December 21, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

If this bunch really thinks they are going to send more troops to Iraq, how about if they lead the front end. Yeh, let them deal with war head on since all have avoided any form of military service so far. Let some of these *painful losses* be the loss of this bunch doing something they so believe in (so they say)?

ALERT

How Dangerous Is the Dollar Drop? - Investors worldwide are becoming skeptical 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/ykngpf

WAR

Saudi Royals Snub Bush, Fund Opposition to US Troops - Early in November, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley recommended, in a memo leaked to the press, that Saudi Arabia play a leadership role in talks about Iraq's future. But even before the memo landed on Bush's White House desk, the Saudis were positioning themselves to directly influence strategy in Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/yaxnhh

Gates On Bush's Proposal To Escalate Troop Levels: “I Think That The Commanders Out Here Have Expressed A Concern About That”....
http://tinyurl.com/y592sn

US Commanders Wary of Gates Proposal - Defense Secretary Robert Gates found American commanders wary of a proposal to rush more US troops to Iraq as he visited the war-ravaged country Wednesday.
http://tinyurl.com/y8gfws

MSNBC's Scarborough: “How Can This President Thumb His Nose At The Very Military Leaders Who Are Fighting This War?”...
http://tinyurl.com/yywj5a

Americans Would Begin Iraq Withdrawal in 2007 - 68% of respondents favour beginning to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq during the first half of next year....it's up to the next congress to demonstrate that they were actually listening to voters about Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/ydsddx

US and Britain to Add Ships to Persian Gulf in Signal to Iran - The United States and Britain will begin moving additional warships and strike aircraft into the Persian Gulf region in a display of military resolve toward Iran
http://tinyurl.com/y2l5u9

THE WHITE HOUSE

Bush's Signing Statement on India Nuke Deal Raises Concerns - A statement by President George W. Bush issued in connection with the just-signed US-India civil nuclear cooperation law has raised concerns that Bush may try to circumvent some of Congress's intentions, lawmakers and analysts say.
http://tinyurl.com/yxpxse

POLITICS

Singing the Right-Wing Blues
http://tinyurl.com/uwgj3

Swift-Boating Obama: Right-Wing Pundit Questions Senator's "Loyalty" to America
http://tinyurl.com/wnv86

LEGAL ITEMS

Lewis "Scooter" Libby, accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters regarding former ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife, outed CIA operative Valerie Plame, subpoenaed Wilson as a defense witness this month. Wilson asked a federal judge Wednesday not to force him to testify in the CIA leak case, and he accused former White House aide Libby of trying to harass him on the witness stand.
http://tinyurl.com/y6lcvt

ELECTION ITEMS

McCain Hires Communications Director With History Of Lying To The Press...
http://tinyurl.com/yxlqrp

ECONOMY

Housing Bust Slows Economic Growth to Two Percent Investment in home building was slashed at an 18.7 percent rate - even more than previously estimated and the largest cut in 15 years. That shaved 1.2 percentage points off third-quarter growth, the most in nearly 25 years.
http://tinyurl.com/urcal

US economic growth revised downward The US economy grew at an annual pace of 2.0 per cent in the third quarter, slower than previously believed, the government said Friday...Fridays are generally the dayswhen the US government reports news to which they fervently hope no one is paying attention.
http://tinyurl.com/yxnshv

CONGRESS

Alexander Cockburn: Democrats Prepare to Fund Longer War - the Democrats recaptured both the Senate and the House. Then they went to work--to obliterate the mandate. The first thing they did was reject Jack Murtha, the man who said "Quit Now" in 2005. They voted down Murtha as House majority leader and picked the pro-war Steny Hoyer.
http://tinyurl.com/yhl3qx

DOMESTIC

Federal Subsidies Turn Farms Into Big Business The shift in subsidies to wealthier farmers is helping to fuel consolidation of farmland. The largest farms' share of agricultural production has climbed from 32 percent to 45 percent while the number for small and medium-size farms has tumbled from 42 percent to 27 percent.
http://tinyurl.com/yblznq

ENVIRONMENT

Blueberry pigments may replace silicon in solar panels:
http://tinyurl.com/yc4wb8

India claims its emissions cause no harm to world's atmosphere:
http://tinyurl.com/yzb7gf

Bears Have Stopped Hibernating - Bears have stopped hibernating in the mountains of northern Spain, scientists revealed yesterday, in what may be one of the strongest signals yet of how much climate change is affecting the natural world.
http://tinyurl.com/unrnt

INTERNATIONAL

U.S. trips to Canada plummet - An unprecedented number of Americans avoided the hassle and cost of a same-day cross-border car trip in October, as overall U.S. travel to Canada dropped to its lowest level since record-keeping began in 1972.
http://tinyurl.com/y6j5kh

MILITARY

Army, Marines recruiters ran cocaine operation in Arizona:
http://tinyurl.com/yfmmsc

MEDIA AND JOURNALISM

Bloggers Must Disclose Sponsored Posts - A company that helps advertisers connect with bloggers willing to write about their products for payment will now require disclosures amid criticism and a regulatory threat.
http://tinyurl.com/y5ls49

EDITORIALS - OPINIONS

When Charity Shouldn’t Begin at Home
http://tinyurl.com/wmpun

HEALTH

Wines made with GMO yeast hit the market this year:
http://tinyurl.com/ylnffp

A Holistic Approach to Treating the Symptoms of Diverticulitis:
http://tinyurl.com/yjv3nn

FDA proposes warning on acetaminophen painkillers 30 years after the fact:
http://tinyurl.com/ygzsod