November 18, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

"A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude. Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

By the way, is it too much to hope for a Department of Peace?

ALERT #1

Democrats Warned Not to Block Bush's Judicial Nominees. The Senate's next Republican leader issued a veiled threat to block action on legislation if Democrats refuse to allow confirmation votes on President Bush's troubled judicial nominations.
http://tinyurl.com/y5jcmd

ALERT #2

"A Village in Texas Has Lost Its Idiot." Get the Magnet. Would Someone Put Bush's Mug on a Milk Carton, So the Village Can Find Its Idiot and Take Him Back.
http://tinyurl.com/ymh3aj

WAR
****************************************
We kill because we are afraid of our own shadow, afraid that if we used a little common sense we'd have to admit that our glorious principles were wrong: Henry Miller, The Wisdom of the Heart, 1941
****************************************

US Support for Bush's Iraq Policy Hits New Low
http://tinyurl.com/twlbb

President Bush: Driving Iraq Towards A Wall Of Death --- This latest nugget of 'm-not-stay-the-course-but- stay -the-course-anyway ignorance was regurgitated by the president in Hanoi, Vietnam of all places which served only to underscore the tragedy of it all.
http://tinyurl.com/yx5eh3

"Bring 'em on!" - Bush's Legacy of Death in Iraq
http://tinyurl.com/yjprdj

Iraq Is a "Disaster" Admits Blair -- Blair's most frank admission yet over the war in Iraq came during an interview on the new Al Jazeera English television channel with Sir David Frost. Tony Blair admitted that British intervention in Iraq has been a disaster last night - sending shockwaves through Westminster.
http://tinyurl.com/y7ogny

Blair 'Knew Iraq Had No WMD'
http://tinyurl.com/yjb7w2

Iraq Turns Up The Heat -- Iran is playing a clever game in Iraq using US occupation forces to crush the Ba’athist-led resistance while expanding their influence via the Shiite militias. This is a “lose-lose” situation for the United States.
http://tinyurl.com/yx2xmf

"Inside Al-Qaeda: A Spy's Story" --- It's rare to speak to someone who's been a member of al Qaeda, and rare too to interview a spy. His story is extraordinary, revealing the extent of al-Qaeda's preparations - years before 9/11 - to target the west, but also the British authorities' lack of awareness of the growing threat of Islamic terrorism.
http://tinyurl.com/t2nnr

THE WHITE HOUSE
***************************************
"Man's character is his fate.": Heraclitus - (c.540-480 BC) Greek philosopher
***************************************

Bush to Congress: Drop Dead
http://tinyurl.com/y3y8sv

Past Sins Might Keep Rumsfeld From Roaming World --- he would do well to consult an attorney before he rings up his travel agent to book any overseas trips
http://tinyurl.com/y2lo4k

JUDICIAL SHOWDOWN: Cheney Says Full Speed Ahead Appointing Conservative Judges…
http://tinyurl.com/wv4qb

The President's Decision to Resubmit Five Highly Controversial Judicial Nominees: Why It's a Mistake, and How to Fix the Broken Confirmation Process - Bush has decided to continue his deliberately divisive ways, notwithstanding the election results. Apparently he believes that what helped the GOP lose in 2006, will somehow help them win in 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/yk2sd8

Gonzales Shows Nothing Really Changes with the Busheviks: The Bush Consigliere Says People Who Want to Uphold the Constitution in Regards to Warrantless Wiretapping present a "grave threat" to U.S. security.
http://tinyurl.com/ykoozh

CABINETS, COMMISSIONS etc.

New Head of Federal Family Planning Program Opposes Family Planning - Dr. Keroack is a Board Certified OB/GYN who is pro-life, opposes birth control, and favors abstinence-only education.
http://tinyurl.com/y3ueow

IRS to target corporate secrecy
http://tinyurl.com/yenys5

Head of Military Commissions Quits - As the Bush administration gears up for another try at prosecuting suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, it’ll have to proceed without the retired Army major general who’s run the effort since 2004.
http://tinyurl.com/yldknq

SCANDAL

Police chief- Lockerbie evidence was faked - The retired officer - of assistant chief constable rank or higher - has testified that the CIA planted the tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting a Libyan for the 1989 mass murder of 270 people.
http://tinyurl.com/8adut

LEGAL ITEMS

U.S. Lawyers: Libby May Have Disclosed Iraq Secrets:---A former White House aide, I. Lewis Libby, may have disclosed conclusions from a highly classified government report on Iraq to journalists before the report was declassified by President Bush, federal prosecutors said in a new court filing.
http://tinyurl.com/y6ms96

Aides to DeLay Clean Files and Quit: Representative Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who was elected to finish the term of Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, has asked Congress to investigate the destruction of files in her office by former staff members of Mr. DeLay.
http://tinyurl.com/y4yal3

Town bars foreign flags in swipe at immigrants: A Nevada town passed a law this week making it illegal to fly a foreign nation's flag by itself, the latest swipe by a U.S. community at illegal immigrants.
http://tinyurl.com/y2mxrk

ELECTION ITEMS

Clear Evidence 2006 Congressional Elections Hacked --- A major undercount of Democratic votes and an overcount of Republican votes in US House and Senate races across the country is indicated by an analysis of national exit polling data. These findings have led the Election Defense Alliance to issue an urgent call for further investigation into the 2006 election results - and a moratorium on deployment of all electronic election equipment.
http://tinyurl.com/y52wyv

"Report: Group Says Exit Polls Show 'Landslide Denied' Democrats In Last Week's Election!" - According to EDA, the Edison-Mitofsky National Exit Poll, conducted by a consortium of news organizations, showed at 7 p.m. on Election Night an 11.5% vote margin in favor of Dems nationwide. But by 1:00 p.m. on the following day, according to EDA, "[T]he Edison-Mitofsky poll had been adjusted, by a process known as 'forcing,' to match the reported vote totals for the election." The adjusted exit polls showed "a 7.6 percent margin exactly mirroring the reported vote totals."
http://tinyurl.com/ygwoal

ECONOMY

Dollar drops on weak housing data and hedge fund troubles-- "Rumors of a major U.S. hedge fund collapse appear to be behind the dollar's dip," said Brian Dolan, director of research at Forex.com, a division of Gain Capital. But "you have to take it with a grain of salt. It smells a bit fishy to me to be honest."
http://tinyurl.com/y64cxh

The biggest bubble of all - derivatives Trading Soars to $370 Trillion – it will be the root cause for global depression --- An interesting data came out from the Bank for International Settlements. The global market for derivatives soared to a record $370 trillion in the first half of 2006. It is the highest ever and the bubble is bigger than any one can imagine.
http://tinyurl.com/ygzxx5

911

Criminial 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 identity to the perpetrators? Forget all of the conspiracy theory investigations… investigate the two govenors that basically decided “we don’t need forensics.” Bring them to court.
http://tinyurl.com/y6qp59

CONGRESS

Watershed: The Democrats Weren't Ready for This
http://tinyurl.com/yxkxvk

Pelosi And Obama Pushing For New Ethics Rules...
http://tinyurl.com/ybehtx

Dems target 'don't ask, don't tell'
http://tinyurl.com/ygxr5n

House OKs bill aimed at animal activists - Animal rights advocates who threaten scientists conducting animal research or companies funding or affiliated with it could be fined and imprisoned under a bill the House passed Monday and sent to President Bush.
http://tinyurl.com/whqlg

Conduct Unbecoming an Officer: General Abizaid Misleads Senate - At his appearance before the Senate Committee, Abizaid lied to congress and the American people. It appears now, that General Abizaid has taken it upon himself to takeover where Rumsfeld ended.
http://tinyurl.com/yaqg5e

RELIGIOUS ITEMS

Disgraced Pastor Haggard Wrote Bylaws That Forced Him To Resign After Gay Sex Scandal...
http://tinyurl.com/y2qw56

ENVIRONMENT

Pennsylvania Passes Plan to Cut Mercury --- On Thursday, a state regulatory board approved Governor Ed Rendell's proposal to make deeper cuts in mercury emissions from Pennsylvania's coal-fired power plants
http://tinyurl.com/y66elo

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

'Nano battery' thick as a strand of hair
http://tinyurl.com/y4hlo5

INTERNATIONAL

Bolton in extraordinary outburst against United Nations - The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, launched a scathing attack on the United Nations Friday. Bolton was furious over the adoption by the General Assembly of a resolution which said the assembly regretted the deaths of 19 civilians in an attack by the Israeli military in the town of Beit Hanoun last week.
http://tinyurl.com/vkcfq

Israeli envoy walks out of U.N. session- Israel's ambassador walked out on the United Nations session that resulted in a strong call to Israel to end its military operations in the Gaza Strip.
http://tinyurl.com/y6tufn

Netherlands to propose burqa ban: The Dutch cabinet has backed a proposal by the country's immigration minister to ban Muslim women from wearing the burqa in public places.
http://tinyurl.com/yfq5h8

MILITARY

U.S. Announces Troop Deployments to Iraq - The Pentagon announced Friday that 57,000 U.S. troops, including five combat brigades, have been told to deploy to Iraq early next year - a move that will maintain current force levels there.
http://tinyurl.com/yg3zek

Georgia-Based Army Unit to Serve Third Tour in Iraq - The Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which helped lead the charge to Baghdad at the outset of the war, will return next year and become the first Army division to serve three tours in Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/w5rqe

Volunteer Force May Be "Severely Degraded" Soon, Retired General Says --- The all-volunteer military force could be "severely degraded" within two years unless major recruiting and retention reforms are made soon, according to a retired Army four-star general.
http://tinyurl.com/y5hzgf

Dangerous drugs being given to troops -- FDA warns of potential for clots, strokes; Physicians say drug is 'amazing.'
http://tinyurl.com/yz62tg

AP Gets Shocking New Report on Gitmo - The U.S. military called no witnesses, withheld evidence from detainees and usually reached a decision within a day as it determined that hundreds of men detained at Guantanamo Bay were "enemy combatants," according to a new report.
http://tinyurl.com/ycbz6o

EDITORIALS - OPINIONS

Spoils of Globalization go to Corporations, Countries, not Working Poor
http://tinyurl.com/y7zqum

Cheney and Neo-Cons Plotting More Wars---On March 11, 2003, as final preparations were under way for the neo-cons' greatest triumph--the invasion of Iraq--New Yorker magazine investigative reporter Seymour Hersh exposed an extortion scheme by neo-con Richard Perle, to extract tens of millions of dollars out of the Saudi royal family, in league with the infamous Iran-Contra arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
http://tinyurl.com/yh49pg

HEALTH

Foul State of Affairs Found in Feedlots --- livestock feedlots are poorly regulated, pose health and ecological dangers
http://tinyurl.com/y72khp

Heart Valves Grown From Womb Fluid Cells - Scientists for the first time have grown human heart valves using stem cells from the fluid that cushions babies in the womb _ offering a revolutionary approach that may be used to repair defective hearts in the future.
http://tinyurl.com/ylj9e8

Antibiotics found useless for treating bronchitis:
http://tinyurl.com/ygyo8m

WHO launches initiative to wipe out global trade of fake medicines:
http://tinyurl.com/yj4sb9

HHS chief opposes Medicare drug price negotiation; a perpetuation of Big Pharma price fixing, says health advocate:
http://tinyurl.com/yenvv4

Tamiflu drug made with cocktail of chemical ingredients, linked with bizarre behavior:
http://tinyurl.com/ykyy7a

FDA expands off-label use of Herceptin breast cancer drug:
http://tinyurl.com/yk2dbp

Resveratrol, the phytonutrient in red wine, doubles exercise endurance in animal research:
http://tinyurl.com/ydezpy

In-flight kissers could face 20 years in prison under Patriot Act anti-terrorism laws:
http://tinyurl.com/yzoly7