November 11, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

Unhappy events abroad have retaught us two simple truths about the liberty of a democratic people. The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of a private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism – ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. (FDR: message to Congress proposing the monopoly investigation, 1938)

ALERT

BUSH APPROVAL HITS ALL-TIME LOW
http://tinyurl.com/ynacq8

MSNBC online poll: 87% say Bush actions justify impeachment
http://tinyurl.com/y96cf5

WAR
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“Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.” : Lester B. Pearson
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Is US Winning War? Chairman Of Joint Chiefs Of Staff: “You Have To Define 'Winning'”...
http://tinyurl.com/y7mjp6

$160 billion supplemental appropriation For Iraq for remainder of fiscal year 2007--- if approved by the Defense Department, may hasten the showdown between resurgent congressional Democrats and the Bush administration over the budget-busting War on Terror.
http://tinyurl.com/tq7oq

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"We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security."-- Dwight David Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th president (1890-1969)
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Iraq disaster warning --- An attack on Iran will not be an invasion with ground troops. We don't have enough of those left to invade Ruritania. It will be a "package" of air and missile strikes, by U.S. forces or Israel. - The Democrats taking either or both Houses of Congress, if it happens, will not make any difference. They would rather have the Republicans start and lose another war than prevent a national disaster. Politics comes first and the country second.
http://tinyurl.com/u7r6a

Sunni-Shiite Mortar War Marks Escalation --- Mortar battles have erupted between Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad, and the once-mixed city is reeling as the two sides adopt the weapons and tactics of urban civil war.
http://tinyurl.com/uwekg

Gates: U.S. should talk to Iran --- the United States should be talking with Iran instead of shunning it.
http://tinyurl.com/uazf7

At home and abroad, things are not going Bush's way. In an awkward bit of timing, Bush will be globe-trotting when outgoing Congress returns to town next week to open its last session, taking up business the White House deems vital.
http://tinyurl.com/y78qsa

The Voice of the White House for November 10th 2006 -- Israel has finally determined to launch what they consider to be a preemptive military strike against Iran’s capacity to manufacture and, most especially, to deliver an atomic weapon against Israel. Remember that Bush still has his rubber-stamp Congress for another 2 months. yOUR KIDS CAN BE TRAPPED INTO ANOTHER DEBACLE trapping the Democratic Congress into fiscal support for the troops.
http://tinyurl.com/t72se

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Everything, everything in war is barbaric... But the worst barbarity of war is that it forces men collectively to commit acts against which individually they would revolt with their whole being: Ellen Key
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Powell aide: Torture 'guidance' from VP --- A former top State Department official said Sunday that Vice President Dick Cheney provided the "philosophical guidance" and "flexibility" that led to the torture of detainees in U.S. facilities.
http://tinyurl.com/y84wob

Rumsfeld's Secret Army--- Citing CIA and other high-level officials, Hersh detailed the "special access program" that eventually led to the Abu Ghraib horror show. In pursuing the "war on terrorism," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Stephen A. Cambone, his undersecretary of intelligence, created what amounted to a secret army whose task, as one insider put it, is to "Grab whom you must. Do what you want."
http://tinyurl.com/29gpv

THE WHITE HOUSE
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"Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive." -- Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) Historian and author Source: Freedom and Order, 1966
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Watch the Texas CheneySaw Massacre...
http://tinyurl.com/y828fe

Majority Of Americans: Bush Is A “Lame Duck”...
http://tinyurl.com/ynacq8

The Rulers Have Had Enough - So people like George Shultz, James Baker, George H.W. Bush, and the rest of the real global rulers who put the original Bush team together and who were, let’s just say influential and helpful in making sure that the “election” turned out the way they wanted it to, are now pulling the plug on team one and they are assembling team two.
http://tinyurl.com/wseoe

Cheney in a Box --- Right now, Cheney is probably huddled somewhere with his national security team, rubbing his sweaty-hands together, figuring out how he can get back in the game and keep his fetid plan moving forward...Cheney is smart; real smart. Smart like a cobra. He’s not going down without a fight and he doesn’t give a damn if he takes the whole country with him.
http://tinyurl.com/y5yslo

POLITICS

True Lies About U.S. Aid to " Israeli " War Machinery Cost of Israel to U.S. Taxpayers was a total of $5,525,800,000. ($3 billion in annual U.S. foreign aid + $525.8 million extras --- $2 billion in federal loan guarantees)
http://tinyurl.com/y39gtm

Hey Carville, Pass Me Some Of That Sweet Crack!
http://tinyurl.com/y5vyhp

White House Chuckles While Stabbing Dems in Back: More on the John Bolton Nomination Story
http://tinyurl.com/y2dbxl

Republican Party committee embraced the exact same pro-homosexual 'orientation' policy. The president of Americans for Truth says it's time for the homosexuals in the Republican Party to come out of the closet. (Don't you wonder why G.Allen was luke warm on the marriage amendment in Va.?
http://tinyurl.com/y682he

LEGAL ITEMS
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To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men: Abraham Lincoln: 16th U.S. president, 1809-1865
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Appeals court to review eavesdrop case - A federal appeals court agreed Tuesday to review a lower court's ruling that kept alive a lawsuit challenging President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program.
http://tinyurl.com/sezb9

Donald Rumsfeld: The War Crimes Case --- Marjorie Cohn of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, president of the National Lawyers Guild, says that although Donald Rumsfeld is resigning as US Secretary of Defense, steps should be and will be taken to hold him accountable for breaches of international law and even war crimes sanctioned in Iraq and Guantanamo during his tenure ...
http://tinyurl.com/yxkw8j

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Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens : Plato : Ancient Greek philosopher (428/427-348/347 B.C.)
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GERMANY TO PROSECUTE RUMSFELD, ATTY. GEN. GONZALES, FMR. CIA CHIEF TENET FOR WAR CRIMES...
http://tinyurl.com/yanhdg

Warrantless Wiretaps Unlikely To Be OKed...
http://tinyurl.com/y2p668

Push to pick prosecutor told Ryan --- Former U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald suggested Thursday that then-Gov. George Ryan tried to influence the selection of the U.S attorney in Chicago at about the same time prosecutors had questioned him about wrongdoing while he was secretary of state.
http://tinyurl.com/suysp

Former Miners File Suit Against Alcoa - waste dumped at the Squaw Creek Mine, north of Boonville, was the cause of a multitude of physical ailments.
http://tinyurl.com/uqywn

ELECTION ITEMS

Senator Harry Reid, the incoming Senate majority leader, said “the first order of business” when Democrats formally take over in January will be to reinvigorate Congressional scrutiny of the executive branch, with a focus on Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/v9fk5

CNN'S Schneider: Murtha Has The Message That Won The Glorious Victory Of '06...
http://tinyurl.com/y5sa8s

Rove: The Election Was About the Hostile Takeover
http://tinyurl.com/y4zfy9

Labour Party Recruits Howard Dean As Adviser For UK May Elections...
http://tinyurl.com/vb9q3

Rumsfeld Announcement Rankles Republicans --- Donald Rumsfeld’s abrupt resignation from the Pentagon the day after Republicans surrendered both chambers of Congress, in part, for their support of the war in Iraq angered Republicans on and off Capitol Hill. --- President Bush announced Rumsfeld’s resignation on Wednesday and named Bob Gates, a former CIA chief and president of Texas A&M University, as his replacement. “They did this to protect themselves, but they couldn’t protect us?” another Republican aide said yesterday.
THE HILL

Outcome Uncertain in Eight House Races
http://tinyurl.com/sbr2c

ECONOMY
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"Can any reasonable man be well disposed toward a government which makes war and carnage the only means of supporting itself?" -- Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) Source: at the US Constitutional Convention
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Bush’s Chernobyl economy; hard times are on the way - In the next few months, a financial crisis will arise somewhere in the world which will jolt the American economy and trigger a swift and precipitous decline in the value of the dollar.
http://tinyurl.com/y9vh9d

Out-of-Work GOP Aides Face Tough Road Ahead - the hundreds of Republican staffers — not to mention more than a few Members — who will lose their jobs in the next few weeks are going to face a hostile marketplace on K Street as unemployed Republicans flood the market.
http://tinyurl.com/y8qstk

Report: Foreclosures up 17 percent nationwide --- The Irvine, Calif.-based firm said that 318,355 properties in the United States entered some stage of foreclosure in the third quarter, a 17 percent increase over the prior quarter....(Those people who didn't look at the fine print in those "exotic/ interest-only" mortgages may be in for a world of hurt, between escallating payments and shrinking home values.)
http://tinyurl.com/y66y2x

Gas prices inch upward --- In the box center page. The post-election "soak the voter" phase has just begun.
http://tinyurl.com/n9uk

Katrina Victims Still Waiting For Rebuilding Money...Only 22 Families Have Received Grants So Far…
http://tinyurl.com/y7kmxu

The Wal-Mart You Don't Know, and the Eventual U.S. Decline
http://tinyurl.com/y6mlvv

Why Costco Blows Away Wal-Mart - Great prices, great selection, and employees paid as much as 40 percent more than at Sam's Club, Wal-Mart's warehouse counterpart.
http://tinyurl.com/y34ver

911

9/11 Truth Remains The Critical Issue - 9/11 truth is the make or break issue that will define freedom in America for future generations.
http://tinyurl.com/y9283p

CONGRESS
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No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority: Thomas Jefferson: American 3rd US President (1801-09).
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Democrats may use probes to force policy shifts. Let the sunshine in!
http://tinyurl.com/y3jhtb

Dems Pledge to Sever Ties to Lobbyists - On Day 1 of the next session of Congress, newly empowered Democrats are promising restrictive rules to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation." The city's veteran lobbyists know what to expect on Day 2: requests for political donations from the Capitol's new stewards.
http://tinyurl.com/y7g3j2

White House in for a hefty dose of oversight - Mr. Waxman complained that Republicans, while in power, shut Democrats out of decision-making and abdicated oversight responsibilities, focusing only on maintaining their own power.
http://tinyurl.com/y7bdlr

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“We should be loyal to our country at all times and to our government when it deserves it.” Mark Twain
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Richard Pombo's Defeat Heralds Hope for Alternative Energy in Congress - Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.), who received substantial contributions from oil and gas companies, lost his seat to Jerry McNerney, who runs a start-up company that hopes to make wind turbines.
http://tinyurl.com/u45re

29 Freshmen arrive in Washington on Monday for 110TH Congressional Orientation --- Mon-pictures and full day of meetings continuing Tues. and Wed. with a reception for the class at the Botanical Gardens.
THE HILL

Re Bolton and the UN --- “I see no point in considering Mr. Bolton's nomination again in the Foreign Relations Committee ... Unless the administration provides the Senate with the documents it is entitled to see, Mr. Bolton should not get a vote,” Biden said.
THE HILL

GOP minority leader candidates: - Joe Barton (R-Tex) and John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Mike Pence (R_ind.). Obviously, Texas would love to have Barton chosen.
The Hill

Re Gates as Defence head ---Democrats also said they would look closely at Gates’ role in the Reagan-era Iran-Contra scandal, which erupted during his tenure as deputy CIA director.
THE HILL

Emanuel to Run for Caucus Chairman --- Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) announced today that he would run for chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, forgoing what could have become a divisive bid for majority whip against Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). --- Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) announced that he would remain as caucus vice chair, paving the way for Emanuel to run unopposed.
THE HILL

Alexander Claims Victory in Senate Whip Race --- Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) says he has enough votes to become Republican Senate Whip in the 110th Congress.
THE HILL

DOMESTIC

Fingerprints Replacing Credit Cards at Retail Stores
http://tinyurl.com/y7yh4z

RELIGIOUS ITEMS

“God Gap” In Politics Has Narrowed Substantially...
http://tinyurl.com/y7mjp6

MILITARY

U.S. offers $50,000 to help find missing soldier - The U.S. military has put up a $50,000 reward for anyone who helps find an American soldier kidnapped in Baghdad, the Army said Saturday.
http://tinyurl.com/yxokkf

US army 'to suggest Iraq changes' - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Peter Pace said commanders were having their own dialogue and would make the changes that were needed.
http://tinyurl.com/yyoesc

Female Veterans Face Displaced Worker Distress - As America recognizes its veterans Saturday, a small but steadily growing number are women - some 28,000 of the 274,000 service members currently deployed.
http://tinyurl.com/vm7so

Nat'l Guard Units to Be Sent Back to Battle in Iraq Again - brigades from North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas and Indiana - Pentagon's first large-scale departure from its previous decision not to deploy reserves for more than a cumulative 24 months in Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/yypbvb

MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

Bob Cesca: “Roll Call Of People Who Must Officially Shut The F*** Up” Now That Dems Control Congress…***GOOD READ****
http://tinyurl.com/wm23l

HEALTH

How Trans Fats Accelerate the Obesity Epidemic - Not only do they cause cancer, diabetes, and clogged arteries, but trans fats can cause you to put on more weight than other types of fat.
http://tinyurl.com/yycjmp

Alpha Lipoic Acid: The Universal Antioxidant - supplementing with ALA may benefit many different areas of health including neurological, cardiovascular, immune, blood sugar and more
http://tinyurl.com/sffe8