the big 5 stories:

#1 - Is The CIA Behind Mexico's Bloody Drug War?

Is the CIA the cause of the bloody border war that is happening right now just south of the US? 23,000 have died and counting. The Central Intelligence Agency has a long history of criminal activity and drug running with roots that go back to the agency's forerunners. The current Mexican drug war that is reeking havoc of the US border is the result of both above-board policies and black-budget shenanigans. From dealings with Lucky Luciano to bringing crack-cocaine to south central Los Angeles to the opium production going on right now in Afghanistan, the CIA has always been the world's drug dealer. Journalist Mike Whitney reports that the evidence of CIA involvement in the drug trade is vast, documented and compelling." Full Story

#2 - Homeland: Drones Coming to Texas

Many may not know it but "drones" have been flying over every border state except Texas. That now changes as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that unmanned aerial drones will soon fly through Texas skies. The same drones that have killed over 700 Afghans (see below). The reason given was to fight the drug war but the growing presence of a military weapon patrolling domestic skies is sending a chilling to many. Full Story

#3 - Obama's Drone War Killed 700 Afghans in 2009

Of the 44 predator strikes carried out by US drones in the tribal areas of Pakistan over the past 12 months, only five were able to hit their actual targets, killing five key Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, but at the cost of over 700 innocent civilians.

According to the statistics compiled by Pakistani authorities, the Afghanistan-based US drones killed 708 people in 44 predator attacks targeting the tribal areas between January 1 and December 31, 2009.

For each Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist killed by US drones, 140 innocent Pakistanis also had to die. Over 90 per cent of those killed in the deadly missile strikes were civilians, claim authorities.

The success percentage for the drone hits during 2009 was hardly 11 per cent. On average, 58 civilians were killed in these attacks every month, 12 persons every week and almost two people every day. Most of the attacks were carried out on the basis of human intelligence, reportedly provided by the Pakistani and Afghan tribesmen, who are spying for the US-led allied forces in Afghanistan. Full Story

#4 - Polls Show Growing Support for Repeal of Health Reform

A new national poll shows support for repealing President Obama’s health care reform law has not abated in the month since its passage, and actually ticked up.

“Support for repeal of the recently-passed national health care plan remains strong as most voters believe the law will increase the cost of care, hurt quality and push the federal budget deficit even higher,” said the new release from the polling firm Rasmussen Reports.

Fifty-eight (58) percent of likely voters said they would support an effort to repeal the legislation, as Republicans have given consideration to campaigning on such a promise. Just 38 percent communicated opposition to such an effort.

The percentage who support repeal efforts are up 3 percent from the week just after the bill passed, when President Obama made several campaign-style stops in support of the bill. Full Story

#5 - Death Squads in Afghanistan

It should no longer be a matter of dispute that US Special Forces in Afghanistan are responsible for an increasing number of murders, whether part of targeted extra-judicial killings or the result of bad intelligence. From the attack on a bridal shower in Gardez on February 12, 2010 that killed numerous civilians, including two pregnant women, to the growing list of executions of insurgents in the Kandahar area, Special Forces have become the US military version of death squads.

As noted in an April 25 article in New York Times, the offensive against supposed Taliban forces in Kandahar has already commenced, with the "opening salvos of the offensive…being carried out in the shadows by Special Operations forces." Full Story

also:
*Financial Reform: GOP Prepared To Abandon Stalling Tactics

*Immigrants fall through the cracks of a broken system

*US puts child soldier on trial

the Girls of CoOlDiGgY tm

(coming soon)

the fairer sex

Meet Katya, the Sex Spy Who Silences Dissenters

She has piercing blue eyes, a girl-next-door face and likes to do a little amateur modeling, yet according to those who have fallen for her charms, Ekaterina Gerasimova is also the Kremlin's most effective secret agent and a latter-day Mata Hari.

Her mission, it is claimed, is to discredit prominent Kremlin critics by luring them into compromising situations using vintage KGB honeytrap techniques.

Offering her body, sex, and drugs from cocaine to marijuana as an inducement, "Katya," as she is usually known, has tried and often succeeded in bedding at least half-a-dozen high-profile Kremlin critics and other political figures. The damage to reputations has varied from serious to negligible depending on her victim's marital status and response.

Her latest scalp was Viktor Shenderovich, a journalist and the scriptwriter on Russia's former version of the Spitting Image television satire.

Mr Shenderovich, who is married and has a daughter, admits that he slept with Ms Gerasimova but claims he was set up by the Kremlin.

His credibility as an authoritative critic of the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, appears to have been at least partly dented and his marriage is reportedly in trouble.

The editor of Russian Newsweek magazine also fell under Ms Gerasimova's spell and was filmed in his underpants chopping up what looked like cocaine after having sex.

A clutch of anti-Kremlin opposition figures and activists, including a man resembling the leader of the National Bolshevik Party, have also been caught in flagrante delicto.

But unlike Soviet times, when the secret service used compromising material to blackmail, Ms Gerasimova's exploits have been widely publicised in grainy videos on the internet.

The footage is often accompanied by mocking music and subtitles. It has taken a few weeks for the victims to realise that they have all been set up by the same woman.

Yet little is known about Ms Gerasimova beyond that she is in her twenties and is registered with an online modelling agency. Nicknamed ''Moo-Moo'' after the surname she uses on a social networking site, men said she used different first names and was highly persistent in her advances.

Some of the men said they knew something was wrong when she suddenly produced drugs or, in one case, asked a young opposition leader to join her and a female friend in experimenting with a large selection of sex toys.

She now seems to have disappeared, but at least one other prominent Kremlin critic has said he expects a similar video featuring himself and the woman to reach the internet soon.

girl blurbs

...now fresh out of rehab


*Sandra Bullock finally gets a real man

*Katie Holmes prepares her O. face: Will play Jackie Kennedy

*Oy Vey: Billy Joel's daughter, Alexa Ray, back stabs us, her fellow Jews, and gets a nose job

*Just like Family Guy said: Laura Bush talks about the person she killed

*We don't need a reason: Lizzy Caplan pictures

*Bad Mooooooove: Olivia Munn sports leather boots on her way PETA event while leaving Fat Burger

randomDiGgY

human taxidermy - at its worst

technocracy & the matrix

Apple Traced iPhone to Track Journalist’s Address

It is hard to say what is worse, the fact that an iPhone can trace you or the fact that, at Apple's request, San Mateo cops raided a journalist's home and seized his property for having possession of a glorified toy.

Steve Jobs and his fellow technocrats at Facebook and Google are going too far. They are toymakers, yes, they are cyber Hasbro's. Their products should be a fun way to pass the time. These constant instances of Constitution-stomping are ruining the point of what they are selling us - frivolous fun. That's it.

There is entirely too much "stuff" worship in our society. But worse, we all get trapped in the cult of personality of these tech moguls. We find it hard to admit when they've gone too far because their images are so nice n' fluffy, and we equate their toys with our identities. A hipster crimestop, if you will.

No doubt about it, Apple's latest display of tyranny is a PR nightmare. The era of being an Apple early adopter should take a breather. Full Story

RELATED: Gizmodo considers suing police after iPhone raid

The Daily P.P. Awards
Predictive programming - when TV tells you how it's gonna be

Today's award goes to G4TV's X-Play. Or, as it should be called, Comcast's Continuing Push To Get You in The Cloud or CCPTGYC. Okay, not a very marketable title. X-Play is more than just a very entertaining video game review program, it is the industry's biggest cheerleader for multi-player gaming over strong single-player campaigns. Their reviews often punish games that have no online components but do not penalize those games with short or weak single-player. They also heavily advocate the buying of games online and have a weekly segment dedicated solely to MMORPG's.

Publishers, like most media owners, would love nothing more than to eliminate "hard" copies of product as to end your ability to "own" what you buy (hold it in your hand, play it on any Xbox you want to, trade in, etc). They also like pushing online multi-player because, in theory, it extends the life of a game instead of them having to put much effort in developing a cerebral I.P. Just add maps once in a while. And Microsoft loves it because it sells loads of XBox Live subscriptions. X-Play's advertisers approve!

But G4TV's parent company is Comcast, an avowed net neutrality foe, loves it because they are an internet provider. Their goal is to get everything that they can into "The Cloud" where all of your computer's data is stored to "save you the trouble of using hardware." Everything from your photos to your porn will be under the stewardship of Comcast and when you want it back, just ask nicely.


also:
*Palm saved? HP buys for $1 billion

*Glenn Beck's ratings on the decline

*Patents may force Android to charge

post-frivolous man

BEST and WORST Cities for the Recently-Graduated

Best:

1) Atlanta, GA
2) Pittsburgh, PA
3) Austin, TX
4) Denver, CO
5) Minneapolis, MN

Worst:

1) New York, NY
2) Detroit, MI
3) Los Angeles, CA
4) Cleveland, OH
5) St. Louis, MO

Full Story

the big 5 stories:

#1 - "Audit the Fed" Builds Support in Senate

The grassroots measure to give the private-owned Federal Reserve its first audit ever is building bipartisan support in the Senate. The bill, started in the House and championed by Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Alan Grayson (D-FL), has gain a sponsor in Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and garnered possible advocates like Sanders is joined by four Republicans of varying politics: John McCain (AR), Jim DeMint (SC), David Vitter (LA) and Sam Brownback (KS).

If Democrats in the Senate back the measure, it would have at least 63 votes, but Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) is opposed and has argued against a broad audit. Dodd, a lame-duck who is leaving due to a conflict of interest scandal involving the financial firms he oversees, may be compromised and his opposition has not changed the public momentum for the audit.

Sen. Sanders has stated, "Let's not equate independence with secrecy. We cannot let the Fed operate in secrecy any longer. There is simply too much money at stake." Full Story

#2 - Rep. Calls for Federal Non-Cooperation with AZ Immigration Law

Outrage is growing over the passage of a controversial new measure in Arizona that forces police officers to determine the immigration status of someone they suspect of being an undocumented immigrant. We speak with Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who is urging federal non-cooperation with the new law and is calling for a targeted economic boycott of Arizona. We also speak with Sunita Patel, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is filing a lawsuit demanding records related to ICE’s little known “Secure Communities” program. Full Story

RELATED: Mexico issues travel alert for Mexican citizens in Arizona

#3 - Manuel Noriega, from US Friend to Foe

(Democracy Now): The US has extradited the former Panamanian president and CIA asset Manuel Noriega to France to face trial on money laundering charges. Noriega has been jailed in Miami since 1990 after his overthrow in the US invasion of Panama that killed up to 3,000 people. Noriega’s drug trafficking sentence ended two years ago, but he’s remained in jail while fighting France’s extradition request. Noriega’s attorney, Frank Rubino, criticized the US for failing to inform him of Noriega’s extradition.

Before Saddam Hussein there was Manuel Noriega. Like Saddam, Noriega enjoyed US support until he turned into a wayward ally, then an embarrassment, and finally an "imminent danger" who had to be overthrown.

Noriega was recruited as a CIA informant while studying at a military academy in Peru. He received intelligence and counterintelligence training at the School of the Americas at Fort Gulick, Panama, in 1967, as well as a course in psychological operations at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was to remain on the CIA payroll until February 1988. Full Story

#4 - Obama Will Not Comment on Debt Until After Elections

A possible Obama Austerity plan will be revealed after the mid-terms elections and a lame-duck session of Congress may pass the law and take the heat.

The President has commissioned a debt panel and is keeping his plans secret for the next 7 months. "I'm not going to say what's in, I'm not going to say what's out," Obama said as his National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform held its first meeting. Eventually we, the public, will be allowed to know about the fiscal state of our nation. And then the President will scapegoat the Congress to implement his "difficult political decisions." Full Story

#5 - Bank Oligarchy: 60% of US is Owned by Them

Today financial power is being concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer individuals. In fact, the six biggest banks in the United States now possess assets equivalent to 60 percent of America's gross national product. Back in the 1990s that figure was less than 20 percent. These six banks - Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo - literally dictate what goes on in the U.S. banking industry. Full Story

also:
*Ninth Circuit OKs Huge Class in Wal-Mart Gender Discrimination Case

*Police State Canada 2010 and the G20 Summit

*Chernobyl Radiation Killed Nearly One Million People: New Book

*Wall Street Reform: A Big Flop for the Big Lie Strategy?

the Girls of CoOlDiGgY tm

(coming soon)

girl blurbs

...now auditing the Fed


*Cocaine build up in the vagina is real, ask Pam Grier

*In Amy Winehouse Breast News: the singer falls and bruises newest set of boobs

*Clowns already kept us from the circus but Olivia Munn gives a better reason

*Ali Lohan: teen girl or old Greek guy?

*Just when Hollywood made you cynical: Scarlett Johansson is actually a good role model...

*...and then Christina Aguilera advocates shooting someone for coughing (VIDEO)

randomDiGgY

please don't try to ride Einstein, the world's smallest horse



VIDEO:

technocracy & the matrix

Warrent Used to Raid Journalist's Home Possibly Invalid

Welcome to Steve Jobs' police state. Literally. California, enamored by Apple hype, sanctioned a possibly unconstitutional police raid on a journalist. Below is Wired's account of the events. Is Jobs worse than Gates at this point? Is it time for an Apple boycott?

Police raided the house of an editor for Gizmodo on Friday and seized computers and other equipment. The raid was part of an investigation into the leak of a prototype iPhone that the site obtained for a blockbuster story last week. Now, a legal expert has raised questions about the legality of the warrant used in the raid.

On Friday, officers from California’s Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team in San Mateo, California, appeared at the home of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen while he was not there and broke open the front door.

Chen and his wife discovered the officers when they returned from dinner around 9:45 that evening. According to an account he posted online, Chen noticed his garage door was partly open, and when he tried to open it completely, officers came out and told him they had a warrant to search the premises. The warrant had been signed just hours earlier, at 7:00 p.m., by a San Mateo County Superior Court judge. It allowed the police to search Chen, his residence and any vehicle in his control.

The officers were in the process of cataloging the items they had already taken from the premises and told Chen they had been in his home a “few hours already.” According to California law, a search warrant may be served between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. unless otherwise authorized.

The officers told Chen he could request reimbursement for the damage to his front door.

Jennifer Granick, civil liberties director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Chen is protected from a warrant by both state and federal laws.

The federal Privacy Protection Act prohibits the government from seizing materials from journalists and others who possess material for the purpose of communicating to the public. The government cannot seize material from the journalist even if it’s investigating whether the person who possesses the material committed a crime. Full Story


ALSO: Why the Elites like Apple - Apps That Criticize Public Figures BANNED

The Daily P.P. Awards
Predictive programming - when TV tells you how it's gonna be

Monday night's award goes to CSI: Miami (episode "Count Me Out") on CBS. The entire CSI franchise is anathema to civil liberties and science. But that is well-worn territory.

This rerun, originally aired in December, was about catching a meth dealer who murdered a Census taker. The episode only briefly touches on any anti-government sentiment inherent with such a topic but two subtle moments in the episode plant a seed that all Americans may be criminals.

Detective Calleigh Duquesne expresses the dangers for government employees like the Census taker because of "all of the anti-government people out there." Later in the episode a charcter, who was upset that police were on her property unlawfully and that taxes are too high, was arrested for falsely imprisoning her maid.

The nearly-subliminal message: those who disagree with government are dangerous. A recent poll showed that almost 80 percent of American do not trust the government. Are 4 out of 5 of us now suspects?

also:
*School district that spied on children in their bedrooms has a friend in federal judge

*China demands that companies spy on citizens

*Poll: More people using government web sites

*Android's rising popularity may make it next iPhone

*Media Wages War on Single Black Women

post-frivolous man

James Cameron Advocates for Indigenous Struggles

On the heels of his record-setting Hollywood blockbuster Avatar, the film director James Cameron is taking on a new role as an activist, allying himself with indigenous struggles he says mirror the plot of his film. In Avatar, an indigenous species called the Na’vi resists the private military force of a powerful corporation bent on exploiting their planet’s valuable minerals.

Democracy Now! producer Aaron Maté caught up with James Cameron to discuss Avatar, Cameron’s opposition to the Belo Monte in Brazil, last week’s peoples’ climate summit in Bolivia, and his reaction to seeing Avatar embraced by indigenous people worldwide, from the Amazon to the Occupied Territories. Full Story


*Bacteria makes cocaine-killer drug

*Most 18-29 year-olds says goodbye to churches, hello to "spirituality"

*Bad habits can age you by 12 years

the big 5 stories:

#1 - Monsanto's FrankenFoods go to Supreme Court

This could be a watershed moment in the history of genetically-modified foods as the High Court hears Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, revolves around an herbicide-resistant alfalfa, the planting of which has been banned in the U.S. since a federal court prohibited the multinational Monsanto from selling the seeds in 2007.

That decision found that the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not do a thorough enough study of the impacts the GM alfalfa would have on human health and the environment and ordered the agency to do another environmental impact statement (EIS) review. Full Story

#2 - Lawmakers Call for Troops on the Streets of Chicago

In what are the seeds of a full-blown police state in the US, Illinois state Reps. and Chicago Democrats John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford are calling for on the governor, Chicago mayor Daley and Superintendent Jody Weis to use the National Guard in response to crime in the city.

The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits members of the federal uniformed services, including the State National Guard, from exercising nominally state law enforcement, police, or peace officer powers that maintain law and order on non-federal property within the United States. The act does not apply to National Guard units while under the authority of the governor of a state. Full Story

#3 - Pennsylvania's Choice: Gas or Clean Water

In rural Pennsylvania, a process for extracting gas from shale known as fracking has released dangerous gases into a community's drinking water, forcing families to leave their native places.

For the Ely family, their problems run deep, underneath the soil, in their roots. Scott Ely grew up on this land, but things have changed since he was a child. For the last year and four months, he and his family have been unable to drink their water. The problems began when he agreed to allow Cabot Oil and Gas to drill on his property. The Elys are one of more than a dozen families in Dimock, Pennsylvania who have water that is full of methane gas. Full Story

#4 - Lawsuits Fly as Local Police Work With Homeland Security

In an article titled, DHS accomplices face legal liability, Checkpoint USA's seven year lawsuit against several tribal police officers was recently mentioned on the Identity Project's website. The article also references several other pending cases involving local police acting on behalf of Department of Homeland Security agencies such as the TSA.

In all the cases referenced in the article, the courts have been dismissing charges against federal agencies but have allowed the lawsuits to proceed against local and state actors. The primary reason appearing to be because local and state actors are playing the largest role in civil rights violations, even if they are taking their marching orders so to speak from federal agents. Full Story

#5 - Our Emerging Barter Economy

More Americans are swapping over spending. The current economy has seen an increase in families going through their homes to swap out clutter for items they want or, more and more, need. Full Story

also:
*GM slammed for using Bailout money to pay off loan

*Barring of candidates may change Iraq vote outcome

*The slippery slope to strikes on Iran

*Vermont is a step closer to its own single-payer health care system

*As volcano grounded aerial spraying, rare blue skies emerged

the Girls of CoOlDiGgY tm

(coming soon)

girl blurbs

...now being adapted for the silver screen


*She should've put a bra on it: Beyonce's nipples want freedom

*Child exploitation to pay Kate Gosselin's bills

*Lady Gaga gets raunchy for America's favorite barbershop magazine: Esquire

*Randy & Evi - arrested

*Taylor Swift has you never (wanted to) seen her before

*Bobby is now the successful one: Whitney Houston disappoints in front of a sold-out London arena

*Like the day you learn Santa wasn't real: 25 Celebrities Before & After Plastic Surgery

randomDiGgY

too literal

technocracy & the matrix

Video Game Censorship Goes to Supreme Court

We live in a world in which a 17-year old can sign up to possibly die in a foreign war but cannot buy a video game where his avatar would do the same thing. At least in California. Yes, that California. The state on the edge of bankruptcy has as one of its priorities the restriction of much needed commerce in the guise protecting the youth from "anti-social behavior."

Worrying about "anti-social behavior" in modern day video games is akin to having concern for your rabbi's foreskin. This is not the Pac Man days. Most of the games of concern have online components that usually exceed the popularity of the single-player campaigns. Playing with others - SOCIALLY - is how most of these games are marketed.

California censors also cite studies about the violence desensitization and aggression. These studies are as reliable as alchemy. The studies are so flawed, in fact, that they've figured into the prior actual rulings (all of which have stuck down gaming censorship). Judge Consuelo Callahan said in the 9th Circuit ruling:

"None of the research establishes or suggests a causal link between minors playing violent video games and actual psychological or neurological harm, and inferences to that effect would not be reasonable"

Ultimately, the national past time of America's soccer parents are feigning outrage over getting involved in their child's life. Their motto should be "Government, please raise my kid for me." And since all government start quelling free speech "for the children." we need to see protecting the First Amendment has a very grown-up matter. Full Story

The Daily P.P. Awards

Predictive programming - when TV tells you how it's gonna be

Sunday night's award goes to American Dad (episode "Bully for Steve") on Fox. In order to teach his son, Steve, how to stand up for himself, dad Stan becomes his bully. Father beating up son, or child abuse, is the humor here. Funny stuff? But this is only found out because of the surveillance system at Steve's school. A system in which the principal (who seems to have secret proclivities) is the only one with access. This is much like what is going on in Pennsylvania in which a school district used laptops to spy on the students at home in their bedrooms. Men in private rooms secretly watching teenagers - the new norm.



also:
*Senator calls for privacy protection from FaceBook and the other Info Pimps

*At Apple's orders, police seize Gizmodo editor's computers

*Frontline to broadcast Vaccine Wars Tuesday night

*The people vs Apple: Class action suit against iPhones, iPods liquid sensors

*Wall Street Journal now top paper in US

post-frivolous man

America the Obese - Once Freakish Now Normal

Above is a picture of Chauncy Morlan. He was part of the Barnum & Bailey circus in 1890 and sold as the "The World's Fattest Man." Mr. Morlan would go unnoticed in today's America. Full Story

also:
*Top 10 Recurring Dreams and What They Mean

*H1N1 vaccine study investigating hints of complications from vaccine

*The government has your baby's DNA!

*Source: Bret Michaels Brain Aneurysm Felt Like He'd Been "Hit with a Baseball Bat"

*Symptoms of Brain Aneurysms

the big 5 stories:

#1 - Value Added Tax is on Obama's Table

The President is about to create a new tax, a Value Added Tax or VAT. VAT is similar to a national sales tax except that the increased priced is not added at the check out register but instead included into the retail price of the product. There is no readily easy way of determining what is the product's cost and what is the Value Added Tax.

Contrary to what some news outlets report, the Obama Administration has not ruled out imposing a Value Added Tax, as evident in the President's CNBC interview on Wednesday. White House Press Secretary denied a VAT was in consideration only for a counter statement by the Vice President who, later that day on The View, stated "a national sales," which is a euphemism for the Value Added Tax, is something that "the President is listening to."

The VAT is a highly regressive tax, meaning that it consumes a higher percentage of income the less money you make, and this is the double edge sword that is both promoting it AND decrying it. Some advocates on the right, like Bruce Bartlett, admire its regressive nation

"One important benefit of a VAT insofar as those with low incomes is concerned is that they would be contributing something to the general cost of government. Everyone benefits from things like national defense, and everyone ought to pay something for it. But as it is, 47% of those filing federal income tax returns have either a zero or negative tax liability; that is, they pay nothing but still get a tax "refund."

This may be the one tax that is Conservative-approved. Even Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly gush over VAT.

It should be noted, however, that Bartlett and his ilk often fail to include the fact that half of Americans pay a variety of fees, tolls, taxes, including FICA and local taxes, that consume a higher, overall tax burden from their net income than these taxes do on the more affluent.

And, again, the regressive nature of the VAT has its opponents as stated by Democratic Senator Charles Schumer,

"The whole idea is the VAT will replace other taxes, but it never does – when you add in a tax, the old taxes stay and the new tax starts," Sen. Schumer said. "At this time of recession, to be talking about any types of tax increases doesn't make sense."

The New York Senator may be an exception, however, as the fairly liberal nations of Europe are the model which the US will follow if it were to implement a VAT. Many EU countries have VATs that hover around a 20 percent tax to the price of most products.

Excluded from all of the discussions about the VAT is any talk of repealing the Income Tax. The media argue talks how VAT is better than the Income Tax as a selling point. This has possibly made that a repeal of the 16th Amendment is presupposed. It is not on Obama's table. So a national sales tax would become a new additional tax. Some may say that this violates Obama's campaign promise to not raise taxes on anyone making under $250,000 a year. But the Administration is now saying that that pledge only meant the Income Tax. So a Value Added Tax is very much on Obama's table. Full Story

the big 5 stories:

#2 - J Street Balances Pro-Israel with Pro-Peace

For the past two years, the presence of a J Street on Capitol Hill has been shaking up the landscape many had written off as fixed. A political action group, named J Street, has been working to redress a balance in the nation's capital: the lack of a pro-peace and pro-Israel lobbying voice. Full Story

#3 - Is UK a Lap Dog No More?

The "special relationship" between the UK and the US is under the microscope as the Prime Minister campaign goes full swing. To many Britons, the idea of national pride and self-determinism should be at the heart of a trans-Atlantic relationship that has been lopsided since Bush-Blair forged an alliance. Full Story

#4 - Liberty is Not Being Nude for TSA

More than 30 privacy and civil liberties organisations have filed a formal petition with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), urging the federal agency to shut down the use of 'full body scanners' (FBS) at the nation's airports. Full Story

#5 - 2 Wars are Further Costing Vets

Wars and its effects on the bodies and minds of US veterans are starting to take a toll on the sacred Defense budget. Veterans may be asked to pay more out-of-pocket. And as high as medical costs are rising, those of the military are twice that. Full Story

also:
*Arizona signs harsh immigration bill into law, Cardinal decries its "Nazi" elements

*Bombings Hit Baghdad

*Silverstein Wanted To Demolish Building 7 On 9/11

*IMF demands "full compliance" of tax payments in Greece

*Massey denies workers time off for miners' funerals

*Chaos predicted as Los Angeles closes courtrooms

*Push begins to recall Los Angeles mayor

the Girls of CoOlDiGgY tm

(coming soon)

the fairer sex

CoOlDiGgY Woman of the Week

Randi Rhodes

Ms. Rhodes, boobie-bouncing liberal talk-show hostess, wins the honor this week. And just under the wire. Ms. Rhodes candidly revealed that she has been the victim of left-wing censorship. And not just from her former employer Air America but throughout corporate Leftdom. She exposed numerous examples of left-on-left censorship and eloquently pointed out how the real left is being squeezed out by big money interests.

Ms. Rhodes' catalyst was an incident that happened earlier this week. The allegedly liberal MSNBC (brought to you by tax-dodging defense contractor GE with its 3 hours a day of Joe Scarborough and a ubiquitous Pat Buchanan on every program) fired new host Donny Deutsch for a slight against Keith Olbermann that was so slight that Olbermann wasn't even offended. But he was fired nonetheless. Ms. Rhodes, herself, was fired for speaking ill of Hilary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary.

We here at CoOlDiGgY have been noticing this quiet cold war between the corporate/politically-connected, big-money ESTABLISHMENT left (Huffington Post, MSNBC, DailyKos) and the GRASSROOTS left. Thank you, Ms. Rhodes, for standing up and showing that the left, just like the right (see ESTABLISHMENT Right vs. Ron Paul et al), has those who would co-opt it and make it ugly.

girl blurbs

...now with marshmellows

*America in Outrage: Britney's dad demands she wear a bra

*What time is it? Ask LiLo: Lindsay Lohan suspect in Rolex theft

*Jennifer Aniston's friends (by "friends" we mean boobs NOT her TV show)

*Hayden "Christopher Walken" Panettiere

*She's Power Girl without the boobs: Chloe Sevigny sports a cape

*She was married? She's only 107lbs? She's news worthy? Kim Kardashian claims husband abused her and made her lipo her way to her famous figure

*Noureen DeWulf is deSexiest

*Alleged actress Jessica Alba is hot

*Crazy Brunette News: Mariah Carey can't dye away the crazy

randomDiGgY

Headline you can just recycle: Naomi Campbell Assaults Someone

in the matrix

Apple Imposing Lifetime Limits on iPads

Apple is imposing a two-per-person lifetime limit on iPad purchases. Now, Steve Jobs and company are either:

1) Employing the old artificial scarcity illusion to make their tablet look like it is just so in demand (which it is not)

2) Hiding a problem supply-side

3) Or, more sinister: Steve Jobs is a control freak who likes complete say over media access, rumors, and apps, and now what his costumers can buy.

Steve escapes the "evil" label that Bill Gates has because of all the Apple slaves in the tech media. And we're an Apple company here at CoOlDiGgY! Apple would be eMachines if it were not for its hype machine. Now ask nicely and maybe Steve will allow you to give him your hard-earned money. Full Story

The Daily P.P. Award
Predictive programming - when your TV tells you how's it's gonna be

Today's "winner" is NBC-Universal's entire week of programming (an apt term). It has been "Green Week" at the networks of NBC-Universal (a subsidiary of General Electric and soon to also be own by Comcast). That means every show had a pro-environment message somewhere in the episode. NBC-Universal calls their predictive programming behavior placement.

We here at CoOlDiGgY love Mother Nature and live a green and organic SoCal life without having to give Al Gore a dime. But NBC-Universal wants to shape public opinion to benefit the Earth? No. It's not about a conspiratorial political agenda. It's a PROFIT agenda. Period. So if GE has to use their TV networks to change your politics in order to make profits happen then your TV will nudge you in that direction. Motto: Corrupt the social views for public policies that is advantageous for bottom lines.

So GE gets NBC-Universal to get you to go (their kind of) green. So you buy GE's energy-efficient light bulbs. They have mercury in them but whatever.

Then you can totally live out your dreams of being like Liz Lemon by getting on the Smart Grid (brought to you by GE, of course). Yeah, GE's Smart Grid controls your appliances and spies on you but whatever.

And, of course, the most green thing you can do - nuclear power. At least that's what GE TV is telling you. Yes, GE is in the nuclear business. They even got the President to greenlight funding for the first new nuclear power plants to open in 3 decades (you see-nuclear power is so risky that only the federal government can afford to insure them). Forget that nuclear power, ever so "green" if you don't count the meltdowns and waste, consumes lots of water. So much water, in fact, that numerous states have had to pass on them due to droughts they are already having.

Yeah, it was Green Week at GE's NBC-Universal. But it wasn't to get you green-conscious. Not that kind of green, at least. If you are still touchy-feely about it then just remember that you are only enabling GE to continue being among the biggest war profiteers and skip out on paying their taxes after making almost $11 billion in profits. Green is only universal for GE.

also:
*3D TVs are dangerous

*Hugh Hewitt: Dumping Donny Deutsch Shows MSNBC's "Extreme Insecurity"

*Palm will not be rescued by Lenovo

*Air force launches secret rocket and states "we don't know when it's coming back"

*Archie Comics introduces first openly gay character to Riverdale High

post-frivolous man

Native-American Doctors Blend Modern Care, Medicine Men

*Pesticide in Your Toothpaste?

*Jillian Michaels Criticized for Anti-Pregnancy Comments

the big 5 stories:

#1 - White House and Goldman Sachs: Too Close, Too Comfortable

McClatchy is reporting that while the Securities and Exchange Commission was preparing fraud charges against the massive financial powerhouse, Goldman Sachs, that their CEO visited the White House at least four times. Not surprising as the Obama economic team is all too cozy with the firm. From the nearly $1 million the Obama campaign received from them, the President's largest contributor, to the numerous and rather familiar drop-by's, and the revolving door of the Administration and Goldman - which includes the Treasury Secretary, the Chief of Staff, the senior economic adviser, and many more. Full Story

the big 5 stories:

#2 - The WellPoint Biz Model: Rescind Breast Cancer Coverage

Tens of thousands of women were dropped from their WellPoint health insurance plans as soon as they were diagnosed with breast cancer. Virtually all of the patients had paid their premiums and have never had any problems with payments. The disclosures come to light after a recent investigation by Reuters showed that another health insurance company, Assurant Health, similarly targeted HIV-positive policyholders for rescission. Full Story

#3 - No Taxes for General Electric

So-called "free" trade laws are coming into pay as General Electric (parent company of NBC-Universal) utilizes financial tricks that allow the mega company to claim a $408 million loss while actually earning a profit of almost $11 billion dollars. It has been noted that MSNBC has been rather favorable to the Obama administration as increasing pressure mounts to repeal "free" trade agreements. Full Story

#4 - GOP Chair: Blacks "Have No Reason" to Vote Republican

"You really don't have a reason to, to be honest -- we haven't done a very good job of really giving you one. True? True," Republican National Chairman Michael Steele told 200 DePaul University students, "For the last 40-plus years we had a 'Southern Strategy' that alienated many minority voters by focusing on the white male vote in the South. Well, guess what happened in 1992, folks, 'Bubba' went back home to the Democratic Party and voted for Bill Clinton." Full Story

#5 - Earth Day Has Sold Out

Today is the 40th Earth Day. The observance started out in an environmental movement that was viewed as anti-business. But today, not only is a "green" label trendy but global corporations and organizations are co-opting the environment message for profit. Full Story

also:

*New pro-war propaganda has Iran allying with Venezuela

*Pilot Program coming to you? TSA Joins NYPD in Subway Baggage Screening

*Thousand in Illinois march for more taxes

*The tea party's exaggerated importance

*Vanity Fair humor: New $100 bill is very Europie