December 8, 2006

THE THINKING SPOT

We are living in a socialist society - here is how the Republicans are more socialist than the Democrats. *** The Decline and Fall of American conservatism .. Here are some hard facts. Government spending has increased faster under George Bush and his Republican Congress than it did under Bill Clinton, more people work for the federal government today than at any time since the end of the Cold War, federal budget grew by $616.4 billion during Bush’s first term, domestic spending has ballooned by 23 percent since Bush took office, government outlays had increased to 20.3 percent of the GDP, growth rate of non-defense and non-homeland-security outlays has more than doubled from 2.1 percent under Clinton to 4.8 percent under Bush. Increased spending inevitably means increased taxes. Americans actually pay more in taxes today than they did during Bill Clinton’s last year in office. the average American has worked 10.2 percent more for the federal government under George Bush than under Bill Clinton. When state and local taxes (controlled in the majority of places by Republicans) are added to federal axes, Americans worked for the government more than half the year

ALERT

Consumer Federation of America: Women More Likely to Receive Subprime Home Loans; Disparity Highest for Women with Highest Incomes
http://tinyurl.com/vg8gh

WAR

71% Dissatisfied With Bush’s Iraq Handling…
http://tinyurl.com/yx7ax6

Three Alarmer: Bush's Biggets Petro Buddy in the Middle East, Saudi Arabians, Reportedly Funding Sunnis, Including Money for Weapons. That Makes The Saudis Accomplices to Terrorists, By Bush's Own Definition, And Subject to Being Identified as a Terrorist State. Remember Who Were the 9/11 Hijackers. Remember Who Funds the Radical Madrassas. Yes, Something Stinks Here, Really Stinks.
http://tinyurl.com/yxjtkj

Bush Backs Away From Two Key Ideas of Panel on Iraq - President Bush moved quickly to distance himself on Thursday from the central recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group
http://tinyurl.com/y6tttq

The strategy of lying is collapsing - Le Monde sees the report as a "spectacular slap across Mr. Bush's face." (French translation)
http://tinyurl.com/usvwv

Top Democrat questions Blackwater deals in Iraq - N.C. California Representative Henry Waxman wants answers from the military about why North Carolina-based Blackwater was paid so much for work in Iraq at taxpayers' expense.
http://tinyurl.com/v7a8x

Terror Ranking Program May Violate '03 Congressional Ban - Members of Congress and privacy advocates on Thursday questioned the legality of Automated Targeting System, or ATS, risk assessments that have been assigned to millions of Americans and foreigners who entered or left the United States over the past four years.
http://tinyurl.com/y3r7sm

US at Root of Effort to Topple Lebanese Government - American political leaders watched with alarm during the past week as the Hezbollah militia laid siege to the US-backed Lebanese government, but few would acknowledge publicly what most analysts and politicians here say is obvious: American policy may bear much of the blame.
http://tinyurl.com/y2kbe8

THE WHITE HOUSE

Bush Reaction to Report Worries Father's Aides - "We have a classic case of circling the wagons," says a former adviser to Bush the elder. "If President Bush changes his policy in Iraq in a fundamental way, it undermines the whole premise of his presidency. I just don't believe he will ever do that."
http://tinyurl.com/ufmqr

Dems stop pay jump for Cheney, House
http://tinyurl.com/sfcv2

First Lady Fashion Faux Pas: Tale Of 3 Red Dresses - Laura Bush Can't Compete, Changes Outfit Mid-Party
http://tinyurl.com/ymo9hf

CABINETS, COMMISSIONS, etc

James Baker is NOT “the former Secretary of State!” He is an Enemy of the State! - James Baker has been in the news lately. He is being referred to as the “former Secretary of State” when in fact he should be referred to as the Senior Counsel for The Carlyle Group and a war profiteer. The Carlyle Group is the nation’s 10th largest defense contractor, with extensive ties to Enron, Global Crossing, Arthur Andersen, the Saudi Royal Family, and the Bin Ladens.
http://tinyurl.com/yh32ub

Panel: Republicans negligent in Foley matter
http://tinyurl.com/yyznxd

EPA Scrubbing Library Web Site to Make Reports Unavailable - In defiance of Congressional requests to immediately halt closures of library collections, the US Environmental Protection Agency is purging records from its library websites, making them unavailable to both agency scientists and outside researchers
http://tinyurl.com/ykmtqm

SCANDAL

Explosive: Ex-page says congressman told him not to talk about Foley questions on penis size
http://tinyurl.com/up6sv

Foley panel: GOP left pages vulnerable
http://tinyurl.com/ylqlqp

LEGAL ITEMS

Former GOP Official Faces Felony Charges - prosecutors have filed fraud charges against the former executive director of the Allen County Republican Party, who acknowledged that he forged the signatures of eleven township candidates on official forms.
http://tinyurl.com/ybpzcl

Ex-Detainees Seek to Sue U.S. Officials; 9 Former Prisoners Want Rumsfeld and Others Held Responsible for Torture
http://tinyurl.com/yjwfsp

ACLU Lawsuit Begins, Claims Rumsfeld Ordered Torture - Lawyers representing Mr. Rumsfeld and three US Army commanders are set to appear in federal court here Friday in response to a lawsuit charging that the defense secretary authorized torture and other illegal abuse of military detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq - including at the infamous Abu Ghraib.
http://tinyurl.com/vza6n

Rumsfeld Wants Torture Case Dismissed - Thelawsuit, filed by two civil rights groups, describes the imprisonment of nine foreigners detained in Iraq and Afghanistan. The lawsuit contends the men were beaten, suspended upside down from the ceiling by chains, urinated on, shocked, sexually humiliated, burned, locked inside boxes and subjected to mock executions.
http://tinyurl.com/yfkhdm

ELECTION ITEMS

Zogby Midterm Analysis: GOP Lost the Middle - 2008 is a whole new ballgame, and moderates will call the shots
http://tinyurl.com/yaux69

FBI investigating reports of misleading calls to Va. voters - The FBI is investigating complaints that phony callers tried to intimidate Virginia voters amid the hard-fought race between GOP Sen. George Allen and Democratic challenger Jim Webb, officials said Tuesday.
http://tinyurl.com/ylk5ds

Sweeping Changes Expected in Voting by 2008 Election - By the 2008 presidential election, voters around the country are likely to see sweeping changes in how they cast their ballots and how those ballots are - counted, including an end to the use of most electronic voting machines without a paper trail, federal voting officials and legislators say.
http://tinyurl.com/yl84k2

ECONOMY

TOP-LEVEL INSIDERS SELLING THEIR STOCK December 7, 2006 -- America's corporate chiefs are unloading their own stocks at one of the boldest paces in 20 years. (These sound like the actions of financially savvy people who believe that the US economy will not be doing extraordinarily well in the coming years.)
http://tinyurl.com/yz686h

US subprime loans face trouble - The failure of a small Californian mortgage lender on Thursrday increased nervousness in the credit derivatives market about the large number of US "subprime" mortgages extended this year....The cost of insuring against default on securities backed by subprime mortgages rose after Ownit Mortgage Solutions, in which Merrill Lynch has a 15 per cent stake, closed its doors....Its failure is the latest in a series of ominous developments in the market for subprime mortgages - higher interest loans made to borrowers who are seen as risky because of payment problems or large debt burdens.
http://tinyurl.com/y2j4uw

THe US housing market is different this time - it's worse
http://tinyurl.com/yyupn8

U.S. construction activity plunges - Construction activity in October plunged by the largest amount since the recession in 2001 as home building fell for a record seventh consecutive month.
http://tinyurl.com/yfppe8

Productivity slows as factory orders drop Wages, benefits up at rate that was far below previous estimate.
http://tinyurl.com/ycmlbl

911

Rare TV NEWS report about WTC bombing FBI Foreknowledge - This validates the report given at whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/OK/wtcbomb.html
http://tinyurl.com/ygqjj7

CONGRESS

Closed Sen. meeting will 'end grudges'
http://tinyurl.com/y2rj8v

The continuing resolution that Congress must take up Friday in order to fund the federal government and keep it up and running contains a provision postponing Congress's annual pay raise for the life of the measure, an addition made by House Republican leaders late Thursday.
THE HILL

Republican-run House Ethics Committee Whitewashes GOP/Foley Scandal; says no one broke any "rules." What did you expect, accountability? Hah!
http://tinyurl.com/ybj9gw

DOMESTIC

Former UN envoy Jean Kirkpatrick dies
http://tinyurl.com/yzcxru

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Dual missile test fails off Hawaii - The latest test of the U-S missile-defense system has been deemed a failure.
http://tinyurl.com/yktxy5

Zogby Survey Probes Public Perception of Nanotechnology - The study was commissioned by researchers at Rice University’s Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology, University College London and London Business School.
http://tinyurl.com/yz3wmc

INTERNATIONAL

Renowned cancer scientist was paid by chemical firm for 20 years - A world-famous British scientist failed to disclose that he held a paid consultancy with a chemical company for more than 20 years while investigating cancer risks in the industry, the Guardian can reveal.
http://tinyurl.com/yxcjtr

China burying African nations in debt
http://tinyurl.com/yj2o64

EDITORIALS - OPINIONS

Alec Baldwin: Get Rid Of The CIA…That’s One Way To Defeat Terrorism…
http://tinyurl.com/ygozr2

Ray McGovern: Constitution Takes New Hit from Senators at Gates Hearing
http://tinyurl.com/ylfno4

HEALTH

Study warns of 'mad cow' blood risk - Transfusion patients at risk of contracting vCJD, human form of 'mad cow' disease.
http://tinyurl.com/sqotd

Beilinson doctors published data from nonexistent trials
http://tinyurl.com/ydxje9

High Protein Diets May Boost Cancer Risk - The results of this preliminary study show that lean people on a long-term, low-protein, low-calorie diet or who participate in regular endurance exercise training have lower levels of plasma growth factors and certain hormones such as insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). These substances have been linked to an increased cancer risk, especially premenopausal breast cancer, prostate cancer and certain types of colon cancer.
http://tinyurl.com/vl7bz

SPECIAL INTEREST

Chelsea's Potential Fiance's Father In Jail For Fraud, Scams...
http://tinyurl.com/scpe9