Amy Goodman: The Israel Lobby & U.S. Foreign Policy

blogger's note: both Amy Goodman and this blogger are proud and practicing Jews that wholeheartedly support the existence of the state of Israel.

Mitt Romney’s Very Real Pursuit of Tyrannical Power

Go to Glenn Greenwald's original

Charlie Savage of The Boston Globe submitted to the leading presidential candidates a questionnaire asking their views on 12 key questions regarding executive power. These are just some of the powers which Romney — and, among the respondents, Romney alone — claimed the President possesses, either by explicitly claiming them or refusing to repudiate them when asked directly:

* to eavesdrop on Americans with no warrants, even if doing so is in violation of Congressional law (Question 1);

* to attack Iran without Congressional authorization, even in the absence of an imminent threat (Question 2);

* to disregard a congressional statute limiting the deployment of troops (Question 3);

* to issue a signing statement reserving a constitutional right to bypass laws enacted by Congress (Question 4);

* to disregard international human rights treaties that the US Senate has ratified where said (Question 8 )

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No Proof Airport Security Makes Flying Safer

Go to Yahoo/Reuters Original

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Airport security lines can annoy passengers, but there is no evidence that they make flying any safer, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
A team at the Harvard School of Public Health could not find any studies showing whether the time-consuming process of X-raying carry-on luggage prevents hijackings or attacks.

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Flu Shots and Brain Degeneration

Chimps Smarter Than College Students

Go to AHN original

New York, NY (AHN) - In a test of short-term memory, young chimpanzees have been proven to be better than college students. Japanese researchers pitted young chimps against college students in a numerical skills challenge and the animals won hands down.

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Celebrity Scab: Ellen DeGeneres

Go To The Independent Original



The Hollywood writers' strike has identified its first celebrity scab. Ellen DeGeneres, the comedian and television host, has found she is no longer welcome on the streets of New York because of her decision to keep recording – and writing – her daytime chat show.

After several days of public drubbing by her union – the Writers Guild of America – DeGeneres has announced she won't be taping her show in New York next week as planned, but will stay in Los Angeles and record in the entertainment-industry suburb of Burbank, where the union is less militant and has yet to voice any objection.

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US: Iran Ended Nuke Program in 2003

Go to Yahoo.com original

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new U.S. intelligence report says Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and it remains on hold, contradicting the Bush administration's earlier assertion that Tehran was intent on developing a bomb.

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