December 28, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

"If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.": Howard Zinn, historian and author

WAR

"In exclusive interview, Gerald Ford 'very strongly' opposed Bush's justifications for war; criticized his own former colleagues Cheney and Rumsfeld."
http://tinyurl.com/ybd9hh

Many Soldiers Say Troop Escalation A Bad Idea...
http://tinyurl.com/yn3pks

Saddam may not hang within month: Iraqi officials Saddam Hussein may not hang this coming month, senior officials said on Thursday, casting doubt on how government factions may interpret an appeal court ruling that appeared to say he should die within 30 days.
http://tinyurl.com/y7lcp2

US Government Pressures Banks to Stop Dealing With Iran - Dozens of banks have stopped or scaled back their businesses with Iran and other "rogue states" after informal pressure from the US government aimed at sidestepping the need for international sanctions.
http://tinyurl.com/yarxty

THE WHITE HOUSE

The Voice of the White House - December 27, 2006 It has long been known in intelligence and higher-level political (Republican) circles in Washington, that Israel was fully responsible for training the operators and supplying inside information to the Arabs who blew up the WTC, the Pentagon, and intended to blow up the White House. The leadership believed, correctly as it turned out, that such a violent terrorist outrage would so energize the American public that they would rush to support George Bush’s plan for a permanent U.S. military base in the Middle East, destroy Israel’s most dangerous enemy, Saddam Hussein, and gain for both nations, free and unfettered access to the huge Iraqi oil reserves. The Israeli excuse when their participation in this was uncovered? Why, they fully informed American intelligence of what was happening at every step! This is an example where the excuse was worse than the crime, for if Mossad and the Israeli Embassy had, indeed, kept the American leadership courant with the plot, why didn’t American authorities interdict and stop it? They knew where and when the aircraft were to be hijacked yet did absolutely nothing and no protective steps were even instituted and no heightened alerts were ever issued.
http://tinyurl.com/ydlwo9

The real menace: The public, seeing through the tissue of Bush administration lies told to justify an invasion that never had anything to do with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 or weapons of mass destruction, now has begun a national questioning: Why are we still in Iraq?
http://tinyurl.com/ydpryy

CABINETS, COMMISSIONS, etc

Why Is HUD Bulldozing Public Housing Apts in New Orleans When It's Cheaper to Fix Them?
http://tinyurl.com/y749zt

Former Bush Interior Secretary Takes Job as Attorney for Shell - Months after she resigned her cabinet post as President Bush's interior secretary, Gale Norton is back as a key legal advisor for Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
http://tinyurl.com/yyb7pn

DID YOU KNOW:
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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872-1970)
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-Sen. Johnson improves, being taken off sedatives:

-Clinton leads big in new key state polls

-Sen. Clinton tops Obama

-Edwards now in four states holding early primaries

-Credit agencies fail on fixing errors

-Wall St. still 'white man's world'

-US, accounts for over 50% of all arms exports

-Slavery a by-product of the Arms Industry

-Tobacco smoke is Poison. Cigarette smoke contains the radioactive substance that killed Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.

-Your cell (mobile) phone can be secretly turned into an eavesdropping bug EVEN WHEN SWITCHED OFF

ELECTION ITEMS

Why John Edwards Changes Everything ((I will take Edwards over Clinton any day.))
http://tinyurl.com/wxyfk

ECONOMY

U.S. manufacturing expected to take hit: The key U.S. manufacturing sector is expected to be hit hard next year, heightening fears a recession is now much more likely than many economists had expected.
http://tinyurl.com/v5g6a

Euro to Overtake US Dollar - The value of euro notes in circulation is this month likely to exceed the value of circulating dollar notes, according to calculations by the Financial Times. Converted at Wednesday's exchange rates, the euro took the lead in October.
http://tinyurl.com/ycnrar

Workers Wrestle With the Future at Ford - Scott Swiercz was mulling the biggest gamble of his life. Ford Motor Co. had offered him and its 75,000 other US hourly workers a choice of buyout packages.
http://tinyurl.com/yhhqw7

Prosperity's Potholes - as a new report by the Brookings Institution shows, poverty is now increasingly a major problem on the brightly lit lanes of our nation's suburbs, not just in the urban areas. For the first time ever, there are now more people living in poverty in America's suburbs than in her cities."
http://tinyurl.com/ydw6c4

DOMESTIC

A Fight to the Finish for Women - Divorce and lost earning time could put living standards in a free-fall late in life.
http://tinyurl.com/ygjqu8

Maternal Profiling: How Employers Discriminate by Marital Status - Only 22 states and Puerto Rico specifically prohibit employers from inquiring about applicants' marital status. That means "maternal profiling" is a real problem for many women.
http://tinyurl.com/yfxrpw

ENVIRONMENT

Ice Shelf Collapse Sends Chill - An ancient ice shelf has cracked off northern Ellesmere Island, creating an enormous 66-square-kilometer ice island and leaving a trail of icy blocks in its wake.
http://tinyurl.com/yczmpm

INTERNATIONAL

China to use foreign reserves to build up strategic resource base, vice premier says - Two problems here. The first is that as China starts to actually spend those dollars, inflation will increase, and secondly, some of those strategic resources China is looking at are claimed by other countries.
http://tinyurl.com/y6gsc5

Chavez targets Venezuela homeless woes : President Hugo Chavez has pledged to do away with homelessness in Venezuela through an aggressive outreach program that is offering street people communal housing, drug treatment and a modest stipend.
http://tinyurl.com/yn8sv9

EDITORIALS - OPINIONS

'Kill the Messenger' Probes the CIA, the Crack Cocaine Trade, and a Journalist 's Untimely Death
http://tinyurl.com/ybux6k

HEALTH

FDA Steps Up Warnings on Popular Pain Relievers Federal health officials on Tuesday cautioned the tens of millions of Americans who take popular over-the-counter pain pills about their potentially serious side effects and released planned label changes intended to warn of the sometimes deadly risks.
http://tinyurl.com/yx3phm

U.S. doctors are being trained in Cuba: Many aspiring doctors are leaving the United States to receive free medical training in Cuba.
http://tinyurl.com/ynbroe