News -- August 29, 2006

Ahmadinejad defiant, challenges Bush to TV debate - ""I suggest holding a live TV debate with Mr. George W. Bush to talk about world affairs and the ways to solve those issues," he said." -- Now that would be funny.

Levey: Iran 'Central Banker of Terror' - "They are the central banker of terror. It is a country that has terrorism as a line item in its budget." -- By the U.S. definition of "terrorism" it looks like the U.S. has it as a line item in their budget.

Cheney can't scare me anymore - "Americans aren't falling for this ''only more war can protect you from the evil terrorists'' routine as easily as they once did, judging from Bush's abysmal popularity poll figures hovering in the one-in-three range. It has taken three-and-a-half years, the deaths of 2,600 U.S. military personnel and the wounding of 19,000 others, the waste of $400 billion perfectly good dollars, escalating worldwide terrorism and a virtual civil war in Iraq, but polls suggest even patriotic self-delusion eventually wears thin without evidence and results." -- I'm still not convinced the tide has turned.

Rumsfeld: Terrorists Manipulating Media - "Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday he is deeply troubled by the success of terrorist groups in "manipulating the media" to influence Westerners. ... "They are actively manipulating the media in this country" by, for example, falsely blaming U.S. troops for civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. "They can lie with impunity," he said, while U.S. troops are held to a high standard of conduct." -- So when you lie it's okay, but when they lie it's bad. Hmmm.

PRESIDENT NOW CLAIMS TO BE LITERATE - "From the ridiculous claim that Bush is a voracious reader to the laughable suggestion that he had never linked Iraq and Saddam Hussein to the Sept. 11 attacks, this administration treats the American people like they are dumb as rocks. ... That is pure crap. Anyone who believes Bush has breezed through 60 volumes of serious literature this year should be eligible for a mental health disability or a Bush Cabinet appointment. I would, however, accept the 60 number as Bush's lifetime count. This is the man who didn't bother reading a CIA briefing paper entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside U.S." This is the commander in chief who never bothered reading his own State Department reports warning that Iraq could erupt into sectarian violence. This is the president who prides himself on just glancing at headlines but "rarely" reading newspaper articles because "a lot of times there's opinion mixed in with news." Instead, Bush relies on his crack staff to keep him informed. In truth, Bush always chooses fawning support over challenging exchanges. Better to rely on The Daily Condi than to read yourself and, God forbid, think and reflect. But we are now told a man who disdains complexity and subtlety, the most visceral president in American history, has transformed and is reading books faster than Rush Limbaugh gets his prescriptions filled."

GOP callers overwhelm City Hall lines - "Offended by Rocky Anderson's plans to protest President Bush this week, the Utah Republican Party is waging a public-relations campaign urging Utahns to call the mayor and tell him to "stop embarrassing" the state. And while Utahns have listened - flooding City Hall with almost 300 calls and overwhelming the phone system - Anderson hasn't. Salt Lake City's mayor isn't altering his protest plans. "Given the nastiness of some of these people, it actually just bolsters my resolve," said Anderson, who previously alleged that the "real embarrassment" is Utahns' unwavering support of Bush."

Army: Doubting Official 9/11 Story Is ‘Disloyal To The United States’ - "Upon returning to his office the next day, Buswell discovered the locks had been changed, his security clearance was revoked, and an investigation had been launched. Buswell’s commanding officer, Colonel Luke Green, drafted a letter assigning Major Edwin Escobar to the investigation. According to sources, Colonel Green has asserted that SFC Buswell failed to obey Army regulations when he used his government issued email account to send what have been termed as messages disloyal to the United States with the intent of stirring up disloyalty, in a manner that brings discredit upon the United States Army."

On Point: 9/11 theories burst - "With the anniversary of 9/11 just a couple of weeks away, it's time to strike a blow for sanity and, yes, truth. If the polls are accurate, someone you know is flirting with 9/11 denial - or perhaps has succumbed already to the contagious delusion. The symptoms are unmistakable. For starters, the victim uses the phrase "the official version" when referring to events of that day - or more likely, "the government version" - and utters the words with unconcealed contempt."

Canada's Nuclear Do or Die - "At the UN, Blix said there is "a serious and dangerous loss of momentum in disarmament and non-proliferation efforts...work has stalled...the nuclear states no longer take their commitment to disarmament seriously." And only a few days later, in a truly incredible statement, the deputy director of Nuclear and Security Affairs for the U.S. State Department said "the peaceful use of space is completely consistent with military activity in space...there is no consensus about the supposed weaponization of space," "the Conference on Disarmament is not the appropriate venue for such discussions" and "it's impossible to define a workable ban on space-related weapons systems." From Geneva, also in June, "The United States on Tuesday reasserted its right to develop weapons for use in outer space...and ruled out any global negotiations on a new treaty to limit them." ... It has recently been suggested that if the U.S. proceeds with new testing, up to 40 nations will take steps to begin to manufacture their own nuclear weapons." -- Because a country without nuclear weapons is under the thumb of those countries that have them.

Court told votes don't have to be counted, certified - "A motion to dismiss a congressional election challenge in California took on national implications last week when defense attorneys argued that no court has jurisdiction to intervene in an election after Congress has sworn in a member."

Australia keeps terror suspect in check - "Prime Minister John Howard earlier had said he supported monitoring the activities of those in Australia's mosques, citing a need for the government to know if members of the Islamic community supported or taught violence. And Education Minister Brendan Nelson said those members of the Islamic faith who do not support Australian values are welcome to leave." -- Every day my faith in humanity decreases a little bit more.

Has Canada Got the Cure? - "Publicly funded health care has its problems, as any Canadian or Briton knows. But like democracy, it’s the best answer we’ve come up with so far. Should the United States implement a more inclusive, publicly funded health care system? That's a big debate throughout the country. But even as it rages, most Americans are unaware that the United States is the only country in the developed world that doesn't already have a fundamentally public--that is, tax-supported--health care system. ... That means that the United States has been the unwitting control subject in a 30-year, worldwide experiment comparing the merits of private versus public health care funding. For the people living in the United States, the results of this experiment with privately funded health care have been grim. The United States now has the most expensive health care system on earth and, despite remarkable technology, the general health of the U.S. population is lower than in most industrialized countries. Worse, Americans' mortality rates--both general and infant--are shockingly high."

Bush offers Gulf states commitment - "President Bush yesterday toured the Gulf Coast in the run-up to today's Hurricane Katrina anniversary and rebutted charges that his administration had botched relief efforts, saying the federal government had provided money and the actual work needs to be done by the region's governments."

Rep. Harris: Church-state separation 'a lie' - "U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris told a religious journal that separation of church and state is "a lie" and God and the nation's founding fathers did not intend the country be "a nation of secular laws." The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate also said that if Christians are not elected, politicians will "legislate sin," including abortion and gay marriage." -- Why do people with such hatred for other humans even get the opportunity to voice their hatred on a national level?

Saddam's cartoon capers - "Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is being made to watch his appearance in cult cartoon South Park while he is behind bars."

How NAFTA superhighway is built under radar screen - "Ask some members of Congress about plans to build a "NAFTA superhighway" connecting Mexico and Canada via the U.S. and you might hear snickers. Some officials will tell you they have seen no "earmarks" for such a plan and question whether it even exists. But the plan does exist and the NAFTA superhighway is being built – under the radar screen."

BLACK ACTIVIST PLANS SPANISH LAWSUITS - "A black activist is organizing a wave of class-action workplace lawsuits for people who have lost their jobs because they did not speak Spanish"

Digital cameras focus on revised reality - "Want to look thinner? Taller? Tanner? Don't worry, there's a camera for all that. Today's cameras will let you do more than adjust the flash; they'll let you adjust reality. Photo-adjusting features that once required a PC and special know-how are now allowing consumers to alter a photo as soon as it's snapped. ... "People in the legal world are now concerned about whether photos can be accepted as evidence anymore, especially when you can alter the scene as you click the shutter," said Peter Southwick, associate professor and director of the photojournalism program at Boston University. "And in the old days, there was an original, now there is no original. Photography as a tool for providing evidence, or as proof, may not exist anymore.""

Ban on the sale of 'fresh' sperm over the internet - "The sale of fresh sperm over the internet is to be banned following a government clampdown. Ministers will outlaw anonymous donations and introduce new rules forcing all sperm samples to be frozen and screened."

Waistlines continue to grow in U.S. - "The gravy train — make that the sausage, biscuits and gravy train — just kept on rolling in most of America last year, with 31 states showing an increase in obesity."

SpiralFrog in music deal with Universal - "SpiralFrog, a new advertising-supported music service, on Tuesday said it would make Vivendi's Universal Music Group's catalog available for free legal downloading in the United States and Canada."

Robots Wrote This - "Machines replace nurses, personal assistants and bartenders. They're even becoming financial reporters. Is there anything robots can't do?"

Science Projects That Scare the "bleep" Out of Us - "Remote-control sharks, pain guns, radioactive scorpion venom ... Bond-like technology is unnervingly real in some labs."

Only women need apply for Russia traffic police - "Russia is to create its first women-only traffic police unit because commanders believe they are less corrupt than men, a newspaper reported on Monday."




Quote of the Day
"I don't ever wanna play the part of a statistic on a government chart."
~ Sting, (Invisible Sun)