White House Requests Increased Funding for Failed Student Drug-Testing, Discredited Anti-Pot AdsIn a move that should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, the Bush administration's FY 08 budget requests significant increases in federal funding to randomly drug-test student athletes and pay for discredited public service announcements urging teens to avoid marijuana.
According to Bush's budget request, the White House is demanding $130 million in 2008 to fund the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, an increase... (more) If the intent was actually to lower drug usage, surely an increase in drug usage as a result of the ads would appear to be a failure. Now, if the intent was to increase drug usage in order to create a drugged docile populace, then these ads are, of course, not a failure, but huge success. |
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Senator Introduces Bill to Criminalize Human MicrochippingOKLAHOMA CITY - A Senate committee Thursday debated legislation that would prevent state government from forcing the implantation of a microchip in humans.
SB 47, by Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, prohibits the forced implantation of a microchip in humans and authorizes the Department of Health to impose a maximum fine of $10,000 against violators. Each day of continued violation would constitute a separate offense. Members of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee gave the b... (more)
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Gitmo Cover-up?An investigation by the U.S. Southern Command into allegations of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay detention center has concluded that "insufficient evidence exists to substantiate the paralegal's allegations."
But Lieutenant Colonel Colby Vokey, the superior officer to the Marine sergeant who filed the allegations, called the investigation "outrageous." "I am aware that the investigators interviewed only the suspects and some witnesses but did not interview any detainees or pote... (more)
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Fake bloggers soon to be ‘named and shamed’Hotels, restaurants and online shops that post glowing reviews about themselves under false identities could face criminal prosecution under new rules that come into force next year.
Businesses which write fake blog entries or create whole wesbites purporting to be from customers will fall foul of a European directive banning them from “falsely representing oneself as a consumer”.
From December 31, when the change becomes law in the UK, they can be named... (more) Notice how this law does not apply to the government ( who pays literal armies of fake bloggers to push establishment propaganda ). This will not stop that problem, instead this will be used as a pretext to ban all internet anonymity. |
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Medicaid law trade-offNew federal rules requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for Medicaid coverage will save Colorado $300,000, but cost $2.9 million to implement, according to state estimates.
The state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which administers Medicaid, has asked for an additional $2.8 million in the coming year to help counties cover most of the additional cost.
The state estimates that the new rules will result in 200 people losing Medicaid coverage in 2007 - a... (more)
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Brown joins the Pope to launch £750m child vaccination plan Gordon Brown and the Pope are trying to save millions of children in the poorest countries by speeding distribution of life-saving vaccines.
A group of world leaders, including the Chancellor and Pope Benedict XVI, launched the £750m scheme in Rome yesterday.
The audience with the Pope could also bring domestic political benefits for Mr Brown, so soon after the conflict between the Government and the Catholic Church over whether gay couples should have in ado... (more) Related: Vaccination: The Hidden Truth |
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Giuliani praises Bush's Iraq policy, foresightSACRAMENTO — Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani praised President Bush's war leadership on Saturday and mocked supporters of a nonbinding congressional resolution condemning the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq.
The former New York City mayor came to Bush's defense as he promoted his White House candidacy at a California Republican convention. Drawing parallels between Iraq and America's Civil War, Giuliani compared Bush's political troubl... (more)
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Animal rights groups deny sending letter bombs as police release picturesThe first pictures of the letter bombs used to target businesses across the country have been released by police.
The images show one unexploded device, which was intercepted, still in an A5 padded envelope. The second is of the remains of a bomb which ignited and caused minor injuries.
Details including postmarks and handwriting have been deliberately covered up by detectives. They say this is essential, so as not to compromise the investigati... (more)
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Paraplegic allegedly 'dumped' on skid rowA paraplegic man wearing a soiled hospital gown and a broken colostomy bag was found crawling in a gutter in skid row in Los Angeles on Thursday after allegedly being dumped in the street by a Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center van, police said.
The incident, witnessed by more than two dozen people, was described by police as a particularly outrageous case of "homeless dumping" that has plagued the downtown area.
"I can't think of anything colder than that," said... (more)
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Big Brother Brain Scanners to detect pre-crime You think this headline is alarmist? Fine, don't read anymore of this article, click here for the same story from today's front page of the London Guardian which debates whether a 'Minority Report' era, where judgments are handed down before the law is broken on the strength of an incriminating brain scan, is ethical or not.
The technology is no longer science fiction. A team of neuroscienti... (more)
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The brain scan that can read people's intentionsA team of world-leading neuroscientists has developed a powerful technique that allows them to look deep inside a person's brain and read their intentions before they act.
The research breaks controversial new ground in scientists' ability to probe people's minds and eavesdrop on their thoughts, and raises serious ethical issues over how brain-reading technology may be used in the future.
The team used high-resolution brain scans to identify ... (more)
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Ten-year-old charged with felony over fire alarm he didn't pullIf a jury is seated May 15, as scheduled, to decide whether 10-year-old Casey Harmeier committed the crime of attempting to send a false fire alarm, here is some of the evidence jurors are likely to hear.
Casey is a good student, making A's and B's.
According to his father, he has never been in trouble, either at Tomball ISD's Beckendorf Intermediate School or previously at Tomball Elementary School.
When I asked district spokesman Stacy Stanfield to ... (more) "Already he's been put through a session where, without his parents present, he was asked whether they abused him, sexually or otherwise.
After that session he wrote a brief journal item: 'I feel like a dieses. Like all I am is a viol monster of a person well at least thats wat I think. I'm always scared every time I leave my parents sight and the questions I had to answer were scary and asked if I had ever been high, drunk, or raped and it scared me.'" |
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You're Either With the Resistance -- or With the Murderers To provide the necessary context for what follows, I must offer a brief excerpt from the first part of this series:
History provides us with stories of individual heroism from which we draw courage. We wonder: why did Hans and Sophie Scholl fight against the immense evil of the Nazi regime, even when they knew thei ... (more)
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Canadian, U.S. and Mexican officials held secretive meeting on integrationOTTAWA - Canadian, U.S. and Mexican politicians discussed using "stealth" to overcome public resistance to the integration of the three countries at a confidential meeting last year, according to documents just released under U.S. Freedom of Information laws.
Top military brass, corporate executives and diplomats also attended the meeting in Banff, Alta., where participants discussed everything from the harmonization of food and drug standards, to common immigration policies, and ... (more)
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Employee microchip tracking bill discussedBISMARCK – Discussion on a bill that could limit the use of implanted microchips in humans ignited plenty of what-if scenarios at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday.
The bill was presented by Sen. Randel Christmann, R-Hazen, with the intent to keep employers from forcing employees to have microchip implants for the purpose of closer supervision.
“The technology, if not there, is very close,” Christmann said. “We want to make su... (more)
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Charging Iran with "Genocide" Before Nuking ItIn a very interesting analysis last month, the former chief of staff of the Russian Army, Gen. Leonid Ivashov, predicted a U.S. nuclear strike on Iran by this April. "Within weeks from now," he wrote, "we will see the informational warfare machine start working. The public opinion is already under pressure. There will be a growing anti-Iranian militaristic hysteria, new information leaks, disinformation, etc." I'm afraid this has the ring of truth.
... (more)
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The Watada Mistrial: Here's What Really HappenedFirst Lt. Ehren Watada knew exactly what his case was about - and that scared the judge.
There was absolutely no reason to stop the Watada trial.
The judge's claim that Lt. Watada did not fully understand a document he signed admitting to elements of the charges is completely untrue (see Melanthia Mitchell, AP, 2/8/07).
The military seized on that claim and complimented the judge for "protecting the rights of the accused" in granting the m... (more)
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Watada Beats the GovernmentWhen the Army judge declared a mistrial over defense objection in 1st Lt. Ehren Watada's court martial yesterday, he probably didn't realize jeopardy attached. That means that under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Constitution, the government cannot retry Lt. Watada on the same charges of missing movement and conduct unbecoming an officer.
Lt. Watada is the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse orders to deploy to Iraq. He clai... (more)
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Two Suspects Released Without Charge In British 'Beheading Plot'The bogus terror dance continues in Great Britain, where last week nine Muslim men were arrested, supposedly for plotting to kidnap and behead a Muslim British soldier and post a video of the decapitation on the internet.
Two of the nine were released without charge early Wednesday morning. None of the remaining seven suspects has been charged with a crime.
According to reports from BBC and elsewhere, the two ex-suspects said in a statement after ... (more)
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When Healing Becomes a CrimeHarry Hoxsey claimed to cure cancer using herbal remedies, and thousands of patients swore that he healed them. His Texas clinic became the world’s largest privately owned cancer center with branches in seventeen states, and the value of its therapeutic treatments was upheld by two federal courts. Even his arch-nemesis, the AMA, admitted his treatment was effective against some forms of cancer. But the medical establishment refused an invest... (more)
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Bush Caves in on North Korea“The US has talked tough without achieving anything.” Han Seung-Joo, South Korea’s former foreign minister (UK Guardian)
There’s been plenty of saber rattling and bold talk about forcing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program, but after a 6 year standoff, Bush has decided to give in to Kim Jung Il’s demands. The western media is characterizing the new developments as a “breakthrough”, but, in fact, Bush has retreated on every i... (more)
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Gonzales' sacking of US Attorneys like a 'coup d'etat' A columnist at Salon has described Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' sacking of United States Attorneys involved in controversial prosecutions as an act that amounts to a "coup d'etat."
Joe Conason highlights the removal from office of Carol Lam, Bud Cummings, and John McKay, U.S. Attorneys in San Diego, Little Rock, and Seattle respectively, whose prosecutions ran against the partisan interests of the Bush White House. These acts, Conason writes, suggest tha... (more)
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School Fight Policy Punishes VictimRush-Henrietta has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to fighting in schools.
That isn't sitting well with some parents as it punishes not only the instigator, but also the victim.
Some parents believe things are getting rough at the high school. One told R News about her son being attacked by two brothers. Amy Schubach says even though her son didn't fight, he received the same ten week suspension as the instigators.
“The zero tolerance poli... (more)
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The Real Failed StatesGrowing references by the US and Israel to the Muslim Middle East as a collection of failed states are part of the propaganda campaign to strip legitimacy from Muslim states and set them up for attack. These accusations spring from the hubris of many Israelis, who see themselves as "God's Chosen People," a guarantee of immunity instead of a call to responsibility, and many Americans, who regard their country as "a city upon a hill" that is "the light of ... (more)
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Six Lies You Shouldn't Believe About Iran, Especially Since, Hey, There's People Down Here.It feels so different watching an aircraft carrier group coming toward you than watching it sailing away from you toward another part of the world.
I'm an American who used to live in New York City. All my life, when I heard about warships, it was US warships going places far away. I never even imagined hostile warships sailing toward New York. Now I'm in Tehran, and aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis is heading our way. And as it sails, people are discussing Israel and/or ... (more)
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