News -- April 11, 2006

Countdown to U.S.-Iran War Has Begun: Reports - "Most observers are expecting the developing U.S.-Iran crisis to end with a diplomatic settlement, especially because the post-war American occupation of Iraq is seen as a failure and that the war will be averted. But unfortunately, the concerned authorities aren't considering this view."

Bush and Cheney Discussed Plame Prior to Leak - "The revelation puts a new wrinkle into Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's two-year-old criminal probe into the leak and suggests for the first time that President Bush knew from early on that the vice president and senior officials on his staff were involved in a coordinated effort to attack Wilson's credibility by leaking his wife's classified CIA status. Now that President Bush's knowledge of the Plame Wilson affair has been exposed, there are thorny questions about whether the president has broken the law - specifically, whether he obstructed justice when he was interviewed about his knowledge of the Plame Wilson leak and the campaign to discredit her husband."

More than a million rally for aliens - "Huge numbers of marchers yesterday demanded U.S. citizenship for illegal aliens in dozens of cities from New York to San Diego in some of the most widespread protests since the current wave of demonstrations began last month."

Protests provide boost to Democrats - "Democrats on Capitol Hill favoring citizenship for illegal aliens say they have been buoyed by the massive rallies across the country, but opponents of amnesty warn that they will ultimately backfire." -- Jumping on the current bandwagon, I see.

Congratulations America! - "The next time I hear someone complain about our govenment, our President or our country I think I'm gonna puke. ... Apparently there's enough illegal aliens who want to live here to make a meaningful statement. At the same time, evidently the rest of us are willing to accept a lying, corrupt, inept President that stole two elections then lied us into a war."

Planning the US 'Long War' on terror - "It sounds eerily like the Cold War - and that is no mistake. The "Long War" is the name Washington is using to rebrand the new world conflict, this time against terrorism. Now the US military is revealing details of how it is planning to fight this very different type of war. It is also preparing the public for a global conflict which it believes will dominate the next 20 years." -- Self-fulfilling prophecy?

Oil Prices Rise Above $69 a Barrel - "Oil prices rose above $69 a barrel Tuesday amid concerns that Iran's nuclear standoff and violence in Nigeria could hurt supplies. Prices were also pushed higher by expectations of a further draw on gasoline stocks ahead of the U.S. summer driving season. Such worries overrode expectations that the weekly snapshot of U.S. inventory data on Wednesday will show crude-oil stocks climbing an average of 1.2 million barrels from last week."

Vacation drives won't come cheap this summer - "The Energy Department's new "seasonal outlook," released Tuesday, projects that the price for regular grade gasoline will average $2.62 a gallon, barring any unexpected supply disruptions. Gasoline prices have soared since February." -- We're already at $2.80 here.

Phone-Jamming Records Point to White House - "Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as the plan was unfolding, phone records introduced in criminal court show. The records show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 — as the phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly shut down."

All About NSA's and AT&T's Big Brother Machine, the Narus 6400 - "It monitors 10 billion bits per second at level four and 2500 million bits per second at level seven. For reference, the 256K DSL line I am using equals .25 million bits per second. So one NarusInsight machine can look at about 39,000 DSL lines at once in great detail. That is a pretty damn big number. This is some really serious hardware with equally serious software. Which is our next subject. So what exactly is done to and with this data?"

Europeans 'see need' for power to snoop - "In Europe, Big Brother is listening -- and being allowed to hear more and more. Since the September 11 attacks and the terrorist bombings that followed in Madrid and London, authorities across the Continent are getting more powers to electronically eavesdrop, and meeting less public opposition than President Bush has over his post-September 11 wiretapping program."

Poll Finds Bush Job Rating at New Low - "The survey found that 38 percent of the public approve of the job Bush is doing, down three percentage points in the past month and his worst showing in Post-ABC polling since he became president. Sixty percent disapprove of his performance. With less than seven months remaining before the midterm elections, Bush's political troubles already appear to be casting a long shadow over them. Barely a third of registered voters, 35 percent, approve of the way the Republican-led Congress is doing its job -- the lowest level of support in nine years." -- Because, once again, Republicans have shown that they are bad. The Democrats, on the other hand, have merely shown they are imcompetent.

God Hates Republicans - "The site that you are about to enter contains Gospel truth on an important, hot-button issue. This Gospel truth includes, but is not limited to:"

Most human beings 'natural born slaves' - "IN A counterintuitive paper, Malcolm Heath, of Leeds University, defended Aristotle’s politically incorrect view that some people are natural born slaves. Aristotle argued that the majority of human beings could and should be enslaved because they are naturally slaves. ... Professor Heath argues that Aristotle was not saying that natural slaves lack the distinctive human capacity for reason. They are not subhuman. Natural slaves may be extremely creative and intelligent. But they simply have a defect that prevents them recognising the way to live a good life."

Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies - "With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all." -- Christians are such lovely, tolerant people, aren't they? (I know that's a generalization because I have good friends who are Christians and they are tolerant and caring about humanity. However, I believe there are only a few.) Firstly, there should not have to be any laws on tolerance. Secondly, is this what Jesus encouraged? Thirdly, can't one tell that religion has caused these people to hate other individuals? Religion: one of the causes of The Fall of Humanity.

Science class no place for creationism, says Royal Society - "Britain's most distinguished scientists today denounced the distortion of scientific knowledge to promote religious beliefs in schools. ... With supporters of creationism and its offshoot "intelligent design" stepping up their efforts in the US, there are fears that the promotion of faith schools in the UK could lead to anti-evolutionary theories being taught in British classrooms."

Intelligent design goes Ivy League - "Cornell University plans to offer a course this summer on intelligent design, using textbooks by leading proponents of the controversial theory of origins. The Ivy League school's course – "Evolution and Design: Is There Purpose in Nature?" – aims to "sort out the various issues at play, and to come to clarity on how those issues can be integrated into the perspective of the natural sciences as a whole.""

Christian Coalition Fades As Debts Mount - "The once-mighty Christian Coalition, founded 17 years ago by the Rev. Pat Robertson as the political fundraising and lobbying engine of the Christian right, is more than $2 million in debt, beset by creditors' lawsuits and struggling to hold on to some of its state chapters."

Israeli Cabinet: Sharon rule over - "Three months after suffering a massive stroke, the Israeli Cabinet has declared Prime Minister Ariel Sharon permanently incapacitated, formally ending his premiership."

Drug firms 'hype up diseases to boost sales' - "Drug companies are inventing diseases to sell more of their products, it has been claimed. Scientists have accused major pharmaceutical firms of "medicalising" problems like high cholesterol or the symptoms of the menopause in a bid to increase profits." -- It's ALWAYS about money.

thirteen families effectively control the central banks - "thirteen families effectively control the central banks of all the hard-currency countries. These "control banks" all practice FRACTIONAL RESERVE BANKING, which is perfectly legal in the US. Fractional reserve banking means that the bank is only required to hold on hand the small fraction of money (5%) that is needed to cover the fraction of deposits likely to be drawn upon and cashed. Moneys deposited in accounts go into a reserve upon which credit can be issued. In the US credit can be issued to seven times the reserve, in international banks (off shore establishments) twenty times the reserve can be issued as credit. It is imp[ortant to understand this concept in order to understand the larger picture."

First Knights Templar are discovered - "The first bodies of the Knights Templar, the mysterious religious order at the heart of The Da Vinci Code, have been found by archaeologists near the River Jordan in northern Israel."

Global warming threatens extinctions - "Global warming will become a top cause of extinction from the tropical Andes to South Africa with thousands of species of plants and animals likely to be wiped out in coming decades, according to a study released Tuesday."

Florida county posts residents' sensitive data on public Web site - " The Social Security numbers, driver's license information and bank account details belonging to potentially millions of current and former residents in Florida's Broward County are available to anyone on the Internet because sensitive information has not been redacted from public records being posted on the county’s Web site. A county official said the information available on the Web is in full compliance with state statutes that require counties to post public documents on the Internet."

Officer cites 82-year-old woman for being too slow to negotiate busy street - "Even before Coyle finished crossing the intersection at Woodward Avenue, he had scribbled a $114 ticket for crossing against a don't-walk signal. "I entered the crosswalk, it was green," said Coyle, of Sunland, who is fighting the infraction issued Feb. 15. "It turned red before I could get over. There he was, waiting, the motorcycle cop. "He said, `You're obstructing the flow of traffic."' Coyle and other seniors at Monte Vista Mobile Estates are up in arms over signals they say are too short to safely cross the five-lane boulevard."

No more nose rings in school? - "City schools are contemplating cracking down on student appearance with a strict districtwide dress code that would require students to cinch their belts, lengthen their skirts and take out those nose rings. Detroit Public Schools leaders have circulated a proposal to require specific colors for shirts and slacks: white, blue, black, yellow or pink tops paired with khaki, navy blue or black pants. Hats, clothing with logos, and hooded jackets would be out. Knee-length skirts and collared shirts or turtlenecks would be in."

Study: Obesity not in eye of beholder - "Obese people have a blind spot when it comes to their own weight problem, according to a study that showed only 15 percent of people in that category view themselves as obese."

Group Seeks Ban on Fat-Blocking Pill - "A private group asked health officials Monday to ban the prescription version of the fat-blocking drug orlistat, citing a link to what some scientists believe are precancerous lesions in the large intestine."

The Long-Distance Journey of a Fast-Food Order - "Ms. Vargas works not in a restaurant but in a busy call center in this town, 150 miles from Los Angeles. She and as many as 35 others take orders remotely from 40 McDonald's outlets around the country. The orders are then sent back to the restaurants by Internet, to be filled a few yards from where they were placed. The people behind this setup expect it to save just a few seconds on each order. But that can add up to extra sales over the course of a busy day at the drive-through."

Police Hunt 4 Women In Beating Death Of Bingo Winner - "Police in Toronto are searching for four women suspected of beating a man to death over a $1,000 jackpot he had just won in a bingo hall, according to Local 6 News." -- And humanity falls farther.

Ugly people make bad parents: study - "“Unattractive parents are less likely than attractive parents to supervise their children closely,” said Andrew Harrell. He’s the same social scientist who took a fair bit of heat last year when he presented evidence suggesting parents pay more attention to attractive children."




Quote of the Day
"The [National Government] regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life."
~ Adolf Hitler