RTFA: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/12/denmark…

Danish authorities said Tuesday they have arrested three people who allegedly were plotting a “terror-related assassination” of a cartoonist whose drawing of the Prophet Mohammed sparked rage in the Muslim world two years ago.

terror-related assassination? Why isn’t it just called an assassination attempt?

RTFA: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4277758&page…

Citing an effort to hold down costs, health insurance giant Blue Cross wants doctors in California to report conditions it could use to cancel new patients’ medical coverage, it was reported Tuesday.

The state’s largest for-profit health insurer is sending physicians copies of health insurance applications filled out by new patients, along with a letter advising them that the company has a right to drop members who fail to disclose “material medical history,” the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site.

RTFA: http://www.iheartchaos.com/2008/01/14/ten-best-hun…

Eat Shit and Die
“There are times, however, and this is one of them, when even being right feels wrong. What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has been taught that rain is poison and sex is death? If making love might be fatal and if a cool spring breeze on any summer afternoon can turn a crystal blue lake into a puddle of black poison right in front of your eyes, there is not much left except TV and relentless masturbation. It’s a strange world. Some people get rich and others eat shit and die.”
-Gonzo Papers, Vol. 2: Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the ’80s, 1988

I agree with some of these… and having been primarily confined to the HST published book world, I appreciated some of his quotes that released through Rolling Stone and other journalism outlets.

RTFA: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_li…

Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Nay
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Clinton (D-NY), Not Voting
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Coleman (R-MN), Nay
Collins (R-ME), Nay
Conrad (D-ND), Nay
Corker (R-TN), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Nay
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dole (R-NC), Nay
Domenici (R-NM), Nay
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Graham (R-SC), Not Voting
Grassley (R-IA), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagel (R-NE), Nay
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Nay
Kennedy (D-MA), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Nay
Kyl (R-AZ), Nay
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay
Lincoln (D-AR), Nay
Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Martinez (R-FL), Nay
McCain (R-AZ), Nay
McCaskill (D-MO), Nay
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Nay
Nelson (D-NE), Nay
Obama (D-IL), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay
Salazar (D-CO), Nay
Sanders (I-VT), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Smith (R-OR), Nay
Snowe (R-ME), Nay
Specter (R-PA), Nay
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Tester (D-MT), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Nay
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (R-VA), Nay
Webb (D-VA), Nay
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
Wicker (R-MS), Nay
Wyden

Note - Clinton did not vote, Obama voted Yea, McCain voted Nay. In simpler words, Obama is the only one who thinks the Telco companies should be sued for illegally spying on Americans. In my opinion, Clinton is a scumbag for not even voting. And for my friends in Cali, Feinstein voted Nay.

RTFA: http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/A/ARCTIC_GRA…

New mapping data could bolster any claims the U.S. might make in the Arctic as nations in the region compete for potentially rich reserves of oil, gas and minerals buried beneath the sea floor, federal scientists said Monday.

Federal officials said the data would support the U.S. should it choose to jockey with Russia, Canada and other circumpolar nations under the international Law of the Sea treaty to carve out boundaries off their northern coasts.

The Law of the Sea confers sovereign rights over a country’s continental shelf beyond the normal boundary of 200 nautical miles if the country can substantiate its claims through scientific evidence.

Bathymetric soundings taken last year showed the foot of Alaska’s continental slope extending more than 100 nautical miles farther from the U.S. coast than previously believed, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“We found evidence that the foot of the slope was much farther out than we thought,” said Larry Mayer, the chief scientist for the expedition last year. “That was the big discovery.”

The U.S. is the only Arctic nation not party to the Law of the Sea treaty, which is a contentious issue in Congress. The Bush administration has been pushing for its approval.

RTFA: http://www.livescience.com/history/080115-gold-sta…

The price of gold continues to hit record highs this week, trading above 900 an ounce, but the precious metal has been highly valued for thousands of years.

The latest high prices for gold are part of an upward trend that began in April 2001. Analysts explain the bull market in gold by pointing to a slowing economy and the metals increasing scarcity in the ground.

“Gold is inversely correlated to the dollar,” said George Milling-Stanley, an analyst for the World Gold Council, an organization funded by gold mining companies. “Gold is a safe haven in times of political as well as economic turmoil.”

Trouble is, this extremely rare commodity is getting harder to find.

Miners don’t happen upon rich veins of gold today like they used to. Big mining companies nowadays hope to find mere flecks. Although gold is mined in more than 60 countries, it is estimated only 167,600 tons of gold have ever been mined. In comparison, 999 million tons of iron are extracted annually.

As of right now, the price of gold is approximately $905 per ounce