Computers than can scan your mind
“The U.S. military is working on computers than can scan your mind and adapt to what you’re thinking. Since 2000, Darpa, the Pentagon’s blue-sky research arm, has spearheaded a far-flung, nearly $70 million effort to build prototype cockpits, missile control stations and infantry trainers that can sense what’s occupying their operators’ attention, and adjust how they present information, accordingly. Similar technologies are being employed to help intelligence analysts find targets easier by tapping their unconscious reactions.
It’s all part of a broader Darpa push to radically boost the performance of American troops. ‘Computers today, you have to learn how they work,’ says Navy Commander Dylan Schmorrow, who served as Darpa’s first program manager for this Augmented Cognition project.”
Learn more in Wired News.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,72996-0.html
From:
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Beck likened Gore to Nazi propagandist, let Inhofe distort his climate change testimony
On the March 22 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck allowed Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) to distort former Vice President Al Gore’s March 21 testimony before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Meanwhile, Beck himself likened Gore to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels for Gore’s statement, during his testimony before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, that he would initiate a “mass persuasion campaign” to urge Congress to act on climate change.
Read more
http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200703230013?src=other
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Beck said “I’m a little ashamed” for calling O’Donnell “a fat witch” — then added, “But she’s so fat”
On the March 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Glenn Beck discussed the March 22 edition of MSNBC’s Countdown, in which host Keith Olbermann named Beck the runner-up in his nightly “Worst Person in the World” segment. Olbermann gave Beck the title for calling Rosie O’Donnell “a fat witch” and mocking her weight during the March 22 broadcast of his radio show, as documented by Media Matters for America. In response, Beck said: “I wasn’t calling her — I believe I was stating a fact.” Steve Burguiere, the show’s executive producer and head writer known on-air as “Stu,” replied, “Yeah, and I believe that’s a scientific consensus.”
Read more
http://mediamatters.org/items/dailyemail/200703230012?src=other
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Documents show Gonzales approved firings of U.S. attorneys
24 Mar 2007
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S. attorneys in a November meeting, according to documents released Friday that contradict earlier claims that he was not closely involved in the dismissals. The Nov. 27 meeting, in which the attorney general and at least five top Justice Department officials participated, focused on a five-step plan for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Justice Department officials said late Friday.
At:
http://www.miningjournal.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=12898
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GAO Faults U.S. Military Over Munitions in Iraq –
Report Says ‘Insurgents’ Took Unsecured Explosives 23 Mar 2007 The U.S. military’s faulty war plans and insufficient troops in Iraq left thousands and possibly millions of tons of conventional munitions unsecured or in the hands of ‘insurgent’ [US] groups after the 2003 invasion — allowing widespread looting of weapons and explosives used to make roadside bombs that cause the bulk of U.S. casualties, according to a government report released yesterday. [The US keeps Iraq in a constant state of chaos and violence so that there is a 'need' for Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater USA to stay in Iraq and continue to make billion$ off of Bush's war crimes. --LRP]
At:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032202017.html
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This is where the oil meets the water!
March 24th, 2007 marks the eighteenth year since the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill spoiled the pristine waters of Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Not surprisingly (although many still don’t know), ExxonMobil still has not paid the punitive damages it owes the spill victims. That means Exxon has dragged more than 30,000 people and their families through 13 years of litigation by appealing every guilty verdict it’s been given since 1994! During this time 6,000 plaintiffs have died waiting for compensation.
BUT WAIT…IT GETS EVEN MORE OUTRAGEOUS!
ExxonMobil is risking a Valdez-like disaster every day by continuing to operate the largest, most dangerous oil tanker in the area – Exxon Valdez’s sister ship, the Sea River Long Beach. Like the Valdez, the Sea River Long Beach is an old single-hulled supertanker – the only one still operating in the area.
Punitive damages are awarded not just for excessive suffering by the plaintiffs but also to deter reckless behavior. Perhaps if ExxonMobil finally paid the punitive damages it owes then it might think twice about risking another devastating oil spill in the area.
Apparently ExxonMobil is confident it can wait out both the plaintiffs and the law before it has to spend a dime toward preventive action. Nevermind that ExxonMobil banked nearly $40 billion in profits last year and $36.1 billion in 2005.
The victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill will soon unveil a 7-foot tall wooden ExxonMobil Ridicule Pole. The special totem pole is a native Alaskan tradition meant to force a person of high standing to pay a debt or obligation.
We may not be able to be there with them in Alaska, but we are joining them in solidarity by sending a fax to Exxon’s CEO Rex Tillerson and Exxon Board Chair Michael J. Boskin at Stanford University.
Click here to send your fax now.
http://ga3.org/campaign/exxon_anniversary
To learn more, see
http://www.exxposeexxon.com/newsroom/valdez_18yr.html
BACKGROUND
The Exxon Valdez oil spill is the most devastating oil spill in U.S. History. Hundreds of thousands of fish, seabirds, bald eagles, otters, seals and whales were maimed and killed. The native communities whose lives depended on those waters for commercial and subsistence fishing were, and still are, devastated. Only ten out of 30 species and services harmed by the spill have recovered, and seven show little to no improvement at all. The multi-million dollar herring fish industry that once supported the local economy and ecosystem was wiped out by the Exxon Valdez spill and remains closed indefinitely. In 1994, ExxonMobil was found “reckless” by judge and jury and ordered to pay $5 billion in punitive damages to the victims of the spill. ExxonMobil continues to argue it should pay only $25 million. In 2006, the damages were lowered to $2.5 billion plus interest in a 2-to-1 vote based on a recent Supreme Court ruling that lowers punitive damage awards. The one dissenting judge adamantly voted to maintain the $4.5 billion award. ExxonMobil has again asked the court to reconsider.
If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to email or call me.
Shawnee Hoover
Campaign Director
Web: http://www.ExxposeExxon.com
Email: shoover@exxposeexxon.comTel. (202) 546-9707
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U.S. Interests in Central Asia and the Challenges to Them
The author assesses U.S. interests in Central Asia and the challenges to them. He recommends policies designed to meet those challenges to American policy in this increasingly more important area of the world.
Published March 2007, Authored by Dr. Stephen J. Blank
At:
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=758
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CRS Report – The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11
The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11 – Updated March 14, 2007.
“With enactment of FY2007 appropriations, Congress has approved a total of about $510 billion for military operations, base security, reconstruction, foreign aid, embassy costs, and veterans’ health care for the three operations initiated since the 9/11 attacks: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) covering Afghanistan and other counter terror operations, Operation Noble Eagle (ONE) providing enhanced security at military bases, and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Iraq.”
At:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf
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Borowitz Report – Forgotten Anniversary Shocker
Iraqis Angry That U.S. Forgot Anniversary of War
Shiites, Sunnis Enraged Over Absence of Flowers
Iraqi citizens, already furious at the United States for a host of issues, are now miffed that the U.S. apparently forgot the fourth anniversary of the war there, sources said today.
Across the war-torn nation, Iraqis expressed a range of emotions from dismay to outright anger at the U.S. for failing to recognize the fourth anniversary of the March 2003 invasion.
And while Sunnis and Shiites have found little to agree about as sectarian violence has surged in recent weeks, they both seemed in accord about one thing today: the United States should have at least sent flowers.
“A fourth anniversary is a big deal, and it should have been marked with a tasteful bouquet,” said Tikrit resident Hassan El-Medfaai, 47. “Apparently, this anniversary means a lot more to us than it does to them.”
At the White House, aides were scrambling to make amends with the Iraqi people over the apparent omission, with President Bush reportedly suggesting that the U.S. send an “I Wuv You” bear and a Mylar balloon with the words “Mission Accomplished” on it.
But in an interview on Fox News, Vice President Dick Cheney defended the U.S.’s failure to recognize the anniversary, telling reporters, “When we invaded four years ago, the Iraqis didn’t greet us with flowers, either.”
Vice President Cheney added that a fourth anniversary is not “a major one,” and that the U.S. would still be in Iraq to celebrate the twenty-fifth.
Elsewhere, the Department of Homeland Security raised the nation’s terror alert level based on reports that Britney Spears had checked out of rehab.
http://www.borowitzreport.com/
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three to see
Tom Toles: congress response to global warming
http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20070323/ltt070323.gif
Jack Ohman: what congress wants… what the white house wants
http://images.ucomics.com/comics/tmjoh/2007/tmjoh070322.gif
Bad Reporter (Don Asmussen): sells for $$$billion
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2007/03/23/950×314-badreporter.gif
