November 16, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

“Our only political party has two right wings, one called Republican, the other Democratic. But Henry Adams figured all that out back in the 1890s. ‘We have a single system,’ he wrote, and ‘in that system the only question is the price at which the proletariat is to be bought and sold, the bread and circuses.’” : Gore Vidal - The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

WAR

Who Will Pay for Iraq and When? --- it is going to cost us all dearly
http://tinyurl.com/yg6d22

2200 More U.S. Troops Headed To Iraq...
http://tinyurl.com/tckhq

Official says U.S. may consider pre-emptive Iran strike: The United States or other countries will one day be forced to consider pre-emptive action if Iran and North Korea continue to seek nuclear weapons, a senior U.S. government official said on Tuesday.
http://tinyurl.com/yfa76y

Another Ambush In Iraq…4 Americans Believed Among 14 Captured…
http://tinyurl.com/ykqs6n

Sectarian Strife in Iraq Imperils Entire Region, Analysts Warn - While American commanders have suggested that civil war is possible in Iraq, many leaders, experts and ordinary people in Baghdad and around the Middle East say it is already underway, and that the real worry ahead is that the conflict will destroy the flimsy Iraqi state and draw in surrounding countries.
http://tinyurl.com/y7mjp6

Insurgent Attacks in Afghanistan Doubled in 2006 - double that of 2005 and will continue next year - insurgents had expanded their abilities and operations even while incurring serious combat losses
http://tinyurl.com/yf2uf9

Did Bush 'hijack' Iraq Study Group?
http://tinyurl.com/yelu95

US may be 'forced to pick side' in Iraq - Bush administration might favor Shi'ites; Warrant issued for influential Sunni.
http://tinyurl.com/yelu95

US plans last big push in Iraq - President George Bush has told senior advisers that the US and its allies must make "a last big push" to win the war in Iraq and that instead of beginning a troop withdrawal next year, he may increase US forces by up to 20,000 soldiers,
http://tinyurl.com/y6pfcd

THE WHITE HOUSE

State Medicaid Directors in Standoff With Bush Over Cuts
http://tinyurl.com/y73dfy

The Same Old George - although Democrats won control of Congress this month, the president refuses to heed the change in direction that voters are demanding: "George W. Bush gets smacked in the head with an electoral baseball bat, and he still refuses to get the message. This will prove to be an interesting two years indeed."
http://tinyurl.com/ucepn

CABINETS

Payback Time For Lott......Frist And Rove Watch Out...
http://tinyurl.com/yxqguv

POLITICS

Emanuel calls Dean, distances self from Carville's rants
http://tinyurl.com/wubyu

Dem Post Election Finger Pointing: Pundits “Carville And Greenberg...Are Just Dead Wrong”....
http://tinyurl.com/svy39

The neocons' last stand -- They scurried off Bush's sinking ship, but are still trying to stop a reversal of his Middle East policy
http://tinyurl.com/y3tlxz

Helen Thomas: Neo-cons Now Blame Bush for Iraq Debacle
http://tinyurl.com/y5zbdo

LEGAL ITEMS

Hospital Faces Skid Row Dumping Charges - Kaiser Permanente is among 10 hospitals under investigation by city prosecutors for allegedly discharging homeless patients to the streets of Skid Row rather than to a relative or shelter.
http://tinyurl.com/uwynz

Judge Delays Voting Audit in Florida
http://tinyurl.com/y3xf4h

Plame Wilson v. White House: Round 1---The showdown between the White House, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, and his wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, a former covert operative for the CIA whose identity was unmasked by Bush administration officials, entered its first stage Tuesday. The Justice Department contends that Rove, Cheney ... and the other defendants are immune to civil lawsuits.
http://tinyurl.com/ylgfb8

Authorities Open Criminal Probe Into Fmr. GOP Rep Foley...
http://tinyurl.com/tusb6

GOP New Hampshire Phone Jammer Pleads Guilty. So that makes four conservative convictions and/or guilty pleas in the case.
http://tinyurl.com/y2f7b4

White House Sued for Not Doing Report on Warming
http://tinyurl.com/taqbs

Whistleblowers : Who Are They? --- After blowing the whistle on fraud, 90 percent of the whistleblowers were fired or demoted, 27 percent faced lawsuits, 26 percent had to seek psychiatric or physical care, 25 percent suffered alcohol abuse, 17 percent lost their homes, 15 percent got divorced, 10 percent attempted suicide, and 8 percent were bankrupted. But in spite of all this, only 16 percent said that they wouldn’t blow the whistle again.
http://tinyurl.com/yncff6

ELECTION ITEMS

Counts Still Under Way in Five House Races -- Several House races remain undecided more than a week after Democrats decisively won control of both chambers of Congress.
http://tinyurl.com/ybz6v5

We do not want Democrats, we just hate the Republicans
http://tinyurl.com/yy83cf

GOP Rep. Explains Election Losses: “White Rednecks.... Didn't Show Up To Vote For Us”... (((Whine,Whine!!)))
http://tinyurl.com/wubyu

Unions Hope Bill Energizes Organizing - Once the Democrats take control of Congress, expect to see legislation fairly quickly to boost the minimum wage, make student loans more affordable, and require employers to permit union card checks.
http://tinyurl.com/y343gd

Women Rock the Vote - decisive role that women voters played in the midterm election."
http://tinyurl.com/y6jwrj

Free Trade: "Incumbents who did not question the failed economic model of NAFTA that wrecked havoc on their communities found themselves on the losing end of this election."
http://tinyurl.com/yyogwu

New York Times: Counting the Vote, Badly -- Election reform has tended to be a partisan issue, with Democrats arguing for reform and Republicans resisting it.
http://tinyurl.com/yknur3

911

Criminal Offense: Removal Of Forensic Evidence on 9/11 - Now, you’re telling me that Govenor Whitman is married into the Bush family, that Govenor Pataki just conveniently moved his offices out of the World Trade Center months before the attack, and both of their approval was required to remove forensic evidence from the scene that could have given us 100% positive
http://tinyurl.com/y5lwpk

CONGRESS
***********************
“But if an industry lobbyist walks into the office of a key legislator and hands her or him a check for $1,000, we call that a campaign contribution. We should call it a bribe.” : Janice Fine - Dollars and Sense magazine
***********************

Back to the Future With Trent Lott - Republicans have been talking about how to create a new and more appealing public image for the Congressional party that has suffered from its association with corruption scandals, crude policies and divisive statements."
http://tinyurl.com/yamy24

Bush Resubmits Six U.S. Appellate Court Nominees to Senate - ``The president is choosing partisanship over progress and division over unity,'' Leahy said in a statement. ``The signal the president is sending by renominating these controversial candidates is regrettable.''
http://tinyurl.com/y7nxct

Dems want $7.25 min. wage baseline
http://tinyurl.com/yelu95

New Specter NSA Bill: November Surprise? New
http://tinyurl.com/y3mb9q

DOMESTIC

Service Employees International Union: Oil Giant Chevron To Be Subject of Nationwide Protests For Turning Its Back on Hard-Working American Families
http://tinyurl.com/y2vkvj

ACORN Joins International Forces Against Wal-Mart
http://tinyurl.com/v353u

ENVIRONMENT

Polar Bear Survival Rate Falls as Climate Warms
http://tinyurl.com/y3zmuu

Act Against Kyoto Evaders - France has threatened to tax imports from countries that have not signed the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions. Its prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, told a meeting on sustainable development yesterday, "Europe has to use all its weight to stand up to this sort of environmental dumping."
http://tinyurl.com/y7wjb2

Scientists Call for Deep-Sea Trawling Ban - Scientists have called for a worldwide ban on deep-sea trawling following a major UN-backed report on the damage it is causing to vulnerable deep-sea corals.
http://tinyurl.com/ww57s

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Physics promises 'wireless power'
http://tinyurl.com/vs7jj

First US reviews laud Honda's hydrogen car
http://tinyurl.com/y5enys

Small electronic devices could be powered by wireless resonant electromagnetic energy, physicists say:
http://tinyurl.com/y35umb

INTERNATIONAL

Anti-American sentiment up sharply in Greece-survey Anti-American sentiment, rooted in Greece since Washington backed a military dictatorship there almost 40 years ago, has risen sharply in the past two years, an international survey showed on Thursday.
http://tinyurl.com/yyxqln

British Banks warned of 'end to the good times' -- The City regulator issued a warning to the high street banks yesterday that the "clouds were already darkening" and urged them to prepare for the impact of rising unemployment and the knock-on effect on bad debts.
http://tinyurl.com/ug34j

Annan Criticizes US Over Global Warming - In a thinly veiled attack on the US and Australia, the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, said today that a "frightening lack of leadership" was hindering the fight against global warming
http://tinyurl.com/teeno

MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

Watch Al Jazeera English Live Broadcast - English - Al Jazeera English, the new international news channel from the Qatar-based television network, has begun broadcasting in English from its main studios in Doha.
http://tinyurl.com/ybpglu

O'Reilly Lied About Connection To Fox Broadcasting Over OJ Interview...
http://tinyurl.com/vn738

The New Media Offensive for the Iraq War - The American media establishment has launched a major offensive against the option of withdrawing US troops from Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/twmh4

Media Accountability Conference - Project Censored - top 25 underreported stories from around the country -
http://tinyurl.com/yxsb3t

Clear Channel Accepts $18.7 Billion Takeover Bid --- The nation's largest network of radio stations, Clear Channel Communications, agreed Thursday morning to be bought for $18.7 billion, in a deal that may test private equity's seemingly insatiable appetite for media properties.
http://tinyurl.com/ydazn7

EDITORIALS - OPINIONS

How the Republicans Could Win It All Back in 2008
http://tinyurl.com/u6w7t

First, Re-Open the Libraries - "It never got down to actual book-burning, but the Republican choke-hold on government would clearly have taken us there," writes Kelpie Wilson. "In August, under the guise of fiscal responsibility, the Bush Environmental Protection Agency began closing most of its research libraries, both to the public and to its own staff."
http://tinyurl.com/ycecr6

HEALTH

French researchers torture mice to study effects of painkillers:
http://tinyurl.com/y88n7p

Drinking water found to contain far more cancer-causing chemicals than previously thought:
http://tinyurl.com/vhoze

AMA sides with beverage association against tax on sugary sodas:
http://tinyurl.com/y2ob7r

Bird flu drug Tamiflu may cause "abnormal behavior," manufacturer warns:
http://tinyurl.com/ue8vl

Angioplasty useless for most heart attack patients, study reveals:
http://tinyurl.com/yxvwfp

Nutrition expert Byron Richards launches internet radio show:
http://tinyurl.com/tz32k

HUMAN RIGHTS

Pakistan Moves to Amend Rape Laws - Pakistan's lower house of Parliament passed amendments to the country's rape laws Wednesday, ditching the death penalty for extramarital sex and revising a clause on making victims produce four witnesses to prove rape cases
http://tinyurl.com/ury77

SPECIAL INTEREST ITEMS

Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist, dies at 94; "economist who shaped the philosophies of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and successive Federal Reserve chairmen"
http://tinyurl.com/ujogf