Blair refuses to back Iran strike - "TONY Blair has told George Bush that Britain cannot offer military support to any strike on Iran, regardless of whether the move wins the backing of the international community, government sources claimed yesterday. Amid increasing tension over Tehran's attempts to develop a military nuclear capacity, the Prime Minister has laid bare the limits of his support for President Bush, who is believed to be considering an assault on Iran, Foreign Office sources revealed."
Terror warning over Iran attack - "A possible US attack on Iran could be more damaging to American interests than the current offensive in Iraq has been, two former White House counterterrorism experts have warned."
Nuclear War Crimes - "I am neither a scientist nor a writer of fiction, but the notion that a government would knowingly dust human beings with radioactive heavy metal powder or place them in toxic zones without warning resembles a science fiction nightmare come true. Yet this is just what the Department of Defense (DOD) is doing. Prioritizing weapon strength over long-term health and environmental considerations, the U.S. is using material that has poisoned our own troops, dumped thousands of tons of this toxic waste at home and abroad, and broken international law in the process. Meanwhile, the controversial nature of this material has led the U.S. government to deny its devastating side effects and long-term consequences. The substance is a heavy metal radioactive material called Uranium 238 (U-238), also known as Depleted Uranium or DU."
The Real Death Tax - "These days, the money we're sending to Washington is buying a lot more war and a lot less economic security. In the current White House budget request, Pentagon spending would rocket upward, with a $29 billion increase. If you include military portions of the budgets of Homeland Security, Energy, and other departments, US taxpayers would fork over $563 billion for military spending in the coming fiscal year. But wait! (as they say on infomercials) There's more! That $563 billion doesn't even include the cost of the war in Iraq! President Bush has submitted a supplemental budget request for $74 billion, of which $61 billion will fund that continuing military occupation. The Iraq war has cost $273 billion so far. But to account for the total cost of the war, according to Nobel-prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, we should project the future costs of fighting and withdrawal, added veterans' costs, the cost of lifetime care for brain-injured troops, the added interest on the national debt, and other expenses. Do that, says Stiglitz, and the price tag of the Iraq war will be between $750 billion and $1.3 trillion. That's trillion with a 't', and even that figure, says Stiglitz, is "highly conservative".To pay off an extra $1.3 trillion would require every dollar of federal individual income taxes paid by every working American for a period of one year and seven months! That's impossible, so much of it will be borrowed money."
HOW DO WE TAKE THREE MORE YEARS OF BUSH? - "You could not make this up: We are saying that we may be forced to nuke Iran to prevent them from getting nukes. A Pentagon official put it another way in last week's New Yorker magazine: "The bottom line is that Iran cannot become a nuclear-weapons state. The problem is that the Iranians realize that only by becoming a nuclear state can they defend themselves against the United States." ... It is difficult and profoundly depressing to contemplate what Bush and Rumsfeld will come up with in the almost three years they have left in office. This president came to power as superpower, when the United States dominated the world economically, morally and militarily. That will not be true when he leaves. We have been diminished in almost every way by this administration's ignorance and incompetence -- and now we are going to do more of it by shouting ourselves hoarse in response to fanatic loudmouths in Iran rather than letting them destroy themselves with their own people."
Happy Little Birds in Happy Little Iraq - "Last night (4/13) as I was watching "Special Report with Brit Hume", I was a bit startled by how Hume attempted to portray Iraq as tranquil and serene, even claiming that most provinces are secure and calm (so calm that 65,000 people have had to flee their homes). Yet, what startled me even more was what was happening in the background of the desperately upbeat Iraq story. ... Did Fox add a soundtrack to make Iraq appear more serene than it is, or is this Iraqi province straight out of Hitchcock's "The Birds"? As they say at Fox, "We report - you decide!"" -- They have the video.
The Failure Of The U.S. "Free Press" - "But with being such a powerful source for national news comes with a huge responsibility, and "television news" has failed us miserably.As a nation, it is time to look closely at the the use of television and radio in being a news source. It`s time to ask ourselves if "commercial television news shows" have not evolved into a medium that cannot possibly live up to that huge responsibility without being a tool of "special interests." It`s time to look at television and radio news as potentially being the source of more harm to our nation than good. We must ask the question; can (corporate) television and radio possibly provide neutral and un-biased news as it is being used as a tool to shape the way our country thinks and acts? ... Can television station owners, and their journalistic employees, possibly be living up to their constitutional responsibility, or be doing their jobs correctly, when each of these news sources reports the same story, at the same time, even in the same order, day after day? It is disgusting to think that they can`t do any better than that. ... Television news. It has failed us all. The entire national media has failed us all. TV news shows have become a make-up room full of plastic-pretty women, and stiff, well groomed men, whose real job today is to read, look good, and to sell products. TV news and radio news now appear to exist solely for the special interests of commercialism. It survives on "ratings," numbers that are based on how the news people look, how they dress, and how well they can read from a teleprompter. ... Don`t blame the Republicans for the war in Iraq. Don't blame the Democrats for the war in Iraq. Blame the so-called news anchors, who are failing miserably at their jobs. It's their job to find the facts, not ours. They use the news to sell, not inform. And when news has to sell, it sells us out. ... Turn on your computer, and go online for your news, and help restore Jefferson's, Adams', and Franklin's dreams of a nation with a free press...a press to oversee and report the actions of our government and our corporations. They want money, but we need the truth, or we shall fall."
News whiteout - "The Bush administration has frustrated reporters by ignoring questions and sticking to its message. That strategy might no longer be working."
Russia pledges to aid Hamas - "Russia said yesterday it had promised emergency aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, breaking with the European Union and the United States, which have stopped funding to try to force Hamas to recognize Israel."
Charlie Sheen Courageously Challenges 9/11 Orthodoxy On National TV - "Over the past month Charlie Sheen's comments on 9/11 have sent shockwaves throughout the media and caused a firestorm of both support and establishment hit pieces. Sheen made history Friday night when he became the first high profile figure to bring serious questions about 9/11 to the forum of the late night talk show."
The Bible's All Wrong, Again The surprising Gospel of Judas proves you just can't be too sure about all that God stuff - "Is it not just tremendous heaps of casually blasphemous fun to learn, once again and for the thousandth time, that the Bible -- that happy mish-mashed messed-up hodgepodgey cocktail of myths and folklore and revisionist propaganda and who's-your-daddy reproaches intermixed with lovely stories of redemption and hope and oh yes sin and hellfire and death -- is so full of colorful holes it might as well be a bedsheet from Baghdad Target?" ... If the Bible is the gold brick in the American spiritual sidewalk, then you simply have to ask: What is the relevance in the fact that Christ might not have been betrayed at all? That he may have orchestrated his own arrest? What does this say about his divine wisdom? About Bible stories as a whole? More importantly, how does the new and improved Judas story pinch the ass of our collective mythology? Does it or does it not kick out one of the shaky support beams of the modern Church? Shouldn't it? The answer, of course, is it depends on just how deep your personal stick is stuck in the divine mud. Because now more than ever, hard-core religious and political types think it's all clear and righteous and straight, that life's moral codes and cultural guidelines have all been correctly (and homophobically, and misogynistically) spelled out in grainy divine ink, in ancient ironclad stories that would deign to tell us how to think and feel and live. ... The truth is, the Church was formed to serve people just like this, those who are unable to grasp nuances and unable to think beyond a certain scope, those who are unwilling or unable follow what is perhaps the singlemost powerful and significant of all Christ's (and Buddha's, and the Tao's, etc.) teachings: that is, to seek God within. Not in a priest. Not in a building. Not in an organized institution. Within you."
Senator: 7 colleagues headed to slammer - "U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., says he expects six members of the House of Representatives and at least one fellow senator to go to jail on corruption charges related to the scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff."
“Bush - Nazi Dealings Continued Until 1951” - Federal Documents - "After the seizures in late 1942 of five U.S. enterprises he managed on behalf of Nazi industrialist Fritz Thyssen, Prescott Bush, the grandfather of President George W. Bush, failed to divest himself of more than a dozen "enemy national" relationships that continued until as late as 1951, newly-discovered U.S. government documents reveal. Furthermore, the records show that Bush and his colleagues routinely attempted to conceal their activities from government investigators." -- What, no background check was done on the president?
Suicide-clinic entrepreneur:Depressed? 'We never say no' - "The founder of Dignitas – a Zurich, Switzerland, clinic that assists those with illnesses end their lives – says he wants to open a chain of "suicide clinics" in other countries to give everyone, including the mentally ill, the "the choice of a choice."
US government wants PayPal records - "The US government has ordered online auctioneer eBay's payment service PayPal to turn over records that could expose foreign accounts where tax cheats have hidden money, PayPal said last night."
Ex-Exxon CEO's Massive Pension Draws Fire - ""They are in very, very rich times, so on one hand they say, 'we can afford it,' but on the other hand they are taking an awful lot of heat because they've made too much at the expense of consumers. I'm surprised they are not being asked to justify that."" -- Me, too.
Light at end of the tunnel over near death experiences - "Today, new evidence is published that backs the idea that the near-death experience is a biological experience, rather than anything to do with a larger, spiritual dimension, a glimpse of heaven, or the existence of the soul."
Computer Virus Demands Ransom for Encrypted Files - "Virus hunters have discovered a new Trojan that encrypts files on an infected computer and then demands $300 in ransom for a decryption password."
Fat cells link to heart disease - "Fat cells around coronary arteries may play a key role in heart disease, research suggests."
Arizona on alert for mumps - "Health officials across Arizona have been told to be alert for an outbreak of the mumps after a traveler on an airline flight originating in Tucson was diagnosed with the viral infection."
CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character - "How others treat the CEO says nothing, they say. But how others treat the waiter is like a magical window into the soul." -- Oh, how I agree with the Waiter Rule. And it does not just apply to CEOs.
New York Leads Politeness Trend? Get Outta Here! - "But somehow a city whose residents have long been scorned for their churlish behavior is now being praised for adopting rules and laws that govern personal conduct, making New York an unlikely model for legislating courtesy and decorum. ... With its precipitous drops in crime, New York has increasingly been able to turn its attention to policing offensive behavior, from the mere faux pas to outright misconduct that puts others at risk. And that has put it on the front line of a national crackdown on incivility. ... "Most people just seem to ignore common sense and common courtesy so it does have to be legislated," she said. "To have this happen in New York is going to inspire a lot of other people. I cannot applaud it enough. My hands are tired from clapping."" -- The fact this is happening speaks volumes about humanity.
Australian cheerleaders told to cover up midriffs - "Australian cheerleaders have been banned from baring midriffs by officials of the sport who fear displays of skin may encourage eating disorders."
Quote of the Day
"No, it's not like terrorism. It is terrorism."
~ Eric Cartman, South Park
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