Wednesday, February 6
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Christopher Lempa is the guest editor today. |
A Half-Baked Solution for the Federal Deficit
"Bake sales are the stalwart of churches, school bands, and Boy Scout troops that are a little short of cash. Honoring this venerable tradition, I have come up with two related proposals, either of which will solve the problem of how to fully fund the 2009 budget without running a deficit." Column by Tony Sampognaro.
CIA Reveals More on Waterboarding
“The director of the CIA today gave the most extensive public accounting yet of the use of coercive interrogation methods, including waterboarding, and strongly urged Congress not to limit the range of methods available to U.S. intelligence agencies.”
Top Threats for 2008: A Lot Like Top Threats for 2007
“In an echo of earlier threat assessments, the nation's top spy chief said Tuesday al Qaeda still poses 'significant threats' to the United States.” (2 pages)
US Imposes New Sanctions on Burma
“The
US has said it will impose new financial sanctions on relatives of leaders in
Burma's military regime and those linked to a powerful businessman.” Sanctions
work so well, just look at Iraq!
Satellite Spotters Often Learn Too Much for Government's Comfort
“When the government announced last month that a top-secret spy satellite would, in the next few months, come falling out of the sky, officials said that there was little risk to people because satellites fall out of orbit fairly frequently and much of the planet is covered by oceans.” The apparent threat is the private individual. (2 pages)
From Hillary's Whitewater Deal to Bill's Uranium Mine to Obama's Ba'athist Ties
“Barack Obama has already felt the hot breath of investigators for his property deal in 2005 on the south side of Chicago. This one will have legs as long as Obama is in the race for the Democratic nomination. If he wins that prize, the scrutiny will get more intense, as Republicans link him with an Iraqi millionaire who has been linked to Saddam Hussein from the earliest years of the Iraqi dictator's bloodstained rise to power.”
U.N. Troops Accused of Human Rights Violations in Haiti
“The United Nations Security Council decided in October 2007 to extend the mandate of the MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) through Oct. 15, 2008. The Brazilian government is responsible for coordinating the MINUSTAH forces that include approximately 9,000 troops. Yet there is very little discussion in Brazil about the country's role in the occupation of Haiti, and especially, about the accusations leveled against the United Nations troops for their participation in human rights violations.” This just in, the United Nations is corrupt.
France Watches Chad-Sudan Border
“French military aircraft have been patrolling the Chad-Sudan border to ensure there has been no interference in the fighting around N'Djamena.” More interventionism . . . just what the world needs.
U.S. Sees Russia, China and OPEC Financial Threat
“The United States is worried that Russia, China and OPEC oil-producing countries could use their growing financial clout to advance political goals, the top U.S. spy chief told Congress on Tuesday.” Politics, as usual, is the problem.
Serbian Coalition Faces Collapse Over EU
“Serbia's coalition government was on the verge of collapse Tuesday over the European Union's plans to send a mission to Kosovo province, just days after the pro-Western Serbian president won re-election.”
Bush's Defense Department Budget Request Doesn't Include War Spending
“U.S. President George W. Bush requested on Monday for 515.4 billion U.S. dollars as the defense department budget in fiscal year 2009 that does not include war spending in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“One
of the positions of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul that mainstream
pundits find 'wacky' is his call to abolish the Federal Reserve System. Never
mind that two Nobel Prize-winning economists — both libertarians — called
for the same thing. And never mind that the Fed is the entity directly
responsible for the debasement of the dollar over the many decades since the
Fed was established.”
Glenn
Beck Endorses Hillary Clinton
First
it was Ann
Coulter, now Glenn Beck. Butler
Shaffer was right; the left and right are “only two wings on the same
bird of prey.”
McCain
Is Now the Neo-Con Candidate
“With the elimination of both Rudy Giuliani last week and Fred Thompson the week before, neo-conservatives who were not already in his camp will be rushing to support Sen. John McCain.”
As US Votes on Who Will Hold the Trigger, Mayans Propagate Civilization
“Today,
as Americans decide who will get the power to kill or spare millions (see
posting of
Anarchist Anthology Advenes Auspiciously
“The
book features contributions from a variety of philosophical perspectives
within libertarianism, including consequentialist, deontological,
contractarian, Randian, and Hayekian approaches.” This looks like a good
book. I can't wait until the paperback comes out!
New Way to Kill Viruses: Shake Them to Death
"Scientists may one day be able to destroy viruses in the same way that opera singers presumably shatter wine glasses. New research mathematically determined the frequencies at which simple viruses could be shaken to death."
Folate Deficiency Associated With Tripling Of Dementia Risk, Study Shows
“Folate deficiency is associated with a tripling in the risk of developing dementia among elderly people, suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.”
David Goldstein Investigates Dirty ATMs
“We press these buttons just about everyday. But are we pressing our luck with germs? Like the bacteria we found on the button of this atm. Where did it come from?” Gross.
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