one year

ONE YEAR WITHOUT SMOKING :)

3d Logic

3d Logic Description: An incredibly difficult puzzle game. The game saves the point you got to last time you played. Can you get past level 30?

Reverse Panhandling

Reverse Panhandling

RAUCOUS PRONOIA THERAPY
Experiments and exercises in becoming a rigorously flexible, seriously delirious, studiously playful Master of Zany Dignity

1. Take inventory of the extent to which your "No" reflex dominates your life. Notice for 24 hours (even in your dreams) how often you say or think:

"No."
"That's not right."
"I don't like them."
"I don't agree with that."
"They don't like me."
"That should be different from what it is."

Then retrain yourself to say "YES" at least 51 percent of the time.
Start the transformation by saying "YES" aloud 22 times right now.

Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia:
How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You With Blessings


http://freewillastrology.com/home.shtml
http://freewillastrology.com/horoscopes/



"Ultimately what we're touching is the invisible, all-pervasive Intelligence that surrounds us and penetrates us. It is grooming us to be able to tolerate its splendor. It can't just reveal itself openly because we would be forfeited; we'd never know what hit us."
-Terence McKenna

Peace

Function of DNA

The function of DNA is a spiritual receiver and transmitter of god's love - Dr. Len Horowitz

***CAZRY REINADG SIKLLS***

***CAZRY REINADG SIKLLS***
Body: *This is weird, but interesting! *


*fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too *


*Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. *




*i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word
as a wlohe.

Azanmig huh?

yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it *

Lump of Coal

How would you like to find some coal in your stocking?

zen

george and mary

ahhh.... george and mary, what a wonderful life....

North American Union

Council on Foreign Relations: Traitors, Erasing US Borders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ensmPJm5B5A&eurl=



Traitors, The North American Union
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAeEc23_7Ig&eurl=



The Council on Foreign Relations plan and are working to erase the Borders of the United States, both on the North and the South, and thus merge the US with Canada and Mexico. This is treason, and is the demise of the American Republic if implemented.

Even David Rockefeller Admits in his 2002 Book entitled Memoirs:

"For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure -- one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."

All this is a design from the Top Elites, "Divide and Conquer" is their agenda. They want an end to the American Republic, and the people of America are letting their politicians sell out their free institutions and even the form of limited government that made America the most prosperous nation in all the world. Trends in socialism are bringing America to ruin, along with this vicous trade policy.


http://www.corridorwatch.org
http://salon.glenrose.net/somnewsttc.asp
http://mrspickles.wordpress.com/tag/north-american-union/
http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2006/8/13/95557/0028
http://salcostello.blogspot.com/

Fred Alan Wolf - Shamanic Physics

Fred Alan Wolf - Shamanic Physics
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8707887754782374736

Featured scientists from the highly popular scientific documentary What the Bleep Do We Know?




-------------------------

Ups and Downs in San Francisco
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1244705548936066447

Featured scientists from the highly popular scientific documentary What the Bleep Do We Know?!—William Tiller, PhD, Fred Alan Wolf, PhD and ... all » Jeffrey Satinover, MD and MS—search for the source of existence. They feel that they have only touched upon the tip of an iceberg through their research in quantum physics, and they want more. They meet with Kabbalist, Rav Michael Laitman, PhD...What results is an engaging debate that leads to a revolution in the scientists' thinking.

To learn more about Kabbalah: http://www.kabbalah.info/

For more info about the movie: http://www.arifilms.tv/ari/content/view/full/17946

----------------------------

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22Fred+Alan+Wolf%22

http://www.perceivingreality.com/

Free Kabbalah eBook Downloads
http://www.kabbalahlearningcenter.info/downloads.php

Exhibit shows Egypt's sunken treasures

Exhibit shows Egypt's sunken treasures

By JENNY BARCHFIELD, Associated Press Writer Fri Dec 15, 5:31 PM ET

PARIS - The great port of Alexandria was a bustling trade hub, a transit point for merchandise from throughout the ancient world — until much of it vanished into the Mediterranean Sea.

Treasure hunters have long scoured the Egyptian coast for vestiges of the port, thought to have disappeared about 13 centuries ago. Now an exhibit at Paris' Grand Palais brings together 500 ancient artifacts recovered from the area by underwater archeologists using sophisticated nuclear technology.

"Egypt's Sunken Treasures" features colossuses of pink granite, a 17.6-ton slab inscribed with hieroglyphics, a phalanx of crouching sphinx, pottery, amulets and gold coins and jewelry — all painstakingly fished out of the Mediterranean. Some of the oldest artifacts are estimated to have spent 2,000 years underwater.

The show, which runs through mid-March, spans more than 1,500 years of Egyptian history and traces the decline of the Pharaohs and occupations by Greeks, Romans and Byzantines.

"This is not your usual Ancient Egypt exhibit," said archaeologist Franck Goddio, who led the expedition for the European Institute of Submarine Archaeology. "The artifacts have been living together under the sea for millennia — not gathering dust on a museum shelf."

Goddio's team began its search in 1996, using such technology as sonar, depth-finders and sounding equipment. They worked with France's Atomic Energy Commission to develop a device that measures objects' nuclear resonance to pinpoint the exact locations of the port and two other sites, the lost cities of Herakleion and Canopus.

Television screens projecting videos of the excavations dot the exhibit, in the newly restored Grand Palais, a turn-of-the-century building with a vast glass cupola.

While some of the recovered artifacts were slowly swallowed by the Mediterranean as sea levels rose, others sunk during natural disasters, such as earthquakes and tidal waves. Experts think some heavy objects may have slid into the sea when the clay soil gave way under their weight.

A protective layer of sediment settled over most of the pieces, preserving them from corrosive salt water. Other artifacts were not as fortunate. Riddled with pockmarks or rubbed smooth by the tides, these objects clearly bear the mark of their centuries under water.

Some of the oldest pieces, such as a sphinx dating from the 13th century B.C., were brought to Egypt's coast from other regions of the country. Later objects clearly show the influence of the Greeks, who controlled much of Egypt starting in the fourth century B.C.

In an exquisite black-granite sculpture, the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis strikes a quintessentially Pharaonic pose, with one leg forward and arms pressed tightly at her sides. But the sensual drape of her gown, with its delicate folds, belies an unmistakably Greek touch.

The Stela of Ptolemy, a mammoth marble slab standing 19.5 feet high, bears inscriptions in both hieroglyphics and Greek.

Sculptures from the Greco-Roman period show the degree to which the European colonizers assimilated Egyptian culture, and vice versa. In a second century B.C. bust, the Egyptian god Serapis looks just like the Greek god Zeus, with a full beard and curly locks. With its wild expression and frizzy hair, a second century A.D. bust of an Egyptian water god is the exact image of a Roman Bacchus.

One of the most impressive objects in the show is the so-called Naos of the Decades, a hieroglyphics-covered prayer niche dating from around 380 B.C.

The roof of the niche was discovered in 1776 and taken to Paris, where it became part of the Louvre Museum's permanent collection. In the 1940s, archaeologists working under Egyptian Prince Omar Toussoun discovered two more bits — the naos' back and the base. But it wasn't until the recent submarine excavations, which uncovered several more fragments, that archaeologists finally managed to put the naos together again.

"Egypt's Sunken Treasures," which attracted some 450,000 visitors at its first stop, Berlin, closes March 16. After Paris, the show will return to Egypt. Authorities in Alexandria plan to build a museum of submarine archaeology to hold the artifacts as well as new items that archaeologist Goddio's team continues to discover during its twice yearly expeditions.

"There's enough in the three sites to keep us busy for a while — for about the next 150 years, at least," he said.

Article
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061215/ap_on_sc/underwater_treasures

Slideshow
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/121606sunkentreasure

RELATED
Exhibit shows Egypt's sunken treasures
'Egypt's Sunken Treasures' go on display

Vegetarians are more intelligent, says study

Vegetarians are more intelligent, says study
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23378331-details/Vegetarians+are+more+intelligent%2C+says+study/article.do

Frequently dismissed as cranks, their fussy eating habits tend to make them unpopular with dinner party hosts and guests alike.

But now it seems they may have the last laugh, with research showing vegetarians are more intelligent than their meat-eating friends.

A study of thousands of men and women revealed that those who stick to a vegetarian diet have IQs that are around five points higher than those who regularly eat meat.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, the researchers say it isn't clear why veggies are brainier - but admit the fruit and veg-rich vegetarian diet could somehow boost brain power.

The researchers, from the University of Southampton, tracked the fortunes of more than 8,000 volunteers for 20 years.

At the age of ten, the boys and girls sat a series of tests designed to determine their IQ.

When they reached the age of 30, they were asked whether they were vegetarian and their answers compared to their childhood IQ score.

Around four and a half per cent of the adults were vegetarian - a figure that is broadly in line with that found in the general population.

However, further analysis of the results showed those who were brainiest as children were more likely to have become vegetarian as adults, shunning both meat and fish.

The typical adult veggie had a childhood IQ of around 105 - around five points higher than those who continued to eat meat as they grew up.

The vegetarians were also more likely to have gained degrees and hold down high-powered jobs.

There was no difference in IQ between strict vegetarians and those who classed themselves as veggie but still ate fish or chicken.

However, vegans - vegetarians who also avoid dairy products - scored significantly lower, averaging an IQ score of 95 at the age of 10.

Researcher Dr Catharine Gale said there could be several explanations for the findings, including intelligent people being more likely to consider both animal welfare issues and the possible health benefits of a vegetarian diet.

Previous work has shown that vegetarians tend to have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol, cutting their risk of heart attacks. They are also less likely to be obese.

Alternatively, a diet which is rich in fruit, vegetables and wholegrains may somehow boost brain power.

Dr Gale said: 'Although our results suggest that children who are more intelligent may be more likely to become vegetarian as adolescents or young adults, it does not rule out the possibility that such a diet might have some beneficial effect on subsequent cognitive performance.

'Might the nature of the vegetarians' diet have enhanced their apparently superior brain power? Was this the mechanism that helped them achieve the disproportionate nature of degrees?'

High-profile vegetarians include singers Paul McCartney and Morrissey and actress Jenny Seagrove.

Past exponents of a meat-free lifestyle include George Bernard Shaw and Benjamin Franklin.

Promoting the cause, Shaw said, 'A mind of the calibre of mine cannot drive its nutriment from cows', while Franklin stated that a vegetarian diet resulted in 'greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension'.

Liz O'Neill, of the Vegetarian Society, said: 'We've always known that vegetarianism is an intelligent, compassionate choice benefiting animals, people and the environment. Now, we've got the scientific evidence to prove it.

'Maybe that explains why many meat-reducers are keen to call themselves vegetarians when even they must know that vegetarians don't eat chicken, turkey or fish!'

Will it blend

Blendtec, a company that makes heavy duty blenders, is using video blogging to sell $400 blenders. It’s also reinventing advertising along the way.

Blendtec makes hardcore blenders - not something that most people would think they need. Ask someone if they’d like to watch a video demonstration about a blender, and they are liable to run for the door.

Create a vlog about a blender that can blend anything, though, and people will be coming back for more.

Blendtec’s WillItBlend video series features Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson using the company’s Total Blender to powderize household objects, ranging from golf balls, a iPod, Hockey Pucks, Bottled Beer, Marbles, Pens, Cell Phones, to a Coke-can smoothie.

Don't Try This At Home and Try This At Home sections... LOL

Turn off the television, and just Tell A Vision

Turn off the television, and just Tell A Vision - Swami Beyondananda

---------------------------------

"Ten Guidelines to Enlightenment."
By Swami Beyondananda.

1. Be a FUNdamentalist. Ensure that the FUN always comes before the MENTAL. Realize that life is a situation comedy that will never be cancelled. A laugh track has been provided and the reason we are put in the material world is to get more material from that track. Have a good laughsitive twice a day, which will ensure regularity.

2. Remember that each of us has been given a special gift just for entering, so you are already a winner!

3. The most powerful tool on the planet today is Tell-A-Vision. That's where I tell a vision to you and you tell a vision to me. That way, if we don't like the programming we're getting, we can change the channel.

4. Life is like photography -- you use the negative to develop. No matter what adversity you face, be reassured: of course God loves you. . .

5. It is true: as we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles tend to get caught between the ears and cause a condition called "truth decay." Be sure to use mental floss twice a day, and when you're tempted to practice 'tantrum yoga', remember what we teach in the Swami's Absurdiveness Training Class: don't get EVEN, get ODD.

6. If we want world peace, we must let go of our attachments and truly live like nomads. That's where I no mad at you and you no mad at me. That way there will surely be nomadness on the planet. Peace begins with each of us. A little peace here, a little peace there. Pretty soon all the peaces will fit together to make one big peace everywhere.

7. I know, great earth changes have been predicted for the future, so if you're looking to avoid earthquakes, my advice is simple: when you find a fault, don't dwell on it.

8. There's no need to change the world. All we have to do is toilet train the world and we'll never have to change it again.

9. If you're looking for the key to the Universe, I've got some good news, and some bad news. The bad news: there is no key to the Universe. The good news: it was never locked.

10. Finally, everything I've told you is 'channeled'. That way, if you don't like it, it's not my fault. But, remember: enlightenment is not a bureaucracy, so you don't have to go through channels.

---------------------------------

Swami Beyondananda - Author, Humorist & Educator

STEVE BHAERMAN is an author, humorist and educator who has spent the past thirteen years as a full-time comedian and teacher of healing humor. In the guise of the comic, Swami Beyondananda, Steve has entertained millions with his comedy disguised as wisdom -- or is it wisdom disguised as comedy?

As the Swami, Steve has written three books, Driving Your Own Karma, When You See a Sacred Cow Milk It for All It’s Worth, and his latest, Duck Soup for the Soul.

Steve has presented keynotes and workshops on the Alchemy of Humor for numerous health, educational, spiritual, psychological and business groups, including the Institute of Noetic Sciences, the Association of Humanistic Psychology, the Whole Health Institute, Future Visions, the International Conference on Science and Consciousness, he Health Show, the Humor Project and many, many more.

His presentation is guaranteed to be funny, and also filled with insight and practical ideas.

http://www.wakeuplaughing.com/

Revolutiocasting

Propaganda Podcast Software

You can produce your own professional-quality audio shows with Propaganda software. It's fun, it's easy, and it includes everything you need to record, assemble, and publish your own podcasts.

If you've been listening to podcasts recently and have wanted to record your own shows, now you can. If you've been making podcasts with an assortment of software that wasn't really designed to do what you need, now you have an easier way.

Main Website
http://www.makepropaganda.com/

Propaganda 1.2 Info
http://www.makepropaganda.com/products.html

Take the tour (see just how easy it is to make a podcast)
http://www.makepropaganda.com/products.html#


Funny name but looks like nice software to make podcasts.... Az

http://www.podcastingnews.com/topics/Podcasting_Software.html
http://www.podcastingnews.com/

Security Error!!!

LOL, this really doesn't mean anything ... I got this when I clicked the podcast link... But I thought it was funny and it would make a good screen shot, you know ... Something you just don't see everyday...hehhehe - Az

Solder surface mount parts with a toaster oven...

Solder surface mount parts with a toaster oven...

The process starts with the use of a 'Magic Ingredient', a water-soluble solder paste. This 'Magic Ingredient' is available though DigiKey and is made by Kester Solders. Buying of the product in itself is interesting as it must be kept refrigerated and will only be delivered if ordered for overnight delivery. Since the material is water based it must be stored in a cold place (refrigerator) and only 'keeps' for a few months. Starting with a clean board, the solder paste is applied from the syringe. The paste comes pre-loaded into a syringe however, the reader must order the plunger for the syringe and the applicator tips separately.

http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/200006/oven_art.htm

The Jingle Cats sing White Christmas

The Jingle Cats sing White Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJokNr26h70

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8904713810395246613

http://www.jinglecats.com/

Zero-Point Energy Extraction from the Quantum Vacuum

Free Energy - Zero-Point Energy Extraction from the Quantum Vacuum

This is Tom Valone's amazing video lecture Zero-Point Energy Extraction from the Quantum Vacuum (2004) where he gives a great overview of ... all » the various methods to extract free energy directly from the quantum vacuum to power our homes and machines.

Today we face a destabilizing dependency on irreplaceable fossil fuels which are also rapidly dwindling. A real need exists for a portable source of power that can compete with fossil fuel and its energy density. A further need exists for a fuelless source of power which, by definition, does not require re-fueling. One possible source could be zero-point energy (ZPE).

A major feasibility study by Valone's Integrity Research Institute placed its emphasis on the practical potential for ZPE energy conversion, especially in view of recent advances in nanotechnology, than in the theory. With primary reference to the works of Casimir, Pinto, Mead and Milonni, key principles for the proposed extraction of energy for useful work are identified and analyzed. These principles fall into the thermodynamic, fluidic, mechanical, and electromagnetic areas of primary, forcelike quantities that apply to all energy systems. A search of ZPE literature reveals that these principles also apply to the quantum level.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5738531568036565057



Enjoy :)

RFID Washer

Detect, Locate, Destroy RFID tags

http://www.rfidwasher.com

RFID News
http://www.rfidwasher.com/news.php

RFIDwasher is in final testing stages and will be released soon.

nice pics

Airport Christmas trees removed

Airport Christmas trees removed
December 10, 2006

By KIM HOLCOMB / KING 5 News
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_120906WABxmastreesEL.11b0d0cc.html
Video at above link "No menorah, no tree"

SEA-TAC Airport - All 15 Christmas trees inside the terminal at Sea-Tac have been removed in response to a complaint by a rabbi.

A local rabbi wanted to install an 8-foot menorah and have a public lighting ceremony. He threatened to sue if the menorah wasn’t put up, and gave a two-day deadline to remove the trees.

Sea-Tac public affairs manager Terri-Ann Betancourt said the trees that adorn the Sea-Tac upper and lower levels may not properly represent all cultures.

She said that since this is their busiest time of year and they don't have time to add a fair representation of all cultures, her department decided to take down all of the decorations, review their policies, and decide if they need to make a change for next year.

"You know, our focus is on customer service, getting our passengers through the airport, and we thought if we could take the trees down and avoid litigation because we don't want to littigate with this individual, we want to reach some kind of solution," Betancourt said. "But that is going to take some thoughtful discussion and we would like to have time to have that thoughtful discussion."

Until then, no Christmas decor at Sea-Tac.

The same decorations have been put up for at least 10 years, she added.

Update: Will Christmas trees come back to Sea-Tac?
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_121106WAKseatactreesLJ.19ffb7aa.html

Update: Rabbi appalled by Christmas tree removal
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_121006WABairporttreesSW.1663eccf.html

--------------------

Update: Trees Being Returned to SeaTac Airport
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061212/D8LV9I1G0.html
Dec 12, 6:56 AM (ET)

By GENE JOHNSON
SEATAC, Wash. (AP) - Christmas trees are going back up at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Pat Davis, president of the Port of Seattle commission, which directs airport operations, said late Monday that maintenance staff would restore the 14 plastic holiday trees, festooned with red ribbons and bows, that were removed over the weekend because of a rabbi's complaint that holiday decor did not include a menorah.

Airport managers believed that if they allowed the addition of an 8-foot-tall menorah to the display, as Seattle Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky had requested, they would also have to display symbols of other religions and cultures, which was not something airport workers had time for during the busiest travel season of the year, Airport Director Mark Reis said earlier Monday.

Port officials received word Monday afternoon that Bogomilsky's organization would not file a lawsuit at this time over the placement of a menorah, Davis said in a statement.

"Given that, the holiday trees will be replaced as quickly as possible," he said.

Davis added that the rabbi "never asked us to remove the trees; it was the port's decision based on what we knew at the time."

There were no immediate plans to display a menorah, airport spokesman Bob Parker said, saying restoration of the trees was expected to take place overnight Monday.

"A key element in moving forward will be to work with the rabbi and other members of the community to develop a plan for next year's holiday decorations at the airport," the port statement said.

The rabbi has also offered to give the port an electric menorah to display, said his lawyer, Harvey Grad.

"We are not going to be the instrument by which the port holds Christmas hostage," Grad said, emphasizing the rabbi never sought removal of the trees, but addition of the menorah.

The rabbi had received "all kinds of calls and emails," many of them "odious," Grad said, adding he was "trying to figure out how this is consistent with the spirit of Christmas."

Thirteen trees had sat above foyers that lead outside to the airport drive. The largest tree, which Reis estimated to be 15 or 20 feet tall, was placed in a large lobby near baggage claim for international arrivals.

After the removal, some airline workers decorated ticketing counters with their own miniature Christmas trees.

Customer service agents with Frontier Airlines pooled their money Monday morning to buy four 1-foot-high Christmas trees, which they placed on the airline's ticketing counter. Atop a Delta counter, workers put up a tree several feet tall.

The airlines lease space for ticket counters from the airport, and can display trees there if they want, Reis said.

---

On the Net:

http://www.portofseattle.org

http://www.chabad.org

Science of Santa Claus

Science of Santa Claus:
Jolly Old Elf Really Can Deliver Presents in One Night, Says NC State Engineer
Mick Kulikowski
Dec. 6, 2006
http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/2006/dec/212.html

Don’t believe in Santa Claus?

If you’re skeptical of Santa’s abilities to deliver presents to millions of homes and children in just one night, North Carolina State University’s Dr. Larry Silverberg, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, can explain the plausible science and engineering principles that could allow the Jolly Old Elf to pull off the magical feat year after year.

With his cherubic smile and twinkling eyes, Santa may appear to be merely a jolly old soul but he and his North Pole elves have a lot going on under the funny-looking hats, Silverberg says. Their advanced knowledge of electromagnetic waves, the space/time continuum, nanotechnology, genetic engineering and computer science easily trumps the know-how of contemporary scientists.

Silverberg says that Santa has a personal pipeline to children’s thoughts – via a listening antenna that combines technologies currently used in cell phones and EKGs – which informs him that Mary in Miami hopes for a surfboard, while Michael from Minneapolis wants a snowboard. A sophisticated signal processing system filters the data, giving Santa clues on who wants what, where children live, and even who’s been bad or good. Later, all this information will be processed in an onboard sleigh guidance system, which will provide Santa with the most efficient delivery route.

Silverberg adds that letters to Santa via snail mail still get the job done, however.

Silverberg is not so naïve as to think that Santa and his reindeer can travel approximately 200 million square miles – making stops in some 80 million homes – in one night. Instead, he posits that Santa uses his knowledge of the space/time continuum to form what Silverberg calls “relativity clouds.”

“Based on his advanced knowledge of the theory of relativity, Santa recognizes that time can be stretched like a rubber band, that space can be squeezed like an orange and that light can be bent,” Silverberg says. “Relativity clouds are controllable domains – rips in time – that allow him months to deliver presents while only a few minutes pass on Earth. The presents are truly delivered in a wink of an eye.”

With a detailed route prepared and his list checked twice through the onboard computer on the technologically advanced sleigh, Santa is ready to deliver presents. His reindeer – genetically bred to fly, balance on rooftops and see well in the dark – don’t actually pull a sleigh loaded down with toys. Instead, each house becomes Santa’s workshop as he utilizes a nano-toymaker to fabricate toys inside the children’s homes. The presents are grown on the spot, as the nano-toymaker creates – atom by atom – toys out of snow and soot, much like DNA can command the growth of organic material like tissues and body parts.

And there’s really no need for Santa to enter the house via chimney, although Silverberg says he enjoys doing that every so often. Rather, the same relativity cloud that allows Santa to deliver presents in what seems like a wink of an eye is also used to “morph” Santa into people’s homes.

Finally, many people wonder how Santa and the reindeer can eat all the food left out for them. Silverberg says they take just a nibble at each house. The remainder is either left in the house or placed in the sleigh’s built-in food dehydrator, where it is preserved for future consumption. It takes a long time to deliver all those presents, after all.

“This is our vision of Santa’s delivery method, given the human, physical and engineering constraints we face today,” Silverberg says. “Children shouldn’t put too much credence in the opinions of those who say it’s not possible to deliver presents all over the world in one night. It is possible, and it’s based on plausible science.”

lost cat

Lovely Warmth

Lovely Warmth, Blessed Lovely Warmth

Making the grade in the 21st century

Making the grade in the 21st century

American schools aren't exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools tend to feel like throwbacks. Now educators are starting to look at what needs to be done to prepare students to compete in a new global economy.


Editor's note: The following is a summary of this week's Time magazine cover story.

American schools aren't exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools tend to feel like throwbacks.

Kids spend much of the day as their great-grandparents once did: sitting in rows, listening to teachers lecture, scribbling notes by hand, reading from textbooks that are out of date by the time they are printed.

A yawning chasm (with an emphasis on yawning) separates the world inside the schoolhouse from the world outside.

For the past five years, the national conversation on education has focused on reading scores, math tests and closing the "achievement gap" between social classes. This is not a story about that conversation.

This is a story about the big public conversation the nation is not having about education, the one that will ultimately determine not merely whether some fraction of our children get "left behind" but also whether an entire generation of kids will fail to make the grade in the global economy because they can't think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad or speak a language other than English.

This week the conversation will burst onto the front page, when the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a high-powered, bipartisan assembly of education secretaries, business leaders and a former governor releases a blueprint for rethinking American education from pre-K to 12 and beyond to better prepare students to thrive in the global economy.

While that report includes some controversial proposals, there is nonetheless a remarkable consensus among educators and business and policy leaders on one key conclusion: we need to bring what we teach and how we teach into the 21st century.

Right now we're aiming too low. Competency in reading and math -- the focus of so much No Child Left Behind testing -- is the meager minimum. Scientific and technical skills are, likewise, utterly necessary but insufficient. Today's economy demands not only a high-level competence in the traditional academic disciplines but also what might be called 21st century skills. Here's what they are:

Knowing more about the world. Kids are global citizens now, whether they know it or not, and they need to behave that way. Mike Eskew, CEO of UPS, talks about needing workers who are "global trade literate, sensitive to foreign cultures, conversant in different languages" -- not exactly strong points in the U.S., where fewer than half of high school students are enrolled in a foreign-language class and where the social-studies curriculum tends to fixate on U.S. history.

Thinking outside the box. Jobs in the new economy -- the ones that won't get outsourced or automated -- "put an enormous premium on creative and innovative skills, seeing patterns where other people see only chaos," says Marc Tucker, a lead author of the skills-commission report and president of the National Center on Education and the Economy. That's a problem for U.S. schools, which have become less daring in the back-to-basics climate of No Child Left Behind. Kids also must learn to think across disciplines, since that's where most new breakthroughs are made. It's interdisciplinary combinations -- design and technology, mathematics and art -- "that produce YouTube and Google," says Thomas Friedman, the best-selling author of The World Is Flat.

Becoming smarter about new sources of information. In an age of overflowing information and proliferating media, kids need to rapidly process what's coming at them and distinguish between what's reliable and what isn't. "It's important that students know how to manage it, interpret it, validate it, and how to act on it," says Dell executive Karen Bruett, who serves on the board of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a group of corporate and education leaders focused on upgrading American education.

Developing good people skills. EQ, or emotional intelligence, is as important as IQ for success in today's workplace. "Most innovations today involve large teams of people," says former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine. "We have to emphasize communication skills, the ability to work in teams and with people from different cultures."

Can our public schools, originally designed to educate workers for agrarian life and industrial-age factories, make the necessary shifts?

The skills commission will argue that it's possible only if we add new depth and rigor to our curriculum and standardized exams, redeploy the dollars we spend on education, reshape the teaching force and reorganize who runs the schools.

But without waiting for such a revolution, enterprising administrators around the country have begun to update their schools, often with ideas and support from local businesses.

The state of Michigan, conceding that it can no longer count on the ailing auto industry to absorb its poorly educated and low-skilled workers, is retooling its high schools, instituting what are among the most rigorous graduation requirements in the nation.

Elsewhere, organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Asia Society are pouring money and expertise into model programs to show the way.

Click here for the entire cover story on Time.com
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1567463,00.html

-----------------------

Look they are telling us right to our faces.... WHO is doing the programing of the young minds of our children. WHAT they are programing, HOW to become a good worker bee.... read some of my past posts that include some of the organizations in the above story, and what they really stand for...

I am not saying that our education system doesnt need a lot of work... But everyone needs to know what ideas and ideologies from corporations that are shaping the minds of the current "generation binary"

Az

Glaxo's guinea pigs

Glaxo's guinea pigs

http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2006/12/07/pharma/index.html

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has been brewing up a whole mess of potions for female trouble lately -- from new HPV vaccines to aspirational anorexia (excuse me, weight loss) drug Alli -- but is turning out to be the kind of friend that should make us watch our collective back. Last week we noted that its popular happy pill Paxil -- which has successfully targeted the depressed, shy chick demographic -- can lead to serious birth defects in the babies of women on the drug. It's bad enough for a pharmaceutical company to keep pushing sales even after evidence begins piling up that the drug has some serious side effects, but this week (tipped by Ethx Blog and mentioned by Tracy Clark-Flory in Broadsheet earlier this week) the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology published a letter by two medical school professors and the Public Citizen Health Research Group that charges the company has run roughshod over women in more insidious ways.

The letter alleges that during a clinical trial between 1998 and 2004 at a hospital mostly serving low-income residents, Glaxo-Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline) administered a placebo to dozens of pregnant women with genital herpes simplex virus even though studies had already determined that the drug being studied, valacyclovir, would have helped them. The risk to pregnant women with herpes is that they will have an outbreak during labor, prompting a prophylactic cesarean section to prevent the worst-case scenario: transmission of the potentially fatal virus to the baby. By giving the women in the study placebos, the letter argues, "a significant number" had outbreaks leading to unnecessary cesareans.

No babies died, no women died. But having lived through two of these "rip and tip guts on a platter" methods of childbirth, the thought of a big pharmaceutical company ignoring the health needs of poor female research subjects is truly sickening. The Public Citizen Health Research Group has also highlighted some further ugly facts, charging that the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have funded numerous clinical trials in developing countries that give HIV-positive pregnant women placebos instead of AZT, a drug that's proved highly effective in reducing transmission to the baby. With purportedly health-focused institutions like these, who needs enemies?

-- Carol Lloyd

Renowned cancer scientist was paid by chemical firm "Monsanto" for 20 years

Renowned cancer scientist was paid by chemical firm "Monsanto" for 20 years
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0%2C%2C1967385%2C00.html

Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday December 8, 2006
The Guardian

A world-famous British scientist failed to disclose that he held a paid consultancy with a chemical company for more than 20 years while investigating cancer risks in the industry, the Guardian can reveal.

Sir Richard Doll, the celebrated epidemiologist who established that smoking causes lung cancer, was receiving a consultancy fee of $1,500 a day in the mid-1980s from Monsanto, then a major chemical company and now better known for its GM crops business.

While he was being paid by Monsanto, Sir Richard wrote to a royal Australian commission investigating the potential cancer-causing properties of Agent Orange, made by Monsanto and used by the US in the Vietnam war. Sir Richard said there was no evidence that the chemical caused cancer.

Documents seen by the Guardian reveal that Sir Richard was also paid a £15,000 fee by the Chemical Manufacturers Association and two other major companies, Dow Chemicals and ICI, for a review that largely cleared vinyl chloride, used in plastics, of any link with cancers apart from liver cancer - a conclusion with which the World Health Organisation disagrees. Sir Richard's review was used by the manufacturers' trade association to defend the chemical for more than a decade.

The revelations will dismay scientists and other admirers of Sir Richard's pioneering work and fuel a rift between the majority who support his view that the evidence shows cancer is a product of modern lifestyles and those environmentalists who argue that chemicals and pollution must be to blame for soaring cancer rates.

Yesterday Sir Richard Peto, the Oxford-based epidemiologist who worked closely with him, said the allegations came from those who wanted to damage Sir Richard's reputation for their own reasons. Sir Richard had always been open about his links with industry and gave all his fees to Green College, Oxford, the postgraduate institution he founded, he said.

Professor John Toy, medical director of Cancer Research UK, which funded much of Sir Richard's work, said times had changed and the accusations must be put into context. "Richard Doll's lifelong service to public health has saved millions of lives. His pioneering work demonstrated the link between smoking and lung cancer and paved the way towards current efforts to reduce tobacco's death toll," he said. "In the days he was publishing it was not automatic for potential conflicts of interest to be declared in scientific papers."

But a Swedish professor who believes that some of Sir Richard's work has led to the underestimation of the role of chemicals in causing cancers said that transparency was all-important. "It's OK for any scientist to be a consultant to anybody, but then this should be reported in the papers that you publish," said Lennart Hardell of University Hospital, Orebro.

Sir Richard died last year. Among his papers in the Wellcome Foundation library archive is a contract he signed with Monsanto. Dated April 29 1986, it extends for a year the consulting agreement that began on May 10 1979 and offers improved terms. "During the one-year period of this extension your consulting fee shall be $1,500 per day," it says.

Monsanto said yesterday it did not know how much work Sir Richard did for the company, but said he was an expert witness for Solutia, a chemical business spun off from Monsanto, as recently as 2000.

Does this sound a little bit like a payoff? or is it just me? what does it take to stop a company that continues to destroy the earth and the humans upon it just for the all mighty dollar!!! Az

Exxon Spends Millions to Cast Doubt on Warming

Exxon Spends Millions to Cast Doubt on Warming
by Andrew Buncombe in Washington and Stephen Castle in Brussels

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1207-04.htm

The world's largest energy company is still spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund European organisations that seek to cast doubt on the scientific consensus on global warming and undermine support for legislation to curb emission of greenhouse gases.

Data collated by a Brussels-based watchdog reveals that ExxonMobil has put money into projects that criticise the Kyoto treaty and question the findings of scientific groups. Environmental campaigners say Texas-based Exxon is trying to influence opinion-makers in Brussels because Europe - rather than the US - is the driving force for action on climate change.

"ExxonMobil invests significant amounts in letting think-tanks, seemingly respectable sources, sow doubts about the need for EU governments to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Olivier Hoedeman, of the Corporate Europe Observatory. "Covert funding for climate sceptics is deeply hypocritical because ExxonMobil spends major sums on advertising to present itself as an environmentally responsible company."

It has long been known that the oil giant, which in 2005 recorded an all-time record for quarterly income, has spent millions of dollars to fund climate sceptics. Exactly how much is unknown but some estimates suggest $19m (£9.7m) since 1998.

In its 2005 report, Mr Hoedeman's group details payments by ExxonMobil to two organisations the International Policy Network, which received $130,000 and the Centre for the New Europe (CNE), which received $50,000.

The Observatory suspects Exxon has also funded other groups engaged in undermining legislation. Its report said: "There is mounting evidence that many EU-focused think-tanks are heavily funded by corporations and this raises serious concerns about their agenda and their independence." The two groups cited in the report have long been accused of denying climate change. Greenpeace's ExxonSecret website notes that in 2004 the network issued a press release criticising the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, saying it had "intentionally exaggerated its estimates of temperature increases by using highly implausible scenarios of future growth in emissions of greenhouse gases".

Greenpeace also lists a 2004 posting on CNE's website which claimed: "The Kyoto Protocol is failing because it is ineffective, costly, and unfair. It is also 'scientifically flawed'."

Last year The Independent revealed how a US-based lobbying group which received substantial funding from Exxon was seeking to develop a Europe-wide network of think-tanks, journalists and major businesses to act against legislation to counter climate change. The organisation claimed its approaches had been flatly rejected.

Kert Davies of Greenpeace said: "Europe is leading the world right now in terms of climate policy. Exxon know that if they can [enlist] lobbyists they may be able to slow things down. That is the tactic right now."

Such is the concern about ExxonMobil that earlier this year the Royal Society, considered Britain's leading scientific academy, wrote to it asking that it stop funding groups that have "misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence".

Ellen Bisnath, a network spokeswoman, confirmed that the organisation had accepted $130,000 from the oil company. She said: "We are an independent think-tank and we are contributing to the scientific debate on climate change."

CNE's president, Stephen Pollard, said: "We did get a payment in 2005 for a project which had nothing to do with climate change." He said under his leadership CNE was "not in the climate change denial business".

In a statement ExxonMobil said: "Our support extends to a fairly broad array of organisations that research significant domestic and foreign policy issues and promote discussion on issues of direct relevance to the company."

What the sponsored sceptics say

* "Now that the costs of EU environmental policies are becoming unsustainable - as the gap between the American and European rate of growth shows - "scepticism" begins to gain consideration. How long will it take to reject environmental policies that harm the economy while not making better the environment?"

Centre for the New Europe website

* "Some believe climate change is an exceptional environmental problem that requires global regulation. By reducing emissions now, it is said, we buy insurance against future catastrophic changes. But against what exactly is Kyoto insuring, and at what price? By itself, Kyoto will have little if any impact on the global climate."

International Policy Network website

"In fact, the European Union can no longer credibly blame the United States about the current state of Kyoto. The question now is whether the European Union will accept Kyoto's failure, and its own, and accept a more practical rethinking of the issue for the future. If not, it only has itself to blame."

Website of European Enterprise Institute, accused of accepting Exxon funding

Henry Rollins "America is under attack."

Henry Rollins "America is under attack."



Henry Rollins tells it like it is.

Heavy Watergate

In 'Phenomenon Archives: Heavy Watergate, the War Against Cold Fusion,' viewers investigate the idea of cold fusion. If viable, cold fusion offers the possibility of limitless cheap energy. Some have suggested that the quashing of cold fusion projects in the late '80s was due to certain agencies not wishing to undermine the position of U.S. energy corporations.




http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2229511748333360205

blood protein can be used to produce hydrogen

Genetically engineered blood protein can be used to produce hydrogen gas from water
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_1-12-2006-11-4-23?newsid=3016
Friday 1 December 2006

Scientists have combined two molecules that occur naturally in blood to engineer a molecular complex that uses solar energy to produce hydrogen gas from water, says research published today in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

This molecular complex can use energy from the sun to create hydrogen gas, providing an alternative to electrolysis, the method typically used to split water into its constituent parts. The breakthrough may pave the way for the development of novel ways of creating hydrogen gas for use as fuel in the future.

Professors Tsuchida and Komatsu from Waseda University, Japan, in collaboration with Imperial College London, synthesised a large molecular complex from albumin, a protein molecule that is found at high levels in blood serum, and porphyrin, a molecule which is used to carry oxygen around the body and gives blood its deep red colour. Porphyrin molecules are normally found combined with metals, and in their natural state in the blood they have an iron atom at their centre. The scientists modified the porphyrin molecule to swap the iron for a zinc atom in the middle, which completely changed the chemistry and characteristics of the molecule.

This modified porphyrin molecule was then combined with albumin; with the albumin molecule itself being modified by genetic engineering to enhance the efficiency of the process. The resulting molecular complex was proven to be sensitive to light, and can capture light energy in a way that allows hydrogen gas to be produced from water molecules.

Dr Stephen Curry, a structural biologist from Imperial College London's Division of Cell and Molecular Biology who participated in the research explains: "This work has shown that it is possible to manipulate molecules and proteins that occur naturally in the human body by changing one small detail of their make-up, such as the type of metal at the heart of a porphyrin molecule, as we did in this study.

"It's very exciting to prove that we can use these biological structures as a conduit to harness solar energy to produce hydrogen gas from water. In the long term, these synthetic molecules may provide a more environmentally friendly way of producing hydrogen gas, which can be used as a 'green' fuel."

For further information please contact:

Laura Gallagher
Imperial College London Press Office
Tel: +44 (0)20 759 46702
Mob: +44 (0)7803 886248
Email: l.gallagher@imperial.ac.uk

Notes to Editors:

1. "Photosensitised reduction of water to hydrogen using human serum albumin complexed with zinc protoporphyrin IX", Journal of the American Chemical Society

Teruyuki Komatsu (1, 2), Rong-Min Wang (1, 3), Patricia A Zunszain (4), Stephen Curry (4), Eishun Tsuchida (1).

(1) Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
(2) Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
(3) Gansu Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
(4) Biophysics Section, Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK

Published online at http://pubs.acs.org/journals/jacsat/

2. Consistently rated in the top three UK university institutions, Imperial College London is a world leading science-based university whose reputation for excellence in teaching and research attracts students (11,500) and staff (6,000) of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that enhance the quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.
Website: www.imperial.ac.uk

more

Last Act Of Congress Preserves Internment Camps - Suspicious restoration in name of "historical interest" will raise fears of link to Halliburton camps for dissidents
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/081206lastact.htm

Celebrity Stoners
http://www.hightimes.com/ht/news/content.php?bid=1444&aid=10

NY Times: End seen to use of 'paperless' evoting machines
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/NY_Times_End_seen_to_use_1207.html

Clues To How the NSA Spies on Americans and Possible Immunity for Telecoms for Helping Gov Spy
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2006/12/clues_to_how_th.html

Plastics 'poisoning world's seas'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6218698.stm

Moving Beyond YouTube - A collection of online editing applications lets people do more than just watch and share video. For example, Jumpcut enables real-time video editing through the web browser, using an advanced flash-based application, people can preview changes while editing
http://www.technologyreview.com/InfoTech/17851/

Danger? Nanotube-Infested Waters Created in the Lab
Carbon nanomaterials can mix in water despite being hydrophobic, raising the possibility of a spreading spill in the future.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=54FE2E30-E7F2-99DF-31326932BC5A7E58

California 'green tuners' clamor for plug-in cars

The Water/Fuel Converters Project

The Water/Fuel Converters Project

The Water/Fuel Converters Project - An electrolysis initiative that sets forth to clearly established the difference between Brown's Gas, Rhodes Gas, Oxy-Hydrogen, HHO, and the production methods thereof.

The Water/Fuel Converters Project is the world's premier hydrogen based fuel enhancement initiative. The project is designed to clarify how hydrogen based fuels can be utilized to enhance carbon fuel combustion. The task of carbon fuel substitution is arduous therefore to help minimize difficulty, the concept of fuel enhancement can be utilized to delay the need for complete replacement. Because the concept of carbon fuel enhancement is consistent with the inevitable need for substitution, it is highly likely that it will be established as a bridge between what is and what will be. By consuming carbon fuels more efficiently, the entire logistics and economics of the immediate future can be adjusted accordingly, thus providing necessary breathing room to relieve the strain on infrastructure during an unprecedented transition to alternative fuels.

http://www.waterfuelconverters.com/

Energy from the Vacuum

Energy from the Vacuum
http://www.energyfromthevacuum.com/

Multi-part Series

Part I DVD now available, featuring Tom Bearden, John Bedini, Walter Rosenthal and Peter Lindemann.

the release of the first DVD in the "Energy from the Vacuum TM" Documentary Series, based on the book of the same name by Tom Bearden.

Exquisitely filmed by Oscar-nominated Director William Gazecki in widescreen format with two cameras, and working with a six-figure budget, this tells the story of this ultimate source of energy as it has never been told before.

For over two hours, Tom Bearden, John Bedini, Walter Rosenthal and Peter Lindemann D.Sc. walk us through the science and the history of this "field that is not a field," going back to the 1800's.

And Tom gives us some fascinating glimpses into how he got started on this life-long research quest, plus tells us everything we ever wanted to know about his Patented Motionless Electromagnetic Generator (the MEG).

For further information, production photos, and to order the Disc in time for Xmas, go to:

http://www.energyfromthevacuum.com

priced at $29

Electrum Series Spyder

Electrum Series: Spyder
http://www.universalelectricvehicle.com/spyder.html
Priced at $69995.00, accepting orders December 2006

The Electrum Spyder is an exciting 2 passenger convertible all electric freeway flier that will be available in limited production. Powered by a 300 vdc system, the Spyder provides an effective range of up to 150 miles on a full charge using nickel zinc batteries, standard in all of our vehicles. As with all of our Electrum series the Spyder can be upgraded to Lithium Ion batteries when available with a range of up to 300 miles on a single charge.

top speed of 80 miles an hour.
batteries can be charged from a 220v or 110v outlet in 2-8 hr.

Parade Electric Vehicle

Advanced Transportation Technology R&D Co. (ATT R&D)
http://www.attrd.com/
They also sell Electric Vehicle Parts

A Quality EV at An Affordable Price - Highway Legal Electric Vehicle Parade
http://www.attrd.com/rnd/parade_main.htm
- Parade is a highway legal Korean made MPV model electric vehicle with a top speed of 70 mph and up to 150 mile range for around $20,000. The drive motor is located between the rear wheels with the batteries underneath the passengers, enhancing safety and performance.

Afghanistan Opium Crop Sets Record

Afghanistan Opium Crop Sets Record
U.S.-Backed Efforts At Eradication Fail
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/01/AR2006120101654.html

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 2, 2006; Page A01

Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world's heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, the Bush administration reported yesterday.

In addition to a 26 percent production increase over past year -- for a total of 5,644 metric tons -- the amount of land under cultivation in opium poppies grew by 61 percent. Cultivation in the two main production provinces, Helmand in the southwest and Oruzgan in central Afghanistan, was up by 132 percent.

more at above link...

McKinney Introduces Bill to Impeach Bush

No American Is Above The Law
Rep. McKinney's floor statement on the impeachment of George W. Bush
12-9-6

Mr. Speaker:

I come before this body today as a proud American and as a servant of the American people, sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
Throughout my tenure, I've always tried to speak the truth. It's that commitment that brings me here today.

We have a President who has misgoverned and a Congress that has refused to hold him accountable. It is a grave situation and I believe the stakes for our country are high.

No American is above the law, and if we allow a President to violate, at the most basic and fundamental level, the trust of the people and then continue to govern, without a process for holding him accountable-what does that say about our commitment to the truth? To the Constitution? To our democracy?

The trust of the American people has been broken. And a process must be undertaken to repair this trust. This process must begin with honesty and accountability.

Leading up to our invasion of Iraq, the American people supported this Administration's actions because they believed in our President. They believed he was acting in good faith. They believed that American laws and American values would be respected. That in the weightiness of everything being considered, two values were rock solid-trust and truth.

From mushroom clouds to African yellow cake to aluminum tubes, the American people and this Congress were not presented the facts, but rather were presented a string of untruths, to justify the invasion of Iraq.

President Bush, along with Vice President Cheney and then-National Security Advisor Rice, portrayed to the Congress and to the American people that Iraq represented an imminent threat, culminating with President Bush's claim that Iraq was six months away from developing a nuclear weapon. Having used false fear to buy consent-the President then took our country to war.

This has grave consequences for the health of our democracy, for our standing with our allies, and most of all, for the lives of our men and women in the military and their families-who have been asked to make sacrifices-including the ultimate sacrifice-to keep us safe

Just as we expect our leaders to be truthful, we expect them to abide by the law and respect our courts and judges. Here again, the President failed the American people.

When President Bush signed an executive order authorizing unlawful spying on American citizens, he circumvented the courts, the law, and he violated the separation of powers provided by the Constitution. Once the program was revealed, he then tried to hide the scope of his offense from the American people by making contradictory, untrue statements.

President George W. Bush has failed to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States; he has failed to ensure that senior members of his administration do the same; and he has betrayed the trust of the American people.

With a heavy heart and in the deepest spirit of patriotism, I exercise my duty and responsibility to speak truthfully about what is before us. To shy away from this responsibility would be easier. But I have not been one to travel the easy road. I believe in this country, and in the power of our democracy. I feel the steely conviction of one who will not let the country I love descend into shame; for the fabric of our democracy is at stake.

Some will call this a partisan vendetta, others will say this is an unimportant distraction to the plans of the incoming Congress. But this is not about political gamesmanship.

I am not willing to put any political party before my principles.

This, instead, is about beginning the long road back to regaining the high standards of truth and democracy upon which our great country was founded.
Mr. Speaker:

Under the standards set by the United States Constitution, President Bush-along with Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of State Rice-should be subject to the process of impeachment, and I have filed H. Res. _ in the House of Representatives.

To my fellow Americans, as I leave this Congress, it is in your hands-to hold your representatives accountable, and to show those with the courage to stand for what is right, that they do not stand alone.

Thank you.

Cynthia McKinney has introduced articles of impeachment [PDF]



McKinney Introduces Bill to Impeach Bush
Rep. Cynthia McKinney Takes A Final Stab At Fame; Enters Bill To ... All Headline News
Congresswoman McKinney Files Articles of Impeachment OpEdNews
McKinney proposes bill to impeach Bush Macon Telegraph
KTVO - Canton Repository (subscription)
all 243 news articles »

McKinney, Smith, Bush, and Impeachment
by David Swanson.
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/415/81/

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has introduced articles of impeachment [PDF] against George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice. In doing so, she alone has spoken for the 51 percent of Americans who Newsweek says want Bush impeached. A considerably higher percentage of Americans would, if asked, almost certainly acknowledge that the abuses with which McKinney charges Bush et al. have, in fact, been committed by them and are impeachable offenses. That is to say, there are those who recognize the grounds for impeachment but don't want to see them pursued. There are even those who want impeachment pursued but wish it were not being pursued by McKinney

McKinney charges that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld manipulated intelligence and lied to justify war, and that Bush has engaged in illegal domestic spying. The former charge has been extremely well documented, and the latter proudly confessed to. The former charge was central to the concern of those who included impeachment in the U.S. Constitution. The latter charge is one of openly violating a law that was established in response to President Richard Nixon's impeachable offenses.

So, why aren't all impeachment advocates thrilled? Because McKinney's courage and leadership are overpowered, in their minds, by their own fears. They're afraid that impeachment will be painted as radical and that other people less insightful than themselves will, as a result, oppose it. They fail to recognize that silence is more damaging to the cause of justice than are attacks by its opponents, and that other Americans are just as smart (although just as scared) as they are. McKinney has put impeachment where Speaker-Designate Nancy Pelosi said it could not go: on the table. This can only benefit the cause of impeachment.

The media attacks on McKinney have begun, and rather than joining in them by condemning her for bravely doing what we know needed to be done, we should be defending her with a barrage of letters to editors and phone calls to radio shows. [ http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=9196431&type=ME ] And we should be urging every member of Congress to join her. [ http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/petition ] Associated Press reporter Ben Evans has published a vicious attack on McKinney in which he alleges that

"The legislation has no chance of passing and serves as a symbolic parting shot."

But in which Evans does not comment on public support for the action or the merits of the case. Instead, he suggests that McKinney has launched an attack directed as much at Pelosi as at Bush. But McKinney said nothing about Pelosi and accused Bush of the highest possible crime. Where are Evans' priorities?

Evans does not even say what the charges against Bush are. Rather he launches into an attack on McKinney:

"McKinney, a Democrat who drew national headlines in March when she struck a Capitol police officer, has long insisted that Bush was never legitimately elected. In introducing her legislation in the final hours of the current Congress, she said Bush had violated his oath of office to defend the Constitution and the nation's laws."

And she said nothing of the legitimacy of his election. McKinney was tried and convicted in the press, and was never indicted.

Evans later writes:

"McKinney … has increasingly embraced her image as a controversial figure."

How has she done that? By acting on behalf of a majority of Americans using a tool that appears centrally and in six places in our Constitution, a tool that has been vital to U.S. and British democracy for 700 years?

Evans isn't done yet:

"She has hosted numerous panels on Sept. 11 conspiracy theories…"

McKinney hosted a day-long briefing that included academics, authors, and former government and intelligence professionals, some of whom questioned the work of the 9-11 Commission, but none of whom presented theories.

"…and suggested that Bush had prior knowledge of the terrorist attacks but kept quiet about it to allow friends to profit from the aftermath."

McKinney asked about the reports that over a dozen foreign intelligence agencies had provided early warnings. She did not say that Bush kept it quiet to allow friends to profit. She asked whether his associates were making a profit, as of course many of them are through the "war on terror." Greg Palast has produced a film called "American Blackout," which addresses the media's misquoting and misrepresenting of Congresswoman McKinney on this issue.

Evans keeps going:

"She introduced legislation to establish a permanent collection of rapper Tupac Shakur's recordings at the National Archives and calling for a federal investigation into his killing."

The Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Act did not establish a permanent collection of his music at the Archives or create an investigation, but required the release of all government records relating to his life and death at federal, state, and local levels.

Evans persists:

"But it was her scuffle with a Capitol police officer that drew the most attention. McKinney struck the officer when he tried to stop her from entering a congressional office building. The officer did not recognize McKinney, who was not wearing her member lapel pin."

A Grand Jury heard these charges and dismissed them.

Evans says as much, but twists this fact with the words that follow:

"A grand jury in Washington declined to indict McKinney over the clash, but she eventually apologized before the House."

Now, what does any of that have to do with whether our President used fraud to take us into the current war? Nothing, of course. But in the U.S. corporate media it is only those who supported the war who have the right to speak against it. If you opposed the war from the start, if you saw through the lies while it still mattered, you are disqualified now from commenting further.

Matthew Daly, another Associated Press reporter, wrote an article on Friday that contrasted with the one by Evans. The headline was "Smith says Iraq war may be 'criminal'". And the article began:

"Republican Sen. Gordon Smith, who voted in favor of the Iraq war and has supported it ever since, now says the current U.S. war effort is 'absurd' and 'may even be 'criminal.'"

Of course, it is. But Smith called it such in the vaguest of terms. McKinney laid out the evidence in an Article of Impeachment. Look at the treatment the AP gave Smith:

"In a major speech on the Senate floor, the Oregon senator called for rapid pullouts of U.S. troops from Iraq and said he would have never voted for the conflict if he had known the intelligence that President Bush gave the American people was inaccurate."

Why was his speech "major"? Because he supported a criminal war on the basis of evidence that millions of us and half the Democrats in Congress saw through at the time.

The article went on to quote Smith on his reasons for charging that the war is criminal, but added nothing about his embracing controversy, splitting with the Republican party, or having done anything unpopular in the past:

"Citing the hundreds of billions of dollars spent and the nearly 3,000 American deaths, Smith said, 'I for one am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way being blown up by the same bombs day after day. That is absurd. It may even be criminal. So either we clear and hold and build or let's go home.'"

This treatment continued for seven more paragraphs.

Congresswoman McKinney is not only a more intelligent and responsible public servant than Senator Smith, but she is also someone who foresaw the current attacks on her record and forged ahead anyway. She understands her role as public servant to involve serving the public. And, in the long run, she is serving the interests of the Democratic Party, whether everyone in that party grasps the point or not. She's stuck her neck out for us, for our democracy, for the rule of law under our Constitution. Now, we need to support her.

Sunday, December 10th, is Human Rights Day, the 58th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that lays out, in 30 short articles, rights that every human should have protected. Eleven out of the 30 have clearly been violated in the United States by President Bush and his administration, rights including:

Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence….

This Human Rights Day, many of us have worked to organize rallies for impeachment all over the country. They will now also be rallies to honor and thank Cynthia McKinney. Find an event near you:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/december10