Iranian advisor: We'll strike Dimona in response to U.S. attack - "If the United States launches an attack on Iran, the Islamic republic will retaliate with a military strike on Israel's main nuclear facility."
Ricin discovered in University of Texas dorm - "A substance discovered by a student in a University of Texas dormitory has tested positive for ricin, a potentially deadly poison, officials said."
Homeland Security Objected to Ports Deal - "The Homeland Security Department objected at first to a United Arab Emirates company's taking over significant operations at six U.S. ports. It was the lone protest among members of the government committee that eventually approved the deal without dissent."
Adviser Says White House Set on Ports Deal - "The Bush administration said Friday it won't reconsider its approval for a United Arab Emirates company to take over significant operations at six U.S. ports. The former head of the Sept. 11 commission said the deal "never should have happened.""
White House 'Discovers' 250 Emails Related to Plame Leak - "The emails are said to be explosive, and may prove that Cheney played an active role in the effort to discredit Plame Wilson’s husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush administration’s prewar Iraq intelligence, sources close to the investigation said."
It Didn’t Work - "I can tell you the main reason behind all our woes — it is America." The New York Times reporter is quoting the complaint of a clothing merchant in a Sunni stronghold in Iraq. "Everything that is going on between Sunni and Shiites, the troublemaker in the middle is America.""
Cheney's vice-like grip - "On March 25 2003 President Bush signed executive order 13292, a hitherto little-known document that grants the greatest expansion of the power of the vice-president in US history. It gives the vice-president the same ability to classify intelligence as the president. By controlling classification, the vice-president can control intelligence and, through that, foreign policy. Bush operates on the radical notion of the "unitary executive", that the presidency has inherent and limitless powers in his role as commander in chief, above the system of checks and balances. Never before has any president diminished and divided his power."
Blogger bares Rumsfeld's post 9/11 orders - "Hours after a commercial plane struck the Pentagon on September 11 2001 the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, was issuing rapid orders to his aides to look for evidence of Iraqi involvement, according to notes taken by one of them. ... The handwritten notes, with some parts blanked out, were declassified this month in response to a request by a law student and blogger, Thad Anderson, under the US Freedom of Information Act. Anderson has posted them on his blog at outragedmoderates.org."
Rumsfeld Zeros in on the Internet - " What gibberish. It’s foolish to mention “intimidating and breaking the collective will of free people” without entering Abu Ghraib, Guantanomo and Falluja into the discussion. Rumsfeld is just griping about the disgrace he’s heaped on America’s reputation by his refusal to conform to even minimal standards of decency. Instead, he insists that America’s declining stature in the world is the result of a hostile media and “skillful enemies”; in other words, anyone with a computer keyboard and a rudimentary sense of moral judgment. ... If the Pentagon is really so worried about “bad press coverage” why not close down the torture-chambers and withdrawal from Iraq? Instead, Rumsfeld is making the case for a preemptive-assault on free speech." -- Make sure to read the rest.
NO, YES, NO: Alaska Now Refuses Release of 2004 Election Data Citing Security Concerns! - "A long-standing public records request for the release of Election 2004 database files created by Diebold's voting system had been long delayed after several odd twists and turns, including the revelation of a contract with the state claiming the information to be a "company secret." But while it finally appeared as though the state had agreed to release the information (after reserving the right to "manipulate the data" in consultation with Diebold before releasing it), the state's top Security Official has now -- at the last minute -- stepped in to deny the request. The grounds for the denial: the release of the information poses a "security risk" to the state of Alaska." -- Huh?
Is the U.S. Government Making Anthrax Bombs in Utah? - "But something else was going on that March in the west desert that has some questioning the United States’ dedication to nonproliferation. Over at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Grounds—the chemical depot’s Tooele County neighbor—procurement officers quietly placed orders for a system of bacteria-growing fermentors that would have made Saddam salivate."
Scotland: Every school pupil to get ID number - "Every child at a state school in Scotland is to be issued with a unique identity number to help authorities trace them if they go missing."
Group challenges science on 'biblically correct' tours - ""Did man and dinosaurs live together?" Carter asks. A timid yes comes from the students. "How do we know that to be true?" Carter says. There's a long pause. "What day did God create dinosaurs on?" he continues. "Six," says a chorus of voices. "What day did God create man on?" "Six." "Did man and dinosaurs live together?" "Yes," the students say. Mission accomplished for Carter, who has been leading such tours since 1988. He and the other guides counter secular interpretations of history, nature and the origin of life with their own literal reading of the Bible. And they do so right at the point where they feel they feel science indoctrinates young people - museums."
Science comes to the masses - "A scientist walks into a bar. More than 100 people are there, eager to hear all that she has to say and ask a lot of questions. No joke. That's what happens at the Wynkoop Brewing Company here every month when Cafe Scientifique is held. Science is not cold and remote in this setting. It's live, interactive, free and informal, with a drink or two. And other Cafe Scientifique meetings are popping up throughout the country and around the globe on campuses, in coffee shops, bars and even a church. The purpose is to make science accessible and even fun to anyone with the time to stop by."
Tollbooths on the Internet Highway - "If access tiering takes hold, the Internet providers, rather than consumers, could become the driving force in how the Internet evolves. Those corporations’ profit-driven choices, rather than users’ choices, would determine which sites and methodologies succeed and fail. They also might be able to stifle promising innovations, like Internet telephony, that compete with their own business interests."
Blogs are vital alternative media sources - "No human can possibly absorb all the informational and disinformational material available to us now. There is a huge advantage in having many eyeballs patrolling the sources of information, many minds with many varieties of experience free to express their thoughts in an open forum - discussion that is not chosen and/or edited by people whose living may depend on not offending the powerful."
Late motherhood could hold the secret to longevity - "Older motherhood may bring with it exhaustion - and the innate fear of being mistaken for your child's grandmother - but it also brings longevity. Research suggests women who raise a family late in life tend to die later."
NASA orbiter to arrive at Red Planet March 10 - "If it manages to reach its planned orbit, a process that will take another seven months, the spacecraft could collect unprecedented data about Earth's next-door planetary neighbor, which could help scientists determine where to land the next Mars rovers and even to make preliminary plans for a human landing site." -- Provided it doesn't crash into the surface.
Quote of the Day
"I'm on the highway to hell."
~ AC/DC
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