.:weather report:.

Vice

Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein | October 26, 2006

Dick Cheney is the most powerful yet most unpopular vice president in U.S. history. He has thrived alongside a president who from day one had little interest in policy and limited experience in the ways of Washington. Yet Cheney's quiet, steady rise to prominence over a span of three decades occurred largely behind the scenes. Now veteran reporters Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein reveal the disturbing truth about the man who has successfully co-opted executive control over the U.S. government, serving as the de facto "shadow president" of the most dominant White House in a generation.

Cheney has always been an astute politician. He survived the collapse of the Nixon presidency, finding a position of power in the administration of Gerald Ford. He was then elected to the House of Representatives, and later he earned a spot in the cabinet of the first Bush presidency. But when he became George W. Bush's running mate, Cheney reached a new level of influence. From the engineering of his own selection as vice president to his support of policies allowing torture as a permissible weapon in the "war on terror," Cheney has steered America consistently rightward. In Vice, Dubose and Bernstein uncover startling revelations, including

- the extraordinary intimidation of CIA officials by a vice president bent on obtaining intelligence to support a foregone conclusion: the invasion of Iraq

- details on Cheney’s secret energy task force, including his meeting with Enron chief Ken Lay months before Lay was indicted–and how Cheney went to court to erode the powers of Congress
• how Cheney helped to kill 2003 diplomatic overtures from Iran to discuss concessions on its nuclear program and policy toward Israel
• Cheney’s role in engineering multibillion-dollar military contracts in Iraq to benefit Halliburton, the company he once ran
• eyewitness reports from prominent Republican and conservative sources who go on record for the first time to tell the truth about how Dick Cheney has hijacked the American presidency

In the words of one of Cheney’s colleagues from the House: “Dick keeps his own counsel. He’s completely in control. He’s completely sure of himself in everything he does. It’s what got him to where he is today: the most powerful vice president to ever hold office. It’s also what’s bringing about his downfall.” In Vice, we get an unprecedented expos�of how Cheney operates and what his vice presidency will mean to America–now and in the future."

Autism: Is there a link to watching television?

Independent | 22 October 2006

Autism may be linked to children watching television when very young, according to researchers.

Scientists investigating the dramatic increase in the number of autistic children have said the rise coincided with the use of cable television and videos. Autism is at record levels in the UK, where one in 110 people - more than half a million - has the condition, according to the National Autistic Society.

Researchers investigating autism in the US said that, as recently as 30 years ago, it was thought one in 2,500 people had the condition. Today the figure is one in 166, a 15-fold increase.

Scientists wanted to investigate whether the early introduction of cable television in the US had contributed to the current generation of children with autistic-spectrum symptoms. Researchers at Cornell University said children prone to autism might go on to show symptoms because of environmental triggers. Watching television could be one of them.

Michael Waldman and Sean Nicholson from Cornell University said autistic children usually develop the condition by the age of three. Their research, conducted across California, Oregon and Washington states, set out to prove the theory by linking the amount of television a child watches with the number of days when it rained.

The researchers said their study showed just under 40 per cent of autism diagnoses could be explained by looking at the times when children were forced to stay in and watch television. When rainfall was high, autism rates rose sharply. The opposite was true when rainfall was low.

They did not say how watching TV could act as a trigger, but simply tried to show a relationship. Research has shown, however, that autistic children have unusual activity in parts of the brain that process visual information. These areas develop in the early years.

The Cornell study looked at the results of an investigation into the Amish community. Based on the autism rates across the US, there should be several hundred autistic Amish, but fewer than 10 were found.

Yes On 89

Yes On 89 | October 11, 2006

Prop. 89 creates a level and fair playing field for California elections and reduces the influence of lobbyists and special interests in our state. And if politicians break the law, they can be thrown out of office and even put in jail. We can stop political corruption!