News -- January 18, 2006

Another Undeclared War? - "Is the United States about to launch a second preemptive war, against a nation that has not attacked us, to deprive it of weapons of mass destruction that it does not have? ... Meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bush employed the same grim terms he used before invading Iraq. If Iran goes forward with nuclear enrichment, said Bush, it could "pose a grave threat to the security of the world."" -- "Could pose a grave threat"? How much more vague can one get? Those same words could be said about anything. Take George W. Bush remaining in office for example. An attack on Iran will have nothing to do with national security and everything to do with money. Your lack of being informed does not make me a wacko.
http://www.antiwar.com/pat/?articleid=8405

Bush's Warrantless Spying: Does the President Really Know Best? - "OK, everyone who has studied the Unitary Executive Theory of the Presidency, raise your hand. Anyone? Anyone? f you are not raising your hand, you're not alone. As regular readers of Tomdispatch are aware, only recently has the world received notice that President Bush's "I can do anything I want" approach to governance has a name: the Unitary Executive Theory of the Presidency. Not having heard of this concept, and thinking perhaps that I had missed something in Constitutional Law, I decided to survey a random sampling of attorneys about it. The group included civil practitioners, prosecutors, a federal judge, a former federal prosecutor who has a PhD as well as a J.D., defense attorneys, and a U.S. magistrate. The precise question was, "When did you first hear about the Unitary Executive Theory of the Presidency?" Most said, "The past few weeks," but my favorite was, "A few seconds ago, when you asked about it." All agreed that the term does not appear in the U.S. Constitution and that, the last time they checked, we still had three branches of government. ... You don't have to be a constitutional scholar to know that Bush's legal justifications are weak. You merely have to consider the administration's duplicitous conduct. The Bush team has deliberately concealed this program, not only from the public and Congress, but, most damning of all, from the very agency that is responsible for executing the laws of this country: the Department of Justice (DOJ). ... Bush and his coterie knew that their legal arguments were weak and intellectually dishonest, if not ludicrous, so rather than making their case honestly, even to their own people, they avoided dissent by acting in secret and affirmatively misleading the entire country. Using a tragically familiar modus operandi, Bush has carried out his unlawful spying scheme by acting not as a unitary executive (whatever that is), but as a solitary executive -- as if the President Knows Best." -- Tell me again why this man and his administration are still in office.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0118-20.htm

The New Lord Protector - "The contrast between the Republicans’ furor over the Supreme Court’s eminent domain decision and their nonchalance towards President Bush’s (possible) misuse of power is bizarre. It’s almost as if Republicans believe that dictators rise to power and strip citizens of their rights through zoning decisions. It's almost as if they never read any history."
http://interventionmag.com/Primary/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=104

The West Has Picked A Fight With Iran That It Cannot Win - "Never pick a fight you know you cannot win. Or so I was told. Pick an argument if you must, but not a fight. Nothing I have read or heard in recent weeks suggests that fighting Iran over its nuclear enrichment programme makes any sense at all. The very talk of it - macho phrases about "all options open" - suggests an international community so crazed with video game enforcement as to have lost the power of coherent thought."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0118-27.htm

Cut and run from reality - "Harvard professor Niall Ferguson has resorted to science fiction in an attempt to raise the levels of testosterone required for continued support of the eternal imperial war. ... How can he write this stuff with a straight face?"
http://secularfront.blogspot.com/2006/01/cut-and-run-from-reality.html

The latest Bush mega-catastrophe is now pharmaceuticals - " No matter what you think of George W. Bush, he is staking out his claim as a bona fide Horseman of the Apocalypse. With his Hand of Hell in Iraq already yielding countless dead, $200 billion wasted and a global war against Islam well on its way to Armageddon, Bush has definitively established his ability to wreck unparalleled disaster on a global scale with zero positive outcome. By drowning New Orleans and turning its alleged rebuilding plan into a sinkhole of corruption and disarray, he has shown he can lay waste to an entire American city. And now he is visiting disease and death on tens of millions of our elderly and ill with a botched Medicare/Medicaid drug plan that has plunged the nation's pharmacies into total chaos while driving the states even closer to bankruptcy. As you read this, millions of Americans are without medications that may be life-sustaining because of what Bush has done to "improve" their pharmaceutical plan. One can only shudder at what might come next."
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/7/2006/1298

White House Won't Release Details Of Abramoff Visits - "According to Press Secretary Scott McClellan, Abramoff had "a few" such meetings. But the spokesman won't say when or with whom. Nor will he say which interests Abramoff was representing -- or how he got access to the White House."
http://www.nbc6.net/news/6192996/detail.html

Feds aim for more data sharing by terrorist screeners - "The Bush administration said Tuesday that it would make greater use of what the U.S. government calls "travel intelligence," or methods of linking databases to try to detect terrorists before they travel."
http://news.com.com/Feds+aim+for+more+data+sharing+by+terrorist+screeners/2100-7348_3-6027824.html?tag=nefd.lede

WUWJW?
http://secularfront.blogspot.com/2006/01/wuwjw.html

'Fossil fuel' theory takes hit with NASA finding - "NASA scientists are about to publish conclusive studies showing abundant methane of a non-biologic nature is found on Saturn's giant moon Titan, a finding that validates a new book's contention that oil is not a fossil fuel."
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47675

Suits Seek End to Domestic Spying - "Federal lawsuits were filed Tuesday seeking to halt President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program, calling it an "illegal and unconstitutional program" of electronic eavesdropping on American citizens."
http://www.wired.com/news/wireservice/0,70032-0.html?tw=wn_tophead_4

The silencing of college presidents - "Much has changed in a few decades. The president's role as fund-raiser has grown. The university system and its expectations are stacked against any president providing the kind of public moral leadership that once characterized our profession. Too much risk is involved. Prospective students, donors, trustees, and alumni could be offended. Faculty may fear that a president's opinion too forcefully expressed might impinge on academic freedom. And since 9/11, dissent of almost any kind has been labeled as unpatriotic, and even reasoned debate on hot button social issues is viewed as dangerously controversial. Thus, while many of my colleagues will state positions on issues clearly affecting their campuses, like financial aid, they are loath to venture an opinion outside of academe. Who can blame them? The system demands more but wants to hear from us less. But I wonder what it would take for more of us to speak out?"
http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/01/13/the_silencing_of_college_presidents/?p1=email_to_a_friend

43% of first-time home buyers put no money down - "The trend is potentially ominous. The real estate market is cooling in some areas, and rates on adjustable-rate loans are creeping up. As a result, some no-money-down buyers could owe more than their homes are worth."
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/housing/2006-01-17-real-estate-usat_x.htm

Sandia researchers to model nano-size battery to be implanted in eye to power artificial retina
http://sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2006/comp-soft-math/eye.html

Yogurt bacteria may soon fight HIV - "Brown University scientists say they've genetically modified some of the 'friendly bacteria' found in yogurt to release a drug that blocks HIV infection."
http://upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060117-072954-4097r

Warning over Viagra and damage to sight - "Men who take drugs for impotency such as Viagra or Cialis and who have previously had a heart attack may have a 10-fold increased risk of damaging their eyesight, an American study claims today. It warns that increasing use of the drugs could produce an increase in a rare condition that can cause irreversible loss of vision."
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/17/wsight17.xml

Internet users judge Web sites in less than a blink - "In just one-twentieth of a second--less than half the time it takes to blink--people make aesthetic judgments that influence the rest of their experience with an Internet site."
http://news.com.com/Internet+users+judge+Web+sites+in+less+than+a+blink/2100-1025_3-6027886.html?tag=nefd.top















Quote of the Day
"God takes care of mankind, but men perish by those miseries which they madly and voluntarily bring upon themselves."
~ Flavius Josephus

News -- January 17, 2006

Israel prepares to launch attack on Iran nuclear sites - "Military chiefs have told the United States that they are ready and able to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons facilities - with an attack as early as March."
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/jan/1288617.htm

Chomsky: 'There Is No War On Terror' - "George Bush would be in severe political trouble if there were an opposition political party in the country. ... Now, again, an opposition party would be making hay, but the Democrats are so close in policy to the Republicans that they can't do anything about it. ... The fact of the matter is that there is no War on Terror. It's a minor consideration. So invading Iraq and taking control of the world's energy resources was way more important than the threat of terror. ... There's basically two principles that define the Bush administration policies: stuff the pockets of your rich friends with dollars, and increase your control over the world. Almost everything follows from that. If you happen to blow up the world, well, you know, it's somebody else's business. Stuff happens, as Rumsfeld said. ... The U.S. invaded Iraq because it has enormous oil resources, mostly untapped, and it's right in the heart of the world's energy system. Which means that if the U.S. manages to control Iraq, it extends enormously its strategic power, what Zbigniew Brzezinski calls its critical leverage over Europe and Asia. Yeah, that's a major reason for controlling the oil resources -- it gives you strategic power. ... Okay, so you can just imagine the ultimate nightmare in Washington: a loose Shiite alliance controlling most of the world's oil, independent of Washington and probably turning toward the East, where China and others are eager to make relationships with them, and are already doing it. Is that even conceivable? The U.S. would go to nuclear war before allowing that, as things now stand."
http://www.alternet.org/story/30487

Al Gore: US Constitution in Grave Danger - "Congressman Barr and I have disagreed many times over the years, but we have joined together today with thousands of our fellow citizens-Democrats and Republicans alike-to express our shared concern that America's Constitution is in grave danger. In spite of our differences over ideology and politics, we are in strong agreement that the American values we hold most dear have been placed at serious risk by the unprecedented claims of the Administration to a truly breathtaking expansion of executive power. ... It is imperative that respect for the rule of law be restored."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011606Y.shtml

Copernicus Interviews The Director of WHY WE FIGHT!!! - "What will probably be the most important documentary you see this year, WHY WE FIGHT, opens Friday. It tackles the tough question of why America gets itself into wars in the post-WWII era, taking the questions to characters as diverse as the neocons that agitated for the current Iraq war, to Senator John McCain, to the pilots that dropped the bombs to start the current Iraq war, to political scientists, to Iraqis, and to people who have resigned from the government after playing a part in the war machine. You can read my original review here, but the short version is that you owe it to yourself to see it. Director Eugene Jarecki was kind enough to sit down with me at the Toronto film festival and share his thoughts on the film and on the direction of foreign policy in America." -- Interesting read. I look forward to seeing the film.
http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22198

U.S.: 'Very high' chance of WMD terror strike - "There is a "very high" probability that a terrorist group will strike using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said in comments published Tuesday." -- As long as the US keeps screwing around with other people's countries.
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/17/wmd.terrorism.ap/

Oklahoma City bombing: New evidence renews conspiracy debate - "Kenneth Trentadue was no angel. In the 1980s, he did time for robbing banks. But in a strange twist, the circumstances behind his violent death 10 years ago in prison are playing out in federal court in a case that hints at a wider conspiracy in the Oklahoma City bombing. Recently released documents unearthed because of a lawsuit against the FBI suggest that the long-standing allegations may not be so far-fetched."
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/13628760.htm

Justices Uphold Oregon Assisted-Suicide Law - "The Supreme Court upheld Oregon's law on physician-assisted suicide yesterday, ruling that the Justice Department may not punish doctors who help terminally ill patients end their lives."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/17/AR2006011700435.html

What Makes Americans Susceptible to Manipulation - "One question has been especially troubling me: Why will so many Americans buy images of national leaders that are so at odds with so much evidence?"
http://www.nonesoblind.org/blog/?page_id=21

IRS MAKES CHILLING PROCLAMATION - "During this press conference, a senior IRS official by the name of Terry Lemons made the following proclamation in response to a question by David Cay Johnston of the NY Times: Why won't the IRS answer the questions set forth in the petitions from We the People Foundation? According to Johnston, Lemons said the government is answering our Petitions through "enforcement actions." The government will now answer legitimate petitions for redress of grievance under the First Amendment through the use of brute force because that’s exactly what the IRS’ "enforcement actions" amount to every day of the week. This statement by Mr. Lemons is chilling and should be the clarion call to every American out there who values freedom and believes that our rights, so articulately defined in the Bill of Rights, cannot be nullified or taken away by Mr. Lemons or any government official. The right to petition the government has a long and detailed history. Every American should know the history of this precious right because on September 16, 2003, the IRS laid down the gauntlet to the American people and simply decided to nullify part of the First Amendment. The IRS has made the clear threat that if any American dares question their unlawful activities, the IRS will respond with "enforcement.""
http://www.newswithviews.com/Devvy/kidd21.htm

Report slams USDA biotech experiments - "In a report released quietly just before Christmas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's investigative arm disclosed that the department failed to properly monitor thousands of acres of experimental biotechnology crops. ... In several cases, the agency didn't even know where so-called field trials were located. ... "It's a 'don't look, don't find' policy.""
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/01/16/bad.biotech.oversight.ap/index.html

New Orleans Mayor Says God Mad at U.S. - "Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting. "Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day. "Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves.""
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/16/D8F61AV80.html

TV in the bedroom halves your sex life - study - "A study by an Italian sexologist has found that couples who have a TV set in their bedroom have sex half as often as those who don't."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060116/hl_nm/sex_tv_dc




Quote of the Day
"Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage."
~ Smashing Pumpkins

News -- January 16, 2006

McCain: Oil Prices Can't Stop U.S. From Pressing Iran - ""If the price of oil has to go up, then that's a consequence we would have to suffer," McCain said on "Face the Nation" on CBS."
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/6128443/detail.html

US senators say military strike on Iran must be option - "Republican and Democratic senators said on Sunday the United States may ultimately have to undertake a military strike to deter Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but that should be the last resort."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N15194172.htm

Planting WMD in Iraq to justify the illegal invasion - " According to a recent report by Larissa Alexandrovna, the Office of Special Plans didn’t just present cherry-picked pre-war "intelligence" to the White House and the media. It also dispatched personnel to Iraq after the 2003 invasion, when it was known that there were no WMD in the war-torn country, to examine the possibility of planting such weapons in order to avoid the U.S.‘s embarrassment."
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=1/16/2006&Cat=4&Num=15

Bush to push for health care cost-cutting in 2006 - "He said the administration believed encouraging individuals to buy health insurance would spur more competition than in the current system, which relies heavily on employer-provided health benefits. Duffy said one of the reasons health-insurance costs were so high was that "third parties" -- meaning employers -- assume the bulk of the costs so there was little incentive for consumers to shop around to save money."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/12/AR2006011201451.html

Dusting off the Brown-shirts and Jackboots - "The spiking gold market is a sure sign that the dollar is headed for the dumpster. Large institutional investors are hastily moving boatloads of cash into precious metals that promise to retain their value while the hemorrhaging dollar goes the way of Icarus. ... The Bush team has been spending $400 billion more than it takes in in tax revenues for 4 years, a practice it wants to enshrine as "permanent tax cuts". Huh? Question: How can anyone argue that the plundering of America is not intentional when deficits are defended as a "permanent" function of government? Deficits are theft; and it is future generations that will have to pay for the criminal largesse of the Bush administration. Secretary of the Treasury John Snow announced just last week that the national debt would have to be raised to $9 trillion by February to keep the government operating. That means that Bush has generated a whopping $3 trillion dollars of debt in just 5 years. Unbelievable! ... In just months Bush has claimed that he has the right to torture prisoners, unilaterally declare war, spy on Americans, and incarcerate citizens without charging them with a crime. Why? Is Bin Laden somehow weakened by the steady erosion of civil liberties? Or, is the White House cabal anticipating massive civil disorder from their planned economic meltdown?"
http://www.uruknet.info/?p=19659&hd=0&size=1&l=x

Fifteen Years of War -- And Who's Better Off? - "Fifteen years have passed since Bush the Elder first attacked the nation of Iraq. Just remembering that evening recalls the fear and foreboding those first US bombs brought with them. No matter how you look at it, Washington is no closer to conquering Iraq than it was on January 16, 1991. Yet, its armies march onward into a hell of their own making. And they are taking the rest of us with them, whether we acknowledge it or not. Is Iraq a better place? Although the answer to this question depends on where one sits, I will only say that a country being torn apart by war is rarely better off than when it is at peace."
http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=580&mode=nocomments&order=0&thold=0

Cronkite: Time for U.S. to Leave Iraq - "Former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, whose 1968 conclusion that the Vietnam War was unwinnable keenly influenced public opinion then, said Sunday he'd say the same thing today about Iraq. "It's my belief that we should get out now," Cronkite said in a meeting with reporters."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/15/D8F5DU680.html

Bush's Unlikely Co-conspirators - "At least seven House Democrats learned about the NSA's secret spying program four years ago. So why didn't anyone blow the whistle?"
http://alternet.org/story/30600/

Lange's secret papers reveal USA's bully tactics - "The Americans threatened to spy on New Zealand if it did not back down on its anti-nuclear policy, former Prime Minister David Lange's private papers show."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3541021a10,00.html

Satisfaction with Congress Falls to 27% in U.S. - "Few Americans are satisfied with their federal lawmakers, according to a poll by CBS News. 27 per cent of respondents approve of the way the United States Congress is handling its job, down six points since December."
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/10562

Stupid in America - "If people got to choose their kids' school, education options would be endless. There could soon be technology schools, cheap Wal-Mart-like schools, virtual schools where you learn at home on your computer, sports schools, music schools, schools that go all year, schools with uniforms, schools that open early and keep kids later, and, who knows? If there were competition, all kinds of new ideas would bloom. This already happens overseas. In Belgium, for example, the government funds education—at any school—but if the school can't attract students, it goes out of business. Belgian school principal Kaat Vandensavel told us she works hard to impress parents. "If we don't offer them what they want for their child, they won't come to our school." She constantly improves the teaching, "You can't afford ten teachers out of 160 that don't do their work, because the clients will know, and won't come to you again." "That's normal in Western Europe," Harvard economist Caroline Hoxby told me. "If schools don't perform well, a parent would never be trapped in that school in the same way you could be trapped in the U.S." ... A Gallup Poll survey shows 76 percent of Americans are either completely or somewhat satisfied with their kids' public school, but that's only because they don't know what their kids are missing. Without competition, unlike Belgian parents, they don't know what their kids might have had."
http://www.reason.com/hod/js011306.shtml

'Stupid in America' - "American students fizzle in international comparisons, placing 18th in reading, 22nd in science and 28th in math — behind countries like Poland, Australia and Korea. But why? Are American kids less intelligent? ... "We're not stupid. … But we could do better," one high school student tells Stossel. Another says, "I think it has to be something with the school, 'cause I don't think we're stupider."" -- Enough said.
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1491217

Scientists question trees' role in global warming - "Until now, the mainstream belief is that atmospheric methane chiefly comes from bugs: from bacteria working in wet, oxygen-less conditions, such as swamps and rice paddies. But in a study published in the journal Nature, a team led by Frank Keppler of the Max Planck Institute in Germany has found living plants, dried leaves and grass emit methane in the presence of air. Nor is this gas just a piffling amount."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200601/s1545977.htm

Search engines going far beyond maps - "The images are so detailed you can tell whether a neighbor's hedge was recently trimmed or whether the car parked in front of a favorite local eatery might belong to a friend. Such views are available online for anyone to see from some of the biggest names on the Internet, including Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. ... Never before have searchable databases of detailed pictures covering wide swaths of urban areas been readily available like this to the public. And that has privacy advocates worried about the risks of such picture perfect exposure to vulnerable citizens such as women in domestic violence shelters."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Picture_Perfect_Search.html




Quote of the Day
"My government is the world's leading purveyor of violence."
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

News -- January 15, 2006

This War Wasn't Started By Mistake - "Would someone please ask George Bush what he is talking about when he says America won't "cut and run" and U.S. troops must remain in Iraq until they achieve victory? "Cut and run" from what — a mistake? The only way the Untied States could possibly secure a victory would be to discover the weapons that never were there in the first place. ... The corpse that everyone at this wake has been ignoring is that this war was not a mistake. You would expect anyone who made such a horrific blunder to be doing his best to correct, not compound it. But nobody appears eager to correct this "mistake." Instead, the administration's latest reason for continuing to occupy the country is that the U.S. can't leave until Iraq can provide its own security. But if the United States really wanted to stabilize the country, it would accede to the wishes of all factions in Iraq and get the hell out!"
http://ragemaker.com/stories/2005/no_mistake.htm

N. Korean General: We'll Nuke You - "North Korean three-star General Ri Chan Bok tells correspondent Dan Rather that if the U.S. invades his country, he will use nuclear weapons to defend it."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/12/60minutes/main1203973.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories

Anti-war activists take Pelosi to task - ""She manages to project an image of being against the war, but she's not leading other Democrats to rally against it.""
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/15/PELOSI.TMP

In no god they trust - "In a state where lawmakers pray to Jesus before doing business, Reba Boyd Wooden finds herself leading a group that she says frequently feels marginalized -- the nonbelievers. Wooden's Center for Inquiry Community of Indiana includes atheists, agnostics and secular humanists, the term for nonbelievers with which Wooden most closely identifies. Their profound skepticism about God may be how most people define them. But Wooden said the secular humanists and others who are members of the center shouldn't be viewed so narrowly. They treasure science and reason, value common decency toward others and believe people must solve their own problems."
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060114/LIVING/601140305

I'd back Condi for the White House, says Laura Bush - "The First Lady, a powerful behind-the-scenes figure in American politics, is the most influential voice to speak in favour of a presidential bid in 2008 by Ms Rice." -- Preparing the sheeple.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/15/wcondi15.xml

Iran declares WAR on History - ""It is a strange world. It is possible to discuss everything except the Holocaust," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. "The Foreign Ministry plans to hold a conference on the scientific aspect of the issue to discuss and review its repercussions." ... Oh man, Iran is really pushing the envelope.How dare they question HISTORY as it's been passed down to us from the all knowing, all seeing media?"
http://wakeupfromyourslumber.blogspot.com/2006/01/iran-declares-war-on-history.html

Scientists test pill to fade memories of traumatic events - "Scientists have been testing a pill that, when given after a traumatic event like rape, may make the resulting memories less painful and intense. Will it work? It is too soon to say. Still, it is not far-fetched to think that this drug someday might be passed out along with blankets and food at emergency shelters after disasters like the tsunami or Hurricane Katrina." -- In addition, soldiers will be able to handle more violence than they are currently able. Plus, I can see this leading to a pill that can erase memories. So, while the intentions are good, I still find this troubling.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060114-114235-2425r.htm

Yahoo web beacons - "Yahoo's current privacy policy is causing consternation among some users who object to their use of so-called 'web beacons'. Known in most circles as web bugs, these invisible images are embedded in websites and email and used to track your surfing - and even tell whether you've opened a particular email. ... But Yahoo's 'beacons' don't just stop at email. According to the same privacy policy, Yahoo uses web bugs both inside and outside their own network."
http://antivirus.about.com/od/spywareandadware/a/yahoobugs.htm

49 Arrested in Internet Child-Molesting Sting - "A sting to capture attempted child molesters netted 49 men in Riverside County, including a U.S. Homeland Security agent and a high school teacher, law enforcement authorities announced Friday."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-molesters14jan14,0,4202450.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Actor Stephen Baldwin on crusade against porn - "Baldwin, the youngest of the acting clan that includes older brothers Alec, Billy and Daniel, has planted himself on the sidewalk outside a new adult entertainment business located about one mile from his home and is photographing workers and their vehicles as they prepare the store for opening. The actor says he plans to stand outside the store every day and photograph license plates of its patrons until the business closes. He will, he threatens, identify the store's customers and pay for a one-page newspaper ad each month to publish their names."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48347

ADHD or 'Indigo'? Parents flock to new theory - "If you have not been in an alternative bookstore lately, it is possible that you have missed the news about indigo children. ... "To me, these children are the answers to the prayers we all have for peace," said Doreen Virtue, a former psychotherapist for adolescents who now writes books and lectures on indigo children. She calls the indigos a leap in human evolution."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/255461_indigo.html?source=mypi

Babies born in winter are bigger, brighter and more successful - "For centuries astrologers have sworn that the time of year a baby is born plots the course its life will take. Now extensive research conducted over a seven-year period appears to prove that babies born in the winter are more likely to grow into big, bright and successful adults than their summer counterparts."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article338679.ece

CDC: Two drugs don't work against flu - "The Centers for Disease Control told physicians Saturday that they should not prescribe two of the four antiviral drugs approved to treat this season's dominant form of the flu because the most common form in the U.S. is resistant to them."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B38D722DC%2DA6A2%2D42D7%2D9974%2D5E2A8513E83C%7D&symbol=&siteid=mktw

Arizona could have its driest winter season in centuries - "And that has officials worried about agriculture, water supplies and the threat of wildfires."
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2006-01-12-arizona-drought_x.htm

Capsule Carrying Comet Dust Lands in Utah - "The touchdown capped a seven-year journey by NASA's Stardust spacecraft, which zipped past a comet in 2004 to capture minute dust particles and store them in the capsule."
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060115/D8F551S80.html

Anonymity on a Disk - "To many privacy geeks, it's the holy grail -- a totally anonymous and secure computer so easy to use you can hand it to your grandmother and send her off on her own to the local Starbucks. That was the guiding principle for the members of kaos.theory security research
when they set out to put a secure crypto-heavy operating systems on a bootable CD: a disk that would offer the masses the same level of privacy available to security professionals, but with an easy user interface."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/internet/0,70017-0.html?tw=wn_tophead_1




Quote of the Day
"Truth, like God, is in the eye of the beholder."
~ Jim Williams, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

News -- January 14, 2006

Alito Hearings Drowning in Words - "Conventional wisdom inside the Beltway has been that troubles in Iraq, Republican ethics scandals, the revelations about electronic surveillance and high energy prices have given Democrats renewed confidence to act as the loyal opposition. Word was that liberal organizations have finally learned how to mobilize their members in the same way the Christian Coalition has done for years. Yet with the Alito confirmation hearings, it was just more of the same. ... Joe Biden spoke at least eight times as much as Judge Alito during the senator's "question" period. He had a 400-word soliloquy that was all over the place, from supposed public puzzlement over some of the judge's decisions, a quip about the senator's son going to University of Pennsylvania, followed by the senator's recollection of speaking at Princeton. Then, finally, he had an actual question about Judge Alito's recollections about being a part of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP) - a radical-right group that, among other things, opposed women and minority representation in admissions. Alito gave a quick 33-word answer saying he didn't recall specifics. Eagles Coach Andy Reid gives more detailed answers at his weekly news conferences. Biden then followed up with a "question" that was more than 1,300 words long! This was pretty much the norm for most of the week among the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. They would make statements, Alito would nod and say, "Mmm-hmmm" every 30 seconds or so and then give a quick and non-substantive answer. Who could really blame him, knowing that the senator doing the questioning wouldn't focus on the lack of substance, but instead would go off and running on a rant again? The behavior of the Democrats on the committee through the middle of the week was an odd strategy, given that, before the hearings, Democratic senators had stressed the need to hear detailed and specific answers on a number of issues, while strategists stressed that the Democrats' best chance at sinking the nomination was getting Judge Alito to hang himself with his own words."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0113-21.htm

Bush v. Reality - "Let me then offer one of those predictions -- surrounded by qualifications and caveats -- that all writers should be wary of. If in a bitter, dirty mid-term election, filled with "irregularities," one house of Congress or both nonetheless go to the Democrats, which I believe possible (despite their low polling figures at the moment), expect the investigations to begin. Expect as well that the Bush administration will then trot out that "obscure" presidential philosophy of power and claim that the Congress has no right to investigate the President in his guise as Commander-in-Chief. That is why the Alito nomination is so crucial and why 2007 may prove the year of constitutional crisis in the United States."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0113-26.htm

The dollar may fall this March - "The United States is heading to financial crisis at top speed. That is correct, America will default on its foreign debt sooner or later if the actual trends remain unchanged. Consequently, the whole dollar-based world (including savings in U.S. currency) may crumble. ... In his letter, Snow predicts a crisis in February this year. Citing U.S. government forecasts, Snow believes that America's foreign debt currently standing at $8,184 trillion will hit the debt ceiling as early as February-March 2006. ...
The United States has been on the verge of default for several times in the past. The recent pre-crisis situations occurred in 2002 and 2003. In the former case (the war in Afghanistan started in 2002), the then Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neil demanded to increase the limits a mere 10 days before the estimated expiry of foreign debt ceiling (about $6 trillion at the time). President George W. Bush had to step in to resolve the situation. The new Secretary of the Treasury John Snow raised the issue again in 2003, the year of U.S.-led invasion to Iraq. The situation looks the same these days. An additional minimum amount of $171 billion in foreign loans over the limit is required to satisfy the needs of the U.S. economy (though growth rates are far from being spectacular), otherwise the U.S. will face the first foreign debt default in its history. "We will run out of funds for financing the government operations by mid-March at the latest even if the U.S. Department of the Treasury takes all possible legal measures to keep the foreign debt ceiling from going up," says Snow. Under his scenario, the government will have to take "emergency measures" to pay the bills. ... The thing is, a number of events are due take place in March. The events look very alarming to the world of the dollar. First, Iran is to officially switch into the euro in its foreign trade operations including oil exports. Second, China is hinting at a potential increase of the euro share in its Central Bank basket of currencies. The dollar share currently holds 70% of the basket. The dollar will be severely affected should the two countries, an oil and gas producer and a manufacturer, take action in a simultaneous manner." -- A possible reason for bombing Iran?
http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/16741_dollar.html

A Protest, a Spy Program and a Campus in an Uproar - ""On the one hand, I was surprised that we made the list because generally we don't get the recognition we deserve," Mr. Sonnenfeld said. "On the other hand, it doesn't surprise me because our own university has been spying on us since our group was founded. This nation has a history of spying on political dissenters."" -- Give 'em hell, kids.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/14/national/14santacruz.html?ex=1294894800&en=5ef31752c5a539e6&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Give Me Some Answers and I will Change my Mind - "We move along to Jack Abramoff. We move along to Mohammed Atta and his associates being on a Jack Abramoff gambling boat. We move along to Abramoff’s connections to Israel. It should make you wonder. But you won’t say anything. You won’t say anything because you will be called an anti-Semitic. Somehow this phrase is charged with instant career and reputation destroying force. So it appears or is compelled to appear in this “1984” newspeak world that what you see you do not see; what you hear you do not hear, what you conclude you cannot conclude because of Room 101. ... We cannot improve ourselves and our world if we do not ask questions. We have no hope of a personal choice in our destination if we are only along for the ride. I bring forth these questions in the hope of true answers, not for provocation. I really do want to know why. Give me some answers and I will go away." -- This article is full of good questions.
http://smokingmirrors.blogspot.com/2006/01/give-me-some-answers-and-i-will-change.html

'U.S. Torture Camps' in Europe: 'The Proof!' - "For the first time a country confirms that it has knowledge regarding the existence of secret CIA prisons in Europe."
http://www.watchingamerica.com/sonntagsblick000001.shtml

US Lifts Longtime Drilling Ban on Alaskan Wildlife Habitat - "The Department of Interior on Wednesday approved oil and gas drilling on Alaska land considered such sensitive wildlife habitat that it was first protected by former Interior Secretary James G. Watt under President Reagan, and by four Interior secretaries since."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0112-10.htm

Will the religious right stymie the first-ever cancer vaccine? - "Two separate but similar vaccines for human pampillomavirus, a sexually transmitted infection that is the primary cause of cervical cancer, have recently been developed. In clinical tests they have proven to be shockingly effective. Medical researchers say the vaccines, if administered routinely, could virtually eradicate the second most fatal type of cancer in women. The problem is this: It makes sense to administer the vaccine to women who haven't yet been exposed to HPV – in other words, women who haven't had sex. The best way to do that is to inoculate preteen girls. But some conservatives see the vaccine as an invitation to be promiscuous – and are gearing up to limit its reach." -- How very, very sad.
http://www.sfbg.com/40/15/news_sex.html

Math Will Rock Your World - "This mathematical modeling of humanity promises to be one of the great undertakings of the 21st century. It will grow in scope to include much of the physical world as mathematicians get their hands on new flows of data, from atmospheric sensors to the feeds from millions of security cameras. It's a parallel world that's taking shape, a laboratory for innovation and discovery composed of numbers, vectors, and algorithms. "We turn the world of content into math, and we turn you into math," says Howard Kaushansky, CEO of Boulder (Colo.)-based Umbria Inc., a company that uses math to analyze marketing trends online."
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_04/b3968001.htm

New source of global warming gas found: plants - "German scientists have discovered a new source of methane, a greenhouse gas that is second only to carbon dioxide in its impact on climate change. The culprits are plants. They produce about 10 to 30 percent of the annual methane found in the atmosphere, according to researchers at the Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060111/sc_nm/environment_methane_dc

Study: Most Ashkenazi Jews From Four Women - "Some 3.5 million of today's Ashkenazi Jews about 40 percent of the total Ashkenazi population are descended from just four women, a genetic study indicates. Those women apparently lived somewhere in Europe within the last 2,000 years, but not necessarily in the same place or even the same century, said lead author Dr. Doron Behar of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel."
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1500179

Some students prefer classes online - "At least 2.3 million people took some kind of online course in 2004, according to a recent survey by The Sloan Consortium, an online education group, and two-thirds of colleges offering "face-to-face" courses also offer online ones. But what were once two distinct types of classes are looking more and more alike - and often dipping into the same pool of students."
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/technology/13620698.htm?source=rss&channel=siliconvalley_technology

'No nudity for sex' - "An Egyptian cleric's controversial fatwa claiming that nudity during sexual intercourse invalidates a marriage has uncovered a rift among Islamic scholars."
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1859797,00.html

God, Adam on 'condom key chain' - "A pro-life group is protesting Planned Parenthood's sale of a line of "condom key chains' that include a takeoff on Michelangelo's famous Sistine Chapel image in which the hand of God gives a condom to Adam." -- Check out the picture.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48315

Shut and smoke! - "Although politically overactive actor Sean Penn has not stepped into battle, the country’s involvement in Iraq is going to slowly kill him. The Oscar winner told the audience at an anti-war forum hosted by the Progressive Democrats of America in Sacramento, Calif. the other night that the stress of living under the Bush administration is making it impossible for him to quit smoking, the PDA’s Web site reported."
http://thetrack.bostonherald.com/moreTrack/view.bg?articleid=120949

Space telescopes capture a cosmic jellyfish - "A cosmic jellyfish appears to pulse with light in this multi-wavelength image of the Cartwheel galaxy, compiled from images taken by four space telescopes." -- Cool picture.
http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn8582

Top Secret: US Navy SEAL's Cryptid Ape Video - "What the former SEAL relates is that he was involved in covert operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1997 and 2002. According to his account, his team observed a group of thirteen "chimpanzee-like" creatures between 4.5 to 5 feet tall, uniformly gray all over their bodies, with rows of seemingly porcupine-like quills running the length of their backs."
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/navy-seals-video/




Quote of the Day
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

News -- January 13, 2006

Judge Alito, in His Own Words - "Some commentators are complaining that Judge Samuel Alito Jr.'s confirmation hearings have not been exciting, but they must not have been paying attention. We learned that Judge Alito had once declared that Judge Robert Bork - whose Supreme Court nomination was defeated because of his legal extremism - "was one of the most outstanding nominees" of the 20th century. We heard Judge Alito refuse to call Roe v. Wade "settled law," as Chief Justice John Roberts did at his confirmation hearings. And we learned that Judge Alito subscribes to troubling views about presidential power. Those are just a few of the quiet bombshells that have dropped. In his deadpan bureaucrat's voice, Judge Alito has said some truly disturbing things about his view of the law. In three days of testimony, he has given the American people reasons to be worried - and senators reasons to oppose his nomination. Among those reasons are the following:"
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0112-21.htm

Alito appears headed for confirmation - "Alito said if confirmed he would seek to emulate retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's dedication and dignity, but declined to say if he would demonstrate the same centrist views."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-01-12T194327Z_01_KWA606962_RTRUKOC_0_US-COURT-ALITO.xml&rpc=22

The Wiretappers That Couldn't Shoot Straight - "If fictional terrorists concocted by Hollywood can figure out that the National Security Agency is listening to their every call, guess what? Real-life terrorists know this, too. So when a hyperventilating President Bush rants that the exposure of his warrant-free wiretapping in a newspaper is shameful and puts "our citizens at risk" by revealing our espionage playbook, you have to wonder what he is really trying to hide. Our enemies, as America has learned the hard way, are not morons. Even if Al Qaeda hasn't seen "Sleeper Cell" because it refuses to spring for pay cable, it has surely assumed from the get-go that the White House would ignore legal restraints on eavesdropping, just as it has on detainee jurisprudence and torture."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010806C.shtml

The Bush Who Cried Wolf - "Under normal circumstances—that is, under any previous U.S. administration—the battle over Iran’s pugnacious effort in pursuit of nuclear technology would be amenable to a diplomatic solution. But, by insisting on a national security strategy of pre-emptive war, by illegally and unilaterally invading Iraq on false pretenses, and by hinting that the White House would tolerate an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear plants, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have made a successful diplomatic resolution of the Iran crisis nearly impossible."
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20060112/the_bush_who_cried_wolf.php

Bush could seize absolute control of U.S. government - "President George W. Bush has signed executive orders giving him sole authority to impose martial law, suspend habeas corpus and ignore the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits deployment of U.S. troops on American streets. This would give him absolute dictatorial power over the government with no checks and balances."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/printer_7986.shtml

Pelosi Wants Probe of 'Corrupt Congress' - "House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said Republicans had created "one of the most closed, corrupt congresses in history" and urged the House ethics committee to investigate GOP lawmakers linked to lobbyist Jack Abramoff. "It's hard for the American people to understand how corrupt it is here," the California Democrat said at a news conference."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/12/D8F3A9VG3.html

Jailed for 30 years for criticising 'free' Iraq - "Kamal Sayid Qadir wrote an article criticising the US backed government in Iraqi Kurdistan and now he has been jailed for 30 yearsIf a writer was jailed for 30 years for exposing government corruption in Iran or Syria, there would be outrage in the US and Britain and demands for military strikes. But when that happens in Iraq there is silence.George Bush and Tony Blair constantly boast that they have brought freedom and democracy to Iraq.Yet Kamal Sayid Qadir, a leading Kurdish academic, has been jailed for 30 years after he publicly criticised Massoud Barzani, head of the US backed Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP)."
http://www.uruknet.com/?p=19521&hd=0&size=1&l=x

"It is this kind of disrespect...." - "When the journey eventually ended I found myself in a small room, two metres square, with wooden walls, a refrigerator and an oval table in the middle. Soon two men came in, civilians, wearing vests. "Do you know why you are here, Mr Fadhil?" they asked me.I replied: "To be interrogated?"With a broad smile, one of them said: "No. There was a mistake in the address and we apologise for the damage."So that's it. They blew three doors apart with explosives, smashed the house windows, trashed all our furniture, damaged the car, risked our lives by shooting inside rooms aimlessly, hooded me and took me from my family who didn't know if they would ever see me again - and then, with a smile, they dismissed it as a small mistake. So was this intimidation or just a typical piece of bungled repression? I don't know and cannot tell, though I have yet to have my tapes returned. I do know, however, the effect it has had on my daughter. Sarah hates all soldiers and calls them Americans even if they are Iraqis. There is no way she will change her mind about them after that nightmare.There are many Iraqis - Iraqis who welcomed the fall of Saddam - who feel exactly the same today."" -- Disgusting.
http://www.uruknet.com/?p=19527&hd=0&size=1&l=x

The elements of tyranny - "There has been a lot of talk lately about the Bush regime's new theory of presidential power. The unitary executive, a conception advocated by torture aficionado John Yoo and Supreme Court nominee Alito, is not just a peculiar interpretation of the constitution, its adoption marks a transition in our form of government. Toward what exactly is not yet fully evident in all of its detail, but the X just over the horizon is simply not democracy in any meaningful sense of the word."
http://secularfront.blogspot.com/2006/01/elements-of-tyranny.html

Pentagon grilled over database on war critics - "Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday asked for answers on an obscure Pentagon agency that included reports on student anti-war protests and other peaceful civilian demonstrations in a database meant to detect terrorist activities."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10834915/

You're Being Watched: Efforts to Collect Data on Americans Go Far Beyond the NSA's Domestic Spying Program - "Congress will soon hold hearings on the National Security Agency's domestic spying program, secretly authorized by President Bush in 2002. But that program is just the tip of the iceberg. Since 9/11, the expansion of efforts to gather and analyze information on U.S. citizens is nothing short of staggering. The government collects vast troves of data, including consumer credit histories and medical and travel records. Databases track Americans' networks of friends, family and associates, not just to identify who is a terrorist but to try to predict who might become one."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0112-31.htm

New Body Screeners in use in London: We are living in a dystopian nightmare - "The implementation of such technology represents a giant leap into a total surveillance Big Brother society. People are faced with walking into booths raising their hands above their heads like they're a criminal and being electronically scanned by a machine that produces a naked image of their body. Yet as you have seen from the video above the general consensus is total acceptance. The only negative comment in the report comes from a commuter who is worried that the process may add a few minutes onto his journey. "It's one of those things we have to endure these days" comments one man. "Anything to make us feel safer" whimpers an elderly lady whilst giving the most naive bootlicking smile you can imagine. And this is precisely the point, the general public will accept any level of intrusiveness so long as it gives the IMPRESSION that they are safer, in reality it doesn't make anyone safer it just eliminates your liberty." -- Leaders love sheeple.
http://infowars.net/articles/january2006/120106scanners.htm

New Ohio Law Allows Cops to Request ID - "But dissent is building over authority given to police officers, who can now ask, "What's your name?" as a tool to fight terrorism. Failure to identify oneself could land an individual in jail. Critics call the measure the Ohio Patriot Act. The law also requires those applying for state driver's licenses to sign a form that they haven't supported terrorist organizations."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,181382,00.html

AMERICAblog just bought General Wesley Clark's cell phone records for $89.95 - "I reported the other day that your cell phone records are on sale online for anyone to buy, without your permission. Well, this morning AMERICAblog bought former presidential candidate, and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO (SACEUR), General Wesley Clark's cell phone records for one hundred calls made over three days in November 2005, no questions asked."
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/01/americablog-just-bought-general-wesley.html

'Zero experience' - "President Bush continues to do a heckuva job installing unqualified cronies in key government posts. Even though the Michael Brown debacle at the Federal Emergency Management Agency is still good for a few laughs on the Leno and Letterman shows, Bush may inject new life into late night TV monologues with his recent appointment of Ellen Sauerbrey to head the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. ... The New York Times was a bit more blunt: "Ms. Sauerbrey has zero experience in emergency management and refugee resettlement." Zero experience. That's an astounding benchmark, impossible to beat. There is no less-than-zero level of experience. What kinds of disasters and refugee situations does the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration address? Rwanda. Darfur, Sudan. Kosovo. Iraq. Gaza Strip. Southeast Asia tsunami. Pakistan earthquake. It's the last place anyone wants to see a director with zero experience."
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/01/11/ed.edit.recess.0111.p1.php?section=opinion

We have met the enemy -- and it is US! - ""Bush lied, people died!" "Cheney gets richer off the war!" "Rumsfeld sacrifices your sons and daughters to the God of Greed!" "Bush bypasses court to spy on you!" "Bush says Constitution is " just a piece of paper!" These are actual headlines, not from the mainstream media but from 'blogs' across the internet. Unfortunately, most Americans still get their 'news' from mainstream media sources and its only the headlines and sound bites that attract their attention -- you know, the important news: "Brad to adopt Angelina's children.""
http://www.sierratimes.com/06/01/13/65_71_189_66_18689.htm

Pentagon to Families: Go Ahead, Laugh - "When the stress of the war in Iraq becomes too severe, the Pentagon has a suggestion for military families: Learn how to laugh. With help from the Pentagon's chief laughter instructor, families of National Guard members are learning to walk like a penguin, laugh like a lion and blurt "ha, ha, hee, hee and ho, ho." No joke."
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060113074909990039&cid=1976

Top Senate Democrat Supports Outsourcing - "U.S. Senator Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, said Friday he supports outsourcing white-collar jobs to low-wage countries such as India - a position at odds with his party's traditional stance on the issue."
http://money.aol.com/news/articles?id=n20060113044409990024&cid=771

A Challenge to Evolution of Universe - "In the quest to decipher the evolution of the cosmos, no topic generates greater interest among scientists than "dark energy," the mysterious force that appears to be causing the universe to expand at an ever-accelerating rate. Yesterday, Louisiana State University astronomer Bradley E. Schaefer tossed a grenade into this debate, presenting new research to suggest that the force dark energy exerts may have varied over time. That casts new doubt on the validity of Albert Einstein's "cosmological constant" only a few years after astronomers rescued the concept from scientific oblivion."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/11/AR2006011102065.html

Half of Americans use prescription drugs: survey - "About half of all U.S. women and 40 percent of U.S. men are currently using or have recently used a prescription drug, according to government statistics published on Thursday."
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2006-01-12T171303Z_01_EIC261824_RTRUKOC_0_US-DRUGS.xml&rpc=22

Man Jailed After Handshake Sickens 3 - "A man has been jailed on assault charges after a prosecutor, police officer and courtroom bailiff became seriously ill after shaking hands with him. During a Dec. 21 court appearance on a traffic charge, John Ridgeway pulled out a vial of an unknown liquid, rubbed his hands with the contents and insisted on shaking hands with the three people, authorities said. All of them got sick within an hour, suffering from nausea, headaches, numbness and tingling that lasted about a day. Two sought treatment at a hospital."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/12/D8F3CPK01.html

Stem cell experts seek rabbit-human embryo - "British scientists are seeking permission to create hybrid embryos in the lab by fusing human cells with rabbit eggs. If granted consent, the team will use the embryos to produce stem cells that carry genetic defects, in the hope that studying them will help understand the complex mechanisms behind incurable human diseases."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1685534,00.html

Taiwan breeds green-glowing pigs - "Scientists in Taiwan say they have bred three pigs that glow in the dark. They claim that while other researchers have bred partly fluorescent pigs, theirs are the only pigs in the world which are green through and through."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4605202.stm

'Doomsday vault' to house world's seeds - "Norway is to build a "doomsday vault" in a mountain close to the North Pole that will house a vast seed bank to ensure food supplies in the event of catastrophic climate change, nuclear war or rising sea levels, New Scientist says."
http://www.physorg.com/news9794.htmlJan%2012

Researcher: Early Man Was Hunted by Birds - "Berger concluded man's ancestors had to survive not just being hunted from the ground, but from the air. Such discoveries are "key to understanding why we humans today view the world they way we do," he said."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/12/D8F39VDOF.html

Apple's iTunes raises privacy concerns - "A new version of Apple Computer's popular iTunes software, released Tuesday, is drawing barbs from privacy advocates for sending information about computer users' playlists back to Apple."
http://news.com.com/Apples+iTunes+raises+privacy+concerns/2100-1029_3-6026542.html?tag=nefd.lede




Quote of the Day
"Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious."
~ George Orwell, 1984

News -- January 12, 2006

Alito's Nod to Executive Power Looms As Dangerous - "Alito is consistently on record as favoring steps by the White House to in his words "increase the power of the executive to shape the law." Twenty years ago, as a member of the Reagan administration, Alito was in the forefront of efforts to legitimize executive power grabs designed to allow presidents to take dramatic actions, sometimes in secret, without the advice and consent of Congress."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0110-30.htm

Alito and His Coaches - "In the first hours of Samuel Alito's Senate confirmation hearings on Monday, Judiciary Committee member Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, may very well have irreparably compromised himself. At the hearing, Graham told Alito, nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, that he had already decided in Alito's favor. "I don't know what kind of vote you're going to get, but you'll make it through. It's possible you could talk me out of voting for you, but I doubt it. So I won't even try to challenge you along those lines."" -- Our government at work.
http://villagevoice.com/news/0602,roston,71634,6.html

Not Buying the Sob Story - "Let's not kid ourselves. The Alito appointment is ENORMOUSLY important to Bush's "legacy" in what will historically be one failure after another. And it's no secret that Lindsey Graham coached Alito before the hearings began. So it's no small leap of reality to come to the conclusion that Martha-Ann's blubbering came right on Rovian cue during Graham's impassioned plea for dialing down the big bad attacks by the Democrats."
http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2006/01/not_buying_the_.html

War on terror: “Colossal failure” - "It is clearer now more than ever that the so-called "WAR ON TERROR" has not, in fact, made the world safer. "
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=10476

First “real evidence” on CIA secret jails - "The CIA held 23 people in a secret prison in Romania and maintained similar detention facilities in Bulgaria, Ukraine, Macedonia and Kosovo, according to allegations contained in an Egyptian government fax obtained by Swiss Security services. The fax offers the first "real evidence" that the U.S. interrogated suspects at secret prisons in Eastern Europe, European politicians said."
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=10491

Command Responsibility? - "A jury verdict in Memphis late last year caused little stir among the general public, but it may have caught the attention of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other high officials of the Bush administration. The jury found Colonel Nicolas Carranza, former Vice Minister of Defense of El Salvador and now a U.S. citizen living in Memphis, responsible for overseeing the torture and killing in that country 25 years ago. Could similar charges be brought against high U.S. officials for the actions of their subordinates in Abu Ghraib, Falluja, and Guantanamo?"
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3026

Bush Says Iraq Criticism Aides Adversaries - " President Bush warned Democratic critics of his Iraq policy on Tuesday to watch what they say or risk giving "comfort to our adversaries" and suffering at the ballot box in November. Democrats said Bush should take his own advice."
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-wh/2006/jan/11/011109295.html

Bush has actually declared it treasonous to reveal his illegal behavior! - "Note the astounding paradox: The Bush administration is caught red-handed in blatant illegality and responds by trying to arrest the patriot who exposed the administration’s illegal behavior. Bush has actually declared it treasonous to reveal his illegal behavior! His propagandists, who masquerade as news organizations, have taken up the line: To reveal wrong-doing by the Bush administration is to give aid and comfort to the enemy."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/headlines/6891/A_Gestapo_Administration

Connecting the Dots: Abramoff and Rove - " Did you know that Jack Abramoff and Karl Rove shared an executive assistant?"
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/nataffdaily/story/9130607?rnd=1136894240690&has-player=true&version=6.0.8.1024

Beam weapons almost ready for battle - "There is a new breed of weaponry fast approaching — and at the speed of light, no less. They are labeled "directed-energy weapons," and they may well signal a revolution in military hardware — perhaps more so than the atomic bomb."
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10805240/

FAQ: The new 'annoy' law explained -- I'm still annoyed.
http://news.com.com/FAQ+The+new+annoy+law+explained/2100-1028_3-6025396.html?tag=nefd.lede

NSA: Free Speech is a Weapon of Mass Destruction - "As further evidence the Bushcons are not interested in snooping “al-Qaeda,” and in fact there is no “al-Qaeda” threat in America, consider revelations that the NSA snooped the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore, a Quaker peace group. “The National Security Agency has been spying on a Baltimore anti-war group, according to documents released during litigation, going so far as to document the inflating of protesters’ balloons, and intended to deploy units trained to detect weapons of mass destruction.”"
http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=185

Neocon Police State Spreads Disinfo and Paranoia - "If an 81-year old guy, a retired academic writing to a Catholic colleague, can be snooped, no doubt activists and peaceniks can and are being snooped as well. Since when does an 81-year-old retired University of Kansas history professor, corresponding with a devout Catholic retired Filipino history professor, pose a threat to the national security of the United States? Of course, the answer is never. However, the fact the Ministry of Homeland Security opened Grant Goodman’s mail has nothing to do with national security or “al-Qaeda” and it has everything to do with sending a message—we live in a police state here in America, a one-time constitutional republic where the authorities can and will snoop not only your mail but your telephone, email, web destinations, credit card statement, bank transaction records, library checkout information, etc., ad nauseam. In fact, the reason this story appeared on the MSNBC website is to let you know the corporate dominated government is watching."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/headlines/6971/Neocon_Police_State_Spreads_Disinfo_and_Paranoia

ABC's SCOOP: "MILLIONS" OF AMERICANS' PHONE CALLS TAPPED BY N.S.A. - " ABC's "Nightline" last night aired a terrifying scoop: a former senior insider at the National Security Agency said that the agency has illegally spied on "millions" of Americans who make telephone calls overseas."
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2006/01/abcs_scoop_mill.html

4-year-old shows up on government 'no-fly' list - ""Is this a joke?" she recalled telling Continental Airlines agents Dec. 21 at Bush Intercontinental Airport. "You can tell he's not a terrorist." Sijollie Allen, a Jamaican immigrant, said she doesn't understand why her American-born son should have to deal with this each time he travels just because he shares his name with a much older individual who is on the list."
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2006-01-10-toddler-nofly_x.htm

NYCLU sues city over right to shoot video, pictures in public - "The NYCLU has received other complaints about people being harassed for taking pictures in public places, Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. "The NYCLU is deeply concerned about what this says about the state of our democracy," she said. "The streets of Manhattan are public spaces, and the public has a right not only to be on the street but to take pictures on the street. Nobody should risk arrest to take out his camera or video camera.""
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--publicpictures0110jan10,0,4891293,print.story

Oil hits three-month high on Iran concerns - "Oil struck a three-month high on Wednesday on concerns Iran's nuclear ambitions could draw international sanctions that disrupt crude flows from the world's fourth biggest exporter." -- You know, I think all of this is just bullshit.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=2006-01-11T224650Z_01_YUE181994_RTRUKOC_0_US-MARKETS-OIL.xml&rpc=23

The fantasy lives of christians - "If you repeat a fantasy often enough, it will come true. This seems to be a lynchpin of contemporary christian thought. Something to do with the rosary perhaps."
http://secularfront.blogspot.com/2006/01/fantasy-lives-of-christians.html

Detroit Bishop Suffered Childhood Sex Abuse - "Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, arguing for more time for sex abuse victims to sue the Roman Catholic Church, says he was abused by a priest 60 years ago." -- Yes, you read that correctly. It says 60 years ago.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,181278,00.html

New Clue to Universe's Darkest Mystery - "An astronomer says he may have found an important clue to one of the most profound mysteries in the universe: Why the stars in the sky are moving away from us at an ever increasing pace. Some scientists have suggested that the vacuum of space is filled with a weird force, called "dark energy." But new results, presented Wednesday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, D.C., call that idea into question."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5149972&ft=1&f=1001

EPA change would reduce mileage shown on vehicle stickers - "The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed the first major overhaul in 20 years in the way it calculates fuel economy ratings for cars and trucks, a shift the agency said would reduce mileage estimates by 5% to 30%, depending on the type of driving and kind of vehicle."
http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jan06/384192.asp

Houston to Link Teachers' Pay, Test Scores - "Houston is about to become the biggest school district in the nation to tie teachers' pay to their students' test scores. School Superintendent Abe Saavedra wants to offer teachers as much as $3,000 more per school year if their students improve on state and national tests. The program could eventually grow to as much as $10,000 in merit pay. The school board is set to vote on the plan Thursday. Five of the nine board members have said they support it."
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-houston-teacher-pay,0,2493198.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

Americans Find Being Fat Not Unattractive - "A survey finds America's attitudes toward overweight people are shifting from rejection toward acceptance. Over a 20-year period, the percentage of Americans who said they find overweight people less attractive steadily dropped from 55 percent to 24 percent, the market research firm NPD Group found."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060111/ap_on_he_me/fit_fat_attitudes_1

Don't swat that fly. It's a spacecraft! - "Tomorrow's space vehicles may look more like insects and ping-pong balls than traditional rocket ships."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0112/p20s01-stss.html

iPod-compatible jeans almost ready to wear - "Denim giant Levi Strauss said on Tuesday it had designed jeans compatible with the iPod music player, featuring a joystick in the watch pocket to operate the device."
http://news.com.com/iPod-compatible+jeans+almost+ready+to+wear/2100-1041_3-6025549.html?tag=nefd.top

Couple Puts Itself, Family Up For Lease On eBay - "The engaged Warwick couple, along with six other relatives, have put themselves up for lease on e-Bay -- $1.5 million for five years of service."It's two families for lease," Kidney said. "We all have different skills –- cooking, cleaning, auto service and landscaping.""
http://www.turnto10.com/news/6008219/detail.html




Quote of the Day
"This place is always such a mess, sometimes I think I'd like to watch it burn."
~ The Wallflowers

News -- January 10, 2006

SPY POWERS - "Can the president eavesdrop on private citizens without a judge's ok? The high court said 'no' in 1972 Wiretaps: Ruling requires warrants for spying at home."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/01/08/MNGHGGK8OC1.DTL

Feingold won't rule out Bush impeachment - ""I think there is an orderly and dignified way to find out what happened," said Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. "And, if there was a legal violation there needs to be accountability ... you can't put the cart before the horse, but I would not rule out any form of accountability." That would include impeachment, Feingold told reporters."
http://www.vermontguardian.com/local/012006/FeingoldVisit.shtml

An Abuse of Power - "If we are going to chose the path of impeachment it must be under the banner that the presidency, not just this president, has gained too much power. The movement to remove George Bush from office has to find a means of holding his successor accountable."
http://www.guerrillanews.com/headlines/6898/An_Abuse_of_Power

Bush Advisor Says President Has Legal Power to Torture Children - "Cassel: If the President deems that he’s got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person’s child, there is no law that can stop him? Yoo: No treaty. Cassel: Also no law by Congress." -- I am disgusted that this discussion is even taking place.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2006/090106torturechildren.htm

Panel Says Abramoff Laundered Tribal Funds - "Lobbyist Jack Abramoff used money from a Mississippi tribal client to set up bogus Christian anti-gambling groups and to fund pet projects including gear for a "sniper school" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to documents released yesterday by Senate investigators."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062200921.html

America under Scalito - "Frankly, this is bullshit. The real issue is that Alito is a right wing ideologue who will use his position on the court to help usher in fundamental constitutional changes that will eliminate individual freedoms and permanently enthrone a radical view of almost unlimited executive prerogative. He will help usher in actual fascism."
http://secularfront.blogspot.com/2006/01/america-under-scalito.html

Narcissism, the public, and the President - "President Bush spoke last week to wounded soldiers at Brooke Army Medical Center and uttered these immortal words indicating a lack of true appreciation for the suffering of the gravely wounded, often permanently disabled soldiers he was speaking to: "As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself -- not here at the hospital, but in combat with a Cedar. I eventually won. The Cedar gave me a little scratch. As a matter of fact, the Colonel asked if I needed first aid when she first saw me. I was able to avoid any major surgical operations here, but thanks for your compassion, Colonel."" -- He makes you proud, doesn't he? Idiot.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_stephen__060110_narcissism_2c_the_publ.htm

Why have both the US and the UK have given Iran the materials it needs to go nuclear? - "We are being constantly bombarded with propaganda over Iran and its intention to build a nuclear arsenal. We are told (contrary to intelligence reports) that they are just months away from doing so. And we have been told that they must be stopped. What we are not being told is that both the US and the UK have supplied Iran with the materials and the know how in order that they may build the bomb."
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/january2006/090106Iran.htm

Media's War Images Delude Instead of Inform - ""A lot of people don't really see how the war can mess people up until they know someone with firsthand experience," he said. "I think people coming back wounded -- or even just mentally injured after seeing what no human being should have to see -- is going to open a lot of eyes." ... As an American soldier in an "iconic" photo, Blake Miller was newsworthy for a little while. But in sharp contrast to the media enthusiasm that greeted him back in November 2004, there was no major media coverage in the days after "The Early Show" revealed on Jan. 3 that he's suffering from posttraumatic stress. For the warfare state, he has outlived his usefulness."
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0109-20.htm

Create an e-annoyance, go to jail - "Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime. It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity. ... But why should merely annoying someone be illegal? There are perfectly legitimate reasons to set up a Web site or write something incendiary without telling everyone exactly who you are. Think about it:" -- These people are fucking idiots. Oh, sorry, that probably annoys someone.
http://news.com.com/Create%20an%20e-annoyance,%20go%20to%20jail/2010-1028_3-6022491.html

Marines Recruiting 8-year olds - "Dear Principals: My name is Chris Hardin and I am the Commanding Officer for the Sumner County Young Marines." -- Check out the Young Marine Obligation and the Young Marine Creed.
http://www.rinf.com/columnists/news/marines-recruiting-8-year-olds

New nanotech armor called 5 times stronger than steel - " Executives said the impact was the equivalent to dropping four diesel locomotives onto an area the size of a human fingernail. They said the nano-based armor, which stemmed from a new carbon form called Inorganic Fullerenes, withstood the impact."
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/06/front2453745.144444444.html

Throw Out Those Cough Drops, Group Says - "For children younger than 14, the ACCP also strongly urges that over-the-counter cough and cold medications not be used. The risk of dangerous side effects can outweigh any benefits."
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=1486831

PSA Test Might Not Save Lives - "Screening men for prostate cancer with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test may not reduce their risk of death from the disease, new research suggests. "
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2006/01/09/hscout530097.html

Toxic waste creates hermaphrodite Arctic polar bears - "There is also evidence that compounds similar to the PBDEs have contributed to a surprisingly high rate of hermaphroditism in polar bears. About one in 50 female bears on Svalbard has both male and female sex organs, a phenomenon scientists link directly to the effects of pollution."
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article337581.ece

Music downloading creates listener apathy - "Internet downloading and MP3 players are creating a generation of people who do not seriously appreciate songs or musical performances, British researchers said."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/10/060110164416.p4z0rnx6.html

Gory games that can warp your brain - "VIOLENT computer games trigger a mechanism in the brain that makes people more likely to behave aggressively, research suggests."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1976339,00.html




Of course, if you annoy the politician by anonymously writing your thoughts on the web, then you will go to jail.

Quote of the Day
"A slave is he who cannot speak his thoughts."
~ Euripides