DAILY NEWSLINKS
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JON CARROLL’S AMAZING PASSPORT ESCAPADES WATCH: STATE OF THE SATIRE SPEECH http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/23/open-thread-378 OLBERMANN: STATE-BY-STATE OF THE UNION REVIEW (or should that be “revue?”) http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/24/olbermann-a-look-back-at-bushs-sotu-credibility/ IT’S TOM ‘CHRIST’ CRUISE http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,4-2007030603,00.html BLAIR SIGHTING CONFIRMED AFTER CATS DISAPPEAR http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s1i14062 And on to the state of the news and comment. . . EPA CLOSES ITS LIBRARIES, DESTROYS DOCUMENTS http://ucsaction.org/campaign/1_17_07epalibraryclosures The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun closing its nationwide network of scientific libraries, effectively preventing EPA scientists and the public from accessing vast amounts of data and information on issues from toxicology to pollution. The Little Dictator BUSH’S 20 PERCENT GAS REDUCTION IS HOT AIR That’s off projected use, not actual use! http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/24/thinkfast-january-24-2007/ WHAT? NO MENTION OF MARS OR NEW ORLEANS? Might as well be the same place, as far as Bush is concerned http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070124/ap_on_go_pr_wh/state_of_union_katrina WATCH: ANNOTATED STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS Read the facts as Bush delivers the fairy tales http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/24/annotated-sotu/ REPUGNICANS BEAT UP ON BUSH AFTER SPEECH http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/print?id=2818145 THOMPSON: ANOTHER MISSION UNACCOMPLISHED http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/another_mission.html As speeches go, his State of the Union address was better than some of his previous efforts - devoid of the multiple verbal gaffes that have marred his Presidency.But if motivation of a nation weary of war and skeptical of his policies, lies and missteps was Bush's goal, he can mark this one up as just another failure in a Presidency of missions unaccomplished. ALL TALK, NO PLAN http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/reaction_to_spe.html PROPOSALS THAT WILL GO NOWHERE http://www.alternet.org/story/47090/ FULL STATE OF UNION GUEST LIST http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_State_of_Union_Guests.html Democraps WEBB WAS SUCCINCT, COGENT http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=159940 WATCH: WEBB’S EXCELLENT RESPONSE http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/23/webb-sotu/ Iran from the Truth ARAB LEAGUE HEAD: DON’T ATTACK IRAN http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24925722.htm BY THE WAY, WE’RE BOMBING SOMALIA AGAIN http://rawstory.com/news/2007/US_launches_second_airstrikes_on_So_01242007.html Anti-Carterism ‘THIS IS HURTING ME’---JIMMY CARTER http://www.time.com/time/quotes CARTER STANDS BY HIS (TRUTHFUL, REALISTIC, SANE) BOOK http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/24/news/carter.php ISRAEL INSIDER LIKENS CARTER TO. . .DAVID DUKE! Quick, cue the tweety-birds! http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/10455.htm CARTER BACKS DOWN OVER (REASONABLE) SENTENCE IN BOOK http://bbsnews.net/article.php/2007012401515949 CARTER’S ‘PEACE MISSION’ TO BRANDEIS http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012301668.html Electile Dysfunction JON CARROLL: NARCISSISTS FOR PRESIDENT! http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/24/DDGRJN7IN71.DTL So we get only candidates who are certified narcissists. It's not a matter of public service anymore -- the itch to serve the public can be scratched in any number of ways that leave a person time to be a person. It's the urge to power, the love of combat, the high of being the Decider. Being president is the only job where wanting it should result in immediate disqualification. I liked Barack Obama a lot better before he decided to run for president. GIULIANI ASKED: WHAT IN HELL DOES A MAYOR KNOW ABOUT IRAQ? Biggest zero to run for prez since. . .Bush http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Giuliani_stumbles_at_What_does_mayor_0124.html WHY THE HATE FOR HILLARY? http://www.alternet.org/story/46237/ The details of her life are familiar enough; perhaps that's why all the profiles of her over the last 10 years have always seemed tedious and repetitive. It's how we shape those facts that's interesting. Hillary herself once said she had become some kind of Rorschach blot in which Americans see many things. Mashed Media HAHAHA---PHILLY INQUIRER INTRODUCES ‘EXPRESS’ SECTION Real short stories for people with real short attention spans http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003536650 MASS MURDOCH: RUPERT GOES AFTER TRIBUNE COMPANY http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003536510 CHRIS CUOMO ALMOST WIPED OUT IN IRAQ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003536702 Enviro Wacko STRICKEN CARGO SHIP ABOUT TO POISON BRITISH COAST WITH OIL http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070123-britain-oil.html GORE FILM BANNED BY WASHINGTON SCHOOL DISTRICT http://www.progressivemajority.org/blog/?storyId=3097 Gore 'Thrilled' by Oscar Nominations http://film.guardian.co.uk/apnews/story/0,,-6367303,00.html ALL SCOTTISH SCHOOLS TO SEE GORE FILM http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1126957.0.0.php THE TOP TEN CELEB PRIVATE JET OFFENDERS http://environment.guardian.co.uk/travel/story/0,,1996893,00.html Animals in the news! JAPANESE PET OWNERS TURN TO ACUPUNCTURE TO HELP AGING DOGS, CATS http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/features/news/20061226p2g00m0fe034000c.html ASTOUNDING RARE SHARK CAUGHT ON FILM http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=431041&in_page_id=1965 Spaced Out UH-OH. . .ANOTHER TEACHER/ASTRONAUT GOING UP THIS SUMMER http://www.enn.com/iotd2.html?id=739 Oh, by the way. . . 190 MILLION HOMELESS MIGRANTS IN THE WORLD TODAY http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,461120,00.html LIFE IN PRISON FOR CHEATING ON YOUR SPOUSE---IN MICHIGAN http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/24/MNG2ONNQ521.DTL ‘WITCHES’ KILLED IN NEW GUINEA http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Suspected_witches_incur_wrath_in_PN_01242007.html BRITAIN: ONLY JAIL THE MOST VIOLENT CRIMINALS http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1997589,00.html GOOD RIDDANCE, E. HOWARD HUNT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ag84zbTZB8_4&refer=us And in more important matters. . . ANGELS FLIGHT COMING BACK---AGAIN http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-angels24jan24,1,1467081.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true With the massive Grand Avenue project about to break ground atop Bunker Hill, there is a growing feeling that the new Angels Flight will actually serve as a valued form of transportation downtown — not just as a tourist attraction. Film U.S RELIGIOUS GROUPS CALL FOR BANNING FILM WITH ‘CHILD RAPE’ SCENE The Rip Post joins them---why put this on screen? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6295481.stm PENELOPE CRUZ, KATE WINSLET VS. THE GRAND DAMES http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0124/p01s02-ussc.html INTERVIEW: PEEWEE HERMAN---THAT IS, PAUL REUBENS http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/24/DDG4PNN5CB1.DTL Books THE PHILOSOPHY OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK http://www.philosophynow.org/issue57/57huston.htm ‘LADY’ MCCARTNEY’S WEBSITE VICIOUSLY ATTACKS PAUL http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=430942&in_page_id=1773 DOMINGO TO SING BARITONE ROLE http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6293495.stm IF YOU DRIVE IN BEIJING, WATCH OUT FOR SPIT http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0124/p04s01-woap.html And in the end. . . IT’S RAINING CATS AND DOGS http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/raining%20cats%20and%20dogs.html 1/23 TODAY IS YOUR CHANCE TO TELL JOEL STEIN WHAT A WORTHLESS ASSHOLE HE IS! Flood his on-line chat with ugly insults! http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-steinchat23jan23,0,2869961.htmlstory?coll=la-opinion-center MUST WATCH: ANDY GRIFFITH, OPIE DEBATE THE PATRIOT ACT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CvoC551i2E LOST CITY OF THE INCAS FOUND--- IN BRITNEY SPEARS’ VAGINA http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s3i13935 HILLARY CLINTON TAKES LEAD IN PLATITUDES IN 2008 CAMPAIGN http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i13952 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117957902.html?nav=news&categoryid=1985&cs=1 JON STEWART PREVIEWS STATE OF THE UNION http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Video_Jon_Stewart_previews_tonights_State_0123.html Note: Jonathan Kirsch hosts owner Doug Dutton, Dustin Hoffman and other guests talking about the plight of Dutton’s Books today on "The Politics of Culture," 2:30 pm on KCRW. And on to the “real” news and comment. . . Weapons of Mass Delusion OBAMA ‘TERRORIST’ STORY WAS A FAKE---CNN PROVES IT Obvious right-wing hit job by WashTimes, Fox “News” http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/ ANOTHER REPUGNICAN CREEP EXPOSED Frank Luntz shown to be liar in his Huffington Post piece http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4059 BUSH WHITE HOUSE GETTING NASTY AND PARANOID http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/bush_faces_open_1.html White House sources tell Capitol Hill Blue that the President is visibly angered by increasing Republican opposition to his Iraq war policies and that the West Wing operates today under a "siege mentality." EVEN DAVID ‘AXIS OF EVIL’ FRUM IS TURNING ON BUSH http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,461512,00.html BIN-LADEN’S (HE’S STILL FREE, YOU KNOW) DEPUTY TAUNTS BUSH Does this embarrass you, folks? http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/taliban_leader.html Enviro Wacko 40 MILLION---40 MILLION!---TREES WIPED OUT IN GERMAN STORMS http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,,00.html EU PREZ WANTS TO FORCE EUROPE CARS TO LIMIT CO2 http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12082 CARTOON: THE GREEN FIRST LADY http://www.internetweekly.org/2007/01/cartoon_the_green_first_lady.html GORE’S ‘INCONVENIENT TRUTH’ NOMINATED FOR TWO ACADEMY AWARDS http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Oscar_nominations_announced_Gore_film_up_0123.html Mashed Media BILLIONAIRES AND BROADSHEETS http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/wolff200702?printable=true¤tPage=all Maybe none of the billionaires lining up to buy a newspaper—e.g., David Geffen, Ron Burkle, Eli Broad, Hank Greenberg—know what they would be getting into. Maybe their motives are … complicated. Maybe they're not even serious. But they may be the only future the industry has. WATCH: OLBERMANN DESTROYS FOX http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/23/olbermann-rips-the-fox-nothing-channel/ CAN INDY MEDIA STOP CORPORATE MEDIA’S HILLARY BANDWAGON? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012307P.shtml GOOGLE’S NAME CYBER-SNATCHED IN GERMANY http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,461667,00.html Electile Dysfunction OBAMA-MANIA WILL INEVITABLY BACKFIRE http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0123/p09s02-codc.html For many in the media, Obama is a candidate to get excited about because he holds the promise of being interesting, different, and able to shake up Washington. And that means Obama-mania will probably be alive and well in the press for at least a few more months. But at some point that lack of a long public history could present some problems for the senator. LIBERAL TALK SHOW HOST TRASHES HILLARY’S STAFF, POSES WITH OBAMA http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Liberal_talk_show_host_trashes_Hillary_0123.html FORD: STATE OF THE APOCALYPSE http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/23/state_of_the_apocalypse.php BLUMENTHAL: STATE OF INDIFFERENCE http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2007/01/23/state-of-indifference/#more-15640 “Have you read about Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam? Do you draw any lessons from that?” a reporter from USA Today asked the president in an interview published Monday. In response Bush telescoped the entire tragic history of the Vietnam War and Johnson’s agonies into slogans, slurring Johnson’s patriotism in order to create a contrast with his own. “Yes, win,” he replied. “Win, when you’re in a battle for the security … if it has to do with the security of your country, you win.” ROBERTS: ONLY IMPEACHMENT CAN PREVENT MORE WAR http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts192.html LINDORFF: WAS IRAQ WAR A ‘BLUNDER’ OR TREASON? http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/2007.01.01_arch.html#1169323277219 IVINS: I WILL NOT SUPPORT HILLARY FOR PRESIDENT http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/1/2006/1304 RALL: BUSH’S $8 BILLION-A-MONTH CON-JOB http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/ PALESTINIAN STUDENTS ATTACKED AT N. CAROLINA QUAKER COLLEGE http://www.yesweekly.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=2078&TM=82117.45 LT. WATADA FACES COURT-MARTIAL, SIX YEARS IN PRISON http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/23/1530235 OPEC DUMPS $10 BILLION AS OIL PRICES TUMBLE http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601009&sid=aqnC4ssoiBFc&refer=bond ISRAEL PREZ FACES RAPE CHARGE http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6291345.stm HEZBOLLAH STRIKE PARALYZES LEBANON http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6288503.stm Oh, by the way. . . PSYCHOLOGIST WILL TRY TO HELP ‘JUNGLE GIRL’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6289741.stm MILLIONS OF WOMEN IN INDIA HIT MENOPAUSE AT 30 Malnutrition is the culprit http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0123-03.htm CHINA BLOGGERS DECLARE WAR ON FORBIDDEN CITY STARBUCKS http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0123/p01s02-woap.html R.I.P. ABBE PIERRE---FRENCH PRIEST WHO AIDED THE HOMELESS http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/world/europe/23pierre.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin GREAT WHITE SHARK BITES MAN’S HEAD, SPITS HIM OUT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6289489.stm And in more important matters. . . Important article of the week/month/maybe year LIBRARIAN: BOOKS LOSING OUT TO ‘INFORMATION LITERACY’ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/19/AR2007011901361.html?sub=AR Typically, many people in my line of work no longer have the title of librarian. They are called media and information specialists, or sometimes librarian technologists. The buzzword in the trade is "information literacy," a misnomer, because what it is really about is mastering computer skills, not promoting a love of reading and books. . . I recently spoke with a junior who was stressed about her decreasing ability to focus on anything for longer than two minutes or so. I tried to inspire her by talking about the importance of reading as a way to train the brain. I told her that a good reader develops the same powers of concentration that an athlete or a Buddhist would employ in sport or meditation. "A lot out there is conspiring to distract you," I said. AWARD-WINNING WORDS OF LITTLE POETS! http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0123/p18s03-hfks.html JON CARROLL: BLUR THOSE BREASTS! http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/23/DDGRJN7H8S1.DTL And, in a related story. . . HD SEX MOVIES? NO THANKS! http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,461526,00.html Books NEW BOOK ON LENNON’S YOUTH---BY HIS SISTER http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=430700&in_page_id=1770&ct=5 So it seems John Lennon's extraordinary artistry was nurtured in a family even more dysfunctional than we ever imagined. Even by the standards of pre-Sixties Britain, the rivalry and hypocrisy of his nearest and dearest must have had heart-rending repercussions on a sensitive young man. For Art’s Sake CANALETTO’S BRITAIN http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,1996573,00.html Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, trained with his father as a painter of stage scenery for plays and operas, before becoming the leading painter of views of his native Venice, for which he built up a large clientele of rich and aristocratic patrons - many of them English, wanting souvenirs of their Grand Tour. Trade dropped off during the war of the Austrian succession in the 1740s, and, in May 1746, at the age of 49, Canaletto moved to London. He lived on what is now Beak Street , on the edge of Soho, among the city's small Venetian community. ‘ROCKY BALBOA’ TOPS U.K. BOX OFFICE Rip Post: It’s a very good movie, folks http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6291099.stm And in the end. . . WOMEN ARE TOTALLY NAKED UNDER THEIR CLOTHES http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s3i13379 1/22 TODAY IS THE MOST DEPRESSING DAY OF THE YEAR http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0122-03.htm WHERE IS JAMES BROWN’S BODY? http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1995645,00.html GIANT NOTHING SANDRA BULLOCK WORTH $85 MILLION Hey, might as well get out the heroin and Haagen-Dasz right now http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/17/richest-women-entertainment-tech-media-cz_lg_richwomen07_0118womenstars_slide_15.html JUDGE JUDY MAKES MORE THAN SUPREME COURT JUSTICES http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/17/richest-women-entertainment-tech-media-cz_lg_richwomen07_0118womenstars_slide_14.html THE RICHEST BI---ER, WOMEN---IN ‘ENTERTAINMENT’ Er, we didn’t know that the great J.K. Rowling was an ‘entertainer’ http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/17/richest-women-entertainment-tech-media-cz_lg_richwomen07_0118womenstars_lander.html MAN WEARS ANTI-BUSH T-SHIRT---IS BARRED FROM FLYING http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6285971.stm ADL ATTACKS GERMAN BEER AD! Beer cites “purity law,” a brewing standard used since 1516! http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=2423 THIS JUST IN: DOG BALANCES GLASS OF WATER ON HEAD! http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,461338,00.html And in even more depressing news and comment. . . WARNER INTRODUCES RESOLUTION OPPOSING IRAQ ‘SURGE’ http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/22/warner-iraq-resolution/ L.A. LATINO GANGS TERRORIZING, KILLING BLACKS http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=722 Acting on orders from the Mexican Mafia, Latino gang members in Southern California are terrorizing and killing blacks. THE MEXICAN MAFIA CONNECTION http://danielhernandez.typepad.com/daniel_hernandez/2007/01/the_mexican_maf.html L.A. TRANSIT BOSS DRIVES A HUMMER LAT’s Lopez confronts de la Vega, gets cold stare http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-me-lopez21jan21,1,1161441.column?coll=la-news-columns&ctrack=1&cset=true Iraq and Roll WEIRD PATHOGEN KILLING IRAQ SOLDIERS SPREADS TO STATES http://www.wired.com/news/wiredmag/0,72532-0.html?tw=wn_index_1 Since OPERATION Iraqi Freedom began in 2003, more than 700 US soldiers have been infected or colonized with Acinetobacter baumannii. A significant number of additional cases have been found in the Canadian and British armed forces, and among wounded Iraqi civilians. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has recorded seven deaths caused by the bacteria in US hospitals along the evacuation chain. Four were unlucky civilians who picked up the bug at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, while undergoing treatment for other life-threatening conditions. Another was a 63-year-old woman, also chronically ill, who shared a ward at Landstuhl with infected coalition troops. IRAQI ASSAILANTS DRESSING AS U.S. SOLDIERS http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/22/iraqi-assailants-dress-as-american-soldiers/ CHOPPER WAS SHOT DOWN BY MISSILE http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22435890.htm ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER 100 KILLED BY CAR BOMBS http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6363186,00.html 3,200 NEW SOLDIERS ARRIVE IN BAGHDAD--- AS 25 ARE KILLED IN A SINGLE DAY http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/3200_US_troops_arrive_in_Baghdad_0121.html MALIKI TOLD BUSH: TROOPS OUT OF BAGHDAD http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/maliki_to_bush.html REMEMBERING NOBLE ANDI PARHAMOVICH http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16720749/site/newsweek/ She loved the adventure and the romance of it all. She loved helping people, making a difference. She loved politics; her heroes were Joan of Arc and Empress SiSi of Austria. Iran from the truth PERLE: ‘NO DOUBT’ BUSH WOULD ATTACK IRAN http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/22/perle-iran-attack/ U.S. MILITARY SURPLUS PARTS GOING TO IRAN http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/21/AR2007012100760.html THOMPSON: HOW MANY MORE DEAD, PREZBOY? http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/how_many_more_h.html IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT YOU DID NOT READ FRANK RICH YESTERDAY http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012107B.shtml CARTOON: THE MODERN COLONIALIST http://www.internetweekly.org/2007/01/cartoon_the_modern_colonialist.html The other America CHAVEZ TELLS U.S.: ‘GO TO HELL, GRINGOS’ But Hugo, we are already in hell http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/21/AR2007012100677.html Electile Dysfunction HILLARY TELLS DONORS: “I’M GOING TO WIN” Not with a first husband like Bill, she isn’t http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/On_call_with_donors_Clinton_says_0121.html  OBAMA TRAINED AS TERRORIST---FOX ‘NEWS’ http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Fox_smears_Sen._Obama_0119.html THANKS, FOX---OBAMA BEING STALKED If this man is attacked or injured, the blood is on Murdoch’s hands http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Senator_Obama_faces_stalkers_on_Capitol_0122.html CLINTON AIDE: OBAMA, EDWARDS CAMPAIGNS ‘STALLED’ Didn’t know anyone had even started campaigning yet http://www.wired.com/news/wiredmag/0,72532-0.html?tw=wn_index_1 UH-OH. . .CREEPY WASHPOST OP-ED PIECE FLOATS JEB AS PREZ MATERIAL http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/OpEd_What_if_it_had_been_0121.html Enviro Wacko U.S. AIR POLLUTION IMPERILS BRITISH CITIES http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2558122,00.html Mashed Media INTERVIEW: BERNIE SANDERS ON CORPORATE CONTROL OF MEDIA http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/22/1455248 And I want to spend just a minute in telling you what I suspect most of you already know. If you are concerned, as been said, about healthcare, if you are concerned about foreign policy and Iraq, if you are concerned about the economy, if you are concerned about global warming, you are kidding yourselves if you are not concerned about corporate control over the media, because every one of these issues is directly controlled and directly relevant to the media. O’REILLY O’REALLY NEEDS TO BE O’KICKED OFF THE AIR http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/22/even-oreillys-minions-dont-back-him-up-over-his-shawn-hornbeck-comments/ Animals in the news! BLUEFIN TUNA GOING EXTINCT If you knew sushi like I knew sushi http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12074 Peru's unique hairless dogs saved http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=108772007 Oh, by the way. . . ENORMOUS RUINS FOUND DEEP IN AMAZON http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070119-peru-inca.html EXPLORERS REACH COLDEST PLACE ON EARTH http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2171690.ece CHARITY IS UPPERMOST IN BRAIN Could've fooled me http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1995644,00.html And in more important matters. . . R.I.P. DENNY DOHERTY http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/20/arts/music/20doherty.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-011907doherty,0,3276848.story?coll=la-home-headlines California Dreamin’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztt7i3vOqv4 Interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueUReVEQXJU R.I.P. JAMES HILLIER---INVENTED ELECTRON MICROSCOPE http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/science/22hillier.html?ref=obituaries Musique ORCHESTRAS ARE GETTING UPPITY http://www.calendarlive.com/music/classical/cl-ca-uppity21jan21,0,5571827.story HOW KENT NAGANO SUCCEEDED BY BREAKING RULES http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/22/DDGQLNJTP91.DTL ABOUT BRITNEY’S LABIA. . . http://opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110009517 But this Puritans-are-coming! stance, validating, as it does, someone as cracked as Paris Hilton, finally implodes. The problem with a Britney or a Bentley is not that they are floozies. It is rather that they are, paradoxical as it might seem, naive. They underestimate the magnetic force field created by intimate sexual information and violate the logic of privacy that should be all the more compelling in a media-driven age. How the Moon rules your life http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2171687.ece TAKE THE DOGGIE KNOWLEDGE TEST! http://www.guardian.co.uk/quiz/questions/0,,1109616,00.html And in the end. . . JAYNE MANSFIELD PLAYS THE VIOLIN http://youtube.com/watch?v=yBBWccG3LqQ 1/19 WILD ‘JUNGLE GIRL’ FOUND IN CAMBODIA Lived alone for 18 years http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16685050/ http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770118017 THE AMAZING SPIDER-SHIP OF SF BAY http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/19/BAGE7NLI001.DTL FOR SALE: SMALLEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070118-sealand.html And in other marvels of our age. . . YAWN---L.A. GANG MURDERS ARE WAY UP The city will do nothing. . .never has done anything. . .savages run amok http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0119/p01s04-ussc.html TEN JOBS THAT ARE DISAPPEARING (Whoops---they forgot “journalist”) http://jobs.aol.com/article/_a/going-going-gone/20070118123109990001 RAIMUNDO: STOP IRAN ATTACK--- SUPPORT H.J. RESOLUTION 14 http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10353 All these legislative initiatives deal with Iraq, with only one – House Joint Resolution 14 – confronting the key issue on the war-and-peace front: Iran. This is a binding resolution that forbids the President from ordering an attack on Iran absent military action against U.S. forces, or a demonstrably imminent threat of attack. Authored by Rep. Walter B. Jones, of North Carolina – the formerly pro-war Republican who did a dramatic turnaround long before it became fashionable to do so – the resolution has an impressively bipartisan list of co-sponsors, including GOPers John Duncan (Tennessee), Wayne Gilchrest (Maryland), and Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican congressman from Texas whose announcement of a presidential exploratory committee is causing much excitement in antiwar circles. WHERE THE HELL IS THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT? ON-LINE http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0119/p01s03-ussc.html CHINA SHOCKS WORLD---SHOOTS DOWN SATELLITE http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1994240,00.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6276543.stm http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011907P.shtml "This is the first real escalation in the weaponization of space that we've seen in 20 years," said Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks rocket launchings and space activity. "It ends a long period of restraint." Iraq and Roll SCHORR: KURDS STIFFED BY UNCLE SAM---AGAIN http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0119/p09s01-cods.html TWO MILLION IRAQI REFUGEES---U.S. ACCEPTS 466 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-refugees17jan17,0,445263.story?coll=la-home-headlines SHIA, AL-QAEDA LEADERS CAUGHT As if this will make any difference http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Shiite_militia_leader_al_Qaeda_lead_01192007.html Redford: U.S. Must Apologize For Iraq War http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6278127.stm Enviro Wacko MASSIVE WINDS, STORMS SWEEP EUROPE http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6277537.stm http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460834,00.html WEATHER CHANNEL METEOROLOGIST WANTS WARMING SKEPTIC COLLEAGUES DECERTIFIED http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Weather_expert_calls_for_decertifying_global_0119.html BUSH OPENS ALASKA 'FISH BASKET' FOR RAPE BY OIL, GAS COMPANIES http://newsletter.vitalchoice.com/e_article000733331.cfm?x=b8PJ5PF,b2JB5lbg Unka Dick CHENEY: WASHINGTON IS 'ALL BULLSHIT' http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Vice_President_Cheney_says_Washington_all_0119.html Plame-out LEAK TRIAL JURORS: CHENEY IS ALL BULLSHIT http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Video_Problems_finding_Libby_jurors_that_0118.html THOMPSON: PELOSI 100-HOUR AGENDA IS MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/much_ado_about.html The Little Dictator MINISTERS TRYING TO SCUTTLE BUSH LIBRARY http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Methodist_ministers_trying_to_scuttle_Bush_0118.html The Torture Never Stops LEAHY-GONZALEZ SMACKDOWN---“WE KNEW DAMN HE’D BE TORTURED’ http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/19/1432225 Mashed Media RICH LITTLE TOLD TO NOT BASH BUSH AT CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER http://www.attytood.com/2007/01/dont_mention_the_war.html WATCH: STEWART DECONSTRUCTS THE ‘SURGE’ http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/17/daily-show-deconstructing-the-surge WATCH (IF YOU MUST): COLBERT ON O’REILLY SHOW http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/19/papa-bear-oreilly-on-the-colbert-report/ JOURNALISTS ASK PROTECTION IN IRAQ---SIX KILLED IN ONE WEEK http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003534868 Iran from the truth ALMONDJOYAD PRESSURED FROM WITHIN TO STOP NUKE BAITIING http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/NY_Times_Iran_president_being_urged_0118.html IRANIANS’ LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE USA http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0119/p09s02-coop.html However, I was soon put at ease. After speaking with numerous Iranians from all walks of life – lower and upper class, religious and secular, Westernized and traditional, government- affiliated and civilian – I became convinced that this vilified member of the "Axis of Evil" is actually one of the most welcoming places for Americans to travel in the Middle East. Indeed, all Iranians with whom I spoke shared a positive opinion of Americans. Israelity ISRAEL TRANSFERS $100 MILLION TO MODERATE PALESTINIAN LEADER http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460836,00.html TERROR AND STARVATION IN GAZA http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16210.htm "Some 1.4 million people, mostly children, are piled up in one of the most densely populated regions of the world, with no freedom of movement, no place to run and no space to hide," wrote the former senior UN relief official Jan Egeland and Jan Eliasson, then foreign minister of Sweden, in Le Figaro. They described a people "living in a cage", cut off by land, sea and air, with no reliable power and little water, and tortured by hunger and disease and incessant attacks by Israeli troops and planes. Jesus H. Christ! SUBURBAN DESPAIR FUELS RADICAL ‘CHRISTIAN’ RIGHT http://www.alternet.org/story/46908/ It is a movement built on the growing personal and economic despair of tens of millions of Americans, who watched helplessly as their communities were plunged into poverty by the flight of manufacturing jobs, their families and neighborhoods torn apart by neglect and indifference, and who eventually lost hope that America was a place where they had a future. GERMAN CONVERSION TO ISLAM UP FOURFOLD http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,460364,00.html Electile Dysfunction 2004 PREZ RECOUNT WAS RIGGED---PROSECUTOR http://www.coshoctontribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070119/NEWS01/701190309/1002 Animals in the news! NAZI RACCOONS ON THE MARCH IN EUROPE! http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1390574,00.html Oh, by the way. . . PAROLEE SWALLOWS CRACK, DIES http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/18/BAGTJNLF1V4.DTL TWO-TON GIRDER FALLS OFF BUILDING http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460928,00.html And in more important matters. . . Wonderful New W.C. Fields Exhibit Opens in L.A. by Susan King http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-wk-movies18jan18,0,1684254.story Idiotic article of the month! A GIRL’S GUIDE TO WRITING “CHICK-LIT” Rip Post: What a stupid and degrading term that is. . . This is a great example as to what has happened to writing and poseurs---er, “writers” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-1461-2543167-1461,00.html INTERVIEW: SACHA BARON COHEN http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,1993370,00.html "Throw the Jew Down the Well was only interesting because the people in the bar started to sing along," he explains. Some of the people Baron Cohen and his director, Larry Charles, filmed say their actions were taken out of context, a charge Cohen vehemently denies. "If you saw all of our footage with the gun shop owner, for example, we had a whole conversation about the right gun to use to shoot a Jew's horns off his head." MONA LISA’S GRAVE FOUND http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6278235.stm Dense L.A. WALDORF-ASTORIA PLANNED FOR SANTA MONICA AND WILSHIRE http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/01/trader_vics_fate_sealed.php DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION TO CLOSE FOR RENOVATIONS http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/cl-et-opera19jan19,0,3907134.story?coll=cl-calendar Film RAINER ON ‘THE ITALIAN’ http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0119/p14s02-almo.html RAINER ON THE RE-RELEASE OF ‘MAFIOSO’ http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0119/p14s03-almo.html JON CARROLL: GOOGLESCHADEN http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/01/19/DDGRJN7O4S1.DTL And in the end. . . A LITTLE ENGLISH LESSON http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaLQvKjMF3g 1/18 HAWKING: WE’D BETTER RECOGNIZE GLOBAL WARMING http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2162862.ece COPS IGNORE ATTACK ON BUSH PROTESTORS http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Bush_chain_gang_attacked_in_Memphis_0117.html GAY’S ANATOMY---“FAGGOT” LASHES OUT We’d call it a catfight, but that wouldn’t quite be accurate http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexd?blogid=7 HAIL THE MESSIAH! IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IN CHIMPANZEE! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6274183.stm SLEAZEBAG MAGAZINE---SUBSCRIBE NOW http://www.internetweekly.org/2007/01/cartoon_sleazebag_magazine.html  http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,,1993033,00.html And on to the day’s atrocities. . . The Little Dictator MCGOVERN INTERROGATES BUSH http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070129/mcgovern Mr. President, Sir, when reporter Bob Woodward asked you if you had consulted with your father before ordering our army into Iraq you said, "No, he's not the father you call on a decision like this. I talked to my heavenly Father above." My question, Mr. President: If God asked you to bombard, invade and occupy Iraq for four years, why did he send an opposite message to the Pope? WATCH: HAGEL TO BUSH---‘THIS IS NOT A MONARCHY’ http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/GOP_Sen._Hagel_takes_aim_at_0117.html REP. ‘FREEDOM FRIES’ NOW TRYING TO STOP RUNAWAY PREZ http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Freedom_Fries_Congressman_calls_for_halt_0118.html BUSH SEIZES CONTROL OF STATE MILITIAS http://www.progress.org/2007/ussr03.htm Over objections from all 50 governors, Congress in October changed the 200-year-old Insurrection Act to empower the hand of the president in future stateside emergencies. BUSH MAKES FACE-SAVING MOVE ON READING MAIL WITHOUT OK http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Domestic-Spying.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1169096400&en=36c1ef0216432bdf&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin KENNEDY: NOW IS THE TIME TO OPPOSE BUSH http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/2007/01/kennedy-on-opposing-escalation-now-is.html LATEST COST OF WAR http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182 Jesus H. Christ! REPUGS REBEL AGAINST TRIGGER-HAPPY BUSH--- WHILE ARMAGEDDONISTS DANCE THE HORA Attack Iran---The Babble tells me so. . . http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/46753/ As George W. Bush sets his sights on Iran, even Republicans are wondering how to constitutionally contain the trigger-happy king. But for an influential group of Christian fundamentalists -- White House allies that garner not only feel-good meetings with the President's liaisons to the "faith-based" community but also serious discussions with Bush's national security staff -- an attack on Iran is just what God ordered. Bush Nook Yoo IS U.S. PLANNING NUCLEAR WAR? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17206.htm The new nuclear doctrine, however, goes beyond preemptive acts of "self-defense", it calls for "anticipatory action" using nuclear weapons against a "rogue enemy" which allegedly plans to develop WMD at some undefined future date. IRAN: WE’RE READY TO PLAY NUCLEAR ‘CHICKEN’ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear Iran from the truth CHENEY REJECTED IRAN CONCILIATION OFFER IN ‘03 That would have ruined his plans to bomb the place, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6274147.stm Your Corporatocracy at work! TALIBAN-PROTECTING PAKIS GET FREE U.S. SPYPLANES http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Pakistan_receives_first_of_eight_fr_01182007.html Electile Dysfunction CLINTON, OBAMA: DUELING IRAQ PLANS http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/01/sweet_column_obama_floats_iraq.html#more Clinton is floating an innovative plan to cut funding -- not for U.S. troops, which is political suicide -- but to the Iraqi government, reluctant to police their own, and the private contractors the United States pays to protect them. Clinton is poised to launch a presidential bid any day now. She'll send a smoke signal about her plans sometime "this month," her senior adviser Howard Wolfson told me.No sooner did Clinton finish an afternoon news conference than Sen. Barack Obama, who triggered his White House run on Tuesday, sent out a statement saying he, too, will be introducing legislation furthering his concepts for getting troops home. OBAMA’S CIGARETTE HABIT A PLUS? http://www.slate.com/id/2157523/ CLINTON’S FAILURE TO DENOUNCE WAR COULD COST HER NOMINATION http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1993010,00.html CRAZY JOHN MCCAIN CAVES IN TO DOBSON, ‘CHRISTIAN’ RIGHT ON LOBBYING BILL http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/18/mccain-caves-on-lobbying/ Homeland Insecurity SEN.’S WIFE ON ‘NO-FLY’ LIST--- THEY THOUGHT CATHERINE STEVENS WAS CAT STEVENS! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/aviation_security Mashed Media AWFUL CHANDLERS BID ON AWFUL TRIBUNE COMPANY http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003534248 Animals in the news! GORILLA: IT’S WHAT’S FER DINNER--- ENDANGERED APES EATEN BY REBEL TROOPS They ain’t endangered no more! http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2162860.ece Illegal Sumatran Coffee Growers Squeeze Out Tigers, Rhinos http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2007/2007-01-17-01.asp Enviro Wacko WANNA CHANGE YOUR SEX? SWIM IN THE POTOMAC http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12057 Jesus H. Christ! (again) LOOKS LIKE THE CRUSADES WORKED--- MOST OF THE WORLD POISONED BY ‘CHRISTIANITY’ http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,460233,00.html SEE MAP http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,grossbild-776256-460233,00.html Oh, by the way MORE THAN EVER ARE TAKING THE GOLDEN GATE EXIT--- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/18/MNGMMNKNN61.DTL AND MORE THAN EVER ARE TAKING THE CRUISE SHIP EXIT http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,1992955,00.html MAN SKATEBOARDS ACROSS AUSTRALIA http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=QZB01UR1M0HEVQFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/01/18/wskate18.xml L.A. ON ICE http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cold18jan18,0,1404930.story?coll=la-home-headlines A surprise storm coats areas in the Valley, drops hail on Westside lawns and closes I-5. TAIWAN REDISCOVERS LOST TRIBE http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6271819.stm And in more important matters. . . STARBUCKS FORBIDDEN IN FORBIDDEN CITY? http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1993358,00.html MUSIC IN THE MIDDLE EAST Donated instruments from Europe are reaching Palestinians http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0118/p13s01-almp.html Rip Post: Get people out of religion and into orchestras. . . PLEASE---NO MORE FRAT-PRANK RADIO. . . SACTO DJ’S JOKED ABOUT WOMAN WHO DIED IN WATER-DRINKING “CONTEST” http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/18/MNGMMNKOHS1.DTL Told by another DJ that "We got a guy who's just about to die," one of the jocks had a quick response. "Make sure he signs the release," he chortled, setting off gales of laughter in the studio. R.I.P. ART BUCHWALD http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/18/entertainment/e064809S91.DTL R.I.P. WOMEN’S BASEBALL PIONEER TREZZA http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/sports/baseball/18trezza.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin R.I.P.---OR ‘GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART’---TO LEAD SINGER OF SPANIELS http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/obituaries/18hudson.html?ref=obituaries For Art’s Sake HU MING http://hu-ming.com/ WHAT KILLED NAPOLEON? http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070117-napoleon.html And in the end. . . CAPT. KIRK CHASES THE WHITE RABBIT http://www.glumbert.com/media/whiterabbit 1/17 L.A.’S GREATEST INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE TO BE AXED BY GREED SWEEPING THE CITY, NATION Profit is more important to landlord that beloved Dutton’s Books http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/01/duttons_brentwood_is_next.php PARENTS TAKE STAND AGAINST INSANE CHILD “PARTIES” What is this awful “tradition” of renting limosines for kids, proms, quinceaneras? http://lifestyle.monstersandcritics.com/life/news/article_1247566.php/Parents_say_enough_as_child_parties_go_wild MUST WATCH: A BIT OF RESTRAINED COMMENTARY http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/01/watch-this.html  THIS MODERN WORLD: THE VERY BAD IDEA, PART TWO! http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=21878 And on to the usual parade of horror, greed, stupidity. . . IRAN SHOOTS DOWN U.S. SPY DRONE http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-01/17/content_5615540.htm TOP IRAQ SHIA BLASTS U.S. OVER IRAN THREAT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6270957.stm BUSH: COUNTRY IS ‘SOMEWHAT DOWN’ OVER IRAQ How dare this son-of-a-bitch subject this country and the world to such endless trauma http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/17/bush-sacrifice/ BUSH: SADDAM HANGING ‘LOOKED LIKE REVENGE’ HAHAHAHA---WHAT THE HELL WAS THE IRAQ INVASION? http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1992293,00.html HEY, KIDS---IT’S A SURGE FOR AFGHANISTAN, TOO! Oh, hell, let’s just start World War III and have done with it, eh? http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL256850.htm ER, UH, MR. PREZ---WE’VE ONLY GOT 9,000 TROOPS FOR YOUR ‘SURGE’ http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/05/report-military-tells-bush-it-has-only-9000-troops-available-for-surge/ HILLARY’S LATEST POSE: A “CAP” ON IRAQ TROOPS She needs a cap on her massive ambition http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Video_Edwards_Obama_put_Hillary_on_0117.html SAUDIS TO SEND TROOPS TO IRAQ? Hey, there’s plenty of blood to splash in! http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/MSNBC_Breaking_Saudi_Arabia_mulls_sending_0116.html 34,000 IRAQIS DIED IN ’06---AMERICANS DON’T CARE What’s a few thousand more dead sand-niggers?----That’s the prevalent U.S. attitude http://voanews.com/english/2007-01-16-voa10.cfm 1000 ACTIVE-DUTY U.S. TROOPS SIGN PETITION FOR IRAQ PULLOUT http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20070116-112140-6061r 70 PERCENT OF COUNTRY OPPOSES ‘SURGE’ http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011107S.shtml TURKEY RATTLED AS KURDS TAKE CONTROL OF IRAQ NORTH http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460324,00.html ‘DOOMSDAY CLOCK’ RESET http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2160081.ece Be afraid. Be more afraid. For the first time in five years, the elite board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the minute hand on their Doomsday Clock closer to the fatal hour of midnight.The clock – a symbol of the perils facing the human race – is expected to shift two minutes, from the current seven minutes to midnight to five, a figure the Bulletin would not confirm before its news conference today. Electile Dysfunction RON PAUL---NEXT U.S. PREZ? http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/120107ronpaul.htm Paul has been in and out of Congress since the 70's and is universally hated by the Republican elite, who routinely back Democrats against him just to try and get him out of office. BUZZ, QUESTIONS OVER OBAMA http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0117/p01s01-uspo.html GONZALES: FED JUDGES UNQUALIFIED TO RULE ON NATIONAL SECURITY! http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/base/news-40/1169039384290750.xml&storylist=mibusiness Your Corporatocracy at work! HOW TO PROFIT FROM BEING DEAD WRONG: THE BILL KRISTOL STORY http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/how_to_profit_f.html Twenty years ago, in its pre-season baseball issue, Sports Illustrated predicted the Cleveland Indians would finish with the best record in the major leagues. Cleveland went on to finish with the worst record. Statistical guru Bill James pointed out that this represented an example of what might be called Maximum Possible Error. When it comes to the Iraq war, some of our most prominent pundits have achieved similar results. Perhaps the most spectacular example is provided by William Kristol. Jesus H. Christ! PLAY JESUS BALL! IT’S ‘FAITH DAY’ AT THE BALLPARK! Roll those eyeballs back in your heads and get holy, baby! http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5282709,00.html Bordering on Madness U.S. GUNS POUR INTO MEXICO http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0116americanguns0116.html Arms race among drug cartels, end of ban in America result in flood of high-power weapons over border MEXICO TORTILLA CRISIS http://news.monstersandcritics.com/americas/features/article_1246494.php/Higher_maize_prices_lead_to_tortilla_crisis_in_Mexico Plame-out HAHAHAHA---LIBBY LAWYERS WANT JURORS WHO ‘TRUST CHENEY’---HAHAHAHAHA http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003533719 RAIMUNDO ON LIBBY TRIAL: LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10341 Fifty-eight percent of the American people believe the U.S. government manipulated intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, i.e., they believe government officials lied in order to drag us into war. In this they have been way ahead of the politicians, the "experts," and the pundits – in short, the Beltway crowd, which cavils at the mere suggestion that our rulers don't always have our best interests at heart. The trial of Scooter Libby – charged with lying to federal prosecutors who were trying to find out who "outed" Valerie Plame, a covert CIA agent dealing with nuclear proliferation – promises to confirm the public's suspicions, and in spades. Enviro-Wacko SWEDEN TREE-LINE MOVIING FASTEST IN 7,000 YEARS http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0116-06.htm Animals in the news! MANATEES FEEL BY LONG DISTANCE http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070116-manatees.html Oh, by the way. . . LEFT SWASTIKA VS. RIGHT SWASTIKA The damn thing originally is a Hindu/Buddhist holy symbol http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,460259,00.html CURRY FIGHTS CANCER, ALZHEIMER’S http://www.sciam.com/print_version.cfm?articleID=131CED4F-E7F2-99DF-3C84BB412D1D3B51 And in more important matters. . . LOPEZ ON ENDLESS L.A. TRAFFIC HORROR Rip Post comment: Every elected official who has voted against light rail in L.A. in the last 40 years needs to be arrested and prosecuted for mayhem http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez17jan17,1,7962027.column?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true NOVELIST FINDS OLDER BROTHER---A BRICKLAYER Well, the two careers are really similar http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1992115,00.html POOR OLD ALI IS 65 http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/boxing/6264199.stm CARROLL: SPACESHIP IN MY BACK YARD http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/01/17/DDGRJN7IJU1.DTL Musique WHAT KILLED TCHAIKOVSKY? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml;jsessionid=EVOLRMTYGQLJPQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/arts/2007/01/15/bmbbc15.xml And in the end. . . DIRE WOLF http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhqyg_dTaTg http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/direwolf.html 1/12 EXCLUSIVE TO THE RIP POST! FIRST PHOTO OF THE IRAQ SURGE!  (Thank you Gary L. Coffman) PENTAGON MEMO: 10,000-PLUS U.S. SOLDIERS COULD DIE IN IRAQ BY ‘08 http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/pentagon_memo_p.html THE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE IS RUNNING THE COUNTRY AEI wrote Bush’s speech---almost a carbon copy of its “Choosing Victory in Iraq” report http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.25396/pub_detail.asp ALTERMAN: THE MADNESS OF PRESIDENT GEORGE http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/eric_alterman/2007/01/alterman_on_surge.html My fear, expessed best by Harold Meyerson, is that Bush will further double down on disaster by expanding the war into Iran. Bush hinted at this last night. And he gives every indication of having no connection to reality, but many to his own twisted notions of his God-appointed role in Biblical prophecy. If you're not terrified, you're not paying attention. WATCH: RON PAUL---BUSH MIGHT FAKE PRETEXT FOR IRAN WAR http://alternet.org/blogs/video/46637/ LISTEN: SGT. CANTU---“I’M SCARED OUT OF MY MIND” http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16142.htm All I really want to say, because I shouldn’t be doing this -- all I want to say is, right now American soldiers are dying in a Sunni-Shiite civil war, a sectarian civil war -- that’s a fact, based on my personal observations. Soldiers’ hands are tied to defend themselves. IRAQ IS SNUBBING BUSH http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/world/middleeast/12iraq.html?ex=1326258000&en=e3d43e91d06bc254&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss GREEK MILITANTS ATTACK U.S. EMBASSY http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_re_eu/greece_us_embassy http://www.longislandpress.com/?cp=53&show=article&a_id=10742 NEGROPONTE CALLS PAKISTAN AL-QAEDA PARADISE Hey, maybe we can bomb them, too! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6254375.stm PENTAGON KILLS ACTIVE DUTY TIME LIMIT! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070111/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_military BUSH APPROVAL AT ALL-TIME LOW http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070112/ap_on_go_co/congress_bush_ap_poll ‘MOST DANGEROUS BLUNDER SINCE VIETNAM’ http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,459369,00.html Queen Condi the First RICE---UNITER OF DIVIDED CONGRESS http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102080.html?referrer=emailarticle CONGRESSMAN BLASTS LIGHTWEIGHT CONDI http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.abcnews.com%2Ftheblotter%2F2007%2F01%2Fnew_chairman_of.html http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20070112-0041-us-iraq-oldandnew.html Abercrombie referred to Rice as "the most overrated underperforming individual in executive authority that I have ever seen" in an interview published this week in the "Honolulu Star Bulletin." BUSH WANTS HELP FROM EGYPT, JORDAN Oh, that will help the prospects for peace http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4466217.html Israelity FOURTEEN JEWISH CARTER BOARD MEMBERS QUIT IN PROTEST They desert the one man who came closest to bringing about peace for Israel http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Jewish_members_quit_Carter_Center_over_0111.html Hangman SADDAM RULED OUT PLEA FOR HIS LIFE http://www.meadowfreepress.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=41801&source=2 Mashed Media NEWSBIMBO MICHELLE MALKIN HAILED BY TONY SNOWJOB http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/12/snow-malkin-media-war/ THE EVIL THAT IS BILL O’ REILLY http://www.reason.com/news/show/117092.html The O’Reilly Factor always ends with a segment called “The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day.” These days, the most ridiculous item of the day may be O’Reilly himself. But his culture warmongering is no laughing matter. O’Reilly does, at the moment, have considerable influence—and he uses it to whip up hatred of secularists, people with liberal social values, war critics, and others who don’t fit his concept of a good American. Animals in the news! MAGNIFICENT WHALE SHARK DIES IN PRISON---ER, AQUARIUM Well, at least he was rescued from Taiwanese, who were going to eat him http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6255761.stm BROTHERS CONVICTED FOR MAKING DOG OBESE http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1989217,00.html IDAHO GOV.---KILL THE GRAY WOLVES! Will urge hunters to wipe out all but 100 http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/10732844/detail.html Oh, by the way. . . CHINA FACING SHORTAGE OF WIVES Nutball macho society is aborting female fetuses http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6254763.stm DEPT. OF REDUNDANCY DEPT.--- MASS WEDDING FOR POLYGAMOUS “COUPLES” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6254935.stm MOON HAS AN IRON CORE http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070111-moon-core.html NEW ALIEN LIFE SEARCH UNDER WAY http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070111-alien-life.html FRANCE FEMALE PREZ CANDIDATE’S CAMPAIGN PICKS UP STEAM http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,451566,00.html 'OFF-SWITCH' FOUND FOR HIV? http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Scientists_find_potential_offswitch_for_HIV_0111.html And in more important matters. . . MORFORD ON THE END OF THE WORLD: ‘SUGAR-COATED CAT PEE’ http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/ Now it all comes clear. It wasn't the wars or the terrorists or the nukes or even global warming, after all. It was this. This attitude, this numbness, this sad and exhausted approach to the world, where God is reduced to a Glade Scented Oil TRIO and humans are merely a vain, dull housewife, staring numbly into the void. This, truly, is the death of worlds. And it smells like sugar-coated cat pee. ‘LAST POLAR BEAR’ ARTIST, TERMINALLY ILL WIFE IN APPARENT SUICIDE PACT http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1988866,00.html In 1992, the publisher Penguin received his most famous book, The Last Polar Bears, in a parcel of tea-stained paper, which introduced his lead character, a fictionalised version of the couple's dog, Roo. It was, he said, written to help children learn about coping with loss. EBERT STILL RECOVERING FROM HORRIBLE CANCER BOUT http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003532020 Ebert is undergoing therapy and consulting with doctors to restore his right jaw and his ability to speak and eat. Those functions have been impaired since his operations last year for salivary cancer. CAMERON DIAZ AND JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE SPARE THE WORLD THEIR HIDEOUS SPAWN http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6254675.stm Film RAINER ON ‘THE PAINTED VEIL’ http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0112/p11s03-almo.html RAINER ON ‘NOTES ON A SCANDAL’ http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0112/p14s02-almo.html EXCELLENT ‘ILLUSIONIST’ ON DVD http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0112/p12s01-almo.html For Art’s Sake MARIMEKKO MAKING A COMEBACK http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0112/p11s02-algn.html And in the end. . . GODS FOR ALL OCCASIONS! http://www.ssc.uwo.ca/history/nianhua/index.html 1/11 LAT RESTAURANT REVIEW OF THE YEAR! Can’t figure out which is more obscene---the restaurant, or the review http://www.calendarlive.com/dining/cl-fo-review10jan10,1,678255.story?coll=la-headlines-food DOG-SIZED RABBITS TO FEED NORTH KOREA http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,458863,00.html RICH PARISIANS MOVE IN WITH THE HOMELESS http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0111/p01s04-woeu.html And on to the day’s surge of news and comment. . .  Cartoon by Steve Bell of The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoons/stevebell/0,,1987686,00.html U.S. ARMY SGT. IN IRAQ: “I’M SCARED OUT OF MY MIND” Sgt. Ronn Cantu speaks out against escalation of the war http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/11/1536236 ER, UH. . .BRITAIN TO CUT 3,000 TROOPS FROM IRAQ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16567676/ U.S. KILLED NO AL-QAEDA IN SOMALIA http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-01-11-US-somalia_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA BUSH WANTS 92,000 MORE TROOPS IN MILITARY Iraq troop boost “timetable” is unclear http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4463504.html MALIKI AIDE: NO NEED FOR MORE TROOPS http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html?ex=1326171600&en=62afff5c9671e2d2&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss BUSH THREATENS IRAN AND SYRIA http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/11/is-bush-is-threatening-iran-and-syria/ http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16135.htm AND CONDI JOINS IN http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6252567.stm U.S. STORMS IRAN CONSULATE IN IRAQ http://rawstory.com/news/2006/US_forces_storm_Iranian_consulate_i_01112007.html BUSH: “I WILL NEEDLESSLY KILL MORE U.S. SOLDIERS” Well, he actually said “we must expect more Iraqi and American casualties” And “casualties” is a nicer way of saying deaths---more casual! http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Excerpts_from_President_Bushs_speech_tonight..._0110.html BUSH USED NEOCON TO DRAFT NEW PLAN http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011107J.shtml By relying on the recommendations of neoconservative scholar Frederick Kagan, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, on what steps the White House should take to address the civil war between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq, President Bush has once again ignored the advice of career military officials and even some Republican lawmakers. REPUG SENATORS DESERT BUSH http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070111/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq While Republican House and Senate leaders stood with Bush, other Republican lawmakers bluntly rejected the president's strategy. Among them were Sens. Olympia Snowe (news, bio, voting record) and Susan Collins (news, bio, voting record) of Maine, Sam Brownback (news, bio, voting record) of Kansas, Norm Coleman (news, bio, voting record) of Minnesota and Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record) of Nebraska. "This is a dangerously wrong-headed strategy that will drive America deeper into an unwinnable swamp at a great cost," said Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran. HAHAHAHA---BUSH TO BUILD ‘GATED COMMUNITIES’ IN IRAQ! http://www.slate.com/id/2157473/?nav=fix 61 PERCENT OF COUNTRY OPPOSES BUSH PLAN http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011100282.html WATCH: OLBERMANN REVIEWS SHAMELESS BUSH FLIP-FLOPS http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Video_Olbermann_recounts_Bush_missteps_in_0110.html DREYFUSS: BUSH CHANNELS NIXON http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/11/bush_channels_nixon.php At the tail end of the Vietnam war, when everyone in Washington knew that America had lost, peace talks stalled and President Richard Nixon ordered a massive bombardment of North Vietnam over Christmas, 1972. In a horrific and needless weeks-long reign of terror, the United States bombed cities and villages in Vietnam, including a devastating strike that demolished Bach Mai, Hanoi’s largest hospital. Once the president got that out of his system, the assault ended, the peace talks resumed and shortly thereafter the United States gave up on the war. What President Bush is doing in Iraq is precisely the same thing. LINDORFF: BLOOD FOR FACE http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/2007.01.01_arch.html#1168488160389 As Lt. Gen (ret.) William Odom, commenting after Bush's address in an interview on ABC News, put it, "I expected to hear a clearer view of the enemy we are fighting. What I heard was `foreign fighters.' In fact, there are several wars going on: US against many forces, Sunnis against Shias, and Al Qaeda as allies of the Sunnis. So I don’t think he (Bush) understands the nature of the war." FISK: THE MARCH OF FOLLY http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2144057.ece So into the graveyard of Iraq, George Bush, commander-in-chief, is to send another 21,000 of his soldiers. . .Well, they will have their chance now. How ironic that it was the ghastly Saddam, dignified amid his lynch mob, who dared on the scaffold to tell the truth which Bush and Blair would not utter: that Iraq has become "hell" . ROBERTS: IS ‘SURGE’ A DISTRACTION FROM REAL PLAN? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16121.htm The only purpose of the surge is to distract Congress while plans are implemented to widen the war. Weapons inspectors have failed to find a nuclear weapons program in Iran. Most experts say it would be years before Iran could make a weapon even if the Iranian government is actively working on a weapons program. Since the danger, if any, is years away, why is Israel so determined to attack Iran now? The answer might be that Israel has the chance now. The Bush administration is in its pocket. The White House is working with neoconservatives, not with the American foreign policy community represented by the Iraq Study Group. Neoconservative propagandists are in influential positions in the media. The US Congress is intimidated by AIPAC. The correlation of forces are heavily in Israel’s favor. THOMPSON: SAME GAME, SAME MADNESS http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/same_game_same.html Football metaphors flew the air Wednesday night following President George W. Bush's latest attempt to save his failed Iraq invasion: a "hail Mary pass" or "a draw play on fourth and long" or even "a desperate gamble for the end zone."You can draw many analogies out of what Bush said in his disjointed, rambling speech to the nation but a reasonable person can come to only one conclusion: The President of the United States has run out of excuses, options or rationalizations for a failed, ill-conceived, illegal and immoral action that will go down in history as a massive political and military debacle. RALL: THE IMPOTENCY OF THE INTERNET Rip Post: Bloggers should stop blogging and start marching http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/ The illusionary power of the Internet contributes to our national apathy. When I publish a column describing some outrage, many readers ask me what they can do to. "Who should I e-mail?" "I'll set up a blog!" Yeah. That'll show the bastards! RAIMUNDO: SOMALIA IS IRAQ WRIT SMALL http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10299 That's right: we're bombing a country because we're after a terrorist trio – Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed 225 people, and accomplices Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Abu Talha al-Sudani. MOORE: DEAR PREZBOY---YOU GO, TOO http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=204 Mr. Bush, do not give up! Now is not the time to pull your punch! Don't be a weenie by sending in a few over-tired troops. Get your people behind you and YOU lead them in like a true commander in chief! Leave no conservative behind! Full speed ahead! GOODMAN: WARMING, WARRING, WARNING http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/299166_amy11.html As global temperatures surge, so do oil-company profits, and U.S. soldiers in Iraq. President Bush, despite plummeting to his all-time low popularity in the polls on his handling of Iraq, forces tens of thousands more young Americans to march lock step into another year's deployment into the turmOIL of Iraq. Israelity WATCH: CLASH BETWEEN HASSIDIC JEWS AND NEW YORK ZIONIST http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dSHl3C9kgY&feature=PlayList&p=E66E6FAAC4A1E742&index=6 Gitmo Crazy U.S. HAS STRONG CASE AGAINST AUSSIE DAVID HICKS http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6251311.stm Mashed Media U.S. NEWSPAPERS OPPOSE BUSH PLAN http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003531412 GRETCHEN CARLSON SAYS SHE DID NOT CALL KENNEDY ‘HOSTILE ENEMY’ Watch the video and judge for yourself---looks like an idiotic segue http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/11/carlson-fox-kennedy-hostile/ CONDI: I LOVE MY FOX GUYS! http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2007-01-11T143341Z_01_N11397671_RTRUKOC_0_US-LIFE-RICE.xml&WTmodLoc=USNewsHome_C1_%5BFeed%5D-8 GANNETT, McCLATCHY, TRIBUNE PLAN WEB AD NETWORK Duhhhh. . .what an original idea. . . http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070110/wr_nm/gannett_mcclatchy_tribune_dc_1 SCRIPPS TO BAIL FROM NEWSPAPERS? http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003530405 We are not making this stuff up! FBI TEACHES SCREENWRITERS HOW TO MAKE TERRORISTS CONVINCING http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ic3141078f1f1c99f4eb9f2727718d2eb Enviro Wacko/Animals in the news! WHAT A METAPHOR---GOLD MINING SQUEEZES OUT THE TIGERS http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12011 WARMING OCEANS KILLING EUROPE PORPOISES http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070110-porpoises.html SCHWARZENEGGER TO CUT CARBON IN GAS--- 10 PERCENT IN 13 YEARS? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0111/p01s01-ussc.html Oh, by the way. . . “DEPLETED” URANIUM KILLING ITALIAN SOLDIERS http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6247401.stm 25,000 BEAUTIFUL CALIFORNIA BEACH ACRES SOLD What next for popular Jalama? http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2007/01/11/state/n072231S44.DTL And in more important matters. . . MOYERS COMING BACK WITH WEEKLY SHOW http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0110-02.htm R.I.P. BEAUTIFUL YVONNE DE CARLO http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/arts/television/11decarlo.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin Spaced Out THE HUBBLE TOP TEN IMAGES---QUITE HUMBLING http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/04/photogalleries/hubble/ YAWN. . .8 NEW GALAXIES DISCOVERED http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070110-dwarf-galaxies.html ATTACKED BY AN ALIEN? HERE’S YOUR LAWYER? http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,458972,00.html Musique A LOVE LETTER TO FRANZ SCHUBERT http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/12/16/do1605.xml So I put a rose on his grave, and went back into the heart of that enchanting, unsettling city to drink a Burgenland wine in honour of this unconquerable guardian of the human spirit. As he taught us, without ever raising his voice, all the darkness in this world will never extinguish the smallest candle. DREW BARRYMORE IS SOLO AGAIN http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=12516 YECH. MERYL STREEP TO STAR IN ‘ABBA’ MUSICAL http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6251599.stm And in the end. . . A PIANO LESSON FROM DR. JOHN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPf0yj5fk2o 1/10 A CLOSE LOOK AT LENNON’S FBI FILE What a national disgrace http://www.slate.com/id/2157256/entry/2157257/ WATCH: LENNON MUSIC BUS VISITS MACWORLD Is that Bob Weir with the beard and handlebar moustache? http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=entertainment&id=4916781 GIVE PEACE A CHANCE http://youtube.com/watch?v=I-NRriHlLUk FURNITURE DESIGNED FOR FATASS AMERRYGUNS http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/10/HOG1DNDA4L1.DTL "To Americans, the 12-inch-round stool won't work anymore -- now it's 18 inches," says Jeff Singleton, partner in wildly successful Groovystuff, which reclaims wood in Thailand to make mostly outdoor furniture for U.S. buyers. "Call it the bum factor. American butts are big." MAN SMUGGLES LIVE ALLIGATOR IN SUITCASE Now that’s an alligator bag http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6247647.stm TUFTS U. HISTORIAN BRUTALIZED BY ATLANTA COPS---FOR JAYWALKING http://improbable.com/2007/01/09/historian-jaywalks-police-take-him-down/ And on to news and comment. . . Hangman SHIIA HOSTAGES HANGED IN THE STREETS ---SADDAM REVENGE http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/09/wiraq09.xml SADDAM GOT HIMSELF IN SHAPE---FOR HIS HANGING http://today.reuters.com/news/ArticleNews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-01-09T165312Z_01_L08817934_RTRUKOC_0_US-IARQ-SADDAM-PRISON.xml The Little Dictator MAD KING GEORGE ANNOUNCES 20,000 MORE TROOPS TODAY Never mind Congress. Never mind the Pentagon. Never mind the American People. Never mind the world. http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Bush_to_announce_20000_troops_in_0110.html TEN REPUGNICAN SENATORS OPPOSE THE ‘SURGE’ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/washington/10capitol.html?ei=5065&en=43a3f1448e55872c&ex=1169096400&adxnnl=1&partner=MYWAY&adxnnlx=1168441284-cSJl2WgqPOgo+DinMJKVdQ HUH? DOES THE NYT SUPPORT THE ‘SURGE?’ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003529845 WAVE OF PROTESTS AGAINST BUSH ‘SURGE’ COMING? Better late than never http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011007N.shtml Stop the War---SANTA MONICA PROTEST Palisades Park at Wilshire and Ocean (in Santa Monica) Thursday, Jan 11 2007, 6:00 PM http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=31218&&id=9686-7761074-Wir6qCLQZyswJ7DgGF_s8w&t=2 If this event doesn't work for you, click the link below to search events in hundreds of other locations around the country. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2307&search_zip=90025&id=9686-7761074-Wir6qCLQZyswJ7DgGF_s8w&t=3 THOMPSON: BUSH GIVES USA AND ITS SOLDIERS THE FINGER http://www.capitolhillblue.com/news2/2007/01/giving_america.html Bush's speech is an in-your-face rejection of the will of voters who in November tossed out the corrupt, rubber-stamp Republican-led Congress and made it clear they want a swift end to Bush's Iraq debacle. It is a blatant "go to hell" to the American men and women who have died and will die because of his lunacy LINDORFF: NO JUSTIFICATION FOR DELAY IN STOPPING THE WAR AND IMPEACHING http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/2007.01.01_arch.html#1168382398569 It's exactly like the situation during Nixon's presidency, when he just kept the war in Indochina grinding on, expanding it into Cambodia, killing all the while, simply because he didn't want to have to be the president who lost a war. Bush's goal, clearly, is to run out the clock and hand the job of surrendering in Iraq to whoever it is that succeeds him in 2008. BUCHANAN: AMERICA’S WAR? ISRAEL’S WAR http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16113.htm Said Netanyahu, Israel "must immediately launch an intense, international public relations front first and foremost on the U.S. The goal being to encourage President Bush to live up to specific pledges he would not allow Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons. We must make clear to the (U.S.) government, the Congress and the American public that a nuclear Iran is a threat to the U.S. and the entire world, not only Israel." Israel's war, says Bibi, must be sold as America's war. Electile Dysfunction DAVID CORN LOOKS AT THE CANDIDATES http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/10/using_the_war_to_win.php Edwards, the losing vice presidential candidate of 2004 who officially kicked off his 2008 campaign last week, will be in no such jam. He has already declared his 2002 vote was a mistake (“I was wrong,” he wrote in The Washington Post in November 2005), and he has called for beginning an initial withdrawal of 40,000 to 50,000 troops from Iraq. But best for Edwards, he is out of the Senate. He is not encumbered by office. Whether he decides to call for defunding the war or not, he will have more maneuverability than either Clinton or Obama. And he will not have to back up his position with action or votes. Edwards is free to fire away at the war—and perhaps even at House and Senate Democrats should they not do enough (in the eyes of Democratic voters) to stop Bush’s misadventure in Iraq. Weapons of Mass Delusion NEW INTELL CHIEF WILL TRUMP UP IRAN DATA http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Intelligence_officials_believe_White_House_chose_0108.html Your Corporatocracy at work! U.S. BANKS---NOTHING BUT GIANT CASINOS http://worldvisionportal.org/WVPforum/viewtopic.php?printertopic=1&t=160&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&vote=viewresult The moment interest rates start to run up, U.S. banks will be left holding little paper value assets to offset their vast derivative gambling losses. Enviro Wacko BUSH LIFTS BAN ON RAPE OF ALASKA http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/09/bush-lifts-alaska-drilling-ban/ EU ASKS FOR 20 PERCENT CUT IN GREENHOUSE GASES BY 2020 By then the North Pole will have melted and we’ll all be dead from methane, anyhow http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6247199.stm IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS YESTERDAY. . . http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2007/01/08/01291.html Mashed Media HANNITY: SEAN PENN IS AN ‘ENEMY OF THE STATE’ Hannity needs to have his face pushed into a bag of rotting garbage http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/10/hannity-sean-penn-is-an-enemy-of-the-state/ FOX NEWS: KENNEDY IS ‘ENEMY’ Gretchen Carlson needs to have her face pushed into a bag of rotting garbage http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/10/kennedy-fox-hostile-enemy/ PHILLY INKWIRE OWNERS MIGHT SELL HISTORIC BUILDING http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003530120 Collie Fawn E Uh SPERMINATOR: CALIF. IS A ‘NATION-STATE’ So let’s secede! http://news.monstersandcritics.com/usa/news/article_1241733.php/Schwarzenegger_Calif._is_nation-state_leading_world MacFuture BEATLES INC. AND APPLE COMING TOGETHER? http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,1987097,00.html As well as playing Lovely Rita during his keynote address, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs was seen flicking through artwork from albums Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road on a monitor as he presented his new device to the audience. BIG ILOVE AT MACWORLD http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/10/MNGMPNFT581.DTL Robichaud couldn't risk that he might miss his only chance to hear Steve Jobs' keynote address at the annual Macworld Conference & Expo. You'd think that by arriving 8 1/2 hours before Jobs' speech on Tuesday morning, he'd be first in line. He was 25th. Spaced out IT’S THE AMAZON.COM ROCKET! http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/science/space/09rock.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin PULSAR FOUND TO HAVE FOUR POLES But no Czechs http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070109-pulsar-nebula.html Oh, by the way. . . MYSTERY LIGHTS OVER SINGAPORE---SEE PHOTO http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/251385/1/.html BANGOR, ME.: NO SMOKING IN CARS WITH KIDS http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jan10/0,4670,SmokingCars,00.html THE UNITED STATES OF HYSTERIA--- BAD SMELLS AND DEAD BIRDS http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/090107statesofhysteria.htm And in more important matters. . . MARLENE DIETRICH’S EARRING FOUND ON BRIT BEACH http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6248143.stm STUDENTS HIT THE ROAD FOR THREE MONTHS University program seeks to put them in touch with the country http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0110/p20s01-legn.html Catfight! ROSIE/BABAWAWA SMACKDOWN! O’Donnell calls Walters a “f---ing liar” http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nypost.com%2Fseven%2F01092007%2Fgossip%2Fpagesix%2Fpagesix.htm R.I.P. CARLO PONTI http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Obit-Ponti.html?ref=obituaries Musique THE MYSTERY OF HITCHCOCK’S MUSIC More to his love of tunes than meets the ear http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/08/movies/08conn.html?pagewanted=all WATCH: RARE CLIP OF THE GREAT, GREAT PROFESSOR LONGHAIR http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003529915 ‘FESS AT ’73 MONTREUX http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dLwf8JdmQs&mode=related&search= Food for thought MORFORD: TOFU WILL MAKE YOU GAY! http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/ But does this mean eating a nice tofu veggie burger will shrink your testicles and make your average hetero male linger, swooningly, a bit longer over photos of George Clooney than he normally would? THE TRUTH ABOUT APHRODISIACS http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,1986807,00.html Conventional scientific wisdom has it that many aphrodisiacs gained their reputation simply by association. For example, oysters are reminiscent of vulvas, while carrots, bananas and rhino horn have more than a passing resemblance to sturdy, erect penises. Similarly, "avocado" comes from an ancient Aztec word for "testicle". RINGO’S HOUSE TO BECOME A MUSEUM http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/6247537.stm And in the end. . . BATTLE OF THE ALBUM COVERS! http://youtube.com/watch?v=SIRrKi720Tw 1/9 TWO JACKOFFS  http://blog.citizensforethics.org/node/478 WATCH: A MAN AND HIS CAT PLEAD FOR END OF IRAQ INSANITY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQLZ91rSY1Y CARTOON: THE SAYINGS OF CHAIRMAN CHENEY http://www.internetweekly.org/2007/01/cartoon_the_sayings_of_chairman_cheney.html KATY, TEXAS, INTIMIDATES MUSLIMS WITH ‘PIG RACES’ http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Texas_town_fights_mosque_development_with_0109.html WATCH: WAR OF THE WORDS--- The Story of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists http://thewarofthewords.net/ And on to more of the day’s horrors. . . NOW WE ARE ATTACKING “AL-QAEDA” IN SOMALIA http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1986350,00.html CLAIM: TRYING TO KILL EMBASSY BOMB SUSPECTS http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6244097.stm LISTEN: REPORT FROM THE SCENE http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/09/1454252 AL-ZAWAHIRI CALLS FOR SOMALIA JIHAD http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6234167.stm The Little Dictator FEINGOLD TO BUSH: EXPLAIN SIGNING STATEMENT GIVING YOU RIGHT TO OPEN MAIL http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Senator_asks_Bush_to_explain_signing_0108.html GALLUP: 36 PERCENT OF U.S. SUPPORTS “SURGE” http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Gallup_poll_Majority_of_public_against_0109.html WATCH: BUSH 18 MOS. AGO--- MORE TROOPS WOULD UNDERMINE IRAQ STRATEGY http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/08/bush-more-troops/?1 FORMER REAGAN AIDE: BUSH IS LIKE HITLER http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Former_Reagan_aide_compares_Bush_to_0109.html Blood for oil HOW THE U.S. WILL MAKE A KILLING ON IRAQ OIL http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132569.ece Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days. The US government has been involved in drawing up the law, a draft of which has been seen by The Independent on Sunday. It would give big oil companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon 30-year contracts to extract Iraqi crude and allow the first large-scale operation of foreign oil interests in the country since the industry was nationalised in 1972. Iraq and Roll OLIVER NORTH: ALMOST ALL TROOPS IN IRAQ OPPOSE SURGE http://thinkprogress.org/ SURGE WILL RELY ON BACKDRAFTING NATIONAL GUARD http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-troops9jan09,1,1912395.story?coll=la-headlines-nation GEN. CLARK: SURGE WILL BACKFIRE http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/Wesley_Clark_Bushs_surge_will_backfire_0107.html NOBEL-PRIZE ECONOMIST: IRAQ WILL COST $2 TRILLION http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1681119,00.html THE KUCINICH PLAN FOR ENDING THE IRAQ DISASTER http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rep__den_070108_the_kucinich_plan_fo.htm RAIMUNDO: DEFUND THE WAR http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10285 The twisting and turning, the double- and –triple-talk, the obfuscation and evasion – is there any limit to the Democrats’ duplicity when it comes to ending the Iraq war? The Democrats say they can’t – and won’t BUSH HAS AUTHORITY FOR SURGE? WHY? http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/09/MNGPMNF71U1.DTL The Torture Never Stops WHY IS MY DAD IN GITMO? http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0109-06.htm Mr Banna, was taken to Guantanamo Bay four years ago after being seized in Gambia along with fellow detainee Bisher al-Rawi. He was accused of having a suspicious device in his luggage. It turned out to be a battery charger. No charges have been made. He suffers from severe diabetes, but his lawyers say he has not been offered medication and has been denied the food he needs. His eyesight is now failing. Hangman NEW FOOTAGE OF DEAD SADDAM http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6243747.stm MEET ALL THE LITTLE SADDAM HUSSEINS OF INDIA http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6244425.stm Enviro Wacko METHANE FROM MELTING PERMAFROST COULD WIPE OUT HUMANITY http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2007/01/08/01291.html HOT WATERS MAKE IT HARD FOR FISH TO BREATHE http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070101/full/070101-5.html KILLER BEES INVADE NEW ORLEANS http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11994 AL GORE’S POINT---WITHOUT THE SUGAR COATING http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/46318/ George Monbiot's new book Heat picks up where Al Gore left off on global warming, offering real solutions without sugar-coating the large personal sacrifices they will require. Mashed Media L.A. TIMES SINKS LOWER AND LOWER http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/01/panning_the_lats_ad_campa.php Oh, by the way. . . U.S. NUKE SUB HITS JAPANESE TANKER http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2780205&page=1 WILL MANDARIN CHINESE REPLACE ENGLISH? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6244763.stm JAPAN WARNS WORLD AGAINST N. KOREA http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6241191.stm And in more important matters. . . R.I.P. STEEL GUITARIST ‘SNEAKY PETE’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6243901.stm JON CARROLL: MORE CATS, FEWER PEOPLE http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/01/09/DDGRJN7H211.DTL STUNNING NEW PBS CHINA DOCUMENTARY http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/09/DDGM9NDP0T1.DTL After watching all four richly detailed hours of Jonathan Lewis' documentary "China From the Inside," viewers are likely to wonder how the filmmakers were able to get out of the country with candid footage on seemingly hot-button issues such as widespread government corruption, extreme poverty, a veritable environmental Armageddon, the high rate of suicide among women and Falun Gong protests. LISTEN: GILES MARTIN NPR INTERVIEW ON ‘BEATLES’ ‘LOVE’’ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6724341 McCARTNEY DATING AGAIN? http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/945 And in the end. . . CARD TRICK http://www.glumbert.com/media/cyril 1/8 NANCY PELOSI IS A DEADHEAD Well, that’s the best thing we’ve ever heard about her! http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/16404204.htm http://www.wonkette.com/politics/jam-bands/nancy-pelosi--ann-coulter-share-secret-passion-226494.php http://deadnews.blogspot.com/ ‘LADY’ MCCARTNEY USES FALSE LEG TO BEAT WOMAN http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007000418,00.html CHENEY KILLING DEFENSELESS BIRDS AGAIN http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/westmoreland/s_487539.html NASA FOUND LIFE ON MARS---AND KILLED IT! http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/01/07/mars.life.ap/ GERMANY NOT AMUSED BY HITLER COMEDY FILM http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,458387,00.html "Mein Führer: The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler" portrays Hitler as bed-wetting drug addict who takes baths with a toy battleship and dresses his Alsatian dog Blondi in an SS uniform. Swiss Jewish director Dani Levy says he wants to follow in the tradition of Charlie Chaplin's 1940 classic "The Great Dictator." SINEAD O' CONNOR GIVES BIRTH TO JESUS http://www.showbizireland.com/news/january07/05-oconnor05.shtml THIS JUST IN: GERALD FORD IS STILL DEAD And on to the news and comment. . . AFGHANISTAN HEROIN FLOODING U.S. CITIES Mission accomplished! http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16393938.htm STARVING AFGHANS SELLING THEIR DAUGHTERS http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/144616/1/1893 BILL GATES, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010807P.shtml The Gates Foundation has poured $218 million into polio and measles immunization and research worldwide, including in the Niger Delta. At the same time that the foundation is funding inoculations to protect health, The Times found, it has invested $423 million in Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Total of France - the companies responsible for most of the flares blanketing the delta with pollution, beyond anything permitted in the United States or Europe. Hangman RICE OKAYED SADDAM HANDOVER---U.S. MILITARY ANGRY http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/NYT_Rice_gave_green_light_for_0107.html HUH? COURT DROPS KURD-KILLING CHARGES AGAINST SADDAM? http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=132687 PROSECUTOR: SADDAM WAS HANGED FAIR AND SQUARE http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,458223,00.html My reaction can be heard on the video: "Please stop. This man is being executed." There had already been an angry exchange between Saddam and one of his guards. Saddam said, speaking to all of us: "I built Iraq for you." One of the guards replied: "Oh, and what else have you done for us?" I stepped in and said: "I will not permit anyone to say anything here." FISK: THE WHOLE BLOODY THING WAS OBSCENE http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0107-28.htm The lynching of Saddam Hussein - for that is what we are talking about - will turn out to be one of the determining moments in the whole shameful crusade upon which the West embarked in March of 2003. Only the president-governor George Bush and Lord Blair of Kut al-Amara could have devised a militia administration in Iraq so murderous and so immoral that the most ruthless mass murderer in the Middle East could end his days on the gallows as a figure of nobility, scalding his hooded killers for their lack of manhood and - in his last seconds - reminding the thug who told him to "go to hell" that the hell was now Iraq. Iraq and Roll POWELL IS PISSED ABOUT SURGE http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/07/novak-powell-caustic-over-escalation-plans/ “BENCHMARKS” WILL SAVE IRAQ What are these marks everyone is talking about, and where are these benches? http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1985420,00.html 22,950 IRAQIS DIED LAST YEAR Mission accomplished! http://www.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/0/Home/older.titleStory&sp=l129402 WAR WILL LAST FOR YEARS---MILITARY http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/08/world/middleeast/08iraq.html?_r=1&oref=slogin SURGE WILL NOT WORK---NO. 2 U.S. COMMANDER http://www.startribune.com/722/story/921523.html Blood for oil IRAQ OIL UP FOR GRABS TO WESTERN OIL COMPANIES http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132574.ece Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days. The Little Dictator NYT: BUSH’S IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010807J.shtml A NOSTALGIC LOOK BACK AT BUSHBOY'S COLLEGE FROLICS! http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/061000wh-bush.html LINDORFF: DEMOCRAPS REVERTING TO FORM http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/2007.01.01_arch.html#1168186041650 The Democrats, so far, are proving yet again that they have become a party devoid of principle, without spine and without conscience. Israelity ISRAEL PLANNING TACTICAL NUKE STRIKE ON IRAN? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article16092.htm ISRAEL DENIES NUKE PLAN http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0108/dailyUpdate.html Jesus H. Christ! LETTERMAN REVEALS PAT ROBERTSON’S 2007 PREDICTIONS http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/ WARSAW ARCHBISHOP QUITS OVER SECRET POLICE PAST http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,458280,00.html Spaced out SCIENTISTS CREATE FIRST IMAGE OF DARK MATTER They stuck a camera probe in Bush’s right ear http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article2134891.ece THE LAKES OF TITAN http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070105-saturn-titan.html Mashed Media LAT PRESS ROOM VOTES TO UNIONIZE http://www.laobserved.com/intell/2007/01/lat_pressroom_workers_vote_to.php LAT TO FOLLOW WSJ LEAD--- BECOME NEWS MAGAZINE BEHIND NEWSY WEBSITE http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/01/hiller_wants_big_changes.php NO MORE NEWSPAPER BEATS? http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/columnists/edward_wasserman/16407179.htm CHINA KILLS 18 IN ‘TERROR RAID’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6241073.stm THREE MUSHROOM POISON CASES RELEASED, TWO OTHERS CRITICAL http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/08/BAG6RNELS11.DTL Oh, by the way. . . A TRIVIAL COLUMN FROM JON CARROLL http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/01/08/DDGRJN7FJ71.DTL WHY CHINA WANTS YOU TO LEARN CHINESE http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0104/p17s01-legn.html And in more important matters. . . R.I.P. SEYMOUR LIPSET, SCHOLAR ON DEMOCRACY http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010301793.html Mr Pot Noodle dies, aged 96 http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2132552.ece Japanese invented instant snack to combat food shortages after the Second World War BACARACH/DICKINSON DAUGHTER COMMITS SUICIDE http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6237095.stm Musique HAVE YOU HEARD JOANNA NEWSOME YET? YOU WILL http://www.dragcity.com/bands/newsom.html Joanna Newsom's vocal affectations have been described as that of an "understudy for Lisa Simpson" and "a 12-year-old autistic schoolgirl on PCP." NPR: Guest DJ Joanna Newsom http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/archives/djnewsom/ Film ‘PAN’S LABYRINTH’ NAMED BEST PICTURE---AND THE RIP POST AGREES http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6240301.stm EVER WONDER WHAT HAPPENED TO KEN RUSSELL? http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1984823,00.html For Art’s Sake WANG GREEN http://www.daqiangallery.com.cn/showproduct.asp?id=1564 And in the end. . . HOW TO PLOW A FIELD http://www.metacafe.com/watch/109666/driving_nude/ 1/5 WOMAN SETTLES THE ‘FLOUR CONDOM’ CASE http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/04/national/a131621S75.DTL&type=bondage And on to news and comment. . . Hangman LIBYA TO ERECT STATUE OF SADDAM ON THE GALLOWS http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,457968,00.html MUBARAK: SADDAM IS NOW A MARTYR http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6233951.stm INDIA GIRL HANGS SELF IN SADDAM PROTEST http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=345862&sid=REG&ssid= TEXAS BOY HANGS SELF WHILE PLAYING SADDAM http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070105/ap_on_re_us/mimicry_hanging Iran from the truth IS NEGROPONTE’S NEW JOB TO PREPARE IRAN ATTACK? http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_wayne_ma_070104_is_negroponte_s_new_.htm COVERT U.S. UNIT WORKS QUIETLY TO COUNTER IRAN http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/01/02/us_unit_works_quietly_to_counter_irans_sway/ Essay of the week BAGAENT: DISPATCH FROM THE CHINESE LANDFILL http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2007/01/dispatch_from_t.html Call it consumer conditioned numbness, which it is. But it is safe to say most Americans give not a happy damn about the rest of humanity, starving infants, the homeless and whatnot, so long as the unhygienic swarms stay the hell out of our yards and don't bring up that tired commie stuff about our lifestyle being based upon armed global theft and sweatshop misery. In that way, we all test positive for the Devil's hickey. The Little Dictator BUSH FIRES ABIZAID FOR OPPOSING ‘SURGE’ http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Bush_replaces_top_general_in_Middle_0104.html ‘NO BACK RUBS’ FOR MERKEL THIS TIME---PREZIMANIAC http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/01/04/shoulder-to-shoulder/ AMY GOODMAN: PROSECUTING NIXON WOULD HAVE ELEVATED THE NATION (And might have made the Little Dictator tread more lightly) http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0104-31.htm WAXMAN LAUNCHES COMMITTEE TO MONITOR BUSH http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/010507N.shtml Onward Christian Soldiers HEDGES: ‘CHRISTIAN’ RIGHT CLOSE TO CO-OPTING U.S. FORCES http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20061231_chris_hedges_americas_holy_warriors/ The group has burrowed deep inside the Pentagon. It hosts weekly Bible sessions with senior officers, by its own count some 40 generals, and weekly prayer breakfasts each Wednesday from 7 to 7:50 a.m. in the executive dining room as well as numerous outreach events to, in the words of the organization, “share and sharpen one another in their quest to bridge the gap between faith and work.” Enviro Wacko WORLD’S LARGEST GAS PIPELINE TO RUN THROUGH AMAZON? Oh, there’s a great idea, eh? http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070104-gas-pipeline.html Kim Nook Yoo ACTIVITY AT N. KOREA NUKE SITE http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=24832007 Iraq and Roll WHEN IRAQ FRAGMENTS, WHAT IS PLAN B? http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0105/p01s02-woiq.html Electile Dysfunction THE FOUR MONSTROUS GOP CANDIDATES http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0105/p01s01-uspo.html Nancy boy PELOSI UNGRACIOUSLY GLOATS, CROWS OVER NEW POWER http://wizbangblog.com/2007/01/04/pelosi-is-already-drunk-on-power-and-todays-just-the-first-day-of-democratic-control.php CAN SHE REALLY GET ANYTHING DONE? http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/05/MNGUVNDH0T1.DTL Bordering on insanity STALLONE ATTACKS MEXICAN BORDER FENCE http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/movies/16391463.htm GUARDSMEN OVERRUN, RETREAT AT ARIZONA BORDER http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/borderstory0104-CR.html (Lack of) Health UH. . .ABOUT SCHWARZENEGGER’S PLAN TO REQUIRE HEALTH INSURANCE. . . http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-court5jan05,0,6760586.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail Not only is Schwarzenegger immune to most people's struggles with insurers, he's also enjoyed nearly $1 million in direct political contributions from them, according to public contribution reports. Mashed Media 44 PERCENT STILL READ PAPERS---WEB RELIANCE COOLS http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003528255 NEWSPAPERS GUTTED WHEN THEY ARE MOST NEEDED http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/2007/01/enron_and_newsp.html CNN ANCHOR: HURRICANE SHOULD CLEAN UP STREETS OF NYC http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/01/05/cnn-anchor-it-might-not_n_37897.html Animals in the news! CALF FLEES SLAUGHTERHOUSE, IS RESCUED BY ACTIVISTS http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/03/international/i140820S59.DTL&type=bondage STEM CELLS REGENERATE TEETH IN PIGS http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070103/hl_nm/health_stemcell_teeth_dc_ 1 MASS FLAMINGO DIE-OFF DUE TO OUT-OF-WHACK RAINS http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11976 Oh, by the way MORE POLONIUM FOUND IN LONDON RESTAURANT I’ll have mine to go, please http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6234855.stm FORMER SS GUARD, 81, DEPORTED TO GERMANY He was a 17-year-old kid when drafted by Nazis, lived in U.S. since 1959 http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,457942,00.html SATURN IS THE NEW ACCORD? http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/05/MTGUENCE8V1.DTL TAIWANESE FIRM TO SUE APPLE http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6233239.stm WHO NEEDS SUPERMAN? NEW YORKERS TO THE RESCUE http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2007/01/05/new_yorkers_to_the_rescue.html And in more important matters. . . R.I.P. VINCENT SARDI http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/05/nyregion/05sardi.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin THE STORY OF MONOPOLY http://www.nypost.com/seven/12172006/postopinion/postopbooks/the_great_game_of_capitalism_postopbooks_nick_gillespie.htm Film RAINER ON ‘BEATRIX POTTER’ http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0105/p11s03-almo.html 2007---YEAR OF THE THREEQUEL http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0105/p11s01-almo.html In 2007, theater marquees will be dominated by a particular numeral, thanks to a release schedule that includes Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Shrek 3, Ocean's 13, Bourne 3, Rush Hour 3. Books NEW ANNE FRANK BIOGRAPHY http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6233467.stm The Life of Anne Frank, published by Macmillan books, aims to fill in many of the lesser known details about her, such as her life before she went into hiding, her arrest and how she was betrayed, the BBC's Geraldine Coughlan reports. Musique IT’S OPEN-MIKE OPERA IN SAN DIEGO NIGHTCLUBS http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0105/p20s01-almp.html And in the end. . . SPIDERS ON DRUGS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc 1/4 IGNORE ‘MCCARTNEY TO SING WITH LENNON’ PRESS REPORTS Paul merely said he’d like to finish incomplete song http://www.dailyindia.com/show/99734.php/McCartney-wants-to-sing-one-last-time-with-Lennon AND RENSE BROKE THIS STORY TWO YEARS AGO, ANYHOW http://www.riprense.com/beatlessong.htm PARROT KNOWS MORE WORDS THAN GEORGE W. BUSH! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm?lsf JAMES BROWN HAD BULL TESTICLES Now that would be a brand new bag http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1982288,00.html In 2000, a female employee told a court how Brown boasted that the government had implanted him with "bull testicles" to make him "harder and stronger". Sex Machine, indeed. And on to news and comment Jesus H. Christ FLASH! SANE PEOPLE TAKING ON RELIGIOUS RIGHT http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0104/p13s01-lire.html In bestselling books, on websites, and with a national lobbying effort, atheists and other nontheists are challenging the growing religious influence in government and public life. Some are attacking the foundations of religion itself. Iraq and Roll CARTOON: ‘TOM TOMORROW’ ON THE TROOP ‘SURGE’ http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=21816 POLL: ACTIVE DUTY SOLDIERS DO NOT SUPPORT ‘SURGE’ http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/30/military-poll 29-YEAR-ARMY VET ARRESTED FOR PROTESTING 3,000-PLUS IRAQ DEATHS http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0102-50.htm OLBERMANN: IRAQ ‘SACRIFICE’ MUST END http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0103-61.htm Israelity ISRAEL AMONG TOP FIVE WEAPONS EXPORTERS http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3347720,00.html Hangman SADDAM WROTE POETRY BEFORE DEATH http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/04/world/middleeast/04saddam.html?ex=1325566800&en=ecd71d7ae6e6fb6e&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss The verses were written by Mr. Hussein after he was sentenced to death and, according to his relatives, are believed to be his last written words. IRAQ DELAYS EXECUTION OF SADDAM COHORTS http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,457749,00.html NEGROPONTE QUITS INTELL TO WORK FOR QUEEN CONDI http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070104/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/negroponte The Little Dictator BUSH CAN OPEN YOUR MAIL WITHOUT COURT ORDER Another one of the Little Dictator’s “signing statement” tricks http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/485561p-408789c.html GERMAN BUSINESSMAN IMPRISONED FOUR DAYS IN VEGAS His crime: being of Syrian descent http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16444287/ Your corporatocracy at work! EXXON MANUFACTURES GLOBAL WARMING DOUBT http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11966 JAPAN PM TO REVISE PACIFIST CONSTITUTION http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,,1982956,00.html Electile Dysfunction MORE (DELIBERATE?) OBAMA/OSAMA MEDIA CONFUSION http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Yahoo_News_puts_Bin_Laden_caption_0104.html FOX NEWS REPORTER: BUSH USED COKE, TOO http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Fox_News_reporter_stumbles_on_Bushs_0103.html Weapons of Mass Delusion MCGOVERN: CIA LIED ABOUT WMD http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/04/cia_immune_system_still_working.php Mardis Grave INTERVIEW: HARRY SHEARER ON NEW ORLEANS http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=4832&IssueNum=187 Mashed Media ST. PAUL PIONEER-PRESS EMPLOYEES LAID OFF WITHOUT NOTICE http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=12174 (Lack of) Health HERPES MIGHT CAUSE ALZHEIMER’S http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/070103_herpes_alzheimers.html SURGERY WILL MAKE DISABLED KID A CHILD FOR LIFE Hysterectomy, hormone treatments will stop “adulthood” http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1982370,00.html Animals in the news! ENDANGERED WHALE KILLED BY SHIP PROPELLER http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070103-whale-dead.html ZOO ANIMALS FEAST ON CHRISTMAS TREES http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11962 FOUR DOZEN RARE RHINOS DISAPPEAR And a partridge in a pear tree http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070103-rhino-nepal.html Oh, by the way NEW BULLET TRAIN SHRINKS TAIWAN Too bad---that country is small enough as it is http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6230761.stm SF NEIGHBORS, TREE SURGEONS IN SHOVING MATCH OVER OAK http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/04/BAG31NCFK11.DTL POMEGRANATES ARE RESPECTABLE NOW http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1227/p13s02-lifo.html MM-MM---HONEY, THIS IS THE BEST CLONED STEAK I’VE EVER HAD http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070103-cloned-meat.html And in more important matters. . . EARTHLINK.NET CEO DIES AT 49 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/04/technology/04betty.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin For Art’s Sake NEW YORKER REJECT CARTOONS DISPLAYED IN SF http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/04/NSGMKLNAEN1.DTL CHICAGO RESTAURATEUR PLAYS WITH HIS FOOD http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1228/p14s02-lifo.html WATCH: L.A. WITHOUT CARS http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/01/los_angeles_before_cars_1.php Musique CS MONITOR ON MET OPERA BROADCASTS http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0104/p08s02-comv.html DAVID BOWIE IS 60 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/6229211.stm And in the end. . . REEFER MAN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDu_ho5p28g 1/3 FIRST FEMALE ‘BEEFEATER’ Martinis will never be the same http://people.monstersandcritics.com/royalwatch/news/article_1239210.php/First_female_Beefeater http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6226963.stm MAN GETS RICH MAKING DOLPHIN-SHAPED DILDOS http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,457410,00.html THE REAL SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS Yes, yes, we know it’s a little late---but too important to ignore http://www.fpmrecords.com/vark/index.php/2006/12/06/the-real-spirit-of-christmas/ http://www.rotten.com/library/occult/deviltry/krampus/ And (deep breath) on to the first news and comment of the year. . . FORD NOT SUCH A GREAT HEALER http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/02/ford_left_scars_as_well.php By prematurely pardoning Nixon, Ford vitiated a hugely valuable opportunity to put presidents on notice about what constitutes an impeachable offense. Ford undoubtedly believed that he was doing the decent thing, but saving Nixon’s skin is not the same as healing the nation. In fact, Ford’s pardon drew widespread public protests, and some observers viewed it as a major reason why he lost the 1976 presidential election to Jimmy Carter. In a study of the Nixon and Ford administrations, historian John Robert Greene concluded the pardon gave Ford a “30-day first term.” The contrast between Ford’s preclusive pardon of Nixon and the highly conditional clemency program he offered Vietnam War military deserters and draft evaders—who were responding to one of Nixon’s worst travesties—also did nothing to heal the nation. WWII G.I. BABIES TRY TO FIND FATHERS Over 100,000 Europeans fathered by Allied troops during the war http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,456835,00.html CRAZY BILL KRISTOL, THE ANTI-NOSTRADAMUS Everything he predicts never happens http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/01/03/bill-kristol-the-anti-nostradamus/ WORLD FACES HOTTEST YEAR EVER IN ‘07 http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2116873.ece TODAY IN PICTURES http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6227825.stm MUSLIM REP.-ELECT WILL BE SWORN IN ON TOM JEFFERSON’S KORAN http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010300075.html CARTOON: INVADERS FROM TEXAS http://www.internetweekly.org/2007/01/cartoon_invaders_from_texas.html Iraq and Roll MALIKI WANTS OUT http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6226953.stm MEET THE NEW JEREMIAH JOHNSON “Hidden toll” of Iraq War http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003526931 SCHEER: DEATH OF OUR MONSTER http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070102_robert_scheer_a_monster_of_our_creation/ The video images now broadcast widely on the Internet show, as The New York Times reported, that the execution proceedings deteriorated “into a sectarian free-for-all that had the effect . . . of making [Saddam] appear dignified and restrained, and his executioners, representing Shiites, who were his principal victims, seem like bullying street thugs.” SADDAM SNUFF FILM CAMERAMAN ARRESTED--- IT WAS IRAQ NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/011767.php http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/01/03/international/i053941S66.DTL 40 PERCENT OF N. KOREA’S BUDGET SPENT ON DEIFYING KIM http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0103/p01s04-woap.html Electile Dysfunction EDWARDS COMES OUT SWINGING http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/#46193 TASINI: TEN-STEP PROGRAM FOR DEMOCRAPS http://www.alternet.org/story/46194/ It comes down to this: Are you for everyone having health care, a fair wage, solid retirement, and being able to live in a democratic system that allows the people to decide how corporations behave? OBAMA---‘JUNKIE POTHEAD’ Well, that gives him much in common with George “Snort” W. and Laura “Dime-bag” Bush http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/02/AR2007010201359_pf.html JON CARROLL: PELOSI, SCOURGE OF SNEERING REPUGNICANS http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/01/02/DDGRJN7GU91.DTL LONG RECOVERY FOR SEN. JOHNSON http://www.ktiv.com/News/index.php?ID=8658 Mashed Media 68 AT PHILLY INQUIRER LOSE THEIR JOBS http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/16370474.htm BUSH WRITES OP-ED PIECE FOR WSJ More Bush-by-numbers rhetoric http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Pres._Bush_oped_Cites_911_rejects_0103.html MURDOCH TO BUY WSJ? http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fox_biz/2007_prediction_murdoch_will_buy_the_wsj_to_bolster_the_fox_business_channel_50330.asp IDIOTS AT FOX SAY DENVER BLIZZARDS PROVE NO GLOBAL WARMING http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/02/denver-global-warming/ LIGHTWEIGHT KATIE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO MORNINGS http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/jon-friedmans-media-web-how/story.aspx?guid=%7BAE157230-F057-46C0-B8C3-B4A0C0D6AAA5%7D Enviro Wacko NORWAY, U.K. TO FIGHT JET EXHAUST GREENHOUSE GASES http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11960 MASSIVE ICE SHELF BREAKS OFF IN CANADIAN ARCTIC http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061229-arctic-ice.html Jesus H. Christ! CRAZY PAT: GOD TELLS ME TERRORISTS WILL STRIKE IN ‘07 Perhaps Homeland Security should haul God in and find out what he really knows. . . http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/02/robertson.predictions.ap/index.html DRUMS FILLING U.S. CHURCHES Can't mesmerize 'em with scripture? Try rock 'n' roll http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0103/p01s01-ussc.html AMAZING STORY OF A KILLER CAUGHT BY CAMERAS http://abcnews.go.com/2020/print?id=2755037 EARLY REPORTS OF INDONESIAN JETLINER SURVIVORS FALSE Plane has not even been found http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6226789.stm (Lack of) health HAVE DAUGHTERS, GET PROSTATE CANCER? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6225891.stm Oh, by the way WORLD’S LONGEST RAILWAY TUNNEL BURROWING THROUGH THE ALPS http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,454843,00.html THE ZEN CHAPLAIN OF SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/03/MNG73NC2QC1.DTL And in more important matters. . . CREEP GEORGE MICHAEL POCKETS $3 MILLION FOR PRIVATE MOSCOW GIG http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6227341.stm DU-PAR’S AT FARMER’S MARKET REOPENS http://www.dupars.com/ Food for thought LANGUAGES STARTED OUT AS ONE--- NOW BECOMING ONE AGAIN http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=45847 HOW TO OPERATE THE SHOWER CURTAIN http://www.newyorker.com/printables/shouts/070108sh_shouts NEW YEAR MADNESS FROM MARK MORFORD http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/ Tee Vee ROBBING MICK JAGGER IS KIND OF FUNNY http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/03/DDG2JNADAS1.DTL And in the end. . . SUMMING UP MODERN AMERICAN YOUTH ETHOS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm_GMmiPXuQ 12/24 LISTEN! INTRODUCING. . .A NEW CHRISTMAS STANDARD! http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/ftvbib:@field(DOCID+6992a1) ZUZU AT 66 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061223/ap_en_mo/zuzu_s_wonderful_life ‘BEDFORD FALLS’ WAS BUILT IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY Wouldn’t it have been cheaper to just film in a small town? http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/12/when_encino_became_bedfor_1.php BARBARO DELUGED WITH CHRISTMAS GIFTS http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/16310151.htm CHRISTMAS IN KABUL http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2748824 CHRISTMAS WRAP RAGE! http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/local/16305569.htm MICK LASALLE’S CHRISTMAS MOVIE MEMORIES http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/24/PKGQ6N07KA11.DTL&type=movies BEST CHRISTMAS BOOKS http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/lifestyles/183521,3_5_EL24_STORIES_S1.article MERRY CHRISTMAS---FROM A NICE MUSLIIM GIRL http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/columnists/2006/12/24/mindmatters/16392019&sec=Mind%20Matters CHRISTMAS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH CHRIST’S BIRTH http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20061223T230000-0500_117031_OBS__CHRISTMAS_HAS_NOTHING_TO_DO_WITH_CHRIST_S_BIRTH__.asp CHRISTMAS IN THE PHILLIPINES http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2006/dec/25/yehey/opinion/20061225opi2.html BETHLEHEM’S SAD CHRISTMAS http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/24/MNGDTN5CVD1.DTL THE STRANGE CRIMES OF CHRISTMAS http://winnipegsun.com/News/World/2006/12/24/2968377-sun.html SONGWRITER HUNTER A BIT UPSET BY CHRISTMAS SONGS http://www.hunterarchive.com/files/newjournal/56journal_2006.html#anchor29058752 82 PERCENT OF BRITS SEE RELIGION AS HARMFUL http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1978045,00.html#article_continue 87 PERCENT OF U.S. CITIZENS BELIEVE IN ANGELS http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061223/ap_on_fe_st/angels_and_santa_ap_poll SHEEHAN: CHRISTMAS MESSGE http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/656 12/22 CHRISTMAS ART http://www.artchristmas.com/ MARY CHRISTMAS http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061221/ap_on_re_us/the_christmases DEFECATION---A GREAT CATALAN CHRISTMAS TRADITION! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16313367/ Throughout Spain's northeastern Catalonia region, statuettes of "El Caganer," or "the great defecator" in the Catalan dialect, can be found in Christmas scenes, and increasingly on the mantelpieces of collectors, where for centuries symbols of defecation have played an important role in the season's festivities. XMAS POEM FETCHES $280,000 http://www.playfuls.com/news_0004058_Christmas_Poem_Bought_For_280000.html U.S. CITIZENS DREAMING OF A TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS http://1010wins.com/pages/151101.php?contentType=4&contentId=262246 VIETNAM GOES CHRISTMAS CRAZY http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/182653,CST-NWS-viet22.article CANADA PM: WHAT’S WRONG WITH A CHRISTMAS TREE? http://torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2006/12/22/2931954-sun.html WOMAN LOSES HOUSE, SENDS OUT CHRISTMAS CARD CURSES http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003488224_card21.html AT ONE JEWISH HOME, MAKING ROOM FOR SANTA http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/us/20santa.html?ex=1167368400&en=fefbcbb0085b35c1&ei=5070&emc=eta1 ATTACK OF THE INFLATABLE SANTA CLAUSES http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/22/news/inflate.php HAVE ANOTHER SLICE OF CHRISTMAS BAT, DEAR? http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1901372006 XMAS EVE BONFIRES WILL LIGHT UP LA. LEVEES http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061221-new-orleans.html Er. . .uh. . .Santa um, dies, at children’s party http://www.guardian.co.uk/christmas2006/story/0,,1977823,00.html And on to the ho-ho-horrors. . . HERE THEY ARE---THE USA’S CONCENTRATION CAMPS FOR IMMIGRANTS http://latinalista.blogspot.com/2006/12/privatized-immigrant-detention.html The T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas (on the outskirts of Austin, Texas) is a private detention facility operated by Corrections Corporation of America. It and a smaller center in Pennsylvania are the only two facilities in the country that are authorized to hold non-Mexican immigrant families and children on noncriminal charges. Feeling a draft SELECTIVE SERVICE TO TEST DRAFT http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/AP_Selective_Service_to_test_military_1221.html The Little Dictator PREZBOY PARDONS CAMPAIGN DONOR http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/President_Bush_issues_16_pardons_one_1222.html BUSH EXPRESSES SADNESS OVER PASSING OF TURKMENISTAN PREZ http://english.people.com.cn/200612/22/eng20061222_334907.html Never mind that Niyazov was maniac of Saddam/Kim proportion---his country has oil! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6201669.stm WATCH: STEWART SKEWERS BUSH ON IRAQ He and Olbermann are most important voices of sense and reason in the country http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Video_The_Daily_Show_knocks_Bush_1221.html MEANS: BUSH, YOU ARE NO HARRY TRUMAN http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/296809_means22.html The Little Dictatoress RICE: IRAQ ‘NOT A MATTER OF MONEY’ Still glaze-eyed over ‘remaking’ the Middle East http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1977712,00.html Little Joe gotta go RESOLUTION: LET’S STOP TALKING ABOUT LIEBERMAN http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070108/melber JOLY: BLAIR HATES CORRUPTION ---EXCEPT INVOLVING SAUDIS http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2087522.ece A British government delegation travelled to Amman last week for a major UN conference on fighting corruption. I, too, was at that meeting when news broke that the Blair government had abandoned the Serious Fraud Office's inquiry into BAE System's defence deals with Saudi Arabia. Jesus H. Christ! ‘CHRISTIAN’ GAME LEAVES PILES OF CORPSES Hey, kids! See how many non-believers you can waste! http://www.alternet.org/story/45767/ REPUG SENATOR LASHES OUT AT MUSLIM COLLEAGUE http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122206K.shtml In a recent letter to constituents, Goode, a five-term congressman from Rocky Mount, wrote that he does "not subscribe to using the Koran in any way" and added: "The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran." PRAGER CONDEMNED FOR REMARKS ABOUT MUSLIM SENATOR Said swearing in on Koran would “undermine American civilization.” http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/21/holocaust-museum/ Mashed Media BUSH PUTS PUBLIC-TV-HATING WRITER ON. . . PUBLIC TV BOARD, OF COURSE http://acquisition.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=91606 NYT PUBLISHES OP-ED PIECE CENSORED BY CIA ---WITH PARTS LITERALLY BLACKED OUT http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003524632 Read it here http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/opinion/22precede.html?_r=1&oref=slogin CIA CENSORED PIECE BECAUSE IT WAS FORCED TO BOW TO WHITE HOUSE http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/22/leverett-nytimes-oped/ SOLDIER LOSES CASE AGAINST MICHAEL MOORE http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6202815.stm TRUCK WITH 6,000 POUNDS OF URANIUM CRASHES IN N. CAROLINA Officials say no threat to the public---hahahahahahahaha http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/truck-hauling-nuclear-material-overturns/n20061222001609990005 Animals in the news! JAPANESE RESEARCHERS FILM, CAPTURE, KILL GIANT SQUID At least they didn't eat it---yet http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoChannel.aspx?storyid=0e4daf2c9503387b6a614482bc1d5d8a4ae79972&src=122206_0843_ARTICLE_PROMO_also_on_reuters BURMESE PYTHONS INVADE FLORIDA http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,456018,00.html Oh, by the way. . . NEW FLU COULD WIPE OUT 62 MILLION IN ‘07 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6199717.stm TOYOTA WILL LIKELY SURPASS GM IN ‘07 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/business/worldbusiness/22cnd-toyota.html?hp&ex=1166850000&en=981a86987ef9b9e4&ei=5094&partner=homepage And in more important matters. . . TODAY IS SYNCHRONIZED ORGASM FOR PEACE DAY! http://www.alternet.org/sex/45805/ GO TO JAPAN, BATHE IN CHAMPAGNE http://today.reuters.com/tv/videoChannel.aspx?storyid=5bbb058b93d72d9b3a21f07de3ed7f4231118191 GEORGE’S SISTER SELLS AUTOGRAPHED ‘MEET THE BEATLES’ FOR $115,000 http://itsonlyrocknroll.com/catalog/auction_realized.php http://itsonlyrocknroll.com/catalog/auction_item.php?forcepa=1&unid=31338 Film JAPAN REACTING TO EASTWOOD’S “LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA” http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1222/p11s02-almo.html RAINER REVIEWS ‘IWO JIMA’ http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1222/p13s01-almo.html ‘ROCKY BALBOA’ SAID TO DELIVER GOOD PUNCH http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6200737.stm REVIEW: “THE GOOD SHEPHERD” http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/movies/22shep.html REVIEW: ‘NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM’ http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/movies/22muse.html REPORTER SPENDS NIGHT IN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1222/p11s03-almo.html NEW W.C. FIELDS DVD SET ON THE WAY! http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=63403 Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of W.C. Fields Comedy Collection - Volume 2 for 20th March 2007 priced at $59.98 SRP. This five-disc set includes You’re Telling Me!, The Old Fashioned Way, The Man on the Flying Trapeze, Poppy and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. And in the end. . . TWO OF THE BEST CHRISTMAS SONGS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnffZN1Eob0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dDWUVizCDk 12/21 CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! A VIRGIN BIRTH! In a couple thousand years, much of the world will worship Komodo Dragons http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/12/061220-virgin-dragons.html THE OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS CARD http://www.internetweekly.org/2006/12/cartoon_white_house_christmas_card.html THE MAN WHO PHOTOGRAPHS THE WHITE HOUSE XMAS TREE http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901431.html Each year since 1963, Aldon D. Nielsen, 84, has taken pictures of the National Christmas Tree. He's trudged out there in the snow and sleet and rain, on frigid nights and perfectly clear star-kissed nights. He has photographed fat trees, skinny trees and one tree that had to be surgically repaired because the train carrying it to Washington derailed. IT’S A HULA CHRISTMAS! http://www.observer.com/20061225/20061225_Rebecca_Dana_pageone_nytv.asp Dec. 18 was another terrifyingly mild day in New York City. At noon, the temperature in Central Park was a toasty 58 degrees. Somewhere near the North Pole, another giant hunk of ice may have been melting off into a swelling Arctic Ocean, but over on 10th Avenue, the Channel 2 afternoon news team was busy wrapping up a package on holiday hassles.z OLYMPIA, WASH: MENORAH, SI---NATIVITY, NO http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/12/21/national/a070559S05.DTL PHOTO TOUR OF MAGNIFICENT GERMAN XMAS MARKETS http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,455909,00.html And on to more merriment! The Little Dictator RENEGADE PREZ WILL IGNORE GENERALS, SEEK ‘SURGE’ ON HIS OWN Country gone country gone country gone http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/20/AR2006122000308.html A.P. PHOTO GIVES BUSH DEVIL HORNS http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Drudge_Report_plays_up_AP_photo_1221.html BUSH: SUPERSIZE ME! http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1221/p01s01-usmi.html "At more than $500 billion a year, we are already overspending on defense," says Mr. Adams, now a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. PARRY: HAPPY DANGEROUS NEW YEAR! http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/122006.html The first two or three months of 2007 represent a dangerous opening for an escalation of war in the Middle East, as George W. Bush will be tempted to “double-down” his gamble in Iraq by joining with Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair to strike at Syria and Iran, intelligence sources say. WATCH: FIORE---THE 12 DAYS OF WHOOPSNESS http://www.sfgate.com/comics/fiore/ JEB BUSH: ‘I HAVE NO FUTURE’ Let’s hope so http://www.maconareaonline.com/news.asp?id=15925 INTERVIEW: HERSH, RITTER ON BUSH PLANS FOR REGIME CHANGE---IN IRAN http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/21/143259 U.N. TREATY BANS ‘EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION’ (AKA KIDNAPPING) http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-disappear21dec21,1,4881013.story?coll=la-headlines-world MILLIONS OF DOCUMENTS DECLASSIFIED JAN. 1 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/21/MNGE2N3II41.DTL Iraq and Roll FUGITIVE IRAQI MINISTER IS BUSH CAMPAIGN DONOR http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Fugitive_Iraqi_minister_was_Bush_campaign_1221.html PREZMANIAC SEEKS ALLIANCE WITH RIVAL RADICAL SHIITE ‘CLERIC’ Oh, that’s a recipe for success http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/20/AR2006122002047.html SAUDI ROYALS FUND OPPOSITION TO U.S. TROOPS http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122106D.shtml SOLOMON: BAKER PANEL, THANKS FOR NOTHING http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15964.htm Trying to justify Washington's refusal to end the occupation, Powell explained: "Since the United States and its coalition partners have invested a great deal of political capital, as well as financial resources, as well as the lives of our young men and women -- and we have a large force there now -- we can't be expected to suddenly just step aside." Jesus H. Christ! DEMOCRAPS PANDERING TO ‘CHRISTIAN’ VALUES’ http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-12-20-religion-congress_x.htm Electile Dysfunction KEEP AN EYE ON JOHN EDWARDS’ POPULIST APPEAL http://www.observer.com/20061225/20061225_Jason_Horowitz_pageone_newsstory1.asp He said that Democrats had largely abandoned the party’s core mission of being a voice to the poor and had “lost their political nerve” ever since Ronald Reagan typecast them as a bunch of bleeding hearts. He wants stronger unions, too—a position that will only help him in the newly important primary state of Nevada, where many of the casino and hotel workers want to organize. Enviro Wacko OH, GOOD! THEY’RE LOGGING THE GIANT SEQUOIAS NOW http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-litton21dec21,0,3857373.story?coll=la-home-headlines JAPAN, CHINA DISCUSS CLEANING UP WWII CHEM WEAPONS ABANDONED IN CHINA Er, little late, fellas http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20061221p2a00m0na018000c.html ISLAND HOMES DISAPPEARING---ISLANDERS PANICKED http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1221-06.htm The people of the Carteret Islands — among the smallest, most beautiful and most remote inhabited islands in the world — are hungry and afraid. Since the sea poisoned their fruit trees, their children have lived on an unbalanced diet of fish and coconuts and their pot bellies and the yellowing tips of their black hair hint at malnutrition. Most of them are desperate to leave and plans are being drawn up to move them to higher, safer ground on the larger island of Bougainville, 120km (75 miles), across the water. Animals in the news! POOR BEARS HAVE STOPPED HIBERNATING---TOO HOT http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2091875.ece THE GREAT GERMAN HAMSTER COMEBACK PROJECT http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,455996,00.html Mashed Media PARRISH: MOST OVERYHYPED AND UNDERRATED STORIES OF 2006 http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=21786 JonBenet Ramsey: She's Hot! She's Sexy! She Was Six! She's Dead! How many years (and crackpot confessions) can corporate media stretch out its JonBenet necrophilia? (Lack of) Health HEY, KIDS! YOU HVE 116 SYNTHETIC COMPOUNDS IN YOUR BODY! http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3000/context/archive Recent studies have detected these pesticides, plastics and polymers not only in umbilical cord blood, but in the placenta, in human milk and in the bloodstreams and body fat of infants. ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT AGAINST SCOURGE OF BLACK FEVER http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,454694,00.html DOES A BUG IN YOUR GUT MAKE YOU FAT? http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-obesity21dec21,0,1031436.story?coll=la-home-headlines SHORT MENTAL WORKOUTS SLOW AGING http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901431.html And in more important matters. . . FINAL ‘HARRY POTTER’ TITLE ANNOUNCED http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/12/21/entertainment/e075459S69.DTL http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6200745.stm ROWLING WRITING IN CAFES AGAIN http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6196433.stm ME AND MY WIMPY HOBBY: I MAKE XMAS WREATHS FOR LADIES http://www.slate.com/id/2155900/pagenum/all For Art’s Sake RECOVERED ‘SCREAM’ IS BADLY DAMAGED http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/21/europe/EU_GEN_Norway_Munch_Theft.php R.I.P. PHOTOG RUTH BERNHARD http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/obituaries/21bernhard.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin And in the end. . . TOONOPEDIA http://www.toonopedia.com/ PREVIOUS NEWSLINKS |
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