October 26, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

I swear on my chemistry book, this United States is being run by really , really stupid, mean people!!!

The Strange Death of Liberal America --- The alacrity with which many of America’s most prominent liberals have censored themselves in the name of the War on Terror, the enthusiasm with which they have invented ideological and moral cover for war and war crimes and proffered that cover to their political enemies: all this is a bad sign.
http://tinyurl.com/yjmm9n

ALERT – Beware

GUESS WHO SAID THIS? "An evil exists that threatens every man,woman, and child of this great country. We must take steps to insure our domestic security and protect our Homeland" (See end of news entries for owner of statement.)

WAR
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And so, to the end of history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right and honor and peace: George Bernard Shaw
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US will have to fight 'dirty' in new wars: THE US could defeat any enemy with overwhelming power but any new conflict would involve more brute force and civilian casualties than in Iraq, the top US general said today. (Please recall that any war we fight is simply to try new *toys* that will be steps toward controlling space.)
http://tinyurl.com/yz5yrc

From "Mission Accomplished" to "Mission Impossible" in Iraq - a hopeless lack of realism in statements from senior American officials
http://tinyurl.com/yer5wh

South Korea takes first step in sanctions on North
http://tinyurl.com/yaf3pa

South Korea successfully tests long-range cruise missile: (Lordy mercy - no end to all this!) Report: South Korea has successfully tested a new longer-range cruise missile, which has not only North Korea but also parts of China and Japan within range, a news report said on Tuesday.
http://tinyurl.com/u9s5o

Task Force Warned Pentagon in Early 2002 to Stop Prison Camp Torture --- Speaking publicly for the first time, senior US law enforcement investigators say they waged a long but futile battle inside the Pentagon to stop coercive and degrading treatment of detainees by intelligence interrogators first at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and then again at Abu Ghraib.
http://tinyurl.com/yfsrdc

Bush Giving Up on Reconstructing Iraq -- President Bush is the stay-and-slay president.
http://tinyurl.com/ygpx9d

Iraqis Were Better Off Under Saddam, Says Former Weapons Inspector
http://tinyurl.com/ymf9sl

Bush OKs 700-mile U.S.-Mexico fence - President Bush signed a bill Thursday authorizing 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to give Republican candidates a pre-election platform for asserting they're tough on illegal immigration.
http://tinyurl.com/y7gcxs

More Contracting Abuses in Iraq; Staying the Course Costing Americans Billions --- at least 55 percent, or $163 million, of $296 million in total costs rung up by Halliburton unit KBR went to expenses such as back-office support, transportation and security.
http://tinyurl.com/yzn9kp

THE WHITE HOUSE
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"Whenever 'A' attempts by law to impose his moral standards upon 'B', 'A' is most likely a scoundrel." - H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)
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Six years of *STUPID GATE*
http://tinyurl.com/yzjl8t

How the Bush Family Makes a Killing From George's Presidency - from Halliburton to siblings
http://tinyurl.com/yjfr4u

Bush 'fence' bill won't create fence --- Signs border fence bill, yet Congress OK'd separate bill 'ensuring it's never built.'
http://tinyurl.com/ymkabw

Who's scarier, terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, or US President George W. Bush?
http://tinyurl.com/ydlt6q

The Black House On Pennsylvania Avenue - The extent of the US government's illegal conduct--its lying, scheming, cheating, torture, murder, sexual escapades, and covering up of criminal activities--is finally surfacing and it is breaking through the once calm, sleepy, uninformed U.S. like the tip of an iceberg from hell.
http://tinyurl.com/y8v47d

POLITICS

Governor is blunt to Bush - After weeks of subtle jabs at fellow Republicans in Congress and the White House, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned more blunt Tuesday in a tart letter to President Bush.
http://tinyurl.com/ymmjjd

SCANDAL

Ex-House Clerk says Kolbe, Foley were page 'problems'
http://tinyurl.com/yhzwp3

LEGAL ISSUES

Cunningham Successor Faces Legal Controversy, Too
http://tinyurl.com/yhdtem

New Jersey Court Backs Rights for Gay Unions
http://tinyurl.com/ycob6a

Cheney Confirms That Detainees Were Subjected to Water-Boarding (Remember that in WW11 we treated water-boarding as torture - Cheney indicated that the Bush administration doesn't regard water-boarding as torture and allows the CIA to use it. "It's a no-brainer for me," Cheney said.
http://tinyurl.com/ygr9gr

ELECTION ISSUES

Push Polling -- What to Watch Out For --- People are receiving calls from organizations claiming to be taking opinion polls, but then assaulting the listener with the most horrible, slanderous, nasty smears about candidates.
http://tinyurl.com/yeednv

Voting Problems Loom in US Election (What happens if we have no controlling interest in either the House or the Senate for days to weeks before a winner is declared?)
http://tinyurl.com/yhjrxw

Severe Election Problems Seen in 10 States --- a report Wednesday warning that 10 states are likely to experience severe problems on November 7 because of electronic voting machines and new voter identification laws that
http://tinyurl.com/ymblgp

Where is *common sense* today? If voting by computer is inherently untrustworthy, perhaps we should pull the plug
http://tinyurl.com/ym4bqx

Fox: McCain versus Obama is close race --- Poll shows 3 point divide; A McCain/Giuliani ticket tops Clinton/Obama by eight.
http://tinyurl.com/ylo4fv

Iraq War Now Works Against GOP --- A consensus now exists - buttressed by polls - that disaffection with a war grown costly and difficult to manage is the gravest threat to continued Republican rule. (doubts about the competence and accountability of the Republican Party.)
http://tinyurl.com/ym22zj

Health costs bedeviling Americans, survey shows - Frustration with the rising costs of health coverage surged sharply this year, helping to explain why many voters remain uneasy about the economy despite falling gasoline prices, low unemployment and a soaring stock market.
http://tinyurl.com/yhcha7

War Effect Chills the Hearts of Republican Middle America --- "Ohio is as close to being down-the-middle mythic America as you can get," explains Time magazine's political columnist Joe Klein. "When you see the Republicans screwing up in a place like Ohio you think that their hold on power is finally starting to slip."
http://tinyurl.com/ydd7bj

Muslim and Arab Americans Ditch Republicans --- Strong majorities of Arab-American voters in four key states -- Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida -- intend to vote for the Democratic candidates for senator,
http://tinyurl.com/y9sgrf

The Book of Rahm --- I wrote that the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Congressman Rahm Emanuel, had worked hard to guarantee that Democratic candidates in key toss-up House races were pro-war. In this he was largely successful, because of the money he commands and the celebrity politicians who reliably respond to his call, ensuring that 20 of the 22 Democratic candidates in these districts are pro-war. So the fix is in for the coming elections.
http://tinyurl.com/ykj9on

George Allen: Just Another Racist --- Allen's gotten away with his racism for years. It's time to tear the scab off of Virginia's past and let the wound heal.
http://tinyurl.com/yfajjw

GOP "Southern Strategy" Alive and Well Republicans Refuse to Take Down Racist Ads
http://tinyurl.com/ycb3t8

21 Year-Old Fmr Katherine Harris Staffer Says He's Slept With GOP’s Candidate For Florida Governor…
http://tinyurl.com/yy3ac5

ECONOMY

Home Price Drop Is Largest in 35 Years --- The median price of a new home plunged in September by the largest amount in more than 35 years, even as the pace of sales rebounded for a second month.
http://tinyurl.com/ylacpr

How do you define *healthy economy*? in 2005 another 1.3 million Americans joined the ranks of the uninsured for health coverage.
http://tinyurl.com/ybm7nw

Chrysler, GM Report Losses in 3rd Quarter
http://tinyurl.com/yggbe6

911

EPA memo with more 9/11 fraud allegations
http://tinyurl.com/ymj4qo

9/11 Widows Want Rice/Tenet Documents Released --- 9/11 widows have started an online petition in hopes of gathering the public's support to force the White House to declassify documents related to a July 10, 2001, meeting between Condoleezza Rice and former CIA director George Tenet, in which the two discussed a pending attack on US soil by al-Qaeda.
http://tinyurl.com/yev9ct

CONGRESS

HARMAN RELEASES STATEMENT AND TEXT OF UNCLASSIFIED CUNNINGHAM REPORT -- (The tip of a really stinky iceberg?)
http://tinyurl.com/ybb9lb

DOMESTIC

Minnesota truckers have run out of gas
http://tinyurl.com/yzvvfw

This dog is trying to bite its own tail - what a mess!
http://tinyurl.com/ykoa8y

RELIGIOUS ISSUES

Atheist Evangelist --- In His Bully Pulpit, Sam Harris Devoutly Believes That Religion Is the Root of All Evil (I love this guy and have heard him speak - great guy!)
http://tinyurl.com/yk2e2p

Cleric blames women for sex attacks
http://tinyurl.com/sd3kx

Anger as rabbis demand boy be recircumcised
http://tinyurl.com/ymgmx3

ENVIRONMENT

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility: Huge Gaps in State Whistleblower Laws- State Employees Who Tell Inconvenient Truths Face Vastly Different Consequences
http://tinyurl.com/ykflcr

Environmental Working Group --- As the name reveals, this organization focuses on the environment, educating readers with articles about toxic chemicals in foods and consumer products, threats to the environment, and corruption between commercial interests and government regulators.
http://tinyurl.com/ydkh2b

INTERNATIONAL

Evidence of CIA jails in Europe --- The German Government was yesterday alleged to have received first-hand evidence that the CIA had begun torturing terrorist suspects at secret prisons in Europe shortly after the September 11 attacks despite claims that it only knew about such sites through the media.
http://tinyurl.com/yboytu

Starbucks, the coffee beans and the copyright row that cost Ethiopia £47m
http://tinyurl.com/yj9tzk

Oil leaps after OPEC cuts and US fuel stocks fall: Oil prices leapt nearly two dollars higher on Wednesday after other OPEC members, including its second biggest producer Iran, followed Saudi Arabia's lead in making output cuts and U.S. fuel stocks unexpectedly fell.
http://tinyurl.com/yd5ukr

MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

Veteran Investigative Journalist Bob Parry on the Iran-Contra Scandal and the Perils of Reporting It
http://tinyurl.com/ylxe4o

Embracing the Subtle Upside of Terror - by Garrison Keillor --- "... the federal government is extending the frontiers of terror with the Military Commissions Act of 2006, legalizing torture and suspending habeas corpus and constructing a loose web of law by which you and I could be hung by our ankles in a meat locker for as long as somebody deems necessary."
http://tinyurl.com/yh8svb

HEALTH

PLoS Medicine --- For those who enjoy a more technical read, there's only one medical journal I know of that blatantly refuses to accept drug money from pharmaceutical companies: PLoS Medicine. This open-source, fiercely-independent medical journal consistently publishes honest, hard-hitting studies that expose the fraud of disease mongering, the false claims in drug ads and many other important issues. Check this journal from time to time (all articles are available at no charge), and you'll see why I think this journal makes JAMA and the other "mainstream" medical journals obsolete.
http://tinyurl.com/ymtta5

The Wafer and the Pill --- the highest court in New York upheld the Women's Health and Wellness Act, a law requiring, among other things, that insurance companies include contraceptive coverage in drug benefit packages. (step toward ending gender discrimination in insurance coverage.)
http://tinyurl.com/yg3444

Red Wine May Cut Risk of Colorectal Cancer --- No protective effect found for white wine, study concludes --- Drinking more than three glasses of red wine a week reduced the incidence of abnormal growths and cancers of the intestinal tract by two-thirds, a new study found (fr: Scout News)

HUMAN RIGHTS
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The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life - the sick, the needy and the handicapped. - Hubert Horatio Humphrey, US Vice President (1911-1978)
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Halliburton, Kuwait Operation Violate US Labor Laws --- physically assaulted and beaten, while suffering squalid living conditions and medical malpractice. Construction companies hold onto employee passports to stop workers from leaving Iraq or taking better jobs with other contractors.
http://tinyurl.com/yhl65e

SPECIAL INTEREST ITEMS

Toddler Trapped In Vending Machine...
http://tinyurl.com/ymaq23

Tesco condemned for selling pole dancing toy Personally, while I am not a prude (and as appreciative of a pole dance as the next fellow) I think children should stay children for as long as they can get away with it. That issue aside, the problem I have with this toy is one of safety. I don't see this particular pole as able to withstand the stresses of some of the more "energetic" moves the dancers are likely to try out after seeing them in movies or TV.
http://tinyurl.com/st2lg

ALERT answer - and this is Bushie's position exactly:

"An evil exists that threatens every man, woman, and child of this great country. …….We must take steps to insure our domestic security and protect our Homeland" ADOLF HITLER (1933)