News -- October 17, 2005

A Contingency Plan - "Karl Rove has a plan, as always. Even before testifying last week for the fourth time before a grand jury probing the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity, Bush senior adviser Rove and others at the White House had concluded that if indicted he would immediately resign or possibly go on unpaid leave, several legal and Administration sources familiar with the thinking told TIME. Resignation is the much more likely scenario, they say. The same would apply to I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, the Vice President's chief of staff, who also faces a possible indictment. A former White House official says Rove's break with Bush would have to be clean--no "giving advice from the sidelines"--for the sake of the Administration."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1118356,00.html

It's Bush-Cheney, Not Rove-Libby - "That stonewall may start to crumble in a Washington courtroom this week or next. In a sense it already has. Now, as always, what matters most in this case is not whether Mr. Rove and Lewis Libby engaged in a petty conspiracy to seek revenge on a whistle-blower, Joseph Wilson, by unmasking his wife, Valerie, a covert C.I.A. officer. What makes Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation compelling, whatever its outcome, is its illumination of a conspiracy that was not at all petty: the one that took us on false premises into a reckless and wasteful war in Iraq. That conspiracy was instigated by Mr. Rove's boss, George W. Bush, and Mr. Libby's boss, Dick Cheney."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101605Z.shtml

Bush to Blair: First Iraq, then Saudi Arabia - "George Bush told the Prime Minister two months before the invasion of Iraq that Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea may also be dealt with over weapons of mass destruction, a top secret Downing Street memo shows. The US President told Tony Blair, in a secret telephone conversation in January 2003 that he "wanted to go beyond Iraq"."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article319993.ece

An Angry America - "Pollsters say American anger is at an all-time high. You don’t need a poll to figure that out. Just wander down to the local coffee shop for breakfast and listen to the anger spilling out over the war in Iraq, skyrocketing energy prices and a government out of control."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7539.shtml

Judgment Call - "Did Christian conservatives receive assurances that Miers would oppose Roe v. Wade?"
http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110007415

What Awaits Samira? - "The prospect for Iraq? She sees several possibilities, all of them bad. Perhaps a break-up of the state. Maybe a civil war. Certainly an ever growing bloody insurgency. No chance at all for a new, prosperous, democratic, multicultural society. Iraq looks now like a broken toy, taken apart by a willful, mindless child."
http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/index.html

Venezuela seeks nuclear technology - "The Venezuelan government has made overtures to various countries about obtaining nuclear technology, according to U.S. officials, who worry that President Hugo Chavez might be taking the first steps in a long road to develop nuclear weaponry." -- Countries have learned from Iraq and North Korea that they must have nuclear weapons in order to prevent the U.S. from invading them.
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051016-112537-4689r.htm

US "private military contractors" already in-country to "deal with" Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Frias... - "Intelligence agencies are revealing that US private military contractors, active in Colombia "under various contract umbrellas, including counter-narcotics and counter-insurgency" are building up to yet another attempted coup d'etat against Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez."
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=46388

Torture in the Name of Jesus - "Many Americans stand with President Bush on virtually everything simply because he is a self-declared Christian, a once wayward man miraculously turned prayerful. ... On Oct. 5, the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted 90-9 in favor of Sen. John McCain's anti-torture amendment to a defense appropriations bill. But Bush has threatened to use the first veto of his presidency to kill the entire bill (which pays soldiers' salaries and funds the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq) because he opposes the provision to ban the use of "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" by the military, in accordance with the U.S. Army Field Manual. ... But Bush swats away such practical concerns. Evidently, God has told him that torturing other human beings is fine as long as you are born-again, which is all that seems to matter to some evangelical Christians. Hey, the Crusaders and witch-burners and slave holders did it, right?"
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1016-28.htm

Rice Fails to Win Russian Support on Iran - "Rice wanted Russian cooperation as the United States and its European allies try either to draw Iran back to diplomatic talks or invoke the threat of punishment from the powerful U.N. Security Council. Despite lengthy meetings with Russian officials, including a long session alone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, it was clear Russia had not changed its opposition to using the Security Council. The Iranian nuclear question can be handled through the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, which is already monitoring nuclear activities in Iran, Lavrov told reporters afterward."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5345694,00.html

Judges liken terror laws to Nazi Germany - "A powerful coalition of judges, senior lawyers and politicians has warned that the Government is undermining freedoms citizens have taken for granted for centuries and that Britain risks drifting towards a police state."
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article320005.ece

Ohio Police Arrest Woman For $1 In Unpaid Taxes - ""Whether it's $1 they owe us or $1,000, it's not fair to the rest of the public to not pursue that person," he said. "There is some expense involved, but it goes back to the principle. We have laws. The laws have to be complied with. At what cost do you stop enforcing the law?""
http://www.local6.com/money/5093711/detail.html

Cell phone tracking aids law enforcement - "Cell phones today are nearly as ubiquitous as a wristwatch — just about everyone has one. And while they have certainly made it easier for people to keep in touch, they also have helped police and prosecutors catch criminals."
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050925/NEWS02/509250359/1018

The prison industry in the United States: big business or a new form of slavery? - "Human rights organizations, as well as political and social ones, are condemning what they are calling a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million – mostly Black and Hispanic – are working for various industries for a pittance. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don’t have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don’t like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells."
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2005/octubre/juev13/42carceles.html

First day of school for aspiring Vatican exorcists - " It was the first day of school, so some students were understandably nervous. But then again, they were not taking just any course, but one run by a Vatican university to teach aspiring demonologists and exorcists."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051014/od_nm/pope_exorcism_dc;_ylt=A9FJqau4H1NDquAA8wrtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA




Quote of the Day
"Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time."
~ Steven Wright

News -- October 14, 2005

Reversing the Intellectual Decline - "Historians will write of this time that the U.S. was in a period of intellectual decline, a kind of anti-renaissance of thought. Simplicity, and brevity displaced thoughtful dialogue. Repetition passed as true conviction, cult-like adherence to shallow philosophies unseated consideration of creative alternatives and honesty gave way to spin. This is not an era when thinking about anything for long is valued."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-reardon/reversing-the-intellectua_b_8847.html

US setting up new spying agency - "The US has announced the creation of a new intelligence agency led by the CIA to co-ordinate all American overseas spying activities."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4340318.stm

U.S. military to buy huge quantities of Anthrax- Director of the Sunshine Project - "It has been revealed that the U.S. army plans to buy large quantities of Anthrax, raising questions over its commitment to treaties aimed at controlling the spread of biological weapons."
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/conspiracy_theory/fullstory.asp?id=264

Torture and misery in name of freedom - "The great poet Wilfred Owen articulated the tragedy, the horror - and indeed the pity - of war in a way no other poet has. Yet we have learnt nothing. Nearly 100 years after his death the world has become more savage, more brutal, more pitiless. But the "free world" we are told, as embodied in the United States and Great Britain, is different to the rest of the world since our actions are dictated and sanctioned by a moral authority and a moral passion condoned by someone called God."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article319540.ece

Bush Among Biggest Spending Presidents - "After nearly five years in office, the record is clear: President George W. Bush ranks among the biggest spending presidents in American history! With such a record, no person can honestly categorize G.W. Bush as a fiscal conservative. By comparison, Dubya's spending habits make Bill Clinton look like a conservative!"
http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin264.htm

Auditor: Detroit may go broke - "The city is spending $15 million more a month than it brings in, Harris' report says. Most of these costs are in salaries and benefits."
http://www.detnews.com/2005/metro/0510/14/A01-348620.htm

Scandals Take Toll On Bush's 2nd Term - "Beyond the short-term problems, Republicans are particularly anxious about the sprawling investigations of conservative lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose business and political dealings regularly brought him into contact with dozens of lawmakers and top White House officials. Among insiders, he was one of the most familiar faces among the generation of operatives and lobbyists who came of age when Republicans took control of Congress after the 1994 elections. "The one that people are most worried about is Abramoff because it seems to have such long tentacles," said former congressman Vin Weber (R-Minn.), a lobbyist with close ties to the White House. "This seems to be something that could spread almost anywhere . . . and that has a lot of people worried.""
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/13/AR2005101301955_pf.html

Former Naval Physicist: Government Can Control Hurricanes - "Many scoff at the possibility of weather control and simply refuse to believe it exists. Attempting to even engage such people in conversation on the subject is fruitless because their mind is set. Yet the reality is that weather modification has been in operation and continual development since the 1960s."
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/october2005/141005weather_modification.htm

Are Americans Ruder Than They Used To Be? - "A slippage in manners is obvious to many Americans. Nearly 70 percent questioned in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll said people are ruder than they were 20 or 30 years ago. The trend is noticed in large and small places alike, although more urban people report bad manners, 74 percent, then do people in rural areas, 67 percent. ... More and more, manners are taught less and less."
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/5098058/detail.html?rss=bos&psp=news

Political Screening For All Park Service Managers - "The National Park Service has started using a political loyalty test for picking all its top civil service positions, according to an agency directive released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Under the new order, all mid-level managers and above must also be approved by a Bush administration political appointee."
http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_26327.shtml

Spokane Mayor Tries to Block Release of Computer Files - "Lawyers for embattled Spokane Mayor James E. West told a judge Wednesday that the contents of his City Hall laptop computer were not public records and should not be released." -- But it was not his private computer. It was a state owned computer.
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051013010809990001

A Polling Free-Fall Among Blacks - "In what may turn out to be one of the biggest free-falls in the history of presidential polling, President Bush's job-approval rating among African Americans has dropped to 2 percent, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/10/13/BL2005101300885.html?referrer=emailarticle

GAO calls Medicare video news releases illegal propaganda - "The investigative arm of Congress has found that parts of a Bush administration video explaining changes to Medicare violate the government ban on publicity and propaganda."
http://www.hillnews.com/news/052004/medicare.aspx

Study Says Software Makers Supply Tools to Censor Web - ""There's a cat-and-mouse game going on between states that seek to control the information environment and citizens who seek to speak freely online," said John Palfrey, the director of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and a researcher with the OpenNet Initiative. "Filtering technologies, and the way that they are implemented, are becoming more sophisticated." Not surprisingly, repressive governments have been eager buyers of those technologies."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/12/technology/12filter.html?ex=1286769600&en=6b1300f1692ebe73&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Scientists unearth 4,000-year-old noodle dish - "A 4,000-year-old bowl of noodles has been discovered at an archaeological site in western China — possible proof for the argument that China invented pasta before Italy."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/438/5667554.html

Lost Beethoven score discovered - "A working manuscript of one of Beethoven's final compositions has been rediscovered in a seminary library and could fetch more than $2 million (U.S.) at auction."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051013.wbeethoven10131/BNStory/Entertainment/

'I'm in the nude for dancing' - "Hundreds of clubbers are descending on the country's only nude disco every Saturday night."
http://icsouthlondon.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0400lambeth/tm_objectid=16248994&method=full&siteid=50100&headline=-i-m-in-the-nude-for-dancing--name_page.html

Musical breast implants - "One boob could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection." -- I can't make this shit up.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1570835.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery




Quote of the Day
"We are all accountable for our own era."
~ Whitley, WARDAY by Whitley Streiber and James Kunetka

News -- October 12, 2005

Iraq war now costing $6 billion a month - "The Bush administration is spending about $7 billion a month to wage the war on terror, and costs could total $570 billion by the end of 2010, assuming troops are gradually brought home, a congressional report estimates." -- Good money wasted.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/3520

Poll: Americans Want Bush Impeached - ""The results of this poll are truly astonishing," said AfterDowningStreet.org co-founder Bob Fertik. "Bush's record-low approval ratings tell just half of the story, which is how much Americans oppose Bush's policies on Iraq and other issues. But this poll tells the other half of the story - that a solid plurality of Americans want Congress to consider removing Bush from the White House."" -- 50%
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/11/171040/56

Dems Scrap Plans To Look Into Claims White House Manipulated Intel On Iraqi Threat - "Democrats in Congress have abandoned their efforts to investigate the White House's use of questionable intelligence information about Iraq's alleged stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, saying the issue has been "eclipsed" by President Bush's request for $87 billion from Congress to continue funding the war." -- They're all in it together.
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/leopold.php?articleid=983

Cheney's Halliburton stock options rose 3,281% last year, senator finds - "“Halliburton has already raked in more than $10 billion from the Bush-Cheney Administration for work in Iraq, and they were awarded some of the first Katrina contracts," Lautenberg said in a statement. "It is unseemly for the Vice President to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his Administration funnels billions of dollars to it. The Vice President should sever his financial ties to Halliburton once and for all.”"
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Cheneys_stock_options_rose_3281_last_1011.html

Government by Temper Tantrum - "President George W. Bush’s temper tantrums are on the rise with White House insiders reporting increasing tongue-lashing of staffers, obscenity-filled outbursts and a leader driven to the edge by what he sees as party disloyalty and a country that no longer trusts him."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7509.shtml

For President Under Duress, Body Language Speaks Volumes - "But this much could be seen watching the tape of NBC's broadcast during Bush's 14-minute pre-sunrise interview, in which he stood unprotected by the usual lectern. The president was a blur of blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts. Bush has always been an active man, but standing with Lauer and the serene, steady first lady, he had the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101101577.html

Scientists warn of possibility of drug-resistant avian flu - "US scientists warn that a drug-resistant Avian flu strain could arise with unrestrained and improper use of available drugs."
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/analysis/view/173095/1/.html

US mulls federal troops for bird flu quarantine - "The Pentagon is looking at the possibility of using federal troops to enforce a quarantine in the event of an outbreak of pandemic bird flu in the United States, a senior official said on Wednesday." -- Sure is a lot of talk about pandemics and quarantines lately.
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20051012/2005-10-12T192302Z_01_SCH268992_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-BIRDFLU-USA-PENTAGON-DC.html

Hate Speech - "I hate all the new talk about hate speech legislation. I hate any effort to make any speech a criminal offense, unless it involves threat or incitement to kill or riot. But there are already laws covering such things. I also hate hate speech, but I more hate any effort to create laws against it. The thing is, people love to hate."
http://riprense.com/hatespeech.htm

The Troops Don’t Support the Constitution - "Every U.S. soldier takes an express and solemn oath to “support and defend the Constitution.” That oath, however, is a sham because the troops do not support or defend the Constitution. Instead, when it comes to war the troops follow another oath they take – to obey the orders of the president, and they do this without regard to whether such orders violate the Constitution. A textbook example involves President Bush’s war on Iraq."
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger61.html

Peak Oil is a Corrupt Globalist Scam - "In other words, Peak oil is a scam to create artificial scarcity and drive prices up. Meanwhile, alternative fuel technologies which have been around for decades are intentionally suppressed."
http://prisonplanet.com/Pages/Oct05/041005oil.htm

Natural Gas Users to Take Hit This Winter - "Winter heating bills will be a third to a half higher for most families across the country, with the sharpest increases expected for those who heat with natural gas, the Energy Department forecast Wednesday."
http://wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=111&sid=590303

Companies have not been in such shape since the Depression - "Not since the Depression of 1929 has corporate America received so many black eyes. General Motors, the world's largest automaker, Sears Holdings Corp., the biggest U.S. department store chain, and Eastman Kodak Co., the largest photography company, led 27 borrowers whose $499 billion of outstanding debt obligations suffered the ignominy of being downgraded to junk. And if history is any guide, there will be no rebound soon. "You don't see companies get downgraded and work their way up, by and large," said Greg Peters, head of U.S. credit strategy at New York-based Morgan Stanley."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/rssstory.mpl/business/3387898

Experts: Microsoft-Yahoo alliance is food for IM worms - "The planned bridge between MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger has one drawback, experts warn: It could act as a conduit for a massive IM worm outbreak."
http://news.com.com/Experts+Microsoft-Yahoo+alliance+is+food+for+IM+worms/2100-7349_3-5894198.html?tag=nefd.top

Machine Makes Dishes on Demand - "When Barbara Wheaton, culinary historian and honorary curator at Radcliffe's Schlesinger Library, told Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers that she longed for durable dishes that didn't need to be washed and could be thrown away after a meal, she was surprised when they took her seriously. MIT Media Lab's Counter Intelligence Group, which develops innovative kitchen designs, has created a machine that makes dishes on demand and recycles them after diners have finished a meal." -- This invention is pretty damn cool.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,69113,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

Violence in games stimulates brain for aggression - "Violent video games appear to put the human brain in a mood to fight, according to a new study from Michigan State University."
http://news.com.com/Violence+in+games+stimulates+brain+for+aggression/2100-1043_3-5893930.html?tag=nefd.top

Arkansas Mother Gives Birth to 16th Child - "Michelle Duggar just delivered her 16th child, and she's already thinking about doing it again. ... "We both just love children and we consider each a blessing from the Lord. I have asked Michelle if she wants more and she said yes, if the Lord wants to give us some she will accept them," he said." -- No comment. Must lower blood pressure.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/12/D8D6KS7O1.html

Apple and Disney herald new media era - Disney and Apple to sell episodes of Desperate Housewives and other television shows over an iPod device capable of playing video."
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/3fe6085e-3b43-11da-b7bc-00000e2511c8.html




Quote of the Day
"It is rather unique the extent to which we have different perceptions of reality."
~ Steven Kull

News -- October 10, 2005

Death Toll Surpasses 30,000 in Asia Quake - "Villagers desperate to find survivors dug with bare hands Sunday through the debris of a collapsed school where children had been heard crying beneath the rubble after a massive earthquake killed more than 30,000 people in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir alone."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/09/D8D4H9H01.html

Saddam may never come to trial - "Saddam Hussein may never come to trial, Iraq's former Special Tribunal director said this week." -- Does this mean "they" don't have any proof?
http://washtimes.com/upi/20051007-090602-7219r.htm

U.S. Marines Engaged in Mock Executions of Iraqi Juveniles and Other Forms of Abuse, Documents Obtained by ACLU Reveal - "U.S. Navy documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union reveal that abuse and even torture of detainees by U.S. Marines in Iraq was widespread. One Navy criminal investigator sent an e-mail in June 2004 describing his Iraq caseload "exploding" with "high visibility cases." "Day after day, new stories of torture are coming to light, and we need to know how these abuses were allowed to happen," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "This kind of widespread abuse could not have taken place without a leadership failure of the highest order." The documents the ACLU released today, posted online at www.aclu.org/torturefoia, describe substantiated incidents of torture and abuse by U.S. Marines, including: holding a pistol to the back of a detainee’s head while another Marine took a picture (Karbala, May 2003); ordering four Iraqi juveniles to kneel while a pistol was "discharged to conduct a mock execution" (Adiwaniyah, June 2003); severely burning a detainee’s hands by covering them in alcohol and igniting them (Al Mumudiyah, August 2003), and; shocking a detainee with an electric transformer, causing the detainee to "dance" as he was shocked (Al Mumudiyah, April 2004). ... "Abuse of detainees was not aberrational," said ACLU staff attorney Jameel Jaffer. "The Defense Department adopted extreme interrogation techniques as a matter of policy.""
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=17206&c=206

Shield Law Sponsor Lugar: Bloggers 'Probably Not' Considered Journos - "Bloggers would "probably not" be considered journalists under the proposed federal shield law, the bill's co-sponsor, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R.-Ind.), told the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) Monday afternoon. ... A key reason some journalists oppose the popular federal shield proposal is fear that giving Congress the power to define who is and isn't a journalist could lead effectively to the licensing of journalists. In other remarks about the legislation at IAPA's 61st General Assembly, Lugar acknowledged that the legislation could amount to a "privilege" for reporters over other Americans."
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001263585

Feds Prepare for Super-Flu Disaster - "The Bush administration has spent the last year updating its plan for how to fight the next flu pandemic. While it is impossible to say when one will strike, the fear is that the bird flu in Asia could trigger one if it mutates to start spreading easily among people."
http://wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=106&sid=535567

Request for Domestic Covert Role is Defended - "As part of the expanding counterterrorism role being taken on by the Pentagon, Defense Intelligence Agency covert operatives need to be able to approach potential sources in the United States without identifying themselves as government agents, George Peirce, the DIA's general counsel, said yesterday. ... "I'm pretty alarmed" by the proposal, said Timothy Edgar, the American Civil Liberties Union's national security policy counsel, saying it could conceivably be used by Pentagon intelligence officers "as a loophole to attend political or other meetings as part of an initial assessing contact.""
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/100805X.shtml

THE WORKERS: Take a 63% cut in pay? First reaction is anger - "Delphi Corp. union workers across the country grappled Friday with how they would make ends meet if their employer, the nation's largest auto parts supplier, followed through on pay cuts of up to 63% to reduce costs and avoid filing for bankruptcy. ... Making matters worse, Friday's news of increased severance packages for Delphi's top 21 executives, whose pay is as much as $1 million a year, caused workers like Randy Burley, 56, of Lockport, N.Y. to curse."
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/delphi8e_20051008.htm

Work Hard, Earn Less? - "One of the reasons the rich are getting richer is because they have more control over our number one expense: Taxes."
http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/article/richricher/1095

Deficit drives N.J. to consider selling roads - "New Jersey, the state with the most highways per square mile, may sell the best-known of them all -- the 148-mile New Jersey Turnpike." -- Now, if private companies own these roads that were payed for by our taxes, then these roads will be turned into toll roads.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/09/deficit_drives_nj_to_consider_selling_roads/

Unauthorized Reproduction bill has been drafted - "Republican lawmakers are drafting new legislation that will makemarriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana,including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who dobecome pregnant "by means other than sexual intercourse."" -- Posted because this type of thinking concerns me. Then later in the day the following story came out. Seems I'm not the only one concerned.
http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2005/10/3/223530/406

Legislator drops controversial plan - "A controversial proposed bill to prohibit gays, lesbians and single people from using medical procedures to become pregnant has been dropped by its legislative sponsor."
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051005/NEWS01/51005006/1006

Americans playing risky game of sexual roulette: survey - "Americans are playing a risky game of sexual roulette, according to a new poll that found only 39 percent of respondents always ask a new lover if they are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/10/051010210156.p09fnvda.html

Job fears? Don't open e-mail - "Employees once had to fear a tap on the shoulder or a pink slip in their mailbox. Now, their e-mail inbox may give workers everywhere the jitters. Opting for the efficiency of technology, the state this week sent out a mass e-mail to 2,582 Health and Human Services Commission employees alerting them they'll likely be sacked."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA100805.01B.layoffs.226c7bf4.html

Bar sign runs afoul of state - "A tavern's sign, "For Service Speak English," violates Ohio civil rights law, a commission ruled Thursday - as the sign still sat in the window of the Pleasure Inn on U.S. 42. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission says that, because of the sign, the Pleasure Inn "engaged in discriminatory practices.""
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051007/NEWS01/510070395/-1/CINCI




Quote of the Day
"Freedom of expression is a meaningless concept if everyone thinks the same."
~ Richard M. Dolan

News -- October 8, 2005

Bush White House declares torture vital to US security policy - "In an extraordinary declaration of the brutality of American foreign policy, the Bush administration denounced a Senate vote to bar the use of torture against prisoners held by the US military. Responding to the passage of an amendment to a Pentagon spending bill—approved by an overwhelming 90-9 vote Wednesday, the White House said the proposal would “restrict the president’s authority to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack and bring terrorists to justice.” The statement indicated that Bush would veto the entire appropriation, providing $440 billion to fund military operations for the next fiscal year, rather than accept the restrictions on interrogation techniques spelled out in the Senate amendment."
http://www.asiantribune.com/show_article.php?id=2751

Bush responds to political crisis with lies and new war threats - "t was to this same audience that the US president proclaimed nearly two years ago a “forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East.” Then he was predicting that the successful US imposition of “democracy” in Iraq would lead to a “global democratic revolution” that would topple regimes throughout the region. In Thursday’s address, Bush advanced the reverse of this domino theory, warning that unless the US military achieves unconditional victory, the result will be “Zarqawi and bin Laden in control of Iraq,” and the spread of radical Islamist regimes internationally. This latest assertion has no more credibility than the one advanced in 2003. It is indicative, however, of the growing desperation within US ruling circles over the debacle in Iraq and of the administration’s decision to rely on fear as its main means of coercing the American people into submitting to its policies. As if on cue Thursday, the authorities in New York City issued a terror alert for the city’s subways, only hours after Bush’s speech and just in time for the evening television news and scare headlines in the next day’s papers. Almost as soon as the alert was announced, however, intelligence officials acknowledged that the threat was of “doubtful credibility.” Friday saw Pennsylvania Station shut down because of the discovery of a “suspicious” soda bottle. The aim of such alerts, like Bush’s speech itself, is to instill fear, thereby keeping the public off balance and suppressing the growth of political opposition and social unrest."
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/bush-o08.shtml

Reporter turns over notes in CIA leak case - "A New York Times reporter has given investigators notes from a conversation she had with a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney weeks earlier than was previously known, suggesting White House involvement started well before the outing of a CIA operative, legal sources said."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051007/pl_nm/bush_leak_dc

Optimism about country's future fading - "Evangelicals, Republican women, Southerners and other critical groups in President Bush’s political coalition are increasingly worried about the direction the nation is headed and disappointed with his performance, an AP-Ipsos poll found." -- It sure took those people long enough to figure that out.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9622843/

Storm brewing in Portland - "“There’s a lot of simmering anger out there and it’s mostly in the broad middle,” he says. In his polls done in Oregon and elsewhere, about 80 percent of voters say they are worse off, or no better off, than they were a year ago. The economic discontent is national and chronic — and chronically ignored. Neither political party gets it. Before Hurricane Katrina, before $3-a-gallon gas, before the latest airline bankruptcies reminded middle-class workers that they are one corporate strategy away from losing not just their paycheck but the pension they’ve earned over decades, the middle class was already overburdened and burning out. It doesn’t understand why globalization is good if it is so obviously concentrating wealth, not spreading it. It’s furious that it works hard and plays by the rules, as Bill Clinton used to say, but loses anyway."
http://www.joplinglobe.com/story.php?story_id=206888&c=96

Is This the Death of America? - "At the end of a cruel and turbulent summer, nobody is more dismayed and demoralized about America than Americans. They have watched with growing disbelief and horror as a convergence of events - dominated by the unending war in Iraq and two hurricanes - have exposed ugly and disturbing things in the undergrowth that shame and embarrass Americans and undermine their belief in the nation and its values."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1008-32.htm

Scientists urge judge to deny parents' claim - "The scientists' brief urges the judge to deny the parents' argument that intelligent design is unscientific, saying that they want to preserve the academic freedom for scientific research into intelligent design."
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/local/ci_3096160

Lethal Virus from 1918 Genetically Reconstructed - "A resuscitation of the Spanish flu is neither necessary nor warranted from a public health point of view. Allegedly, the recent experiments sought to test the efficacy of existing antiviral drugs on the 1918 construct. But there is little need for antiviral drugs against the 1918 strain if the 1918 strain had not been recreated in the first place "It simply does not make any scientific sense to create a new threat just to develop new countermeasures against it." says Jan van Aken, biologist with the Sunshine Project, "Genetic characterization of influenza strains has important biomedical applications. But it is not justifiable to recreate this particularly dangerous eradicated strain that could wreak havoc if released, deliberately or accidentally.""
http://www.sunshine-project.org/publications/pr/pr091003.html

Imagine a World Without Copyright - "Copyright was once a means to guarantee artists a decent income. Aside from the question as to whether it ever actually functioned as such - most artists never made a penny from the copyright system - we have to admit that copyright serves an altogether different purpose in the contemporary world. It now is the tool that conglomerates in the music, publishing, imaging and movie industries use to control their markets. These industries decide whether the materials they have laid their hands on may be used by others - and, if they allow it, under what conditions and for what price. European and American legislation extends them that privilege for a window of no less than 70 years after the passing of the original author. The consequences? The privatization of an ever-increasing share of our cultural expressions, because this is precisely what copyright does. Our democratic right to freedom of cultural and artistic exchange is slowly but surely being taken away from us. ... Cultural monopolists desperately want us to believe that without copyright we would have no artistic creations and therefore no entertainment. That is nonsense. We would have more, and more diverse ones. A world without copyright is easy to imagine. The level playing field of cultural production - a market accessible for everyone - would once again be restored. A world without copyright would offer the guarantee of a good income to many artists, and would protect the public domain of knowledge and creativity. And members of the public would get what they are entitled to: a surprisingly rich and varied menu of artistic alternatives."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1008-24.htm

London to Get Sexual 'Theme Park' - "Move over, Eros. Developers announced plans Friday to open a multimillion dollar sexual "theme park" near London's Piccadilly Circus, home to the much-photographed statue of the Greek god of love." -- I've thought for quite awhile that a sexually themed casino would do well in Las Vegas. Now, if I could only get some people to back me with money.
http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051007131209990005&_mpc=news%2e10%2e3&cid=936

Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator - "A 13-foot Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole, authorities said." -- Check out the pictures.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/gator_python;_ylt=A9FJqZ3CREhDYJUAPwDtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl




Quote of the Day
"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it."
~ Henry Ford

News -- October 7, 2005

Cheney warns of 'decades of war' - "US Vice-President Dick Cheney has said that the US must be prepared to fight the war on terror for decades. Addressing US military personnel, he said that the only way terrorists would win was if the US lost its nerve and abandoned Iraq and the Middle East." -- Shut up, Dick.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4314234.stm

Ten al-Qaida plots foiled since 9/11 - "George Bush claimed yesterday that at least 10 al-Qaida attacks had been thwarted since September 11, including three inside the US, during an impassioned speech in which he defended the war in Iraq and the wider fight against terrorism. ... He said Islamist radicals were seeking to "enslave whole nations and intimidate the world" and had made Iraq their main front in a war against civilised society, which he said was a prime reason not to withdraw troops from the country." -- Shut up George.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1586885,00.html

EU wins power to jail national citizens ... EU court judgement strikes at the heart of national democracy and sovereignty - "The EU has been given the power to compel the national courts of its 25 Member States to fine or imprison people for breaking EU laws, even if a country's own Government and Parliament are opposed to that. An unprecedented ruling yesterday by the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg gives Brussels the power to introduce harmonised criminal law across the EU, creating for the first time a body of European criminal law that all Member States must adopt."
http://www.free-europe.org/blog/english.php?itemid=291

Catastrophic flu virus of 1918 is decoded - "By infecting mice, the researchers found several features that increased the virus' virulence." -- Improving the weapon?
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-10-05-birdflu_x.htm?csp=24

The Deadliest Flu Virus in the World: Made in USA - "The world is being warned a flu virus might mutate at any moment and render the planet helpless against its spread. Americans don’t need to wait for a flu virus to mutate. Infectious disease specialists, working in a semi-secure laboratory at a Midwestern university have already done it ahead of nature. These American researchers obtained the viral particles from the H5N1 Spanish flu virus that killed millions worldwide and altered one of its ten genes, making it far more dangerous and virulent than any influenza virus in nature. The idea was to figure out how to make a vaccine against it. But the very idea such a virus even exists gives most people the shivers."
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi45.html

Pandemic vaccine in hands of global depopulation advocates - "If you or any of your loved ones contracted H5N1 Avian Flu, would you trust a vaccine from self-avowed depopulationist Maurice Strong, or his protégé Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin? ... Panic buttons are being pushed by WHO when no evidence exists that H5N1 is being transmitted between humans. At this juncture, Avian Flu seems isolated to a handful of Asian countries, with the governments of China, North Korea and Vietnam holding the fate of millions of people in their hands."
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2005/cover031405.htm

IRAN FORMS TUNNEL NETWORK TO HIDE NUKES - "Iran has developed a network of tunnels to conceal the regime's nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missile programs."
http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2005/september/09_23_1.html

Blair says possible Iran links to Iraq bombs - "British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Thursday that evidence pointed to Iran or its Lebanese Hizbollah allies as the source of explosives used in roadside bombs in Iraq, although Britain did not have conclusive proof." -- Read that again, carefully.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/06/AR2005100600456.html

God told me to invade Iraq, Bush tells Palestinian ministers - "President George W. Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/10_october/06/bush.shtml

White House denies Bush claimed divine inspiration - ""That's absurd. He's never made such comments," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/07/051007131357.nstalu7a.html

The Dark Side of Faith - " It's official: Too much religion may be a dangerous thing. This is the implication of a study reported in the current issue of the Journal of Religion and Society, a publication of Creighton University's Center for the Study of Religion. The study, by evolutionary scientist Gregory S. Paul, looks at the correlation between levels of "popular religiosity" and various "quantifiable societal health" indicators in 18 prosperous democracies, including the United States."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1001-06.htm

Does Fear Trump Freedom? - " Do you believe in freedom of religion? Or are you afraid of what you really don't understand? Answer those questions and then decide if a U.S. Navy veteran should get what he wants on his military headstone. Scott Stearns is a Wiccan, meaning he reveres nature and the elements. When he dies, he wants the symbol of his religion - a pentacle - embossed on his tombstone. Well, the government's having none of that.
It says he can have the word "pentacle" spelled out, but the symbol itself - for years now - is "under review." I'm trying to imagine the uproar if Christians were told crosses were "under review", or if Jews were told the Star of David didn't really fit with VA policies. Just a guess, but I think there'd be hell to pay."
http://www.komotv.com/kenschram/story.asp?ID=39588

Guilty plea entered in Pentagon spy case - "Top Defense Department analyst Lawrence A. Franklin pleads guilty to giving classified information to an Israeli embassy official and members of a pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3151394,00.html

Inside The Patriot Act - "The Patriot Act is one of those documents that seems to attract a lot more attention than readers. ... What guarantee do we have that ten, twenty or thirty years from now the government won't be doing something, or forcing us to do something that we can't tolerate? Then what? What recourse would we have if we have already submitted ourselves to total control? How would we organize any sort of counter-action if we have already given our government the ability to prevent any such counter-actions from occurring. The Patriot Act is being sold on the premise of being an anti-terrorist tool to combat the organization of terrorist resources and activities, but think about it ... How do you think the government would classify your resources and activities if you found it necessary to fight them? It's impossible to lock down the nation and secure it from terrorism without giving up your own right to insure your own liberty and that's just what we are doing when we say the Patriot Act is needed. I suppose it's hard for most of us to understand because we really don't know what it's like to be oppressed. For most of us in the middle class, our government and our lives have enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. But the authors of the Constitution knew what oppression was. They actually had to fight for their freedom. If you read the Federalist Papers you will notice that the they were very worried about the potential for tyranny, not just from foreign sources but from within."
http://www.progress.org/2005/pat01.htm

Republicans defy Bush on prisoners - "Senate Republicans on Wednesday night defied President George W. Bush by requiring the Pentagon to follow army regulations for the interrogation of prisoners, a move the White House argues would limit US ability to prosecute the war on terrorism."
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/59f323ae-3606-11da-903d-00000e2511c8.html

Republicans in Congress Propose Budget Cuts to Fund Storm Relief - "Jettisoning earlier reservations, congressional Republican leaders say they intend to cut spending to pay for hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast, setting up a major confrontation over what programs to pick and how deep the reductions."
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/N45/45long4.html

The Burning of America - "Every day the news is horrible, every day Bush damages America more -- what should we do?"
http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1180

Fears mount as US opens new military installation in Paraguay - "Controversy is raging in Paraguay, where the US military is conducting secretive operations. Five hundred US troops arrived in the country on Jul. 1, 2005 with planes, weapons and ammunition. Eyewitness reports prove that an airbase exists in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay, which is 200 kilometres from its border with Bolivia and may be utilized by the US military. Officials in Paraguay claim the military operations are routine humanitarian efforts and deny that any plans are underway for a US base. Yet human rights groups in the area are deeply worried. White House officials are using rhetoric about terrorist threats in the tri-border region (where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet) in order to build their case for military operations, which are in many ways reminiscent of the build up to the invasion of Iraq."
http://www.excal.on.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=903&Itemid=2

D.C. to use Eminent Domain to Build Ballpark - "The District will begin using eminent domain to acquire parcels of land at the site of the Washington Nationals' ballpark by the end of this month, after unsuccessful negotiations with nearly half of the landowners."
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051006-120902-5838r.htm

Breaking America's grip on the net - "After troubled negotiations in Geneva, the US may be forced to relinquish control of the internet to a coalition of governments."
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,16376,1585288,00.html

Court Rules in Favor of Anonymous Blogger - "In a decision hailed by free-speech advocates, the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed a lower court decision requiring an Internet service provider to disclose the identity of an anonymous blogger who targeted a local elected official."
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2005/10/06/ap/hitech/d8d2lhf06.txt




Quote of the Day
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
~ Bertrand Russell

News -- October 5, 2005

Espionage Case Breaches the White House - "Both the FBI and CIA are calling it the first case of espionage in the White House in modern history. Officials tell ABC News the alleged spy worked undetected at the White House for almost three years. Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, was a U.S. Marine most recently assigned to the staff of Vice President Dick Cheney."
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1187030&page=1

“They blinded me” - "Hypocrisy and a disregard for basic human rights and international laws continue to mark the American President’s so-called “war on terror". Bellow are details of one of the most horrific incidents that took place at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where American soldiers tortured and abused prisoners, whom they labeled enemy-combatants."
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=9746

Harriet Miers: Bush's Pit Bull - "Bush has nominated his Texas crony as a stealth appointment to the Supreme Court. Although the Senate will be hard-pressed to discover Harriet Miers's positions on the critical issues, she does have a long record of loyalty to Bush, whom she calls "the most brilliant man I ever met." Bush undoubtedly knows where she stands - and it doesn't appear to be on the side of civil liberties. Miers represented a string of large corporations, including Walt Disney Co., Microsoft, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Citibank and the Bank of America. Like John Roberts, Harriet Miers has no history of protecting the rights of women, minorities, the poor, the disabled or the environment."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/100405I.shtml

Miers Briefed Bush on Bin Laden PDB, But Papers Handle Photo From That Day Quite Differently - "Indeed, that was the date, a little over a month before 9/11, that President Bush was briefed on the now-famous “PDB” that declared that Osama Bin Laden was “determined” to attack the U.S. homeland, perhaps with hijacked planes. But does that mean that Miers had anything to do with that briefing?As it turns out, yes, according to Tuesday's Los Angeles Times. An article by Richard A. Serrano and Scott Gold observes that early in the Bush presidency “Miers assumed such an insider role that in 2001 it was she who handed Bush the crucial 'presidential daily briefing' hinting at terrorist plots against America just a month before the Sept. 11 attacks.”"
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001221205

Who is Harriet Miers? - "Given the criticality of this information and how it may determine the fate of Americans over the next 2-3 decades, I decided to create this page to consolidate key facts about Ms. Miers."
http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005630.php

Senate's top Democrat explains why he praised Miers so quickly - ""As bright and brilliant and as good a lawyer as Judge Roberts was, I asked him - he'd never taken a deposition, he'd never picked a jury, never tried a case," Reid said. "He never tried a case. She has. We need people like that who have real-life experiences.""
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12817110.htm

Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible - "The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible are not actually true. The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect “total accuracy” from the Bible."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1811332,00.html

Student Brutalized by Cops, Right-Wing Students, for Protesting Recruiters At George Mason University -- If you are so gung-ho about the war, then get your ass over there.
http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=497&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Avian Flu: Is the Government Ready for an Epidemic? - "It could kill a billion people worldwide, make ghost towns out of parts of major cities, and there is not enough medicine to fight it. It is called the avian flu. ... "Right now in human beings, it kills 55 percent of the people it infects," says Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow on global health policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. "That makes it the most lethal flu we know of that has ever been on planet Earth affecting human beings.""
http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Investigation/story?id=1130392&page=1

Scientists resurrect 1918 flu, study deadliness - "Scientists who resurrected the 1918 "Spanish flu" virus that killed as many as 50 million people said on Wednesday they are beginning to understand why it caused such a deadly pandemic and say it could happen again." -- Particularly if it is used a weapon.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20051005/sc_nm/flu_dc_2

Bush Cites Military Takeover In Case Of Flu Outbreak - "Bush stated, "If we had an outbreak somewhere in the United States, do we not then quarantine that part of the country, and how do you then enforce a quarantine? When -- it's one thing to shut down airplanes; it's another thing to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu. And who best to be able to effect a quarantine? One option is the use of a military that's able to plan and move."" -- Hmmm. Too many "flu" stories today.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/october2005/041005militarytakeover.htm

Test Results Cited in Delay of Mall Alert - "More than half a dozen sensors showed the presence of tularemia bacteria the morning after thousands of people gathered on the Mall for a book festival and antiwar rally, yet the CDC was not contacted for at least 72 hours."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/04/AR2005100401544_pf.html

Did Bush administration attack peace movement with military grade biological bacteria? - "What do we make of the Saturday, October 1 Washington Post headline “Poison Found in Air During Anti-War Protest”? Washington D.C. Public Health Director Greg A. Pane posed the right question in the Post article, “Why that day? That’s what is not explained.” Pane pointed that it was “just this 24-hour period and none since.”"
http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=496&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Bush considers changes to Posse Comitatus Act - "Yet the mere hint that President Bush might try to tinker with the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act is stirring opposition across the political spectrum, prompting conservative and liberal activists to line up against any move that would empower U.S. troops to shoot or arrest civilian looters in the chaotic aftermath of national disasters. The Civil War-era law bars federal troops from carrying out law enforcement duties inside the United States during peacetime, short of suppressing an insurrection."
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/3377358

Iran 'behind attacks on British' - "Britain has accused Iran of responsibility for explosions which have caused the deaths of all eight UK soldiers killed in Iraq this year." -- Setting the stage.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4312516.stm

US 'aiming at Syria regime change' - ""I won't be surprised if Syria gets a red card," Mr Mofaz told Israel radio. "[The United States] will take actions against Syria, beginning with economic sanctions and moving on to others, that will make it clear to the Syrians that their policies do not comply with UN decisions, the US's new world order or the prohibition of sovereign states to support terrorism."" -- The US's new world order. Yep, read that correctly. Israel says jump, the US asks how high.
http://telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/05/wsyria05.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/05/ixworld.html

Leaders and followers - "It doesn't really make a difference if a leader is one of the sheep, or a Judas goat on a leash. The leader doesn't matter at all. The flock is going to go where the drivers want the flock to go.Understanding this is the key to understanding our problems, and understanding the leaders we are tricked to follow."
http://www.unknownnews.org/050930a-LukeW.html

Growing Gulf Between Rich and Rest of US - "Guess which country the CIA World Factbook describes when it says, "Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20 percent of households." If you guessed the United States, you're right. The United States has rising levels of poverty and inequality not found in other rich democracies. It also has less mobility out of poverty. Since 2000, America's billionaire club has gained 76 more members while the typical household has lost income and the poverty count has grown by more than 5 million people."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1003-21.htm

Army to Lower Bar for Recruits - "Facing recruiting shortages brought on by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has decided to accept a greater number of recruits who score near the bottom of military aptitude tests, the secretary of the Army said Monday." -- Really, they just need cannon fodder. A pulse will do.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-recruit4oct04,0,2086091.story

Senate gives nod torecruiting older citizens - "Legislation allowing military recruits to enter service up to age 42 and to create a new $1,000 finder’s fee for service members who tip off recruiters to good prospects has received tentative approval in the Senate."
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1153236.php

Gulf Firms Losing Cleanup Contracts - "Companies outside the three states most affected by Hurricane Katrina have received more than 90 percent of the money from prime federal contracts for recovery and reconstruction of the Gulf Coast, according to an analysis of available government data." -- Someone's getting rich(er).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/03/AR2005100301691_pf.html

Oregon woman kicked off flight in Reno over offensive shirt - "The shirt had pictures of members of the Bush Administration, and a phrase based on the movie "Meet the Fockers," but with one crucial vowel changed. It was enough to cause complaints from other passengers and it's a problem the airline has had to deal with before. Beth Harbin, Southwest Airlines, "We do get it occasionally. What someone is wearing, what someone is reading, what someone might be saying and it's very much a judgment call. But when other customers become concerned we do have to become involved in that and see what we can do to make everyone as comfortable as we can."" -- Free country? What free country? Make sure to read that last bit from Beth Harbin again. "What someone is wearing, what someone is reading, what someone might be saying..." More proof of the intolerance in this country and more proof that this is a free country is nothing more than a facade. Another sad day. http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3939788&nav=8faO

This Laser Trick's a Quantum Leap - "The accomplishment marks a new world record, but the scientists are more thrilled that they were able to store and recall light, an important step toward quantum computing."
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,69033,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

Doctor sued for sex treatment for back pain - "An Oregon woman whose doctor convinced her that he could cure her lower back pain by having sex with her is suing him and his medical clinic for $4 million, according to legal documents obtained on Monday." -- Really? Do I need to comment?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051004/od_nm/doctor_sex_dc;_ylt=AsZ1NRSvUTzbWgxPgUL72dADW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Cops Handle Kids' Fist Fight Over Pacifier - "Normally, a fight between two children over a pacifier might be resolved by their mothers. But in Pawtucket, the police had to step in. It all started Monday afternoon, when a 6-year-old boy dropped a pacifier." -- Again, do I really need to comment?
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/05/D8D22TJG9.html




Quote of the Day
"Well, I'm pissed off!"
~ Eric Cartman, South Park

News -- October 4, 2005

The Reality of the Iraq War -- Pictures taken by US soldiers and used as currency for access to an amateur porn site. You will never, I repeat, never, going to see these pictures in the paper or on the nightly news, but this is the reality of war. If you think war is such a great thing, then stop waving that damn flag and get your ass over there and experience it first hand. Otherwise, do what you must to stand up against these atrocities.
http://www.nowthatsfuckedup.com/bbs/forum23.html

'Worse things took place at Abu Ghraib' - "A US soldier convicted of humiliating and abusing Iraqi prisoners has said she knew of "worse things" happening at Abu Ghraib and insisted military commanders were fully aware of what was going on in Iraq’s infamous jail. The comments, made by private first class Lynndie England in her first post-court marshal interview, contradicted assertions by top Pentagon officials that a small group of out-of-control soldiers were responsible for abuse at Abu Ghraib, and that however repulsive that mistreatment was, it did not amount to torture."
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=55802

Iraq; "a right rollicking cock-up" - "The recent alleged "suicide bombing" outside Baghdad illustrates the problem with America's credibility on this issue. 60 people were killed when "three suicide attackers detonated car bombs nearly simultaneously." No one from al Qaida or any other terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the bombings. So, we must ask ourselves; 'who benefits' by the random murder of innocent civilians? Certainly, not al Qaida who must curry support from the local population to carry out operations while remaining concealed from the occupying forces. Or, is it possible that the same people who brought us Abu Ghraib, "Shock and Awe", Falluja, and myriad other atrocities, are now engaged in a massive black-ops program to incite civil war?"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10505.htm

Ike Was Right About War Machine - "Another way the government is planning to pay for the war and the hurricane damage is by cutting spending for things like Medicare prescriptions, highway construction, farm payments, AMTRAK, National Public Radio and loans to graduate students. Do these sound like the things you'd like to cut back on to pay for Iraq? I'll tell you where we ought to start saving: on our bloated military establishment. ... No other Country spends the kind of money we spend on our military. Last year Japan spent $42 billion. Italy spent $28 billion, Russia spent only $19 billion. The United States spent $455 billion. ... We have 1,155,000 enlisted men and women and 225,000 officers. One officer to tell every five enlisted soldier what to do. We have 40,000 colonels alone and 870 generals. We had a great commander in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower. He became President and on leaving the White House in 1961, he said this: “We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. …" Well, Ike was right. That's just what’s happened."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/30/60minutes/main892398.shtml

Reid told Cheney to pick Miers; Relished fact she was never a judge -"Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) urged President Bush to pick White House counsel Harriet Miers as his nominee to the Supreme Court."
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Reid_told_Cheney_to_pick_Miers_1003.html

Bush's Stay out of Jail Card - "In the high stakes game of Supreme Court Hold 'Em, Dubya has made a decisive and bold, yet defensive move. Has has gone "all in" and nominated his former personal lawyer, Harriet Miers, for the Supreme Court. What better way to avoid jail for war crimes, profiteering and conspiracy. Appoint your own lawyer to the bench. A truly brilliant maneouver even if Alberto's really disappointed. Bush's cronies can stop sweating now."
http://polunatic.blogspot.com/2005/10/bushs-stay-out-of-jail-card.html

Bloomington native reports the news - ""With the change of administration in Washington, I wanted to do the same kind of reporting, holding the (Bush) administration accountable, and that was not something that Fox was interested in doing," he said. "Editorially, I had issues with story selection," Shuster went on. "But the bigger issue was that there wasn't a tradition or track record of honoring journalistic integrity. I found some reporters at Fox would cut corners or steal information from other sources or in some cases, just make things up. Management would either look the other way or just wouldn't care to take a closer look. I had serious issues with that." The Bloomington native encountered a markedly different culture when he jumped to NBC/MSNBC in June 2002. "One of the first things that happens is you're given a 50-page manual of standards and practices … and you immediately sense this is an organization that cares very deeply about journalistic integrity.""
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2005/10/02/column.1002-SH-A3_CMK35541.sto

Quote of the Day
"Well now they're planning the crime of the century."
~ Supertramp

News -- October 3, 2005

Bush Chooses Miers for Supreme Court - "President Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court on Monday, turning to a lawyer who has never been a judge to replace Sandra Day O'Connor and help reshape the nation's judiciary." -- Never been a judge? This is kind of like Brown at FEMA.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/03/AR2005100300122_pf.html

President taps Texan who's never been judge - "President Bush today nominated a Texas lawyer who serves as White House counsel, Harriet Miers, to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court – a pick that apparently was pre-approved by Senate Democratic leadership."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46630

Permanent Military Occupation - "On April 13, 2004, President Bush said, "As a proud and independent people, Iraqis do not support an indefinite occupation and neither does America." On February 17, 2005, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, testifying before the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, said, "We have no intention, at the present time, of putting permanent bases in Iraq." The circumstances on the ground, however, tell another story. On March 23, 2004, the Chicago Tribune reported on the construction of 14 "enduring bases" in Iraq. The May 22, 2005, Washington Post described the military's plan to consolidate military personnel in Iraq into four massive "contingency operating bases.""
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10478.htm

Torture of Iraqis was for ‘stress relief’, say US soldiers - "For the first time, American soldiers who personally tortured Iraqi prisoners have come forward to give testimony to human rights organisations about crimes they committed." -- Worth the read since there is way too much to copy here.
http://www.sundayherald.com/52035

Christianity and the Demise of America - "Real Christians would not tolerate presidents who make war on defenseless people based upon lies and innuendo. Bush and his imperialist polices should be openly and powerfully denounced from every pulpit in every church in the United States, every day. But they are not. In fact, just the opposite occurs. Bush and his minions are cheered on by the apostates, the dogs of war and poverty. Rather than acting as a counter friction to the machine, the church acts like a cheer leader for grotesque acts of atrocity against the world. By allying itself with fraudulent ideologues like the ‘Christian Right,’ the church has itself become the anti-Christ. Being Christian, it seems to me, requires asking of oneself in times of crises, ‘What would Christ do?’ But this is a question that makes those who call themselves Christians uncomfortable. It is the kind of question that demands everything of them. It is the kind of question that makes it hard to look at oneself in the mirror."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10483.htm

Giuliani to Mull 2008 Decision Next Year - "Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Sunday he will contemplate next year whether to run for president in 2008."
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1177486

Run, Rice, run: Fans seek Condi candidacy - "Devoted admirers of Condoleezza Rice bought time for a television commercial during the premiere last week of "Commander in Chief," backing the secretary of state for the White House in 2008."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20051001-115425-7018r.htm

Proposed law: Companies can't keep employees from bringing guns to work - "Florida businesses could soon face criminal charges if they try to stop employees from bringing guns to work in their cars, thrusting the state into a growing national debate pitting individual freedom against job safety."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-guns1002,0,4768146.story?coll=sfla-news-florida

Dogs used as shark bait - "Stray dogs are being skewered on hooks and dragged behind boats as live shark bait. ... A six-month-old labrador pup was recently found ALIVE with a huge double hook through its snout - like the dog above - and another through a leg." -- Yes, there is a picture.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2005450117,00.html

Florida city considers eminent domain - "Florida's Riviera Beach is a poor, predominantly black, coastal community that intends to revitalize its economy by using eminent domain, if necessary, to displace about 6,000 local residents and build a billion-dollar waterfront yachting and housing complex." -- Does eminent domain = ethnic cleansing?
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051003-122623-2136r.htm

Toddlers looked after by mothers 'develop better' - "Toddlers who are looked after by their mothers do significantly better in developmental tests than those cared for by nurseries, childminders or relatives, according to a study to be published today. The findings will show that those given nursery care fared worst. They exhibited higher levels of aggression and were inclined to become more compliant, withdrawn or sad. Those looked after by grandparents and other relatives fared a little better."
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article316677.ece

Five-year-olds to be given careers advice - "Primary school children should receive careers advice and be encouraged to question their dreams of becoming pop stars and fairy princesses."
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1582913,00.html

A symmetrical face isn't just prettier - it's healthier too - "For the perfectly proportioned face is also an indication that the body it sits atop is well prepared to fight off infection. The common cold, asthma and flu are all more likely to be combated efficiently by those whose left side matches their right."
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article316593.ece

Newly discovered '10th planet' also has a moon - "The recently discovered object on the fringe of the solar system, which has triggered controversy over whether it counts as the "10th planet", has now been found to have a moon."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/03/nxena03.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/03/ixhome.html




Quote of the Day
"Our president is a Christian? So was Adolf Hitler."
~ Kurt Vonnegut

News -- October 1, 2005

Bush administration found involved in illegal 'covert propaganda' - "The administration of President George W. Bush broke the law as it resorted to illegal "covert propaganda" in trying to sell its key education initiative to the public, US congressional investigators have found." -- I'm sure more than just this law has been broken.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usmediapropaganda

The new pornography of war - "Nowthatsfuckedup.com is the most horror-filled website I have ever seen; and if you are reading this at breakfast, or anywhere near a child, you should stop right now. It is a site for trophy pictures, originally a place where men could trade pornographic pictures of women they knew. But in wartime the definition of trophy changes, so when you look at the forum now you are likely to see something such as this: ... The scandal at Abu Ghraib showed that modern armies are full of people with digital cameras who will document everything they see, no matter how shaming it might be in the outside world. Some of these pictures are far worse than anything that came out of the prison but they show the same tangle of lust for flesh, power and killing."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1579864,00.html

FBI to get veto power over PC software? - "The Federal Communications Commission thinks you have the right to use software on your computer only if the FBI approves. No, really. In an obscure "policy" document released around 9 p.m. ET last Friday, the FCC announced this remarkable decision."
http://news.com.com/2061-10804_3-5884130.html?tag=nefd.aon

FBI Admits to Making Mistakes in Wiretaps - "The FBI would not say how often these mistakes happen. And, though any incriminating evidence mistakenly collected is not legally admissible in a criminal case, there is no way of knowing whether it is used to begin an investigation."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,170940,00.html

Top Officials Told to Testify in Muslims' Suit - "The officials had sought to have the lawsuit dismissed without testimony, arguing in part that they had governmental immunity from its claims, that the court lacked jurisdiction because they live outside New York State, and that the Sept. 11 attacks created "special factors" outweighing the plaintiffs' right to sue for damages for constitutional violations. But the judge, John Gleeson, of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, rejected those arguments, allowing the case to proceed - and opening the door to depositions of Mr. Ashcroft and the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, by lawyers for the two plaintiffs."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/092905Y.shtml

Times Online - "So I was over in "The Fall of Humanity" (you can find a link under Links), and I was perusing the stories. ... Ahhh... here we are. "Societies worse off 'when they have God on their side'""
http://bigolclown.blogspot.com/2005/09/times-online.html

Not chance, but design, ISU professor says - "An Iowa State University professor faced skeptics and supporters of his theory of intelligent design, which maintains that an unidentified force is responsible for certain events in nature, during a packed lecture here Wednesday."
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050929/NEWS02/509290396/1001/NEWS

American Graffiti: Signs of the Times - "Feel like getting something off your chest against that iniquitous warmonger in the White House? Well, you can write a letter to your newspaper, tune in to liberal talk radio, or click to a reliably leftie website. Alternatively, you can take a drive on the highways of the United States."
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0812-01.htm

Army Faces Worst Recruiting Slump in Years - "The Army is closing the books on one of the leanest recruiting years since it became an all-volunteer service three decades ago, missing its enlistment target by the largest margin since 1979 and raising questions about its plans for growth."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050930/ap_on_re_us/army_recruiting_slump;_ylt=A9FJqY53Tj1DnDsACgCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY

A Sick, Dying Elephant - "DeLay’s indictment is far more than just the nailing of another corrupt politician. It is a signal that GOP dominance in the Capitol may be an endangered species, a sign that 11 years of running roughshod over the Constitution, allowing extremist elements to run the party and arrogantly thinking they are above the laws of the nation and decency are over."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7456.shtml

10 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes by Tom DeLay - "1) "So many minority youths had volunteered…that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself." --Tom DeLay, explaining at the 1988 GOP convention why he and vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle did not fight in the Vietnam War."
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/stupidquotes/a/tomdelayquotes.htm?nl=1

Dutch 'marriage':1 man, 2 women - "The Netherlands has legalized polygamy in all but name, granting a civil union to a man and two women."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46583

When You Suspect That Your Newspaper is "Just Not Into You" - "Dear New York Times Head Honchos, I never thought it would come to this. ... And what do I get for my loyalty? As of last week, if I want to access your Oped columnists online and a few other sections of your paper, I am now expected to cough up $49.95 a year or $7.95 a month because some genius at your newspaper decided this was a good idea."
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0930-20.htm

Biologists Observe Gorillas Using Tools - "For the first time, biologists have documented gorillas in the wild using simple tools, such as poking a stick in a swampy pool of water to check its depth. ... "This is a truly astounding discovery," he said in a statement. "Tool usage in wild apes provides us with valuable insights into the evolution of our own species and the abilities of other species.""
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050930/D8CU9HF83.html

Chip Helps Electric Outlet Go Broadband - "The common electric socket will serve as your home's connection to broadband with a new chip developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. — doing away with all the Ethernet cables or the hassle of hooking up to a wireless network device."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050930/ap_on_hi_te/broadband_socket;_ylt=A9FJqZ4mTz1DZm0A4QWs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3cjE0b2MwBHNlYwM3Mzg

EU Wants Shared Control of Internet - " The European Union insisted Friday that governments and the private sector must share the responsibility of overseeing the Internet, setting the stage for a showdown with the United States on the future of Internet governance. A senior U.S. official reiterated Thursday that the country wants to remain the Internet's ultimate authority, rejecting calls in a United Nations meeting in Geneva for a U.N. body to take over."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050930/ap_on_hi_te/internet_control;_ylt=A9FJqajLTj1Ds.UAaQqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY

Baring It All for Breast Cancer - "And as soon as I decided to participate in this year's Blogger Boobie-Thon, I knew I couldn't do it halfway. ... The Blogger Boobie-Thon began in 2002 when its founder, Robyn of Shutterblog fame, launched a campaign to bring her friend to Florida for the holidays. Thanks to a growing collection of "rack shots" -- pictures of breasts in various states of undress -- the donations mounted quickly. Robyn soon realized she had an effective fund-raising method on her hands. She donated to breast cancer research all monies above and beyond the cost of the plane ticket. It's a clever event, with a strong geek appeal. Both men and women are encouraged to submit pictures of their breasts, either bare or clothed or otherwise decorated. Creativity counts."
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69021,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2

Welcome to the killing fields cafe... - "Newly opened across the road from Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng "S-21" Khmer Rouge interrogation and torture center, the cafe is meant to remind Cambodians of the 1975-1979 genocide in which an estimated 1.7 million people died."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050930/od_nm/cambodia_rouge_dc;_ylt=A9FJqaeLTz1DVvoASQ6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc

Probe set for asteroid touch down - "Japan's Hayabusa spacecraft will soon move into place for an historic attempt to collect a sample from an asteroid."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4291258.stm




Quote of the Day
“The citizen who sees his society’s democratic clothes being worn out and does not cry it out, is not a patriot, but a traitor.”
~ Mark Twain