carapace – Not your father's america

Pirates disclose how to activate Windows Vista

Enterprise and Business editions could be affected

At:

http://www.viruslist.com/en/news?id=208274010
From: Viruslist.com – News Digest

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WHY A HYDROGEN ECONOMY DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

At:

http://www.physorg.com/news85074285.html
From: PhysOrg Newsletter

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#7 of 10 myths — and 10 truths — about atheism

By Sam Harris, SAM HARRIS is the author of “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason” and “Letter to a Christian Nation.”
December 24, 2006

�
SEVERAL POLLS indicate that the term “atheism” has acquired such an extraordinary stigma in the United States that being an atheist is now a perfect impediment to a career in politics (in a way that being black, Muslim or homosexual is not). According to a recent Newsweek poll, only 37% of Americans would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for president.

Atheists are often imagined to be intolerant, immoral, depressed, blind to the beauty of nature and dogmatically closed to evidence of the supernatural.

�
Even John Locke, one of the great patriarchs of the Enlightenment, believed that atheism was “not at all to be tolerated” because, he said, “promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human societies, can have no hold upon an atheist.”

That was more than 300 years ago. But in the United States today, little seems to have changed. A remarkable 87% of the population claims “never to doubt” the existence of God; fewer than 10% identify themselves as atheists — and their reputation appears to be deteriorating.

Given that we know that atheists are often among the most intelligent and scientifically literate people in any society, it seems important to deflate the myths that prevent them from playing a larger role in our national discourse.

7) Atheists are closed to spiritual experience.

There is nothing that prevents an atheist from experiencing love, ecstasy, rapture and awe; atheists can value these experiences and seek them regularly. What atheists don’t tend to do is make unjustified (and unjustifiable) claims about the nature of reality on the basis of such experiences. There is no question that some Christians have transformed their lives for the better by reading the Bible and praying to Jesus. What does this prove? It proves that certain disciplines of attention and codes of conduct can have a profound effect upon the human mind. Do the positive experiences of Christians suggest that Jesus is the sole savior of humanity? Not even remotely — because Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and even atheists regularly have similar experiences.
There is, in fact, not a Christian on this Earth who can be certain that Jesus even wore a beard, much less that he was born of a virgin or rose from the dead. These are just not the sort of claims that spiritual experience can authenticate.

Complete article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-harris24dec24,0,3994298.story?page=2&track=tothtml

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First man to ask White House if leaking Plame’s name was treason found dead from “probable” suicide jump. Cops won’t say why it’s being called a suicide

At:

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/16326502.htm

From: Poacnewsletter

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#5 of Top Ten stories you missed in 2006. (foreignpolicy.com)

You saw the stories that dominated the headlines in 2006:

the war in Iraq, North Korea’s nuclear tests, and the U.S. midterm elections. But what about the news that remained under the radar? From the Bush administration’s post-Katrina power grab to a growing arms race in Latin America to the new hackable passports, FP delivers the Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2006.

5 – United States Funds the Taliban
The Taliban’s resurgence brought the ongoing war in Afghanistan back onto the front pages in 2006. From record opium production to suicide bombings, the outlook has only grown dimmer in the past 12 months. What you probably didn’t hear is that some of the money the United States is spending to combat the resurgence of the Taliban is winding up in the hands of . . . the Taliban.

As recently as November, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting revealed that villagers in Afghanistan’s war-torn south were handing over U.S. cash meant for reconstruction projects to Taliban fighters, who then use the money to purchase weapons, cell phones, and explosives. As part of an effort to stimulate economic development in the country, the United States had committed $43.5 million for reconstruction as of September. One Canadian officer charged with helping to distribute cash said that “millions” has already gone missing in the five years since coalition troops arrived. Why? According to the report, local mullahs have urged residents to fight the foreign occupation and hand over the money in the hopes of gaining back the security they’ve lost. Others say it’s simple extortion from Taliban thugs. Either way, the United States may inadvertently be aiding the enemy in a fight that will almost certainly become more costly in the year ahead.

Complete article at:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3652&page=1

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NEWSPAPER BIAS STUDY QUESTIONED

At:

http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4309

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After reviewing “two University of Chicago economists’ findings about the political slant of American newspapers,” reporter Chris Adams concludes that the study “has structural flaws.” For instance, the study counted the Washington Post’s mentions of “real estate tax” as “estate tax,” a phrase identified as Democratic (as opposed to its Republican counterpart, “death tax”). Many of the Democratic-leaning phrases the study found in the New York Times, such as “bring our troops home” and “tax cuts for the rich,” appeared not in news reports, but in opinion pieces or letters to the editor. Moreover, the “partisan phrases” used the most by the New York Times — which the study gave a partisan score similar to “a fairly liberal congressperson” like Senator Barbara Boxer — were “credit card” and “Justice Department.” The study’s supposedly-Republican phrases include “assistant secretary” and “urge support.” Adams further cautions, “Among the most liberal newspapers in the study: the Times-Picayune of New Orleans. Among the most Democratic phrases: ‘Hurricane Katrina.’”

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SOURCE: American Journalism Review, December 2006 / January 2007

To comment on this item, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5573

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Plant and Factory Closings

Princeton University Industrial Relations Section

Working Paper 498. Farber, Henry S. “What do we know about Job Loss in the United States? Evidence from the Displaced Workers Survey, 1984-2004″ January 2005.

pdf file:

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http://www.irs.princeton.edu/pubs/pdfs/498.pdf

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Closing of Americus automotive-parts plant is likely

Access North Georgia – Gainesville,GA,USA

… from the factory last week and carted away on tractor trailers. Youngman said the equipment probably belonged to the major automakers supplied by the plant and …

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http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=85121

Ward Products closing plants

Albany Times Union – Albany,NY,USA

… The plant, which as recently as 10 years ago employed 300, will close along with a second plant in North Brunswick, NJ A third manufacturing facility, in …

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http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=548337&category=BUSINESS&newsdate=12/27/2006

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Chapter 11 Debtor Collins & Aikman Likely Closing Plant In Americus

The Macon Telegraph has an article today (click here) on the potential closing of the Collins & Aikman plant in Americus, Georgia, amid investigations into financial fraud. Over 300 jobs may be lost. David Youngman, vice president…

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http://www.georgiabankruptcyblog.com/archives/news-and-comments-chapter-11-debtor-collins-aikman-likely-closing-plant-in-americus.html

Georgia Bankruptcy Blog

http://www.georgiabankruptcyblog.com

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ANNOUNCING THE P.U.-LITZER PRIZES FOR 2006

By Norman Solomon, Jeff Cohen, AlterNet

Many can plausibly lay claim to stinky media performances, but only a few can win a P.U.-litzer.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/stories/45815/

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Christian Sex Abuse

CHRISTIAN CLERGY SEX CRIME CASES ROCK OZARKS RELIGIOUS GROUP

Child Sex-Abuse Cases Rock Ozarks Religious Group By Doualy Xaykaothao All …

Data show that a high number of cases of child sexual abuse in the same area …she says, but he also used his role as a minister to sexually molest her. …

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http://www.nnseek.com/e/soc.culture.usa/christian_clergy_sex_crime_cases_rock_ozarks_religious_25372511t.html

FOXNews.com – Los Angeles Archdiocese Settles 45 Priest Sex Abuse …

Los Angeles Archdiocese Settles 45 Priest Sex Abuse Cases for $60 Million, The nation’s largest Roman Catholic archdiocese said Friday it has agreed to pay …

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,233658,00.html

Man gets 18 years for child sex abuse

Tri-Valley Herald – Pleasanton,CA,USA

TRACY — A former local minister, who investigators said may … and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a … to register as a high-risk sex offender, according …

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http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/ci_4878269

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Joliet priest charged with sex abuse

Chicago Tribune – United States

… “We believe this is the first case of sex abuse involving a Catholic priest to be charged in Will County since the Catholic sex abuse national scandal in 2002 …

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-061221joliet-priest,1,5005204.story?coll=chinews-hed

CHRISTIAN CHURCH PAYS OFF ITS SEX CRIME VICTIMS SIDESTEPPING JUSTICE

Doyle, 62, worked in the Vatican’s US Embassy in the 1980s when he was assigned to monitor a priest sexual abuse case unfolding in Louisiana. He has studied, written and testified about the topic ever since and is co-author of the book …

http://www.nnseek.com/e/talk.politics.guns/christian_church_pays_off_its_sex_crime_victims_sidestepping_23762301t.html

Diocese sued for sex abuse; Vietnam vet claims incidents took …

Newszap Delaware – DE,USA

… month that another man could pursue his claim against a priest because he filed the lawsuit within two years of the date he said memories of his abuse surfaced …

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http://www.newszap.com/articles/2006/12/28/dm/sussex_county/dsn03.txt

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three to see

David Horsey: baby new year

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20061227/cartoon20061227.gif

Mike Peters: u.s. army knife

http://www.grimmy.com/images/MP_Archive/MP_2006/MP1230.gif

Monte Wolverton: Pedophile Priest Penance

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/28454/

Develop and deploy novel techniques to spot and stop malicious software

The tussle between computer security companies trying to protect your PC and the bad guys that try to compromise it is often characterised as an arms race. Sometimes the security companies have the upper hand as they develop and deploy novel techniques to spot and stop malicious software of all stripes. And sometimes, such as in 2006, the bad guys are on top. And nowhere has this been more apparent than in the realm of that old favourite – spam. In the closing months of 2006 spam volumes jumped enormously. According to e-mail filtering firm Postini, spam volumes increased by 73% in the three months to December. ’92.6% of all e-mail messages are spam,’ said Dan Druker, spokesman for Postini. ‘That’s the highest it’s ever been.’ Other e-mail security specialists have not reported such big leaps in junk mail volumes, but all say that they are seeing more spam than ever before. ‘”

Learn more at the BBC.com.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6198113.stm

From:

http://www.futurebrief.com/

                          ==========

#6 of 10 myths — and 10 truths — about atheism

By Sam Harris, SAM HARRIS is the author of “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason” and “Letter to a Christian Nation.”
December 24, 2006
SEVERAL POLLS indicate that the term “atheism” has acquired such an extraordinary stigma in the United States that being an atheist is now a perfect impediment to a career in politics (in a way that being black, Muslim or homosexual is not). According to a recent Newsweek poll, only 37% of Americans would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for president.

Atheists are often imagined to be intolerant, immoral, depressed, blind to the beauty of nature and dogmatically closed to evidence of the supernatural.
Even John Locke, one of the great patriarchs of the Enlightenment, believed that atheism was “not at all to be tolerated” because, he said, “promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human societies, can have no hold upon an atheist.”

That was more than 300 years ago. But in the United States today, little seems to have changed. A remarkable 87% of the population claims “never to doubt” the existence of God; fewer than 10% identify themselves as atheists — and their reputation appears to be deteriorating.

Given that we know that atheists are often among the most intelligent and scientifically literate people in any society, it seems important to deflate the myths that prevent them from playing a larger role in our national discourse.

6) Atheists are arrogant.

When scientists don’t know something — like why the universe came into being or how the first self-replicating molecules formed — they admit it. Pretending to know things one doesn’t know is a profound liability in science. And yet it is the life-blood of faith-based religion. One of the monumental ironies of religious discourse can be found in the frequency with which people of faith praise themselves for their humility, while claiming to know facts about cosmology, chemistry and biology that no scientist knows. When considering questions about the nature of the cosmos and our place within it, atheists tend to draw their opinions from science. This isn’t arrogance; it is intellectual honesty.

Complete article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-harris24dec24,0,3994298.story?page=2&track=tothtml

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The American Right achieved its political dominance in Washington over the past quarter century with the help of more than $3 billion spent by Korean cult leader Sun Myung Moon on a daily propaganda organ, the Washington Times, according to a 21-year veteran of the newspaper.

At:

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/122706.html

From: Poacnewsletter

                          ==========

#6 of Top Ten stories you missed in 2006. (foreignpolicy.com)

You saw the stories that dominated the headlines in 2006:

the war in Iraq, North Korea’s nuclear tests, and the U.S. midterm elections. But what about the news that remained under the radar? From the Bush administration’s post-Katrina power grab to a growing arms race in Latin America to the new hackable passports, FP delivers the Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2006.

6 – Iran and Israel Hold Secret Talks
While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spent the better part of 2006 denying the Holocaust and threatening to destroy Israel, his country was sitting down with Israeli representatives to settle old debts. The clandestine talks, first reported by Israeli daily Haaretz this month, concern hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly owed to Iran for oil it supplied to Israel before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Iran severed the two countries’ economic ties dating back to the 1950s. According to the report, negotiations over the debt have been on-again and off-again for nearly two decades, and the two sides met recently in Geneva in an attempt to reach an agreement.

It’s unclear why Israeli and Swiss officials are now willing to confirm that the talks are taking place. However, there is one leading theory: The leak was timed to embarrass Iran by publicizing its cooperation with a country it refuses to recognize. And the strategy may have worked. Iran swiftly and vehemently denied it’s secretly talking to the Jewish state. It just goes to show, money talks.

Complete article at:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3652&page=1

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WORLD DIAMOND COUNCIL SEEKS TO STERILIZE “BLOOD DIAMOND”

At:

http://adage.com/article?article_id=113710
Concerned about consumer backlash, the World Diamond Council (WDC) has pumped $15 million into a public relations and education campaign to respond to the new movie “Blood Diamond.” The film, starring Leonard DiCaprio, opened to generally good reviews and ranked among the top ten in popularity during the holiday season. It is set in 1999 Sierra Leone, but, a multimillion dollar illicit trade in diamonds from African conflict zones (proceeds from which are used to fund criminal activity) continues in countries such as Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo. WDC created a website, DiamondFacts.org, asserting that the industry successfully participates in monitoring that all but eliminates blood diamonds. WDC also hired the PR crisis management firm, Sitrick & Co., to create an education campaign to neutralize the movie’s potential impact. The stakes are high: “The film makes its debut during the heaviest-selling season for the $60 billion-a-year worldwide diamond industry, and the U.S. accounts for nearly half of diamond-jewelry purchases,” writes T.L. Stanley.
SOURCE: Advertising Age (sub req’d), December 11, 2006

To comment on this item, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5580

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Press release: Consumer Handbook on Adjustable-Rate Mortgages

“The Federal Reserve Board and the Office of Thrift Supervision…announced the availability of a revised Consumer Handbook on Adjustable-Rate Mortgages (the CHARM booklet), which provides information to consumers about the features and risks of such loans. In recognition of the growing use of nontraditional mortgage products that allow borrowers to defer payment of principal and sometimes interest, the agencies have substantially revised the CHARM booklet to include discussions about “interest-only” and “payment option” mortgages.”"

At:

http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/arms/arms_english.htm

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FORD’S LEGACY IS CHENEY AND RUMSFELD

By Tara Lohan

Jon Wiener writes for the Nation about the political appointments made by Ford.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/45989/

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Lesson of Iraq began in Vietnam

By JOHN GRAHAM
GUEST COLUMNIST

Friday, December 29, 2006
I was a civilian adviser/trainer in Vietnam, arriving just as U.S. troops were going home. I wasn’t there to fight, but I hadn’t been in country a week when I learned that the word “non-combatant” didn’t mean much where I was posted, 50 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone that divided South Vietnam from North. I got the message when a sniper’s bullet whistled past my ear on the main highway 20 miles south of Hué.

Snipers or not, in 1971 it was the U.S. government’s policy not to issue weapons to civilian advisers in Vietnam, even to those of us in distant and dangerous outposts. The reason was not principle but PR — and here begin the lessons for Iraq.

Sometime in 1969, the White House, faced with unrelenting facts on the ground and under siege from the public, had quietly made the decision that the U.S. couldn’t win its war in Vietnam.

President Nixon and Henry Kissinger didn’t put it that way, of course. The U.S. was a superpower, and it was inconceivable it could lose a war to a third-rate nation whose soldiers lived on rice and hid in holes in the ground. So the White House conceived an elaborate strategy that would mask the fact of a U.S. defeat.

The U.S. would slowly withdraw its combat troops over a period of several years, while the mission of those who remained would change from fighting the North Vietnamese and Vietcong to training the South Vietnamese. At the same time, we would give the South Vietnamese a series of performance ultimatums that, if unmet, would trigger a total withdrawal and let us blame the South Vietnamese for the debacle that would follow. This strategy was called “Vietnamization.” Implementing it cost at least 10,000 additional U.S. and countless more Vietnamese lives, plus billions of dollars.

…

Complete article at:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/297608_ourplace29.html

John Graham, Whidbey Island, is president of the Giraffe Heroes Project.

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Borowitz Report – New Year’s Resolutions Shocker

Breaking News

President Bush Issues New Year’s Resolutions for ‘07

Vows to Invite Hugo Chavez to Lunch at Taco Bell

In an unprecedented televised address to the nation last night, President George W. Bush announced a list of his New Year’s resolutions for 2007, telling the American people, “I am a big believer in abiding by resolutions, as long as they don’t come from the United Nations.”

The following is a list of the president’s New Year’s resolutions:

“I resolve to pay close attention to the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group’s report, as soon as it comes out on a books-on-tape version.”

“I resolve to make sure that by the end of 2007, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki gets to spend more time with his family.”

“I resolve to tell John Kerry that I thought his joke was hilarious and he should keep ’em coming.”

“I resolve to learn how to use the Internets, especially the Google.”

“I resolve to invite Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to a peacemaking lunch at Taco Bell.”

“I resolve to organize a hunting trip for Dick Cheney and Nancy Pelosi.”

“I resolve to expand the search for Osama bin Laden to include MySpace.”

“I resolve to clear all of the brush at my Crawford ranch, except for that patch I use to hide from Cindy Sheehan.”

“I resolve to continue my opposition to gay parents, unless one of them is named Cheney.”

“I resolve to improve relations with Latin America by building a 700-foot fence around Barb and Jen.”

“And finally, my fellow Americans, I resolve to announce an exit strategy, in which I will withdraw all of our troops from Iraq – through Iran.”
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Andy at Caroline’s – January 16

Andy headlines a night of comedy and storytelling with The Moth at Caroline’s, America’s premier comedy club, on Tuesday, January 16 at 7PM. 1626 Broadway, box office 212-757-4100. For more info go to www.themoth.org.

Andy’s Upcoming Shows – Save the Dates

January 22 – New York

Andy returns to his smash-hit live show on Monday, January 22 at Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction. Lucky audience members will receive autographed copies of Andy’s new book, THE REPUBLICAN PLAYBOOK. Doors open at 8:15; show begins at 8:30. 34 Avenue A between 2nd and 3rd. Tickets only $6 at the door or at www.ticketweb.com.

January 28: Seattle

Andy performs for one night only on Sunday, January 28 at 7:30 at the Moore Theater in Seattle. Ticket information at www.themoore.com.

Andy’s New Book – Only $11.53 at Amazon.com!

Andy’s critically-acclaimed new book, The Republican Playbook, is on sale for only $11.53 at Amazon.com. Free shipping on orders of three books or more. Get the book that Publishers Weekly calls “timely…hilarious…devastating.”

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

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three to see

Jeff Danziger: the road ahead

http://danzigercartoons.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/12/dancart3019.jpg

Ted Rall: good news from iraq

     
http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/trall/2006/trall061228.gif

Matt Bors: a tale of a patriot

http://www.mattbors.com/strips/231.gif

The latest from NASA’s Earth Observatory (26 December 2006)

In the News:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/

* Latest Images:

Geneva, Switzerland
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17505

El Nino and Rainfall
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17502

El Nino Chills the Western Pacific Ocean
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17501

Banc d’Arguin National Park
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17500

Quest for the Source of the Nile
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17499

Fog over London
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17498

Internal Waves in the Tsushima Strait
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17497

East Africa Greens Up from Heavy Rains
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17496

* NASA News

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/
- NASA Data Helps Pinpoint Wildfire Threats

* New Research Highlights

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/

                          ==========

Software to turn armies of internet users into political activists

“The brains behind a doomed antispam service are turning their technology into an online swarming tool for activists, hoping to subject politicians and government agencies to the kind of mass pressure Blue Frog once inflicted on spammers. With its Blue Frog software, Israel-based Blue Security made it easy for spam victims to automatically send opt-out requests to advertised websites, either in e-mail or through online order forms on the sites being promoted. In practice, that meant that some sites were deluged with thousands of such messages simultaneously, prompting critics to charge that the service was little more than a vigilante denial-of-service tool…Now founders Aran Reshef and Amir Hirsh are reincarnating their software to turn armies of internet users into political activists.”

Learn more in Wired News.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72291-0.html?tw=wn_index_24

From:

http://www.futurebrief.com/

                          ==========

#5 of 10 myths — and 10 truths — about atheism

By Sam Harris, SAM HARRIS is the author of “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason” and “Letter to a Christian Nation.”

December 24, 2006
SEVERAL POLLS indicate that the term “atheism” has acquired such an extraordinary stigma in the United States that being an atheist is now a perfect impediment to a career in politics (in a way that being black, Muslim or homosexual is not). According to a recent Newsweek poll, only 37% of Americans would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for president.

Atheists are often imagined to be intolerant, immoral, depressed, blind to the beauty of nature and dogmatically closed to evidence of the supernatural.
Even John Locke, one of the great patriarchs of the Enlightenment, believed that atheism was “not at all to be tolerated” because, he said, “promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human societies, can have no hold upon an atheist.”

That was more than 300 years ago. But in the United States today, little seems to have changed. A remarkable 87% of the population claims “never to doubt” the existence of God; fewer than 10% identify themselves as atheists — and their reputation appears to be deteriorating.

Given that we know that atheists are often among the most intelligent and scientifically literate people in any society, it seems important to deflate the myths that prevent them from playing a larger role in our national discourse.

5) Atheism has no connection to science.

Although it is possible to be a scientist and still believe in God — as some scientists seem to manage it — there is no question that an engagement with scientific thinking tends to erode, rather than support, religious faith. Taking the U.S. population as an example: Most polls show that about 90% of the general public believes in a personal God; yet 93% of the members of the National Academy of Sciences do not. This suggests that there are few modes of thinking less congenial to religious faith than science is.

Complete article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-harris24dec24,0,3994298.story?page=2&track=tothtml

                          ==========

Former assistant to President Bush adviser Karl Rove, was sworn in last week as the interim US attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Arkansas Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln had questioned Griffin’s appointment, saying it circumvented the normal appointment process.

At:

http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=5857822

From: Poacnewsletter

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O’Reilly: “[M]ost women who like artificial trees … have artificial breasts”

While discussing the results of a recent Rasmussen poll on Christmas on the December 19 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O’Reilly stated that “most women who like artificial trees … have artificial breasts.” O’Reilly sourced “a study done” at “UCLA in L.A.” in making his claim.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200612210009?src=other

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NEWSTRUST.NET: A NEW OUTLET FOR CITIZEN JOURNALISTS

Read more

http://beta.newstrust.net

Late last month, NewsTrust went live. This non-profit online news rating service aims to help people identify quality journalism – or “news you can trust.” The project is led by Fabrice Florin, a former journalist and a digital media pioneer at Apple and Macromedia. The concept is simple — NewsTrust members submit articles, then read and rate them based on key journalistic principles such as fairness, balance, evidence, context and importance. The ratings are compiled and each article is given an overall “grade.” Based on the positive reception it has so far received, NewsTrust plans to launch its full service in 2007.
SOURCE: NewsTrust.net

To comment on this item, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5577

                          ==========

#7 of Top Ten stories you missed in 2006. (foreignpolicy.com)

You saw the stories that dominated the headlines in 2006:

the war in Iraq, North Korea’s nuclear tests, and the U.S. midterm elections. But what about the news that remained under the radar? From the Bush administration’s post-Katrina power grab to a growing arms race in Latin America to the new hackable passports, FP delivers the Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2006.

7 – The Gender Gap Gets Smaller
It was a good year for women in politics. Female heads of state took office in Chile and Liberia, and Hillary Clinton and Ségolène Royal set tongues wagging in Washington and Paris over their own presidential prospects. But it was also a great year for future female leaders, especially those in poor countries.

A report released in February by the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau found that the gender gap in secondary education is closing or has closed in most developing countries. Particularly in Latin America and Asia, girls are attending school at the same rate—or higher—than boys. In 1990 in China, for example, 75 girls attended secondary school for every 100 boys. Today, that figure is 97. In India, girls’ enrollment shot up from 60 percent to 81 percent. Though sub-Saharan Africa lagged behind the rest of the world, it too saw more girls in the classroom.

The shift isn’t due to an unexpected worldwide surge in favor of gender equality. The more likely explanation is that urbanization and economic development has boosted girls’ likelihood of attending school, as has a number of innovative government and private-sector programs. In India, for example, UNICEF credits basic sanitation and hygiene education programs in Alwar with increasing girls’ enrollment by 78 percent over a five-year period. Given the clear link between girls’ education and a society’s economic success, it’s good news everyone can celebrate

Complete article at:

http://web0.foreignpolicy.com/story/3652_0.html

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Bush’s move to supersize US military 

He called for a bigger fighting force for a long war on terror. Congress would have to sign off.

Click here to read this article.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1221/p01s01-usmi.html?s=wklypol

                          ==========

MOST OUTRAGEOUS RIGHT WING COMMENTS OF 2006

Media Matters for America

The offensive, the senseless, the bigoted, the inaccurate; a year in right wing-nuttery.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/45983/

                          ==========

three to see

Mike Luckovich: advice from a higher father

http://www.creators.com/1217/LK/LK1222bg.gif

Sandy Huffaker: ceo bonus

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/28524/

Tony Auth: polar bear

http://www.uclick.com/feature/06/12/28/ta061228.

RAND Review

The latest online edition of RAND Review has been posted. See contents below for a summary of articles.

You can view the latest RAND Review here:

http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/fall2006/

==========

#4 of 10 myths — and 10 truths — about atheism

By Sam Harris, SAM HARRIS is the author of “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason” and “Letter to a Christian Nation.”

December 24, 2006

SEVERAL POLLS indicate that the term “atheism” has acquired such an extraordinary stigma in the United States that being an atheist is now a perfect impediment to a career in politics (in a way that being black, Muslim or homosexual is not). According to a recent Newsweek poll, only 37% of Americans would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for president.

Atheists are often imagined to be intolerant, immoral, depressed, blind to the beauty of nature and dogmatically closed to evidence of the supernatural.

Even John Locke, one of the great patriarchs of the Enlightenment, believed that atheism was “not at all to be tolerated” because, he said, “promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human societies, can have no hold upon an atheist.”

That was more than 300 years ago. But in the United States today, little seems to have changed. A remarkable 87% of the population claims “never to doubt” the existence of God; fewer than 10% identify themselves as atheists — and their reputation appears to be deteriorating.

Given that we know that atheists are often among the most intelligent and scientifically literate people in any society, it seems important to deflate the myths that prevent them from playing a larger role in our national discourse.

4) Atheists think everything in the universe arose by chance.

No one knows why the universe came into being. In fact, it is not entirely clear that we can coherently speak about the “beginning” or “creation” of the universe at all, as these ideas invoke the concept of time, and here we are talking about the origin of space-time itself.

The notion that atheists believe that everything was created by chance is also regularly thrown up as a criticism of Darwinian evolution. As Richard Dawkins explains in his marvelous book, “The God Delusion,” this represents an utter misunderstanding of evolutionary theory. Although we don’t know precisely how the Earth’s early chemistry begat biology, we know that the diversity and complexity we see in the living world is not a product of mere chance. Evolution is a combination of chance mutation and natural selection. Darwin arrived at the phrase “natural selection” by analogy to the “artificial selection” performed by breeders of livestock. In both cases, selection exerts a highly non-random effect on the development of any species.

Complete article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-harris24dec24,0,3994298.story?page=2&track=tothtml

==========

In two articles, in two days, LA Times failed to report Bush reversal on success in Iraq

In the two days since President Bush’s December 19 interview with The Washington Post, during which, according to the Post, he “acknowledged for the first time … that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq,” the Los Angeles Times has made no mention of Bush’s acknowledgment. In a December 20 article, the Los Angeles Times instead focused solely on Bush “asking for plans to expand the military for a long war against terrorism,” while an article in the next day’s edition of the paper reported that, during Bush’s December 20 press conference, he “delivered an uncharacteristically dour assessment … of the war and called 2006 a ‘difficult year.’ ” Moreover, in the Times’ reprinting of excerpts of the press conference from the Associated Press, the question about Bush’s seeming reversal and his acknowledgement of it were not included. By contrast, in their coverage of the interview, the Post, the AP, and USA Today, and on December 21, in The New York Times’ coverage of the press conference, all articles noted that Bush’s statement, in the Post’s words, was “a striking reversal for a president who, days before the November elections, declared, ‘Absolutely, we’re winning.’ ” Indeed, during the interview with the Post, Bush responded to a question about the apparent flip-flop by saying that his previous assessment of the situation in Iraq was “an indication of my belief we’re going to win.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200612210005?src=other

==========

District by District, Shiites Make Baghdad Their Own

At:

http://tinyurl.com/y3klxn

From: Poacnewsletter

==========

#8 of Top Ten stories you missed in 2006. (foreignpolicy.com)

You saw the stories that dominated the headlines in 2006:

the war in Iraq, North Korea’s nuclear tests, and the U.S. midterm elections. But what about the news that remained under the radar? From the Bush administration’s post-Katrina power grab to a growing arms race in Latin America to the new hackable passports, FP delivers the Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2006.

8 – Petro Powers Drop the Dollar

If you thought record oil prices this year were a pain in your wallet, there’s more bad news on the horizon. The latest Bank for International Settlements quarterly report, which tracks the investment trends of oil-producing countries, indicates that Russia and OPEC countries are moving their holdings out of dollars and into euros and yen. OPEC cut its holdings in the dollar by more than $5 billion during the first and second quarter of 2006. And Russia now keeps most of its new deposits in euros instead of dollars.

That decrease is swift and significant—and helps to explain why the dollar recently fell to a 20-month low against the euro and a 14-year low against the British pound. Holding dollars while other currencies gain strength means less profit for oil producers. But if they rapidly divest themselves of dollars, it may weaken the currency and push up inflation in the United States. “This new trend may be bigger trouble for the United States than high oil prices and surging Chinese exports,” says Nouriel Roubini, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. If this year’s move away from the dollar is a sign of future thinking by oil producers, the pain felt at the pump may soon be the least of our worries.

Complete article at:

http://web0.foreignpolicy.com/story/3652_0.html

==========

PLAYING HIGH-STAKES MEDIA GAMES IN CHINA

At:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116613117276750595.html

As the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing approach, “the Chinese government knows cameras and notebooks are just as likely to record angry farmers protesting, practitioners of the banned Falun Gong discipline clashing with police, or Hollywood stars campaigning for Tibet’s independence — if reporters have the access.” While China has 31 journalists in jail — more than any other country — the government has “pledged to temporarily relax limits on foreign journalists” reporting on the Olympics. (China has declined to extend the new freedoms to domestic journalists.) For a gentler approach to media control, the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee has put the PR firm Hill & Knowlton on retainer, while “Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide has been conducting training sessions for local governments.” “I think it is a part of the process of reform for them,” said the president of Ogilvy’s China office. Sun Weide, the Beijing Olympics Committee’s “message man” who “works extensively with Hill & Knowlton,” stressed, “The Olympic charter says very clearly that the Games are about sports, not politics.”

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal (sub req’d), December 15, 2006

For more information or to comment on this story, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5551

==========

The Iraq Crisis

…

British and US interests were fixed on Iraq after early discoveries of petroleum there, and the US succeeded in pressuring Great Britain to share petroleum rights in Iraq. In 1931, Iraq became independent with a pro-British regime under King Feisal and Nuri-as-Said. A pro-Axis coup in 1941 was reversed by British intervention. After World War II, the US, worried about Soviet influence, tried to make Iraq the anchor of a NATO-like pro-Western alliance, the Baghdad pact. In 1958, the pro-West government was overthrown by ‘Abd al-Karim Qasim. Qasim survived a Ba’athist coup that included participation of Saddam Hussein in 1959. Kuwait and other neighboring protectorates became independent of Britain beginning in 1961, and Iraq laid claims on them owing to oil resources and the need for outlets to the sea. Qasim was overthrown in 1963 by Abd al-Salam ‘Arif, apparently with the help of the CIA. Arif’s government was overthrown by a Baathist coup in 1968 with the aid of the US Central Intelligence Agency, which had supposedly been encouraging the Baath and Saddam Hussein for many years. By 1979, Saddam Hussein had become Prime Minister and began consolidating a dictatorial regime. Saddam appointed most high officials from among members of his family and natives of his home town village of Tikriti.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.mideastweb.org/iraq.htm

==========

BUSH COULD USHER IN A VERY DANGEROUS NEW YEAR

By Robert Parry, Consortium News

Intelligence sources say President Bush — along with Israel’s Ehud Olmert and the UK’s Tony Blair — are weighing the possibility of Israeli-led attacks on Syria and Iran in early 2007, with the United States providing logistical back-up.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/stories/45852/

==========

Ammunition Shortages Experienced In Operation Iraqi Freedom: Causes and Solutions

During the conduct of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in 2003, there were several reports of ammunition shortages experienced by combat units. Sometime between the end of the Cold War and OIF, the management of ammunition was inadequate, resulting in these shortages after a relatively short campaign. This Strategic Research Project examines the possible causes of the ammunition shortages and recommends possible solutions. This examination will look into the possible reasons which led to the shortages experienced in Iraq, the requirements, determination process, past procurements, inventory status, and what the Army did to fix the problem. The research done provides a basis for recommendations that can help prevent shortages of small arms ammunition in the future….

Download Paper

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/ksil75.pdf

==========

three to see

Slowpoke: Suspicious minds

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/js121706.gif

Tom Toles: cheney takes the stand

http://www.buffalonews.com/graphics/2006/12/26/1226toles.jpg

Dan Wasserman: ceo compensation

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Graphic/2006/12/20/1166591057_5603.gif

The latest from NASA’s Earth Observatory (19 December 2006)

In the News:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/

* Latest Images:
East Africa Greens Up from Heavy Rains
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17496

Fires in Alpine National Park, Victoria
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17495

Anti-Atlas Mountains of Morocoo
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17494

Eruption of Tungurahua
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17493

Lake Morari, Tibet
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17492

Solar Storm Heads for Earth
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17491

Mudslides in the Philippines
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17490

Phytoplankton Bloom off Patagonia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17488

* NASA News

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/
- NASA Tropical Ozone Studies Yield Surprises
- Goddard Team Honored for Achievements in Remote Sensing

* Media Alerts

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/
- Overconfidence Leads to Bias in Climate Change Estimations
- Soil Nutrition Affects Carbon Sequestration in Forests
- ‘Asian Haze’ Impacts on Australian Rainfall
- Drop in Acid Rain Altering Appalachian Stream Water
- Plant a Tree and Save the Earth?
- New Evidence Shows New Madrid Seismic Zone May Be Cold and Dying
- Satellite Radar Gauges Water Levels in Louisiana Wetlands
- Glaciers Adding More to Global Sea Rise Than Ice Sheets
- Radar Reveals View of Land Beneath Polar Ice

* Headlines from the press, radio, and television:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/
- Quake in Indonesia Kills Seven, Injuries Hundreds
- Manila Says a Billion Dollars Needed to Rebuild Typhoon Areas
- Air Pollution Killer in Asian Cities
- Penguins Offer Evidence of Global Warming
- Climate Change Melts Kilimanjaro’s Snow
- New Quake Prediction Method Announced
- Europe’s Air Getting Cleaner
- Ancient Antarctic Winds Mapped
- Three Dead as Storm Spatters Northwest
- Global Warming Trend Continues in 2006, Climate Agencies Say
- Sea Level May Rise Higher Than Predicted
- NASA Tropical Ozone Studies Yield Surprises
- Asia’s Greenhouse Gas ‘to Treble’
- 2006 Sees Record Number of Wildfires
- Mountains Revealed under Greenland Ice
- Climate Change Has Animals Heading for the Hills
- Climate Change Threatens Alpine Results
- Sea Creatures’ Global Warming Fix
- Methane Ices Pose Climate Puzzle
- Satellites Weigh Africa’s Water
- Study: Global Warming Prolongs Life of Space Junk
- Albatrosses on Temperature Watch
- NASA Ice Images Aid Study of Pacific Walrus Arctic Habitats
- NASA Outlines Recent Changes in Earth’s Freshwater Distribution
- Global Warming Culprits: Cars and Cows
- Arctic Summer Could Be Ice-Free by 2040
- NASA Provides New Perspectives on the Earth’s Changing Ice Sheets
- Moulin ‘Blanc’: NASA Expedition Probes Deep Within a Greenland Glacier
- Small Nuclear War Could Lead to Cool-down
- NASA Aircraft Captures Windy Details in Hurricane’s Ups and Downs
- NASA Technology Peels Apart Tropical Storm Gert’s Insides

* New Research Highlights

  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/

                          ==========

SAVING THE INTERNET

At:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWt0XUocViE

The Save the Internet Coalition has released a new video explaining the issues at stake in the net neutrality debate. CMD’s own recently-released Falsies Awards gave the telecom industry a Bronze Falsie for its deceptive use of more than a dozen industry-funded front groups to oppose net neutrality.
SOURCE: Save the Internet Coalition

For more information or to comment on this story, visit:

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5561

                          ==========

Anglican head slams Britain and U.S. over Iraq:

Before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, “Christians ‘were not’ an increasing target for Muslim extremists” and lived in peace and harmony

At:

http://tinyurl.com/y5jcdz

From: Poacnewsletter

                          ==========

O’Reilly accused “liar[],” “left-wing loon” editor of launching personal attacks

During the “Most Ridiculous Item of the Day” segment on the December 19 edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly said that a recent column by Roanoke Times editorial page editor Dan Radmacher was “disgraceful” and accused Radmacher of “us[ing] personal attacks all the time.” O’Reilly’s professed distaste for personal attacks did not prevent him from calling Radmacher a “loon.” Similarly, on the December 19 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, O’Reilly called Radmacher a “left-wing loon,” “disgraceful,” and “dishonest,” adding that “[t]his Dan Radmacher, whoever he is, all The New York Times [Radmacher is an editor for The Roanoke Times] crew. They are liars.”

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200612210006?src=other

                          ==========

#3 of 10 myths – and 10 truths – about atheism

By Sam Harris

Debunking the reasons why many find atheists to be among the most unsavory members of society.

10 myths — and 10 truths — about atheism

By Sam Harris, SAM HARRIS is the author of “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason” and “Letter to a Christian Nation.”
December 24, 2006

SEVERAL POLLS indicate that the term “atheism” has acquired such an extraordinary stigma in the United States that being an atheist is now a perfect impediment to a career in politics (in a way that being black, Muslim or homosexual is not). According to a recent Newsweek poll, only 37% of Americans would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for president.

Atheists are often imagined to be intolerant, immoral, depressed, blind to the beauty of nature and dogmatically closed to evidence of the supernatural.
Even John Locke, one of the great patriarchs of the Enlightenment, believed that atheism was “not at all to be tolerated” because, he said, “promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human societies, can have no hold upon an atheist.”

That was more than 300 years ago. But in the United States today, little seems to have changed. A remarkable 87% of the population claims “never to doubt” the existence of God; fewer than 10% identify themselves as atheists — and their reputation appears to be deteriorating.

Given that we know that atheists are often among the most intelligent and scientifically literate people in any society, it seems important to deflate the myths that prevent them from playing a larger role in our national discourse.

3) Atheism is dogmatic.

Jews, Christians and Muslims claim that their scriptures are so prescient of humanity’s needs that they could only have been written under the direction of an omniscient deity. An atheist is simply a person who has considered this claim, read the books and found the claim to be ridiculous. One doesn’t have to take anything on faith, or be otherwise dogmatic, to reject unjustified religious beliefs. As the historian Stephen Henry Roberts (1901-71) once said: “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

Complete article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-harris24dec24,0,3994298.story?page=2&track=tothtml

                          ==========

#9 of Top Ten stories you missed in 2006. (foreignpolicy.com)

You saw the stories that dominated the headlines in 2006:

the war in Iraq, North Korea’s nuclear tests, and the U.S. midterm elections. But what about the news that remained under the radar? From the Bush administration’s post-Katrina power grab to a growing arms race in Latin America to the new hackable passports, FP delivers the Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2006.

9 – What’s Worse Than Bird Flu? The Cure.

In 2006, bird flu didn’t become the killer pandemic everyone feared. In fact, there were no confirmed deaths in developed countries from bird flu. But the alarm, stoked by Western media reports, led to an unexpected—and unfortunate—outcome: A rash of abnormal behavior, hallucinations, and even deaths attributed to Tamiflu, the medicine marketed as a key drug capable of fighting the disease. In November, the Canadian health ministry issued a warning on Tamiflu after 10 Canadians taking the drug had died suspiciously. And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration received more than 100 reports of injury and delirium among Tamiflu takers for a 10-month period in 2005 and 2006. That’s nearly as many cases as were logged over the drug’s five-year trial period. For now, the cure seems worse than the disease.

Complete article at:

http://web0.foreignpolicy.com/story/3652_0.html

                          ==========

Financial Crisis: Global systemic crisis in 2007, “Another bubble” close to bursting

by GEAB

Global Research, December 21, 2006

Global Europe Anticipation Bulletin, GEAB N°10 (December 16, 2006) -¼br />
We bring to the attention of Global Research readers the following text published by the Global Europe Anticipation Bulletin (GEAB).

To receive the full report available to subscribers click here.

http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-10-is-available!-Global-systemic-crisis-in-2007-Financial-sector-Another-bubble-close-to-bursting_a317.html

Global systemic crisis 2007: The four most affected sectors
With a EURUSD exchange rate now steadily above 1.30, the LEAP/E2020 researchers feel entitled to consider that the impact phase of the global systemic crisis has well started. Now in this month of December, LEAP/E2020 is able to anticipate precisely the four main sectors which shall be at the centre of the global systemic crisis in the year 2007, these are: international trade; exchange rates; financial sector; energy.

                          ==========

Republicans must be more like Ike

From the December 04, 2006 edition The Christian Science Monitor

By John Hulsman and Anatol Lieven

Worse still, neoconservatism has endangered the core values and traditions of America itself. As Thomas Jefferson pointed out, empires require emperors. Instead of adhering to core principles of balanced budgets, smaller but accountable government, fiscal responsibility, local political control as the preference for governance, and a belief in the sanctity of civil liberties, Republicans have embraced highly centralized, militarized big government. The Founding Fathers would be horrified by the shameful excesses of such neoconservative folly: warrantless wiretaps, Abu Ghraib, Gauntánamo Bay, renditions, and torture.

If it is to join with responsible Democrats in promoting an alternative to the neoconservative train wreck, the GOP must rediscover its roots. To do so, it must return to the tradition represented by President Dwight Eisenhower. No one, we assume, can seriously accuse him of weakness or lack of patriotism.

Yet Mr. Eisenhower was also characterized by virtues that have been completely forgotten by the Bush administration. He was tough when necessary, but also extremely prudent.

He successfully opposed calls for preventive war against the Soviet Union and China. As he told a press conference, he had personally experienced “the job of writing letters by the hundreds, by the thousands, to bereaved mothers and wives. This is a very sobering experience.”

The decision to go to war, he said, should not be made in response to anger and resentment, but only after prayerful consideration and the conclusion that no other means existed to protect America’s rights. He also opposed preventive war because, in his wise words, “The colossal job of occupying the territories of the defeated enemy would be far beyond the resources of the United States….”

Eisenhower fully realized that even victory would imperil America’s own democratic system: “The only thing worse than losing a global war was winning one … there would be no individual freedom after the next global war.” Eisenhower was deeply worried about the US becoming what he called a “garrison state,” which would suppress American liberties, squander American resources, and seek out unnecessary conflicts.

He famously warned against the threat to America from its own “military- industrial complex.” The fact that a great general should have been so intelligently suspicious of security institutions, practices, and motives is a tribute to Eisenhower’s greatness as a man, and also to the greatness of the American civic tradition that produced him.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1204/p09s02-coop.html

• John Hulsman is scholar in residence at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Anatol Lieven is senior research fellow at the New America Foundation. Their book, on which this comment is based, is “Ethical Realism: A Vision for America’s Role in the World.”

                          ==========

U.S. Buildup Against Iran

ARASH NOROUZI, cell: (240) 409-2292, truth@mohammadmossadegh.com,

http://www.MohammadMossadegh.com
Norouzi said today: “If a country is under threat, certainly nationalism would be a big reaction. Support for [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad has come from his anti-Western rhetoric and he relies on continued threats from the West to have the status as the defender of Iran. Each act of aggression or threat validates the arguments in Iran that the Muslim world is under attack by Western powers, especially the U.S.”
Norouzi is an artist and has set up a web page about Mohammad Mossadegh, who was Iran’s democratically elected prime minister from 1951 to 1953 — until the U.S. government engineered a coup that overthrew him.
From: Institute for Public Accuracy

                          ==========

Slashdot | DHS’s ‘Secure Flight’ Program Proven Insecure

“News.com is reporting the somewhat unsurprising news that a government program we were assured was ‘perfectly safe’, has actually been proven to be a privacy nightmare. The ‘Secure Flight’ program matched air traveler information with commercial databases in the interests of national security. The charter for the program specifically forbade the TSA from accessing this information; the organization got their hands on it anyway. The Department of Homeland Security has released a report, detailing these findings and analyzing the situation. The News.com piece makes it clear the report was released on Friday in an attempt to obscure it from public notice;

it was only linked to from a DHS subsite, and has not shown up on the DHS or TSA main pages”

http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/24/0853236&from=rss

                          ==========

three to see

Khalil Bendib: the definition of insanity

http://www.bendib.com/newones/2006/december/small/12-23-Surge.jpg

Steve Benson: on dasher! on dancer! …

http://www.azcentral.com/sshow/News/Benson/4271_73835.jpg

Slowpoke: Suspicious minds

http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/js121706.gif

Business Outlook Survey – FRB Philadelphia

Manufacturers See Modest Decrease: Economic activity declined slightly in December, according to the manufacturers participating in the Business Outlook Survey. The main index decreased to -4.3 from 5.1 in November.

For a brief commentary, see the press release at

http://www.philadelphiafed.org/media/newsreleases/122106.html .

                          ==========

#2 of 10 myths — and 10 truths — about atheism

By Sam Harris, SAM HARRIS is the author of “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason” and “Letter to a Christian Nation.”

December 24, 2006

SEVERAL POLLS indicate that the term “atheism” has acquired such an extraordinary stigma in the United States that being an atheist is now a perfect impediment to a career in politics (in a way that being black, Muslim or homosexual is not). According to a recent Newsweek poll, only 37% of Americans would vote for an otherwise qualified atheist for president.

Atheists are often imagined to be intolerant, immoral, depressed, blind to the beauty of nature and dogmatically closed to evidence of the supernatural.
Even John Locke, one of the great patriarchs of the Enlightenment, believed that atheism was “not at all to be tolerated” because, he said, “promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human societies, can have no hold upon an atheist.”

That was more than 300 years ago. But in the United States today, little seems to have changed. A remarkable 87% of the population claims “never to doubt” the existence of God; fewer than 10% identify themselves as atheists — and their reputation appears to be deteriorating.

Given that we know that atheists are often among the most intelligent and scientifically literate people in any society, it seems important to deflate the myths that prevent them from playing a larger role in our national discourse.

2) Atheism is responsible for the greatest crimes in human history.

People of faith often claim that the crimes of Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot were the inevitable product of unbelief. The problem with fascism and communism, however, is not that they are too critical of religion; the problem is that they are too much like religions. Such regimes are dogmatic to the core and generally give rise to personality cults that are indistinguishable from cults of religious hero worship. Auschwitz, the gulag and the killing fields were not examples of what happens when human beings reject religious dogma; they are examples of political, racial and nationalistic dogma run amok. There is no society in human history that ever suffered because its people became too reasonable.

Complete arrticle at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-harris24dec24,0,3994298.story?page=2&track=tothtml

                          ==========

The Builder Who Bombed in Iraq:

“The entire reconstruction effort was much too ambitious.” – “This is the lens through which Iraqis will now see America. Incompetence. Profiteering. Arrogance. And human waste oozing out of ceilings as a result.”

At:

http://tinyurl.com/y7un6y

From: Poacnewsletter

                          ==========

From the White House’s mouth to CNN’s … mouth?

CNN’s adoption of the phrase “listening mode” to describe President Bush’s reaction to the Iraq Study Group report is just the latest example of CNN journalists’ repeating White House phrases without challenge and reporting Bush administration talking points as fact.

Read more

http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200612220015?src=other

                          ==========

Wolfowitz owes us an explanation

By Sonni Efron, Sonni Efron is an editor on the opinion pages of The Times.

December 24, 2006

ACCOUNTABILITY is one of those ideals, like justice or the triumph of right over might, that are wonderful in principle but usually disappointing in practice.

This is nowhere more true than in Washington, where one of the most powerful men in President Bush’s inner circle, a man who helped conceive, plan and execute the Iraq war, has managed to escape scrutiny for steering his country into one of the greatest strategic catastrophes of his generation.

…

Complete article at:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-efron24dec24,0,1651051.story?track=tothtml

WITH ONLY 23 MONTHS LEFT, UNDECLARED CANDIDATES ARE POSITIONING

Complete article at:

http://hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/121306/overture.html

 

The 2008 U.S. presidential race is already taking shape. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rudy Giuliani “are lining up on opposite sides of their home state’s debate over a controversial nuclear power plant,” reports The Hill. Giuliani, “whose security firm works for the plant’s owners,” supports the Indian Point plant’s re-licensing bid. Clinton has called for “an independent safety assessment,” while “three House Democrats and Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer (D-N.Y.) have called for Indian Point’s closure,” due to radioactive leaks and the 9/11 Commission’s finding that “al-Qaeda members considered hitting Indian Point on their way to the World Trade Center.” But what about campaign advertising? Sen. John McCain “will likely be lining up with Mark McKinnon, who headed the Bush Maverick Media ad team,” reports Advertising Age. Gov. Mitt Romney will turn to Alex Castellanos of National Media, Inc., and Sen. Sam Brownback will use Wilson Grand Communications. Clinton “looks to be aligning with Mandy Grunwald,” while Sen. Barack Obama “is expected to go with David Axelrod’s AKP Media & Message,” and Sen. Joe Biden will likely tap Joe Slade White.
SOURCE: The Hill, December 13, 2006

For more information or to comment on this story, visit: 

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5552

                          ==========

#10 of Top Ten stories you missed in 2006. (foreignpolicy.com)

You saw the stories that dominated the headlines in 2006:

the war in Iraq, North Korea’s nuclear tests, and the U.S. midterm elections. But what about the news that remained under the radar? From the Bush administration’s post-Katrina power grab to a growing arms race in Latin America to the new hackable passports, FP delivers the Top Ten Stories You Missed in 2006.

10 – Hackable Passports

In October, the U.S. State Department began issuing biometric “ePassports” that contain a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag under the back cover. The tiny chip holds the usual passport data, including a digital photo. The motive behind adding the chips is ostensibly good: to combat counterfeiting and illegal immigration.

But a German hacker quickly found a vulnerability. With a laptop and a chip reader he bought for $200, he was able to steal data from an encrypted RFID tag, potentially allowing him to clone an ePassport. And it’s not just Americans who are at risk. Twenty-seven countries (mostly in Europe) that participate in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program are required by U.S. law to issue the new electronic passports to their citizens. The Dutch and British media have already reported major security flaws in the new IDs.

So, what’s a security conscious citizen to do? Again, the answer may come out of Germany. A group of hackers there recommends that people microwave the new passports to destroy the chips. The State Department may want to go back to relying on a paper trail.

Complete arrticle at:

http://web0.foreignpolicy.com/story/3652_0.html

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PLACE YOUR BETS: PRO OCCUPATION, OR PRO IRAQ?

By Raed Jarrar

The Bush administration is not just beating a dead horse in Iraq — it’s betting all our tax money on it.

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/45871/

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NY TIMES PIMPS THE PRIVATIZATION OF IRAQ’S OIL

By Joshua Holland

Joshua Holland: Can these guys do math?

At:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/45799/

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three to see

TeeVee News: The war on Christmas

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R.J. Matson: I want you – to keep shopping

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David Horsey: this present from uncle jim has too many pieces

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