12 posts tagged “wtf”
In April of 2008, President Bush signed into law S.1858 which allows the federal government to screen the DNA of all newborn babies in the U.S. This was to be implemented within 6 months meaning that this collection is now being carried out. Congressman Ron Paul states that this bill is the first step towards the establishment of a national DNA database.
S.1858, known as The Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007, is justified as a "national contingency plan" in that it represents preparation for any sort of public health emergency. The bill states that the federal government should "continue to carry out, coordinate, and expand research in newborn screening" and "maintain a central clearinghouse of current information on newborn screening... ensuring that the clearinghouse is available on the Internet and is updated at least quarterly". Sections of the bill also make it clear that DNA may be used in genetic experiments and tests.
Read the full bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xp...Twila Brase, president of the Citizens' Council on Health Care warns that this new law represents the beginning of nationwide genetic testing. Brase states that S.1858 and H.R. 3825, the House version of the bill, will:
• Establish a national list of genetic conditions for which newborns and children are to be tested.
• Establish protocols for the linking and sharing of genetic test results nationwide.
• Build surveillance systems for tracking the health status and health outcomes of individuals diagnosed at birth with a genetic defect or trait.
• Use the newborn screening program as an opportunity for government agencies to identify, list, and study "secondary conditions" of individuals and their families.
• Subject citizens to genetic research without their knowledge or consent.Read her entire analysis of the implications of this bill here: http://www.cchconline.org/pdf/S_1858_NB...
Brase states that under this bill, "The DNA taken at birth from every citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic research." All 50 states are now routinely providing results of genetic screenings to the Department of Homeland Security and this bill will establish the legality of that practice plus include DNA.
Ron Paul has also vigorously argued against this bill making the following comments before the US House of Representatives:
"I cannot support legislation...that exceeds the Constitutional limitations on federal power or in any way threatens the liberty of the American people. I must oppose it."
"S. 1858 gives the federal bureaucracy the authority to develop a model newborn screening program. Madame Speaker, the federal government lacks both the constitutional authority and the competence to develop a newborn screening program adequate for a nation as large and diverse as the United States. …"
"Those of us in the medical profession should be particularly concerned about policies allowing government officials and state-favored interests to access our medical records without our consent … My review of S. 1858 indicates the drafters of the legislation made no effort to ensure these newborn screening programs do not violate the privacy rights of parents and children, in fact, by directing federal bureaucrats to create a contingency plan for newborn screening in the event of a 'public health' disaster, this bill may lead to further erosions of medical privacy. As recent history so eloquently illustrates, politicians are more than willing to take, and people are more than willing to cede, liberty during times of 'emergency."
Well, you do now. Is this really a good idea? I'm just saying...
KUSA Channel 9 Denver
...At DIA (Denver International Airport) this year, a screener got caught bringing a gun through the
checkpoint. Under the Transportation Security Administration current policy, that gun would have gone
undetected inside the airport...
...the reason for the security change may be tied to the new uniforms and badges. The old, white TSA uniforms had yellow cloth badges sewn on them.
The new, blue uniforms have metal badges that set off alarms when screeners go through the checkpoints. Sources say the TSA is worried that the screeners will remove the badges while going through security and that they'll get lost or stolen.
The TSA says that is not the reason for the policy change.
"We
have to put our resources where we believe the risk is greatest. Does
it really make sense for the Transportation Security officers to spend
time screening each other rather than focusing on the unknown out
there?" asked Carrie Harmon, TSA public affairs manager...
From the TSA website on September 11, 2008:
Starting September 11, 2008, transportation security officers at airport checkpoints nationwide will begin wearing new uniforms and badges. The new uniforms and badges are another step in the ongoing evolution of TSA, an agency that was created in the wake of September 11, 2001 to federalize airport security...
Airing immodest shows could incur death penalty: Saudi cleric
Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:08pm EDT
RIYADH (Reuters) - The head of Saudi Arabia's Islamic Sharia courts has said owners of Arabic television stations airing immodest shows in Ramadan could face execution, Saudi web sites said Friday.
Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, one of the most powerful clerics in the world's biggest oil exporter, was responding to a question on a radio phone-in program Wednesday about the owners of TV stations airing programs that "offend modesty," especially during the holy month of Ramadan.
"If the evil of those who promote corruption in belief and actions cannot be held back through lesser punishments, then they can be put to death through the judicial process," Lohaidan, head of the Supreme Judicial Council said...
Caroline Kennedy as vice-president.
Full Story Here: John McCain's Michael Moore's Dream Ticket.
I mean really? Caroline Kennedy? seriously?
That would certainly make a difference in the polls.
A government agency with more than 16,000 employees and a $5 billion annual budget suddenly throws up its hands and gives up on one of its major responsibilities. In fact, when that agency is U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, there is even a name for it: Operation Scheduled Departure (I'm guessing the line isn't too long)
...We are now almost halfway into a 17-day pilot self-deportation program that ICE is trying out in San Diego and four other U.S. cities: Chicago, Phoenix, Charlotte, N.C., and Santa Ana, Calif. The program ends Aug. 22.
So far, not so good. There aren't many takers for the government's less-than-generous offer to allow 457,000 illegal immigrants without criminal records and who pose no threat to national security to voluntarily turn themselves in to federal authorities. Anyone who did want to schedule their own departure would be given 90 days to get their affairs in order and -- here's the part ICE doesn't advertise -- be outfitted with an electronic ankle bracelet to keep track of their whereabouts in the meantime.
The offer is being made to "fugitive aliens," people who have appeared before an immigration judge and been ordered to leave the country, but haven't complied with the deportation order.
That part isn't surprising. If the illegal immigrants are from Mexico, and the lion's share of them are, what awaits them at home isn't appealing -- the prospect of having to support their families on $6 per day when they could make 15 or 20 times that on this side of the border. Then there's the fact that, while ICE likes to project this image that it is roaming the countryside and "knocking on doors," I suspect that not that many doors actually get knocked on. In order to want to voluntarily leave the country, illegal immigrants have to have a realistic fear that they'll be picked up and that the process will be messier and perhaps more dangerous than the self-deportation route...
(Remember this the next time you fill up your vehicles gas tank and BTW... apparently Exxon Mobil Corp. fell far short of what Wall Street predicted SO... be prepared for even more expensive fuel. This kind of profit borders on being criminal and obscene)
Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest profit from operations ever by any U.S. corporation.
Exxon Mobil 2Q profit sets US record, shares fall
By John Porretto – 2 hours ago
HOUSTON (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest profit from operations ever by any U.S. corporation...
...The world's largest publicly traded oil company said net income for the April-June period came to $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 40 percent to $138.1 billion from $98.4 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million related to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings amounted to $11.97 billion, or $2.27 per share.
Analysts on average expected Exxon Mobil to earn $2.52 a share on revenue of $144 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial. The estimates typically exclude one-time items...
...Setting U.S. profit records has become commonplace for Irving-based Exxon Mobil. The $11.68 billion topped its own U.S. record of $11.66 billion, posted in the fourth quarter of last year. Right behind that was the $10.9 billion it reported to start 2008.
Exxon Mobil owns the record for at least the top six most-profitable quarters for a U.S. company, as well as the largest annual profit....
...For the first six months of 2008, Exxon Mobil said it earned $22.57 billion, or $4.25 a share, from $19.54 billion, or $3.45 a share, in the first half of 2007. Revenue rose to $254.9 billion from $185.5 billion...
Bush claims executive privilege on CIA leak
By Laurie Kellman – 2 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush has asserted executive privilege to prevent Attorney General Michael Mukasey from having to comply with a House panel subpoena for material on the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.
A House committee chairman, meanwhile, held off on a contempt citation of Mukasey — who had requested the privilege claim — but only as a courtesy to lawmakers not present.
Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, rejected Mukasey's suggestion that Vice President Dick Cheney's FBI interview on the CIA leak should be protected by the privilege claim — and therefore not turned over to the panel.
"We'll act in the reasonable and appropriate period of time," Waxman, D-Calif., said. But he made clear that he thinks Mukasey has earned a contempt citation and that he'd schedule a vote on the matter soon.
"This unfounded assertion of executive privilege does not protect a principle; it protects a person," Waxman said. "If the vice president did nothing wrong, what is there to hide?"
The assertion of the privilege is not about hiding anything but rather protecting the separation of powers as well as the integrity of future Justice Department investigations of the White House, Mukasey wrote to Bush in a letter dated Tuesday. Several of the subpoenaed reports, he wrote, summarize conversations between Bush and advisers — are direct presidential communications protected by the privilege.
"I am greatly concerned about the chilling effect that compliance with the committee's subpoena would have on future White House deliberations and White House cooperation with future Justice Department investigations," Mukasey wrote to Bush. "I believe it is legally permissible for you to assert executive privilege with respect to the subpoenaed documents, and I respectfully request that you do so."
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush invoked the privilege on Tuesday...
Scooter Libby told the FBI in 2003 that it was possible that Cheney ordered him to reveal Plame's identity to reporters...
Full Story Here
President George W. Bush ended a private meeting at the G-8 summit with these words:
"Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."
He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Prime Minister of Great Britan & Northern Ireland Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.
Mr Bush, whose second and final term as President ends at the end of the year, then left the meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Hokkaido where the leaders of the world's richest nations had been discussing new targets to cut carbon emissions...
...The White House apologized for what it called "sloppy work" and said an official had simply lifted the characterization from the internet without reading it...
I think George W. Bush just wrapped up the award as "Worst President Ever" Descendants of Warren G. Harding are going to be having one hell of a celebration this weekend. WooHoo!!!
No links to a story, just a quick observation / opinion.
Remember the "Gas Tax Holiday" outrage? The point being made that people would just drive more. Well, I saw a report on CNN about "Gas Giveaways" and how great they are. They could hardly contain their excitement that if you buy a new golf club you can get a hundred dollars worth of free gas.
Yeah, whatever!
and you wonder why people call you elitist. I really wish a certain ANY political leader would express some outrage about this kind of waste.
French shooting show injures 17
last updated at 08:27 GMT, Monday, 30 June 2008 09:27 UK
A military show in south-eastern France has left 17 people wounded, after real bullets were used instead of blanks.
The injured included five children. Four people, including one child, were said to have been seriously hurt - though three have now stabilised.
The incident occurred during a public demonstration of hostage-freeing techniques at a barracks in Aude.
The soldier who fired the shots has been detained - though an official said it was probably an accident.
It is not clear why the wrong ammunition was used in Sunday's demonstration.
But it was "99.9%" likely to be "an unintentional fault," Colonel Benoit Royal, head of the French army's information service, told the AFP news agency on Monday...
Full Story Here: French shooting show injures 17
