Call Cruelty What It Is - "President Bush is urging Congress to let the CIA keep using "alternative" interrogation procedures -- which include, according to published accounts, forcing prisoners to stand for 40 hours, depriving them of sleep and use of the "cold cell," in which the prisoner is left naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees and doused with cold water. Bush insists that these techniques are not torture -- after all, they don't involve pulling out fingernails or applying electric shocks. He even says that he "would hope" the standards he's proposing are adopted by other countries. But before he again invites America's enemies to use such "alternative" methods on captured Americans, he might benefit from knowing a bit of their historical origins and from hearing accounts of those who have experienced them. With that in mind, here are some suggestions for the president's reading list." -- It amazes me how far this country has fallen in such little time.
Bush’s cruel and degrading presidency - "Washington is a moral swamp. When the chief executive can stand at the presidential podium and make an unabashed appeal for torture, then the American dream is dead. ... Who could ever have imagined the President of the United States making the case for torture like some flannel-mouth medicine man at a tent show?"
Control the Dictionary, Control the World - "Clinton tried to fudge the truth when he claimed he'd "never had sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," but he felt he could get away with that language because, in his mind, he defined "sexual relations" as referring to vaginal intercourse. Bush, with a straight face, tells us that he has never authorized torture, and he thinks he can get away with that lie because the public is mostly unaware that his administration has totally altered the definition of "torture.""
Mind Games - "I have no idea who Duffy's sources are, but there are at least two possibilities: The Bush administration really is gearing up for war, and some dissenting officers want to sound the alarm and rouse opposition. Or the administration wants to make the Iranians think an attack is brewing in order to pressure them into a diplomatic solution. The second scenario seems the saner of the two. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the more likely, but let's roll it out."
Cheney Says Hopes of World Rest on U.S. - "Vice President Dick Cheney cast the global war on terror on Tuesday as a "war of nerves," borrowing a phrase Harry Truman used to describe the Cold War. Cheney asserted that the hopes of the civilized world depend on a U.S. victory." -- How egocentric is that comment?
Bush owes us an apology - "With increasing rage, he and his administration have begun to tell us, we are not permitted to disagree with them, that we cannot be right, that Colin Powell cannot be right. And then there was that one, most awful phrase. In four simple words last Friday, the President brought into sharp focus what has been only vaguely clear these past five-and-a-half years - the way the terrain at night is perceptible only during an angry flash of lightning, and then, a second later, all again is dark. “It's unacceptable to think," he said. It is never unacceptable to think. And when a President says thinking is unacceptable, even on one topic, even in the heat of the moment, even in the turning of a phrase extracted from its context, he takes us toward a new and fearful path -- one heretofore the realm of science fiction authors and apocalyptic visionaries."
How Bad Is He? - "No one predicted just how radical a president George W. Bush would be. ... The sharpest criticism he made of Clinton's foreign policy was that he would be more mindful of the civil liberties of Arabs accused of terrorism: "Arab-Americans are racially profiled in what's called secret evidence. People are stopped, and we got to do something about that." This statement was not an off-the-cuff remark, but carefully crafted and presented in one of the debates with Vice President Al Gore."
Sick to Death of Bush - "From this moral high ground, the United States is assuring the world that a new facility for researching a horror shop of weaponized infectious diseases will be used purely for defensive purposes. The National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center’s (NBACC) $128 million, 160,000-square-foot facility is under construction at Fort Detrick, Md. There, the United States has already weaponized more than a dozen diseases—including anthrax, plague, botulism and ebola—and bioengineered war-friendly “improvements.” Scientists are also using DNA-synthesizing techniques to fabricate genetically altered or man-made viruses, and to study the feasibility of creating germ weapons targeting particular ethnicities. ... According to the Department of Defense, the secrecy surrounding the Fort Detrick expansion is necessary for national security. The interests of the public, administration officials argue (as they did to defend NSA spying), would be compromised by legislative and judicial meddling—a.k.a. the constitutionally mandated balance of powers. Odds are the Fort Detrick research exceeds the purely defensive, rendering the CBW treaty as quaint as the Geneva Conventions barring torture. But even if the research conformed to law, what nation would believe that the United States abides by treaty obligations that limit its “war on terror”? The possibilities for disaster are plentiful. By undermining the treaty, the United States greenlights other nations and groups to similarly “defend” themselves. And compared with making and delivering nukes, creating and distributing biowarfare agents is dead simple. A competent scientist with a good lab can cook up enough to sicken and kill thousands, perhaps millions." -- This should concern everyone.
Bill Would Remove Grounds for Impeachment, Bush Critics Suggest - "According to one anti-Bush group, the bill "would pardon President Bush for breaking the law by illegally wiretapping innocent Americans without warrants.""
The Presidential IQ Report - "According to statements in the report, there have been twelve presidents over the past 60 years, from F. D. Roosevelt to G. W. Bush who were all rated based on scholarly achievements, writings that they alone produced without aid of staff, their ability to speak with clarity, and several other psychological factors which were then scored in the Swanson/Crain system of intelligence ranking. The study determined the following IQs of each president as accurate to within five percentage points:" -- Very interesting. Especially the differences between the two parties.
Next Stop: Conscription - "Meanwhile, “centrist” Republicans and Democrats alike are promoting a “Universal Service” program in which all 18-year-olds of both sexes would be required to give a year or two of federally approved “service” as a condition of college admission. This would likely include a military reserve commitment and the option of active-duty service in the military." -- In other words: a draft.
Pope has joined US crusade, says Iran - "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday accused the Pope of committing the world's biggest Christian church to what he claimed was a "crusade" launched by President Bush against Islam."
At U.N., Chavez calls Bush 'the devil' - ""The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address on Tuesday and making the sign of the cross. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."" -- And that's what pisses me off the most: the Bush Adminstration does believe they are the owners of the world.
Iran's Ahmadinejad: 'Can't we just be friends?' - "In what might be construed as a charm offensive–at least an effort to lay out a less confrontational tone before Americans–Ahmadinejad asked, "Can't we just be friends?" He added, "We are in favor of dialogue … but under fair conditions." The Iranian president called as well for more society-to-society exchanges, including by scientists and policy specialists."
Dobbs: Voting machines put U.S. democracy at risk - "As of right now, there is little assurance your vote will count. As we've been reporting almost nightly on my broadcast for more than a year, electronic voting machines are placing our democracy at risk. Across the nation, eight out of every 10 voters will be casting their ballots this November on electronic voting machines. And these machines time and again have been demonstrated to be extremely vulnerable to tampering and error, and many of them have no voter-verified paper trail."
The Greatest Scam of All Time - "Washington's Enron-style accounting is now so widespread and so deeply ingrained, the nation could be bankrupt and not even know it. You go to work. You save and invest. You vote in the November election. And you assume that everything is business as usual. Then, one day, you wake up to the shocking discovery that it's not."
US deficit widens more than forecast - "The US current account deficit widened more than forecast last quarter to the second-largest on record as the trade gap expanded and more interest was paid to overseas investors, a government report showed."
MBA students likelier to cheat - "MBA students in Canada and the United States are more likely to cheat than students in other disciplines because they believe it is how the business world operates — and because they believe their peers cheat, according to a new study." -- The speed of the fall increases.
US federal judge declares boating illegal in all US navigable waters - "In a rather bizarre ruling that has marine industry officials worried, Judge Robert G. James of the United States District Court, Western Division of Louisiana, has said that it is criminal trespass for the American boating public to boat, fish, or hunt on the Mississippi River and other navigable waters in the US. ... The shallows of the navigable waters are no longer open to the public. That, in effect, makes boating illegal across most of the country."
America's Africa Corps - "The United States is moving closer to setting up an Africa Command to secure the rear flank of its global "war on terrorism", with eyes trained on vital oil reserves and lawless areas where terrorists have sought safe haven to regroup and strike against its interests."
Colorado State professor disputes global warming is human-caused - "Gray, who is a professor at Colorado State University, said human-induced global warming is a fear perpetuated by the media and scientists who are trying to get federal grants."
Professor is man of many battles - "If they cannot achieve economic and social equality under the current system, then they should seize political control by winning elections, he wrote in his latest book. If that fails, they should carve out a separate nation called Aztlan."
Gonzales Wants ISPs to Save User Data - "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday that Congress should require Internet providers to preserve customer records, asserting that prosecutors need them to fight child pornography." -- It always begins as "for the safety of the children."
Calif. sues 6 carmakers over greenhouse gases - "California filed suit against Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and three other carmakers on Wednesday, charging that greenhouse gases from their vehicles have cost the state millions of dollars."
Scammers pretend to be fraud investigation agents for Visa and MasterCard in order to obtain credit card security codes. - " You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number."
Birth-control patch label warns of risk - "Women were warned Wednesday that their risk of blood clots in the legs and lungs may be higher if they use the birth-control patch instead of the pill."
Acne treatment could be trigger factor in suicide, say researchers - " An acne treatment blamed for triggering suicides in severely affected young people has been shown to cause depressive behaviour in animal tests, say researchers. The finding lends support to claims that the drug, not the acne, may have led to the affected individuals taking their own lives."
Music lessons help young child memories - "Parents who spend time and money to teach their children music, take heart -- a new Canadian study shows young children who take music lessons have better memories than their nonmusical peers."
A Question of Mind Over Matter - "The prosthetics of the future are more than physical attachments, they're intertwined with the human mind. They communicate with muscles, nerves and even neurons. And some of them are available today."
Restaurant at end of universe not so far off - "Executives and government officials meet to discuss commercializing space exploration. Hint: There will be a Starbucks."
Quote of the Day
"I know there is no evidence that shows the death penalty has a deterrent effect -- but I feel in my gut it must be true."
~ George W. Bush
1 comment:
Hello Randy,
This civilization is rotten to the core
Most people have no idea that the common-denominator math of all the world's currencies forms an endless loop that generates debt faster than we can ever generate the value to pay for it. Those who scoff at this analysis have simply failed to do the math. Consequently, this civilization is verifiably based on purposeful and institutionalized deception, coercion, and exploitation. The time is long overdue to change the human equation and end the root causes of most injustice and suffering.
When the full scope of human civilization is analyzed, it becomes abundantly clear that its pillars are money, religion, and politics. Of the three, money is by far the most important because politics and religion rely on it for existence. All three are great deceptions (strong lies) secretly managed by the Vatican and its secret society cohorts. This fact has been expertly hidden over the last two centuries. Money, religion and politics are Machiavellian deceptions whose common purpose is mass exploitation. Very few people understand that all three are tightly synchronized and interdependent logic traps. Consequently, to continue trying to win at such long-term and highly developed shell (and shill) games is absolute folly. Until we turn away from such obvious delusions, humanity’s great struggles and suffering will never end.
Here is Wisdom!!
...and here
...and here too...
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