Muslims face extra checks in new travel crackdown - "The passenger-profiling technique involves selecting people who are behaving suspiciously, have an unusual travel pattern or, most controversially, have a certain ethnic or religious background. The system would be much more sophisticated than simply picking out young men of Asian appearance. But it would cause outrage in the Muslim community because its members would be far more likely to be selected for extra checks."
When all else fails, GOP dials 9/11 - "It's bunk, of course, but Iraq-9/11 worked in 2002 - when Republicans gained control of the Senate - and in 2004 - when President Bush was reelected. This year, especially, it's all the GOP has. The president's poll numbers can't break 40 percent. Ratings for Congress in general and Republicans in particular are in the dumper. Analysts compare the political conditions with those in 1994, when 52 seats shifted in the House and Republicans took control. If you're a Republican, you're scared. So, you try to scare the country."
America's one-eyed view of war: Stars, stripes, and the Star of David - "There are two sides to every conflict - unless you rely on the US media for information about the battle in Lebanon. Viewers have been fed a diet of partisan coverage which treats Israel as the good guys and their Hizbollah enemy as the incarnation of evil."
Israel's verdict: We lost the war - "Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, was obliged to admit "shortcomings" in the 34-day-old conflict in Lebanon yesterday as he launched what may prove a protracted fight for his own political survival."
GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE - "We do not believe in the idea that anybody is “God’s chosen people”. We laugh of this idea and cry over their misdeeds. To behave as God’s chosen people is not only stupid and arrogant, but a crime against humanity. We call that racism. There are limits to our patience, and limits for what we can accept. We do not believe in divine promises for occupation and apartheid. We are not in the Middle Ages any more. We laugh uneasily of those that still believe a God of flowers, life and everything in the galaxy has chosen a specific group as his/her favourites, and given them curious stone tablets, burning bushes and license to kill.. . "
Commentary: Religious Texts vs. Faith - "This is where atheists lose faith altogether. However, I came to a different conclusion. I came to make a distinction between true religion and false religion. I don’t mean that there is only one true religion. I believe that there are many true religions, and they share certain characteristics."
Faith full of folly - "One reason the trend to non-belief can be welcomed is that those countries with high rates of voluntary non-belief (that is, where atheism is not forced by the regime) are also the healthiest and wealthiest countries in the world, as judged by the annual UN Human Development Reports. Cause and effect should not be confused here: it may be that people who are comfortable and secure have less need for religion, rather than that an absence of religion leads to greater happiness; but it does show that an absence of religion doesn't cause societies to break down. I don't think the Swedes are notable for their criminality. ... It is time to get rid of the taboo that says religious beliefs have to be quarantined from criticism. It is time to hold some religious beliefs up to ridicule."
DC's 'Open secret': Rumsfeld wants to quit Iraq - "It is an "open secret" in Washington US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld "wants to extricate himself from Iraq" but President George W. Bush "remains resolute," thus the US hangs on, a US investigative reporter has written. The result is a military posture in limbo somewhere between aggressiveness and withdrawal that could bog the US down in Iraq for years. Tragically, it opens the door to escalation of the horrific violence which in Baghdad on kills around 50 people daily and wounds many times more."
No evidence Iran active in Iraq: US general - "There is no evidence the Iranian government is stirring trouble in Iraq, a U.S. general said on Monday, playing down suggestions that Tehran will retaliate for U.S. backing of Israel's war on Hizbollah."
Is conspiracy a war crime? - "The White House urges Congress to say yes, because it makes terror convictions easier. The high court is split."
All Terrorism All the Time: Fear Becomes Reality Show - "By yesterday the morning shows were back to consumer tips — only the advice was about packing for red alerts, not campgrounds and water parks. An expert on “Today” instructed Ann Curry on how to “be a minimalist.” On CBS, Harry Smith performed a cheery show-and-tell about the risks of carrying aboard lip gloss, conditioner and, most of all, nail polish remover."
Nobel winner supported biological warfare as form of population control - "Top-secret files recently declassified from the National Archives of Australia, despite government opposition, has revealed that one of the fathers of modern biotechnology and genetic engineering advocated using biological weapons against Indonesia and other "overpopulated" countries of South-East Asia. Australia's The Age reports that world-famous microbiologist Sir Macfarlane Burnet recommended in a secret report for the Australian Defence Department in 1947 that biological and chemical weapons should be developed to target food crops and spread infectious diseases."
'People power' is a global brand owned by America - "The US and the western media back protests over controversial elections when it suits them, but are silent over those in Mexico."
Asbestos Attacks from the White House - "On order of the White House, the US Environmental Protection Agency concealed atmospheric dangers around Ground Zero. Tens of thousands of persons will die a slow, agonizing death."
FBI: No terror groups in cell phone case - "The FBI said Monday it had no information to indicate that the three Texas men arrested with about 1,000 cell phones in their van had any direct connection to known terrorist groups." -- But it kept the fear factor high.
Gullible Americans - "I was in China when a July Harris Poll reported that 50 percent of Americans still believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when Bush invaded that country, and that 64 percent of Americans still believe that Saddam Hussein had strong links with Al Qaeda. The Chinese leaders and intellectuals with whom I was meeting were incredulous. How could a majority of the population in an allegedly free country with an allegedly free press be so totally misinformed? The only answer I could give the Chinese is that Americans would have been the perfect population for Mao and the Gang of Four, because Americans believe anything their government tells them."
Superman tops Supremes - "Sleepy, Grumpy, Larry, Moe, Krypton -- that's what seems to stick in the national mind-set these days. Americans are more familiar with the Seven Dwarfs, the Three Stooges and Superman than with current events and world leaders, according to yet another poll that reveals our trite side."
Cardin promises cancer cure - "With a month to go before primary voters head to the polls to choose Senate nominees, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin kicked off yesterday a weeklong effort to highlight his congressional record and vision on health care by making the mother of all campaign promises - to cure cancer."
Hot Dogs May Cause Genetic Mutations - "Everyone knows hot dogs aren't exactly healthy for you, but in a new study chemists find they may contain DNA-mutating compounds that might boost one's risk for cancer."
Mammoths may roam again after 27,000 years - "Research has indicated that mammalian sperm can survive being frozen for much longer than was previously thought, suggesting that it could potentially be recovered from species that have died out."
Pigeons Beam Air Quality Info to Blog - "Pigeons with backpacks and cell phones will be taking to the sky and sending air quality data to a blog as part of a whimsical project that blends science, art and activism."
Advertisers trace paths users leave on Internet - "Still, just how personal even "anonymous" information can be was shown vividly last week as a list of three months of search queries from 657,000 AOL customers began circulating online. Collectively, a person's Web searches, it turns out, can create an eerily intimate portrait--one that some privacy advocates say should never be assembled and stored in the first place."
Metal gets a makeover - "More than three decades after Black Sabbath conjured images of the dark arts, heavy metal is growing up. The genre is increasingly incorporating social and political messages into its dense power chords."
Quote of the Day
"As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it."
~ Dick Cavett
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