News -- May 16, 2006

FBI Source Confirms ABC Report on Monitoring of Reporters' Calls - "Late Monday, the ABC reporters updated their account: "The FBI acknowledged late Monday that it is increasingly seeking reporters’ phone records in leak investigations. “It used to be very hard and complicated to do this, but it no longer is in the Bush administration,” said a senior federal official. He said it wasn't so much that the calls were being "tracked" as "backtracked.""

Negroponte Had Denied Domestic Call Monitoring - ""I wouldn't call it domestic spying," he told reporters. "This is about international terrorism and telephone calls between people thought to be working for international terrorism and people here in the United States." Three days later, USA Today divulged details of the NSA's effort to log a majority of the telephone calls made within the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -- amassing the domestic call records of tens of millions of U.S. households and businesses in an attempt to sift them for clues about terrorist threats."

Bush to Campaign Against Criticism of NSA Wiretap Program - "The administration argues that the president has the constitutional authority to let intelligence officials listen in on international phone calls of Americans with suspected ties to terrorists."

Congress may make ISPs snoop on you - "A prominent Republican on Capitol Hill has prepared legislation that would rewrite Internet privacy rules by requiring that logs of Americans' online activities be stored, CNET News.com has learned."

Reform bill to double immigration - "The immigration reform bill that the Senate takes up today would more than double the flow of legal immigration into the United States each year and dramatically lower the skill level of those immigrants."

A government out of control - ""THEY HATE our freedoms,'' is one of President Bush's favored rallying cries in the war on terrorism. More and more, the question is becoming: Which cherished freedoms, precisely, is Bush referring to? His administration's apparent disrespect for what most of us would regard as one of the most fundamental freedoms of all -- a right to privacy -- raises deep concerns about the self-inflicted erosion of our way of life by wide-scale government tracking of phone calls in the name of fighting terrorism. Once again, Bush has suggested that law-abiding Americans have nothing to worry about. But he's wrong. Voices in both parties in Washington are rightly furious over this latest overstepping of governmental limits."

God's own party - "Now that the GOP has been transformed by the rise of the South, the trauma of terrorism and George W. Bush's conviction that God wanted him to be president, a deeper conclusion can be drawn: The Republican Party has become the first religious party in U.S. history."

Battle Cry for theocracy - "If you’ve been waiting until the Christian fascist movement started filling stadiums with young people and hyping them up to do battle in “God’s army” to get alarmed, wait no longer. ... They claim their religion and values are under attack but, amidst spectacular lightshows, hummers, Navy Seals, and military imagery on stage, it is Battle Cry that has declared war on everyone else! Ron Luce, Battle Cry’s leader and Teen Mania president and founder, makes clear this is not mere metaphor: “This is war. And Jesus invites us to get into the action, telling us that the violent -- the ‘forceful’ ones -- will lay hold of the kingdom."" -- And this is one reason why I loathe organized religion. Read the rest, it's disgusting.

Bible Classes In Public Schools? - "The buzz results mostly from "The Bible and Its Influence," a glossy high school textbook with substantial interfaith and academic endorsements. It's available for the coming school year, and some 800 high schools are currently considering the course."

In Western Europe - ""In many European countries -- Switzerland in particular -- sexual intercourse, at least from the age of 15 or 16 years, is considered acceptable and even part of normative adolescent behavior." Switzerland, he noted, has one of the world's lowest rates of abortion and teen pregnancy. Teens there, like those in Sweden and the Netherlands, have easy access to contraceptives, confidential health care and comprehensive sex education."

MySpace.com hosts wannabe terrorists - "Popular site provides fertile ground for recruitment, glorification of jihad."

McCain hates bloggers - "Then there's the idea that bloggers are all young; as commenters on ThinkProgress quickly pointed out, the latest surveys show that most are over thirty. But most importantly, what a way to alienate and irritate a whole segment of folks; clearly, McCain's performance shows that the man just doesn't give a hoot about the emerging power of citizen media."

Nev. Study Links Casino Smoke, DNA Damage - "Five years of research led by a University of Nevada, Reno department head in Reno and Las Vegas casinos have concluded there is a direct correlation between exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace and damage to the employees' DNA. "The more they were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke, the more the DNA damage, and that's going to lead to a higher risk of heart disease and cancer down the road," said Chris Pritsos."

NZ firm makes bio-diesel from sewage in world first - "A New Zealand company has successfully turned sewage into modern-day gold. Marlborough-based Aquaflow Bionomic yesterday announced it had produced its first sample of bio-diesel fuel from algae in sewage ponds."

Baseball is about numbers, but whose? - "This relationship between players and numbers, so often romanticized, is now being stripped to its skeleton in a lawsuit with considerably wider ramifications. While the dispute focuses on fantasy baseball--in which millions of fans compete against one another by assembling rosters of real-life major leaguers with the best statistics--a real legal question has arisen: Who owns that connection of name and number when it is used for such a commercial purpose?"




Quote of the Day
"Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here every day."
~ Guns 'n' Roses, (Welcome to the Jungle)

News -- May 15, 2006

Chavez warns US over Iran policy - "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned the US that any attack on Iran will have devastating consequences and send oil prices soaring."

Oil for no one if Iran attacked - "Visiting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said here on Thursday in case of a military attack against Iran, no country in the world would have access to crude oil."

Chávez is a threat because he offers the alternative of a decent society - "Venezuela's president is using oil revenues to liberate the poor - no wonder his enemies want to overthrow him."

Film on U.S. military hospital 'extremely graphic' - "The Army is bracing for the release of a documentary film that promises a graphic and unflinching portrait of life in a U.S. military hospital in Iraq. ... A memo dated Tuesday from Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army's chief surgeon, warned medical staff at Army posts around the country to prepare for a possible influx of soldiers and families seeking comfort and counseling after watching the documentary, which airs May 21 on HBO."

Cheney Penned Note About Plame, Filing Shows - "The filing by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald is the second that names Cheney as a key White House official who questioned the legitimacy of Wilson's examination of Iraqi nuclear ambitions. It further suggests that Cheney helped originate the idea in his office that Wilson's credibility was undermined by his link to Plame."

Cheney pushed to widen eavesdropping - "Vice President Dick Cheney argued in the weeks after the September 11 attacks that the National Security Agency should intercept domestic telephone calls and e-mails without warrants as part of its war on terrorism, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions."

The Times and USA Today have Missed the Bigger Story -- Again - " Worried about Dick Cheney listening in Sunday on your call to Mom? That ain't nothing. You should be more concerned that they are linking this info to your medical records, your bill purchases and your entire personal profile including, not incidentally, your voting registration. Five years ago, I discovered that ChoicePoint had already gathered 16 billion data files on Americans -- and I know they've expanded their ops at an explosive rate. They are paid to keep an eye on you -- because the FBI can't. For the government to collect this stuff is against the law unless you're suspected of a crime. (The law in question is the Constitution.) But ChoicePoint can collect if for "commercial" purchases -- and under the Bush Administration's suspect reading of the Patriot Act -- our domestic spying apparatchiks can then BUY the info from ChoicePoint."

BLOCKING JUSTICE - "Once rarely used, the "state secrets" privilege has over the past five years become a routine defense used by the U.S. Government to keep cases from being tried."

US Military Plans Joint Exercise in West Africa - "The U.S. military curently enjoys cooperation with a number of countries in West Africa, and Africa's growing oil industry, concentrated in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea, has also led to an increased U.S. military presence in the region."

Ohio losing faith with President - "President George W Bush's reshuffling of his White House team is part of an attempt to salvage a reputation which seems to be sinking fast. But Justin Webb in Washington says it is too late to be tinkering with the staff: most Americans have already consigned President Bush to history." -- And what a sad history.

The Freefalling Dollar and Bush’s war on the Middle Class - "Can’t the American people see what is happening to their future? In just 6 years Bush has taken the world’s strongest currency and chopped it into finally ground hash. By the time people rouse from their stupor, the greenback will be eye to eye with the peso."

Blacks see threat from Hispanic illegal aliens - "Blacks in the region are joining Minuteman militia groups opposed to illegal Hispanic aliens working in the United States, saying they take jobs from blacks and piggyback off the strides made during the civil rights movement."

Crossing the border in search of a cure - "It's no secret Americans cross the border into Mexico every day to take advantage of cheap medications, dental procedures, and even cosmetic surgery. However, Americans are going south of the border for another highly controversial procedure — stem cell transplants."

Designer babies? Couples flock to US to choose next baby's sex - "Parents from around the world are forking out around 19,000 dollars for a groundbreaking gender selection treatment offered by only a handful of US clinics but banned in most countries. The high-tech method of resolving the ancient question of "Would we prefer a boy or a girl?" has raised ethical concerns and fears that it could worsen an already worrying gender imbalance plaguing countries such as China and India. ... "Usually these couples have four of five children of one sex and desperately want one of the opposite sex, they want to balance their families in a way that works for them," Steinberg told AFP."

White Blood Cells From Cancer-resistant Mice Cure Cancers In Ordinary Mice - "White blood cells from a strain of cancer-resistant mice cured advanced cancers in ordinary laboratory mice, researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported today."

A new tactic to imtimidate women - "Once again, Right to Life has launched a false campaign designed to erect more hurdles for women attempting to exercise their constitutionally protected right to decide whether to bear children. New bills in the Michigan Legislature, called the Coercive Abortion Prevention Act, are the first in the country to attempt this particular strategy."


No bumper sticker today.


Quote of the day
"The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion."
~ Arnold H. Glasow

News -- May 13, 2006

The Bush Administration is Trying to Link Hugo Chavez to Iran's Nuclear Program - "The only problem is that the basis for such a charge would be a complete concoction, more worthy to be put to work in Iraq, where anything goes, than in Latin America. Such a scenario would intimate that ties exist between alleged Venezuelan uranium supplies and the Iranian nuclear program. In other words, Caracas would be presented as a terrorist nation, illicitly involved in trafficking bootleg uranium to the pariah Iranian regime in exchange for nuclear devices and maybe other considerations."

NSA Whistleblower To Expose More Unlawful Activity: ‘People…Are Going To Be Shocked’ - "CongressDaily reports that former NSA staffer Russell Tice will testify to the Senate Armed Services Committee next week that not only do employees at the agency believe the activities they are being asked to perform are unlawful, but that what has been disclosed so far is only the tip of the iceberg. Tice will tell Congress that former NSA head Gen. Michael Hayden, Bush’s nominee to be the next CIA director, oversaw more illegal activity that has yet to be disclosed:"

Spy Agency Watching Americans From Space - "A little-known spy agency that analyzes imagery taken from the skies has been spending significantly more time watching U.S. soil."

An Easy Call: Lying - "At least now we know that the Bush administration's name for spying on Americans without first seeking court approval -- the "terrorist surveillance program" -- isn't an exercise in Orwellian doublespeak after all. It's just a bald-faced lie."

Rove Informs White House He Will Be Indicted - "Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources."

First baby in Britain designed cancer-free - "A WOMAN is pregnant with Britain’s first designer baby selected to prevent an inherited cancer, The Times can reveal. Her decision to use controversial genetic-screening technology will ensure that she does not pass on to her child the hereditary form of eye cancer from which she suffers."

FOX News Doesn't Like The Fourth Amendment - "It was pretty clear last night (5/11/06) that when CEO Roger Ailes claims that what distinguishes FOX News is “we like America,” he doesn’t mean the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. First, FOX News buried a discussion about the uproar over the NSA’s secret collection of phone call records of tens of millions of Americans into the second half-hour of Hannity & Colmes (after a double segment about the Duke rape case). Then it provided conservative Republican Newt Gingrich as the only guest, with no civil liberties expert as balance. So when Gingrich, who also happens to be a FOX News employee, dismissed search warrants as legal technicalities – well, one began to get the message. And that’s not counting the false, misleading information given by Sean Hannity."

Alabama candidate for AG disputes Holocaust, is coming to NJ - "A Democratic candidate for Alabama attorney general denies the Holocaust occurred and said Friday he will speak this weekend in New Jersey to a "pro-white" organization that is widely viewed as being racist."

Bush Blames Polls on 'Battle Fatigue' - "President Bush yesterday blamed his dismal job-approval ratings not on anything he's done wrong, but on a nationwide case of "battle fatigue" over the war in Iraq, the standoff with Iran and high gas prices. Bush said he "understands" why Americans are feeling pessimistic about the future -- but he urged them to be patient and said the growing public disapproval over his policies isn't changing his mind about anything."

Experts see new Diebold flaw - ""On a scale of one to 10, if the problems we found before were a six, this is a 10. It's a totally different ballgame," he said. The new problem is being described as an intentional hole left in the system to allow elections workers to update voting software easily. Instead of using pass codes or other security protocols, anyone with access to a voting machine could install new software that could easily disable a precinct full of machines, Rubin said."

Stop ATT From Taking Your Web - "Until now, a basic principle of the Internet has been that the pipe companies can't discriminate among content providers. Everyone who puts stuff up on the Internet is treated exactly the same. The net is neutral. But now the pipe companies want to charge the content providers, depending on how fast and reliably the pipes deliver the content. Presumably, the biggest content providers would pay the most money, leaving the little content people in the slowest and least-reliable parts of the pipe. (It will take you five minutes to download my blog.) The pipe companies claim unless they start charge for speed and reliability, they won't have enough money to invest in the next generation of networks. This is an absurd argument. The pipes are already making lots of money off consumers who pay them for being connected to the Internet."

Education law leaves children behind - "Not a single state will have a highly qualified teacher in every core class this school year as promised by President Bush's education law. Nine states along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico face penalties. The Department of Education on Friday ordered every state to explain how it will have 100 percent of its core teachers qualified -- belatedly -- in the 2006-07 school year. In the meantime, some states face the loss of federal aid because they didn't make enough effort to comply on time, officials said. They are Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina and Washington, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico."

Damien's second coming is a bad omen for Church - "Thirty years after Gregory Peck and Lee Remick filmed the The Omen, Michael Gambon and Mia Farrow are starring in a remake by Twentieth Century Fox that links the biblical text’s prophecies on the beginning of Armageddon to modern-day disasters — notably September 11, the War on Terror and the tsunami."

God reigns at sporting events - "That scene before a recent Birmingham Steeldogs football game is one of a growing number of "Faith Nights" at sporting events around the country that mix religion and sports, praise and promotion."

Indonesia raises volcano alert - "Indonesian authorities have ordered the evacuation of thousands of residents near Mount Merapi, warning a deadly volcanic eruption could be imminent."

Doctors puzzled over bizarre infection surfacing in South Texas - "If diseases like AIDS and bird flu scare you, wait until you hear what's next. Doctors are trying to find out what is causing a bizarre and mysterious infection that's surfaced in South Texas. Morgellons disease is not yet known to kill, but if you were to get it, you might wish you were dead, as the symptoms are horrible." -- Strange.

Rising deadly infections puzzle experts - "Drug-resistant bugs increasingly killing otherwise healthy patients."

Union wants audit over tumours - "Seven RMIT University staff members working in the building in central Melbourne have been diagnosed with brain tumours over the past seven years. National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Victorian secretary Matthew McGowan said five of the tumours had been diagnosed in the past month alone. Of the seven tumours, two are malignant. Concerns have been raised over a possible link between two mobile phone towers on the building's roof and staff members becoming ill."

Pollution 'could kill off human race' - "POLLUTION is far more damaging to humans than originally thought and is causing genetic mutations which could eventually wipe us from the face of the planet, according to a leading scientist."

Mega-Extinction? Blame the Weather - "Climate change, not human hunters, drove mammoths and horses to extinction in Alaska and the Yukon Territory almost 12,000 years ago, according to a study in this week's issue of Nature."

Light's Most Exotic Trick Yet: So Fast it Goes ... Backwards? - " In the past few years, scientists have found ways to make light go both faster and slower than its usual speed limit, but now researchers at the University of Rochester have published a paper today in Science on how they've gone one step further: pushing light into reverse. As if to defy common sense, the backward-moving pulse of light travels faster than light. Confused? You're not alone."




Quote of the Day
"If we can learn to read the code that programs life, we can surely learn to write that code; if we can program life, we can create life. Because anything we can make we can sell, and nearly always do, we'll need to get a patent on that sucker before someone else tries to sell it first. Welcome to the gene-patenting debate."
~ Jeff Howe

News -- May 12, 2006

Iranian nukes not the real issue - "But the history of the conflict and the private strategic thinking of both sides reveal that the dispute is really about the Bush administration's drive for greater dominance in the Middle East and Iran's demand for recognition as a regional power."

US military, intelligence officials raise concern about possible preparations for Iran strike - "Concern is building among the military and the intelligence community that the US may be preparing for a military strike on Iran, as military assets in key positions are approaching readiness."

US Army Troop Build up on Iraq-Iran Borders - "After the Tehran administration conducted operations against the terror network Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) by crossing the Iraqi border, the US Army in Iraq is claimed to have increased the military build up of US troops on the Iranian border."

Exodus of the Iraqi middle class - "COLLEAGUES were astonished when Hussain, a nurse at Kadimiyah Hospital in Baghdad, turned up for work in a new suit with a pistol strapped around his waist and announced that he was now in charge. A doctor who ridiculed the idea of this 34-year-old appointing himself administrator of the 700-bed hospital was slapped across the face by his new boss, who ordered armed security guards to escort the medic from the building. The expulsion was a brutal warning to other staff who might question the right of the al-Mahdi Army, a Shia militia, to install one of their own to run the hospital. The same is happening in schools and colleges, the Civil Service and government ministries and leading businesses as Baghdad’s middle classes are sacked to make way for militia apparatchiks. For many professionals this assault on their livelihoods and expertise is the final straw, and they are leaving Baghdad in droves."

Rape, Feces and Urine-Dipped Cloth Sacks - "With mounting evidence that a shadowy group of former Israeli Defense Force and General Security Service (Shin Bet) Arabic-speaking interrogators were hired by the Pentagon under a classified "carve out" sub-contract to brutally interrogate Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, one only needs to examine the record of abuse of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in Israel to understand what Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld meant, when referring to new, yet to be released photos and videos, he said, "if these images are released to the public, obviously its going to make matters worse."" -- Don't forget, there are pictures we haven't seen yet. Atrocities carried out in the name of the American people.

U.S. hits Chinese defense spending - "The Bush administration said yesterday it is more concerned with China's cloaked spending on arms and troops than it is about a warning Wednesday from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the United States that "it is premature to speak of the end of the arms race."" -- Ah, they hypocrisy.

Poll: Most Americans Support NSA's Efforts - "A majority of Americans initially support a controversial National Security Agency program to collect information on telephone calls made in the United States in an effort to identify and investigate potential terrorist threats, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The new survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort. Another 35 percent said the program was unacceptable, which included 24 percent who strongly objected to it. A slightly larger majority--66 percent--said they would not be bothered if NSA collected records of personal calls they had made, the poll found. Underlying those views is the belief that the need to investigate terrorism outweighs privacy concerns. According to the poll, 65 percent of those interviewed said it was more important to investigate potential terrorist threats "even if it intrudes on privacy." Three in 10--31 percent--said it was more important for the federal government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats. Half--51 percent--approved of the way President Bush was handling privacy matters." -- Disgusting.

Poll: Bush Lied About Iraq, Has No Right to Attack Iran - "By far the most dramatic determinant of belief that Bush lied was the respondent's most watched television network for news. Viewers of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC, ranged between 89.1% and 63.2% believing Bush lied. Among Fox viewers, a whopping 2.3% believe Bush lied. Those who listen to a lot of talk radio were also less likely to believe Bush lied than those who listen to little or none. Zogby also asked "Do you agree or disagree that the president has the right to use military force against Iran without the support of Congress?"62.5% disagreed32.1% agreed."

What Sort of (Hated) Nation Have We Become? - "As the planet's natural resources of petroleum, precious minerals and metals, water, and food become more and more scarce and objects of international competition, one solution would be to peacefully, cooperatively and collaboratively work with people of all nations to obtain and attain the resources needed for survival by all with fairness and altruism. Unfortunately, that is not and has never been the approach of the United States of America. America's motto is U.S. (US) First. We come first. We take what we want. We get the most of the best and the rest of the world can settle for crumbs. We have the biggest military budget in the world, outspending the rest of the world combined, for a reason. We see it, we want it, and we get it."

The Welfare Kings - "At a time when tens of millions of workers are struggling to pay for gas for their car, electricity for their home, and medical care for their families, the Republicans have stepped forward with a plan to help. They want to give another $20 to $30 billion in tax cuts to the rich."

Reading, Writing and Race - "Inside the walls of Brookland-Cayce High School, you expect students to be treated equally. But a viewer tip led News19 online where a teacher's comments left us asking questions. "These sorts of things are going to upset people, but the truth can be very upsetting," said Brookland-Cayce High School teacher Winston McCuen. That truth, at least according to McCuen, is that black people are inferior to whites. "Intellectually, yes they are," said McCuen. "This has been confirmed over and over, and this is a generalization. Again, there are some blacks who are more intelligent than individual whites. But as a rule, that is true. I-Q tests prove it over, and over and over.""

Pentagon eyes ways to use military for border security - "Faced with growing pressure from Southern states, the Bush administration wants the military to come up with ideas to help solve security problems along the U.S. border with Mexico."

U.S. Senate leaders clear path for immigration bill - "Republican and Democratic Senate leaders agreed on Thursday on a plan to revive a bill that would give millions of illegal immigrants a chance to earn U.S. citizenship." -- Is this a ploy to shore up millions of future votes for the Repbulican party?

Powerful Immigration Billboards To Address What Government Will Not - "Organizers say eventually the billboards will include the names of their opponents in the senate; those who support giving legal status to illegal aliens."

Congress may slap restrictions on SSN use - "Democratic and Republican politicians on Thursday both promised to enact new federal laws by the end of the year that would restrict some commercial uses of Social Security numbers, which are often implicated in identity fraud cases."

Bill would inform women of fetal pain before abortion - "A doctor would be required to tell a woman planning an abortion that the procedure causes pain to fetuses, even though medical experts disagree over whether fetuses can actually feel pain, a House committee decided on Wednesday."

Why Religion Must End: Interview with Sam Harris - "A leading atheist says people must embrace rationalism, not faith--or they will never overcome their differences."

FDA OKs Pfizer Anti-Smoking Pill - "A tablet shown to help more than one in five smokers quit joined the limited number of effective stop-smoking drugs on Thursday, approved by federal regulators."




Quote of the Day
"So that's how liberty dies. To thunderous applause."
~ Padme Amidala, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

News -- May 11, 2006

Energy crisis? Venezuela gas is cheaper than water - "Taxi driver Jaime Tinoco works the streets of Caracas in a 1976 Chevy Nova that guzzles 19 gallons (72 liters) of gas a day. But he doesn't worry about fuel efficiency -- filling his tank costs just $2.30. While U.S. consumers struggle with soaring energy prices, Venezuela's gas is now the world's cheapest at 12 cents a gallon and Washington's regional foe, President Hugo Chavez, vows to maintain subsidies that keep fuel dirt-cheap."

Israel will hit Iran in the next few months: Israeli official - "Israel will strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the next “month or two or three,” an Israeli official has been quoted here as saying."

Israel rated world’s sixth-largest nuclear power - "History repeats itself: a Middle Eastern country launches its own nuclear program. The international community suspects it is a cover for building atomic weapons. The United States calls for the country’s nuclear sites to be inspected. Another government urges the country to scrap its nuclear plans. It is answered by defiant boasts that the nation's sovereignty will not be compromised. The country in question is not Iran in 2006, but Israel in 1969."

Putin Chastises U.S. on Democratic Ideals - "During an emotional moment in the nationally televised speech, Putin used the fairy-tale motif on the need to build a fortress-like house and to illustrate Russia's need to bolster its defenses. He also suggested that Washington puts its political interests above the democratic ideals it claims to cherish."

FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You - "Quietly, the war on terror, in which everything is permitted, has laid the ground work for the Bush administration to intrude into the political life of citizens. Over the last several months, it has been revealed that the FBI, the Pentagon and the National Security Agency have each set up apparently independent covert operations to monitor the constitutionally protected political activities of citizens opposed to the Bush administration’s war in Iraq."

NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls - "The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY. The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews."

New security glitch found in Diebold system - "Armed with a little basic knowledge of Diebold voting systems and a standard component available at any computer store, someone with a minute or two of access to a Diebold touch screen could load virtually any software into the machine and disable it, redistribute votes or alter its performance in myriad ways."

No `verify,' no trust - "Scratch your head over a report on the 2004 general election in Miami-Dade from the county's Election Reform Coalition (www.reformcoalition.org). Among a pile of puzzlements, it concludes that seven polling places had between 50 and 99 more voters than ballots and that four polling places had over 100 more voters than ballots. In addition, six polling places had between 52 and 100 more ballots than voters, and one polling place had 282 more ballots than voters."

Another Possible Bump to the Debt Ceiling - "A $2.7 trillion budget plan pending before the House would raise the federal debt ceiling to nearly $10 trillion, less than two months after Congress last raised the federal government's borrowing limit. The provision -- buried on page 121 of the 151-page budget blueprint -- serves as a backdrop to congressional action this week."

Minorities getting closer to the majority - "Bureau figures released Wednesday show the U.S. population grew by 2.8 million between July 1, 2004, and July 1, 2005. Hispanics accounted for 1.3 million of that increase, with 800,000 attributable to natural causes -- births minus deaths -- rather than immigration."

Congress targets social network sites - "Now MySpace and other social-networking sites like LiveJournal.com and Facebook are facing a new threat: a proposed federal law that would effectively require most schools and libraries to render those Web sites inaccessible to minors, an age group that includes some of the category's most ardent users."

Sen. Clinton Says Bush Has Charm, Charisma - "Clinton, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, said that despite their "many disagreements about many, many issues," she has always had a good personal relationship with the president."

Bush: Brother Jeb would be ‘great president’ - "President Bush suggested Wednesday that he’d like to see his family’s White House legacy continue, perhaps with his younger brother Jeb as the chief executive."

New boss, same as the old boss - "But things won't change if the Democrats take over. We will just replace one cadre of crooks, scoundrels, con-artists and thieves with another. Democrats and Republicans are an equal match when it comes to moral lapses, ethical challenges and lust for power."

Banned In Boston - "Catholic Charities of Boston made the announcement on March 10: It was getting out of the adoption business. "We have encountered a dilemma we cannot resolve. … The issue is adoption to same-sex couples.""

Contraception: The New Abortion - "Gee, imagine that. Reduced use of contraceptives leads to more abortions. Sounds like common sense, doesn't it? So why am I writing about it? Because some people — some relatively influential people — disagree. Some Christian conservatives are starting to jump on the same bandwagon that Catholic groups have occupied for decades: Life begins at fertilization and anything that interferes with that is abortion. And they're willing to use laws and government regulations to force everybody to conform to their beliefs."

Abstinence Backfires - "One of the Christian Right's most cherished ideological victories since the 1990s has been the dominance of federally funded "abstinence only until marriage" programs now taught to millions of teenagers across the country. New evidence, however, suggests that these same programs have contributed to soaring rates of unplanned pregnancies, out-of-wedlock births and, yes, abortions among women who are young or poor. ... Ironically, teenage contraceptive use had nearly doubled during the Reagan era, when comprehensive sex education-including contraception instruction-still remained the norm. In contrast, U.S. law now requires federally funded sexuality education to inform teenagers that ''sexual activity outside the context of [monogamous and heterosexual] marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.''"

Piracy worse than child porn - "So in other words if you copy a Disney CD and sell it you will be in the same league as a paedophile who is distributing pictures of sexual attacks on children."

Rising number of schools face serious penalties - "Falling short of requirements under President Bush's education law, about 1,750 U.S. schools have been ordered into radical restructuring, subject to mass firings, closure, state takeover or other moves aimed at wiping their slates clean."

Men Pay the Ultimate Price to Attract Women - "While it is tough to be a woman, being a man can be downright deadly. Women live longer than men. And now scientists suggest a simple Darwinian reason: Competing for a mate can wear a guy out or get him killed."

Bill would make sale of sex toys illegal in South Carolina - "But banning the sale of sex toys is actually quite common in some Southern states."

DNA Tests Confirm Bear Was a Hybrid - "But Roger Kuptana, an Inuvialuit guide from Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, was the first to suspect it had actually happened when he proposed that a strange-looking bear shot last month by an American sports hunter might be half polar bear, half grizzly. Territorial officials seized the creature after noticing its white fur was scattered with brown patches and that it had the long claws and humped back of a grizzly. Now a DNA test has confirmed that it is indeed a hybrid - possibly the first documented in the wild."




Quote of the Day
"Liberty has never come from government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of government power, not the increase of it."
~ Woodrow Wilson

News -- May 10, 2006

Mossad murdered 530 Iraqi scientists - "Numerous reports for many months have stated that with collaboration from American occupation forces, Israel’s espionage apparatus, Mossad, slaughtered at least 530 Iraqi scientists and academic professors."

Ray McGovern: My Meeting With Rumsfeld - "As soon as the event was over, CNN asked me for my sources, which I was happy to share. The CNN folks seemed a bit surprised that they all checked out. To their credit, they overcame the more customary “McGovern said this, but Rumsfeld said that”—and the dismissive “well, we’ll have to leave it there”—kind of treatment. In Rumsfeldian parlance, what I had said turned out to be “known knowns,” even though he provided an altered version on Thursday of his “we know where they are.” Better still, in its coverage, CNN quoted what Rumsfeld had said in 2003. That evening a friend emailed me about a call she got from a close associate in “upper management at CNN” to ask about me. She quoted the CNN manager: “We checked and double-checked everything this guy had to say and he was 100 percent accurate.” He then asked if those protesting the war “were getting organized or something.” She responded, “Indeed we are and have been for some time, and it’s about time the mainstream media caught up.”" -- I find the media's ignorance repulsive.

For authors, a surprise: U.S. upbeat on diversity, but not on atheists - "Religion, however, is an imperfect proxy for morality. Not only are religious people capable of immoral acts, nonbelievers can be highly moral people. For many atheists, morality is based on law, contracts and understandings of human decency and mutual dependence rather than religious codes or beliefs. Yet most Americans can't imagine this, in part because most Americans don't actually know any self-avowed atheists."

Be Fruitful and Multiply - "How odd that they would think God gave them such marvelous reproductive capacities, commissioned their use, repeatedly celebrated children in Scripture, and then said it was no big deal if they made nothing of it. How can this be? Several reasons, I suppose. I do believe that the "zero population growth" hysterics have taken their toll. Careerism and materialism get much of the credit, too. Children take time and money. Biblical illiteracy is also a factor. But I think that overall, it's a matter of shunning things which might cramp our style. Well, God can be a major style-cramper when that style is sub-Christian. Am I saying we should dismiss all contraception? No. I don't see a moral obligation to use every God-given capacity to the max. I have the capacity to sing, but I don't sing myself hoarse every day. But if I never sang to the glory of God, I should be ashamed of myself. Certainly, there are those who are called to singleness. Of course, there are reasons for couples to delay or interrupt child-bearing. But the burden of justification before God always rests upon the willfully childless."

A Child's Hell in the Lord's Resistance Army - "She is here to put a face on the war. Tell about the atrocities, cruel and brutal; recount the scenes of a war in northern Uganda, where rebels led by a madman steal sleeping children from their beds, because children are easier to brainwash. Tell of rebels who smear the children with oil, promising that the oil will protect them. That the bullets will bounce off the oil. And the children believe them. Then they force the children to kill or be killed."

The housing bubble has popped - "Reports of falling sales and investors stuck with properties they can't sell are just the beginning. Property owners should worry; so should their lenders."

50-year mortgage hits the market - "As home prices and interest rates keep rising, lenders have figured out a way to keep the dream alive for millions of people who want to own their own home. It's called the 50-year mortgage." -- It's not owning a home. It's being a slave to the note holder and making them tons of money.

U.S. has second worst newborn death rate in modern world, report says - "American babies are three times more likely to die in their first month as children born in Japan, and newborn mortality is 2.5 times higher in the United States than in Finland, Iceland or Norway, Save the Children researchers found."

Vaccine makers helped write Frist-backed shield law - "Vaccine industry officials helped shape legislation behind the scenes that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist secretly amended into a bill to shield them from lawsuits, according to e-mails obtained by a public advocacy group." -- Setting the people up to be defenseless guinea pigs?

CDC wants HIV tests for everyone - "Testing for the AIDS virus could become part of routine physical exams for adults and teens if doctors follow new U.S. guidelines expected to be issued by this summer. Federal health officials say they would like HIV testing to be as common as a cholesterol check."

Anti-abortion crowd targets birth control - "It's no secret to those who follow Washington politics that birth control has been "next on the list" of anti-abortion, religious conservatives. Following the enthronement of President Bush's Victorian coterie in 2001, their top priority -- an imposition of "everything but" a ban on abortion -- has been accomplished in five short years. Now there's undeniable proof that abortion was not the home run they longed for, but more tantamount to first base in a long-range plan to ban birth control, too."

Oral and anal sex increasing among teens - "The finding is not all that surprising, Dr. Emily Erbelding from Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore told Reuters Health."

In condom fight, it's easy to see who's right - "Today, condoms have become the coin of the political realm, while debates break out in the politest of places -- from the Vatican to the Senate to the pulpit to the pew."

Half of new teachers quit within 5 years: study - "According to a new study from teachers' union the National Education Association, half of new U.S. teachers are likely to quit within the first five years because of poor working conditions and low salaries."




Quote of the Day
"As if there's a God who would understand."
~ Matthew Sweet, (Holy War)

News (Page 2) -- May 8, 2006

The USDA on Iraq: Everything's Coming Up Rosy - "Career appointees at the Department of Agriculture were stunned last week to receive e-mailed instructions that include Bush administration "talking points" -- saying things such as "President Bush has a clear strategy for victory in Iraq" -- in every speech they give for the department. "The President has requested that all members of his cabinet and sub-cabinet incorporate message points on the Global War on Terror into speeches, including specific examples of what each agency is doing to aid the reconstruction of Iraq," the May 2 e-mail from USDA speechwriter Heather Vaughn began." -- Propaganda at its finest.

'Iran can also be wiped off the map' - "Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday that "the president of Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map."" -- This alpha male behavior is getting tiring.

US clamped down on prisoner abuse, officials tell UN - "US officials told the UN's anti-torture body that the United States had held 103 courts martial for mistreatment of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan under a broad clampdown against ill treatment."

Potential Evidence Surfaces of Bush's Illegal Spying - "An Oregon attorney may have proof of Bush's domestic spying operation -- which means the illegal program's days may be numbered."

Life in the Bush Economy: Fat, Drunk and Broke - "American consumers are heavily indebted. The growth of consumer debt is what has been fueling the economy. Social Security and Medicare are in financial trouble, as are many company pension plans. Decide for yourself--is this the economic picture of a superpower that can dictate to the world, or is it the picture of a second-rate country dependent on foreigners to finance its consumption and the operation of its government?"

THE UNITED STATES IS ILL-PREPARED TO WAGE A NEW COLD WAR - "It was just over five years ago when President George W. Bush said he looked into the "soul" of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and pronounced that that their meeting was "the beginning of a very constructive relationship." Now, amid sharp geopolitical maneuvering in the Caucasus and Central Asia, the United States and Russia seem to be girding for Cold War II. Unlike the epic conflict during the last half of the 20th century, however, Washington is poorly positioned to defeat Russia in a new superpower standoff."

North Korea trying to weaponize bird flu - "Bio-warfare experts call it potentially 'greatest threat al-Qaida could unleash'."

Republicans Set Aside Middle-Income Tax Cuts to Focus on Rich - " Six months before elections that may return a Democratic majority in at least one house of Congress, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois are focusing on extending the 15 percent rate on investments and repealing the estate tax. They won't push extensions of lower rates for all taxpayers and expanded breaks for married couples and families with children, which expire after 2010." -- Trying to divide the masses even more.

Rats trained for front-line role in landmine search - "The pilot programme began with eight rats, although two have died during training. The six survivors live in a dedicated laboratory at the police academy and for two hours every day are put in a maze and set tracking down explosives. "The animals are conditioned to receive a prize, normally a sugar lump, when they track down any explosive material," said Luisa Fernanda Méndez, a veterinarian."

Children as young as three may already be racists - "Toddlers at nursery school must be encouraged to play with children of different ethnic backgrounds to help them "unlearn any racist attitudes and behaviour they may have already learnt", said Herman Ouseley, the former chairman of he Commission for Racial Equality."

Teens often break virginity pledges, study finds - "Virginity pledges, in which young people vow to abstain from sex until marriage, have little staying power among those who take them, a Harvard study found. In fact, more than half the adolescents who make such signed, public promises give up on their pledges within a year, according to the study released this week." -- This is because humans are supposed to have sex.

Chip to end lost luggage - "Technology used to monitor cars in cities is being adapted to track airline luggage."

Giant ozone hole may be forming over Tibet, experts warn - "While it does not yet qualify as a regular ozone hole, like the ones over the two poles, the area has seen a dramatic drop in ozone density in recent years, the Xinhua news agency said, citing China's Scientific Report journal. The decrease in ozone over the plateau was caused by atmospheric air movements rather than the global greenhouse effect, Xinhua quoted the journal as saying."

Lesbians' brains respond like straight men - "Lesbians' brains react differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women. An earlier study of gay men also showed their brain response was different from straight men -- an even stronger difference than has now been found in lesbians. ... In both cases the findings add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior."

Wal-Mart to own all smiley faces? - "In a battle that's sure to crack a smile on your face, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is looking to control the rights to the famous yellow smiley face, at least when it comes to the marketplace."

News -- May 8, 2006

Vice Squad - "They terrorize other government officials, and they’re so secretive that their names aren’t even revealed to a harmless federal employee directory. And they’ve helped ruin the country. Meet Dick Cheney’s staff."

Atheists for Peace - "The Atheist Manifesto that Sam Harris has posted at Truth Dig points out that "Norway, Iceland, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom are among the least religious societies on Earth….The United States is unique among wealthy democracies in its level of religious literalism and opposition to evolutionary theory; it is also uniquely beleaguered by high rates of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy, STD infection and infant mortality. The same comparison holds true within the United States itself: Southern and Midwestern states, characterized by the highest levels of religious superstition and hostility to evolutionary theory, are especially plagued by the above indicators of societal dysfunction, while the comparatively secular states of the Northeast conform to European norms….Countries with high levels of atheism also are the most charitable in terms of giving foreign aid to the developing world….Consider the ratio in salaries between top-tier CEOs and their average employee: in Britain it is 24 to 1; France 15 to 1; Sweden 13 to 1; in the United States, where 83% of the population believes that Jesus literally rose from the dead, it is 475 to 1."While a number of those atheistic countries, particularly the United Kingdom, joined the U.S. in a dishonest, illegal, and aggressive war that has murdered hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, their populations opposed that war from the start, while it took years for a majority in the U.S. to do so. The correlation between atheism and progressive politics doesn't prove causation, but the fact that atheism can be chosen should cause us to look into the matter. ... What if becoming an atheist could help make you a progressive too? Would it then be advantageous to encourage atheism? ... Then there is the question of the damage done to the world by dividing its population up into various religions, into groups of people who place significance on beliefs that others do not share and cannot be brought to share by any coherent arguments. ... Those who claim to believe in all religions probably place themselves in the "other" category. Of course, at some point it has to become hard to believe in all religions, since they conflict with each other even more than each individual one conflicts with itself. While I have no data to prove it, I suspect that "religions are all the same" is often a temporary stopping point along a path from a particular religion to atheism. The same is certainly true of the position that holds that "my religion is best but all the other ones are equally good and I should learn more about them." Because the more you learn about them, the more you see that you cannot respect them all. You can respect the people who believe them, but not the beliefs. And the more you look at other religions, the more you see your own from the viewpoint of others – that is, as a myth created by your culture, and a fairly embarrassing one at that, full of nonsense that requires an intensive course of training to get children to accept it."

Praying for cures: Healing rooms prescribe faith for what ails people - "The five-year-old ministry belongs to the International Association of Healing Rooms, a Seattle-based group with more than 10,000 volunteers and 417 branches worldwide. The movement, founded by the evangelist Cal Pierce in 1999, seeks to revive a style of spiritual healing that flourished in the early 1900s."

The President's New Helicopter - "After decades of upgrades to a fleet of notoriously cramped Sikorsky VH-3 Sea Kings, the White House has tasked Lockheed Martin with a dramatic, $6.1-billion makeover of Marine One, the presidential helicopter, starting this summer." -- That's with a "B".

The RFID Hacking Underground - "They can steal your smartcard, lift your passport, jack your car, even clone the chip in your arm. And you won't feel a thing."

Electronic smog - "The curse of the mobile phone age: around your home there are countless gadgets whose electrical fields, scientists now warn, are linked to depression, miscarriage and cancer."

Ice-capped roof of world turns to desert - "The Chinese Academy of Sciences - the country's top scientific body - has announced that the glaciers of the Tibetan plateau are vanishing so fast that they will be reduced by 50 per cent every decade. Each year enough water permanently melts from them to fill the entire Yellow River."

Colleges see cocktail hour as cure for boozing - "The remedy for rampant drinking at American colleges? It could be a crash course in the art of sensible social drinking, reminiscent of the old-fashioned, formal cocktail hour -- often a showcase for decorum."

No-mow Grass May Be Coming To Your Yard Soon - "Manipulation of plant stature has been a longstanding goal in horticulture, agronomy, and forestry. The ability to precisely control plant size would have broad implications for everything from urban forestry to crop and garden plant development. Beyond perpetually short grass, trees could be made more compact for better growth in crowded cities, and berry bushes could be made taller for ease of harvesting."




Quote of the Day
"You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religion. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, quite intelligent enough."
~ Aldous Huxley

News -- May 7, 2006

The Last Gasp of the Dollar; Iran bourse opens next week - ""Everybody knows the real reason for American belligerence is not the Iranian nuclear program, but the decision to launch an oil bourse where oil will be traded in euros instead of US dollars….The oil market will break the dominance of the dollar and lead to a decline of global American hegemony." Igor Panarin, Russian political scientist."

Opening the debate on Israel - "Routinely, the American news media have ignored or pilloried any strong criticism of Washington's massive support for Israel. But the paper and an article based on it by respected academics John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt, academic dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, first published March 23 in the London Review of Books, are catalysts for some healthy public discussion of key issues."

The Drug of War - "Before I was the soldier, the killer, the destroyer of worlds; I was innocent, and naïve, and unknowing of the horrors that my fellow humans were capable of. I was proud of the soldier and praised him for every enemy he killed, and I lavished in the thought that I too would do the same. I told myself that I would be there if it weren’t for the fact that I was too young, or still in school, or desperately in love with a girl. But this picture of the past is only just that, a picture. As a lethal sword was once nothing more then metal in the earth, I was once but a simple boy before I became a soldier. Just as that sword will never return to the earth, I will never again be a simple boy. I can only hope that by voicing how my experiences have changed my life, I can minimize the number of people that have to go through the same, and those that must, do so for a good reason."

Rumsfeld developing revisionist habits - "Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tried to rewrite history last week when he denied making prewar claims that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction." -- I can not fathom how anyone can support the Bush administration. I am saddened by the ignorance and blind faith of some of my fellow human beings.

Congo's tragedy: the war the world forgot - "In a country the size of Western Europe, a war rages that has lasted eight years and cost four million lives. Rival militias inflict appalling suffering on the civilian population, and what passes for political leadership is powerless to stop it. This is Congo, and the reason for the conflict - control of minerals essential to the electronic gadgetry on which the developed world depends - is what makes our blindness to the horror doubly shaming."

Mainstream Media, Why the Blackout on Stephen Colbert? - "Last week at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner, comedian Stephen Colbert delivered a scathing satirical commentary on the Bush Administration -- right in front of President Bush himself. But unless you get your news from online sources such as the blogs, you probably didn't even hear about it."

Creationism dismissed as 'a kind of paganism' by Vatican's astronomer - "BELIEVING that God created the universe in six days is a form of superstitious paganism, the Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno claimed yesterday. Brother Consolmagno, who works in a Vatican observatory in Arizona and as curator of the Vatican meteorite collection in Italy, said a "destructive myth" had developed in modern society that religion and science were competing ideologies."

Cardinal urges legal action against Da Vinci Code - "In the latest Vatican broadside against "The Da Vinci Code", a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded."

In Today's Culture, Do You See Evidence of a War on Christianity? - "No. A cultural "war on Christianity" is a social construct dreamed up by right-wing "Christians" who need to operate and motivate out of fear in the absence of sound biblical interpretation and authentic community ethos."

Greek gods prepare for comeback - "It has taken almost 2,000 years, but those who worship the 12 gods of ancient Greece have finally triumphed. An Athens court has ordered that the adulation of Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Athena and co is to be unbanned, paving the way for a comeback of pagans on Mount Olympus. The followers, who say they "defend the genuine traditions, religion and ethos" of the ancients by adhering to a pre-Christian polytheistic culture, are poised to take their battle to the temples of Greece."

Oil giants' charm offensive as US politicians threaten action - "The oil industry is to channel millions of dollars to US Congressional election campaigns this year as part of a desperate plan to squash calls for a windfall tax on their record profits."

Rising Expenses Have Consumers Feeling Pinched - "Higher interest rates, energy prices and other expenses are now causing some consumers to rethink their spending habits. So far, many families have been able to absorb the increases without having to tighten their belts much. But others have started to adjust to the new reality."

ANGER AS US DROPS CUP FLAG - "THE bus carrying the United States football team in the World Cup will not carry the Stars and Stripes flag because of fears of an al-Qaeda attack." -- Or is the worry more than just al-Qaeda?

For television news, the kids aren't all right - "Seldom mentioned, however, is the fact that cable news is equally geriatric. Indeed, Fox News Channel and CNN are two of only three leading basic networks (the other being the Hallmark Channel) whose median viewer age is over 60. Headline News rings in next at 59.9, and MSNBC is still on the rickety side at 57."

Beware Europe's unknown viral nasties - "A VERITABLE zoo of nasty new viruses is circulating in Europe and could be killing people without even being suspected. In a study commissioned by the British government on the risk of insect-borne and other arthropod-borne viruses emerging in the UK, Ernie Gould of the University of Oxford warns that these diseases may be going unrecognised simply because no one is looking for them."

Dolphins ‘know each other’s names’ - "The evidence suggests dolphins share the human ability to recognise themselves and other members of the same species as individuals with separate identities. The research, on wild bottlenose dolphins, will lead to a reassessment of their intelligence and social complexity, raising moral questions over how they should be treated."

Wall-to-Wall Wal-Mart? - "Do you want to know which video clip will soon be scaring the daylights out of policymakers throughout the world? In a scenario that looks uncannily like the spread of a global pandemic, the economist Thomas Holmes has prepared a dynamic map simulation showing the spread of Wal-Mart stores throughout the United States. Starting at the epicenter in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Sam Walton opened his first store in 1962, giant boxy Wal-Mart stores have now multiplied to the point where the average American lives less than seven kilometers from an outlet."




Quote of the Day
"All I know is that it irritates the gods of government."
~ Joseph Farah

News -- May 6, 2006

Russia, China dig in against West on Iran - "Russia and China on Friday opposed key provisions in a U.N. draft resolution that orders Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions, making an agreement unlikely before ministers come to New York next week."

White House backs Cheney on Russia - "The White House on Friday backed Vice President Dick Cheney's tough speech on Russia and said Russian President Vladimir Putin should move on democratic reforms before hosting a major international summit in July."

Hawks Looking for New and Bigger Enemies? - "As if rallying fading public support for keeping more than 100,000 U.S. troops in a disintegrating Iraq and preparing the ground for a possible military attack on Iran were not enough, some influential hawks are now promoting a more confrontational stance against Russia and China, as well." -- I have seen the enemy, and it is us.

Bush says fight against terror is 'World War III' - "US President George W. Bush said the September 11 revolt of passengers against their hijackers on board Flight 93 had struck the first blow of "World War III."" -- Humanity will never change.

CIA boss Goss is cooked - "CIA Director Porter Goss abruptly resigned yesterday amid allegations that he and a top aide may have attended Watergate poker parties where bribes and prostitutes were provided to a corrupt congressman."

Senate: No permanent bases in Iraq - "The Senate amendment to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill to bankroll the war, introduced by U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., puts the chamber on record against permanent U.S. military bases or control of oil in Iraq. The House unanimously approved a similar amendment by Lee, D-Oakland, on a March 16 voice vote."

Government 'secrets' expanding - "Some Bush administration officials and members of Congress are casting a longing eye at the British law. If only the United States had a similar law, their reasoning goes, the reporters who revealed CIA-run prisons in Eastern Europe and the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping of terrorism suspects would be prosecuted instead of receiving Pulitzer Prizes. The U.S. Constitution remains a barrier to those who would restrict the flow of information to the media - and thus to the public. But administration policies are chipping away at its protections. The nation is in danger of having an Official Secrets Act not through passage of a law - although that is a possibility - but through incremental steps. The evidence is mounting:"

Spies Among Us - "Despite a troubled history, police across the nation are keeping tabs on ordinary Americans."

Living on borrowed dimes - "A fax came through to my office the other week, touting a book on just that subject. The publishers blurb promised; 'A chilling picture of a debt bloated America that seems headed down the same self destructive path of the Roman Empire.' Now, if that does not get your attention, nothing will. Here are some figures. Whatever your politics, they should scare you. The US federal debt stands at $8.2 trillion. Yes: trillion with a T. American household debt - meaning ordinary Americans' mortgages and such debts - dwarfs even that. It stands at $11 trillion."

Bush losing support of right - "Dissatisfaction with both Congress and President Bush is widespread and deep among conservatives, according to new polls that show Mr. Bush scoring startling low ratings on immigration in particular."

South Dakota's Abortion Revolt - "The state's restrictive abortion ban has galvanized a major grassroots campaign by citizens determined to overturn the law come election day."

I Got Your War On Christianity Right Here - "For all the whining about the "war on Christians" we hear from the fundie set, can you even imagine this show airing on American television? The Root of All Evil? is a two-part series airing in the U.K. on Channel 4 in which Richard Dawkins, the internationally known biologist and evolutionary theorist (his 1976 book The Selfish Gene was a worldwide best seller) delivers a thoroughly reasoned polemic against religion. Not a comparative study — a full-out attack on faith itself. ... When a head case like Fred Phelps uses his church as a platform to attack gays and pickets the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq (like Robertson and Falwell, Phelps believes every bad thing that happens to Americans shows God's wrath over our tolerance of homosexuality), we often hear the defense that they do not represent "true" Christianity. But how do we determine what is meant by "true" Christianity unless we are ready to examine it with a cold, skeptical eye? And will the answer to that question mean anything unless it is given by people who are ready to infuriate a great many believers? Interesting questions. Unfortunately, I don't expect to see any of them even dealt with, much less answered, on American television."

GOP Bible Bill Upsets Liberals, But Ga. Dems See Political Gains - "In a stark reversal of political fortune, Democratic legislators attempting to seize the pro-religion spotlight in Georgia last month have found themselves unexpectedly converted into backers of a Republican bill to teach the Bible in public schools."

The Rapture is Crapture (Part 1) - "You're not the elect, the just or even, we suspect, the saved, who because of your incomparable virtue will be whisked out of harms way by the aforementioned Lord when he comes to wreak genocidal revenge on billions of us unelect, unjust and unsaved. You're the latest in a millennia-long line of money-grubbing power-hungry hypocrites and hucksters who offer the lonely, threatened, frustrated, and as always, those with a limited supply of marbles, a lovely lie. Not only are they saved but those they hate, fear, envy and blame are damned! Not only will they be snatched up to heaven way ahead of schedule, but - A Special Final Days offer! - they DON'T HAVE TO DIE! That's the beauty part of the Rapture, a new American twist on an old, old Euro-scam: no massive heart attack, no terminal cancer, no being crushed by a truck on I-95. You're snatched up to heaven just the way you are."

The Rapture Crapture (Part 2): Make War for Christ's Sake! - "1-2-3-4 -- what are we waiting for? The Rapture Index which uses dozens of categories of disaster to predict the exact date of the Rapture reaches its self-imposed ceiling of 225! All over God's Chosen Nation, the elect (so-called because they win elections), feel lighter in their loafers in anticipation of zipping up to heaven. Rumors fly of multiple fatalities attributed to drivers and pilots being snatched away by the Lord from their 18-wheelers and crop-dusters even as they toil. (Curiously they're all happening south of the Mason-Dixon line). And what would clinch it? What would force the mighty Lamb to return? Simple. Start a glorious blood-and-fireballs WAR! Screams-of-the-damned, billions-dead-as-the-nukes-fly WAR! Christ LOVES war! Didn't He promise way back when to give us the WAR of ALL WARS (Matt. 24.5-31)?"

Churches reap the benefits of belief: $500 million in tax exemptions - "Tax exemptions to Australian churches are costing federal, state and local governments more than $500 million a year, new figures show."

To secure religious freedom, we need to stop shouting and start talking - "A just-released report on "The Future of Religious Freedom in America" exposes one of the nation's best-kept secrets: Civil discourse across deep religious and political differences is alive and well in the United States."

FFRF Takes to the Airwaves! - "The feisty Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison, Wis.-based national association of atheists and agnostics, is launching a new radio show, Freethought Radio, this week. Freethought Radio is believed to be the only weekly radio broadcast devoted to "the secular point of view" in North America."

World Cup: United States team bus to show no flag - "The official team bus to be used by the United States during the World Cup will not bear a flag for security reasons. The 32 official buses were presented Thursday in Frankfurt and the other 31 buses have large national flags of the their teams painted on rear sides." -- Oh yes, the U.S. has a terrific standing in the world. Pathetic.

Net censorship spreads worldwide - "Repressive regimes are taking full advantage of the net's ability to censor and stifle reform and debate, reveals a report."

Principal bars Coral Springs student from singing anti-Bush song at talent show - "A 10-year-old Coral Springs girl won't be allowed to sing a controversial President Bush-bashing ballad at her school talent show after her principal deemed it inappropriate and too political."

Genetics might be why some people get bird flu - "“There have been family clusters. So there has to be certainly a genetic aspect to it,” Robert Webster of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital told a bird flu conference organized by the Lancet medical journal in Singapore."

China Makes Artificial Rain for Beijing - "The reaction that occurred brought as much as four-tenths of an inch of rain, the heaviest rainfall this year, helping to "alleviate drought, add soil moisture and remove dust from the air for better air quality," Xinhua said."

One Big Bang, or were there many? - "The universe is at least 986 billion years older than physicists thought and is probably much older still, according to a radical new theory. The revolutionary study suggests that time did not begin with the big bang 14 billion years ago. This mammoth explosion which created all the matter we see around us, was just the most recent of many."

Rock Fin Grows in Mount St. Helens' Crater - "The fin-shaped mass is about 300 feet tall and growing 4 feet to 5 feet a day, said Dan Dzurisin, a geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey."

Bible college student confesses to torching adult bookstore - "Police in Knoxville say a student at a small Tennessee Bible college has told them he set fire to an adult bookstore to serve God, but now realizes it was a sin." -- Dude, you need to get laid or at least masturbate.

Teacher Out Of Job After X-Rated Video Surfaces - "A teacher in western Kentucky has been suspended and will not have her contract renewed after administrators found out she appeared in an adult movie more than a decade ago."




Quote of the Day
"No wild beasts are so hostile to mankind as are most of the Christians in their savagery toward one another."
~ Ammianus Marcellinus

News -- May 5, 2005

Bush: US must ensure Israel's security - "US President George W. Bush said Thursday at the American Jewish Committee conference in Washington that the United States had a strong and inalienable obligation to ensure the security of Israel, referring to the threats Iran had made against the Jewish state. ... "As you know, I'm a strong believer of democracy and free elections, but that does not mean that we have to support elected officials who are not committed to peace," Bush said."

Cheney speech spurs new Cold War: Russian press - "A speech by Vice President Dick Cheney strongly critical of the Kremlin marks the start of a new Cold War that could drive Moscow away from its new-found Western allies, the Russian press said on Friday." -- Way to go, Dick. Of course, I believe that was your plan all along.

Beating About The Bush? Not With Hersh - "His own lecture was frightening. Bush has a messianic vision – and intends to go down in history (probably he has chosen the right direction) as the man who will have “saved” Iran. “So we’re in a real American crisis ... we’ve had a collapse of congress ... we have had a collapse of the military ... the good news is that when we wake up tomorrow morning, there will be one less day (of Bush). But that is the only good news.”"

Bolton Refuses To Answer Kucinich’s Questions About US Troops In Iran - "“I find it hard to believe that the United States Ambassador to the United Nations does not know about ongoing military activity in one of the world’s most volatile regions, and in a country at the heart of current debate before the UN,” stated Kucinich after the hearing. “Congress has a Constitutional role to play in providing checks and balances of this Administration. Ambassador’s Bolton testimony today, and his refusal to answer even the most basic questions about Iran, is just another example of this Administration’s contempt of Congress.” “This Administration has set our nation on the path to war against Iran,” continued Kucinich. “It has done so without consulting the Congress, and without proper Congressional oversight. Today’s hearing could have been an important moment to educate the public and the Congress about this Administration’s policy towards Iran, and the role US military is already playing in implementing that policy. Unfortunately, Ambassador Bolton’s stonewalling prevent this from happening.” “This Administration has set our nation on a very dangerous path with Iran. Congress must intervene before this Administration begins a wider, and far more dangerous war in the Middle East,” concluded Kucinich."

The Godfather USA - "From early childhood, US citizens are raised on a steady diet of pro-US government propaganda that is fed to them at school and at home through the media of television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, and popular music. The propaganda presents the US government as an ethically superior exemplar of justice for the entire world, as an exceptionally generous contributor to global economic development, and as a benevolent arbiter of world affairs. Furthermore, a great deal of crucial information about US political history, particularly regarding events of the past half-century, is not taught in US schools and is never allowed to appear in the Mainstream Media outlets."

Dole Warns of Disaster - "The head of the Senate Republican committee paints a dire picture of Democratic congressional control, warning that the opposition party would "put the war on terrorism on the back-burner" and maybe even impeach President Bush."

Rumsfeld Called Out On Lies About WMD - "Speaking in Atlanta today, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was sharply questioned about his pre-war claims about WMD in Iraq. An audience member confronted Rumsfeld with his 2003 claim about WMD, “We know where they are.” Rumsfeld falsely claimed he never said it. The audience member then read Rumsfeld’s quote back to him, leaving the defense secretary speechless." -- Check out the video.

Under fire: US's misguided defense budget - "At some $440 billion for 2007, the Pentagon's defense budget would exceed the combined military budgets of the world's 25 next most-powerful nations, according to recent estimates. In fact, the Pentagon's budget substantially understates the amount Washington spends on the military. Nuclear weapons activities, on which the George W Bush administration hopes to spend nearly $22 billion next year, for example, are allocated to the Energy Department. In addition, the regular Pentagon budget does not include the costs of US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which currently are running at nearly $10 billion a month. "When these costs are added in, military spending for the coming year will exceed $600 billion - a figure that would exceed both the heights of the [president Ronald] Reagan military buildup [in the early 1980s] and the Vietnam War, in inflation-adjusted terms," said Miriam Pemberton, the report's co-author based at the Institute for Policy Studies."

Possible Darfur deal brings new hope - "Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region appears to be near a peace deal to end three years of violence that has exacerbated what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, officials said Friday."

Bush tells immigrants to learn English - "President Bush yesterday recognized the Mexican celebration of Cinco de Mayo a day early with a call for immigrants to learn English, even as his spokesman denied that the president sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Spanish during the 2000 campaign, saying his Spanish wasn't good enough." -- The accompanying picture made me squeamish.

U.S. bird flu study predicts millions of deaths, billions in losses - "These scenarios, which at least one public health expert said aren't even the worst case, are part of a detailed, 234-page report released Wednesday by the Bush administration."

Christians Plan Boycott of 'Da Vinci Code' - "Christian activists are planning a boycott of the soon-to-be-released Da Vinci Code movie, which one influential pro-family group is calling “blasphemous.”

'Everywhere I turned, I ran into sexual abuse' - "The real conspiracy in the Catholic church has nothing to do with the Da Vinci Code, says Patrick Wall - it's the cover-up of paedophile priests."

Korea, China, Japan to Kickstart Single Asian Currency - "Korea, China and Japan have agreed to start joint research at government level on introducing an Asian single currency comparable to the euro."

Welcome to the dead zone - "The great housing bubble has finally started to deflate, and the fall will be harder in some markets than others."

Florida votes to require high school majors - "The Florida Legislature gave final approval to a bill Thursday that requires high school students to declare a major, similar to college students. ... The bill also requires that high school students take a fourth year of math and that middle school students receive career planning instruction."

Trust in web news grows - "NATIONAL television is the most trusted news source, ahead of newspapers and public radio, but the internet is gaining ground, especially among the young, according to a major worldwide survey of trust in the media."

Korean Scientists Develop Female Android - "Standing 1.6 meters tall and weighing about 50 kilograms, she can understand others, speak, blink with her eyes and makes several facial expressions."

Controversial dig sparks pyramid mania in Bosnia - "Visoko is booming, boosted by a controversial dig that aims to prove that the nearby Visocica hill is a pyramid built 12,000 years ago by the ancestors of the Illyrians, said to be the first inhabitants of the Balkans."

Research Shows Anticipating Pain Hurts - "Anyone who's ever taken a preschooler to the doctor knows they often cry more before the shot than afterward. Now researchers using brain scans to unravel the biology of dread have an explanation: For some people, anticipating pain is truly as bad as experiencing it."

It's hard out there for a virgin... - "A brothel has become the first in Berlin to offer special deals for virgins with prostitutes trained in the delicate art of catering for customers who have never had sex, a German newspaper reported Friday."




Quote of the Day
"We must be mindful that where attitudes go, action is seldom far behind."
~ Paul McMasters