November 30, 2006
THE THINKING SPOT“I BELIEVE that God wants me to be president.” George W. Bush. (That isn't exactly what gives me faith in the Father. As I said yesterday, I think we are going to have to wrestle God back from the Evangelicals.)
ALERTThreats To Internet Freedom All Too Real - The Internet is the last true unregulated outpost of freedom of speech but moves are afoot to stifle, suffocate and control the world wide web. These threats are not hidden nor are they hard to deduce and yet a significant minority of truth seekers and activists remain naive as to their scope.
http://tinyurl.com/ya8kghWAR94% Say Bush Misled Nation To War
http://tinyurl.com/ydvqzfText Of Secret U.S. Security Adviser’s Iraq Memo - classified secret --- Following is the text of a Nov. 8 memorandum prepared for cabinet-level officials by Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, and his aides on the National Security Council. The five-page document, classified secret, was read and transcribed by The New York Times.
http://tinyurl.com/yendwlLEGAL ITEMSGovernment offers $2 million and apology to U.S. Muslim: The government also issued an unusual apology to Brandon Mayfield for the "suffering" caused by his wrongful arrest and imprisonment. It acknowledged that the ordeal was "deeply upsetting" to Mayfield and his family.ECONOMYUS CONSUMER'S INSOLVENCY DEAD AHEAD
http://tinyurl.com/ymbwu8Worse Than Holding Dollars Is Holding Bonds; $ 'will keep falling'; Death Knell ...http://tinyurl.com/ydh73vCONGRESS
Jim Webb Is The Real Straight Talk Express of the Senatehttp://tinyurl.com/yl3yplDOMESTICFEMA Ordered to Resume Katrina Housing Paymentshttp://tinyurl.com/yhbvkoINTERNATIONAL1,245 Secret CIA Flights Revealed by European Parliament: The Parliament's draft report concludes "member states had knowledge of the programme of extraordinary rendition and secret prisons."
http://tinyurl.com/ylsj9qMILITARYMystery surrounds F-16, pilot in Iraq crash - Officials say jet belongs to New Mexico-based fighter wing, but all its pilots are accounted for. Which means a pilot from another country was flying that plane when it was shot down.
http://tinyurl.com/ymqjbpMEDIA AND JOURNALISMGore takes a swipe at Scalia on 'Jay Leno'http://tinyurl.com/yjvro2
November 29, 2006
THE THINKING SPOTBuzzFlash puts it so well: With Bush still the president, it is like being trapped on a ship headed for an iceberg...Everyone knows that the ship is being steered toward destruction, but no one can break into the captain's cabin and correct the course.ALERTALERT
#1South Korea declares first bird flu outbreak in three years:http://tinyurl.com/vfp9oALERT #2HoneyBaked Foods recalls nearly 47,000 pounds of ham and turkey due to possible contamination:
http://tinyurl.com/y7we8aALERT #3CONSUMER ALERT - GIFT CARDS ON RACKS - If you buy Gift Cards from a display rack that has various store cards you may become a victim of theft. Crooks are now jotting down the card numbers in the store and then wait a few days and call to see how much of a balance THEY have on the card. Once they find the card is "activated" they go online and start shopping.
http://tinyurl.com/seq3yBIG ALERT!!!The Drugging of America - here it comes!*** Federal government launches marketing campaign for psychiatric industry. Under the guise of combating the stigma of mental illness, the U.S. government will soon begin a massive campaign of psychiatric indoctrination, designed to increase the acceptance of psychiatric chemical imbalance theories and labeling, and to pave the way for national psychiatric screening, driving more Americans into seeking psychiatric drug treatment.http://tinyurl.com/yl4qc8THIS TAKES THE CAKENewt Gingrich Says We Have to Restrict Freedom of Speech. Can Someone Yank This Clown Offstage Already? And the Three-Times Married Adulterer Uber Hypocrite is Considering Running for President. Save Us the Laughs, Newtie.
http://tinyurl.com/w8rqb*********************************************Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear: Harry S Truman*********************************************
TOUCH OF HUMORStewart: “Argentina, Former Safe Haven For Nazi War Criminals Is Drawing The Line At The Bush Twins”...http://tinyurl.com/swm8eAre George W. Bush lovers certifiable? --- Lohse says his study is no joke. The thesis draws on a survey of 69 psychiatric outpatients in three Connecticut locations during the 2004 presidential election. Lohse’s study, backed by SCSU Psychology professor Jaak Rakfeldt and statistician Misty Ginacola, found a correlation between the severity of a person’s psychosis and their preferences for president: The more psychotic the voter, the more likely they were to vote for Bush.http://tinyurl.com/ydko4aTHE WHITE HOUSE
Son also rises in testy Webb-Bush exchange - Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing....Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb....
“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source .... Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief.....((Do you think that Bush ever cares what he says?))
http://tinyurl.com/y6y8aeCheney Shuts Down Sections Of Florida Interstate To Go Hunting...((Would they do that for you or me?))http://tinyurl.com/y78ybcPOLITICSHeated debate over immigration earlier this year may have soured some Hispanic American voters on the Republican Party; Top Hispanic concerns mirror those of nation at largehttp://tinyurl.com/y7k4y7Frist's Political Career Over… ((Thank heavens!- He always put me in mind of a piece of slimy milk toast. Those types you are just not inclined to trust.))
http://tinyurl.com/wjlwwLEGAL ITEMSA Federal Judge Stands by the Constitution: Federal Judge struck down Bush's authority to designate groups as terrorists, saying his post-Sept. 11 executive order was unconstitutionally vague,
http://tinyurl.com/yg92hr
Pro-Peace Symbol Forces Win Battle in Colorado Town - Last week, a couple were threatened with fines of $25 a day by their homeowners’ association unless they removed a four-foot wreath shaped like a peace symbol from the front of their house. The fines have been dropped, and the three-member board of the association has resigned, according to an e-mail message sent to residents on Monday.
http://tinyurl.com/y3qw64ELECTION ITEMSHillary Worried Obama Will Be Obstacle In '08...... ((Oh, so she is serious about running?????))
http://tinyurl.com/swxko
Alaska again won't release votes
http://tinyurl.com/vlfbqECONOMYUS setbacks see dollar plunge to near 15-year low The dollar tumbled to a near 15-year low against sterling yesterday on fresh signs of economic trouble in the United States. ((Just remember that Our economy is not given a boost by lowering interest rates. Our economy is given a boost by creating a manufacturer-friendly environment that creates jobs so people can earn the money needed to pay off their accumulating debts. That means streamlined regulatory compliance procedures and taxes competitive with what finds in other countries that do have strong manufacturing sectors.))http://tinyurl.com/y7ur7wCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities: Consumer Expenditures Lag for Low- and Middle-Income Familieshttp://tinyurl.com/y2t6ld
9/11 and the coming collapse of America's Real Estate market - The government has been using the skyrocketing real-estate market as a "cash sink", to absorb all the extra dollars the Federal Reserve has been printing up for the government to spend. That prevented the extra money from triggering an inflationary spiral, but the downside is that so much money has been tied up in real-estate that far too little was left over to start companies that created jobs.http://tinyurl.com/y74cwgHALF TAKE FORD BUYOUT --- The company will have to hire part-time and temporary workers to make sure that does not happen, sources said. Those workers will receive a starting wage of $18.50 an hour and no benefits. Ford says the average wage for permanent hourly employees is $31.64 an hour ((Translation: FORD just succeeded in getting rid of the union workers and replacing them with low-wage workers with no benefits.))http://tinyurl.com/y4ey5fCONGRESS
The new majority is expected to hold hearings on military spending and the Iraq war -- The panel was disbanded by the Republicans after they won control of Congress in 1994 - the new majority will inherit broad powers to subpoena and investigate. And that is expected to translate into wide-ranging and contentious hearingshttp://tinyurl.com/y55ljlENVIRONMENTCalifornia cities are rejecting coal-fired power as greenhouse gas emissions law draws near:http://tinyurl.com/wtnumState, local agencies pursue plug-in conversions for fleets of hybrid vehicles:http://tinyurl.com/y4wgg3SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYResearchers: Humpback whales found to share high IQ brain cells with humans:http://tinyurl.com/y527pxFertility moves online as egg, sperm donors use clicks to connect with recipientshttp://tinyurl.com/yyw3mdINTERNATIONALDebt-ridden Labour admits to acute cash-flow problems - Tony Blair, en route to Riga yesterday for a Nato summit, denied that the party was technically bankrupt - the point at which a company cannot pay its debts and has liabilities exceeding its assets.http://tinyurl.com/y5v9h9Reporter hacked royals' phone ---http://tinyurl.com/y45rbo
HEALTHFibromyalgia Pain is Real! Some say fibromyalgia is all in the heads of the men and women who go to doctors seeking answers. Now, researchers say there's overwhelming proof that the condition is real.http://tinyurl.com/uvtkq
Video Games Affect Brain Activity - Could violent video games change the way your child thinks? New research reveals video games activate parts of the brain that control emotional arousal and inhibition.
http://tinyurl.com/wrtooTrained Midwives can Provide Safe Abortions --- Government-trained midwives can provide abortions to women in their first trimester as safely as doctors, according to study published this week.http://tinyurl.com/thfvcEdible food coatings made from common herbs could protect meat,produce from E. coli microorganisms:http://tinyurl.com/yxtz5jStatin drugs worthless for routine use in healthy adults, study suggests:
http://tinyurl.com/y5pyx8HUMAN RIGHTSThe victim is so frequently seen as the one at fault and that is exactly what is happening with the Iraqis. Watch the news, because you will hear more and more that the ones to blame are the Iraqis. Congress is doing this, Hagel just came out saying this, Bush of course is using this as his easy out. More and more Americans are doing this. Don't let *them* put us into *idle*. We are at fault, no one else that I know of. We have to take the responsibility for this terrible disaster that Bush and his neocons have gotten us into and no one else. JKH
November 28, 2006
THE THINKING SPOT
**** Someone suggested we really need to save God from the Evangelicals. I think they are on to something!
**** Can anyone remember a president this pitifully equipped? Every day I wake up wondering what awful hole Bush has fallen into today?
ALERT
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"Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely accordingto conscience, above all liberties.": John Milton************************************
Gingrich: US may be forced to reexamine freedom of speech
http://tinyurl.com/whkdm
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When even one American-who has done nothing wrong-is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth-then all Americans are in peril: Harry S. Truman
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WAR
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"In the end more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free."- Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)Source: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1909
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US Dominance of the Middle East Has Ended
http://tinyurl.com/ybr87z
Bush Plot To Bomb His Arab Ally: PRESIDENT Bush planned to bomb Arab TV station al-Jazeera in friendly Qatar, a "Top Secret" No 10 memo reveals.
http://tinyurl.com/98j6r
"There is no solution." - We’ve destroyed Iraq and we’ve destroyed the region, and Americans need to know this. - There was no civil war in Iraq until we got there. And there was no civil war in Iraq, until we took certain steps to pit Sunnis against Shias. And now it is just too late. But, we need to know we are responsible for what’s happening in Iraq today.
http://tinyurl.com/yabuf5
Commment: Bush says U.S. won't pull out of Iraq - "There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," ((You know what, this is one of the stupidest 91-IQs I have ever had the opportunity to watch in daily detail. How is it that he is left in charge of our magnificent country? OJ and Bush are about in the same league seems to me.))
Fragile Calm Takes Shape - After five months of trying to outlast one another, Israelis and Palestinians have agreed to stop killing each other
http://tinyurl.com/yjeu26
THE WHITE HOUSE
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The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alternation of old beliefs. Self-conceit often regards it as a sign of weakness to admit that a belief to which we have once committed ourselves is wrong. We get so identified with an idea that it is literally a "pet" notion and we rise to its defense and stop our eyes and ears to anything different: John Dewey
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BELTWAY ANALYST: CHENEY'S DAYS NUMBERED –
http://tinyurl.com/yj9g5m
They Lied Their Way into Iraq. Now They Are Trying to Lie Their Way out.
http://tinyurl.com/yhko46
CABINETS, COMMISSIONS, etc
Gates may take Pentagon job in December - Robert Gates, the former CIA director who is President Bush's choice to replace Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary, is likely to assume the Pentagon post before year's end if he is confirmed by the Senate as expected, officials said Monday.
http://tinyurl.com/ym58t7
SCANDAL
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"Man's character is his fate.": Heraclitus - (c.540-480 BC) Greek philosopher
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The Bush Regime is beset by scandals. Closely related to these scandals or the Smears used by Neo-Cons. See a listing at:
http://tinyurl.com/yagfux
The Trials of Henry Kissinger: The Making Of A War Criminal: "A fascinating, bombshell documentary that should shame Americans, regardless of whether or not ultimate blame finally lies with Kissinger. Should be required viewing for civics classes and would-be public servants alike."
http://tinyurl.com/yaqgtm
EU Nations "Knew About CIA Jails" –
http://tinyurl.com/ycg4cr
New Downing Street Memos From Down Under - "On February 27, 2002 - just five months after 15 Saudis, 2 Lebanese, and 2 Yemenis flew airplanes into US buildings - Trevor Flugge, who was then chairman of AWB, the Australian Wheat Board, a private corporation, told AWB's board that John Dauth, who was then Australia's ambassador to the United Nations, had revealed to Flugge the plans of the US and Australian governments for war on Iraq. Tragically for war profiteers everywhere, somebody took minutes of the meeting."
http://tinyurl.com/yf4mxu
DOJ Probes NSA Spying, Democrats Suspicious - The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General announced Monday that it will immediately launch a probe into the agency's involvement with the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program, raising suspicions among Democrats, who believe the timing of the investigation is an attempt by the Bush admin on to circumvent Congressional hearings into the issue when they assume control of the House in January.
http://tinyurl.com/ychvzp
LEGAL ITEMS
What Will You Do When the Government Demands Your Laptop?: Courtesy of a decision from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. Customs officials can seize and copy the contents of any laptop carried across a U.S. border. There's no arrest, warrant or probable cause required—just "gimme."
http://tinyurl.com/ygpfb4
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State Says Supreme Court Action Today Yet Another Blow To Private School Voucher Movement
http://tinyurl.com/yfscc4
ELECTION ITEMS
Democrats Win Control of Pennsylvania House After 12 Years in Minority
http://tinyurl.com/ymlmgm
Three House Races in Dispute - Contested elections in Franklin County, Ohio, Florida's 13th District, and in North Carolina are among unresolved races across the country since Election Day.
http://tinyurl.com/ylz6tt
ECONOMY
The Wage Gap for Women
http://tinyurl.com/ycunrb
Recent consolidation of gold prices and sliding crude-oil prices will be short-lived. Contrary to popular expectations, increasing core inflation in the US will not be reversed by temporary weakness of energy prices.Intensifying instability in the Middle East and escalating confrontation between Washington and Tehran will inevitably disrupt the region's oil production and exports in 2007, reducing world oil supply
http://tinyurl.com/ym3en9
World economy switches engines as US shudders: OECD The U.S. economy is running out of steam but Europe's resurgence and Asia's awakening will prevent the world's economy from derailing as it did after the stock market crash of 2000, the OECD said in a report on Tuesday.
http://tinyurl.com/ybwnpc
CONGRESS
Senators pledge to end war supplementals - Senior U.S. senators from both parties are pledging to overhaul the way the U.S. military gets funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.Emergency supplemental bills, unlike regular appropriations, are not considered by the authorizing committees, and do not count towards the spending caps mandated by balanced budget legislation http://tinyurl.com/sb4xt
Dem Spokespeople “Uneasy” About Lieberman ---- Of New Lieberman Flack Communications Director Joining Their Weekly meetings
http://tinyurl.com/ycljul
ENVIRONMENT
Scientists: Climate Change Clues in Sky
http://tinyurl.com/yd6roy
INTERNATIONAL
Canadian Parliament Recognizes Quebec - Parliament formally recognized Quebec as a nation within Canada Monday, a symbolic gesture that has led to a Cabinet resignation and ignited concerns over a renewed push for the French-speaking province's independence.The motion presented by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which calls Quebec a nation within a united Canada, is largely symbolic in that it requires no constitutional amendment or change of law
http://tinyurl.com/yd5xz3
MILITARY
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"War, at first, is the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn't any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone's being worse off." -- Karl Kraus, writer (1874-1936)
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The U.S. military is no longer able to defeat a bloody insurgency in western Iraq or counter al-Qaeda's rising popularity there, according to newly disclosed details
(Article in Washington Post - link not available)
US Military Still Runs With Dreaded Wolf Brigade - Despite the U.S. command's announcement last week that it would seek to curb abuses by Iraqi commando units, the U.S. military has been extremely tolerant of the most abusive unit of all – the notorious Wolf Brigade – because it regards it as highly effective against the insurgents.
http://tinyurl.com/nh58b
Marines Employ Iraqi Mercenary Force to Crush Rebellion - Citing failure utilizing the traditional US military counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, one Marine unit has set up a special Iraqi commando outfit reminiscent of notorious Latin American paramilitaries forces.
http://tinyurl.com/yngy6p
MEDIA AND JOURNALISM
****************************************"Search for the truth is the noblest occupation of man; its publication is a duty." : Anne Louise Germaine de Stael - (1766-1817) French author
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When the Mainstream Media Starts Calling Iraq a Civil War, We Guess Reality Becomes Official. NBC Finally
(Washington Post article - link not available)
Rightwing Drone Rich Lowry Joins Ranks of Anti-American Bush Haters’
http://tinyurl.com/yaj75u
'Anti-Jewish' Turkish film pulled from US theaters - A Turkish film featuring a venal, bloodstained Jewish doctor has been withdrawn from screening in the United States.
http://tinyurl.com/ygs6ky
Olbermann's ratings are soaring with his 'gloves off' commentary
http://tinyurl.com/yhvtga
Limbaugh's craziest statement yet: Iraq isn't going how he wanted it to, so he says, "Fine, just blow the place up. Just let these natural forces take place over there instead of trying to stop them."
http://tinyurl.com/y9erg5
November 27, 2006
THE THINKING SPOTJust how mad can you be: "Well, do you get the feeling sometimes that you're living in an occupied country? Very often that's a feeling I get when I wake up in the morning. I think, "I'm living in an occupied country .... They've taken over the country. They've taken over the policy. They've driven us into two disastrous wars, disastrous for our country and even more disastrous for people in the Middle East. And they have sucked up the wealth of this country and given it to the rich, and given it to the multinationals, given it to Halliburton, given it to the makers of weapons. They're ruining the environment. And they're holding on to 10,000 nuclear weapons, while they want us to worry about the fact that Iran may, in ten years, get one nuclear weapon. You see, really, how mad can you be?"
(((My feelings exactly Howard Zinn)))WARScholars agree Iraq meets definition of 'civil war'; It is put among the worst in 60 yearshttp://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/26/news/civil.phpIt Only Goes from Horrible to Worse Everyday in Iraq, Why Does The Boy in the Bubble Get to Continue to Occupy the White House? "Two mortar rounds hit a U.S. military post in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, setting it on fire, police and witnesses said."http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraqIraqi Clerics Say U.S. Should Leave: Leading Sunni and Shiite clerics in Iraq said Saturday the U.S. military presence aggravates the sectarian violence that is tearing at the country.http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/Olmert and the Baker Boys: James Baker, the consiglieri of the Bush crime family, brings Syria and Iran to the table and they hammer out an understanding on Iraq and, horror stacked upon horror, “some kind of long-term Israeli-Arab diplomatic agreement,” as the Jerusalem Post puts it.
http://kurtnimmo.com/?p=665Iraq a moral blunder, says war hero: THE former SAS officer who devised and executed the Iraq war plan for Australia's special forces says that the nation's involvement has been a strategic and moral blunder.http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20817682-601,00.htmlTHE WHITE HOUSECheney's Quest to Expand Presidential Powershttp://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112706F.shtmlBush's Bad Reputation - From Britain to China, Bush is the "go-it-alone cowboy" to much of the world, leading the United States in the direction he wants, regardless of what anyone else thinks.http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112706P.shtmlCheney and Neo-Cons Plotting More Wars: They are now preparing to survive the fall of the House of Bush, and are already making plans for the next confrontations: against Iran and Russia, to name the top two targets du jour.http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=72&ItemID=11446Maureen Dowd:: United States is lost in the desert of Iraq: Dick Cheney and his wormy aides, of course, are still babbling about total victory and completing the mission by raising the stakes and knocking off the mullahs in Tehran. His tombstone will probably say, "Here lies Dick Cheney, still winning."
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/opinions/ci_4722405THE WISHING CORNERUS v. Bush, et al.- "The scene is a Federal Grand Jury room. There, impaneled ordinary citizens listen intently as a veteran federal prosecutor asks them to return an indictment unique in American history. The charge is Conspiracy to Defraud the United States. And the defendants are President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney, outgoing defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former secretary of state Colin Powell."http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112706M.shtmlCABINETS, COMMISSIONS, etcRumsfeld Approved of Torture Says Former US General - Outgoing defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized the mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib, the prison's former US commander said in an interview on Saturday.http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112606Y.shtmlControversial Senior Aide To Condoleezza Rice Resigns...In September, Zelikow caused some ripples in the Bush administration when he suggested during a speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that to build a coalition for dealing with Iran, the United States needed to make progress on solving the Arab-Israeli disputehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061127/pl_nm/usa_zelikow_dcJustice Dept. Opens Probe Into Warrantless Wiretaps...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061127/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/domestic_spyingThe Justice Department's internal investigations division said Monday it has opened an inquiry into the agency's use of information gathered in the government's warrantless surveillance program.http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/27/america/NA_GEN_US_Domestic_Spying.phpPOLITICS
Lott tells Fox he has problems with Rovehttp://rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fthinkprogress.org%2F2006%2F11%2F26%2Flott-rove-divide%2FNOTE: "Dick Armey, former House majority leader and an architect of the Republicans' 1994 takeover of Congress, told National Public Radio's Diane Rehm that the GOP had become the big government party. "They actually grew the government," he said."http://circ.jmellon.com/docs/view.asp?ex=8SCANDALWhistle-blowers tell of cost of conscience: In 2002, decorated FBI Special Agent Mike German was investigating meetings between terrorism suspects. When he discovered other officers had jeopardized the investigation by violating wiretapping regulations, he reported what he found to his supervisors, in accordance with FBI policy.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-11-23-whistle-blowers_x.htmLEGAL ITEMSCase could shape policy on warming - The Supreme Court this week will begin hearing perhaps the most significant environmental case ever to reach its marbled halls — a dispute that could shape the future of U.S. policy on global warming.
http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4361315.htmlPolice want power to crack down on offensive demo chants and sloganshttp://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2006/271106slogans.htmHastert land deal triggers call for Justice Dept. investigationhttp://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Watchdog_asks_Justice_Dept_to_investigate_1127.htmlHigh Court Rules Against The New York Times In Leak Investigation Case...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/26/supremecourt/main2209121.shtmlConvicted GOP Fundraiser Forced To Repay $13.7 Million...$3 Million For His Own Prosecution...http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=738Wreath Peace Sign Brings $25/Day Fine from Ignorant Homeowner's Assoc.http://www.buzzflash.net/story.php?id=2126ECONOMY
Big Energy Firms Crimping Oil Supplies - An Associated Press analysis suggests that big oil companies have been crimping supplies in subtler ways across the country for years. The analysis, based on data from the US Energy Information Administration, indicates that the industry slacked off supplying oil and gasoline during the prolonged price boom between early 1999 and last summer, when prices began to fallhttp://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112606X.shtmlFord Raises $18 Billion in Financing - For the first time in its 103-year history, the Ford Motor Company is mortgaging its assets, including factories, equipment, office buildings, patents and trademarks, and stakes in subsidiaries like Volvo, in order to raise $18 billion to overhaul itself.http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/1128biz-mktsector1128.htmlWall Street's Worst Day In Months...http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061127/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_streetDeath Knell of the US Dollar...:The dollar plunged with startling ferocity late last week, driven by heavy selling. This was very bearish action that signals panic, and the probable onset of a severe downtrend. A break below the crucial support at 80 on the dollar index is expected to mark the transition from a clandestine unloading of dollar assets to an all-out stampede to “get what you can for them” before it’s too late.
http://news.goldseek.com/CliveMaund/1164561623.phpThe U.S. Dollar is the Week's Biggest Turkey: While Americans were busy digesting their Thanksgiving feasts, the rest of the world was barfing up dollars. As a result of our massive trade deficits, foreigners certainly have their bellies full of them.http://www.kitco.com/ind/Schiff/nov242006.html911Ex-employee says FAA warned before 9/11 - "Immediately (after 9/11), numerous government officials from FAA as well as other government agencies made defensive statements such as, 'How could we have known this was going to happen?' " Dzakovic testified later before the 9/11 Commission. "The truth is, they did know."http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15735.htmCONGRESSSen. Brownback (R-KS) Blocks Judicial Nominee just because She Attended a Lesbian "Commitment Ceremony" in 2002 for a Friend ((How big of him!!))http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/alerts/139Lawmakers Lose Patience With Iraq Government - "It is not too late. The United States can still extricate itself honorably from an impending disaster in Iraq," Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said in urging for a planned withdrawal of US troops. "If the president fails to build a bipartisan foundation for an exit strategy, America will pay a high price for this blunder - one that we will have difficulty recovering from in the years ahead."http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112706D.shtmlSchool of the Americas Opponents Seek New Vote - Opponents of the School of the Americas think that with the new make-up of Congress, they might have the votes to shut down the controversial training center for foreign military officers. Last weekend, thousands of protesters returned to Fort Benning, Georgia, for the 17th consecutive year to call for the closure of the school, whose training manuals advocate torture, extortion and execution. Rebecca MacNeice was there and filed this report for Truthout.http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112706Q.shtml
Waxman Has Bush Administration in Sights - Congressman Henry Waxman has spent the last six years waging a guerrilla campaign against the White House and its corporate allies, launching searing investigations into everything from military contracts to Medicare prices from his perch on the Government Reform Committee. In January, Waxman becomes committee chairman - and thus the lead Congressional hound of an administration many Democrats feel has blundered badly as it expanded the power of the executive branch.http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112706Z.shtmlDOMESTICU.S. to require passports for all by 2008:http://www.newstarget.com/021178.htmlSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYNASA draws up plans to land astronaut on doomsday asteroid:http://www.newstarget.com/021182.htmlWeb Tool Said to Offer A Way Past the Government Censor - Deep in a basement lab at the University of Toronto a team of political scientists, software engineers and computer-hacking activists, or “hactivists,” have created the latest, and some say most advanced tool yet in allowing Internet users to circumvent government censorship of the Web.http://www.usenix.org/events/sec02/feamster/feamster_html/
INTERNATIONALIsrael and Palestinians Reach Agreement on Cease-Firehttp://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112606C.shtml
MEDIA AND JOURNALISMTransgender role added to soaphttp://rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fpageoneq.com%2Frssfeedstuff%2Findex.php%3Fid%3D9745Documentary Films Rattle Business World - Videocam-Toting Davids Shooting Documentaries Tackle Corporate Goliaths on Business Practices.http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSINESS_DOCUMENTARIES?SITE=HIHAD&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-11-26-13-50-07
EDITORIALS - OPINIONSSiege and Seizure in Korea - apart from what the US is doing to the wretched countries of Iraq and Afghanistan, I have never been more ashamed of the US government than when I visited the village of Daechuri with 17 other American peace and social-justice activists and a campesino from Colombia
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112706B.shtml
HEALTHPrescription painkillers now more common than heroin as street drugs:http://www.newstarget.com/021177.html
"Illegal" psychedelic mushrooms prove to be genuine medicine for cluster headache sufferers:
http://www.newstarget.com/021179.htmlUK's "Healthy Start" program to provide fruits, vegetables and nutritional supplements to poor, expectant mothers:http://www.newstarget.com/021180.htmlFolic acid proven to prevent heart disease and stroke in study:
http://www.newstarget.com/021181.htmlFast Food Nation movie meets with mixed reviews from critics,moviegoers:http://www.newstarget.com/021184.htmlNutritional content of wheat substantially improved by activating latent "wild" gene:http://www.newstarget.com/021183.htmlFor vocal chord paralysis, make sure you share this report on the new material being injected into the vocal chords that has significantly helped 80 percent of patients, according to Dr. Roy Casiano.http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=14985News from Vanderbilt on a special drug researchers hope will help prevent lung cancer that has shrunk tumors in mice by more than 70 percent.
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=14988Future Cancer Risk for Stem Cell Transplant Patients
http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=14984Drug Takes Aim at Kidney Transplant Rejectionhttp://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=14977
November 26, 2006
THE THINKING SPOT
Energy Information - Do you wonder how long the media has manipulated you? Read the 2002 preface to a 1918 book "The Free Press" - Need further proof that information is suppressed? - In the late 50’s, a retired Florida college physics professor had a patent for a device to run an engine on water, The government classified his patent and this prevented him from developing his device.
ALERT
Word on the street ... they’re listening -- The microphones can detect conversations 100 yards away. Link not available.
ALERTPOPULATION EXTERMINATION - HOW WILL IT BE DONE? - The idea is that there are just too many people for the planet to sustain. Indeed, the Communist UN is hawking a program called Agenda 21, which includes a scam called “sustainable development.” It means total, totalitarian control of the environment and is presently being implemented here in these united States
http://www.etherzone.com/2006/stang112406.shtmlWARFerocity of Iraq attacks leaves US troops helpless - More than 3½ years after President George W Bush launched an invasion of Iraq, which his supporters proclaimed as a “cakewalk”, American troops were yesterday engulfed in a wave of sectarian bloodletting that threatens to destroy the Iraqi government and may jeopardise a crisis summit this week with Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister.(link not available)Opposition to U.S. Occupation in Iraq now self-sustaining financially, raising tens of millions of dollars a year from oil smuggling, kidnapping, counterfeiting, connivance by corrupt Islamic charities and other means, Says NYT. Bush taunted them, and they beat him back by killing our GIs and by killing each other.(Link not available)
CNN correspondent: "I mean, if this is not civil war, then what is it?http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/24/ldt.01.htmlAl-Sadr loyalists take over Iraqi television station - Followers of the militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took over state-run television Saturday to denounce the Iraqi government, label Sunnis "terrorists" and issue what appeared to many viewers as a call to arms.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16092045.htmTHE WHITE HOUSEBush plans week of high-stakes diplomacy - President Bush reaches out to allies this week for help in quelling violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a burst of diplomacy from a Baltic summit of NATO partners to Mideast talks with Iraq's prime minister.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bushCABINETS, COMMISSIONS, etc
CIA Launches Personality Quiz To Recruit New Employees…Take The Quiz Here…
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/cia-goes-for-comed y-with-personality/20061125123209990001?cid=2194 POLITICSCheney's Record Shows Dems “Should Not Expect The White House To Cooperate” In Next 2 Years...
(Link unavailable)
SCANDALEconomic scandal: AP Analysis: Firms Crimping Oil Supplies - The company says it could make more money on other projects. It denies it intended to squeeze the market, as its critics would claim, to drive up gasoline profits at its other refineries in the region.
http://finance.myway.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&feed=ap&src=601&news_id=ap-d8lkf8a80&date=20061125ELECTION ITEMS
Midterm Elections Show Voting Flaws: Voters In 25 States Had “Serious Problems”...(Link unavailable)
ECONOMY"As an Economic System, Capitalism is Going Crazy"http://www.counterpunch.org/The Coming Collapse in Housing -- Gary argues that housing prices are not in for just a small decline but a material drop.
(Link unavailable)
US dollar 'will keep falling' - The US dollar has reached a 'tipping point' as foreign exchange markets wake up to the threat that the Federal Reserve will have to slash interest rates in the new year to stave off recession, analysts say.
(Link unavailable) How Rent Makes Poverty -- This is a bit of an over-simplification. The recent boom in real estate values has dragged property taxes upwards with it, including taxes on rental properties. As taxes climb on property, the workmen hired to maintain rental properties who pay taxes on their homes and places of business must charge more. Those costs have to be passed on to renters.The real force driving the increase in costs at all levels of our economy is the tax burden.http://baltimorechronicle.com/2006/111706EDNEY.shtmlBankers wage open war on workers - This is a(nother) wakeup call for those stubborn working class conservatives who still believe that pinko commies are out to get them. Nothing can be further from the truth.
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/141911
Whistleblowers Say US Government Ignored Their Warnings
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/112506F.shtml
CONGRESS
Dems Plan “Array” Of Investigations...Link unavailable.
Democrats say no liberal plans in next Congress - Three Democratic congressmen who are about to take important leadership posts said on Sunday they plan to pass popular legislation blocked by Republicans but would refrain from pushing some of the most controversial elements on the liberal agenda.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061126/pl_nm/congress_agenda_dcDOMESTICCalifornia Legislature Votes to Kill the Health Insurance Industry....The US system, according to the World Health Organization, is rated 72nd in quality, but number one in cost, worldwide. The "Death by Medicine" study shows that the system itself is the number one killer of Americans. The number two and three killers of Americans are heart disease and cancer,
Link unavailableRELIGIOUS ITEMSColo. Residents Spar Over Peace Sign - A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2006/nov/26/112602743.html
ENVIRONMENTPlants, Animals, People Racing North Ahead Of Climate Change...Link unavailable
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYPrivate Spies Stalk The Internet - As has been exhaustively documented on this website, 90% of alleged major terror busts target either completely innocent people caught in a dragnet or are outright examples of entrapment, incitement and guilt by association.
Link unavailable
Good old days gone for biotech - Of the estimated 260,000 Californians who work in the life-science industry, about 70 percent are employed in high-paying jobs in drug, medical-device or diagnostic-tool companies.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/biotech/20061126-9999-1n26biotech.htmlINTERNATIONALCrusher! Chávez Retains a Big Edge Down the Stretch in Venezuelan Electionhttp://www.zogbyworldwide.com/news/ReadNews1.cfm?ID=772Pinochet takes responsibility for 'everything' - Gen. Augusto Pinochet took full responsibility for the first time Saturday for the actions of his 1973-90 dictatorship, which carried out thousands of political killings and is blamed for widespread torture and illegal imprisonment.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4360086.htmlMILITARY
Long stints in Iraq fracture families - 3rd Infantry Division will be the first deployed for a third year-long tour
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15898612/EDITORIALS - OPINIONSNobel winner says spend on women, not bombs - Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said on Saturday nations with nuclear capabilities should spend money to stop exploitation of women instead of making bombs.http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1751542006HEALTHAge 10 Is The New Age 15...Kids Growing Up Much Faster...http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126/ap_on_re_us/teen_tweens Folic acid 'reduces stroke risk' - Scientists have discovered that the nutrient lowers blood levels of homocysteine - a substance believed to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/health/s/229/229139_folic_acid_reduces_stroke_risk.html
November 25, 2006
THE THINKING SPOT"No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people, but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue." -- George Mason. (1725-1792), drafted the Virgina Declaration of Rights, ally of James Madison and George Washington
ALERT
Blood Pressure Readings: Which Number is More Important? - Systolic blood pressure may be an important indicator of the progression of heart disease; the lower the number, the worse it likely is.http://www.mercola.com/2006/nov/25/blood-pressure-readings-which-number-is-more-important.htmWARShiites Warn of Government Withdrawal: A powerful legislative bloc loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr threatened to withdraw from the government if Iraq’s prime minister attends a scheduled meeting with President Bush in Jordan next week.http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15723.htmReport: Iraqi Insurgency Now Financially Self-Sustaining… Raising $70-$200 Million A Year By Smuggling, Kidnapping, Other Illegal Activities…
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/world/middleeast/26insurgency.html?hp&ex=1164517200&en=2a2a5b9d24a4cf05&ei=5094&partner=homepageCivil war could ripple outward --- NEARBY NATIONS DREADING IRAQ'S DISINTEGRATION So now it appears that the war on Iraq is perilously close to creating a full-on war in the entire region....Welcome to the world of unitended consequences, courtesy of this Administration!http://tinyurl.com/yc83ooIraqi coalition on brink of collapse as country descends towards civil war
http://tinyurl.com/yb89grEl Salvador-style 'death squads' to be deployed by US against Iraq militants -- THE Pentagon is considering forming hit squads of Kurdish and Shia fighters to target leaders of the Iraqi insurgency in a strategic shift borrowed from the American struggle against left-wing guerrillas in Central America 20 years ago.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1433353,00.htmlKENNEDY ASSASSINATION REVISITEDCIA role claim in Kennedy killing
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/serrano.htmlRobert Kennedy Assassination: Intimidation of a witness.http://tinyurl.com/yfpr8sRobert Kennedy Assassination: The Enyart Photos -- In 1988 Scott Enyart requested that his photographs should be returned. At first the State Archives claimed they could not find them and that they must have been destroyed by mistake. Enyart filed a lawsuit which finally came to trial in 1996. During the trial the Los Angeles city attorney announced that the photos had been found in its Sacramento office and would be brought to the courthouse by the courier retained by the State Archives. The following day it was announced that the courier’s briefcase, that contained the photographs, had been stolen from the car he rented at the airport.
http://tinyurl.com/y228haSCANDAL“Make Sure This Is Accomplished”: Rumsfeld Signed Letter Authorizing Detainee Torture...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-11-25T164527Z_01_L25726413_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-RUMSFELD.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2LEGAL ITEMSNorthrop Grumman Engineer Could Get Death Penalty For Selling Classified Info - LA federal grand jury has indicted Noshir Gowadia, a Northrop Grumman engineer, for allegedly transferring classified military information to China, Israel, Germany, and Switzerland.
http://tinyurl.com/tuoc9Child porn in Web cache OK -- Pennsylvania man appealed his conviction for knowingly possessing downloaded child pornography, saying he didn't know it was in his Web browser's cache....(This makes sense. You don't know what you are accessing until you look at it. You can delete it right then and there, but it will still be in your cache. Therefore, the contents of the cache do NOT represent what you willingly chose to keep.)http://news.com.com/Police%20blotter%20Child%20porn%20in%20Web%20cache%20OK/2100-1030_3-6137123.html?tag=sas.emailStates Will Tell Supreme Court Feds Must Act on Warming -- a coalition of 12 states will try to convince the Supreme Court the Feds must deal with global warming.http://tinyurl.com/ycyo3vECONOMY
Wal-Mart sees weak sales as holiday season startshttp://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061125/us_nm/retail_holiday_dc911Ex-employee says FAA warned before 9/11 - The team repeatedly warned the FAA of the potential for security breaches and hijackings but was told to cover up its findings, Dzakovic says.
http://tinyurl.com/yk4u6bCONGRESSSenate Democrats Revive Demand for Classified Data - Seeking information about detention of terrorism suspects, abuse of detainees and government secrecy, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are reviving dozens of demands for classified documents that until now have been rebuffed or ignored by the Justice Department and other agencies.http://tinyurl.com/y8k2znDOMESTIC
Fond du Lac Parents Want Angelou Book Bannedhttp://tinyurl.com/yn66coDespite a Year of Ire and Angst, Little Has Changed on Wiretaps -- For all the sound and fury in the last year, the National Security Agency's wiretapping program continues uninterrupted, with no definitive action by either Congress or the courts on what, if anything, to do about it, and little chance of a breakthrough in the lame-duck Congress.http://tinyurl.com/ydcgegENVIRONMENTEnergy Firms Come to Terms With Climate Change - While the political debate over global warming continues, top executives at many of the nation's largest energy companies have accepted the scientific consensus about climate change and see federal regulation to cut greenhouse gas emissions as inevitable.
http://tinyurl.com/u6rznLaurie David: Science Teachers Omitting Global Warming Because Of Exxon Mobil Funding…http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112400789_pf.htmlSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYGangsters hijack home PCs to choke internet with spamhttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2470742,00.htmlINTERNATIONALPutin's new secret weapon - Ownership of 30% of the world's gas supply and being the second-biggest oil producer has given him a new and powerful economic bargaining counter.
http://tinyurl.com/yxxsetMEDIA AND JOURNALISM
True to form, NOAM CHOMSKY makes a sweeping and copiously detailed indictment of U.S. Middle East policy. His history-filled lecture (interrupted by occasional applause) focuses on four crises, involving the Palestinians, the Lebanon invasion, the Iraq war and the “impending catastrophe in Iran.”http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15730.htm
November 24, 2006
THE THINKING SPOTIf everyone who has critiqued the Iraq situaion says the US is just no cutting it, isn't another way of saying this is the the Iraqi resistance is winning?*********************************************Hypocrite of the WeekJohn McCain might have been riding the Straight Talk Express back in 2000, but now he's definitely a passenger in a Double Talk Taxi....It would take a long feature article to detail how profound McCain's shift has been from a man of integrity to a man of opportunism, but let's just say that McCain has gotten so close to kissing George W. Bush's behind that he's got Joe Lieberman's lipstick on his cheek. (Thanks to BuzzFlash)
*********************************************
WARTom Hayden: Documents Reveal Secret Talks Between U.S. and Armed Iraqi Resistance…http://tinyurl.com/yyna23Bush Visit Threatens to Fracture Iraqi Government --- As the death toll continues to devastate, a powerful legislative bloc loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr threatened to withdraw from the government if Iraq’s prime minister attends a coming meeting with President Bush in Jordan next week.http://tinyurl.com/y646f8US president has no credibility, unable to initiate Iran attackhttp://tinyurl.com/yavbf4Revolutionary Guards Head: 'US Forces in Middle East 'Extremely' Vulnerable: The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has said: If America attacks Iran, its 200,000 troops and 33 bases in the region will be extremely vulnerable, and both American politicians and military commanders are aware of it.
http://tinyurl.com/y5to3aIraq Stares Into Face of Civil War - Funeral processions began Friday for the more than 160 people who were killed by car bombs and mortars in Baghdad's largest Shiite district. Hundreds of men, women and children beat their chests, chanted and cried as they walked beside vehicles carrying the caskets of their loved ones. "There is a full-scale sectarian war in the country that the media has not been able to fully project to the world," says Bassam Ali, a political analyst from Arbil.http://tinyurl.com/y8ws5uIraq oil profits reportedly used to back militants: The Iraqi oil ministry has uncovered illegal operations whereby oil products were sold and profits were pooled into financing local militancy, Al Sabah newspaper reported on Wednesday.
http://tinyurl.com/y275ruRussia Said to Deliver Arms to Iran --- Russia has begun delivery of Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran, a Defense Ministry official said Friday, confirming that Moscow would proceed with arms deals with Tehran in spite of Western criticism.http://tinyurl.com/vt4rdTHE WHITE HOUSEBush's Mysterious 'New Programs' --- But recent developments suggest that the Bush administration may already be contemplating what to do with Americans who are deemed insufficiently loyal or who disseminate information that may be considered helpful to the enemy....Top U.S. officials have cited the need to challenge news that undercuts Bush’s actions as a key front in defeating the terrorists, who are aided by “news informers” in the words of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
http://tinyurl.com/wspg3In the Shadow of Ho Chi Minh - "President Bush has said many dumb things in defense of his Iraq policy. Citing the Vietnam War as a model, however, is perhaps his most ludicrous yet."
http://tinyurl.com/yyy88lNOTE: THEY knew THEY were going to be doing nasties. A Senate Mystery Keeps Torture Alive - and Its practitioners Free --- With all the lawsuits over kidnapping and torture marching toward the Bush administration, you might think the top officials running the global war on terror would be worried. A provision quietly tucked into the Military Commissions Act just before it was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush on October 17, would ease any worries they might’ve had...it also exempts the perpetrators, interrogators and their bosses - from punishment all the way back to November 1997."REVISITING KENNEDYBBC Claims CIA Involvement in RFK Assassination - New video and photographic evidence that puts three senior CIA operatives at the scene of Robert Kennedy's assassination has been brought to light.http://tinyurl.com/w8tgjCABINETS, COMMISSIONS, etcPentagon -- Unaccounted Funds -- What would you do if your business or household could not account for 25% of what it spends?http://tinyurl.com/y5zvlsLEGAL ITEMSNew York Times turns to Supreme Court - The New York Times asked the Supreme Court on Friday to block the government from reviewing the phone records of two reporters in a leak investigation about a terrorism-funding probe.
http://tinyurl.com/yxuphvJudge to rule on landmark Internet porn law. The law is so imprecisely written it would restrict most adult Internet users to material that is only suitable for children.
http://tinyurl.com/y54c7b'State secrets privilege' blocks fired translator from suing FBI --- Several months into her contract, she discovered "shoddy" translations relevant to 9/11 created by translators who had "failed the proficiency exams," she says....A report by the Justice Department's inspector general subsequently confirmed that at least one translator had failed the FBI's language proficiency exams. Edmonds says the translator was sent to Guantanamo Bay to translate "the most sensitive terrorist-related information" from interviews of detainees. http://tinyurl.com/y7baduELECTION ITEMSWhen Votes Disappear - we’re in danger of becoming a digital-age banana republic. Congressional race, the evidence strongly suggests that paperless voting machines failed to count thousands of votes, and that the disappearance of these votes delivered the race to the wrong candidate,"
http://tinyurl.com/y3v8p4Jennings Contests Election Resultshttp://tinyurl.com/yd9dmeECONOMYFree Trade Arithmetic for Progressives - the loss of manufacturing jobs and the downward pressure on wages in the sector has the effect of lowering wages for the entire 70 percent of the workforce that lacks a college degree."http://tinyurl.com/y77gdsThe idiocy of the RIGHT has no limit: Is Alan reenspan "DBCB"? Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan is now delivering a speech on the lecture circuit where he states that the housing bubble created under his watch at the Fed was really the result of the Berlin Wall coming down, and not because he pumped massive liquidity into the monetary system.http://tinyurl.com/y3cxf9US Dollar Drops Sharply...Experts: Concerns That Economy Will “Continue To Weaken”...http://tinyurl.com/uz7qnCONGRESS
New Democratic Majority Roils Lobbying Industry - The Democrats' takeover of Congress this month has turned official Washington upside down. Labor and environmental representatives, once also-rans in congressional influence, are meeting frequently with Capitol Hill's incoming Democratic leaders. Corporations that once boasted about their Republican ties are busily hiring Democratic lobbyists. And industries worried about reprisals from the new Democrats-in-charge, especially the pharmaceutical industry, are sending out woe-is-me memos and hoping their GOP connections will protect them in the crunch.http://tinyurl.com/y3mptoPrescription Drug Battle Looms for Next Congress - Alarmed at the prospect of Democratic control of Congress, top executives from two dozen drug companies met here last week to assess what appears to them to be a harsh new political climate, and to draft a battle plan. Hoping to prevent Congress from letting the government negotiate lower drug prices for millions of older Americans on Medicare, the pharmaceutical companies have been recruiting. Democratic lobbyists, lining up allies in the Bush administration and Congress, and renewing ties with organizations of patients who depend on brand-name drugs.http://tinyurl.com/y5xz79Top House Democrats to bar military draft planhttp://tinyurl.com/y53w2tDOMESTIC
After 15 Months, Katrina Victims Spend Thanksgiving in Trailers -- Many people who were living with family members or staying in hotels at government expense last year have since moved out or been evicted.http://tinyurl.com/u9dlvENVIRONMENTNASA okays the polluting of outer space with space station waste:http://tinyurl.com/tkhgmSCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
One laptop per child project ships first 10 computers:http://tinyurl.com/y4j4dv
MILITARY16,000 Single Mothers Serving in Iraq - More than 155,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.http://tinyurl.com/y7xcb9MEDIA AND JOURNALISM
Thanks - No, Seriously --- Molly Ivins writes: "It's time to give thanks, and I want to start off with a great, big thank you for the top American movement conservatives and all the fun we've had since Election Day. I know I promised not to gloat after this election was over, but I'm not talking unseemly gloating - I'm talking about moments so brilliantly hilarious the only option is to put your head down on the desk and howl."
http://tinyurl.com/y6ptwbBlogs can control who sees what onlinehttp://tinyurl.com/y82jesEDITORIALS - OPINIONSBob Novak: Rumsfeld's Firing “Connotes Something Deeply Wrong” With Bush's Presidency... http://tinyurl.com/y6zptp
HEALTHSan Francisco to ban children's toys made with toxic chemicals; bisphenol A and phthalates targeted:http://tinyurl.com/y6bg6xAnemia drug found to cause fatal heart attacks and strokes:http://tinyurl.com/y44hweU.S. hospitals fail basic hygiene standards; infections worsen:http://tinyurl.com/yxjrfaCranberries show remarkable health benefits in studies:http://tinyurl.com/t5v25Ruptured disk surgery as effective as waiting, study finds:http://tinyurl.com/y6q2khFinancial ties between FDA, drug companies could get even stronger with new "pay to play" TV advertisement review service:http://tinyurl.com/yygxbbFatty fish consumption found to slash risk of dementia, Alzheimer's:http://tinyurl.com/w924pPopular contact lens solution recalled due to sterility problems:http://tinyurl.com/vrfn8SPECIAL INTEREST ITEMS
NASA okays the polluting of outer space with space station waste:
http://tinyurl.com/tkhgm
