For nearly five years, I have been charting the civilian death toll in
Iraq, along with the payment (and non-payment) of "condolence" and
"solatia" funds to victims and survivors. Today brings a report from
the American Civil Liberties Union that builds on its past work in this
field and releases thousands of pages of new documents via the FOIA.
July 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. employers cut jobs in June for a
sixth consecutive month as soaring fuel prices and a slowing
economy forced companies to reduce costs.
A U.S. government office in Quantico, Virginia, has direct, high-speed
access to a major wireless carrier's systems, exposing customers' voice
calls, data packets and physical movements to uncontrolled
surveillance, according to a computer security consultant who says he
worked for the carrier in late 2003.
WASHINGTON — The military trainers who came to Guantanamo Bay
in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing
the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on
prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” and
“exposure.”
NEW YORK, July 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An unforeseen and surprising
beneficiary of the Economic Stimulus Plan, a plan that George Bush contends
will "boost our economy and encourage job creation," has surfaced this week.
An independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research
Company), has discovered that many websites focused on adult or erotic
material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks
have appeared in millions of Americans' mailboxes across the country.
(World News Trust) -- I guess this is proof, after a fashion, that the war has indeed followed us home. Some of our leading veterans-turned-political-warriors,
from John McCain to Wesley Clark and Jim Webb, and even a
fresh-outta-mothballs Swiftboater seem to have decided that -- never
mind “fighting ‘em over there” -- the order of the day really is to
“fight ‘em here” after all.
(AlterNet) -- The hundreds of fires hitting California right now are a wake-up call
to both government and California residents: we're unprepared for a
rapid climate change crackling at our doorstep.
July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Job cuts announced by U.S.
employers increased last month, led by reductions at
financial-service companies stemming from the collapse in
mortgage lending, according to a report by a private placement
firm.
July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Consumers fell behind on loans
secured by their homes at the fastest pace in two decades in the
first quarter, signaling deeper distress in the U.S. economy,
the American Bankers Association reported.
June 30, 2008 (Information Clearing House) -- After seven
years of
nonstop
belligerence
and saber
rattling,
the Bush
administration
has given
North Korea
everything
it has
demanded. In
return, the
United States gets
nothing.
(World News Trust) --
Both George Bush and Dick Cheney have emphatically proclaimed the American
Way of Life as “non-negotiable.” As hard as it may be for the feeble-minded,
deluded, conscienceless, or hopelessly addicted to grasp, Mother Nature and
billions of human beings are going to force us to the bargaining table. We can
kick, scream, stomp our feet, and hold our breath all we want, but our abhorrent
mode of existence is going down.
(Reuters) -- A drug developed using
nanotechnology and a fungus that contaminated a lab experiment
may be broadly effective against a range of cancers, U.S.
researchers reported Sunday.
As historians ponder George W. Bush's disastrous presidency, they may
wonder how Republicans perfected a propaganda system that could fool
tens of millions of Americans, intimidate Democrats, and transform the
vaunted Washington press corps from watchdogs to lapdogs.
(Space.com) -- The discovery last week of water ice just under the surface of
Mars has researchers buzzing, given that water is a key ingredient for life.
The finding, by the Phoenix Mars Lander, is the most recent hint that the Red
Planet might be habitable to microbes.
