News (Page 2) -- April 6, 2006

U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan - "The Bush administration Wednesday unveiled a blueprint for rebuilding the nation's decrepit nuclear weapons complex, including restoration of a large-scale bomb manufacturing capacity. ... The administration, however, wants the capability to turn out 125 new nuclear bombs per year by 2022, as the Pentagon retires older bombs that it says will no longer be reliable or safe."

U.S. Officials Are Mulling Iran Strikes, Experts Say - "Key players in the Bush administration think a military confrontation with Iran is unavoidable, leading to stepped up military planning for such a prospect, according to several experts and recently departed senior government officials."

Airline passengers face lie detector tests - "Millions of airline passengers travelling through Russia will soon have to take a lie detector test as part of new security measures. The technology, to be introduced at Moscow's Domodedovo airport as early as July, is intended to identify terrorists and drug smugglers. If successful, it could revolutionise check-ins. Passengers will pick up the handset of a "truth verifier" machine while they are asked questions. Apparently the machine, developed by an Israeli company, can even establish whether answers come from the memory or the imagination." -- Read that again, carefully.

He hates leaks, but Bush authorized one: documents - "U.S. President George Bush, who has denounced government leaks, authorized a White House official to leak U.S. intelligence about Iraqi weapons while he sought to persuade the world to support an invasion, court documents suggest. ... "He says that he was told directly by Cheney that the president has authorized this, that the information was sensitive, yes, but not classified and not secret and so therefore it wasn't a crime." This reasoning comes out of "an administration that has always said there'll be no leakers here," Champ says. "'If anybody leaks, the president has often said, 'I'll fire them.'"" -- Well, get to firing, George.

Report Faults Video Reports Shown as News - "Many television news stations, including some from the nation's largest markets, are continuing to broadcast reports as news without disclosing that the segments were produced by corporations pitching new products, according to a report to be released today by a group that monitors the news media. ... The center also said that many of the 69 stations took steps to blend the fake segments into their news broadcasts. Some had their news reporters or anchors read scripts supplied by corporations, the report said, and many had altered screen graphics to include the station's logo. ... The 69 stations reach about half the population of the United States."

VIDEO: Bush Event Goes Off Script - "This morning in Charlotte, a Bush PR event on the war on terror went off-script when a man named Harry Taylor took the microphone. “‘I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration,’ Taylor said, standing in a balcony seat and looking down at Bush on stage. ‘And I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and grace to be ashamed of yourself.’”" -- Check out the video.

New Today Co-Host an Anti-War Protester: "War Built on Lies" - "Meredith Vieira, the replacement for Katie Couric as co-host of NBC's Today this fall -- Wednesday's New York Times reported that "NBC has nearly concluded an agreement with Meredith Vieira of ABC to replace Ms. Couric as co-host of the Today morning show" -- marched in an anti-Iraq war protest back in August of 2004." -- Well good for her. I wonder if she'll be the Co-Host much longer.

Ancient Text Shows a Different Judas - "For 2,000 years Judas has been reviled for betraying Jesus. Now a newly translated ancient document seeks to tell his side of the story. The "Gospel of Judas" tells a far different tale from the four gospels in the New Testament. It portrays Judas as a favored disciple who was given special knowledge by Jesus — and who turned him in at Jesus' request."

Jesus on assisted suicide - "This is not a joke. They really did discover the long lost manuscript. And according to the Gospel of Judas, the crucifixion was an assisted suicide. Weird."

Suicide is not the highest form of self-interest - "It's exasperating to see so many people pretending that holding humanity in the highest esteem means you've got the right to trash your home…your only home." -- Thanks velid.

It's "Report a scientist to the Feds" day! - "Could Pianka be charged with terrorism/conspiracy to commit a terrorist act? ... Hmmm…anybody ever read any apocalyptic Christian literature? Did you know those guys are looking forward to Armageddon? Maybe the screeners at airports ought to arrest anyone caught carrying a Left Behind book…or a Bible. This is the crazy world to which paranoid kooks would lead us." -- Thanks velid.

Will your pension be there? Congress may raise risk - "The Bush administration has been pushing for years to shore up the nation's increasingly shaky private pension systems. As Vice President Cheney put it at a Washington conference in March, "If you put in your hours, and do your part ... your promised pension will be there for you when you retire." Or will it? Congress now appears poised to deliver just the opposite, giving companies new leeway to fake their pension math. More pensioners would be placed at risk. Chances that taxpayers will be stuck with a huge bill would rise significantly."

Virtual Pandemic: 90 Days to Infect Entire U.S. - "Researchers assumed a starting point of 10 highly infectious influenza cases in Los Angeles, then let the model take it from there. The virus spread quickly, peaking in just 90 days with 100 or more infections per 1,000 residents of just about every corner of the country."

Fluoride debate may surge as treated water linked to cancer - "Young boys who drink fluoridated tap water are at greater risk for a rare bone cancer, Harvard researchers reported yesterday. The study, published online yesterday in a Harvard-affiliated journal, could intensify debate over fluoridation and mean more scrutiny for Harvard’s Dr. Chester Douglass,accused of fudging the findings to downplay a cancer link."

US FDA to review wireless phone safety - "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday it will review wireless phone safety following a recently published study that raised concerns about a heightened risk of brain cancer."

FDA OKs First Attention Deficit Patch - "The FDA on Thursday approved the first skin patch to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children."