Sunday, July 13, 2008

Video: FOXNews Anchor Makes Dangerous Assertion About Measles Vaccine

This FOX "reporter" makes an irresponsible claim in the process of questioning a medical professional on the issue of the measles vaccine. There is a current surge in the cases of measles in the U.S. (the highest in 10 yeats). She asserts what is little more than a urban legend. The doctor being questioned testily refutes the unproven notion vaccines cause autism. The consequences of spreading such a myth are dangerous. It was a stupid line of questioning on the part of the anchorwoman.

Nader Hails Pickens Energy Plan in Letter to McCain / Obama

Dear Senators McCain and Obama:In the July 9, 2008 edition of the Wall Street Journal, the versatile, legendary, outspoken oilman, T. Boone Pickens, offered a practical plan to replace oil with natural gas for vehicular transportation.

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Transcript: Obama Dayton Speech on Energy

Read the entire transcript:

  • "...we are nearing a point of no return when it comes to our global climate crisis. And with each passing day, it is clear that our addiction to fossil fuels is one of the most serious threats to our national security in the 21st century."
  • "For the last eight years, this Administration has narrowly defined security as fighting an open-ended war in Iraq."
  • "If Iran decided to shut down the petroleum-rich Strait of Hormuz tomorrow, they believe oil would skyrocket to $300-a-barrel in minutes, a price that one speculator predicted would result in $12-a-gallon gas. $12 a gallon."
  • " The nearly $700 million a day we send to unstable or hostile nations also funds both sides of the war on terror..."
  • "We are not a country that places our fate in the hands of dictators and tyrants - we are a nation that controls our own destiny....And it's why we must end the tyranny of oil in our time."
  • "We've heard talk about curbing our use of fossil fuels in nearly every State of the Union address since the oil embargo 1973. Back then we imported about a third of our oil. Today we import over half."
  • "So when he talks about the failure of politicians in Washington to do anything about our energy crisis, understand that Senator McCain has been a part of that failure."
  • "When it comes to offshore drilling, even Senator McCain has acknowledged that it won't provide short-term relief. In fact, if we started drilling today, we wouldn't see a drop of oil for seven years, and even then it would have little if any impact on prices."
  • "Second, we'll launch a Venture Capital Fund that will provide $50 billion over five years to get the most promising clean energy technologies out of the lab and into the marketplace."
  • " Third, to create a market for alternative sources of energy like solar, wind..."
  • "Fourth, we'll use our clean energy fund to invest over $1 billion a year to re-tool and modernize our factories and build the advanced technology cars, trucks and SUVs of the future..."

Iraq Government Thwarts Bush Plan for Permanent Occupation

The goal all along for the Bush/neocons to occupy Iraq indefinitely. They wanted to make the country safe for the western oil drillers and Israel. It seems that plan has gone out the window. This is the Bush's ultimate defeat in Iraq.

U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency, according to senior U.S. officials, effectively leaving talks over an extended U.S. military presence there to the next administration.

[...]The failure of months of negotiations over the more detailed accord -- blamed on both the Iraqi refusal to accept U.S. terms and the complexity of the task -- deals a blow to the Bush administration's plans to leave in place a formal military architecture in Iraq that could last for years.

And now Bush will be forced to remove troops from Iraq to send to the other quagmire, Afghanistan. It's all unraveling for the incompetent President in American history.
The Bush administration is considering the withdrawal of additional combat forces from Iraq beginning in September, according to administration and military officials, raising the prospect of a far more ambitious plan than expected only months ago.

[...]One factor in the consideration is the pressing need for additional American troops in Afghanistan, where the Taliban and other fighters have intensified their insurgency and inflicted a growing number of casualties on Afghans and American-led forces there.

More American and allied troops died in Afghanistan than in Iraq in May and June, a trend that has continued this month.

Although no decision has been made, by the time President Bush leaves office on Jan. 20, at least one and as many as 3 of the 15 combat brigades now in Iraq could be withdrawn or at least scheduled for withdrawal, the officials said.

The desire to move more quickly reflects the view of many in the Pentagon who want to ease the strain on the military but also to free more troops for Afghanistan and potentially other missions.