may be hard to believe, but yes, this column was written by Joseph Farah.

Will Americans Seek Repeal Of Constitution Killing Enabling Act? - "The end of the U.S. Constitution and the impending passage of George W. Bush's own Enabling Act are of little importance to a U.S. media fixated with the lurid emails of a pervert politician. Will Americans focus on what really matters and seek a repeal of HR 6166?"

Hastert, Cheney, Bush and Boehner Go Easy on Pedophiles and An Adulterer Accused of Beating His Mistress, Half His Age - "You would think after covering up for a pedophile and keeping him in the House leadership and chair of the committee that oversees the safety of our children from sexual predators, you would think that the Republican leadership wouldn’t be out raising money for an adulterer accused of beating and strangling his mistress. But you would be underestimating the moral turpitude of the guys at the top of the GOP. The Republican leadership in America cares about only one thing: power. They have no other values."

Bush backs Hastert to keep job - "President Bush and other Republicans defended House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert yesterday against Democrats and conservatives who have called for his resignation over the handling of sexually explicit Internet messages former Rep. Mark Foley wrote a teenage boy who had worked as a congressional page." -- Evil people stick together.

Some Say They Felt Uneasy About Representative's Attention - "In 1995, male House pages were warned to steer clear of a freshman Republican from Florida, who was already learning the names of the teenagers, dashing off notes, letters and e-mails to them, and asking them to join him for ice cream, according to a former page."

Battlefield Foley - "Gay sex with children, underage drinking, gross e-mails and IMs, Congress, the Republicans, Macaca, rehab … you were probably thinking there was no possible way this story could get better. Oh ye of little faith, how about a heaping helping of Scientology?"

Religious Right Strangely Silent About Foley - "Odd, isn’t it? The same people who can move their followers to boycott any company that believes gay people even have the right to exist, can't muster much outrage over one of their own preying on young boys and, more importantly, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives ignoring it to save their political hides."

ABC News: Pages ‘Sending All Sorts of Messages About Possible Other Members’ - "Tonight on ABC, investigative journalist Brian Ross suggested there may be other members of Congress who engaged in inappropriate behavior towards congressional pages:" -- Be on the lookout for a major distraction.

'The More Subtle Kind of Torment' - "The first prisoner to crack said the goal was "the mass annihilation of the civilian population." As often happens, his confession led to others, and before long, three dozen prisoners had coughed up page after page of chilling, meticulously detailed admissions. But it was all a lie. Thirty-six American airmen, shot from the sky during the Korean War, falsely confessed to a vast plot to bomb civilian targets. How did this happen? With Congress having approved a "compromise" that gives the president authority to determine the meaning of the Geneva Conventions and redefines the War Crimes Act to protect CIA interrogators, we should revisit this all-but-forgotten moment in U.S. history."

War is Peace - "“Imprisonment without trial, the use of war prisoners as slaves, public executions, torture to extract confessions . . . and the deportation of whole populations – not only became common again, but were tolerated and even defended by people who considered themselves enlightened and progressive.” George Orwell penned these words over five decades ago, yet the sentiments are sadly germane to today’s “war on terror”."

The "F" Word and How To Escape From Its Clutches - " So we're here. No more shilly-shallying about whether America is beginning to resemble a fascist society. We're now plopped right down into it. The slide into our particularly American brand of fascism is not total. There still are areas that, at least for a time, remain relatively free. And dissent is tolerated -- up to a point. (That point, by the way, is when that dissent starts becoming effective; watch the number being done on MoveOn.org, for example.) On the issues that really matter, America is fast moving itself into an authoritarian, militarist, imperial state, one that has more in common with Stalinist Soviet Union and Hitlerian Germany than with traditional American society. There are show trials planned, massive propaganda assaults on the populace, a huge bureaucratic system designed to pry and violate personal privacy (including phone calls, emails and institutions from where you get information, be it libraries or bookstore or websites), and a constitutional system of laws that simply are ignored or violated whenever the federal government chooses to do so."

N. Korea is warned against nuke test - "North Korea's neighbors issued stern warnings Wednesday against Pyongyang's threat to carry out an unprecedented nuclear test, but the isolated communist country insisted that such a move wouldn't be meant as a provocation."

Here's why Chávez is so mad - "But perhaps we should try to understand why so many people around the globe are upset with the United States rather than simply dismiss Chávez as a despot or off his rocker. A quick glance at recent U.S. policy and posture toward Venezuela gives us some clues as to why people in Venezuela are getting set to reelect a president who calls the United States an empire."

Chavez says oil should not fall below $60 a barrel - ""The price of a barrel of oil today should not fall below 60 dollars. That is a fair price," he said in a speech promoting Venezuelan scientific programs."

Russia Warns Poland Against Missile Defense Program - "Russia has warned Poland against hosting any U.S. or NATO missile defense system in its territory. A Foreign Ministry spokesman says such a move would undermine the strategic balance and trigger a "corresponding" response from Moscow."

Google boss warns politicians about Internet power - "Imagine being able to check instantly whether or not statements made by politicians were correct. That is the sort of service Google Inc. boss Eric Schmidt believes the Internet will offer within five years."

CBS Turns Over News Broadcast To Man Who Blames School Shootings on Teaching Evolution and Abortion - "Last night, the CBS Evening News turned their broadcast over to a man named Brian Rohrbough, who lost his son during the Columbine massacre. Mr. Rohrbough proceeded to blame recent school shootings on: 1) the teaching of evolution, and 2) abortion. Watch it:"

Dobbs: Are you a casualty of the class war? - "So the rich are doing well. But how about the middle class? More Americans than ever are living in poverty, living without health care, paying more for housing and for the costs of our public education. And real wages are falling. ... Perhaps one of our nation's leading business magazines would like to create something called a Forbes or Fortune 250 Million list, which would reveal the dire financial pressures that our public policies have produced for working men and women and their families. It's time for all of us to focus on that deep chasm we have allowed to open between the wealthiest Americans and the middle class and those who aspire to it. Otherwise, there will be 250 million casualties in what has become nothing less than class warfare."

Viewing God as male 'contributes to domestic abuse' - "Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is backing a Church of England report that claims viewing God in masculine terms can validate "overbearing and ultimately violent patterns of behavior" in intimate relationships and "contributes to domestic abuse," the London Daily Mail reports."

Ga. Mother Seeks Harry Potter Ban - "Laura Mallory, a mother of four, told a hearing officer for the Gwinnett County Board of Education on Tuesday that the popular fiction series are an "evil" attempt to indoctrinate children in the Wicca religion."

For Every Problem, a Cut-Rate Solution - "Enjoyable and fulfilling tasks like gaming and praying can now be delegated to wililng peons, leaving you free to do ... we're not exactly sure what." -- Ah, the joys of outsourcing.

Neiman Marcus gift book offers space flight, BMW - "Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus may have the perfect gift idea for the loved one who wants to get away from it all: a space trip that includes a spectacular view of Earth and a chance to experience weightlessness."

Treatment 'to neutralise all flu' - "Scientists say they are developing an entirely new way of providing instant protection against flu."

Poor Need Job Skills, Not Wedding Rings - "Struggling to pay the bills in Washington, D.C.? Some politicians suggest you just get married." -- Marriage is not the answer to all of society's ills. In fact, it contributes to many of them.

Breastfeeding has negligible effect on babies' IQ - "Breastfed babies are indeed smarter - because their mothers are. Mothers who breastfeed tend to be more intelligent, more highly educated and to provide more stimulation at home. The higher IQ of their babies is therefore mostly inherited, accounting for 75 per cent of the difference between them and bottle-fed babies, the researchers found."

Sexual-Device Sale Ban in Texas Left Intact by Top U.S. Court - "The U.S. Supreme Court refused to question a Texas law that bars the sale of dildos and other ``obscene devices,'' turning away an appeal by a store clerk facing prosecution."




Quote of the Day
"The glory of American democracy is that it permits us to kick out the nasty tribe of parasitical despots that is currently ruling us. The tragedy is that it installs another group that will do essentially the same thing."
~ Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

News -- October 3, 2006

Republican Pedophilia - A Long but Distinguished List -- Check it out.

Foley joins list of sex scandals on Capitol Hill - "The resignation of former Rep. Mark Foley has shocked Washington, but it is not the first accusation of impropriety with underage congressional pages to make headlines. The investigation of Mr. Foley's misconduct adds to a long history of Capitol Hill sex scandals."

Resign, Mr. Speaker - "House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once. Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away. He gave phony answers Friday to the old and ever-relevant questions of what did he know and when did he know it? Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance."

The O’Reilly Fear Factor - "It should come as no surprise that conservative Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly is praising the military-detention bill that President Bush recently got through Congress. In a commentary dated September 29, 2007, which was posted on the Fox News website, O’Reilly said that “the only downside for the president is that interrogation methods like water boarding are no longer allowed.” Maybe O’Reilly thinks that the new detention law applies only to foreigners, not Americans. If so, he, along with other Americans, might be surprised to learn that the new law does not limit the definition of “unlawful enemy combatants” to foreigners. After all, don’t forget that U.S. officials have applied the term to Jose Padilla, an American arrested in Chicago and accused of terrorism, initially as an “enemy combatant” in military custody; and, more recently, as a criminal defendant in U.S. district court. But even if the law did apply only to foreigners accused of terrorism, by creating a bifurcated legal system in which foreign citizens would get the military-tribunal treatment, while Americans accused of terrorism would continue to be prosecuted in federal court, the detainee bill would entail an abrogation of the long-held principle in U.S. criminal jurisprudence of equal treatment under law."

Are You an 'Unlawful Combatant'? - "Congress has now granted the president the powers of a dictator. The rest of the story of our slide into absolutism is merely a matter of filling in the details."

Is your daughter a future detainee? - "In other words, under this bill, the president or his designee can simply decide that someone poses a threat, call them an unlawful enemy combatant, and lock them away. Yes, they are entitled to a determination by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal of whether they in fact meet the definition of unlawful enemy combatant. But the law doesn't impose a time limit. The government could simply postpone that hearing indefinitely, and the detainee would have the status of "awaiting such determination," and not be given access to federal court."

Surprise Surprise, It's Another Al Qaeda Blockbuster Release - "Karl Rove's promised October surprise has arrived nice and early. Five weeks before the midterm election, a "previously undiscovered" video emerges that reminds the uninformed world that Al Qaeda carried out the 9/11 attacks and in order to combat them we must vote for security over liberty."

North Korea Says It Will Stage Nuke Test - "North Korea said Tuesday it will conduct a nuclear test in the face of what it claimed was "the U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war," ratcheting up tensions amid international pressure to return to negotiations on its atomic program."

Rumsfeld: Venezuela Build-Up Is Concern - "The recent military build-up in Venezuela by U.S. nemesis President Hugo Chavez has other countries in the region worried that the weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday."

After Foley, New Fears For the GOP - "Republican operatives closely following the battle for the House and Senate said that they are virtually ready to concede nearly a third of the 15 seats the Democrats need to recapture control of the House, and that they will spend the next five weeks trying to shelter other vulnerable incumbents from the fallout of the Foley scandal in hopes of salvaging a slender majority."

Tony Snow downplays Foley scandal as 'naughty emails' - "In the following video, Snow seems to be playing down the Foley scandal, telling reporters, "Yeah, look, I hate to tell you but it's not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill. There have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty emails."" -- Naughty emails that would get us common folk locked up.

Someone sent page threats - "U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander said a former male House page from Monroe has received threats since reports surfaced Friday that former Congressman Mark Foley sent him inappropriate e-mails."

Rep. Shimkus "is toast" - "John Shimkus (R-IL) let Foley spend 'a lot of time' with pages, including private dinner with one," after the GOP knew Foley was a problem."

Man Storms Amish School, Kills 3, Self - "A milk-truck driver carrying three guns and a childhood grudge stormed a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday, sent the boys and adults outside, barricaded the doors with two-by-fours, and then opened fire on a dozen girls, killing three people before committing suicide." -- Pagegate gets bumped.

Bush plans conference on school violence - "The Bush administration, alarmed by recent attacks at public schools across the country, is bringing education and law enforcement experts together for a conference on coming to grips with the problem." -- This is not the big problem that needs addressing. But it sure keeps the public attention. Oh yeah, that's the point.

Bush Says Democrats Shouldn't Be Trusted - "President Bush, on a campaign swing in the West, is telling voters that the Democratic Party is weak-kneed on national security and shouldn't be trusted to hold the reins of Congress."

Pastors Guiding Voters to GOP - "The campaign encourages individual pastors to use sermons, Bible studies and rallies to drive Christians to the polls — and, by implication or outright endorsement, to Republican candidates. One online guide to discussing the election in church, produced by the Focus on the Family ministry, offers this tip: If a congregant says her top concerns are healthcare and national security, suggest that Jesus would make abortion and gay marriage priorities." -- Ah, the usefulness of religion.

The 50 Richest Members of Congress - "And the rich just keep getting richer. For the 50 richest Members of Congress, 2005 was great for the bottom line, according to Roll Call's annual survey of lawmakers' personal wealth." -- In case you have forgotten, they are the "haves".

Why Capitol Pages Fear Retaliation - "It now appears that one of the chief reasons why Foley’s e-mails remained secret for so long – and why some former pages still won’t speak publicly – is that they recognize that divulging what Foley did to them could kill their hopes for future careers in politics."

Police: Cameras Not Helping Fight Crime Much - "Many D.C. police said they had hoped that installing dozens of new surveillance cameras across the city would assist them in cracking down on crime, but the system does not appear to be working as planned."

School gives parents detention for tardiness - "Under the new rule at the Manhattan School for Children, parents who don’t drop off their children by 8:25 a.m. have to pick up late slips from the principal’s office and go to the auditorium to serve 20 minutes of detention with them."

UFO class appeals to skeptics, believers - "Skeptics and believers both can learn more about the lore of unidentified flying objects in a new class at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne."




Quote of the Day
"Hypocrisy is the grease that lubricates society."
~ Thomas Szasz

News -- October 2, 2006

Rounding Up U.S. Citizens - "Anyone who donates money to a charity that turns up on Bush's list of "terrorist" organizations, or who speaks out against the government's policies could be declared an "unlawful enemy combatant" and imprisoned indefinitely. That includes American citizens." -- I'm speaking out.

Torturing the truth - "It should come as no surprise to any of us that the Republican-led Congress passed Bush's "Torture Me, Elmo" legislation; trashing habeas corpus, further shredding the Constitution and opening up the possibility of American citizens being "disappeared" for their political beliefs forever without any charges brought against them. Republicans like to torture. Look what they've done to the truth for the last five and a half years."

How Does a Nation Lose Its Soul? - "The received wisdom informs us that the American public has tired of George Bush and his use of lies and other deceptions to fashion a war-crazed police-state. According to this view, voters will go to the polls this November and exchange a sufficient number of Republican scoundrels for Democratic ones to deprive Bush of a GOP-controlled Congress. Then, we are further led to believe, the sociopathic madness that has metastasized from inside the “beltway” will have come to an end, and – like members of any lynch mob who later reflect on their deed – most Americans will rediscover their lost sense of sanity and decency. I accept none of this foolish thinking."

Prisoners 'sold to' Guantanamo Bay for $5,000 each - "Amnesty said that Pakistani courts have refused to offer protection for hundreds of the country's citizens who were taken prisoner in mass arrests and "sold" to the United States as terrorists with only the word of the captors as proof." -- That's winning hearts and minds. Disgusting.

Naval build-up in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean - "If war is to be waged or not against Iran and Syria, there is still the undeniable build-up and development of measures that confirm a process of military deployment and preparation for war."

Inside Iran - City Life - "Click on pictures to enlarge." -- Take a look at Iran before the bombs begin. It sure looks familiar, doesn't it?

US may accept Iranian nuclear bomb - "AMERICA is going to have to learn to live with a nuclear Iran, US intelligence analysts have concluded at a secret meeting near Washington. Senior operatives and outside experts from the intelligence community were almost unanimous in their view that little could be done to stop Iran acquiring the components for a nuclear bomb, The Sunday Times has learnt." -- Every country has the right to obtain such weapons. Prohibition never works.

Bush to sign bill to prevent Internet gambling - "Bush was expected to act quickly after Congress approved the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act making it illegal for financial institutions and credit card companies to process payments to settle Internet bets. It also created stiff penalties for online wagers." -- Stiff penalties for spending their own money?

Why did Congress kill a measure to keep felons out of U.S. ports? - "Congress is patting itself on the back for passing the Port Security Act last Saturday. But the day before, a House-Senate conference committee stripped out a provision that would have barred serious felons from working in sensitive dock security jobs. Port security isn't just about checking the contents of cargo containers, it also means checking the background of the 400,000 workers on our docks."

Foley's Exchange With Underage Page - "The following is an instant message exchange a former page says he had with Rep. Foley in 2003. Warning: sexually explicit language, reader discretion is advised." -- Here's the transcript.

Republicans knew about pedophile congressman - "Now Foley faces prosecution under the laws he helped write. But there's more to the story. The top Republicans in the House - Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader John Boehner - knew about Foley's activities for months. In 2005, a page told them that Foley's messages "freaked (him) out" and called Foley "sick sick sick sick sick." Pretty unambiguous. But did the Republican leadership reprimand Foley? No. Instead, they left him in charge of the House's Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus. Michael Jackson must have been busy that day." -- Birds of a feather?

Former page: We knew about Foley 'for years' - "Sexually explicit messages from former Rep. Mark Foley to one former congressional page might be just the tip of the iceberg, the leader of an alumni association for former congressional pages told Scripps Howard News Service on Saturday."

The Franklin Coverup Scandal - The Child sex ring that reached Bush/Reagan Whitehouse - This was the biggest scandal in the history of the U.S.A history. The story received some newspaper coverage but there was a TV News Media blackout on the subject. For this reason, most Americans have never heard of it." -- Just in case you have never heard of this case or have forgotten about it.

Flamed Out GOP Star Arrested For Child Sex Assault - "Randal D. "Randy" Ankeney, the convicted sex offender who just a few short years ago was a rising GOP star in Colorado, is being held on a $1 million bond in Larimer County."

Documentary claims Pope in child abuse cover-up - "A BRITISH documentary claimed today that Pope Benedict XVI was implicated in the systematic cover-up of child sex abuse by Catholic priests. Over 20 years, the man formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger enforced a secret 1962 document on how bishops should deal with allegations of child abuse which included a code of secrecy, enforceable by excommunication, the BBC Panorama investigation said."

Why are the ranks of nuns declining? - "In fact, the number of American women taking vows for any order has been steadily declining for decades and nuns have left the convents in greater numbers. The ranks of women in religious orders hover around 70,000 today, down from about 185,000 in 1965 In his new book ''Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church's Betrayal of American Nuns'' Lafayette College instructor Kenneth Brigg s, a former religion editor at The New York Times and Newsday , he indicts what he characterizes as the clergy's use of control and convoluted tradition to ''make fools'' of the women who have served with dedication in roles from teaching to caring for the sick. Many active nuns dispute Briggs' characterizations and reject his prediction. They demur at pointing fingers at the Catholic hierarchy and point instead to the vast number of career options as the reason fewer women now take vows."

North American Union threat gets attention of congressmen - "While several members of Congress have denied any knowledge of efforts to build "NAFTA superhighways" or move America closer to a union with Mexico and Canada, four members of the House have stepped up to sponsor a resolution opposing both initiatives."

America is living beyond its means - "China and India will be calling the shots when the US is no longer top dollar." -- It's a matter of time.

Decoding Neoconservative Propaganda Terms - " 8. freedom = neocon-controlled Soviet-style police state."

Local song swept up in immigration fireworks - "Just ask Johnny Bradshaw and Mike and Rita Jones, whose humorous yet serious take on illegal immigration, “So Long, Texas — Hello Mexico!” has found fans from here to Canada to New Zealand. The song imagines a Texas cowboy packing up to move south of the border after illegal immigration has transformed his home state."

Schools punishing kids for what they say online - "While educators worry that postings on Web sites such as MySpace can disrupt learning, students see controlling what they post outside school as a threat to their right of free speech. Civil rights advocates are on their side, worrying that the new policies extend government's reach too far into the personal lives of students."

Study backs parents who say "No TV on a school-night" - "Middle school students who watch TV or play video games during the week do worse in school, a new study finds, but weekend viewing and gaming doesn't affect school performance much."

Gene found that helps combat MS - "They believe in the future the gene's symptom-fighting features could be exploited for potential treatments."

Survey: Many in Europe Confused on AIDS - "Almost half of the European Union population continues to have misconceptions about the ways in which HIV/AIDS can be spread, the European Commission said Monday."

Consumer spending plunges in August to lowest in a year - "Facing weak income growth and rising inflation, consumers trimmed their spending in August by the largest amount in nearly a year."

EU welcomes autonomy plan for Net governance - "The European Commission welcomed on Monday U.S. government moves to make the company that manages Internet domain names independent by 2009, but said it would monitor the process carefully."

In this movie, the audience picks the scene - "One idea behind the venture is that no two viewers may see the movie unfold in the same way, yet its basic facts, characters and message will permeate the experience."




Quote of the Day
"You know, one of the most shocking things about it is to realize how easily we have lost a world that seemed so safe and certain."
~ Josella, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Adventures in Advertising

Thoughts?

News -- October 1, 2006

Detainee bill lifts Bush's power to new heights. President now has legal authority even courts can't challenge - "In effect it allows the president to identify enemies, imprison them indefinitely and interrogate them -- albeit with a ban on the harshest treatment -- beyond the reach of the full court reviews traditionally afforded criminal defendants and ordinary prisoners. Taken as a whole, the law will give the president more power over terrorism suspects than he had before the Supreme Court decision this summer in Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld that undercut more than four years of White House policy. ... And it broadens the definition of "unlawful enemy combatant" to include not only those who fight the United States, but also those who have "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States." The latter group could include those accused of providing financial or other indirect support to terrorists, human rights groups say. The designation can be made by any "competent tribunal" created by the president or secretary of defense." -- Oh no, this will never be abused.

Outsourcing Torture - "If you want to see the bare essence of the Bush administration, behold its policy of "rendition." The innocuous-sounding word signifies a policy under which American officials send terrorist suspects--detainees never convicted of crimes--to countries where they will be tortured, keeping the U.S. government's hands clean of the monstrous treatment. Can anyone with a sense of justice or humane bone in his body defend such a shameful policy? The knee-jerk Bush defenders will brand as squeamish anyone who shrinks from rough treatment of terrorists. There are many responses to this, but the most relevant here is that the people we are talking about are suspects, not proven criminals."

Gonzales cautions judges on interfering - "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is defending President Bush's anti-terrorism tactics in multiple court battles, said Friday that federal judges should not substitute their personal views for the president's judgments in wartime."

Gingrich urges overriding Supreme Court - "Supreme Court decisions that are "so clearly at variance with the national will" should be overridden by the other branches of government, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says." -- Yes, this conversation is taking place.

Baghdad curfew was in response to 'coup attempt' - "A blanket 36-hour curfew imposed on the Iraqi capital Baghdad from Friday evening was in response to an information leak concerning a possible coup attempt, according to an Iraqi Shiite MP. Iraqi press reports on Sunday quoted Bahaa al-Araji of the United Iraqi Alliance as saying that the alleged coup plot had been masterminded by supporters of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein and of the former ruling Baath party." -- Hmmm.

Why Ahmadinejad and Chavez are right - "It is amazing how the United States deals with its history by either hiding its head in the sand or attempting to rewrite the accounts of its shameful behavior. ... Americans need to know that both President Mahmud Ahmadinejad of Iran and President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela spoke the truth in their respective presentations to the United Nations General Assembly recently. By knowing the truth we will be able to see through the politics of fear and the mountains of illusions and outright lies that the Bush administration has used to drive the country into the grip of the neo-fascists who hold the reigns of government."

Bush calls for war "across the world" - "US President George W. Bush called for fighting America's enemies "across the world" as he stepped up his counteroffensive following charges that his policies were breeding a new generation of Islamic terrorists." -- If the world is your enemy, then you fight the world. Nice one, George. How isolated do you want America?

Colin Powell Now Says He Was Fired - "It is being reported right now by MSNBC's LIVE at 8:45AM, this morning Sunday, October 1st. Colin Powell has stated in his new book that he was FIRED by President Bush. The call came from Andy Card the former chief of staff to Powell right after Bush's re-election."

Deviant Conservative Males: an Analysis - "Mr. St. Clair of CounterPunch recently supplied me with a list of sex crimes committed by prominent conservative Republicans. ... I now bring you a mere sample of the list of crimes, all of them heinous, so that you might begin to see a pattern among them. I know I did. ... You can't make this shit up." -- Interesting.

Shirley offers fix for bad parenting - ""What we've got is a failure in society, whether it's in Mount Pleasant with yuppie parents or whether it's on the East Side with poor crackhead parents," Shirley said Friday. "We pick up stray animals and spay them. These mothers need to be spayed if they can't take care of theirs. ... Once they have a child and it's running the streets, to let them continue to have children is totally unacceptable." Deadbeat dads might ought to be sterilized as well, he said." -- I think Shirley is a Republican city councilman for Charleston, S.C.

Campaign 2006: The Republicans' Secret Weapon - "The polls keep suggesting that Republicans could be in for a historic drubbing. And their usual advantage—competence on national security—is constantly being challenged by new revelations about bungling in Iraq. But top Republican officials maintain an eerie, Zen-like calm. They insist that the prospects for their congressional candidates in November's midterms have never been as bad as advertised and are getting better by the day. Those are party operatives and political savants whose job it is to anticipate trouble. But much of the time they seem so placid, you wonder whether they know something. They do. What they know is that just six days after George W. Bush won re-election in 2004, his political machine launched a sophisticated, expensive and largely unnoticed campaign aimed at maintaining G.O.P. majorities in the House and Senate. If that campaign succeeds, it would defy history and political gravity, both of which ordain that midterm elections are bad news for a lame-duck President's party, especially when the lame duck has low approval ratings."

Iraq War Strategy Backed by 19% of Americans - "Conversely, 20 per cent of respondents are opposed to the war but could change their minds if a new approach is developed, while 25 per cent reject the conflict regardless of the strategy." -- 25%? Pathetic. Americans obviously love war.

Middle-class families in worse shape than ever, study finds - "The middle class's financial condition has been a key issue ahead of the November elections, as Democrats warn that this group is fast losing economic ground amid skyrocketing prices and tax cuts that offer them little benefit." -- And you have the Repbulicans to thank for this. Unfortunately, the Democrats are not capable of fixing this problem.

'Idiot' barb gets passenger detained - "A Wisconsin man who wrote "Kip Hawley is an Idiot" on a plastic bag containing toiletries said he was detained at an airport security checkpoint for about 25 minutes before authorities concluded the statement was not a threat. Ryan Bird, 31, said he wrote the comment about Hawley -- head of the Transportation Security Administration -- as a political statement. He said he feels the TSA is imposing unreasonable rules on passengers while ignoring bigger threats."

What makes us human - "Scientists figured out decades ago that chimps are our nearest evolutionary cousins, roughly 98 percent to 99 percent identical to humans at the genetic level. When it comes to DNA, a human is closer to a chimp than a mouse is to a rat. Yet tiny differences, sprinkled throughout the genome, have made all the difference. Agriculture, language, art, music, technology and philosophy -- all the achievements that make us profoundly different from chimpanzees -- are somehow encoded within minute fractions of our genetic code." -- Only humans are obsessed with owning things.

Common cold only a fingertip away - "Many everyday objects touched by dirty hands are harbouring and spreading the common cold virus, say scientists." -- Wash your hands people.

Sorry, no one's reading that resume you sent - "Computers now doing most of the weeding out."




Quote of the Day
"I think that I could turn and live with the animals... Not one of them is demented with the mania of owning things."
~ Walt Whitman

News -- September 30, 2006

On Friday, September 29, It's Mourning in America - "Just as it is hard to fully comprehend the grief of a beloved friend or relative killed needlessly in an accident, it is excruciatingly painful to try to come to terms with the pernicious betrayal of our Constitution and liberty that occurred in the Senate on Thursday, September 28. ... With the law passed on September 28th by Congress, we have become the Republic of torture. We not only have lost our claim to be a civilizing force among nations and abandoned our Constitution, we have appeased the terrorists by doing so."

Report says detainee plan would pardon U.S. officials - "A video report from CNN's Jack Cafferty says that buried deep within the pending plan to create military tribunals for those suspected of terrorism is amnesty for present U.S. officials. He said that President Bush "is trying to pardon himself" with the plan, which is in the last stage of congressional endorsement and next will go to the president's desk." -- If you're not pissed off, then you are not paying attention.

Accessories to Torture - "These are grim days for the Constitution. The House and the Senate have passed the catastrophic "compromise" negotiated by senators McCain & Co. to the President's "enemy combatants" bill. The only thing compromised is the rule of law; the bill still strips detainees of the right to appeal, broadens the President's unilateral powers to decide who is an enemy and which interrogation methods violate the Geneva Conventions, and fatally undermines the War Crimes Act. The bill was rushed to passage just days after the Canadian government exonerated Maher Arar, "rendered" by the United States to Syria, imprisoned and tortured for nearly a year."

Sayonara to Checks and Balances? - " You -- citizen or non-citizen, resident of Topeka or Timbuktu -- can become an "unlawful enemy combatant." ... The Military Commissions Act of 2006, of MCA, passed by the House and Senate is a wholesale assault on the idea of a limited government under law. It will be taken by the Bush Administration as a blank check to torture, to detain indefinitely without just cause, and to trample the values that win America respect in the world. From tomorrow, counter-terrorism is the "land of do as you please" for the President and the wise men of the Defense Department -- those savants who brought you Iraq, the gift that keeps on giving (at least if you're a jihadist)."

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes -- See who voted for the torture bill.

FINAL HOUSE VOTE RESULTS FOR 491 -- See who voted for the torture bill.

STATE OF DENIAL - "There was a vast difference between what the White House and the Pentagon knew about the situation in Iraq and what they were saying publicly. But the discrepancy was not surprising. In memos, reports and internal debates, high-level officials of the Bush administration have voiced their concern about the United States' ability to bring peace and stability to Iraq since early in the occupation."

Legislating Violations of the Constitution - "With little public attention or even notice, the House of Representatives has passed a bill that undermines enforcement of the First Amendment's separation of church and state. The Public Expression of Religion Act - H.R. 2679 - provides that attorneys who successfully challenge government actions as violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment shall not be entitled to recover attorneys fees. The bill has only one purpose: to prevent suits challenging unconstitutional government actions advancing religion."

Not Worth a Camel - "The Republican answer to its own fiasco is to say: "OK, you don't like the way the president is handling it. What's your solution?" The proper answer to that is: "In the first place, bro, I didn't break it. You did, and the only solution is to recognize that there is no solution. Not everything that breaks can be repaired. Our choice is to leave now, with 2,700 dead and 20,000 wounded, or linger on until there are 5,000 dead and 35,000 wounded and then leave." Eventually, after we leave, a new dictatorship will emerge, probably a Shi'ite version. The Shi'ites might keep the trappings of democracy like Egypt, but there will be no question about who runs the show. They will have a strong secret police and an army to shut down the dissidents. ... In the meantime, use your common sense. Ask yourself just what it is that America's young men and women are dying for. To make Iraq a happy place? To make Israel feel safer? To help corporations with insider connections get richer? Not one of those reasons is worth the life of a camel, much less a human being."

War Signals? - "According to Lieut. Mike Kafka, a spokesman at the headquarters of the Second Fleet, based in Norfolk, Virginia, the Eisenhower Strike Group, bristling with Tomahawk cruise missiles, has received orders to depart the United States in a little over a week. Other official sources in the public affairs office of the Navy Department at the Pentagon confirm that this powerful armada is scheduled to arrive off the coast of Iran on or around October 21."

A Scramble for Republicans in Wake of Foley Resignation - "The resignation Friday of GOP Congressman Mark Foley in a sex scandal adds to the woes of Republicans already fearing that voters might knock them out of power in the House in elections less than six weeks away."

I won't say "Republican pedophile ring" but feel free to think it... - "To me, it looks like Denny was protecting Foley. Look at it from Foley’s angle: Surely, he knew that IM transcipts can be captured and forwarded, which is just what the page ended up doing? So, either Foley was crazy, or he felt safe. And the only way Foley could really feel safe would be if he was protected. But why would Foley assume he was protected? In the best case, Foley could assume that any investigation would be buried, because that’s in the Republican Playbook under “Best Practices.”"

Police order curfew in Baghdad - "A curfew is in effect in Baghdad banning virtually all movement in the city, police said."

Ashcroft Is Denied Immunity in Case - "A federal judge in Idaho has ruled that former attorney general John D. Ashcroft can be held personally responsible for the wrongful detention of a U.S. citizen arrested as a "material witness" in a terrorism case."

Senate approves fence for border - "The Senate last night gave final approval for construction of 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border."

Cooling Down The Climate Scare - "The country is drowning in wild alarums warning of impending doom due to global warming. Yet there has risen -- from the U.S. Senate, of all places -- a lone voice of rational dissent. While Al Gore drifts into deeper darkness on the other side of the moon, propelled by such revelations as cigarette smoking is a "significant contributor to global warming," Sen. James Inhofe is becoming a one-man myth-wrecking crew."

Internet gambling ban added to U.S. port security bill - "Congress was pushing on Friday to finish legislation that would boost security at U.S. ports, but at the last minute lawmakers added provisions to prohibit Internet gambling."

A Vaccine Against Narcotics - "Someday, along with jabs against mumps and measles, kids could get vaccinated against nicotine, cocaine and heroin. Vaccines for cocaine and nicotine have already been tested in humans. Nicotine vaccines, in particular, are getting a lot of attention."

China's 'cruelty olympics' causes international outrage - "This is just the latest shocking picture to emerge from the Animal Olympic Games which is being held in China, a country with a shameful animal rights record."

Internet freedom reigns in Amsterdam - "At a time when the neutrality of the Internet is at stake, and Internet service providers (ISPs) are moving to prioritize their premium traffic, the Amsterdam Internet Exchange is a reminder that the Internet was built on the principle of the unrestricted exchange of ideas and information."

Southern California branded US smog capital - "According to the figures, Southern California had 86 days of unhealthy air during the smog season, which runs from May 1 and ends on October 1. It is the third year in a row the region has topped the smog rankings, the AQMD said."

Super-luxury homes hit market for $100M - "The listings represent a monetary milestone in American real estate: the first time U.S. homes have broken into a whopping nine figures, according to real estate experts, and they've done so in quick succession. A May survey of the nation's most expensive homes by Forbes.com put Trump's home at the most expensive and the first to break the $100 million mark. At the time, the next highest listing was a $75 million estate in Bridgehampton, N.Y. Now, the trio has market followers wondering: Will they sell? And what do you really get for $100 million?" -- Just in case you had forgotten that you are a member of the "have-nots".

Study: Students struggling to finish homework - "Even though they get help from their parents, teachers and the Internet, middle school students struggle daily to finish their homework, according to a study released Friday by the National Education Association."

Colleges coveting home-schooled students - "Home-schooled students — whose numbers in this country range from an estimated 1.1 million to as high as 2 million — often come to college equipped with the skills necessary to succeed in higher education, said Regina Morin, admissions director of Columbia College. Such assets include intellectual curiosity, independent study habits and critical thinking skills, she said."

Surprise! Moral movies draw 7 times the fans - "A new study is confirming that if you want to make money in the movie business, get out your Bible and read the values it teaches." -- Because anything that is non-Christian is immoral?

Abstinence Rose Pin - "You are like a beautiful rose..." -- Make sure to read the rest. WTF?

Scientists: St. Helens eruption slowing - "Two years after Mount St. Helens began its low-key eruption, a process that has extruded tons of rock into the crater left by the volcano's deadly 1980 blast, scientists say the mountain seems to be slowing down. But they're making no predictions about when the activity will end."




Quote of the Day
"First, they came for the terrorists,

and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a terrorist.

Then they came for the foreigners,

and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a foreigner.

Then they came for the Arab-Americans,

and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't Arab-American.

Then they came for the radical dissenters,

and I didn't speak up, because I was just an ordinary troubled citizen.

Then they came for me,

and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."
~ Adapted from Pastor Niemoller's 1945 quote about the Nazis

News -- September 29, 2006

Foley Resigns From Congress Over E-Mails - "Campaign aides had previously acknowledged that the Republican congressman e-mailed the former Capitol page five times, but had said there was nothing inappropriate about the exchange. The page was 16 at the time of the e-mail correspondence."

Exclusive: The Sexually Explicit Internet Messages That Led to Fla. Rep. Foley's Resignation - "He crusaded for tough laws against those who used the Internet for sexual exploitation of children. ... The language gets much more graphic, too graphic to be broadcast, and at one point the congressman appears to be describing Internet sex."

Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215 - 2006) - "This bill is not a national security issue—this is about torturing helpless human beings without any proof they are our enemies. Perhaps this could be considered if we knew the administration would use the power with enormous care and thoughtfulness. But of the over 700 prisoners sent to Gitmo, only 10 have ever been formally charged with anything. Among other things, this bill is a CYA for torture of the innocent that has already taken place."

In Case I Disappear - "I have been told a thousand times at least, in the years I have spent reporting on the astonishing and repugnant abuses, lies and failures of the Bush administration, to watch my back. "Be careful," people always tell me. "These people are capable of anything. Stay off small planes, make sure you aren't being followed." A running joke between my mother and me is that she has a "safe room" set up for me in her cabin in the woods, in the event I have to flee because of something I wrote or said. I always laughed and shook my head whenever I heard this stuff. Extreme paranoia wrapped in the tinfoil of conspiracy, I thought. This is still America, and these Bush fools will soon pass into history, I thought. I am a citizen, and the First Amendment hasn't yet been red-lined, I thought. Matters are different now. It seems, perhaps, that the people who warned me were not so paranoid. It seems, perhaps, that I was not paranoid enough. Legislation passed by the Republican House and Senate, legislation now marching up to the Republican White House for signature, has shattered a number of bedrock legal protections for suspects, prisoners, and pretty much anyone else George W. Bush deems to be an enemy."

Pinochet Also Thought He Could "Legalize" Torture - "There should be a lesson here for Bush and the GOP Congress. While you might believe today that you can legalize torture and other crimes against humanity, some day they will come for you. Power does not trump the law forever. You are naked before the world, and it's only a matter of time."

The day the darkness descended - "In any case, September 28, 2006 will go down as the day that the abolishment of freedom began and the torture descended on what was once a noble experiment."

How did we sink so low in just 6 years? - "How did things get this bad? The “Military Commissions Act” which passed the Republican-led Congress yesterday is a bigger blow to the Constitution and our core values than any piece of legislation in our 200 year history. It is 100 times worse than Bin Laden's crimes on 9-11."

Bush: Critics buy into terrorists' propaganda - ""You do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism," he told a receptive military audience. "If that ever becomes the mind-set of the policymakers in Washington, it means we'll go back to the old days of waiting to be attacked -- and then respond."" -- I fear the future.

ESPN FAKED STADIUM CHEERS FOR BUSH SR. - "It's a very simple rule. If you are a Democrat not named Joe Lieberman, ESPN will play a tape of boos previously recorded and insert them into the audio after the Democrat is announced. If you are a Republican and ESPN is expecting boos, ESPN will play a pre-recorded tape of cheers unrelated to the Republican."

Man forced off plane by fellow passengers - "A Spanish university professor with a long beard and dark complexion said Thursday he was briefly forced off an airliner during a layover on the Spanish island of Mallorca by passengers who feared he was an Islamic terrorist."

I Disapprove - "As you know, the November elections are quickly approaching. We've been in the midst of the advertising onslaught for a while now, and if you're like me, you've had your fill. Some folks don't like the propaganda. I don't mind that so much. Some folks don't like the lies. That doesn't bother me so much either. Some folks don't like the muckraking. Even that doesn't annoy me. What is it that gets to me? Five simple words: "I approve of this message". I can't stand it when someone who's paid for an advertisement tells me that they approve of the message they paid for. No shit, Sherlock."

America's Pathetic Putin-Envy - "Russia wasn't supposed to get stronger, certainly not on its own, without the West's help. It just doesn't make sense. Moreover, it's somehow cosmologically wrong that Russia should become stronger right at the time when American power is in a freefall. That just ain't right...so therefore, the authors offer a solution: cup your ears, close your eyes, and scream, "Russia is really weak! Russia is really weak!" and it'll all go away, like a bad dream..."

Reading the Gas Pump Numbers - "What the hell is going on here? Just six weeks ago, gasoline prices at the pump were hovering at the $3 per gallon mark; today, they're inching down toward $2 -- and some analysts predict even lower numbers before the November elections. The sharp drop in gas prices has been good news for consumers, who now have more money in their pockets to spend on food and other necessities -- and for President Bush, who has witnessed a sudden lift in his approval ratings."

Police blotter: When can cops seize your computer? - "In this week's installment, appeals court rules that police cannot search a home computer when one spouse refuses."

The Public School Nightmare: Why fix a system designed to destroy individual thought? - "Who was it that decided to force your attention onto Japan instead of Sweden? Japan with its long school year and state compulsion, instead of Sweden with its short school year, short school sequence, and free choice where your kid is schooled? Who decided you should know about Japan and not Hong Kong, an Asian neighbour with a short school year that outperforms Japan across the board in math and science? Whose interests are served by hiding that from you?"

A New Battlefront Opens in the Textbook Wars - "The battle over school textbooks spills out of Kansas and into California. At stake are whether gays are part of state history and how Islamic history should be taught."

Film on Christian children's camp has cross to bear - "Christians do believe they are in a cultural war for the lives and souls of people worldwide, and particularly for the minds and hearts of our children and youth."

Religious-Right Voter Guides Facing Challenge From Left - "A new group called Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good said yesterday that it will distribute at least 1 million voter guides before the Nov. 7 elections, emphasizing church teachings on war, poverty and social justice as well as on abortion, contraception and homosexuality."

'One degree and we're done for' - ""Further global warming of 1 °C defines a critical threshold. Beyond that we will likely see changes that make Earth a different planet than the one we know.""

Drug may heal livers of chronic alcoholics - "BRITISH scientists have discovered a drug that could cure liver disease, even in alcoholics who continue drinking. The medicine, found by a team of doctors and scientists at Newcastle University, could become a potential alternative to liver transplants."

Anti-smoking pill gets OK in Europe - "Champix is believed to work by reducing the severity of the smoker's urge to smoke and alleviating many withdrawal symptoms from nicotine. In addition, if a person smokes a cigarette while receiving treatment, the medicine has the potential to diminish the satisfaction associated with smoking."

Florida Hospital to ban photos during childbirth - "One of the region's largest hospital groups will soon forbid photography or videotaping during childbirth, joining a national trend spurred by what some say is concern over medical liability."

Sugar linked with mental problems in Norway study - "Oslo teens who drank the most sugary soft drinks also had more mental health problems such as hyperactivity and distress, Norwegian researchers reported on Thursday."

Study: Hotel rooms have unseen guests - "Hotel guests leave behind more than just socks and old paperbacks: A new study found viruses on TV remotes, light switches and even hotel pens after cold sufferers checked out."




Quote of the Day
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities."
~ Voltaire

News -- September 28, 2006

Senate OKs Detainee Interrogation Bill - "The bill would create military commissions to prosecute terrorism suspects. It also would prohibit some of the worst abuses of detainees like mutilation and rape, but grant the president leeway to decide which other interrogation techniques are permissible." -- Because one person should have that much power.

House approves warrantless wiretap law - "The House approved a bill Thursday that would grant legal status to President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program with new restrictions. Republicans called it a test before the election of whether Democrats want to fight or coddle terrorists."

Cost of Iraq war nearly $2b a week - "A new congressional analysis shows the Iraq war is now costing taxpayers almost $2 billion a week -- nearly twice as much as in the first year of the conflict three years ago and 20 percent more than last year -- as the Pentagon spends more on establishing regional bases to support the extended deployment and scrambles to fix or replace equipment damaged in combat."

House OKs $70B for Iraq, Afghanistan - "With final passage of the bill, Congress will have approved $507 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan and heightened security at overseas military bases since the Sept. 11 attacks five years ago, according to the Congressional Research Service." -- Remember, at $1 a second (that's $3600 an hour) it would take about 32 years to obtain $1,000,000,000. Now imgaine $507 billion.

New Poll Says Majority of Iraqis Approve of Attacks on U.S. Forces - "Nearly eight in 10 say the U.S. presence in Iraq is provoking more conflict than it's preventing (as opposed to being "a stabilizing force.") ... Thirty-seven percent want U.S. troops to withdraw within six months; an additional 34 percent want them to withdraw within the next year."

Torture Tactics Refined In US Prisons, ACLU Says - "The director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prisoner Project Wednesday accused U.S. governments past and present of honing torture tactics in American prisons before they were allegedly implemented in terrorist detention centers in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."

Rogue State - " “The United States is committed to the world-wide elimination of torture,” George W. Bush explained in a June 2003 speech, “and we are leading this fight by example.” Oh, the irony!"

Suicide bombers follow Quran, concludes Pentagon briefing - "But internal Pentagon briefings show intelligence analysts have reached a wholly different conclusion after studying Islamic scripture and the backgrounds of suicide terrorists. They've found that most Muslim suicide bombers are in fact students of the Quran who are motivated by its violent commands – making them, as strange as it sounds to the West, "rational actors" on the Islamic stage."

Carter: U.S. in more danger of terrorism - "Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday major policy changes are needed because the Iraq war has divided the nation "almost as much as Vietnam.""

A War on Intelligence - "You would think that a consensus report from all 16 U.S. intelligence services concluding that he has blown the war on terror would be a really big deal to the president. But that assumes that George W. Bush values intelligence. Clearly, he does not."

Rumsfeld Comments on Intelligence Report - "But he added that, "the implication that if you stop killing or capturing people who are trying to kill you, then therefore the world would be a better place, is obviously nonsensical."" -- Why does this man have still have a job?

Tony Snow: Previous presidency hurt terrorism fight - "The White House took a swipe at former President Clinton on Wednesday, just days after he accused President Bush of doing “nothing” to catch Osama bin Laden before Sept. 11."

Keith Olbermann Terrorized and Gov Tries to Hide it - "We have serious reason to worry about Olbermann's safety. Last night, he reported that he'd been threatened, apparently with some anthrax-like substance that required him to be subjected to 10 hours of detention in a hospital. He was discharged with a prescription for Cipro." -- Which means he's been hitting a little too close to the truth. Keep up the good work Keith.

A TIMELINE OF OIL AND VIOLENCE - "AFGHANISTAN"

A TIMELINE OF OIL AND VIOLENCE - II - "IRAQ"

Gas Is Down - Go Back to Sleep - "We are used to gas prices going up and down in the short term, but in the last six weeks, we've seen a dip of fifty cents or more in the price of a gallon. We haven't seen anything this precipitous in a long time and it has excited a lot of comment."

Dream world a strange, scary place for liberals - "Among his findings, Kelly Bulkeley discovered that liberals are more restless sleepers and have a higher number of bizarre, surreal dreams -- including fantasy settings and a wide variety of sexual encounters. Conservatives' dreams were, on average, far more mundane and focused on realistic people, situations and settings."

Vatican: Extremists Undermining Religion - "The Vatican's foreign minister said Wednesday that misunderstanding between cultures is breeding a "new barbarism" and expressed hope that reason and dialogue would stop those who use their faith as a pretext for attacks."

Why did Pope Benedict utter these words in public? And why now? - "There is no escape from viewing them against the background of the new Crusade of Bush and his evangelist supporters, with his slogans of "Islamofascism" and the "Global War on Terrorism" - when "terrorism" has become a synonym for Muslims. For Bush's handlers, this is a cynical attempt to justify the domination of the world's oil resources. Not for the first time in history, a religious robe is spread to cover the nakedness of economic interests; not for the first time, a robbers' expedition becomes a Crusade. The speech of the Pope blends into this effort. Who can foretell the dire consequences?"

FOX ON POPE'S ISLAM ATTACKS - "I believe the speaker is correct in his assessment of Cardinal Ratzinger who does indeed represent the dark ages of Christian history and following are the reasons why."

VERMONTERS PROCEED WITH SECESSION TALKS - " Vermont wants to secede from the Union – or at least some are embracing this movement."

Scientists uncover why Spanish Flu was so deadly - "By infecting mice with a reconstructed version of the 1918 virus and monitoring their response, a team of scientists believe they have found some clues to solve the puzzle as well as a possible new way to fight pandemic flu." -- Will a new weapon soon follow?

Morgellons is real, doctor is convinced - "He said his fiber research should also silence critics who say Morgellons is a form of delusions in which patients believe parasites or bugs are attacking their skin."

The Thin Pill - "75 million Americans may have something called metabolic syndrome. How Big Pharma turned obesity into a disease – then invented the drugs to cure it."

World without pain is hell, parent says - "It is only when he rams his head violently into walls or plays a little too roughly with a schoolmate, all the while smiling, that you are reminded that he suffers from an incredibly rare genetic disorder. Roberto is one of 17 people in the United States with "congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis," referred to as CIPA by the few people who know about it."

Boys told no standing to urinate - "The trigger for the explosion of opinion? A decision in the local district that schoolboys must sit on toilet seats when urinating, not stand."

Sickening 'Animal Olympics' forces kangaroos to box humans - "An Australian kangaroo receives a fierce blow to the head by a man dressed in a clown suit (pictured below) in a shameful contest that will further fuel fears over China's barbaric attitude to animals." -- Disgusting.

U.S. homework outsourced as 'e-tutoring' grows - "The outsourcing trend that fueled a boom in Asian call centers staffed by educated, low-paid workers manning phones around the clock for U.S. banks and other industries is moving fast into an area at the heart of U.S. culture: education. It comes at a difficult time for the U.S. education system: only two-thirds of teenagers graduate from high school, a proportion that slides to 50 percent for black Americans and Hispanics, according to government statistics. China and India, meanwhile, are producing the world's largest number of science and engineering graduates -- at least five times as many as in the United States, where the number has fallen since the early 1980s. Parents using schools like Taylor's say they are doing whatever they can to give children an edge that can lead to better grades, better colleges and a better future, even if it comes with an Indian accent about 9,000 miles away."




Quote of the Day
"I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally."
~ W.C. Fields