OpEdNews - Diary: AGE OF GRAND CANYON WITHHELD TO CATER TO CREATIONISTS

How Old Is the Grand Canyon? Park Service Won't Say ... PEER Press Release Orders to cater to creationists makes national park agnostic on geology.

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DIANE'S NEWS CLIPS begins here :)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Excerpted from: http://www.truthout.org Age of Grand Canyon Withheld to Cater to Creationists http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122906EB.shtml Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees. Despite promising a prompt review of its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood rather than by geologic forces, more than three years later no review has ever been done and the book remains on sale at the park. --- Greg Mitchell | "Surge" Protectors http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906B.shtml Greg Mitchell writes: "Inside reports suggest President Bush has already decided on sending many more troops to Iraq starting next month. Until now, the media has bought into his labeling of this as a mere 'surge.' But the media needs to call it by its proper name: 'escalation.'" --- Charles E. Anderson | Deja Vu All Over Again: Haditha and My Lai http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906C.shtml Charles E. Anderson writes: "The alleged war crimes committed at Haditha were not the misdeeds of defective warriors. Nor is it likely that they were committed by Marines suffering from 'personality disorders.' Their actions were the result of conditioning, on both the training field and the battlefield." --- Third Time's the Harm http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121306H.shtml Steven Henderson served his country during two tours of duty as an Army sergeant in Afghanistan - repeatedly coming under enemy fire and seeing fellow soldiers maimed and US helicopters gunned down. The Chicago native is back home now, after being honorably discharged 20 months ago. He's married and is working toward a college degree - but the Army has called upon him again. A letter he received two weeks before Christmas orders him to fight in Iraq for a period "not to exceed 545 days." --- Defense Secretary Is Wary of Adding More Iraq Troops http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906L.shtml With President Bush leaning toward sending more soldiers to pacify Iraq, his defense secretary is privately opposing the buildup. --- Paul Krugman | A Failed Revolution http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906F.shtml Paul Krugman writes: "Republicans didn't shrink the government. But they did degrade it. Baghdad and New Orleans are the arrival destinations of a movement based on deep contempt for governance." --- Waiting List for AIDS Drugs Causes Dismay in South Carolina http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122906HA.shtml More than 350 poor people infected with HIV are on a waiting list for free life-saving drugs in South Carolina, by far the longest such list in the country. --- The New York Times | The Rush to Hang Saddam Hussein http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906K.shtml The New York Times writes: "Toppling Saddam Hussein did not automatically create a new and better Iraq. Executing him won't either." --- Bill Quigley | New Orleans: HUD Policies Limiting Housing for Poor http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906D.shtml Bill Quigley writes: "Gloria Williams and her twin sister, Bobbie Jennings, are both 60 years old. They are two of the more than 4,000 families who lived in public housing in New Orleans before Katrina struck. The families are still locked out of their homes. Their residences are two of 4,534 apartments that the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced plans to demolish." --- Living in America's Fringe Economy http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906E.shtml The fringe economy is hardly new. Pawnshops and informal high-interest lenders have been around forever. What we see today, however, is a fringe-economy sector that is growing fast, taking advantage of the ever-larger part of the US population whose economic lives are becoming less secure. --- Chaos Reigns in Haiti http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906G.shtml Jean Michel Caroit reports on the largely unchecked violence in Haiti, some of it fed by US policy. --- Cindy Sheehan to Ramp Up "Peace Surge" After Arrest Thursday http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906M.shtml "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan was arrested Thursday for blocking a road near President Bush's ranch. Sheehan said she plans to become more "confrontational" and that it's time to "ramp up" peace efforts with a "peace surge." The five protesters, including Dede Miller, Gerry Fonsecca, Carl Rising-Moore and Jeri Reed, were arrested on misdemeanor charges of obstructing a roadway. The group is expected to be bonded out of the McLennan County Jail Friday. --- Disputed Florida Election to Spill Onto House Floor http://snipurl.com/165zo --- AT&T Yields to Neutrality, Paves Path to Congress http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906T.shtml AT&T filed a "letter of commitment" with the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday in which it promises to observe Net Neutrality principles for at least 24 months. Now it's left to Congress to follow the FCC's lead and make Net Neutrality permanent under the law. --- Our Worst Fears Are Exceeded by Reality http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122906EA.shtml "The signs during the past 12 months have been all around us. Little winter snow in the Alpine ski resorts, continuing droughts in Africa, mountain glaciers melting faster than at any time in the past 5,000 years, disappearing Arctic sea ice, Greenland's ice sheet sliding into the sea... 2006 will be remembered by climatologists as the year in which the potential scale of global warming came into focus," writes Steve Connor. --- William Fisher | Here Are the Christians! http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906J.shtml William Fisher writes: "If religious extremism doesn't really represent the views of most Christians, the more progressive forces within Christianity - and Judaism and Islam - need to become as unified and aggressive and determined as those who have sadly become the public faces of these great faiths by hijacking. They need to do more to organize nationally, to raise substantial funds, and to be much more proactively media savvy." --- US Death Toll in Iraq Nears 3,000 http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906A.shtml --- Ed Pilkington | The "Untouchables" of US Science http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/122906P.shtml Ed Pilkington writes, "George Bush issued a presidential decree banning the use of federal funds for research on new human embryonic stem cell lines .... Dr. Eggan and his team were able to carry on their work only because Harvard was committed to it and wealthy enough to fund it privately. But overnight, the ban turned them into the equivalent of dogs suspected of carrying rabies. Everything they did or touched, from high-tech equipment down to paperclips and the electricity used in the building, had to be quarantined from federally funded labs around them." --- Medicare Premiums Will Surge for Some http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122906HB.shtml When new income-based premiums for Medicare's Part B program go into effect next month, some seniors will get an unwelcome surprise: Their monthly costs will be going up considerably more than expected because of the government's method of counting their income. --- Estimates for Pensions to Tighten http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/122906LA.shtml The states of New York, New Hampshire, Tennessee and about a dozen other governments may no longer be able to say their pension funds are fully funded no matter how the markets perform. _________________________________ .ron corvuswire@verizon.net .................LYING LIARS! Lying Liars! Once they pass Bush's war bill they don't have to worry about Bush vetoing their "Quid Quo Pro" Democrat Party earmarks crossing Bush's desk. Harry Reid, John Kerry, Carl Levin, Nancy Pelosi, etc., they all claim they will bring the troops home soon: L-I-A-R-S ! They are lying to you! They are going to vote YES on Bush's war bill this April! Mark My Words. Once they approve Bush's war bill, it will be IMPOSSIBLE to bring the troops home before Bush leaves office. I can't say it loud enough: Harry Reid DID NOT BACK DOWN! NO, HE DIDN'T! Senator Reid DID NOT STATE that he was going to refrain from voting YES on Bush's upcoming war bill vote! Reid said: "I believe we should start redeploying troops in 4 to 6 months, (the Levin-Reed Plan,) and complete the withdrawal of combat forces by the first quarter of 2008; (as laid out by the Iraq Study Group). http://giveemhellharry.com/page/community/group/vips Senators John Kerry, D-Mass., and Russ Feingold, D-Wis., proposed that troops be completely withdrawn by July 1, 2007, whereas Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., didn't set a date for complete withdrawal, but proposed troops begin leaving Iraq this year. Complete and total political posturing and self-promotion and empty promises! Appeasement tools ... These Senators' proclamations are 110% disingenuous because the bottom line is whether or not they vote YES or NO on Bush's upcoming war bill this coming April. All of their promises of withdrawal is just talk and political posturing - believe that. The only serious Congresspersons who are serious about bringing the troops home immediately, (like Dennis Kucinich,) are the ones who vote NO on Bush's $160 billion war bill. In fact, that's the ONLY WAY ANYONE is going to bring the troops home before Bush leaves office. THE ONLY WAY. I wonder how many Americans realize these FACTS The Blame Game It's all about correctly playing the Blame Game - that is, if you want to get paid and save face simultaneously. It's a high-falutin' balancing act worthy of Barnum and Bailey's Circus. On the one hand, these slick Democratic Congresspersons temporarily appease the Kucinich wing of the Democratic Party with their empty promises of withdrawal very soon, all the while KNOWING FULL DAMN WELL THEY ARE GOING TO VOTE YES ON THE BIG UPCOMING $160 billion war bill Bush is shoving up Congress'nose - ALL THE WHILE KNOWING FULL WELL that once the Democratic majority gives Bush the war funds, Bush will use those funds to KEEP THE TROOPS IN IRAQ TILL BUSH LEAVES OFFICE. Then those same Democratic Congresspersons who voted for Bush's war bill will BLAME BUSH for derailing their promises to you and me - the shafted Democratic voter. Meanwhile, once they pass Bush's war bill, they don't have to worry about Bush vetoing their Democratic Party earmarks crossing Bush's desk - it's called, "Quid Quo Pro." It's illegal as sin. This is your future. This is the future these slick Washington politicians have for you, me and U.S. soldiers. UNLESS WE RAISE PURE HELL WITH CONGRESS You can join Harry Reid's blog here and GIVE HIM HELL! ...others have. http://www.giveemhellharry.com/ .ron Dear Sen. Reid: Last week President Bush publicly warned you that any Democratic earmarks crossing his desk will be vetoed. The very next day you suddenly made a public announcement that you now agreed with Bush - you support sending more troops to Iraq. How convenient. Stevie Wonder can see that you've engaged in a quid quo pro with President Bush -- you better fund his war or your earmarks will be killed on Bush's desk. Sickening and criminal. You are guilty of playing politics with the lives of American soldiers. You should be ashamed of yourself! Everyone knows that all Bush cares about is keeping the troops in Iraq till he leaves office - Bush is concerned about his legacy, his neocon handlers have told him, "Look, if you can keep the troops in Iraq till you leave office, the Democrats will bring them home after you leave office and history will blame the Democrats for losing the War in Iraq, everyone will blame it on the 'cut and run Democrats.'" Bush used the threat of killing your pork barrel earmarks to force you to support sending more troops and tax dollars to Iraq. I'm telling everyone I know and posting nationwide that you are going to vote for war, you're going to vote for the continued occupation of Iraq, I know this, you haven't fooled me at all. You may have fooled Code Pink, but you haven't fooled me. I'm certain that you figure there isn't a damn thing We The People can do about it -- hide and watch, mister, just hide and watch the next election. We The People will make it our business to vote out of office each and every Democratic Congressperson who votes for the funding to this illegal, insane, profiteering war machine. I'm worse than an elephant, I will NOT forgive nor forget. We The People didn't vote Democrats into office so you can send more tax dollars and troops to Iraq to their deaths. We voted you into office to bring the troops home NOW! Apparently, and obviously, you do not believe this - you will next election cycle. We The People are sending letters NOW to each and every Congressperson getting their position IN WRITING on voting or not voting on the war bill this April, BEFORE they vote on you and Bush's war bill. We're going to hold all Democrats' feet to the fire. You're not going to get away with this one, Harry Reid! These letters/responses, will be uploaded into permanent cyberspace, Google, many search engines. .r o n c o r v u s corvuswire@verizon.net http://www.corvuswire.com/harryreid.htm | http://www.corvuswire.com ----- Obomb-a-rama Too bad Oprah supports the media-blessed "handsome & popular" candidate Barak H. Obama over the policies of Dennis Kucinich. You talk about bias, border-lining on racism. Can you imagine Oprah embracing the best policies for America over what Oprah and the gang certainly views as the "best-looking" presidential candidate? 'Truth is, Oprah is just like too many short-sighted canine-like Americans; they go for the low-hanging shiny objects instead of substance and policies, which actually support Oprah's dreams for all Americans much, much, much more than Barak H. Obama's policies. Disgusting and troubling, the dumbing down of America. http://www.corvuswire.com/top10reasonstovoteKucinich.htm ----- BUSH'S POSSE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1lFwT3Io_M _________________________________ DOOMSDAY CODE THIS is the purpose of America in Israel, and Bush as well. http://snipurl.com/165pf --- AP/IPSO Poll Pegs Bush As #1 Villain In The World! [snip] ... by a margin of 4 to 1, Bush is now considered the world's foremost desperado. Finally, Bush wins in a landslide! http://snipurl.com/165wm _________________________________ http://jablankfort@earthlink.net THE TEMPLES OF THE OCCUPATION By Meron Benvenisti So far, of the dozens of checkpoints promised to be removed from the West Bank in a "gesture" to Mahmoud Abbas, not a single checkpoint has been dismantled. It will be interesting to see what excuse they come up with after the weather improves. The plan to remove the roadblocks has been delayed over some excuse or another for several years, and in the meantime their number has multiplied. We can assume with reasonable certainty that the newest attempt to ease the lives of the Palestinians will fail like its predecessors, because the regime of roadblocks is not a matter of a marginal gesture, nor a matter of quantity, whose reduction is likely to signal change in the situation prevailing in the occupied territories. Instead, the roadblocks are the foundation of Israeli control of the West Bank, and they fulfill three major roles: symbolic, geo-strategic and socio-political. Therefore anyone who attributes only tactical-security or settlement-dependent significance to them is missing the point. ...................snip....................... The disdain for the Palestinians and the arrogant use of a mentality of submissiveness is reflected not only by the roadblocks themselves but by the checking procedures, which are conducted without any sensitivity to the dignity and needs of the Palestinians, who are expected to wait in line in silence or else be "punished." Colonial regimes have always been based on the arrogance of a small number of soldiers who controlled the lives of million of natives with minimal force, and a dependence on deterrence, which guaranteed the inferior status of those subject to their authority. ....................snip....................... The mounds of earth and the cement blocks, which are ostensibly scattered randomly, in effect constitute a complete geo-strategic system, and therefore the "removal" of several mounds of earth or obstructions is liable to spoil the scheme so carefully planned out. And those who believe that "the ideology of Greater Israel has been shelved" should understand that the roadblocks symbolize the expropriation of the West Bank territories without annexation, albeit with the addition of the creation of Palestinian "reservations." The geographical division has fragmented the Palestinian community into weak and impoverished sub-communities, where centers are disconnected from peripheries, urban centers are eroding and rural areas becoming poor, families are separated, and medical treatment is denied along with access to higher education. This division is imposed in the hopes that the political and social siege will result in demographic distress and perhaps to emigration. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/806575.html >> NOTE from Jeff: Although Benvenisti does not use the term in this detailed description of how Israel maintains control over the lives of Palestinians, and has since the creation of the state, if there is one word that most quickly comes to my mind when defining Zionism and is not its inherent racism and belief in Jewish supremacy, but its equally inherent sadism, which long before there was an intifada in the occupied territories, was expressed through more than a thousand military laws covering everything from prohibiting the wearing of the Palestinians colors to requiring a permit for the growing of a tomato plant. ----- I Witness the Israel Lobby in Action A few weeks back at Columbia, I watched with amazement as the former Israel soldier Yehuda Shaul, who started the group Breaking the Silence, gave his presentation on the horrors of the occupation to about 75 students in a darkened hall. My amazement had to do with the fact that ... [snip] Continued: http://snipurl.com/15w1u ----- Commentary re: Are Jews suppressing speech? article in The [New Jersey] Jewish Standard w/link at end. A bit more cleverer than most of the criticism thrown at Carter and Mearsheimer and Walt, but just as disingenuous. Neither Carter nor Mearsheimer and Walt have used the term "conspiracy," in fact, all three have specifically rejected the notion, although I would argue that at the highest levels of the lobby a conspiracy most certainly exists and the fact that each month the major Jewish organizations meet in Washington and plan strategy for the coming month attests to that, (see JJ Goldberg's "Jewish Power" and an earlier article by him in the Jerusalem Report). Neither the ex-NY mayor nor Medoff, however, responded to criticism that all three men have raised, namely, that to criticize Israel in Congress is a career-threatening if not career-ending decision, so therefore we rarely see it, and that the op-ed pages of the nation's newspapers, as well as the talking heads on the TV talk shows, are dominated almost exclusively by strongly biased pro-Israel voices usually from the stables of one of the several neocon and zionist think tanks. And contrary to the assertion of Koch and Medoff, the Mearsheimer-Walt paper has NOT "received extraordinarily wide attention in the supposedly Zionist-dominated media," and when it has it is invariably a smear job by the likes of Dershowitz, the ADL's Foxman, or the AJC's Harris.- JB >> Are Jews suppressing speech? ... By Edward I. Koch and Rafael Medoff http://www.jstandard.com/articles/2023/1/Are-Jews-suppressing-speech%3F ; http://www.jstandard.com _________________________________ http://donwilliams7@charter.net Big Media Should Not Be Party to Cycle of War ... by Don Williams Let's call it the War Cycle. Hawks in our government sound the alarm that another country is committing acts of war. The New York Times and other Big Media repeat those alarms on Page One, often without double-checking for accuracy. Next, government hawks quote those very stories as proof that our enemies are up to no good. Then, what do you know, Americans catch "senior military operatives" from some "Axis of Evil" country committing a dreadful act. It's even worse than we thought, they say--and our media report this exciting follow-up news. Soon bombs are falling on Baghdad. This column is about Iran, but let's ... Continued: http://www.newmillenniumwritings.com _________________________________ The International Action Center (IAC) hold the U.S. government responsible for the decision of the "Iraqi High Tribunal" to carry out the death sentence against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and considers this execution part of the Bush administration's plan to once again escalate the war. The timing of the execution was clearly intended to pre-empt news that the death toll of U.S. service people has hit 3,000 while that of Iraqis is in the hundreds of thousands. [snip] http://www.iacenter.org _________________________________ Gradually introducing a problem food to children who are allergic could increase the child's tolerance to the food, according to early findings by Duke University and the University of Arkansas. Researchers hope desensitization will help protect food allergy suffers from serious reactions brought on by accidental ingestion of problem foods, reported CBS News. Full Story >> http://snipurl.com/1665a _________________________________ http://www.witnesstorture.org | http://www.buzzflash.com | http://www.isebrand.com _________________________________ .....................Find the perfect place With 2007 approaching rapidly, you might be thinking about making some changes for the upcoming year. Maybe you're planning on moving in the upcoming year. If that's the case, do your research carefully before you decide on a new city. Sperling's Best Places can help. You can find out about cities and towns all across the country. There's demographic information, along with opinions from people who live there. If you don't know where to start, take the "Find Your Best Place" quiz. Answer a series of questions and get a ranking of the best cities for you. TO VISIT TODAY'S COOL SITE, GO HERE: http://www.bestplaces.net Be sure to listen to me Monday through Friday. Use my map to find me near you http://www.komando.com/listen/index.aspx _________________________________ eHEALTHY NEWS Higher Doses of NSAIDs May Bring on Heart Attacks - Even over-the-counter drugs like Motrin and Advil can put you in the same boat as the 60,000 who died from taking Vioxx. http://snipurl.com/1645a ----- How Can the FDA Ever Improve Drug Safety? - More evidence that the FDA may not be protecting you like you thought they were. http://snipurl.com/1645g _________________________________ Video: BODY AS A WEAPON 10:40 http://media.putfile.com/Body-as-a-weapon --- VIDEO: Amazing Shot! For You Golf Lovers 00:40 ... http://snipurl.com/15s01 _________________________________ NationalGeographic.com http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/ _________________________________ NASA Astronomy picture of the day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html _________________________________ New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie