Bush Election Rigger Killed in Plane Crash

Bush Insider Who Planned To Tell All Killed In Plane Crash

Michael Connell, the Bush IT expert who has been directly implicated in the rigging of George Bush's 2000 and 2004 elections, was killed last night when his single engine plane crashed three miles short of the Akron airport.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20081220/pl_usnw/bush_insider_who_planned_to_tell_all_killed_in_plane_crash__non_profit_demands_full_federal_investigation

A tipster close to the McCain campaign disclosed to VR in July that Mr. Connell's life was in jeopardy and that Karl Rove had threatened him and his wife, Heather.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6214

Madoff Bail Conditions Tightened

Public outcry forces US Attorneys to tighten bail conditions for Bernie Madoff, no longer allowing him to freely walk the streets...

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/WallStreet/story?id=6498850&page=1

Time for a "Sicko" sequel?

Even until his very last day in office, the George W. Bush administration has demonstrated that-contrary to public policy-it has no intention of stopping the United States from being taken over by tyrannical religious zealots who despise freedom and liberty. These zealots are not Muslim, of course, but evangelical Christians. In the White House's most far-reaching and outright disgusting capitulation yet to this galling group of God-fearing gasbags, the new health care "conscience" rule announced Friday legitimizes discrimination among health care providers by allowing them to refuse to participate in providing care that they deem "objectionable" to their fellow human beings based on the provider's religious beliefs.

Yes, this is true.

It is inevitable that there will be cases of rape victims being denied information about emergency contraception under this federal rule, despite laws in some states entitling access. This of course will be applauded by the abortion-clinic-protesting crowd, who will probably argue that God knew there were not enough children being raised by unfit mothers and underfunded state care systems, and therefore the rape was some kind of divine intervention. After all, it is far more believable than immaculate conception in the 21st century. The bigger problem is that this goes far beyond abortion rights. In this kind of theocratic system, is it unreasonable that at some point a Fred Phelps-following pharmacist will refuse to dispense doctor-prescribed HIV medication to a gay patient, and be legally protected for doing so? We are certainly not there yet, but this new rule has opened the gate to the slope, and I hear it can be slippery.

In what can be interpreted as Bush's final "fuck you" to the American people (which the American people will return in kind) this rule goes into effect the day before he leaves office, and will take months to repeal. And that is if Barack Obama chooses to overturn it. With Obama's apparent newfound friendship with Reverend Rick Warren (whose anti-gay bigotry knows no bounds), it remains to be seen what kind of shape his policies on science, health, and human rights will take.

Coup Coup for Canada!

Canadians often claim their nation's independence from the British Empire, but their colonial colors are shining brightly today after Prime Minister Stephen Harper implored the Crown to re-assert its control. Yesterday Harper, in a drastic and unprecendented action, won the approval of Governor-General Michaëlle Jean, official representative of Canada's Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II, to suspend Parliament to avoid a no-confidence vote from a coalition of the Liberal Party, New Democratic Party, and Bloc Québécois (the Quebec separatist party), who have been seeking to oust Harper's Conservative government. Canada's last election was less than two months ago, and though the Conservatives had a very strong showing, they failed to win parliamentary majority and as such are open to leadership challenges. In an example of doublespeak at the highest levels, Harper declared the Liberal-NDP-Bloc plan to form a new government to be a threat to Canada's democracy, then turned to the imperial office of the Governor-General to subvert this same democracy.

In the current economic environment, I fear that more of this kind of political strongarming will occur in well-established "democracies" as the entrenched powers fight to maintain their grip on a rapidly changing world.

More on the story here:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/05/america/canada.php
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-canada5-2008dec05,0,3038908.story

For those interested in a more leftist take on this issue, the World Socialist Web Site features an article exploring some of the political factors involved:
http://wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/pers-d05.shtml

After 9/11, Rove encourgaged Hollywood to produce propaganda

Thanks New York Times, you guys are masters of the fucking obvious AGAIN.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/01/business/media/01soft.html?_r=1&ref=business

Chonging in China: Researchers find enormous ancient weed stash

Scientists have discovered over 28 ounces of marijuana in a 2,700-year-old tomb in Xinjiang, and their findings have been published in the British peer-reviewed Journal of Experimental Botany. From Canada's Globe and Mail:

Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China.

The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly “cultivated for psychoactive purposes,” rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

...

“This materially is unequivocally cannabis, and no material has previously had this degree of analysis possible,” Dr. Russo said in an interview from Missoula, Mont.

Full story here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081127.wstash1127/BNStory/Science/home

World stability hangs by a thread as economies continue to unravel - Telegraph

In the 1930s, it was not obvious to people living through debt deflation that their world was coming apart. The crisis came in pulses, each followed by months of apparent normality – like today.

The global system did not snap until September 1931. The trigger was a mutiny by Royal Navy ratings at Invergordon over pay cuts. Sailors on four battleships refused to put out to sea. They sang the Red Flag.

News that the British Empire could not uphold military discipline set off capital flight. Britain was forced off the gold standard within five days. A chunk of the world followed suit.

...

We can hope that governments have acted fast enough this time – with rate cuts and a fiscal firewall – to head off such disasters. But then again, the debt excesses are much greater today. If in doubt, cleave to those countries with a deeply-rooted democracy, a strong sense of national solidarity, a tested rule of law – and aircraft carriers. The US and Britain do not look so bad after all.

World stability hangs by a thread as economies continue to unravel - Telegraph

Surviving in Argentina

Great blog by Ferfal, an Argentinian who survived his country's economic collapse in 2002 and has lots of useful info to share:

Surviving in Argentina