The News in Brief

There is a lot going on in the world and just not enough time to address it all adequately. So here are some highlights that may have slipped by.

After all the hoopla about a new start for Israel-Palestine relations with the death of Yasser Arafat, Sharon has gone into reverse. Before the newly elected (and there are questions about that election as well), Sharon has decided to break off talks with Abbas. The "new" relationship between Sharon and the Palestinian Authority is looking hauntingly like the "old" relationship. Certainly not an auspicious start.

On the health front, the Guardian is reporting that Parkinson's 'could be linked to pesticides'. The warning comes to us from the UK's independent scientific pesticide committee. They identified a correlation between pesticides and Parkinson's, but have not yet identified a particular chemical as the culprit.

Also from the UK (one might ask if the US even does such studies), five percent of children in the UK are diagnosed with ADHD. Their concern is that there may be over-diagnosis of the condition, and that a junk food diet and "poor parenting" may be resulting in increased "hyperactive" behavior. While Ritalin seems to be the drug of choice for treating ADHD, there are concerns about the long term effects of that drug and its application given concerns about misdiagnosis. They also note (though do not elaborate) that the drug is being sold illegally for some children in the United States.

There is $170 million down the tubes as the FBI is deciding to scrap its "new" computer system. Yes, that system that was so critical to protecting the US from "terrorism" is unworkable, and now outdated. Before throwing in the towel however, the FBI has issued a $2 million contract for an outside consultant to evaluate whether the system is salvageable. The Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission is quoted as saying that the failure is "immensely disappointing." Oh duh, not to mention expensive and the problem of a false sense of security.

There has been a modest furor in the news about people "blinding" pilots with laser lights. The reported concern is that terrorists might use lasers (available on the internet) to target or blind pilots. There may be another side to the story however as the military is testing lasers to warn off aircraft. If there is concern that pilots may be blinded by commercial lasers, wouldn't that same concern exist for military quality lasers used to "warn off" planes?

The ever-humanitarian Monsanto Corporation is filing charges against farmers for saving seed. Yes, that time honored practice of reserving seed from one harvest for the next year's planting is "piracy" according to Monsanto's "seed police." "Since 1997, Monsanto has filed similar lawsuits 90 times in 25 states against 147 farmers and 39 agriculture companies, according to a report issued Thursday by The Center for Food Safety, a biotechnology foe."

In a similar vein, the ever compassionate George W. Bush has announced that along with cutting funds for Medicare, he is also slashing $8 billion from HUD's budget. The cuts will eliminate a number of economic development programs and totally eliminate the rural poverty housing program. But hold onto your hats because the "Education President" is going to increase financial aid by $500. Yep, $500 - $100 each year for the next five years. Excuse me, but that doesn't even cover the cost of tuition increases. He is going to accomplish this by "reforming" financial aid to make it "more efficient." I can hardly wait to see the perverted changes that come out of this package deal.

On the interesting morality front ... While Bush vows to "protect marriage" through amending the constitution, and 11 states also voted to discriminate against same-sex couples, the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy gets a whole new look. Since homosexuality is so dreaded and feared then let's use it as a weapon. In the new arsenal for the "war on terrorism" is the attempts to make a "gay" bomb. I wish this were a joke, but it's US tax dollars working hard to make you safe. The project was kicked around in 1994 (yes under that card-carrying liberal President Clinton) with an initial budget of about $4 million (pounds), but supposedly scrapped. Why don't I trust and organization that has an office of disinformation (excuse me, propaganda)?