October 24, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

"...freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation." - Thomas Jefferson

WAR

Moves toward War with Iran --- March issue of Foreign Policy says conversations with senior officials in the Pentagon and the White House has convinced all that the decision for war has already been made.
http://tinyurl.com/t3cc8

Build-up in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf --- directed against Syria and Lebanon,related to the massive deployment of US naval forces in the Persian Gulf, oppositie Iran.
http://tinyurl.com/yysy2v

Republican Senator Graham Says Iraq is Near Chaos. Bush Smiles Blissfully on in a State of Arrested Development Ignorance and Criminal Malfeasance.
http://tinyurl.com/ykyy27

Alleged corrupt arms deals cost Iraq US$800M: Iraq's former finance minister alleged in a U.S. television report aired Sunday that up to US$800 million meant to equip the Iraqi army had been stolen from the government by former officials through fraudulent arms deals.
http://tinyurl.com/vl8lf

We sentenced Japanese for this --- "The United States does not torture." Interestingly, we weren't nearly as blithe about waterboarding when it happened to our own guys during World War II.Then, we considered it a war crime and a form of torture
http://tinyurl.com/yd8uln

America may penalize Iraq if it fails to stop the violence ---President George W Bush met his top generals to discuss the deteriorating situation in Iraq as it was reported that America is considering punishing Baghdad if it fails to meet deadlines to stop the violence. *****Oh, now we're going to 'punish Baghdad' if it can't control the violence our invasion and subsequent occupation has created?<->Un-flipping believable. What are we gonna do, invade them AGAIN?***
http://tinyurl.com/scezo

The Way the World Ends: With all the hype about North Korea, we're forgetting that the world is still staring down the barrels of thousands of U.S. and Russian ICBMs
http://tinyurl.com/tam3x

THE WHITE HOUSE

Bush's Strategic Change --- this president has presided over arguably the most secretive government in US history," and finds it interesting that just before the mid-term elections, Bush praised open government at a signing ceremony for the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which will establish a searchable online database of federal grants and contracts.
http://tinyurl.com/w6ges

Bush's Absolute Power Grab --- On October 17, George W. Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006. This new law gives Bush power similar to that of Stalin or Hitler, and grants agencies within the executive branch powers similar to those of the KGB or Gestapo.
http://tinyurl.com/ymzmbm

SCANDAL

GOP Senator demands FBI brief Congress on its probe of 2001 anthrax attacks before Thanksgiving -- Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is demanding that the FBI brief Congress on its investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks before Thanksgiving, according to Roll Call. --- Grassley should ask the FBI why they spent so much time harassing Dr. Stephen Hatfill while ignoring a real suspect, actually CAUGHT INSIDE THE STORAGE AREA WHERE THE ANTHRAX USED IN THE LETTERS WAS KEPT, after being fired from his job over a racially motivated attack on an Egyptian co-worker.
http://tinyurl.com/yg8xep

Kenneth Lay alive? Maybe --- Why else would a judge clear his record, columnist asks.
http://tinyurl.com/yc8fxs

Former Reid aide blasts Porter -- Tessa Hafen, a former staffer for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), is strongly criticizing Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.) for allegedly making fundraising calls from his congressional office. Hafen is running against Porter this fall. -- a former Porter aide, saying he personally witnessed Porter make fundraising calls on five occasions from his congressional and district offices. Placing such calls from federal offices is illegal.
THE HILL

Campaign 2006: Roll Call 'scandal list' keeps growing
http://tinyurl.com/yxd8fr

House GOP Officials Likely to Be at Odds - The House Republican campaign chairman and the speaker of the House are likely to be at odds this week as they testify about the handling of ex-Rep. Mark Foley's come-ons to male pages.
http://tinyurl.com/y2rd9c

LEGAL ISSUES

Encrypted credit cards harbor security flaws --- tests on 20 cards from Visa, MasterCard and American Express, the researchers here found that the cardholder's name and other data were being transmitted without encryption and in plain text. They could skim and store the information from a card with a device the size of a couple of paperback books, which they cobbled together from readily available computer and radio components for $150.
http://tinyurl.com/snk3m

Judge Throws Out Fla. Exit Poll Limit - A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a Florida law that prohibits exit polling within 100 feet of a voting place, finding there was no evidence that such surveys were disruptive or threatened access to voting.
http://tinyurl.com/yy2yha

Judge Orders NYT To Give Up Columnist's Sources In Anthrax Case...
http://tinyurl.com/vqo69

ELECTION ITEMS

Cook Political Report : Devastating Tidal Wave looms --
The most important result is the finding that among ` most likely voters' , the Dems lead the GOP by 22 % , 57 - 35 %. With a margin like that, the only way the GOP will hang into the Congress is through massive vote fraud; so massive it will be very, very obvious what is going on.
http://tinyurl.com/vszc7

Washington Post-ABC poll: Independent voters favor Democrats to Republicans 2 to 1
http://tinyurl.com/ydptcg

Voting Machines Chop Off Dem Candidate Webb's Name...NOT Fixable Before Elections...
http://tinyurl.com/yxzpe6

Idiotic Hannity Polling Ignores Iraq War
http://tinyurl.com/y8owjc

"I don't see a big surprise with respect to Iraq that turns it around, and that's the only thing that would help the Republicans,"
http://tinyurl.com/yy9q9z

Electronic Voting Machines Could Skew Elections --- the original Diebold factory passwords are still being used on many voting machines.
http://tinyurl.com/y4qujg

McCain stumps in South Carolina -- Even though Election Day is two weeks away, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) seems to be focusing on the 2008 presidential primary.
THE HILL

Reynolds leading Davis in new poll -- Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), who has plummeted in recent polls in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal, is now leading Democratic challenger Jack Davis (D).
THE HILL

Ethics Watchdog Targets Kansas Attorney General's Campaign --- A leak of internal memos shows that the AG attempted to recruit churches to aid his re-election efforts, in possible violation of IRS rules.
http://tinyurl.com/y4gzoy

Recipe for a Cooked Election Greg Palast
http://tinyurl.com/y4gvjp

ECONOMY

After the Housing Bubble Bursts --- Every new release of data on the housing market provides more evidence that the housing bubble is finally bursting," writes Dean Baker. "The housing downturn will almost certainly lead to a recession, and most likely a severe recession.
http://tinyurl.com/sey5g

Ford Loses $5.8 Billion In Third Quarter...
http://tinyurl.com/y8p8j3

Do Tax Cuts Cost the Government Money?--- “How much will this tax cut cost the government?” we are asked, as though some crime is being contemplated when we consider reducing taxes.You don’t cost the government money, the government costs you money!
http://tinyurl.com/y3ynx4

US welfare system faces accounting overhaul --- It would radically change the presentation of US government finances, in effect bringing forward the cost of rapidly increasing social security and Medicare obligations and greatly increasing the reported fiscal deficit
http://tinyurl.com/ymzhdp

Economic Report: Job Creation Weak, Real Income Down $3000 - As working families consider whether the economy has been good or bad to them two weeks before the elections they’re not feeling as rosy about the economy as Wall Street or Bush administration.
http://tinyurl.com/y7mt4y

911

Here is the transcript of what you were not allowed to hear from Osama binLaden's own mouth: - Not many people know that, after September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden issued a statement on tape that he had nothing to do with the attacks on America and that such actions were against the teachings of Islam.
http://tinyurl.com/y5ybfv

DOMESTIC

Wal-Mart's Drug Deal
http://tinyurl.com/yx9wyl

RELIGIOUS ISSUES

Former CIA Insider Blasts Bush; Tells People at Church Conference that Lies Led to War in Iraq
http://tinyurl.com/ycucbu

Evangelicals Embrace of Environmental Stewardship Creates Problem for Bush - Groups like the Christian Coalition and the National Association of Evangelicals are also making global warming an issue. (But they supported the most anti-Earth person to ever inhabit the White House!)
http://tinyurl.com/tl545

Why There Almost Certainly Is No God --- if one posits the existence of a god or gods able to communicate their existence to human minds, then as an inevitable result of the existence of that god or gods, able to communicate to human minds, all theologies would be in accord, and there would be no need for missionaries, let alone inquisitions and holy crusades.
http://tinyurl.com/ydxutn

INTERNATIONAL

Gulf Arab states are giving up on America--- they can see right through the American pretensions.
http://tinyurl.com/vouxb

MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

Press Freedom Erodes in U.S., Report Says - Although it ranked 17th on the first list, published in 2002, the United States now stands at 53, having fallen nine places since last year. - "The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 U.S. states, refuse to recognize the media's right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism," the group said.
http://tinyurl.com/y3nj5d

Olbermann: The Leading Terrorist Group In This Country Is The Republican Party...
http://tinyurl.com/y8hmsk

ABC News: Chicago Voter Database Hacked --- It was a serious identity theft problem, but also a problem that could potentially create problems with the election
http://tinyurl.com/usjvk

HEALTH

US Public at Risk from Radiation: Scientists
http://tinyurl.com/u3jcx+

Popular diabetes drug useless, even harmful, for diabetics, study suggests:
http://tinyurl.com/v2zqj

Mobile phone use linked to sharp decline in sperm quality:
http://tinyurl.com/vh583

Antidepressant drugs reduced sperm count of patients to near zero:
http://tinyurl.com/y949qf

Strawberry nutrient protects against Alzheimer's, study finds:
http://tinyurl.com/y2noug

Humans using Earth's resources at unsustainable rate, conservation group claims:
http://tinyurl.com/udmla

HUMAN RIGHTS

Eight more doctors suspected of illegal human experiments : Eight more doctors from the Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot and the Hartzfeld Geriatric Hospital in Gedera are suspected of involvement in experiments on human beings, Chief Superintendent Meir Cohen, told the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee on Monday.
http://tinyurl.com/y6ykpb