Loading ...The Daily Show: The Spirit of Bipartisanship
November 15th, 2006
Jon Stewart pays tribute to the newfound sense of bipartisanship enveloping Washington.
Source: Crooks & Liars
CNN’s Beck to first-ever Muslim congressman: “What I feel like saying is, ‘Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies’”
November 15th, 2006
On the November 14 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck interviewed Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), who became the first Muslim ever elected to Congress on November 7, and asked Ellison if he could “have five minutes here where we’re just politically incorrect and I play the cards up on the table.” After Ellison agreed, Beck said: “I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, ‘Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.’ ” Beck added: “I’m not accusing you of being an enemy, but that’s the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.”
DoJ Takes The Military Commissions Act Out For a Spin
November 15th, 2006
Today we got a taste of just how un-American President Bush’s Military Commissions Act of 2006 is. After detailing the indefinite detention of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri — a legal US immigrant student who has been locked up for over 5 years without charges — Jack asks: Is it fair for immigrants in the US to be held “indefinitely” if suspected of terrorism?
Source: Crooks and Liars
Olbermann on what motivated Coulter ‘acolyte’ to allegedly send threatening ‘white powder’ letters
November 15th, 2006
On Tuesday night, Keith Olbermann speculated about what may have motivated a California man, reported to be an acolyte of conservative pundits such as Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin, to allegedly send threatening letters to personalities including the MSNBC host himself.
The “Nuzzling” Terror Cell
November 15th, 2006
Couple face 20 years behind bars for “kissing and cuddling” on a plane as airline insanity flies to new heights
The Insanity of Homeland Security enforced airline security measures reached a new high today as two American citizens were charged with violating the Patriot Act for “sexual play” on a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles.
Just when you thought it was safe to get back on a plane, just when you thought it may be possible to fly without fear of hijacking by liquid explosive baby milk wielding psychopath Islamofascists bent on destroying 400 airliners all at once thus igniting atmospheric gasses and triggering mass armageddon all over the planet, you were wrong.
You were wrong because now we must face the threat of the “nuzzling” terrorists. (more…)
SUVs On Jupiter?
November 15th, 2006
Are humans responsible for climate change on the outer reaches of the solar system, or is it the sun?
Kofi Annan today slammed global warming skeptics as being “out of step” and “out of time,” but how will altering human activity halt climate change when the evidence clearly indicates that the sun itself and not SUV’s is heating up the entire solar system?
“The U.N. chief lamented “a frightening lack of leadership” in fashioning next steps to reduce global emissions. “Let us start being more politically courageous,” he urged the hundreds of delegates from some 180 member nations of the 1992 U.N. climate treaty,” reports Forbes.
But how do we square the fact that almost every planet in our solar system is simultaneously undergoing temperature change and volatile weather patterns. Does this not suggest that global warming is a natural cycle as a result of the evolving nature of the sun? Can Al Gore fill me in on this one? (more…)
Official says U.S. may mull pre-emptive Iran strike
November 15th, 2006
The United States or other countries will one day be forced to consider pre-emptive action if Iran and North Korea continue to seek nuclear weapons, a senior U.S. government official said on Tuesday.
The United States and its allies have accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian energy program and are pushing for United Nations’ sanctions. Tehran denies the accusation. (more…)
No more surveillance cameras
November 15th, 2006
In July last year, San Francisco began installing video surveillance cameras to monitor the public streets. What quietly started as a pilot program with two cameras in the Western Addition has quickly expanded, with more than 30 cameras throughout the city. The Mayor’s Office is seeking to install 22 more cameras at a number of locations, including heavily trafficked areas such as the 16th Street and Mission and 24th Street and Mission intersections.
On Nov. 15 the Police Commission will decide whether to approve the installation of additional cameras.
It should reject the mayor’s proposal and send a strong message that scarce public safety dollars should be spent on less intrusive and more effective programs such as increased foot patrols, improved lighting, and community policing.
While surveillance cameras may seem like an intuitive solution to the serious problem of violent crime, in reality cameras pose significant threats to civil liberties while providing few public safety benefits. Study after study demonstrates that video surveillance does not reduce violent crime in cities. (more…)
Scientist: N. Korea Could Fuel 9 Nuclear Weapons
November 15th, 2006
An American nuclear scientist who toured North Korea this month said Wednesday he believes the North has enough fuel for as many as nine nuclear weapons and the capacity to make about one bomb’s worth of fuel a year.
He said that he and the small group of former U.S. officials who made the trip noticed a palpable sense of national pride about the test among the North Koreans they met. (more…)
Bush will not hesitate to use force in Iran: Israeli ambassador
November 15th, 2006
US President George W. Bush will not hesitate to use force against Iran to halt its nuclear program if other options fail, Israel’s outgoing US ambassador Danny Ayalon said in an interview Wednesday.
“US President George W. Bush will not hesitate to use force against Iran in order to halt its nuclear program,” Ayalon told the Maariv daily.
“I have been priviledged to know him well, he will not hesitate to go all the way if there is no choice,” said Ayalon, due to return to the Jewish state next week after serving as ambassador in Washington for more than four years.
Israel, widely considered the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear power, views Iran as its arch-foe, pointing to repeated calls by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe the Jewish state off the map. (more…)
White House seeks dismissal of CIA leak suit
November 15th, 2006
The Bush administration asked a federal judge on Tuesday to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former CIA officer Valerie Plame and her husband against Vice President Dick Cheney and others for alleged involvement in disclosing her employment as a clandestine CIA operative.
Cheney and the other high-level defendants in the lawsuit have valid claims of immunity because of their official positions, Justice Department lawyers said in their request to have the case thrown out.
The lawyers also said that Plame and her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, failed to allege that any of the defendants had violated a constitutional right. (more…)
US soldier admits Iraq girl rape
November 15th, 2006
A US Army soldier has pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and helping murder her and her family.
James Barker agreed to the plea deal at the start of his court-martial in the US to avoid the death penalty, his civilian lawyer said.
A criminal investigation began in June into the killing of the family of four in their home in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in March 2006.
Specialist Barker is one of four US soldiers charged with murder. (more…)
Bizarre Ingredients In Tamiflu
November 15th, 2006
If you are allergic to anything that is listed below for your form of Tamiflu, or you have reacted badly to Tamiflu before, do not take Tamiflu. Talk to your prescriber, pharmacist or nurse at once and check that they still want you to have Tamiflu.
Tamiflu 75mg Capsules (more…)
GPS Surveillance Creeps into Daily Life
November 15th, 2006
Public-interest advocates say cell phone surveillance is becoming cheaper and more pervasive, but companies and governments are lagging behind in establishing policies to protect the right to privacy.
For $5.99 per month, you can turn a cell phone into a surveillance device and track when your target leaves home, where he or she travels and at what speed. You can even detect how much battery power is left on the phone. Marketed as “virtual eyes” on your kids or employees, the service also allows you to construct a virtual “fence” so that you can receive electronic alerts if the phone’s carrier crosses into forbidden areas.
Provided by the company AccuTracking, this service is just one of dozens integrating the Global Positioning System (GPS) into everyday life. The system uses satellites to determine the locations of GPS-enabled devices. (more…)
ACLU: Warrantless surveillance program threatens democracy
November 15th, 2006
CINCINNATI — Warrantless wiretaps that the government says are necessary to fight terrorism pose a threat to American democracy, the American Civil Liberties Union said in court papers filed Tuesday.
The ACLU is asking the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate a lower court decision that said the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program is unconstitutional.
President Bush has said the program is needed to detect terrorists. Opponents argue it oversteps constitutional boundaries on free speech, privacy and executive powers. (more…)