Editorial: Astounding Hypocrisy - "Few in the Middle East will have heard George W. Bush’s State of the Union address without feeling exasperation and anger that this belligerent president appears to have no idea of how US policy in the region is riddled with double standards. It is now clear that this astonishingly ill-informed administration had not the slightest inkling that Hamas would win the Palestinian elections — let alone win so decisively. ... Now at least Bush’s perverse vision of the democratic process is patently clear. A democratic election must produce a government that is acceptable to the White House. Anything else will be rejected. The democratic voice of the people will be ignored unless it is singing the song that Washington wants to hear. This astounding hypocrisy undermines everything America says it is trying to achieve in the region and everything that America once stood for."
Pentagon Now Prepares to Fight Long War - ""Just as the Cold War lasted a long time, this war is something that is not going to go away," Rumsfeld said. He said this does not mean U.S. troops will be in Iraq indefinitely, but rather that the U.S. will be fighting violent extremists for many years to come." -- Yep, when you don't treat people fair, they get pissed off, and the U.S. has pissed off a lot of people.
Iran's message to the west: back off or we retaliate - "Iran's foreign minister yesterday threatened immediate retaliation over a move to refer its nuclear weapons activities to the United Nations security council in comments which deepen his country's confrontation with the international community."
Bush: US would defend Israel against Iran - "U.S. President George W. Bush vowed on Wednesday the United States will rise to Israel's defense if needed against Iran and denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for "menacing talk" against Israel." -- How did this one little spot on Earth become so important?
Fitzgerald Hints White House Records Lost - "Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is raising the possibility that records sought in the CIA leak investigation could be missing because of an e-mail archiving problem at the White House."
Every Sperm is Sacred - "I suppose the anti-abortion contingent is dancing in the streets at Judge Samuel A. Alito's confirmation to the U. S. Supreme Court, but it leaves me numb. It also leaves me confused. I could get behind any movement that takes as its starting point, "Thou shalt not kill." But these anti-abortion folks are the same ones who treasure capital punishment. They're the ones who scorn those of us who seek rehabilitation as well as retribution. ... Then there's the war-mongering. It's hard to take the Christian right seriously about being pro-life when the one thing they seem to agree upon is the right to bomb the hell out of Muslim countries - mothers, babies, fathers, dogs and cats - whether it's for oil, natural gas, religion or just because they have a different skin color or language. If the pro-life people were leading the anti-war movement, I would be a bit more reassured."
Opec issues warning on Bush oil pledge - "The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday warned that President George W. Bush’s proposal to reduce US dependence on Middle Eastern oil could badly jeopardise needed investment in Gulf oil production and refining capacity."
Administration backs off Bush's vow to reduce Mideast oil imports - "One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally."
No End in Sight: Bush on Iraq - "Nothing highlights the chasm between the rosy picture President George W. Bush tried to paint in the State of the Union last night and the sober reality of ongoing war in Iraq than these two quotes: "2,245 Dead. How many more?" "My fellow citizens, we are in this fight to win, and we are winning." ... WINNING WHAT?"
Out of jail, into the Army - "Facing an enlistment crisis, the Army is granting "waivers" to an increasingly high percentage of recruits with criminal records -- and trying to hide it."
Canada developing secret military force - ""It will better enable us to counter, fight and defeat the terrorist threat at home and abroad," Barr told reporters yesterday after being sworn in as the first commander of the Canadian special operations forces command."
The End of the Internet? - "The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online. Verizon, Comcast, Bell South and other communications giants are developing strategies that would track and store information on our every move in cyberspace in a vast data-collection and marketing system, the scope of which could rival the National Security Agency."
Chinese professor hits out at Google - "A Chinese media professor strongly criticised Google today for caving in to Chinese government demands that it censor its own service, saying it was damaging to the prospects for a freer press in China."
Bill Gates: Web site censorship doesn't work - "Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates said on Wednesday that government attempts to censor Web sites or blogs would fail since the banned information could get out in defiance of official efforts. ... "You may be able to take a very visible Web site and say that something shouldn't be there, but if there's a desire by the population to know something, it's going to get out," he said."
Mapping veins as a human 'bar code' - "In Memphis, Tenn., a small medical supply company called Luminetx has developed a new method of palm-reading that it hopes will rival fingerprinting or retinal scans as a way to perfectly identify individuals. The technology is based on an infrared scan of the blood cells running through veins, which is then analyzed by a computer."
Supersize suit targets Borgata - "The litigation stems from the casino's controversial policy, enacted last year, that prohibits the “Borgata Babes” cocktail servers from gaining more than 7 percent of their body weight."
Man Sues Apple Over Potential Hearing Loss - "A Louisiana man claims in a lawsuit that Apple's iPod music player can cause hearing loss in people who use it."
Quote of the Day
"The human world is a mess."
~ Sebastian, The Little Mermaid
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