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
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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
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"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