McCain Defends GI Bill Opposition In Memorial Day Speech

WASHINGTON — John McCain on Monday defended his plan for veterans’ college benefits, as both the war hero and Democratic rival Barack Obama reached out to veterans on the Memorial Day holiday.

Obama told veterans while campaigning in Puerto Rico on Saturday: “I don’t understand why John McCain would side with George Bush and oppose our plan to make college more affordable for our veterans. George Bush and John McCain may think our plan is too generous. I could not disagree more.”

Methodist ministers launch campaign to stop Bush library

FORT WORTH, TEXAS (AP) — Some ministers will use a PR campaign to try to stop George W. Bush’s presidential library from being built at Southern Methodist University.

Weaver says some Methodists believe Bush policies — like the war with Iraq and torturing foreign prisoners — conflict with church teachings.

“Some” believe? WTFs wrong with the rest of ‘em?

This is how this Golden Shield will work: Chinese citizens will be watched around the clock through networked CCTV cameras and remote monitoring of computers. They will be listened to on their phone calls, monitored by digital voice-recognition technologies. Their Internet access will be aggressively limited through the country’s notorious system of online controls known as the “Great Firewall.” Their movements will be tracked through national ID cards with scannable computer chips and photos that are instantly uploaded to police databases and linked to their holder’s personal data. This is the most important element of all: linking all these tools together in a massive, searchable database of names, photos, residency information, work history and biometric data. When Golden Shield is finished, there will be a photo in those databases for every person in China: 1.3 billion faces.

Incredible story from Naomi Klein: China’s All-Seeing Eye

Coming to a town near you soon.

State Dept. employees deface portraits of Bush, Cheney and Rice with ‘fake mustaches.’

In 2003, Bush administration officials took down historic photos depicting significant moments in American diplomatic history. They replaced them “with huge color glossies extolling the diplomatic feats” of the Bush administration. Recently, however, things have taken “a turn for the worse” as unhappy State Department employees took matters into their own hands:

Outside the State Department ’s press briefing room on the department’s 2nd floor hang large official photos of Bush, Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney. The pictures were, er…modified by persons unknown. (We did not personally witness this, we must admit — or we’d have a photo to post). We’re talking fake mustaches and the like. The defacements were promptly cleaned up. They reappeared.

Childish? Yes. Funny as hell? You betcha!

McCain’s medical records release, put off twice, won’t really be a “release”

It was back in early March when we noted that the McCain campaign was promising the release of their man’s medical records “in a month or so.” That turned into a pledge they’d be released by April 15. Now the word is May 15.

The dossier that a privileged few reporters will get an hour and a half to digest is likely to be voluminous. When McCain last gave the press a peek at his medical records in 1999 — under roughly the same terms as he’ll show them this time — the mound of paper comprised over 1,500 pages. And since then, eight years have passed and McCain has undergone a serious bout with stage II melanoma that necessitated extensive surgery.

Hey old man…whatcha hiding in there? And what the f is that lump on your face?

Appalling:

Report: U.S. Soldiers Did ‘Dirty Work’ for Chinese Interrogators
Alleges Guantanamo Personnel Softened Up Detainees at Request of Chinese Intelligence

U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay allegedly softened up detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officials who had come to the island facility to interrogate the men — or they allowed the Chinese to dole out the treatment themselves, according to claims in a new government report.

Buried in a Department of Justice report released Tuesday are new allegations about a 2002 arrangement between the United States and China, which allowed Chinese intelligence to visit Guantanamo and interrogate Chinese Uighurs held there.

Is it possible to fit “Support our troops as they rough up innocents at China’s orders” on a magnetic ribbon?

Propagandists First, Journalists Second

How the New York Times Won 2004 for Bush

By Ted Rall

21/05/08 “ICH” — – Should the news media be patriotic? When a journalist uncovers a government secret, which comes first–national security or the public’s right to know?

Do You Feel a Draft?

In an exchange sure to send ripples of anxiety through the all-volunteer military, the Senate’s senior defense spending member asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen if it is time to “consider reinstituting the draft.”

Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, asked Gates and Mullen the question he said no one wants to ask: “Is the cost of maintaining an all-volunteer force becoming unsustainable and, secondly, do we need to consider reinstituting the draft.”

Ok, this is scary as hell. And you don’t force people to fight optional wars. End of frackin’ story.

Iceland tops list of peaceful nations, U.S. 97th

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iceland is the world’s most peaceful nation while the United States is ranked among the bottom third, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The United States slipped from 96th last year, but was still ahead of foe Iran which ranked 105th. It, however, lagged Belarus, Cuba, South Korea, Chile, Libya and others which were listed as more peaceful.

What sort of prize do you get for being 97th?

Oh yeah. 9/11 and their oil.

16% of US science teachers are creationists

Despite a court-ordered ban on the teaching of creationism in US schools, about one in eight high-school biology teachers still teach it as valid science, a survey reveals. And, although almost all teachers also taught evolution, those with less training in science – and especially evolutionary biology – tend to devote less class time to Darwinian principles.The researchers polled a random sample of nearly 2000 high-school science teachers across the US in 2007. Of the 939 who responded, 2% said they did not cover evolution at all, with the majority spending between 3 and 10 classroom hours on the subject.

Creationists teaching science is akin to Bush, Yoo, and Cheney teaching constitutional law.