BREVITAS

Dr. Philip Coyle III, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense and Director of Operational Test and Evaluation in the Department of Defense from 1994-2001, the longest-serving Director in the 20-year history of that office. . . oversaw the testing and evaluation of over 200 defense acquisition systems and is currently the Senior Advisor to the Center for Defense Information. Coyle testified [at House hearings] that there's no operational criteria whatsoever established to determine if [a missile defense] system is successful; the White House, Pentagon and Missile Defense Agency give misleading information about the performance and perceived threat; the tests that have been done don't demonstrate effectiveness against the most basic decoys and countermeasures or realistic operating conditions; the costs are "open-ended and there is no end in sight"; and the system undermines diplomacy as well as arms control and non-proliferation objectives. "Decoys and countermeasures are the Achilles Heel of missile defense," Coyle said. "If an enemy uses decoys and countermeasures, missile defense is like shooting a hole-in-one when the hole is going 17,000 mph and the green is covered with black circles the same size as the hole. The defender doesn't know which target to aim for." - Nation

Four credit card victims were ordered to sign waivers allowing their creditors to release their private financial records to the public before they could testify before the House Financial Services Committee. The consumers had flown in from across the country to share their stories at a hearing on the Credit Card Bill of Rights, but credit card companies insisted-and Republicans and Democrats agreed-that it would only be fair to release documents like credit scores and a list of recent purchases in order to rebut the consumer's claims. "Fair is fair," Congressman Spencer Bauchus (R-AL) barked, as he defended the absurd request. Ultimately, the consumers didn't testify, but one invitee, Steven Autrey, released his prepared statement, which slams creditors for their abusive and predatory business practices - Consumerist

Daniel Strachman, a former hedge fund consultant and author of several books including "The Fundamentals of Hedge Fund Management," was skeptical of raising taxes on hedge fund managers, saying they should be rewarded for taking huge risks. Most managers have their own money in their funds and suffer massive losses when their investments go bad. "It's clear somebody has to win and somebody has to lose," he said. "It's not pretty at all because people say, 'Oh my God. Look how much money these guys are making while people are losing their homes and are complaining about the cost of eggs and sugar.' But so what? We don't live in a society that is pretty all the time. That's why it's capitalism." - Wash Post

Ed Rendell, Mayor of Philadelphia, April 1997 -I would like to thank the Nation of Islam here in Philadelphia, to thank you for what you stand for and what you stand for all the good it does to so many people in Philadelphia. And if there is anybody out here. . . who doesn't know, this is a faith that has as its principles, the family. This is a faith that doesn't just talk about family values, it lives family values. This is a faith where men respect their women and children and they manifest that faith by staying in the home with them. This is a faith that doesn't just talk about being against drugs but is out there every single day and night fighting against drugs. This is a faith that just doesn't talk about the value of education, it imbues in their children and schools that education is the way to opportunity.

VA CONCEALED VET SUICIDE DATA

BUSH REGIME INSISTS TRAVEL INDUSTRY TAKE FINGERPRINTS OF FOREIGNERS

SIGNIFICANT MINORITY LOSING GROUND IN LIFE EXPECTANCY

A COLLECTION OF STUPID QUOTES THAT HELPED GET US INTO THE IRAQ WAR

BRITAIN TURNS INFO FROM ITS TRAFFIC SPY CAMS OVER TO U.S.

WHAT THE CANDIDATES WILL LOOK LIKE IN FOUR YEARS