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10/16/2004

U.S. ARMY RESERVE PLATOON: MUTINY IN IRAQ :.

The U.S. military was investigating a possible mutiny in Iraq yesterday after a platoon of Army reservists refused to go on what they called a "suicide mission."

If confirmed, it would be the first time a group of American soldiers defied a direct order in the Iraq conflict - and a worrisome sign that there might be cracks in the overstretched military's resolve.



What the Bleep Do We Know?! :.

Go see it. And take a fundamentalist Christian, Muslim or Jew with you.


10/15/2004

U.S. Government Hits $7.38 Trillion Debt Limit :.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.71 billion per day since September 30, 2003!

The U.S. government reached the $7.384 trillion legal limit on how much it can borrow, forcing the Bush administration to shuffle funds among accounts and prompting fresh Democratic criticism of the president's economic policies.

To avoid exceeding the cap, the Treasury said it would temporarily suspend contributions to a government pension program. The department's plan to announce new debt sales in early November won't be affected. Congress isn't expected to increase the amount of debt the Treasury can sell to fund approved government spending until sometime next month.


Related: U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK



U.S. Budget Deficit Hits Record $413 Billion :.

Financial oblivion!

The U.S. budget deficit expanded to $412.6 billion in the 2004 fiscal year, making the Bush administration's second-straight record fiscal gap, the Treasury Department said on Thursday.



Outsourcing the Lawyers :.

I love it:

Contrary to popular perception, Shakespeare didn't really suggest that killing all the lawyers might be a good thing. But that hasn't stopped some people from wishing they would just go away.

And now they are -- attorneys are the latest to see their jobs outsourced.

A number of U.S. companies, including members of the Fortune 500 and some of the country's largest law firms, are now embracing the idea of outsourcing routine legal work to India, South Korea, Australia and other locales with far lower labor costs.

General Electric (Research), the country's fifth-largest corporation, has taken the idea the farthest of any company and set up a subsidiary in India that employs about 30 lawyers.



Our Kids Are in Big Trouble :.

Before the atomic bomb, we couldn't really break the future. And before deficit financing, we couldn't easily bankrupt it either.

Technology will soon give us more power to erase the future, or so technologists such as Bill Joy worry. And one body in particular - government - has become efficient at using technology to burden the future.


10/14/2004

Hopsicker Attacks Ruppert on PQI Affiliation :.

I really hate it when people who are generally on the same (and right) side of an issue start to go after each other. I have a great deal of respect for both of these men, so it's tough to see this happening. If Hopsicker's claims are correct, though, Ruppert does have some splainin' to do.

I don't agree with Dan when he says Mike is, "out of credibility." People make mistakes, and if this PQI organization is as crooked as it seems on its face, then Mike needs to be open about making the mistake of being associated with them. Personally, I find it interesting that this is happening as Crossing the Rubicon is blasting up the charts on Amazon...

The Massachusetts Securities Commission declared Global Prosperity Group (which was closed down in May last year and "re-opened" the next day as PQI) to be "an illegal pyramid scheme."

They were ordered permanently to cease trading in that state.

PQI sales consultants are in New Zealand promoting a "three-stage educational process," we read. "First, you buy a set of instructional CDs (cost, $2200). Second, you attend a seminar. The next is in Mexico (cost, $10,800). Then, you attend another seminar on a cruise ship (cost, nearly $26,000). These fees cover entry to the seminar and purchase of the CDs. They do not include airfares, accommodation, food or expenses."

"Pinnacle Quest International (PQI) is a US company that promises to introduce you to "secret companies" that will provide returns of over 100 percent, and teach you how to avoid ever paying tax again. You'll also be in line for some hefty consultant commissions.

"People like Queen Elizabeth II and Muhammad Ali are involved with PQI. Not many people know this," sales consultants confided.

"As for the secret companies, only the mega-rich have known about them up until now."

Could it all be somehow true?

"The lion will lay down with the lamb...But only one will get back up."

Neither Queen Elizabeth nor Muhammad Ali responded to MadCowMorningNews requests for confirmation.

Could they be hiding something?

We sort of doubt it. The self-appointed "pit-bull of 9/11" & Fearless Leader of 9.11 "Truth" Movement cadres nationwide is, quite frankly, out of credibility. So let's move on...



Trade Deficit Soars, Jobless Claims Up :.

The U.S. trade deficit, propelled by a record foreign oil bill, surged to $54 billion in August, the second highest level in history. The politically sensitive deficit with China hit a new high as American retailers upped their orders for cell phones, toys and televisions.



OIL $54.76

Gas prices are gapping up where I live in Southern California.



Oil Reaches $54 a Barrel on Concern Winter Will Drain Supplies :.

Bundle up, it's nearly The End:

Crude oil rose close to a record on concern that refiners will lack the supplies to meet demand for heating fuel during the northern hemisphere winter.

"There's a distinct lack of availability of heating fuels in the U.S. and northwest Europe," said Jack Kellet, a senior trader at Standard Bank in London. "That's preventing speculators from selling and encouraging commercial players to buy."



Fox TV Producer Sues Host O'Reilly for Harassment :.

God, what an idiot... It's about time someone took him down:

Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, the nation's top-rated cable news host and a brash advocate of personal responsibility and self-control, was sued for sexual harassment Wednesday by a producer on his show who says he repeatedly pressured her to engage in phone sex and frightened her with lewd "monologues."

The suit, filed by Andrea Mackris, a 33-year-old associate producer on "The O'Reilly Factor," quotes O'Reilly as speaking to her in highly explicit terms about vibrators, oral sex, masturbation and a fantasy in a Caribbean hotel room shower.

The suit also quotes O'Reilly as threatening "any woman" who would complain about his sexual advances, and as suggesting Fox News chief Roger Ailes would "go after" enemies of the channel.



FDA Approves Microchip Implant :.

A tiny computer chip approved Wednesday for implantation in a patient's arm can speed vital information about a patient's medical history to doctors and hospitals. But critics warn that it could open new ways to imperil the confidentiality of medical records.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that Applied Digital Solutions of Delray Beach, Fla., could market the VeriChip, an implantable computer chip about the size of a grain of rice, for medical purposes.

With the pinch of a syringe, the microchip is inserted under the skin in a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes and requires no stitches. The chip stores a code that releases patient-specific information when a scanner passes over it.

A spokeswoman for Applied Digital say the cost of chip implantation would be $150 to $200.


10/13/2004

Did 25 Chechen Terrorists Enter the U.S. from Mexico? :.

Election day antics? Sit back and watch the show:

U.S. security officials are investigating a recent intelligence report that a group of 25 Chechen terrorists illegally entered the United States from Mexico in July.

The Chechen group is suspected of having links to Islamist terrorists seeking to separate the southern enclave of Chechnya from Russia, according to officials familiar with intelligence reports.


10/12/2004

Senator Shuts D.C. Office :.

Sen. Mark Dayton said Tuesday he is closing his Washington office because of a classified intelligence report that made him fear for the safety of his staff.

Dayton, D-Minn., said the office will be closed while Congress is in recess through Election Day, with his staff working out of his Minnesota office and in Senate space off Capitol Hill.

"I take this step out of extreme, but necessary, precaution to protect the lives and safety of my Senate staff and my Minnesota constituents, who might otherwise be visiting my Senate office in the next three weeks," he said on a call with reporters.

"I feel compelled to do so because I will not be here in Washington to share what I consider to be an unacceptably greater risk to their safety," he said.

CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr reports that federal officials said they knew of no new, specific intelligence information that would have prompted Dayton to close his office.

Brian Roehrkasse, a Homeland Security Department spokesman, said the department had no intelligence indicating al-Qaida intends to target any specific U.S. locations.

Added Capitol police spokesman Michael Lauer: "There's been no specific threats against the Capitol complex. We continue to be on guard now, all the way up to the election and all the way through
the inauguration."

Dayton said he could not describe the contents of the top-secret intelligence report, which was presented to senators at a briefing two weeks ago.

"None of us can predict the future," he said. "I hope and pray that the precautions I've taken will prove unnecessary."


Related: Is an Election Day Faux-Terror Event All But CERTain?



Cement Mixer-Based Truck Dwarfs Hummer and F-350 :.

Now we're talkin'! God Bless America!

For the driver looking for more in a pickup -- one that dwarfs the Hummer and the Ford F-350 -- Navistar has just the ride for you.

The new CXT -- short for commercial extreme truck and built from the same platform as the heavy-truck maker's typical tow truck or cement mixer -- will be sold starting this week by Navistar's International Truck & Engine subsidiary.

At 258 inches, or 21-1/2 feet long, the CXT is about 4-1/2 feet longer than the new Hummer H2 pickup, and about 2 inches longer than the F-350 Crew Cab.

But the way it really towers over what's on the road now is in height. At 108 inches, or 9 feet, the CXT stands only a foot below a basketball rim and more than two feet above the Hummer or the F-350.

"It's not going to fit into the standard garage," said Mark Oberle, a spokesman for Navistar, based in Warrenville, Ill., outside Chicago. "We can see it as a vehicle for business people who want to make a distinct impression. For personal use, it's for people who want to make a statement."


Yeah, the statement is that you're a f*cking idiot if you drive this thing.



UK: Solar Power for All New Homes :.

Wow!

John Prescott has demanded that all new homes built in Britain be designed so that they can receive solar power. Draft building regulations from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, due to come into effect in January 2006, stipulate the change.

The move is significant since the government is on the cusp of a major housebuilding drive. It will infuriate housebuilders, adding millions to the cost of constructing homes. But it will delight environmentalists as concerns mount over the effects of climate change.

The government's own agency, the Energy Saving Trust, is trying to ensure that all new homes will be powered in part by solar power before the end of 2010.

Last month Prime Minister Tony Blair said sustainable development would be incorporated in all new schools and public sector buildings.



OIL $54

What should my commentary be? Grab your ankles?



Peace Prize Winner: AIDS Is a Bioweapon :.

Wooohhh! That Nobel panel needs to select people who will maintain appearances!

Ms. Maathai kicked off her reign as the first African woman to become a Nobel laureate by telling reporters AIDS did not originate in monkeys, as some believe, but may instead have been "created by a scientist for biological warfare."



United Airlines: Largest Pension Default in History Looms :.

I wonder how many houses-of-cards can fall down at once?

Despite ongoing negotiations with its unions, United Airlines has told the bankruptcy court that the "likely result" will be a decision to terminate all of its pension plans.

That would precipitate the biggest pension default in history, more twice the size of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation default in 2002. The move is expected to destabilize the already struggling airline industry, prompting other old-line carriers like Delta to eventually follow suit to maintain competitiveness.


Research Credit: JH



Climate Fear as Carbon Levels Soar :.

Make your time:

An unexplained and unprecedented rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere two years running has raised fears that the world may be on the brink of runaway global warming.

Scientists are baffled why the quantity of the main greenhouse gas has leapt in a two-year period and are concerned that the Earth's natural systems are no longer able to absorb as much as in the past.



Appropriate Technology Advocate Wins $500,000 :.

Does technology liberate you or bog you down? Does it solve problems or create new ones? If people were capable of using technology in appropriate ways, a veritable Heaven on Earth scenario wouldn't be too hard to imagine. For the most part, though, technology serves to dumb us down as it enslaves us.

What if technologists spent more time thinking about ways to substantially improve our standard of living and less time creating increasingly useless gadgets and baubles?

Amy Smith represents a glimmer of hope along these lines:

An engineer who is uninterested in advancing technologies is, to put it mildly, a rarity. So rare, in fact, that the MacArthur Foundation awarded one such engineer $500,000.

Mechanical engineer Amy Smith, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology instructor, joined the MacArthur fellowship fold last week, receiving the so-called "genius award" and a colossal cash prize. Her award-winning feat? Using old technology in fresh ways to improve the lives of entire communities.

The MacArthur committee seeks dedication to original, creative pursuits that could affect the future. Smith's anonymous nominator probably didn't have a very tough sell. Smith has a stable of oldfangled technologies that she has reconfigured and applied to underdeveloped areas around the world. Her solutions -- including new grain-processing techniques, alternative cooking fuels and water-quality tests -- sound like answers to problems that should have been solved a century ago. To Smith, that's the point.

"Looking at things from a more basic level, you can come up with a more direct solution, and a lot of people go well, duh, that's really obvious!" Smith said. "But that's what you want: people saying it should have been done that way all along. It may sound small in theory, but it in practice, it can change entire economies."



Israeli Military Executing Palestinian Girls


10/11/2004

Crossing the Rubicon in the Top 200 on Amazon :.

I can't believe that the book is THIS popular! I got my copy a couple of days ago and I've just started reading it.

Order it using this link and support Cryptogon:

Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
by Michael C. Ruppert



OIL $53.67 :.

Crude oil in New York rose to a record $53.67 a barrel after the U.S. said some production shutdowns in the Gulf of Mexico caused by Hurricane Ivan may last as long as six months.


10/10/2004

Is an Election Day Faux-Terror Event All But CERTain? :.

If it happens... Well, it happens:

On Tuesday, October 25th, CERT trainees will receive training on "Terrorism and CERT."

Then, exactly one week later, CERT’s training program will conclude with a "Disaster Simulation & Examination".

This final day for the CERT training program, the day when CERT will climax with a "disaster simulation," is none other than Election Day!



Families Plan to Skip Military Draft :.

Opposed to the Iraq war, some Ashland and Talent teens and their parents are getting their ducks in a row, fearing a revival of the military draft.

They are creating conscientious objector files and searching out safe-haven countries, all in case what they consider likely or even inevitable comes to pass, regardless of who is elected president.



Bush's Mystery Bulge :.

Was President Bush literally channeling Karl Rove in his first debate with John Kerry? That's the latest rumor flooding the Internet, unleashed last week in the wake of an image caught by a television camera during the Miami debate. The image shows a large solid object between Bush's shoulder blades as he leans over the lectern and faces moderator Jim Lehrer.



Indymedia Takedown Details :.

The entire thing is over the publication of photographs of two undercover Swiss cops. Cryptome is on the job with the full story, including comments from Rackspace and the pictures of the cops.



American Style Democracy in Afghanistan :.

Even before the polling booths closed in Afghanistan's first-ever direct presidential election, all 15 candidates running against incumbent Hamid Karzai denounced the election as a fraud and refused to recognize the results.




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