Jon Stewart contrasts Bush, Bernake statements on economy (Video)

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart provides a humorous and troubling analysis of President Bush’s latest press conference on the economy.

Colbert: Lame duck Bush no longer cares about perception (Video)

The Colbert Report’s Stephen Colbert looks at some of Bush’s recent statements since becoming a lame duck president. Colbert considers what other tone deaf statement Bush might make as the end of his term nears.

Stewart slams media focus on Obama New Yorker cover (Video)

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart takes a look at the media’s outrage over a New Yorker cover that satirically depicts Barack Obama as a Muslim.

Rush performs 'Tom Sawyer' on Colbert Report (Video)

Rush performed “Tom Sawyer” on The Colbert Report after a short interview with Stephen Colbert. This was Rush’s first performance on American television in 35 years.

CNN reporter criticizes TSA, finds self on terror watch list (Video)

The post-9/11 airline watch list that is supposed to keep terrorists off of airplanes has swelled to more than 1 million names, including at least one investigative reporter who had been critical of the Transportation Security Agency, which maintains the watch list.

CNN's Drew Griffin reported on the bloating of the watch list, which an ACLU count pegged at 1,001,308 names Wednesday afternoon. Griffin's is one of those names, he says.

Lawmakers Target Second ISP for Web-Tracking Tech

ISPs seeking to find new ways to make money by profiling their customer's online habits are likely reconsidering after powerful House lawmakers turned their anti-tracking ire on a second large telecom in recent months.
In June, Charter Communications -- the nation's fourth-largest ISP -- shelved its plan to make money by letting others snoop on and categorize the web-surfing habits -- including searches -- of its customers, following a May inquiry from Congress about the plan.

Bluetooth gives spies a window into your life

Worried about your civil liberties and privacy? Then it may come as a shock to discover that you have unwittingly been allowing your phone to signal your every move.

Bluetooth, a wireless link built into many cellphones, makes our movements trackable by anyone equipped with a PC and an appropriate receiver. Vassilis Kostakos at the University of Bath in the UK placed four Bluetooth receivers in the city's centre. Over four months, his team tracked 10,000 Bluetooth phones and was able to "capture and analyse people's encounters" in pubs, streets and shops.

Bluetooth is now more of a privacy threat than the more frequently publicised RFID chips, Kostakos says.

Hundreds of Super Rich Under Investigation

Hundreds of rich Americans whose names and secret foreign bank account information were turned over to US tax authorities could face criminal prosecution. A Senate committee is scheduled to convene tomorrow and among those called to testify are foreign bank account holders, including one of the wealthiest men in Los Angeles.

Sen. Levin Calls For UBS To Clean Up Or Shut Down Over Tax Evasion

Federal regulators should consider revoking the US banking license of the giant Swiss Bank UBS because of its role in helping wealthy Americans evade billions of dollars in taxes, Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) told ABC News today.

"I don't think that any bank that goes to the extent that UBS has gone through to avoid doing what their agreements with the United States require them to do, should be allowed to continue to do business unless they clean up their act," Levin said.

Phil Gramm's UBS Problem

Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm has emerged as the key behind-the-scenes economics/Wall Street guy for John McCain and is being touted as the treasury secretary in waiting. Since 2002, Gramm has been an executive with the U.S. operations of UBS, the giant Swiss Bank. An unintentionally hilarious interview with Gramm on the Wall Street Journal editorial page last week asserted that Gramm has "been a key instigator of some of the biggest money-making UBS deals of recent years." The interview was noteworthy not just for first-class butt-kissing, but for deliberately gliding over the avalanche of disasters in the past year that has turned UBS from a respected Swiss titan of discretion and risk management into a laughing stock. As this one-year chart shows, UBS's stock lost nearly 70 percent of its value and now stands at levels not seen since 2002, when Gramm signed up.

Development: US fails to measure up on 'human index'

Despite spending $230m (£115m) an hour on healthcare, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country. And while it has the second-highest income per head in the world, the United States ranks 42nd in terms of life expectancy.

These are some of the startling conclusions from a major new report which attempts to explain why the world's number-one economy has slipped to 12th place - from 2nd in 1990- in terms of human development.

GIRL, 13, MAY BE PARALYSED BY DISEASE THAT BAFFLED DOCTORS FOR SIX MONTHS - BUT HER MOTHER DIAGNOSED ON THE INTERNET

A schoolgirl who has been left bed-ridden with a serious illness for six months, was only diagnosed after her mother looked up her symptoms on the internet. Danielle Fisher, 13, fell ill in October and doctors were baffled by her mysterious condition. Her mother Dominique, 35, took her to the doctors after she began suffering from viral meningitis-like symptoms, including severe headaches and fatigue. Over the next few months, Danielle's condition worsened as her eyes became ultra-sensitive to light and she began suffering from vertigo and shortness of breath.....

GM's pain hits retirees Automaker drops health coverage for

ex-workers 65 and older

When Charles Miller went to work at General Motors' Broening Highway plant in 1954, he was attracted to the company by its reputation for good salaries and stellar benefits.

He stayed for 31 years. Since he retired from his job as a data processor in 1985, he has gotten health coverage from the automaker, which helped pay for his heart surgery last year.

But now the 77-year-old Perry Hall resident and thousands of other white-collar GM retirees and their spouses or survivors, including hundreds in the Baltimore area, are losing that.

Officials spread false 'not a drop spilled after Katrina' talking point in support of offshore oil drilling

Former Senator turned energy lobbyist Trent Lott (R-MS) falsely claimed, during a Tuesday MSNBC appearance in support of drilling for oil offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, that Hurricane Katrina didn't cause oil spills.

"We didn't have one drop of oil [spilled] when we had the biggest hurricane in recent history, Hurricane Katrina," Lott said on Tuesday.....Oil spills, in fact, numbered over 100 in the hurricane's aftermath, plaguing New Orleans and nearby areas and also contaminating the Mississippi River. The Coast Guard, MSNBC itself reported in September of 2005, estimated that 7 million gallons of oil, between 44 separate facilities around southeastern Louisiana, had been spilled as a result of the storm.

GOP Asks Net For Advice, Paulites Answer the Call ... and Answer, and Answer

When the Republican Party issued a clarion call last week for its grassroots supporters to submit ideas online to build the party's platform, Republican National Committee officials probably weren't expecting a concerted push for the dismantling of the Federal Reserve and a return to the gold standard. But Ron Paul supporters have made themselves at home on the the GOP platform site, sounding many of the themes that turned the Texas congressman's doomed run for the Republican presidential nod into an internet cause célèbre.
"Get rid of the unconstitutional Federal Reserve, and go back to a sound gold and silver based currency," wrote Cathy, a contributor from Stevensville, Montana, in a post to the "Jobs and Economic Growth" section of the site.

Fears over safety of savings triggers panic in America

America’s banking crisis reached new levels of hysteria yesterday as police ordered angry customers of IndyMac, a Californian bank on the brink of collapse, to remain calm or face arrest.

Police waded in to quell unrest among anxious IndyMac depositors as they queued outside the bank’s San Fernando Valley branch in a desperate attempt to withdraw their money. The scenes reflected the growing panic that Americans are feeling over the safety of their savings, as every day brings a further dose of dire news about the deepening housing slump and the worsening outlook for US financial industries.

Confusion at IndyMac fuels customers' anger

Depositors of failed IndyMac Bank endured long waits in the summer heat for a second day Tuesday, with crowds becoming irate at several branches and customers with large accounts complaining of serious problems in getting their money. Banking experts said the chaotic scenes risked touching off runs on other banks unless federal regulators quickly cashed out insured accounts and gave depositors accurate information about their funds.

Gas Lines Coming This Fall?

Gas lines are not hard to find. This fall, you will likely see them at your local gas station:

The purpose of this essay is to highlight petroleum inventory issues likely to cause shortages this fall. Several events can create instant, grave shortages. Following is an incomplete list of known risks. There are still more unknown risks of unknown magnitude. As explained below, gas lines will be accompanied by a price jump of about $1.50 per gallon, even if crude oil does not increase in price.

China may artificially change unfavorable weather for Olympics

If bad weather threatens the August 8 opening of Beijing's Olympic Games, then meteorologists may change the weather, according to a Chinese meteorology official. Chen Zhenlin, a vice director with the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), made the statement Tuesday afternoon at a press conference held at the Beijing International Media Center. Meteorological departments will consult with the Beijing municipal government whether or not to change the city's weather, should there be any unfavorable weather on August 8, Chen said.

Incredible pictures of Mars - and they look surprisingly

like some parts of Earth

Ever since Victorian astronomers pointed their telescopes towards Mars and wrongly believed they had discovered canals, mankind has been obsessed by the red planet. Now these astonishing new images - captured by a European spacecraft in orbit around Mars - are helping to fuel that fascination.

They show in astonishing detail a network of giant valleys, vast plains and towering waterfalls carved into the surface of our neighbouring planet, millions of miles away.

Big Medicine's blowback on home births

Why do U.S. doctors strong-arm women into our standard maternity care system?

You'd think the healthcare establishment would have bigger fish to fry than Ricki Lake. (The 47 million uninsured, maybe?) But Lake's recent documentary, "The Business of Being Born," which includes footage of her own delivery of her second child at home, was on the agenda at the American Medical Assn.'s annual meeting in mid-June. Lake was personally name-checked in a "Resolution on Home Deliveries" introduced by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: "Whereas, there has been much attention in the media by celebrities having home deliveries, with recent 'Today Show' headings such as 'Ricki Lake takes on baby birthing industry.' " The AMA ultimately passed the resolution without the Lake citation, but not before the Hollywood media got wind of it and, overnight, home birth was thrust into the mainstream light.

Report: 8,763 vets died waiting for benefits

The title of the House committee report sums up what happened: “Die or Give Up Trying: How Poor Contractor Performance, Government Mismanagement and the Erosion of Quality Controls Denied Thousands of Disabled Veterans Timely and Accurate Retroactive Retired Pay Awards.”

The report by the majority staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform domestic policy panel, released Tuesday, concluded that at least 28,283 disabled retirees were denied retroactive pay awards because rushed efforts to clear a huge backlog of claims led program administrators to stop doing quality assurance checks on the claims decisions.

UFO headed for Bush Crawford ranch?

Radar documents examined by a UFO group stir up thoughts of an enormous aircraft without transponders traveling up to 2,100 miles-per-hour in Texas.

Kenneth Cherry is with the Mutual UFO Network, which has been studying phenomenon earlier this year in Stephenville and Dublin. Cherry says the documents show ample evidence of unidentified flying object activity. He says some of the information involves something "turning at angles not possible by military aircraft."

The motivation for blocking investigations into Bush lawbreaking

Harper's Scott Horton yesterday interviewed Jane Mayer about her new book, The Dark Side. The first question he asked was about the Bush administration's fear that they would be criminally prosecuted for implementing what the International Red Cross had categorically described as "torture."

The Historical Significance and the Failure of George W. Bush

Lincoln summed up what it was that made the United States not an alliance of separate states but a single nation of "United" states. Our nation was, he said at Gettysburg, 'conceived in liberty', an abstract, philosophical idea that had been given practical meaning in the US Constitution. We were, Lincoln said, 'dedicated' to a 'proposition'. '

Proposition' is a precise term found in philosophy and logic. Meaningful propositions are provable. They are 'meaningful' to the extent they are provable. Bush has no patience with any of that. He does not 'do nuance'. Our founders did 'nuance' and within it is found the source of American liberty: the Constitution. "The Constitution," Bush said, "is just a G--damned piece of paper!"

Bush Says Economy Sound As Inflation Rises To Record Levels

With three more financial outlets collapsing under the economical meltdown last week, queues of angry people outside banks with no access to their money, inflation at its highest rate for 27 years and scores of economists predicting a recession may tip into a full blown depression, president Bush reacted by declaring that the economy is still fundamentally sound.

"I think the system basically is sound, I truly do," Bush said. "And I understand there's a lot of nervousness. . . . But the economy is growing, productivity is high, trade is up, people are working. It's not as good as we'd like, but . . . to the extent that we find weakness, we'll move."

New JibJab Video Of Obama, McCain Hits The Internet (VIDEO)

 

The Who, "We Don't Get Fooled Again" back Obama

Daltrey said he doesn't hear much about the U.S. presidential race in Britain but called Barack Obama the "obvious winner."

"Let's just hope to God he wins," he said. "Let's be honest, with the standing in the rest of the world of America today, with what George Bush has done to your country, it is inconceivable to me that Americans would vote in another Republican. It would be kind of really, really weird if they win again. You just sometimes wonder, what if, just what if (John) McCain did win. The signals that would send to the rest of the world!"

Welcome to the Frozen Economy

Not since the Depression have financial difficulties so immobilized spending and credit. Listen to the talk at a local diner in Maine.

The Polar ice cap may be melting, but the U.S. economy is frozen, starting right here in my small town. Gradually rising levels of dismay at the gas pump and in the supermarket gave way to paralytic shock last week when "lock-in" notices from the local fuel company arrived. This year's advance price for home heating oil is nearly twice what people paid last year. A collective gasp of disbelief from my tough, resourceful Maine neighbors echoed across the meadows and up the rocky coast. Many claimed they would never sign the contract. "What's your alternative?" I asked a friend....

The U.S. Economic Meltdown Continues

There is little doubt that the United States economy is edging closer to collapse. The U.S. is facing not just a recession but a depression and almost everyone in the U.S. mainstream press is in denial. The major cable news networks prefer to run story after story on celebrity sex scandals and other perversions than to talk seriously about the tanking U.S. economy. There is literally no good economic news. This past week we’ve seen oil reach a record high of $147 a barrel and we are also starting to see future predictions of $200 and even $300 for a barrel of oil. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the 2nd largest bank failure in U.S. history took place this past week and there are even predictions that 150 banks could fail over the next 12 to 18 months.

Consumer Price Index Soars; Inflation Continues To Accelerate

The Consumer Price Index (CPI-U NSA) increased 1% in June for an annualized rate of 12.0%. It is fastest rate in 16 years. All major categories showed increases over the most recent three month period.

The index for energy rose sharply for the second straight month, increasing 6.6% in June following a 4.4% in May. The food index rose 0.8% in June after rising 0.3% in May.

SEC set to fight short selling of financials

US regulators will take emergency action to stop abusive short-selling of stock in financial institutions such as mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and investment bank Lehman Brothers.

Christopher Cox, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, told legislators on Tuesday that the agency would issue an emergency rule to stop so-called “naked” short-selling of shares in significant financial entities. The SEC will also consider new rules to extend those trading limits to the rest of the market.

Sunday Talking Heads Discuss Senator Phil "Mental Recession" Gramm (TPMtv Video Very Funny)

Was Phil Gramm right about America being a nation of whiners in a mere mental recession? Will John McCain continue to receive his advice? We take a look at the weekend's continuing Phil Gramm fallout in today's Sunday Show Roundup episode of TPMtv ...

Florida Billboard displays burning World Trade Center with slogan, 'Please Don't Vote for a Democrat' (Video)

A political billboard in St. Cloud, Florida reads "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat" over an image of the burning World Trade Center.

Businessman Mike Meehan, who paid for the ad, says he's "only trying to help Republicans." The billboard also carries a link for Meehan's website, TheRepublicanSong.com, at which he says, "I claim to be a man of God" and promotes his political song and video.

Is Dubya an Agent of the New World Order?

When you mention the word “conspiracy” to explain a situation, most people tune you right out. They think you’re a whack-oh. Yet, the U.S. Congress, as dumb as it is, subscribes to the proposition that there is such a thing. After the Civil War, it passed a law, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, to make it a crime for two or more individuals to agree to fix the price of goods in restraint of trade. Every day in America, in both the state and federal courts, a defendant faces charges dealing with the “crime of conspiracy.” Conspiracy is as American as apple pie. Therefore, I submit that the evidence is compelling that there is an ongoing conspiracy, hatched by the New World Order, to reduce the U.S. to a vassal state. Which leads me to this question: Is Dubya, President George W. Bush, Jr., one of its covert agents?

'Manchurian Candidates' to Gather in Connecticut

For some, the horrors of the CIA's secret, Cold War-era mind control research has never really ended. Next month in Connecticut, self-described victims of MK ULTRA will attend “The Eleventh Annual Ritual Abuse, Secretive Organizations and Mind Control Conference.” There, attendees will discuss their memories of being unwitting participants in the CIA's experiments, which often involved slipping LSD to ordinary people.
Are all the people who attend the meeting really victims of MK ULTRA?

Former DOJ Official Caught on Terror Watchlist

If a former assistant U.S. attorney general has trouble getting his name off the government's terrorist watchlist, there's little hope the rest of us can succeed in doing so. Jim Robinson, former head of the Justice Department's criminal division during the Clinton Administration, has a top-secret security clearance. But that hasn't prevented him from being hassled and delayed several hours each time he flies on a plane. That's because Robinson has a common name that he shares with someone who he believes was added to the watchlist in 2005.

....The ACLU estimates that the watchlist has amassed 1 million names as of today.....

Printer dots raise privacy concerns

The affordability and growing popularity of color laser printers is raising concerns among civil liberties advocates that your privacy may not be worth the paper you’re printing on. More manufacturers are outfitting greater numbers of laser printers with technology that leaves microscopic yellow dots on each printed page to identify the printer’s serial number — and ultimately, you, says the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the leading watchdogs of electronic privacy. The technology has been around for years, but the declining price of laser printers and the increasing number of models with this feature is causing renewed concerns.

Psychiatric Group Faces Scrutiny Over Drug Industry Ties

t seemed an ideal marriage, a scientific partnership that would attack mental illness from all sides. Psychiatrists would bring to the union their expertise and clinical experience, drug makers would provide their products and the money to run rigorous studies, and patients would get better medications, faster.

But now the profession itself is under attack in Congress, accused of allowing this relationship to become too cozy. After a series of stinging investigations of individual doctors’ arrangements with drug makers, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, is demanding that the American Psychiatric Association, the field’s premier professional organization, give an accounting of its financing.

Are Home Births Dangerous, or are Doctors Just Greedy?

The American Medical Association has agreed to support proposed legislation that, some physicians say, could make make having a planned birth in one's home difficult, to virtually impossible. As of now, no actual legislation has been drawn up, but the AMA has agreed to back a measure called "Resolution 205," a request to support the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' (ACOG) position that home births are not safe.

" Doctors are a lot like car mechanics, some are good, some are bad, and some are evil criminals who belong in prison." Willy Bova

Medicare billings tracked to 14 dead doctors

They might be dead -- but the Medicare ID numbers of 14 Chicago area doctors were still being used to bill the government-run health program.

In the latest example of health care fraud, a U.S. Senate subcommittee found what investigators estimated could be as much as $92 million in fraudulent Medicare claims nationwide. Medical suppliers submitted Medicare reimbursement claims that were based on prescriptions from doctors who had been dead at least 12 months, the Senate Homeland Security investigations subcommittee found.

Frequent Mobile Phone Use Boosts Tumor Risk by 50 Percent

Frequent users of cellular phones develop tumors of the parotid gland 50 percent more often than less frequent users, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Researchers at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Israel examined data that included 402 cases of benign and 58 cases of malignant tumors of the parotid gland, the largest of the salivary glands. They found that people who used mobile phones for more than 22 hours each month had a 50 percent higher risk of developing parotid gland tumors. This risk increased among users who always held the phone to the same ear, who did not use handheld devices and who lived in rural areas.

Tony Snow Dies Following Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer (opinion)

To anyone keeping count, the number of high-profile personalities and celebrities dying while under the care of conventional doctors and oncologists is truly staggering. Some of the more notable deaths in recent memory include actor Heath Ledger's death following the consumption of doctor-prescribed medications, CNBC anchor Tim Russert's death while on cardiovascular medications, and even Anna Nicole Smith's death caused by a lethal combination of FDA-approved prescription medications.

Now, former White House press secretary Tony Snow has died at the young age of 53 following chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer. For reasons we will never know, Tony Snow chose the chemotherapy route....

Police and EMT's Drug Suspects Rather than Taser

While the Metro police had banned the use of Tasers for a time, they still used a controversial method to subdue unruly people, according to an I-Team report. The city's policy to use the method, which calls for the injection of a drug into a person, came as a "total surprise" to people most would expect to know all about it.
For almost two years, Metro police have had the option of calling for a needle loaded with a strong sedative to control the most unruly people they encounter on the street.