October 8, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

Rabbit Hole Of Elitist Perversion Far Deeper Than Foley - From scattered reports, a picture is starting to emerge. It is reported that Jack Abramoff operated a "sex ring" out of several DC hotels, providing male and female prostitutes, some underage, to leading politicians. Overtly a part of his lobbying activity, reports are that these politicians were later subject to blackmail with photos/videos of their trysts, and that THIS may have been the real secret of Abramoff's success. ……Now add to this blackmail system the links between Abramoff and the Bush War Machine via Abramoff's secretary in Karl Rove's Office, and Abramoff's links to 9-11, via Mohamed Atta as regular guest on Abramoff's casino ship, and Abramoff start to emerge as the center player in a plot to trick the US into war in the Mideast and to prevent Congress from doing anything about it.
http://tinyurl.com/zbte7

Busted! The Family Research Council knew about Foley. Seems like members of the Family Research Council, that bastion of "Christian purity" and "family values" knew Mark Foley had a habit of chasing after young boys. (And not one of them said a word until after the scandal broke.)
http://tinyurl.com/q8htf

Page Scandal: The Moral Collapse of Modern Conservatism
http://tinyurl.com/mdbb6

More Foley Scandal News: Rep. Reynolds Cancels Sunday Talk Show Appearance Due To “Flu-Like Symptoms”...Hastert Backs Out Of Bloomberg Fundraiser... Foley: President Bush “Got Me Way Into Biking”...
http://tinyurl.com/jtc4v

FEEDING FRENZY! Former Rep. Mark Foley's lewd behavior with teenage pages dropped like a match in a dry forest of conservative anger at Republicans.
http://tinyurl.com/rwsqe

ALERT

Lettuce recalled over E. coli concerns - irrigation water may have been contaminated with E.coli
http://tinyurl.com/ecsbu

WAR
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"Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false." : Bertrand Russell
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UK Official Says British Govt Warned US on Iraq - The British government tried to rein in US policy in Iraq from the outset of the March 2003 invasion but found itself powerless to do so. David Blunkett, Home Secretary at the time of the invasion, told newspapers that Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could not be diverted from their goal of dismantling the Iraqi Baathist government system.
http://tinyurl.com/qfrk7

POLITICS

Ex-Rep. Cunningham lashes out in letter - Disgraced former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham lashed out at the reporter who uncovered the corruption scandal that sent him to prison, telling him in a letter that his "constant cruelty" had nearly destroyed Cunningham's life.
http://tinyurl.com/o7wam

Guantánamo defense lawyer forced out of Navy - The Navy lawyer who took the Guantánamo case of Osama bin Laden's driver to the U.S. Supreme Court — and won — has been passed over for promotion by the Pentagon and must soon leave the military.
http://tinyurl.com/ebz3h

THE US CABINET

Pesticide exec to lead regional EPA office - She worked as an executive at Dow Chemical from 1996 to 2004, overseeing public affairs and the global pest-management and Asia Pacific operations, according to an EPA news release. Miller most recently served as president of the North American arm of Arysta LifeScience, a Tokyo-based pesticide maker - How do we permit this continued violation of public trust?
http://tinyurl.com/r997b

ELECTION TALK
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The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on the one hand and terrorism on the other. (Bertrand Russell: Freedom, Harcourt Brace, 1940)
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Now a Newsweek poll confirms that Hastert and Foley could lose Congress for the Republicans - Poll Voters for Dems51% V. Rep.39%
http://tinyurl.com/glhjm

Robin Williams On Whether He Will Run For Office: “Remember Gary Hart? I Make Him Look Amish”...
http://tinyurl.com/oe86b

Pelosi Talks of First 100 Hours - 100 hours is time enough to begin to "drain the swamp"
http://tinyurl.com/oq238

GOP's Hold on Evangelicals Weakening - Come November, many conservative Evangelicals may vote for a Democrat for Congress. This means those Evangelicals who consistently vote Republican are starting to worry about the course of the Iraq War. Many also find the Internet messages from former congressman Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to teenage boys "pretty sickening."
http://tinyurl.com/l2tya

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Dogma demands authority, rather than intelligent thought, as the source of opinion; it requires persecution of heretics and hostility to unbelievers; it asks of its disciples that they should inhibit natural kindliness in favor of systematic hatred. - Bertrand Russell, Unpopular essays
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Bigotry-Hypocrisy Implode: The Truth About Why Republicans Are Panicked!Republicans are in a state of panic not merely because of the immorality of the Foley case, and the obvious truth that Republican leaders put protecting their power ahead of protecting the pages, which are devastating themselves. The even deeper fear is that will happen to Republicans when their Christian conservative base finds out the truth about
http://tinyurl.com/l3rcw

Cheney Back Delivering the Grim Campaign Speech - Cheney's messafe of "death, grief, sorrow, destruction" is beginning to sound like a broken CD.
http://tinyurl.com/emeuf

GOP registers fake voters in Tennessee
http://tinyurl.com/jx56y

McCain's Double Talk Express Hits Stump For Congressman Who Covered For Foley
http://tinyurl.com/s3ftk

Sen. Allen Failed To Disclose Stock Options…
http://tinyurl.com/fgfzv

ECONOMY

The Worrying Housing Bust - If home prices drop too much, the damage to consumer confidence and spending won't be easily offset. The danger: a 2007 recession.
http://tinyurl.com/r9glm

Is $10 trillion bubble ready to burst? - Is the biggest real estate bubble in history about to burst? Wall Street pundits and commentators are concerned that the industry’s downward spiral could exacerbate the slowing down of the general capitalist economy.
http://tinyurl.com/p94af

Bush's Failed Policy of Kill, Kill, Kill - Robert Parry writes that: "America will bleed itself dry of available troops; it will spend itself into bankruptcy; it will transform itself into a grotesque caricature of what the United States once was. It will strip its citizens of their constitutional rights; it will imprison suspected 'terrorists' and 'sympathizers' without trial; it will spread death and destruction around the globe."
http://tinyurl.com/gemud

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Dogma demands authority, rather than intelligent thought, as the source of opinion; it requires persecution of heretics and hostility to unbelievers; it asks of its disciples that they should inhibit natural kindliness in favor of systematic hatred. - Bertrand Russell, Unpopular essays
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Not one Bush is to be Left Behind - Across the country, some teachers complain that President George W. Bush's makeover of public education promotes "teaching to the test." The President's younger brother Neil takes a different tack: He's selling to the
http://tinyurl.com/pxyqb

Medicare Part D Costs Rising, "Doughnut Hole" Gets Bigger In 2007
http://tinyurl.com/j8d2l

911

The Truth behind 9/11: Who Is Osama Bin Laden?
http://tinyurl.com/zhntg

CONGRESS
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"We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the world - no longer a Government of free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men." : Woodrow Wilson
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Hastert's work in Congress has been as representative for Boeing and other big Illinois companies
http://tinyurl.com/zvncb

Grand Old Party of Child Endangerment - the damage to children caused by his abuse of power is still far, far less than the damage to American children caused by this Congress' disastrous mismanagement of the American economy."
http://tinyurl.com/pqysf

The Sexual Security of America’s Youth Betrayed by the Republican Party: Rove’s in Charge Now
http://tinyurl.com/fhae7

Both Republicans on Ethics Panel Have Money Ties to Hastert - Both Republicans on the House ethics subcommittee investigating the Mark Foley scandal have financial ties to Speaker Dennis Hastert, whose handling of the former congressman's lurid Internet messages to House pages is under scrutiny.
http://tinyurl.com/z8ssd

Tucker Carlson: “Foley's Not The Only One...His Name...Will Come Out”...
http://tinyurl.com/gbwu6

More Details On Foley...Had Sex With Former Page...Foley’s Fmr. Chief Of Staff To Tell Investigators About Late-Night Visit To Dorm…
http://tinyurl.com/mphq5

At his press conference, Hastert said, "The buck stops here." He accepted responsibility-- wow-- but then made it clear that he accepted none of the blame.
http://tinyurl.com/h4heb

DOMESTIC

Bush Dismantles Child Care - "The 'Child Care Crisis' - the absence of anyone to care for America's children, elderly and disabled," writes Ruth Rosen, "has turned into the new millennium's version of the 'Problem That Has No Name.' It is the 800-pound elephant that sits in Congress, our homes and offices - gigantic, but ignored."
http://tinyurl.com/n2hh4

As Exemptions Grow, Religion Outweighs Regulation - In recent years, many politicians and commentators have cited what they consider a nationwide “war on religion” that exposes religious organizations to hostility and discrimination. But such organizations — from mainline Presbyterian and Methodist churches to mosques to synagogues to Hindu temples — enjoy an abundance of exemptions from regulations and taxes. And the number is multiplying rapidly.
http://tinyurl.com/frpvt

Thousands Nationwide Protest Bush - Hundreds of people called the Bush administration's policies a crime and held up yellow police tape in front of the White House on Thursday as part of a nationwide day of protest against the president. Demonstrators gathered for similar events in more than 200 cities to protest Bush on issues ranging from global warming to the war in Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/hwovn

New Orleans Population Is ONLY AT 40%
http://tinyurl.com/gcznq

ENVIRONMENT

Oil Companies Also Involved With Massive Fraud and Deception - Who is really behind the groups claiming global warming is a hoax?
http://tinyurl.com/ppjag

Marine Scientists Report Massive "Dead Zones"
http://tinyurl.com/psvpz

Retired Forest Planner Blasts Secret Forest Service Project - The Forest Service has begun bulldozing campgrounds under a secret policy to close recreation facilities. Retired Forest Service planner Dick Artley said: "Something very tragic is happening to our public land. This policy was cooked up in secret by the Forest Service in 2002 with absolutely no public involvement or congressional review."
http://tinyurl.com/zjqvy

INTERNATIONAL
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"that until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; that until there is no longer any first-class and second-class citizens of any nation; that until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; that until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all, without regard to race -- until that day, the dreams of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained: Speech by H.I.M. HAILE SELASSIE I - California 28th February 1968 –
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Google Code Search peers into programs' flaws - Security professionals warned developers on Thursday that they need to be aware that their open-source repositories can now be easily mined, allowing attackers to target programs that are likely to be flawed. While Google could previously be used to look for specific strings, now the search engine riffles through code that much better.
http://tinyurl.com/la7xp

Airline Passenger Data: Washington Always Wants More - A compromise on the communication to American authorities of personal data for airline passengers traveling from Europe to the United States is expected soon.
http://tinyurl.com/mncas

Russian Journalist Found Dead - A Russian journalist known for her critical coverage of the war in Chechnya was shot to death Saturday in the elevator of her apartment building in Moscow, in a killing prosecutors believe could be connected to her investigative work.
http://tinyurl.com/prshu

Castro Foe With C.I.A. Ties Puts U.S. in an Awkward Spot - Today, Mr. Posada, 78, is in a detention center in El Paso, held on an immigration violation while the government tries to figure out what to do with him. His case presents a quandary for the Bush administration, at least in part because Mr. Posada is a former C.I.A. operative and United States Army officer who directed his wrath at a government that Washington has long opposed. - Despite insistent calls from Cuba and Venezuela for his extradition, the administration has refused to send him to either country for trial
http://tinyurl.com/n9luc

Blair more hated than Thatcher
http://tinyurl.com/foxrt

White terrorists don't make news in the UK - If this was a muslim man, half of Burnley would have been cordoned off, and it would have been all over our media for days. But in this case... silence.
http://tinyurl.com/mkwba

MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

TIME declares end of the Republican One-Party Reign of Error - It took 40 years for the House Democrats to exhaust their goodwill. It may take only 12 years for the Republicans to get there.
http://tinyurl.com/pjf4w

Bob Woodward: Cheney Cursed And Hung Up On Me After Book Was Published...
http://tinyurl.com/pzd8v

Blitzer To GOP Rep: “Yes Or No: Do You Have Any Evidence” That Dems Knew About Foley Emails?...
http://tinyurl.com/gu7nj

Chris Matthews lets GOP push conspiracy theories blaming Democrats for Foley scandal
http://tinyurl.com/rds9z

Lack of Balance, Diversity, Public at PBS NewsHour- NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS's flagship news program, touts its "signature style - low-key, evenhanded, inclusive of all perspectives." But a new study finds that the NewsHour fails to provide either balance or diversity of perspectives - or a true alternative to its corporate competition.
http://tinyurl.com/l8yzf

Here is Joe Wilson's Introduction to ""George W. Bush versus the U.S. Constitution":
http://tinyurl.com/j8skk

Why did newspaper dig up innuendo against author Sidney Blumenthal instead of answering his book's argument about how "Bush Rules"?
http://tinyurl.com/rj6et

EDITORIALS - OPINIONS

Impeachment Anyone? - David Swanson writes: "Never before has the system of government established by the US Constitution been as seriously threatened; never before has the built-in remedy for the sort of threat we face been as badly needed; never before have we had as good an opportunity to use that remedy exactly as it was intended."
http://tinyurl.com/pgpef

The Radical Right, the Myth of the Gay Child Abuser, and You
http://tinyurl.com/rkmbf

HEALTH

UK Troops 'spread superbug' - Newspaper Edition - Times Online WOUNDED troops returning from Iraq have been linked by government scientists to outbreaks of a deadly superbug in National Health Service hospitals. Injured soldiers flown back to be treated on the NHS have been infected with a rare strain of Acinetobacter baumannii, a superbug resistant to antibiotics……At one hospital in Birmingham in 2003 the bacteria went on to infect 93 people, 91 of whom were civilians. Thirty-five died, although the hospital has not been able to establish whether the superbug was a contributory factor.
http://tinyurl.com/qcv2o

A Rush to Medicate Young Minds - I have been treating, educating and caring for children for more than 30 years, half of that time as a child psychiatrist, and the changes I have seen in the practice of child psychiatry are shocking. Psychiatrists are now misdiagnosing and overmedicating children for ordinary defiance and misbehavior. The temper tantrums of belligerent children are increasingly being characterized as psychiatric illnesses.
http://tinyurl.com/jxz5l

France to enact smoking ban (What is next – will it ever be alcohol?)
http://tinyurl.com/lusoo

17,000 Flee Hazardous Waste Plant Explosions in North Carolina - As many as 17,000 people were urged to flee their homes on the outskirts of Raleigh early Friday as flames shot from a burning hazardous waste plant and a chlorine cloud rose high over the area
http://tinyurl.com/hjwn4

U.S. Rules Allow the Sale of Products Others Ban - Destined for American kitchens, planks of birch and poplar plywood are stacked to the ceiling of a cavernous port warehouse. The wood, which arrived in California via a cargo ship, carries two labels: One proclaims "Made in China," while the other warns that it contains formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical.
http://tinyurl.com/pd93d

HUMAN RIGHTS

Indonesia Bans Doctors From Practicing Female Genital Mutilation - The Indonesian government announced this week that it is prohibiting doctors and nurses from performing female genital cutting. According to Reuters, some Indonesian groups encourage families to perform female genital mutilation, possibly to maintain chastity and virginity before marriage and to ensure faithfulness in the woman's marriage.
http://tinyurl.com/rltf3

Hidden victims of a brutal conflict: Iraq's women - Abduction, rape and murder are the punishments for any woman who dares to hold a professional job. A month-long investigation by The Observer reveals the terrible reality of life after Saddam
http://tinyurl.com/ze2aj