Norway is starting construction on a massive subterranean complex on the Arctic island of Svalbard to store seeds of all known crops in the world. More than 100 countries have signed on to the project, which is designed to reestablish plants in the wake of an apocalyptic manmade or natural attack. Norway’s Agriculture Minister Terje Riis-Johansen called the vault a “Noah’s Ark on Svalbard.”
Maybe it was towering piles of evidence attesting to the fact that virginity pledges don’t work, but whatever it was, Congress declined to add more funds to abstinence-until-marriage programs. (Via Salon.)
OK, now this is getting just downright creepy: Google has apparently tested a system that allows your computer to “listen” to your TV, recognize what program you’re watching, and then serve up ads related to that show.
Freaked out? Check out Truthdig contributor (and Google book author) Mark Malseed on Google and privacy.
Listen to an excellent NPR Weekend Edition story revisiting the Jack Abramoff-Tom DeLay connection to the slave trade, forced abortions, forced prostitution happening in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. DeLay called industry on the islands a “shining light of the Republican Party” during one of many “fact-finding missions” to the region.
Sen. Arlen Specter went on TV to vehemently deny a Washington Post report that he had proposed legislation which included blanket amnesty for everyone involved with Bush’s warrantless spying. But lawyer Glenn Greenwald has apparently proved that the Post was right in its report--and the Specter had lied about it.
A law working its way through the California Legislature would provide for full public funding of credible candidates in statewide races. This is the real-deal way to eliminate the ruinous influence of huge campaign contributions in elections. It’s already working in a few states, and a victory in California could start a nationwide revolution. Check it out. Sign a petition. Join the cause.
Michael Berg, father of the young contractor whose brutal death at the hands of Al Qaeda was videotaped and broadcast to the world, speaks out against the war in Iraq and violence as retribution, and condemns George W. Bush in an interview with a stunned Soledad O’Brien. Berg said that Zarqawi’s death brings him no joy and will only perpetuate the cycle of revenge. Watch the interview.
The former president earned a staggering $650,000 for just two appearances before major gatherings in Canada by motivational speaker Tony Robbins, according to financial document filed by Hillary Clinton.
It’s good to be the former president
Shiite militiamen have overrun Iraq’s prison system. “We cannot control the prisons. It’s as simple as that,” says the country’s deputy justice minister. The prisons won’t be turned over to Iraqi control until relative order is restored.
Hard to know which side to take on this one: There’s apparently a fair chance of Iraqi prisoners getting tortured no matter which country runs the jails.
The fierce debate on the Iraq war that began in Congress on Thursday will culminate on Friday with a nonbinding resolution that includes: labeling the Iraq war as part of the war on terror, and opposition to setting an “arbitrary” withdrawal date. Democrats decried the vote as an election-year sham.
The six-nation incentive package aimed at halting Iran’s uraniam enrichment appears to have some purchase in Tehran. But don’t start celebrating. The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei again vowed that Iran would never back down on its nuclear program.
This is also bad news for Cheney and Rumsfeld: The appearance of diplomatic progress will make a future U.S. invasion all the tougher to justify.
The U.S. military released info on the man claiming to be the new Al Qaeda leader in Iraq: Abu Ayyub al Masri, an Egyptian with ties to Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al Zawahri.
Passages in Ann Coulter’s new book appear cribbed from material distributed by an anti-abortion group (according to Raw Story) and from a press conference by Alan Keyes, then a Republican Senate candidate (according to Rude Pundit).
House and Senate lawmakers embraced a $3,300 pay raise that would increase their salaries to $168,500. Meanwhile, it’s been reported that members of the House’s own ethics committeetook over $1 million in privately funded (read: lobbyist-funded) trips last year.
In the wake of the marriage ban’s failure in the Senate, conservative Christian leaders are discussing an unprecedented--although apparently legal--maneuver to amend the Constitution without congressional approval.
Michael Gerson wrote every major speech of Bush’s presidency, led a crusade to fund the fight against AIDS, malaria and poverty, and pushed for stronger action in Darfur. He also formulated Bush’s plan to spread democracy around the globe--with somewhat mixed results. No apparent scandal here: He’d been talking about leaving since 2004.
The Mail on Sunday publishes an exposé on the conditions endured by iPod assemblers in China. Says a female worker: “We have to work too hard and I am always tired. It’s like being in the army. They make us stand still for hours. If we move, we are punished by being made to stand still for longer.”
Think Progress got ahold of Majority Leader John Boehners confidential strategy memo for Thursdays congressional debate on the Iraq war. Think Progress says the memo aims to “exploit,” “attack” and “create a false choice.”
Want to know why near-death experiences frequently feature tunnels of white, euphoric light? The L.A. Times Book Review recommends picking up a copy of Truthdig contributor Steven Kotler’s new book “West of Jesus: Surfing, Science, and the Origins of Belief” to find out.
Also: the Village Voice gives “West of Jesus” a rave.
We normally vehemently disagree with just about everything that John Derbyshire says. And we find much of this column truly despicable. But still, he’s calling the Iraq war for what it is: a debacle. And that’s worth noting.
This is according to Scott Redd, director of the National Counterterrorism Center. These groups of Islamic radicals are made up of disaffected men in their teens and 20s who draw moral inspiration from Al Qaeda and use the Internet to organize and plan potential attacks.
That’s the word from special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and Rove’s lawyer. This comes after months of behind-the-scenes negotiations between the two sides. Bush called Fitzgerald’s conduct throughout the proceeding “dignified.”
The government doled out as much as $1.4 billion in bogus assistance to supposed victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Sounds like FEMA did a “heckuva job.”
Chevron in the White House
