http://www.skewz.com/link/rss Latest upcoming stories from Skewz.com en-us #<Category:0xb50d80e4> Europe should consider sharing vast amounts of intelligence and information on its citizens with the US to establish a "Euro-Atlantic area of cooperation" to combat terrorism, according to a high-level confidential report on future security. The 27 members of the EU should also pool intelligence on terrorism, develop joint video-surveillance and unmanned drone aircraft, start networks of anti-terrorism centres, and boost the role and powers of an intelligence-coordinating body in Brussels, said senior officials. The 53-page report drafted by the Future Group of interior and justice ministers from six EU member states - Germany, France, Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic -argues Europe will need to integrate much of its policing, intelligence-gathering, and policy-making if Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:48:06 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9291?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9291?section=comments #<Category:0xb50c7cd0>   Generally speaking, I have a fairly strong stomach when it comes to blogging. I write more days than I miss, but sometimes I take a day off. I take a day off because the unrelenting crapstorm our country has become is simply too much for me, and my rapidly rusting iron stomach, to digest. I visit numerous news outlets from across the political spectrum daily - including the dreaded Faux News. I regularly branch out to see what’s going on in the worlds of science or business. I even check on the celebrity news - John Mayer and Jennifer Aniston are close to setting a date you know. There’s a lot of news out there, most of it bad. I don’t think is a problem with the media. If they reported only happy news, no one would watch TV, listen to radio, or read a newspaper. As they say, when Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:34:24 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9290?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9290?section=comments #<Category:0xb50b5ff8> The police seem to investigate with blinders on. We often see cases where an innocent man is finally released for a crime he didn't commit, with an obvious suspect living down the street who the police didn't even look at. Part of the problem is psychological: police become invested in 'their perp', and are unable to see anyone else as even a possibility. Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:34:22 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9289?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9289?section=comments #<Category:0xb50af8b0> Related Afghan opium production soars to frightening record level The Golden Crescent drug trade, launched by the CIA in the early 1980s, continues to be protected by US intelligence, in liaison with NATO occupation forces and the British military. In recent developments, British occupation forces have also been found involved in promoting opium cultivation through paid radio advertisements. Pakistan Post | Aug 5, 2008 Naveed Miraj ISLAMABAD: After the fall of Taliban government, Afghanistan has again become a hub of narcotics cultivation and smuggling. Thanks to protection, being provided by the US troops, western forces and the Afghan government which are fully involved in the business in the name of war on terror. The poppy cultivation that came to an end during Taliban period has risen Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:32:10 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9288?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9288?section=comments #<Category:0xb509e2b8> Pakistan's most feared terrorist communicates with encryption so strong the Pakistani intelligence services cannot crack it. He gets information on Pakistani troop movements from an unidentified foreign government. He's said to be responsible for the vast majority of terrorist attacks in Pakistan (including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto), but the Americans -- who don't mind bombing "Islamic militants" in Pakistan every now and then -- have refused to attack him despite having solid information as to his whereabouts. And on, and on, and on... Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:26:41 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9287?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9287?section=comments #<Category:0xb50934d0> BEIJING - President Bush is eagerly awaiting the start of the Summer Olympics, making history as the first U.S. leader to attend this world athletic competition on foreign soil. But his arrival in Beijing Thursday night on the eve of the opening of the games came amid an atmosphere of tension with China's leaders over his high-profile speech in Thailand exhorting the growing world power to grant more freedom to its people. Before his plane landed here, China's Foreign Ministry released a terse statement saying that no one should interfere with China's internal affairs. Bush, first lady Laura Bush and their daughter Barbara came off Air Force One together, where they got a red-carpet greeting from Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and others, and then sped away in a motorcade. Bush, an a Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:22:41 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9286?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9286?section=comments #<Category:0xb5088fbc> GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - A military jury sentenced Osama bin Laden's former driver to 5 1/2 years in prison for aiding terrorism Thursday, making him eligible for release in just six months, despite prosecutors' pleas to give him no less than 30 years. Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni who had faced a maximum sentence of life behind bars, gets credit for five years already served at Guantanamo Bay. He thanked the jurors for the sentence and repeated an apology for having served bin Laden. "I would like to apologize one more time to all the members and I would like to thank you for what you have done for me," Hamdan told the panel of six U.S. military officers, hand-picked by the Pentagon for the first U.S. war crimes trial in a half century. The judge, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, said he did no Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:21:05 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9285?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9285?section=comments #<Category:0xb507b18c> Members of the shadow Cabinet have revealed that they have been "surprised" by the approaches from officials and several discreet dinner parties to discuss the Conservative's future plans are understood to have been arranged. Conversations have also taken place on the fringes of conferences, think tank meetings and other public functions. While, such discussions might be expected immediately before an election, the current high level of contact almost two years before Gordon Brown has to call a national poll is highly unusual. The Conservatives have sent a letter to Sir Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, formally requesting that two senior civil servants are seconded to the party to help with planning for a possible transition to power. Sir Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:07:33 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9284?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9284?section=comments #<Category:0xb5066444> Techdude delivers a final report that exceeds my wildest expectations. It is irrefutable, empirical evidence - Obama's birth certificate is a forgery. Why? Why a COLB (certificate of live birth)? forgery? That is the question. My deepest thanks and appreciation for Techdude's unwavering commitment to the truth despite the threats and harassment, the slashed tires and the dead animal on his porch. Insofar as "techdude's" credentials, he is an active member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, American College of Forensic Examiners, The International Society of Forensic Computer Examiners, International Information Systems Forensics Association - the list goes on. He also a board certified as a forensic computer examiner, a certificated legal investigator, and a licensed private Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:21:03 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9283?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9283?section=comments #<Category:0xb505219c> What can I say, John McCain just loves surges If you’ve got a problem, John McCain has a surge. In Iraq, of course, McCain loves the surge so much, he’s willing to credit the surge for events that occurred before it even began. In Afghanistan, McCain opposed sending additional troops, that is until a few weeks ago, when McCain announced he supports a?… wait for it …? surge in Afghanistan Over the last several days, McCain has become so enamored with this child-like formulation — surge = problem solved — that he’s now willing to extend it to policies that have nothing to do with the military or foreign policy. On Saturday, addressing the Urban League, McCain talked about his approach to inner-city crime. He recommended a surge It’s become so reflexive, the McCain campaign, t Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:04:39 -0400 http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9282?section=comments http://www.skewz.com/link/link_details/9282?section=comments