December 16, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

America: Freedom to Fascism - Think you know how the American system of money and taxation works? This movie will open your eyes to some facts you might not have known.
http://tinyurl.com/y5elp2

ALERT #1
McCain Bill Is Lethal Injection For Internet Freedom - Republican Senator John McCain has introduced legislation that would fine blogs up to $300,000 for offensive statements, photos and videos posted by visitors on comment boards, effectively nixing the open exchange of ideas on the Internet, providing a lethal injection for unrestrained opinion, and acting as the latest attack tool to chill freedom of speech on the world wide web.
http://tinyurl.com/y2v2o8

ALERT #2
Democrats Should Relax about Control of the Senate -- Besides, Sen. Johnson is a Supporter of Bush's Iraq War - A BuzzFlash Guest Contribution from the co-author of "The Case for Impeachment"
http://tinyurl.com/ydckh5

WAR

1,000 US soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen, including dozens of officers -- most of whom are on active duty -- will petition Congress on ending the war in Iraq
http://tinyurl.com/vyfwl

Bush weighing deeper commitment in Iraq, officials say: - President Bush is weighing whether to make a deeper American commitment in Iraq despite growing public unhappiness with the war, according to senior U.S. officials and former officials familiar with Bush's high-level review.
http://tinyurl.com/ydja8h

Why Did They Torture Jose Padilla - What makes this case so insidious is that, according to a psychiatrist who examined him over a 22-hour period, the treatment Padilla received in the South Carolina brig was such that he now "lacks the capacity to assist in his own defense." In other words, a U.S. citizen was secretly worked over for 21 months to the point he is unable to think well enough to engage with his lawyer.
http://tinyurl.com/yx6a4f

A wide majority believes Bush administration favors Israel, but most want U.S. to reat Israel-Palestinian conflict with an even hand
http://tinyurl.com/y4gln3

THE WHITE HOUSE

White House Publicly Pissed Off at Senator’s Defiance
http://tinyurl.com/yb5maj

White House OKs Massive Pentagon Budget Increase $468.9 billion budget for the Pentagon in fiscal year 2008
http://tinyurl.com/y8cxey

CABINETS, COMMISSIONS, etc

New Documents Reveal Scope of CIA Secret Prison Program
http://tinyurl.com/t4wle

POLITICS

Impeachment: 'It's Not Up to Pelosi,' Say Grassroots Leaders
http://tinyurl.com/yxgjr5

SCANDAL

White House Won't Allow Former Official to Publish Iran Column - Middle East analyst Flynt Leverett, who served under President Bush on the National Security Council and is now a fellow at the New America Foundation, revealed today that the White House has been blocking the publication of an op-ed he wrote for the New York Times. The column is critical of the administration's refusal to engage Iran.
http://tinyurl.com/y48k2y

LEGAL ITEMS

ACLU: Grand-jury Subpoena "Chilling"
http://tinyurl.com/t85vr

Subpoena seen as a bid by U.S. administration to stop leaks: Federal prosecutors are trying to force the American Civil Liberties Union to turn over copies of a classified document it received from a source, using what legal experts called a new extension of the Bush administration's efforts to protect national-security secrets.
http://tinyurl.com/y452f9

John W. Dean: Refocusing the Impeachment Movement : I myself have no doubt that Bush has, in fact, committed impeachable offenses, and that for each Bush "high crime and misdemeanor," Cheney's culpability is ten or twenty times greater.
http://tinyurl.com/y6alhd

Public Citizen: Groups Charge Big Oil With More Than $2 Billion in Consumer Fraud: Hot Motor Fuel Pumps Less Energy
http://tinyurl.com/ygy8uc

ECONOMY

CHINA TO DUMP ONE TRILLION IN U.S. RESERVES!!!!
http://tinyurl.com/yyf8ya

A Currency in Decline: How Dangerous is the Dollar Drop? Investors worldwide are becoming sceptical and starting to pull their money out of the United States. They have realized that a people and a country cannot live beyond their means in the long term. The US dollar's exchange rate is starting to crumble as a result of this withdrawal.
http://tinyurl.com/ynxxdv

The Cash Cows of Personal Debt - The Credit Card Industry and Predatory Capitalism - The booming credit card business is one of the most profitable and destructive industries to ever emerge from the inventive capitalist mind. Citibank is raking in more money than Microsoft and Wal-Mart. Obscene profits are realized without lifting a finger to perform any physical work.
http://tinyurl.com/yauxfc

911

YouTube: Evidence that the U.S. Government Planned & Executed 9/11
http://tinyurl.com/ygkhzs

CONGRESS

Democrats Should Relax about Control of the Senate -- Besides, Sen. Johnson is a Supporter of Bush's Iraq War - A BuzzFlash Guest Contribution from the co-author of "The Case for Impeachment"
http://tinyurl.com/ydckh5

Democratic Leaders Set to Probe Pre-War Intel, Wiretaps - build the case for their call for a phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and for possible action against defense contractors found to have wasted billions in federal funds.
http://tinyurl.com/y4t42s

DOMESTIC

White-Collar Workers Unite - White-Collar Workers Unite
http://tinyurl.com/yhhdxk

How to Increase Your Creativity in the Kitchen - If you love cooking in the kitchen, but occasionally need an ingredient for your favorite recipe that you don't have on hand, the Cook's Thesaurus is a handy Web site that lists substitutions for those items.
http://tinyurl.com/9o9v4

ENVIRONMENT

Cattle raised for beef cause more damage to planet than emissions from cars, report finds:
http://tinyurl.com/y9r3m6

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

New alloy for computer memory could replace flash memory technology:
http://tinyurl.com/yf45vc

Roomba maker iRobot also developing military robots for Pentagon:
(Link not available)

The Truth About Digital Cameras: Don't Waste Your Money on More Megapixels
http://tinyurl.com/y494ly

INTERNATIONAL

U.S., China Clash on Currency: U.S. and Chinese leaders clashed publicly on the opening day of strategic economic talks, with Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. pushing China to revalue its currency and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi saying Americans do not have a full understanding of the situation.
http://tinyurl.com/y8qpog

MILITARY

The Army Faces a Cash Crunch: The financial squeeze is leaving the Army short of equipment and key personnel.
http://tinyurl.com/sjhaq

Up to 50,000 Troops May Soon Be Sent to Iraq
http://tinyurl.com/uaofl

MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

Former President Carter says he won't visit Brandeis: "I don't want to have a conversation even indirectly with Dershowitz," Carter told The Boston Globe. "There is no need ... for me to debate somebody who, in my opinion, knows nothing about the situation in Palestine."
http://tinyurl.com/y3z95w

EDITORIALS - OPINIONS

Refocusing the Impeachment Movement on Administration Officials Below the President and Vice-President
http://tinyurl.com/y52ym5

It's Not Just Bush: We're Accountable Too.
http://tinyurl.com/y274d9

HEALTH

Scientists in the UK may have uncovered the underlying origins of acrylamide, the carcinogenic substance formed when many grains are cooked at high temperatures. Researchers tested their theory by growing wheat in similar conditions some with and others without sulphur. By comparison, wheat without sulphur contact that was milled and cooked contained almost five times as much acrylamide. What's more, the acrylamide content of other cooked products made from that same wheat sans sulphur was more than six times higher. By vegies grown close to home.
http://tinyurl.com/y2mwzd

The facts about direct-to-consumer drug advertising While drug companies say almost anything they want in drug ads, the FDA looks the other way. This week, the GAO hammered the FDA for shoddy oversight.
http://tinyurl.com/ymw4gp

How many people suffering from obesity tend to misjudge their caloric intake:
http://tinyurl.com/ybqp5x

FDA panel on stent safety includes six doctors with strong financial ties to stent manufacturers; FDA waives ethics rules:
http://tinyurl.com/yjpc29

The Rich Life You Lead While Dreaming
RealitySeeds.com November 29, 2006

LASIK May Ruin Your Sight As You Age - A new study has raised concerns regarding the long-term effects of laser eye surgery. New research indicates that laser surgery for short-sightedness can cause haze, glare and blurred vision as people reach their senior years.
http://tinyurl.com/y3lwgv

Some Hospitals Violate Emergency Contraception Law the year-old state law requiring hospitals to offer emergency contraception to rape victims by imposing "serious restrictions" on the treatment, according to a survey by NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts.
http://tinyurl.com/y9kk99

People who eat bacon five times a week or more are almost 60 percent more likely to develop bladder cancer. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition November 2006; 84(5) 1177-1183
http://tinyurl.com/yhxhbm

HUMAN RIGHTS

Lethal Injection Is On Hold in Two States
http://tinyurl.com/w9fsg