News (Page 2) -- April 3, 2006

Jury: Moussaoui is eligible for death - "Jurors agreed with federal prosecutors that Moussaoui's lies to FBI agents resulted in 9/11 deaths. The nine men and three women reached their verdict on the fourth day of deliberations. Moussaoui refused to stand and showed no reaction as the verdict was read. But after jurors left the courtroom he shouted, "You'll never get my blood. God curse you all.""

Iran Tests Second New Torpedo in Gulf - "A spokesman for the elite Revolutionary Guards suggested the new, Iranian-made torpedo was more powerful and capable of going deeper than others in its arsenal."

Russians Sense the Heat of Cold War - "In this city, it's beginning to feel like a new Cold War, driven by what many people here see as an old American impulse: to encircle, weaken or even destroy Russia, just as the country is emerging from post-Soviet ruins as a cohesive, self-confident and global power. The specter of a U.S. nuclear first strike even resurfaced this month. An article in Foreign Affairs magazine, published by the Council on Foreign Relations, suggested that the United States could hit Russia and China without serious risk of retaliation. That sent heads spinning here with visions of Dr. Strangelove. ... Intensifying U.S. criticism -- that Russia is rolling back democratic institutions, interfering in the countries of the former Soviet Union and using its vast energy resources to further its interests -- is leading to widespread resentment here and seen as little more than self-serving rhetoric. Russians widely believe that U.S. programs to promote democracy in Ukraine, Georgia and Belarus are a Trojan horse intended to sideline Russia and expand NATO."

Chomsky: The Israel Lobby? - "I've received many requests to comment on the article by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt (henceforth M-W), published in the London Review of Books, which has been circulating extensively on the internet and has elicited a storm of controversy. A few thoughts on the matter follow. ... But recognizing that M-W took a courageous stand, which merits praise, we still have to ask how convincing their thesis is. Not very, in my opinion."

Noam Chomsky and the Pro-Israel Lobby: Fourteen Erroneous Theses - "Noam Chomsky has been called the US leading intellectual by pundits and even some sectors of the mass media. He has a large audience throughout the world especially in academic circles, in large part because of his vocal criticism of US foreign policy and many of the injustices resulting from those policies. Chomsky has nonetheless been reviled by all of the major Jewish and pro-Israel organizations and media for his criticism of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians even as he has defended the existence of the Zionist state of Israel. Despite his respected reputation for documenting, dissecting and exposing the hypocrisy of the US and European regimes and acutely analyzing the intellectual deceptions of imperial apologists, these analytical virtues are totally absent when it comes to discussing the formulation of US foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly the role of his own ethnic group, the Jewish Pro-Israel lobby and their Zionist supporters in the government. This political blindness is not unknown or uncommon. History is replete of intellectual critics of all imperialisms except their own, the abuses of power by others, but not of one’s own kin and kind. Chomsky’s long history denying the power and role of the pro-Israel lobby in decisively shaping US Middle East policy culminated in his recent conjoining with the US Zionist propaganda machine attacking a study critical of the Israeli lobby. I am referring to the essay published by the London Review of Books entitled "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy" by Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Professor Stephan Walt, the purged Academic Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University."

Israel and Moral Blackmail - "The reaction to a pathbreaking – or, rather, taboo-busting – study of how and why Israel's interests came to be substituted for America's national interests in Washington policymaking circles, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," [.pdf] by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, has confirmed, in part, its thesis."

Criticism of U.S ties to Israel draws fire - "The media have been trying to keep this study as quiet as possible but, no matter how much they try, it is bound to make its way to the american public. Let's just hope it makes wider publication. The American people need to know the root of the problems we face today. This passionate attachment to Israel has come to hurt America's security and the Israeli Lobby deserves much of the blame. Our leaders and our representatives are under the control of a foreign lobby and it's not a healthy situation for the American people. It has cost the loss of too many American lives and billions of wasted money."

New Christian pro-Israel lobby aims to be stronger than AIPAC - "Televangelist John Hagee told Jewish community leaders over the weekend that the 40 million evangelical Christians in the United States support Israel and that he plans to utilize this power to help Israel by launching a Christian pro-Israel lobby. ... Hagee said his group would be a Christian - and more powerful - version of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a large pro-Israel lobby, and would target senators and congressmen on Capitol Hill. A quarter of congressmen are evangelicals, and many American legislators represent regions that include a large evangelical population, he said."

Iran, Syria call for withdrawal of occupiers from Iraq - "At the meeting, Iranian and Syrian officials underlined the need to support Iraqi nation and called for withdrawal of the occupying forces from Iraq."

Standing up to Bush - "PRESIDENT BUSH'S secret intercepts of American citizens' communications are ''more serious abuses" than President Nixon perpetrated in Watergate, according to an informed observer. John Dean, counsel to Nixon during Watergate, was on target when he told the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Friday that Congress should fight back when a president ignores laws it has passed."

Who Will Be The People’s Candidate? - "While much of the rest of the world is moving away from religion and authoritarian rule, and toward reason and populist ideals, in this country, we seem to be moving in the opposite direction, clamoring for more restrictions on our freedoms in the elusive search for security. But, there are many in this country who are growing tired of being afraid, and the time is right for a leader who will inspire us to move toward a better future and who will help us break the chains of fear that are holding us back. And that inspiration is not going to come from the lackluster Presidential frontrunners currently dominating the stage, but instead will come from someone the D.C. insiders will likely consider a long shot candidate." -- I'll do it.

Hot money leaving a cold climate could signal the big freeze - "It may just be a chilly island close to the Arctic Circle with a population barely above 300,000 and fish its main export - but it could end up cutting the value of your home and your share portfolio. Events in and around the Icelandic economy, culminating last Thursday in a further interest rate rise from its central bank, may be the first sign of problems in global financial markets with unpleasant consequences for all of us. The crisis in Iceland is not about to bring the world economy crashing down. It is too small. But the run on its currency and that of New Zealand could be warning signs that the world ignores at its peril. "It is possible that Iceland is the tip of the iceberg, the first domino to fall, albeit a very small one," says Julian Jessop, chief international economist at the consultancy Capital Economics in London."

60 Minutes Reinforces the 9/11 Conspiracy Theory! - "So 60 Minutes had free access to Bin Laden’s driver? They expect us to believe that 60 Minutes had access to this most valuable target of the US war on terror, yet the U.S. has not attempted to “rendition” him into one of our secret prisons by now? The host nation of this terror suspect never even gets mentioned by our controlled media? What happened to Bush’s “with us or against us” threat to nations that host terrorists? ... What did this guy prove on 60 Minutes? He told a story. Apparently his knowledge was of no interest to the people fighting the war on terror. ... How stupid are we? How do we not see through this at this point? ... Here is what I think about Bin Laden. I think he has not made any video tapes because he is unwilling to go as far as his bosses. I think he wants nothing to do with defaming Islam by forever linking it with 9/11. When Bin Laden made his first public statement after 9/11 he said that he had nothing to do with it. He claimed that he heard that “they say the Atta group did this” but he could have heard that on TV like everyone else. The only Bin Laden confession came in the form of a fake video and since then he has not been seen. I think he had to be killed because he would talk and let the public know that he was not responsible for 9/11 or he is simply not playing along any more. I have no evidence of this, just common sense based on what has unfolded and uncovered. Think about it!"

Straight-Talk Regress - ""His message of peace and reconciliation under almost all circumstances is simply incompatible with Christian teachings as I interpret them. This 'turn the other cheek' business is all well and good but it's not what Jesus fought and died for. What we need to do is take the battle to the Muslim heathens and do unto them before they do unto us." – Jerry Farwell on Jimmy Carter ... RUSSERT: Do you believe that Jerry Falwell is still an agent of intolerance? MCCAIN: No, I don’t."

Big Brother cleans up crime in New Jersey town - "Police here say that thanks to new technology there has not been a single violent crime in almost a year on a street where the notorious Bloods gang sold $10 hits of crack cocaine and drive-by shootings were once commonplace. Now high-tech cameras and gunshot sensors are mounted at each end of Lenox Avenue, and on many other East Orange streets. The residential avenue of mainly multifamily homes is blocked from traffic and, with the exception of the 24-hour police presence, it looks as tranquil as most New Jersey suburbs."

109 Years in Prison Sought for Peaceful Speech in America: The Dr. Elsebeth Baumgartner Case - "A number of critics of the actions taken against Dr. Baumgartner by the Ohio judiciary contend that she is being made a political prisoner in order to silence her and punish her for speaking out on government corruption by the very parties accused of corruption as a means to protect themselves from the legitimate consequences of their crimes and to make an example out of her by creating a chilling effect to intimidate others from speaking out against their corruption. These critics note that she has already been jailed for peaceful political speech and that the Ohio government is currently attempting to imprison her for a total of 109 years for peaceful political speech. Such critics further contend that even if all of her accusations were false that a person ought not be made a criminal or suffer imprisonment for mere peaceful speech (i.e., not threatening to aggress against another), even if said speech is false, and that the ultimate reason for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is precisely so that people can be free to criticize the government and officials in government, and say things which said officals greately dislike, without fear of retaliation by the government."

Why pay taxes? - "Each year about this time, as many of us supplement our paycheck-to-paycheck giving unto Caesar, I raise this question. This year, let's start with the following observation from a reader, sent in the wake of the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. He notes that "terrorism" is defined, in Webster's, as "the systematic use of terror, esp. as a means of coercion," and provides a long list of examples, past and present, where the U.S. government has done exactly that. He then notes that under the current Patriot Act, it is now illegal to provide money to organizations that practice terrorism, and therefore concludes that as a matter of national security he must refuse to pay his federal taxes. ... So why do so many of us pay our taxes? Two hundred thirty or so years ago, this was called "taxation without representation" and we threw out the government. Today, we vent our frustration by laughing along with the Tax Day jokes on late-night TV, or going further into debt at the Tax Day sales at our local mall -- "revolutions" are something bad people do. But what if we refused?"

Privitazation of the Internet - "Now, corporate interests want to violate the principle of network neutrality in order to increase their own profit margins. They must not be allowed to destroy the free and open culture of the web!"

Prayer Kills! - "Not that I believe that prayer has the power to heal or to kill, but just think about the ramifications if it this particular study are true. How should we respond to our devout friends who ask that we include them in our prayers? If praying for them to get better proves detrimental should we pray for them to die? Or should we compromise and just pray for painful, permanent disability? I really want to do the right thing by them, but if doing what they want--playing into the fantasy of a psychologically maladjusted big daddy in the sky--is actually harmful to them, should I tell them that I will pray for them or gently tell them that I consider such behavior more appropriate to chimpanzees and orangutans."

Sexy media a siren call to promiscuity? - "Sexually charged music, magazines, TV and movies push youngsters into intercourse at an earlier age, perhaps by acting as kind of virtual peer that tells them everyone else is doing it, a study said Monday. ... "Interestingly one of the strongest predictors of risk for early sexual intercourse for both black and white teens (in the study) was the perception that his or her peers were having sex," the report said." -- They're surprised by that?

ROUGH 'N' READY - "The Women Against Domestic Violence group was already in a dither because Keanu Reeves told an interviewer he learned something filming a rape scene with Hilary Swank for "The Gift" - "that some of the ladies don't mind it . . . Hah, that's awful to say.""

Commentary: Astrobiology Research Threatened at NASA - "I predict that in the future when unanticipated costs for sustaining the shuttle and building the CEV arise, more dollars will be pulled from science to pay the bills. There is simply nowhere else to go within the NASA budget. Life science and aeronautics have already been starved. Griffin and his team are in a hard spot. They are being asked to achieve a poorly funded Vision. Science is suffering, and scientists, students and the public are not going to quietly accept the cancellation of nearly completed missions. Nor will they tolerate the starvation of fundamental research programs."

How A Locust's Eardrum Could Lead To Tiny Microphones - " Being able to hear the smallest of noises is a matter of life or death for many insects, but for the scientists studying their hearing systems understanding how insect ears can be so sensitive could lead to new microphones able to capture and analyse extremely faint sounds."

Miss America, the reality show - "The Miss America pageant will broadcast a seven-episode reality show/documentary series next year to draw in viewers and let the audience choose some of the finalists, officials announced Saturday."