News -- July 13, 2006

Israel bombards Beirut amid spiraling attacks - "Israel's warplanes bombed Beirut's international airport and its navy blockaded Lebanon's ports in a sharp escalation of a military campaign Thursday. Hezbollah guerrillas fired scores of rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel in the most intense bombardment in years."

Israel claims hundreds of hits in Lebanon - "Israel has hit hundreds of targets in Lebanon as part of its effort to force the release of two soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas, a top Israeli general said Thursday." -- That does seem a little disproportionate.

World leaders urge restraint after deadly Middle East flare-up - "World powers have pleaded for restraint to stop the fiercest Israeli-Lebanese clashes in a decade slipping into all-out war. US President George W. Bush blamed "terrorists who want to stop the advance of peace", while fellow UN Security Council members Russia and France condemned Israel's "disproportionate" use of force."

When Is a 14-Year-Old Girl a 'Woman'? - "Ever since the case of the raping and killing of an Iraqi and the alleged murder of three of her family members by U.S. troops went public, the age of the rape victim had been in dispute, ranging from about 15 to 25. Two days ago, Reuters and others news agencies produced proof that she was 14, based on a passport and identity card. Most news organizations then started calling her a girl -- but some persist in referring to her as a "woman.""

More Troops May Be Needed in Baghdad, U.S. General Says - "Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander in Iraq, said Wednesday that “terrorists and death squads” were responsible for the surge in sectarian killings here in recent weeks, and that there might be a need to move more American forces into the capital to prevent the deadly cycle from worsening."

Oil blows past record - "Oil surged past record highs and into $76 territory Thursday as worries over lower U.S. crude stocks were underlined by increased tension in the oil-rich Middle East and suspected explosions at a pipeline in OPEC exporter Nigeria." -- $100 is on the horizon.

An open letter from Ohio to the people of Mexico - "The patterns are much too familar to ignore. Those of us who saw first-hand how the U.S. presidential election of 2004 was stolen here in Ohio cannot avoid the conclusion that Mexico's presidential election is also on the brink of being stolen. Too much of what happened in Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004 is being repeated in Mexico 2006 to believe otherwise."

Justice Department Lawyer To Congress: ‘The President Is Always Right’ - "The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday heard testimony from Steven Bradbury, head of the Justice Department’s office of legal counsel. When questioned by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on whether the President’s interpretation of the Hamdan case was right or wrong, Bradbury replied, “The President is always right.”" -- Not from what I have seen?

Top 25 Censored Stories of 2006 -- Check out the list.

US Atlantic Fleet carrier in Pacific for first time in 17 years - "Military officials stressed the Enterprise's presence has nothing to do with North Korea's test-firing last week of a long-range missile into the Sea of Japan or other recent events." -- Yeah, right.

U.S. Senate votes for FEMA's demise - "The U.S. Senate has voted to abolish the embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency and replace it with a retooled new agency."

Vanuatu is world's happiest country: study - "The tiny South Pacific Ocean archipelago of Vanuatu is the happiest country on Earth, according to a study published measuring people's wellbeing and their impact on the environment. ... The Group of Eight industrial powers meet in Saint Petersburg this weekend but have not much to smile about, according to the index. Italy came out best in 66th place, ahead of Germany (81), Japan (95), Britain (108), Canada (111), France (129), the United States (150) and Russia, in lowly 172nd place.

Study: American dream slipping away - "The American dream is closer to a hallucinatory hope than a reachable reality, according to a new study presented at The Aspen Institute last week. With the cost of living rising on several fronts, the majority of Americans surveyed in the study "What Do American Voters Really Want in '06?" said they are not living the dream that the European settlers who first founded this country suggested could be realized through hard work, courage and a determination to improve one's life. ... The study says the consensus of Americans believe that neither the Democrats or the Republicans can satisfactorily address the "crisis," and despite six years of Republican control of the White House and Congress, there is no desire to give more control to the Democrats. ... "I think it is clear what the American people want. I think it is unclear given our political system of how we can achieve that goal," Schoen said."

Kindergarten to Grad School Loans Boost Bond Market - "Getting the money for a U.S. education, whether it's kindergarten or graduate school, increasingly depends on the bond market, where everyone from General Electric Co. to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is rushing to meet record demand for student loans."

Should Every American Adult Be Tested for HIV? - "The attendees were there to help kick off Washington's new push to encourage doctors to routinely screen everyone between the ages of 14 and 84 for the virus that causes AIDS."

Afterschools tap school records to get to know students - "Schools usually keep outsiders away from student records. Not in Louisville, Kentucky. With the blessing of students' parents, the Jefferson County public school system lets private afterschool centers tap directly into the school database to see grades, attendance, disciplinary problems and details of life at home."

US unveils emergency alert system for mobile phones, computers - "The US government unveiled a communications system that in case of emergency should soon allow it to send SMS alerts to Americans' mobile phones and computers."

'Black boxes' in cars raise concerns about privacy - "The black boxes, formally called "event data recorders" (EDRs), are raising concerns among consumer and privacy rights groups about who can access the collected information and how that information can be used. It's a big issue because the black boxes, which are small enough to hold in your hand, have been installed in an estimated 40 million cars since the mid-1990s."

FCC combing air tapes for dirty words - ""It looks like they want to end live broadcast TV," said one executive, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. "We already know that they aren't afraid to go after news."" -- Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

Scientology 'South Park' back on Comedy Central - ""We've been through a trifecta of annoyances," Stone said. "The 'Bloody Mary' episode angered Catholics. And we had a big fight when we wanted to show Muhammad. ... The mantra has always been everything is fair game." But the likening of the "Bloody Mary" episode to the Scientology and Islam programs is not sitting well with the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. ... "Putting 'Bloody Mary' in the same category with 'Trapped in the Closet' and 'Cartoon Wars' forces a moral equivalency that does not exist. Indeed, Scientologists are ridiculed, Muslims are appeased, and Catholic holy figures are depicted in the most degrading of fashions. It is obvious that the Catholic Church bears the brunt of Comedy Central's scorn.""

'Bionic man' can control robotic arm with his mind - "A man paralysed from the neck down has shown he can open email, control a TV and move objects with a robotic arm by thought alone."

Morning sickness helps you and your baby, mothers told - "The misery experienced by two thirds of pregnant women in Europe is nature's way of protecting them from food-borne illness and also shielding the foetus from chemicals that can deform their organs."

Report: MySpace top single U.S. Web site - "According to Internet traffic measurement firm Hitwise, News Corp.'s MySpace.com accounted for 4.46 percent of all U.S. Internet visits for the week ending July 8, pushing it past Yahoo Mail for the first time and outpacing the home pages for Yahoo, Google and Microsoft's MSN Hotmail."

'Imitation IPod' Invades Radio - "In the two years since Jack FM radio made its debut in the United States, the majority of U.S. radio stations programming the "imitation iPod" format have seen healthy, sustained gains in listeners. The format is a rare bright spot for the major radio broadcast chains, which are fast hemorrhaging listeners to real iPods and satellite radio."

'Ferocious fossils' found in Australia - "Before there were cuddly koalas, hoards of flesh-eating kangaroos, "demon ducks," and marsupial lions roamed Australia's Outback, according to recent fossil discoveries by paleontologists. ... A saber-toothed kangaroo and a giant 10-foot-tall, 881-pound bird scientists nicknamed the "demon duck of doom" were among the largely unknown species uncovered in the dig, Archer told reporters Wednesday. ... "They are that bizarre. There are literally, probably in the order of about 500 extinct creatures in these rocks," he said."




Quote of the Day
"Contrary to what the general public believes, the world is more dangerous today than it has been for the last 50 years..."
~ Joseph de Courcy, Editor-in-Chief, Jane's Intelligence Digest