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.