AIRPORT XRAY MACHINE UNDRESSED PASSENGERS
A new passenger scanner being employed at London's Heathrow airport uses radiation to see through clothing. Civil liberties groups are angry. No wonder they are angry, go to this story and follow the link to see a picture of what the scanners can see.
(TALKLEFT, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

CAT STEVENS GETS PEACE PRIZE
"Yusuf Islam, the singer once known as Cat Stevens, was awarded the 'Man for Peace' prize in Rome at the opening of a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev praised him for charity work and for standing by his convictions despite personal hardships. He last made headlines in September, when he turned up on Washington's no-fly list for having suspected ties to terrorists - a claim he has strongly denied.The "Peace Train" singer, who largely gave up music after converting to Islam in the late 1970s, mused about the strangeness of being barred from one country while being honored in another."
(MY WAY, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

AARP WILL FIGHT OVER SOCIAL SECURITY CHANGES
"Gearing up for battle over the future of Social Security, AARP, the influential lobby for older Americans, said Thursday that it opposed President Bush's plan to divert some payroll taxes into private retirement accounts. But it supports new incentives for private accounts that supplement Social Security."
(NEW YORK TIMES)

GET OVER IT, WE LOST!
Even as Sen. John F. Kerry's campaign is steadfastly refusing to challenge the results of the presidential election, the bloggers and the mortally wounded party loyalists and the spreadsheet-wielding conspiracy theorists are filling the Internet with head-turning allegations that frauds cost the Democrats the election.
"At this point the number of irregularities brought to our attention is not going to change the outcome of the election," said DNC spokesman Jano Cabrera. "The simple fact of the matter is that Republicans received more votes than Democrats, and we're not contesting this election."
(WASHINGTON POST)

17 REASONS NOT TO SLIT YOUR WRISTS
"If you're looking on the bright side, there's some good news to be found in Tuesday's results. "
(ALTERNET)

ALABAMA HEALTH RANKINGS RELEASED
"Alabama is tied with West Virginia for 43rd this year; it was also 43rd in 2003. Strengths include strong support for public health with 7.3 percent of the state health budget allocated to public health, high access to adequate prenatal care with 77.8 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care and a moderate rate of uninsured population at 14.2 percent. Alabama's challenges include a high prevalence of obesity at 28.4 percent of the population (Our state is the fattest, click here for details), a high premature death rate with 9,814 years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population and a low high school graduation rate with 57.2 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within four years. Alabama is 39th for the combined measures of risk factors and 47th for the combined measures of outcomes, indicating that the state's relative healthiness may remain steady or improve in future years. Disparities in health outcomes are high in Alabama, as shown in the difference in premature death rates. "
(Suggested by Jim Sturdevant)

US COMPANY FINED FOR SELLING VACCINES TO CUBA
"In early June, Chiron Corp was slapped with a $168,500 fine by the U.S. Treasury Department for having shipped vaccines to Cuba for infants and children from its plants in Germany and Italy in 1999-2002. The vaccines included those for polio, haemophilus influenza, flu, rabies and a vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. The sanction, according to this Cuban site, "came only two months after the Bush administration had unveiled its program to 'aid the Cuban people' in which it promised that once the current Cuban government is removed, the United States will launch a program to assure that all children under 5 years of age will be vaccinated against the very diseases prevented by these vaccines."
(MEDICC.ORG)

YOUTH VOTE DID MATERIALIZE
"The 2004 presidential race, as far as the youth vote was concerned, was a landmark election, bringing out nearly 21 million voters under the age of 30 to the polls, the biggest turnout, in raw numbers, since 1972.'
The youth vote in 2000 made up 16.4 percent of the total, translating to about 16.2 million votes. In 2004, the the youth vote made up 18.4 percent, translating to about 20.9 million votes. That's a jump of 4.6 million and a jump in overall turnout, too. More than 51 percent of citizens ages 18 to 29 voted. In 2000, it was 42.3 percent."
(WASHINGTON POST)

MILITARY 'COMMISSIONS' HALTED BY FEDERAL JUDGE
"A coalition of defense lawyers and conservative military law experts hailed a decision by a federal judge halting the Bush Administration's special trials at the U.S. military prison in Cuba.
In a setback for the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge James Robertson found that detainees at the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may be prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions and therefore entitled to the protections of international and military law -- which the government has declined to grant them. "
(WASHINGTON POST)

ELECTION SEEN AS GREEN LIGHT FOR GOP ENVIRONMENTAL AGENDA
"With the elections over, Congress and the Bush administration are moving ahead with ambitious environmental agendas that include revamping signature laws on air pollution and endangered species and reviving a moribund energy bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration. In addition, the administration intends to accelerate conservation efforts by distributing billions of dollars to private landowners for the preservation of wetlands and wildlife habitats."
(NEW YORK TIMES)