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A few years ago the National Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy questioned 18 to 24-year-olds across the United States about their basic knowledge of geography. The subjects were shown a blank Middle East map and then asked to identify the locations of four countries: Israel, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran. You may find the results somewhat disturbing.
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum not only wants to criminalize absolutely all abortion in the United States, without exception, he also is rabidly against all forms of birth control:
“…I think the dangers of contraception in this country, and the whole sexual libertine idea — many of the Christian faith have said, well that’s okay, I mean y’know, contraception is okay. It is not okay.”
We have already learned that the United States has killed its own citizens with secret military drones, but many people are unaware of just how prevalent these robot assassins have now become around the globe. In the three years since President Obama took office, more than five hundred civilians have been murdered by U.S. military drones in Pakistan alone, including scores of young children.
Although he remains locked away in a tiny prison cell, Private First Class Bradley Manning has just been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Manning is alleged to have released many documents to the international whistleblower site Wikileaks, including the horrific “Collateral Murder” video. The military footage depicts United States soldiers in a helicopter callously and gleefully killing a group of unarmed Iraqi civilians and Reuters journalists.
The San Onofre nuclear power plant was shut down again this week, due to another radiation leak in one of its reactor’s steam generators. The amount of radioactive water that was released is said to be minimal, but specific details have not yet been released. Over 7 million people live within a hundred miles of the crumbling energy facility.
