William Patey, the outgoing British ambassador to Iraq, has warned British Prime Minister Tony Blair that civil war is a more likely outcome in that country than democracy. The BBC reports that the confidential leaked memo also predicted the breakup of Iraq along ethnic lines into three separate countries. While ‘not hopeless,’ Mr. Patey wrote, it will remain a ‘difficult and messy’ situation for the next five to ten years. Patey wrote: ‘The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy. ‘Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq – a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror – must remain in doubt.’ In a comment that has been made several times in past few years by both British and US officials, Mr. Patey said ‘the next six months are crucial.’ BBC correspondent Paul Wood said although the document does not contradict earlier statements by the British government that civil war is not imminent in Iraq, ‘it is […]
The federal government keeps two sets of books. The set the government promotes to the public has a healthier bottom line: a $318 billion deficit in 2005. The set the government doesn’t talk about is the audited financial statement produced by the government’s accountants following standard accounting rules. It reports a more ominous financial picture: a $760 billion deficit for 2005. If Social Security and Medicare were included as the board that sets accounting rules is considering the federal deficit would have been $3.5 trillion. Congress has written its own accounting rules which would be illegal for a corporation to use because they ignore important costs such as the growing expense of retirement benefits for civil servants and military personnel. Last year, the audited statement produced by the accountants said the government ran a deficit equal to $6,700 for every American household. The number given to the public put the deficit at $2,800 per household. A growing number of Congress members and accounting experts say it’s time for Congress to start using the audited financial statement when it makes budget decisions. They say accurate accounting would force Congress to show more restraint […]
More than a third of the American public suspects that federal officials assisted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East, according to a new Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll. The national survey of 1,010 adults also found that anger against the federal government is at record levels, with 54 percent saying they ‘personally are more angry’ at the government than they used to be. Widespread resentment and alienation toward the national government appear to be fueling a growing acceptance of conspiracy theories about the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Suspicions that the 9/11 attacks were ‘an inside job’ — the common phrase used by conspiracy theorists on the Internet — quickly have become nearly as popular as decades-old conspiracy theories that the federal government was responsible for President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and that it has covered up proof of space aliens. Seventy percent of people who give credence to these theories also say they’ve become angrier with the federal government than they used to be. Thirty-six percent of respondents overall said it is […]
Time Warner yesterday outlined a radical plan to revive AOL by making more money with far fewer subscribers. AOL will stop marketing its highly profitable Internet access service and offer most of its main features free. As a result, it expects to lose more than half of its 17.7 million subscribers over the next three years. Still, Time Warner promised investors that AOL’s operating profit would actually increase every year. It said it would be able to cut $1 billion a year from AOL’s expenses - largely by cutting thousands of marketing and customer-service jobs - and increase its advertising sales on an expanded line of free Web-based services. Indeed, the company said yesterday that AOL’s ad sales increased faster than expected in the second quarter, one of several factors that helped Time Warner earn $1 billion in the period, ahead of expectations. It was also helped by strong results in its cable and movie divisions and by a price increase for some AOL customers, though magazine operations faltered. While initial reaction to Time Warner’s announcement was favorable - its shares rose 42 cents, or 2.58 percent, to $16.67 - some analysts said they were skeptical […]
TOPEKA, Kan. — Conservative Republicans who pushed anti-evolution standards back into Kansas schools last year have lost control of the state Board of Education once again. The most closely watched race was in western Kansas, where incumbent conservative Connie Morris lost her Republican primary Tuesday. The former teacher had described evolution as ‘an age-old fairy tale” and ‘a nice bedtime story” unsupported by science. As a result of Tuesday’s vote, board members and candidates who believe evolution is well-supported by evidence will have a 6-4 majority. Evolution skeptics had entered the election with a two-person majority. Critics of Kansas’ science standards worried that if conservatives retained the board’s majority, it would lead to attempts in other states to copy the Kansas standards. ‘There are people around the country who would like to see the Kansas standards in their own states,” said Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, Calif., which supports the teaching of evolution. Also Tuesday, Kansas Republicans chose a nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in November. With 96 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, state Sen. Jim Barnett captured his party’s nomination with 36 percent of […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
