Vatican gives Harry Potter film two thumbs up

The next Harry Potter film has yet to be released but it has already won praise from one of the hardest critics of the boy wizard.

The Vatican newspaper announced Monday that it approves of the adaptation of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

In the newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican gave the film two thumbs up for its treatment of adolescent love and stated it was the best adaptation yet. The newspaper also said that the Potter film achieved the "correct balance" and helped deliver the message that good prevails over all evil.

In the past, the Vatican condemned the Harry Potter books and said the character was the "wrong kind of hero." The church, along with religious groups, also attacked the wizard novels for promoting witchcraft and felt they were a threat to young children. CONTINUE

'I'm dying...my boyfriend stabbed me'

Police Woman's Son in Court Over Murder of White Girlfriend

Murder trial hears of Hollyoaks model Amy Leigh Barnes's desperate 999 call

A model made a desperate 999 call identifying her killer as she lay dying of knife wounds, a court was told.

Amy Leigh Barnes gasped: 'I'm dying - he's stabbed me to death,' a jury was told. When the operator asked who had stabbed her, she allegedly replied: 'My boyfriend.'

Miss Barnes, 19, was found lying in a pool of blood by her father shortly afterwards.

She had been stabbed several times and had a 4in cut across her face. She died later that day.

Yesterday her boyfriend Ricardo Morrison, 21, went on trial accused of murder. Alongside him in the dock was his mother, Melda Wilks, 49, a policewoman who is accused of assisting her son by washing his clothes. CONTINUE

Soldier balks at deploying; says Obama isn’t president

Says he shouldn’t have to go to Afghanistan because Obama is not a U.S. citizen

U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, set to deploy to Afghanistan, says he shouldn’t have to go.

His reason?

Barack Obama was never eligible to be president because he wasn’t born in the United States.

Cook’s lawyer, Orly Taitz, who has also challenged the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency in other courts, filed a request last week in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order and status as a conscientious objector for his client.

In the 20-page document — filed July 8 with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia — the California-based Taitz asks the court to consider granting his client’s request based upon Cook’s belief that Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Cook further states he “would be acting in violation of international law by engaging in military actions outside the United States under this President’s command. ... simultaneously subjecting himself to possible prosecution as a war criminal by the faithful execution of these duties.”

Cook, a reservist, received the orders mobilizing him to active duty on June 9.

According to this document, which accompanies Cook’s July 8 application for a temporary restraining order, he has been ordered to report to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday. From there, the Florida resident would go to Fort Benning before deploying overseas.

Documents show Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961, two years after it became a state.

A hearing to discuss Cook’s requests will take place in federal court here Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

Meth: Tens of Thousands of Contaminated Residences in the United States

‘Meth lab home problem’ sickens new owners Houses with a criminal past are causing serious illnesses and financial ruin

Federal data on meth lab seizures suggest that there are tens of thousands of contaminated residences in the United States. The victims include low-income elderly people whose homes are surreptitiously used by relatives or in-laws to make meth, and landlords whose tenants leave them with a toxic mess.

Some states have tried to fix the problem by requiring cleanup and, at the time of sale, disclosure of the house’s history. But the high cost of cleaning — $5,000 to $100,000, depending on the size of the home, the stringency of the requirements and the degree of contamination — has left hundreds of properties vacant and quarantined, particularly in Western and Southern states afflicted with meth use.

“The meth lab home problem is only going to grow,” said Dawn Turner, who started a Web site, www.methlabhomes.com , after her son lost thousands of dollars when he bought a foreclosed home in Sweetwater, Tenn., that turned out to be contaminated. Because less is known about the history of foreclosed houses, Ms. Turner said, “as foreclosures rise, so will the number of new meth lab home owners.” CONTINUE

Massive Squid Washes Up on Beach in Quake Aftermath

It was an odd start to the morning in La Jolla. First residents were jolted out of bed at 7.34 a.m. by a 4.0 magnitude earthquake that was centered 19 miles out to sea.

“I was having coffee up on the balcony and I felt it shaking,” Kate Lutkemeier said.

She wasn’t the only one.

“I heard my doors and windows rattling, thinking that somebody was trying to get in my front door actually,” La Jolla resident Mary Skeen said.

The quake was felt all over the county, which isn’t uncommon in San Diego -- but what happened just minutes later was a little fishy.

“We just got here about 15 minutes ago and Lilly, what did you see on the beach?” John Feher asked his little daughter. “Squid, squid, squid, squid, squid.” she replied.

Dozens of dazed Humboldt squid which were roughly three-to-four feet long and weighed close to 40 pounds were flapping around on La Jolla Shores beach. CONTINUE

Severe drought in Northwestern Wisconsin has farmers concerned

By Melissa Ganje & photojournalist Carrie Kohlmeier, FOX 21 News

BAYFIELD COUNTY - Northwestern Wisconsin is in a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. With year 3 of unusually dry weather, this has farmer's fields thirsting for rain as they worry about feeding their cattle this winter.

Bayfield County farmers need moisture and they need it now. "It's the driest I've seen in my life. It's all crunchy; everything is crunchy and turning brown," said hobby farmer Steve Stipetich. Stipetich says every crop is at risk; from grain, to hay and corn. "We are desperately in need of rain right now." When we spoke with Stipetich in May, his oat field was bone dry and barren.

Now, with little to no rain since Spring, it may be a loss. "Unless we get rain, the kernels won't develop and their won't be any grain to harvest so all you'll end up with is straw," said Stipetich. And he uses that grain to feed his cattle along with his hay crop which is also suffering. His 20 acre hayfield would normally produce 1,000 bales of hay in 1st crop, now Stipetich says he'll only get 250 and he doesn't expect a 2nd crop. "There certainly isn't much here but whatever it is, you are happy to get, take what there is and hope for rain to follow." Continue

Alleged U.S. White Supremacist Arrested In Israel

Mayon, 32, of Steelton, Pa., was arrested in Tel Aviv on Monday by an Israeli law enforcement unit that searches for illegal migrants.

When Micky Mayon fled the United States, where he faced firearms charges, the alleged member of an anti-Semitic white supremacist group chose what he might have seen as a perfect hideout -- the Jewish state.

Mayon, 32, of Steelton, Pa., was arrested in Tel Aviv on Monday by an Israeli law enforcement unit that searches for illegal migrants. He had been on the run for two years. Continue

Reckless Endangering , Steelton , PA
Public Drunkeness , Steelton , PA

more

Pennsylvania

September 10 2008

Police: White Power Activist Blows Up Judge's Car

Police in Steelton, Pa. say Micky Mayon is a white power advocate with an incendiary personality. Cops say that after Mayon torched a judge's car, he became one of Steelton's most wanted criminals.
>>The Full Story

Holder blasted from all sides - Cheney getting 'bum rap'

Holder faces avalanche of work, and scrutiny Attorney general pressured from left, right after string of policy decisions

WASHINGTON - July cannot be counted as the warmest of months for Eric H. Holder Jr. The attorney general clashed with Congress over national security policy, fielded complaints from federal judges upset with bungled evidence and, in the most painful indignity, cracked his tooth.

Then came a bombshell three days ago that has sent Washington political circles reeling: Holder's inclination to appoint a prosecutor to examine whether interrogators tortured terrorism suspects during the Bush years. The disclosure has exposed him to new scrutiny even among colleagues in the Obama administration, where views about unearthing divisive episodes from the past are hardly uniform. Continue

Cheney getting 'bum rap' on CIA program, ex-officials say

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney is getting a "bum rap" over reports that he ordered the CIA to withhold information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress, two former U.S. intelligence officials told CNN Monday.

According to both officials, any intelligence program of "great sensitivity" is first approved by the White House after a series of meetings. In any such situation, once the administration decides to pursue a covert program, there is discussion on whether Congress needs to be briefed, the officials said. Continue

Fears of swine flu crisis grow as six-year-old girl and doctor die

Fears that a swine flu crisis is escalating in Britain grew as the virus claimed the lives of a seemingly healthy six year-old girl and a family doctor.

Swine flu victim Chloe Buckley
Dr Michael Day who died of swine flu

Chloe Buckley, from West Drayton, Middlesex, was described as "perfectly healthy" in the days before she first started feeling ill.

She saw her GP last Wednesday complaining of flu-like symptoms and died the following day.
On Saturday, Dr Michael Day, 64, from Bedfordshire, also died after contracting swine flu.

Tests have proved that both contracted the H1N1 virus - or swine flu - and post mortem examinations are now being carried out to determine the exact cause of death.

If they are found to have died of swine flu, rather than other underlying causes, it will take the number of deaths in healthy patients to three, after another person died on Friday.

Speaking after news of Chloe's death, Simon Tanner, regional director of public health for London, warned: "The Health Protection Agency is now seeing large numbers of people with the virus. This will probably not be the last death."

Nearly 10,000 Britons have been confirmed with swine flu but hundreds of thousands more are feared to have the virus. It has been linked to 17 deaths. CONTINUE

Baghdad; "Look at this land. There is no water,"

"Look at this land. There is no water," farmer Ashur Mohamed Ahmood said last Thursday as he checked his farm in Latifiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq.

Iraq drought continues, as sandstorms worsen

Dams in Turkey, Syria also blamed for low water levels, devastated farms

BAGHDAD - Below-average rainfall and insufficient water in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers have left Iraq bone dry for a second straight year, wrecking swaths of farm land, threatening drinking water supplies and intensifying fierce sandstorms that have coated the country in brown dust.

The drought has dealt a harsh blow to hopes that reductions in sectarian violence over the last year would fuel an economic recovery. Instead, the government's budget suffered a double-hit: Lower than expected oil prices have crimped revenues and the scarcity of water will force Iraq to spend money to import most of the crops, especially wheat and rice, to meet domestic demand.

"Look at this land. There is no water," said Ashur Mohamed Ahmood, slipping the tip of his black cane into deep cracks in his parched field. He cautioned children not to run, fearing their small bare feet would get stuck in the crevices crisscrossing the farm on the outskirts of Baghdad. CONTINUE

Sotomayer Orders "Castration of all White Males"

“I want to be perfectly clear about this next comment so that there is no mistaking my words to mean something other than what they plainly say: the time has come to end white male oppression by castrating every white male until they are no longer dominant in Western culture. That means forcible removal of their testicles. I realize the brutality of my comment, and I don’t know how to say it more clearly.”

- Sonia Sotomayor in a 2004

WASHINGTON – President Obama said that comments by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor in a 2004 speech in which she called for the “castration of all white males until they are no longer dominant,” have been “taken out of context” by right wing ideologues.

In the speech delivered to the San Juan chapter of NOW, Sotomayor said, “I want to be perfectly clear about this next comment so that there is no mistaking my words to mean something other than what they plainly say: the time has come to end white male oppression by castrating every white male until they are no longer dominant in Western culture. That means forcible removal of their testicles. I realize the brutality of my comment, and I don’t know how to say it more clearly.”

It was revealed that Sotomayor used precisely the same language in seven other speeches. CONTINUE

Swine Flu Resembles Feared 1918 Pandemic Killing 100 Million

New H1N1 strain more likely to cause pneumonia than regular flu viruses

Newspaper articles during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.

WASHINGTON - The new H1N1 influenza virus bears a disturbing resemblance to the virus strain that caused the 1918 flu pandemic, with a greater ability to infect the lungs than common seasonal flu viruses, researchers reported on Monday.

Tests in several animals confirmed other studies that have shown the new swine flu strain can spread beyond the upper respiratory tract to go deep into the lungs — making it more likely to cause pneumonia, the international team said.

In addition, they found that people who survived the 1918 pandemic seem to have extra immune protection against the virus, again confirming the work of other researchers.

"When we conducted the experiments in ferrets and monkeys, the seasonal virus did not replicate in the lungs," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin, who led the study.

The H1N1 virus replicates significantly better in the lungs."

The new swine flu virus has caused the first pandemic of the 21st century, infecting more than a million people, according to estimates, and killing at least 500. The World Health Organization says it is causing mostly moderate disease but Kawaoka said that does not mean it is like seasonal flu.

"There is a misunderstanding about this virus," he said in a statement. "There is clear evidence the virus is different than seasonal influenza."

Writing in the journal Nature, Kawaoka and colleagues noted that the ability to infect the lungs is a characteristic of other pandemic viruses, especially the 1918 virus, which is estimated to have killed between 40 million and 100 million people. CONTINUE

Pa. swim club accused of racism to ask negro kids back

Proverbs 5:16-17

Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.


PHILADELPHIA – A private suburban swim club accused of racism after it canceled the memberships of dozens of minority children says it will seek a meeting with the kids' camps to work out an agreement for them to return.

Amy Goldman, a member of The Valley Club, said those able to attend a hastily called meeting Sunday afternoon voted unanimously in support of reinstating the memberships of the Creative Steps day camp and two other camps as long as safety issues, times and terms can be agreed upon.

The Creative Steps camp had arranged for 65 mostly black and Hispanic children to swim each Monday afternoon at the gated Huntingdon Valley club, which is on a leafy hillside in a village straddling two overwhelmingly white townships. But after the group arrived June 29, camp director Alethea Wright said, several children reported hearing racial comments and some swim club members pulled their children out of the pool.

The camp's $1,950 was refunded a few days later. CONTINUE

Obama Says Slavery's Past Should Be Taught in United States

President Obama says slavery is a terrible part of the United States' history and should be taught in a way that connects that past cruelty to current events, such as the genocide in Darfur. WASHINGTON -- President Obama says slavery is a terrible part of the United States' history and should be taught in a way that connects that past cruelty to current events, such as the genocide in Darfur.

During an interview with CNN while traveling in Ghana, Obama compared the legacy of slavery to the history of the Holocaust. He said both are horrible historical points that cannot be ignored and that their lessons must not be forgotten.

"I think it's important that the way we think about it and the way it's taught is not one in which there's simply a victim and a victimizer. And that's the end of the story," Obama said at Cape Coast Castle, a West African site where traders once shipped slaves to the New World.

Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their daughters visited the slave trading post on Saturday at the end of a trip that took them to Russia, Italy and Ghana. It was the first trip to sub-Saharan Africa for America's first black president.

"I think the way it has to be thought about, the reason it's relevant, is because whether it's what's happening in Darfur or what's happening in the Congo or what's happening in too many places around the world, you know, the capacity for cruelty still exists," Obama said.

Obama was interviewed Saturday for CNN's "Anderson Cooper: 360." A brief excerpt was released on Sunday.

Goldman Sachs Likely to Post Huge Profits, Analysts Say

Most of Wall Street, and America, is still waiting for an economic recovery.
Then there is Goldman Sachs.

Specialists in New York in April traded Goldman shares, which have soared 68 percent this year.

Up and down Wall Street, analysts and traders are buzzing that Goldman, which only recently paid back its government bailout money, will report blowout profits from trading on Tuesday.

Analysts predict the bank earned a profit of more than $2 billion in the March-June period, because of its trading prowess across world markets. If they are right, the bank’s rivals will once again be left to wonder exactly how Goldman, long the envy of Wall Street, could have rebounded so drastically only months after the nation’s financial industry was shaken to its foundations.

The obsessive speculation has already begun, along with banter about how Goldman’s rapid return to minting money will be perceived by lawmakers and taxpayers who aided Goldman with a multibillion-dollar cushion last fall. CONTINUE

El Niño is back, bringing droughts, floods, crop failures and social unrest

A parched paddy field, blamed on Rl Nino, in Merlebau village near Kota Marudu on the Malaysian eastern state of Sabah in Borneo island

El Niño, the warming of the Pacific Ocean that creates chaos in global weather patterns, is on its way back, threatening droughts, floods, crop failure and social unrest.

According to scientists at America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a new bout of El Niño is under way as the surface of tropical waters across the eastern Pacific has warmed roughly 1C (1.8F) above normal and is still rising.

Further down, some 150 meters (500ft) below the surface, the waters are heating up — by around 4C (7.2F).

These indications have been emerging for about the past month from satellite pictures and an array of robotic buoys strung out across the Pacific. “The persistently warm sea temperatures are important indicators of an El Niño,” Mike Halpert, of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Centre, said. CONTINUE

Herds culled as drought continues in parts of Texas

LUBBOCK – The withering drought that continues to grip parts of Texas is forcing ranchers to liquidate their herds and farmers to fear for their crops.

And that's bad news for Texas, the nation's No. 2 agriculture state behind California.

Ranchers are sending much more cattle to sale barns, which has driven prices down. There's little pastureland to graze on, and the cost to ship hay in from out of state is high – as is the price of supplemental feed.

Three years ago in a drought that spanned more than a year, Texas lost $4.1 billion, a crop and livestock record for a single year.

"It could easily be that" again, said Travis Miller, a drought specialist with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

The parched parts of the state are south of a line from Del Rio to Waco to Houston, while according to a U.S. Drought Monitor map released last week, much of West Texas is faring well. CONTINUE

Obama Urges Homeless and Jobless Americans to be Patient

Homeless and jobless Americans have a new reason to worry tonight: it is beginning to look like President Barack Obama might be slightly defensive over the results of his stimulus package. On behalf of all homeless and jobless Americans I just want to reach out and let President Obama know that he should just calm down and be patient.

The fact that ordinary Americans who had nothing to do with creating the current financial catastrophe are being wiped out in their millions should be no reason for the President of the United States to rethink his policies or the structure and policy of his stimulus package. Now is the time for you to dig in and defend your stimulus package, no matter what the facts on the ground suggest. Now would probably be a good time for you to build a bubble and climb in, sealing the entrance/exit behind you.

The important thing here, Mr. President, is for you to not get bogged down in worrying about the toll this is taking on the very people who helped get you elected in hopes of actually seeing some change and some--well--hope. What you need to focus on is the political aspects of this problem and who is to blame. George W. Bush is to blame, so that pretty much absolves you of any responsibility to help ordinary Americans, doesn't it?

The real holocaust was a Christian Holocaust by Jews of sixty-six million, mostly Christians."

THE SECRET HOLOCAUST

Eustace Mullins

The devastation of civilization to date by the rapacious hordes of Godless Communism, as well as their planned annihilation of all non-Jewish societies and political organizations, began to ravage the world in the nineteenth century. It has resulted in incredible suffering and death for many millions of Christian victims in many parts of the world.

Yet as these Christian victims lie in their graves, unmourned and unknown, a new class of international citizens, (the creators of Marxist terrorism), profess to be the only "victims" who have endured suffering in the past one hundred and fifty years. They command the world to weep for them, because they control the world.
These harbingers of terror claim to be "refugees", since they had no nation of their own, but infested the civilized societies in every part of the world for two thousand years, bringing with them, in every instance, disease and death.

CONTINUE STORY HERE

More U.S.Families Are Becoming Homeless

In Fresno, Calif., which has one of the country's highest concentrations of poverty, homeless encampments have formed.

Louis Gill doesn't like to turn anyone away. The director of the Bakersfield Homeless Center in California has taken to laying out cots and mattresses between the shelter's 174 registered beds to cope with the rush of homeless families brought to his doors by the financial crisis.

"Last year, we saw a 34 percent increase in homeless families and a 24 percent increase in homeless children," he said. "Why do we go beyond capacity? Because in a just society, a child should not have to sleep outside or in a car."

Gill is a frontline witness to the change in the makeup of the country's homeless. The stereotype of a homeless person as a single man no longer applies. A resident of the Bakersfield center is far more likely to be a young mother with a "good, solid job and a mortgage that she just couldn't pay." CONTINUE

Money and Climate Bill only thing that will save the Earth

Top US Senator Warns Of Global Catastrophe If Climate Bill Not Passed

Zephaniah 1:18
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of YAHWEH's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Boxer faces 'challenge of a lifetime' on climate change billWASHINGTON — If the Senate doesn't pass a bill to cut global warming, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer says, there will be dire results: droughts, floods, fires, loss of species, damage to agriculture, worsening air pollution and more.

She says there's a huge upside, however, if the Senate does act: millions of clean-energy jobs, reduced reliance on foreign oil and less pollution for the nation's children.

Boxer is engaged in her biggest sales job ever. The stakes couldn't be higher as she faces one of the toughest high-profile acts of her lengthy career: getting Congress to sign off on historic legislation to lower greenhouse-gas emissions.

"For Barbara Boxer , it's both the opportunity and a challenge of a lifetime," said Frank O'Donnell , the president of Clean Air Watch .

As the Senate's top-ranked environmentalist, Boxer heads the influential committee that began hearings on the issue this week. She's aiming to get her panel to pass a bill by the end of September. For months now, she's been meeting with senators one on one and hosting a group of about 30 senators for "Tuesday at 12" meetings to develop a strategy to win 60 votes, enough to overcome a Republican filibuster. CONTINUE

The economic crisis forcing wise Latinos to leave U.S.

Outlaws in the United States, strangers at home

Downturn strands illegal Latino immigrants between cultures

Ezekiel 7:21
And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey,
and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.

Psalm 18:45

Foreigners will lose heart, and they will fade away
when they come trembling out of their close places.

Recession-driven 'self-deport' movement
Immigrants jump back and forth across borders all the time, and the recession-driven movement from the United States to points south is not yet registering as a mass exodus. But it is increasingly easy to find workers who have decided that they are better off weathering the downturn in their ancestral homelands.

In Washington, the Guatemalan Embassy reports a substantial uptick in the number of nationals walking in to apply for travel documents. At U.S. airports, airline agents and government officials describe increased winking and nodding as illegal immigrants "self-deport" with no hassle from authorities.

"When somebody is already showing that they intend to depart the United States, it doesn't serve any interest for us to serve them a notice to appear before an immigration court," said Lloyd Easterling, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "That isn't good stewardship of tax dollars." CONTINUE

Canadian Doctor: H1N1 Vaccination a Eugenics Weapon for Mass Extermination

“I am emerging from a long silence on the subject of vaccination, because I feel that, this time, the stakes involved are huge. The consequences may spread much further than anticipated,” writes Lanctôt, who believes the A(H1N1) virus will be used in a pandemic concocted and orchestrated by the WHO, an international organization that serves military, political and industrial interests.

Swine Flu 1976 & Propaganda

Lanctôt warns that the elite and their minions will introduce a compulsory vaccination that will contain a deadly virus and this will be used specifically as a eugenics weapon for “massive and targeted reduction of the world population.” Moreover, a pandemic will also be used to further establish martial law and a police state, according to Lanctôt, and activate concentration camps “built to accommodate the rebellious” and eventually transfer power from all nations to a single United Nations government and thus fulfill the sinister plans of the New World Order. CONTINUE

Wise Latina Sotomayor Puts on Best Face, but Who Is She?

The search for who she really is escalates this week when she faces critics and supporters alike in the very public forum of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings that will be beamed across the nation on television.

Romans 3:13
"Their throat is an open grave,
with their tongues they keep deceiving,
the poison of vipers is on their lips."

NEW YORK -- For weeks, Sonya Sotomayor has put on her best face, displaying a pleasant disposition that has somewhat fended off critics of her nomination to become the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

A federal judge the past 17 years, 11 of them on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, Sotomayor escaped the rough South Bonx streets of her childhood cheerfully immersed in Nancy Drew books and Perry Mason episodes on TV.

In the seven weeks since President Obama nominated her, Sotomayor has faced a barrage of questions about her past with no public avenues to respond, aside from carefully scripted White House statements about her rise from the housing project where her Puerto Rican parents relocated after World War II, and comments from friends and colleagues. CONTINUE

NHS tells school children of their "right" to "an orgasm a day"

NHS guidance is advising school pupils that they have a "right" to an enjoyable sex life and that regular sex can be good for their cardiovascular health.

The advice appears in leaflets circulated to parents, teachers and youth workers and is meant to update sex education by telling students about the benefits of enjoyable sex.

The authors of the guidance say that for too long, experts have concentrated on the need for "safe sex" and committed relationships while ignoring the principle reason that many people have sex.

Entitled Pleasure, the leaflet has been drawn up by NHS Sheffield, but it also being circulated outside the city.

The leaflet carries the slogan "an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away". It also says: "Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes' physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?"

Steve Slack, the director of the Centre for HIV and Sexual Health at NHS Sheffield, who is one of the leaflet's authors, says that instead of promoting teenage sex, it could encourage young people to delay losing their virginity until they are certain they will enjoy the experience.

Mr Slack believes that if teenagers are fully informed about sex and are making their decisions of their own will in a loving relationship, they have an equal right as an adult to an enjoyable sex life.

Anthony Seldon, the headmaster of Wellington College, which recently introduced classes in emotional wellbeing, said the leaflets were "deplorable".

Israel cell phone ad that has Facebook group crying 'racist'

A Facebook group is trying to get Israel's leading cell phone operator, Cellcom, to pull a new TV commercial showing Israeli soldiers near the West Bank separation fence, arguing that the advert is "racist."

The commercial, produced by the Israeli branch of international advertising powerhouse McCann Erickson, shows IDF soldiers on patrol along the separation fence who stop their jeep when it is hit by a soccer ball from the Palestinian side of the fence.
Story HERE

White extremists joining US army to get training, expert warns

"Hate groups are on the rise in the United States,

The 'perfect storm' is brewing for the
buildup of these hate groups."

WASHINGTON - A white supremacist's recent shooting attack at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum was part of a surge in extremist activity nationwide, according to Morris Dees.

White supremacist groups are increasingly relying on US military training, Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which works to track and shut down hate groups across America, said on Friday.

Speaking at a luncheon at the National Press Club, he discussed the findings of a report the Law Center released that day.

"Large numbers of potentially violent neo-Nazi skinheads and others are now learning the art of warfare in the United States military," Dees said.

Along with the report, the Law Center sent Congress a letter urging the investigation of how racist organizations are "infiltrating" the military.

Dees identified two ways in which hate groups take advantage of military training. Some extremists enter the armed forces to learn skills they will later take back to their groups, while in other instances, these groups work to recruit frustrated veterans. CONTINUE

The planet's future: Climate change 'will cause civilisation to collapse'

Authoritative new study sets out a grim vision of shortages and violence – but amid all the gloom, there is some hope too

Mark 13:20
If YAHWEH had not cut short those days, no one would survive.
But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.

The report praises the web, which it singles out as 'the most powerful force for globalisation, democratisation, economic growth, and education in history'

An effort on the scale of the Apollo mission that sent men to the Moon is needed if humanity is to have a fighting chance of surviving the ravages of climate change. The stakes are high, as, without sustainable growth, "billions of people will be condemned to poverty and much of civilisation will collapse".

This is the stark warning from the biggest single report to look at the future of the planet – obtained by The Independent on Sunday ahead of its official publication next month. Backed by a diverse range of leading organisations such as Unesco, the World Bank, the US army and the Rockefeller Foundation, the 2009 State of the Future report runs to 6,700 pages and draws on contributions from 2,700 experts around the globe. Its findings are described by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the UN, as providing "invaluable insights into the future for the United Nations, its member states, and civil society".

The impact of the global recession is a key theme, with researchers warning that global clean energy, food availability, poverty and the growth of democracy around the world are at "risk of getting worse due to the recession". The report adds: "Too many greedy and deceitful decisions led to a world recession and demonstrated the international interdependence of economics and ethics." CONTINUE

Obama: best firearms salesmen in American history

Gun sales soar amid fears of Barack Obama weapons ban
President Barack Obama may never have fired a gun but he is turning out to be one of the best firearms salesmen in American history.

CONTINUE

Britain preparing to vaccinate entire population against swine flu

Everyone will get vaccine against swine flu

The NHS is preparing to vaccinate the entire population against swine flu after the disease claimed the life of its first healthy British patient.

A new vaccine is expected to arrive in Britain in the next few weeks and could be fast-tracked through regulatory approval in five days.

As many as 20m people could be inoculated this year. Ministers have secured up to 90m doses, and the rest of the population is likely to be offered vaccinations next year.

A man from Essex was confirmed on Friday as the first person without underlying health problems to have died from the virus. The health department said most people with the virus had only mild symptoms.

Peter Holden, the British Medical Association’s lead negotiator on swine flu, said GPs’ surgeries were ready for one of the biggest vaccination campaigns in almost 50 years.

“If this virus does [mutate], it can get a lot more nasty, and the idea is to give people immunity. But the sheer logistics of dealing with 60m people can’t be underestimated,” he said.

The health department said a vaccination programme would be drawn up based on expert advice.

Hundreds of Iranian-Americans rally at White House

Mansoureh Mojahedpoor holds a photo of her son, Mojtaba Mojahedpoor, who she says was a Tehran University student killed by the current Iranian regime in 1982. She was part of a demonstration against the Iranian government in front of the U.S. Capitol on Saturday.

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of protesters, many of them Iranian-Americans, marched from Capitol Hill to the White House on Saturday, most holding Iranian flags and chanting demands for the U.S. to take more action after Iran's disputed election.

After marching through several blocks of downtown Washington, more than 200 people rallied in front of the White House. They shouted demands for President Barack Obama and leaders of other countries to "reject the sham elections, impose complete sanctions."

They also shouted "death to Ahmadinejad," referring to the Iranian president whose disputed June 12 re-election prompted days of street protests in Iran. Some carried pictures of Neda Agha Soltan, a young woman who bled to death in a Tehran street. She became a symbol of the postelection protest movement after videos of her death by gunfire were posted online. CONTINUE

Jew Cheney Caught Sneaking Around and Lying With CIA Project

Cheney linked to concealment of CIA project

Former vice president told agency to hide it from Congress,
2 sources say

Number One source is YAHWEH the Christ as He said these jews are liars, thieves and murders, among other things.

CIA Director Leon Panetta and Former Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

The report that Mr. Cheney was behind the decision to conceal the still-unidentified program from Congress deepened the mystery surrounding it, suggesting that the Bush administration had put a high priority on the program and its secrecy.

Mr. Panetta, who ended the program when he first learned of its existence from subordinates on June 23, briefed the two intelligence committees about it in separate closed sessions the next day.

Efforts to reach Mr. Cheney through relatives and associates were unsuccessful.

The question of how completely the C.I.A. informed Congress about sensitive programs has been hotly disputed by Democrats and Republicans since May, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the agency of failing to reveal in 2002 that it was waterboarding a terrorism suspect, a claim Mr. Panetta rejected.

Some leeway on disclosure CONTINUE

Potato famine disease striking home gardens in U.S.

The destructive disease can spread rapidly in cooler, moist weather,
infecting an entire field within days.

Leaf lesions due to late blight.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Late blight, which caused the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and 1850s, is killing potato and tomato plants in home gardens from Maine to Ohio and threatening commercial and organic farms, U.S. plant scientists said on Friday.

"Late blight has never occurred this early and this widespread in the United States," said Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist at Cornell University's extension center in Riverhead, New York.

She said the fungal disease, spread by spores carried in the air, has made its way into the garden centers of large retail chains in the Northeastern United States.

"Wal-mart, Home Depot, Sears, Kmart and Lowe's are some of the stores the plants have been seen in," McGrath said in a telephone interview.

The disease, known officially as Phytophthora infestans, causes large mold-ringed olive-green or brown spots on plant leaves, blackened stems, and can quickly wipe out weeks of tender care in a home garden.

McGrath said in her 21 years of research, she has only seen five outbreaks in the United States. The destructive disease can spread rapidly in cooler, moist weather, infecting an entire field within days. CONTINUE

Boston Zoo May Close, Euthanize Animals: Out of Money

Franklin Park Zoo may have to close
Patrick budget cuts also threaten Stone Zoo
Some animals might have to be euthanized

Visitors watched a male lion at the Franklin Park Zoo last August. Deep cuts in the state budget may force the Boston institution to shut its doors, zoo officials said yesterday.

Franklin Park Zoo, a Boston institution that has drawn generations of city and suburban families, may be forced to close its doors and possibly euthanize some of its animals as a result of the deep budget cuts imposed by Governor Deval Patrick, zoo officials said yesterday.

Without more state funding, those zoo officials said, they will run out of money by October and have to close both the Franklin Park Zoo and its smaller counterpart, Stone Zoo in Stoneham. The zoo would lay off most of its 165 employees and attempt to find new homes for more than 1,000 animals, the officials said.

The zoo officials, in a written statement that echoed a letter sent earlier to legislative leaders, said they would be unlikely to find homes for at least 20 percent of the animals, “requiring either destroying them or the care of the animals in perpetuity.’’

The zoos, which are both run by Zoo New England and attracted nearly 570,000 visitors over the past year, are operated through a public-private partnership funded by taxpayers and revenues from visitors. If the partnership dissolves, as it could in October if it runs out of money, the custody of the zoos is turned over to state officials, according to state law. CONTINUE

'Obama is like the Messiah': Africans react to Obama's visit to Ghana

Africans are in love with him because he has an African pedigree:

Africans give their opinions of Barack Obama as he makes
his first visit to the continent as president

George Esri, 50, photographer from Lagos, Nigeria

Sylvia Jacobs, 40, security guard from Johannesburg, South Africa

Mbali Kgosidintsi, 26, actress from Mogoditshane, Botswana

Click HERE to Read More About Obama,
the black, Muslim, jew, communist messiah.

Racist negro thief got away with $3, an opened pack of cigarettes and a bullet in his gut

JEW-INCITED, RACIST NEGROID ATTACKS WHITES
AND ONE WHITE SHOT HIM IN SELF DEFENSE

A White-hating Negroid who tried to a rob a group of university students at gunpoint at their apartment on East Oltorf Street in October got away with $3, an opened pack of cigarettes and a bullet in his abdomen, prosecutors said.

John Crayton, 26, was convicted Thursday of six counts of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and one count of burglary of a habitation for the Oct. 11 incident.

Prosecutor Amy Meredith said Taylor Englert was hanging out with friends at an apartment about 3 a.m. when he heard a gunshot from a closet near the front door. When Englert opened the door to investigate, Crayton jumped out and ran after him, Meredith said Thursday in closing arguments.

Witnesses said Crayton hit one person on the head with a pistol and forced another out of bed. Crayton lined up four men on the ground at gunpoint and found only the $3 and a partly empty pack of cigarettes before hearing voices from another bedroom, Meredith said.

Crayton kicked down the bedroom door and saw Travis Phillips holding a loaded pistol, according to an arrest affidavit.

Phillips shot Crayton in the stomach

TO STOP THE JEW FROM KILLING OFF THE WHITE RACE

Israel: Iran Will Be Destroyed if It Launches Nuclear Attack

Israel has warned Iran of catastrophic consequences if it attacks the Jewish state with weapons of mass destruction.

Jew Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel's national security advisor says Iran will be destroyed if it dares to launch a nuclear attack on the Jewish state. In an interview published Friday in the Hebrew daily Ha'aretz, Uzi Arad said Israel must have "tremendously powerful" weapons to deter or retaliate for a nuclear strike. That seemed to be a clear reference to Israel's reported nuclear arsenal, though it has never admitted to having nuclear weapons. Arad described a nuclear Iran as a "nightmare for Israel."

In a speech last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that a nuclear Iran is not only a threat to Israel, but also to Western civilization.

"The greatest danger facing our world today is if the world's worst regimes acquire the world's most dangerous weapons," he said. "For the sake of peace, for the sake of our common security, for the sake of our common values this must not be allowed to happen."

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But Israel is convinced that Iran is developing nuclear weapons and could use them to carry out its threat to wipe the Jewish state "off the map." Israel has warned that if international diplomacy fails, it might launch a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Private Pennsylvania swim club denies turning away black and Hispanic kids

"Some of the members began pulling their children out of the pool and were standing around with their arms folded,"

Angry parents threatened lawsuits Thursday after a group of black and Hispanic campers were told to leave a private Philadelphia swim club.

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. - In a statement posted on its Web site Thursday afternoon, a swim club said accusations that it discriminated against a day camp for minority children were untrue.

The Valley Club doesn't have the capacity to deal with outside groups and returned money to more than one day camp, the club said.

Alethea Wright, director of Creative Steps, a summer camp for minority children, said the organization paid for weekly swim time at the pool. But during a trip there June 29 some of the children said they heard people asking what "black kids" were doing at the club, Wright said.

In its statement, the swim club called its membership diverse and said any comments that may or may not have been made by members are not shared by its board. CONTINUE

Hundreds injured, 10,000 homes damaged as earthquake hits southwest China

An earthquake struck southwestern China last night, destroying more than 10,000 homes and leaving hundreds of people injured.

The epicentre of the quake was in Guantun, about 125 miles (200km) from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The US Geological Survey measured the quake at 5.7 on the Richter scale. Xinhua put the strength at 6.0. The quake was followed by eight aftershocks, the agency said.

Initial reports did not indicate any deaths, but Xinhua said that more than 300 people were injured and 30 with serious injuries were being treated at the People’s Hospital of Yao’an. About 30,000 buildings were also damaged.

CONTINUE Story AND HERE, too

Psalm 102:15
So the heathen shall fear the Name of YAHWEH,
and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

''This is Our World - This is a Black World'' Saith Violent Black Racist Thugs

Akron police investigate teen mob attack on family

Akron police say they aren't ready to call it a hate crime or a gang initiation. But to Marty Marshall, his wife and two kids, it seems pretty clear.

Martin Marshall (right) recounts the attack by a group of teens on himself and his family while they were watching a Fourth of July fireworks display in Firestone Park. His daughter, Rachel Hopson, 15, (left) and wife, Yvonne Marshall, listen. (Michael Chritton/Akron Beacon Journal)

It came after a family night of celebrating America and freedom with a fireworks show at Firestone Stadium. Marshall, his family and two friends were gathered outside a friend's home in South Akron.

Out of nowhere, the six were attacked by dozens of teenage boys, who shouted ''This is our world'' and ''This is a black world'' as they confronted Marshall and his family.

The Marshalls, who are white, say the crowd of teens who attacked them and two friends June 27 on Girard Street numbered close to 50. The teens were all black.

''This was almost like being a terrorist act,'' Marshall said. ''And we allow this to go on in our neighborhoods?''

They said it started when one teen, without any words or warning, blindsided and assaulted Marshall's friend as he stood outside with the others.

When Marshall, 39, jumped in, he found himself being attacked by the growing group of teens.

His daughter, Rachel, 15, who weighs about 90 pounds, tried to come to his rescue. The teens pushed her to the ground.

His wife, Yvonne, pushed their son, Donald, 14, into bushes to keep him protected.

''My thing is,'' Marshall said, ''I didn't want this, but I was in fear for my wife, my kids and my friends. I felt I had to stay out there to protect them, because those guys were just jumping, swinging fists and everything. CONTINUE

Russia Today Video: Did Nano-Thermite Take Down the WTC?

Could the most audacious terrorist attack in history be a “sophisticated masterpiece of demolition”?

That’s what chemistry professor Niels Harrit has been asking, following his investigation of the World Trade Centre rubble, which has revealed traces of explosives.

RT: Professor Niels Harrit, you examined the rubble that came from the World Trade Center. What did you find in it?

Niels Harrit: Well, in there we find the remains of what we characterize as thermetic material, and this is a very energetic material which can be used either for melting iron, or it can be designed as an explosive.

Read more

RT: So, what effect would nano-thermite have had on the collapse of the towers on September 11?

CONTINUE

Obama: Prepare for swine flu outbreak

YAHWEH the Christ warned against eating pork.

Who would know more about the pig -
Almighty God or the jew "pork pushers" at the World Health Organization
Isaiah 66:17

...who eat the flesh of pigs and rats and other abominable things--
they will meet their end altogether," declares YAHWEH

• Obama urges officials, schools to plan vaccination campaign in fall
  
• Some swine flu vaccine should be available by October, health officials say
  
• CDC reports more than 33,000 confirmed cases in U.S.
  
• World Health Organization declared global pandemic last month

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama told governors and health professionals at a swine-flu preparedness summit Thursday that he expects "rigorous" planning by them to prepare for a possible outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall.

"We want to make sure we aren't promoting panic, but we are promoting vigilance and preparation," Obama said.

He spoke to the group via video link from Italy, where he is attending the G-8 meeting of industrialized nations.

Obama urged state and local officials, including school districts, to prepare for a vaccination campaign in the fall and to anticipate that schools could be largely affected.

Before Obama spoke, the nation's secretary of health and human services said some H1N1 vaccine should be available for distribution in mid-October. Kathleen Sebelius' announcement came at the opening of a "flu summit" called by the Obama administration. She spoke to a seminar of governors, top health planners and managers who have gathered to discuss preparations for a possible swine flu reappearance this fall. CONTINUE

White Girl, Raped, Beaten, Burned and Murdered by Negro and Mestizo-Indian

ABC Primetime Prime: Melanie Goodwin murder
Video HERE


Photo Right: Melanie Goodwin. Horrifically murdered by illegal, Jew-incited Mestizo-indian.

Melanie Goodwin was stalked, abducted, raped, and beaten to death by a Mestizo thug. He enlisted the aid of a black drug dealer to help him burn the body beyond recognition, then fled to Mexico.

ABC refused to admit the immigration status of the killer, but it is a safe bet that he was an illegal alien.

More Americans are killed by illegal aliens each year than the total number who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Climate change could boost U.S. dengue fever cases

Climate change could push dengue fever into all corners of the United States, as the mosquitoes that can carry the traditionally tropical virus survive warmer U.S. winters, researchers said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Climate change could push dengue fever into all corners of the United States, as the mosquitoes that can carry the traditionally tropical virus survive warmer U.S. winters, researchers said on Wednesday.

Known colloquially as breakbone fever for the aching bones that are one symptom of the disease, dengue fever can be treated effectively with bed rest and liquids, but it often goes undiagnosed in the United States.

Two species of mosquitoes capable of transmitting dengue fever have been spotted in 28 states and Washington D.C., according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Cases of the disease have been reported in every U.S. state, but many of those are so-called imported cases where the patient was infected by mosquitoes elsewhere in the world.

Dengue fever, a long-standing problem in tropical areas, was until recently rare in most of the United States, except along the Texas-Mexico border. That could be changing due to a range of factors including global warming, scientists at the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a report. CONTINUE

White Girls Lives Ruined by Racist Attacks

WHITES UNDER CONSTANT ATTACK
More racist-black on White violence in Cincinnati

The local media in Cincinnati is treating a brutal premeditated attack that nearly killed a 23 year old lady as a “prank.” Every effort is being made to downplay and soft pedal this horrifying racially motivated terrorist attack. Had the races been reversed, this would be a national news story.

Two Jew-driven, White-hating Negroids have been arrested for hurling baseball sized rocks at passing cars driven by White people. The attacks took place over several days and all the known victims are White.

23 year, Joyce Baresel, pictured at right, suffered serious debilitating injuries from the attack. Her life has been ruined. The two thugs continued to carry out rock attacks even after nearly killing Baresel. But the Jew media just calls it a “prank.”

At least ten cars with Whites were hit by large rocks.

Photo Left: One of the vicious monsters who carried out the attack. Brutal black on white violence has been commonplace in Cincinnati for at least the past ten years.

Massachusetts sues U.S. over gay marriage rights

BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts' attorney general filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the U.S. government that seeks federal marriage benefits for about 16,000 gay and lesbian couples who have legally wed in Massachusetts.

The state is challenging the constitutionality of the federal 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, saying the law denies "essential rights and protections" to same-sex couples who have married since Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to legalize gay weddings in 2004.

The federal law interferes with the state's "sovereign authority to define and regulate marriage," according to the suit filed in federal court in Boston. It calls the law "overreaching and discriminatory."

The suit is the latest skirmish over gay marriage in the U.S. federal court system after handful of political filmmakers led by a Democratic consultant crafted a gay rights challenge in May that they hope will reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

It also follows a separate lawsuit filed by a group of married gay couples in Massachusetts in March that also challenged the same portion of the Defense of Marriage Act that defines marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman.

Although Massachusetts and five other U.S. states have authorized gay marriage, same-sex couples who are legally married in those states cannot access the federal protections and programs granted to straight married couples. CONTINUE

U.S. apartment vacancies near historic high

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The vacancy rate for U.S. apartments reached its highest level in more than 20 years in the second quarter and could soon exceed record highs if the recession persists, real estate research firm Reis Inc said.

The national vacancy rate rose to 7.5 percent, the highest since 1987 and an increase of 1.4 percentage points from last year, according to a report Reis released on Wednesday. The record high was 7.8 percent in 1986.

"We are reaching that historic high very quickly," said Victor Calanog, Reis director of research.

The second-quarter vacancy rate was 0.20 percentage point higher than the prior quarter and up from the cyclical low 5.5 percent reached in 2006, Reis said.

Second-quarter asking rent fell 0.7 percent from a year earlier to $1,040 a month, and 0.6 percent from the prior quarter, the largest single quarterly decline since Reis began tracking quarterly data in 1999.

When free months of rent and other incentives landlords are using to lure tenants are factored in, effective rent was down 1.9 percent from the prior year and 0.9 percent from the first quarter to $975, Reis said.

"If you're a landlord right now at least you're recognizing that things are tough," Calanog said.

To maintain occupancy, many landlords, including Equity Residential, Apartment Investment and Management Co, AvalonBay Communities Inc and Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc, have sacrificed rental income and boosted concessions. CONTINUE

Muslim mob surrounds and attacks Christians -- in Michigan

Arab Festival 2009: Sharia in the US

Is this the United States?

Video thanks to Islam In Action.

Racist Sotomayor Supported the Censoring of God's Laws on Homosexuality

Isaiah 10:1

and Isaiah 24:5
Woe unto those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue unjust decrees,

The earth is infected by the in- habitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant of Almighty God

(CNSNews.com) ­– Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is again drawing fire from conservative groups, this time as the result of a 2003 ruling against a Christian group.

In the case of Okwedy v. Molinari, decided in 2003, Sotomayor sat on a three-judge panel that upheld a lower court’s ruling (from 2001) against Keyword Ministries and its pastor, Kristopher Okwedy. The ministry had purchased billboard advertisements featuring Bible verses that condemned homosexuality.

The ads were taken down after a local government official complained about their message to the company that owned the billboard, and Okwedy sued both the company and the government official who wrote the complaint.

He claimed his rights were violated under the Free Speech, Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment; the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; and several state laws. CONTINUE

Nasa image of Arctic ice reveals 40% thinning since 2004

Psalm 147:18
"From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.

He sends forth His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.

Study of the thickness of Arctic ice shows the permanent blanket of ice around the North Pole has dramatically reduced

View from ice Cave on Ellesmere Island Canada towards the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole. Photograph: Alexandra Kobalenko/Getty

The Earth is going thin on top. A new study has revealed that the Arctic Ocean's permanent blanket of ice around the North Pole has thinned by more than 40% since 2004. Scientists said the rapid loss was "remarkable" and said it could force experts to reassess how quickly the Arctic ice in the summer may disappear completely. They have called for more research to pin down the causes of the change, which they say is probably down to increased melting and shifts in the way the ice moves around.

The study, based on satellite measurements, is among the first to estimate the thickness of the Arctic ice, rather than just its surface area.

Ron Kwok, senior research scientist at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said: "Even in years when the overall extent of sea ice remains stable or grows slightly, the thickness and volume of the ice cover is continuing to decline, making the ice more vulnerable to continued shrinkage."

The study looked at measurements taken of the Arctic region by the ICESat satellite, launched in 2003.

Overall, the experts found that the ice, typically up to about 3m thick, thinned by 67cm over the last four winters. CONTINUE

I've just seen hell on earth: Four years after 7/7

Inching through debris and choking heat, police forensic officers comb the wreckage of one of the 7/7 tube trains in this never-before-seen picture.

Hunting for particles of evidence, they toiled in searing temperatures in the Underground carriages where suicide bomber Jermaine Lindsay blew up 26 innocent people four years ago yesterday.

Warped and blackened by the blast, this is the Piccadilly Line carriage where Jermaine Lindsay's bomb detonated at Russell Square station. A forensics officer in white rubber gloves inches his way along the floor - itself sheared away in the blast, exposing metal beams - searching for the smallest of clues

Evidence bags full of scraps from the blown-up Piccadilly Line carriage. Long trestle tables were set up along the Russell Square platform, and officers marked on a sketch the locations where items were found

The mangled wreck of the number 30 double-decker bus in Tavistock Square, which was ripped apart by a terrorist bomb on 7/7
CONTINUE

Satanic Scientists Create Test-Tube Sperm

British scientists grow ARTIFICIAL sperm in a lab
(so who needs a man?)

Professor Karim Nayernia, raise the question of whether their discovery means "the end of men".

Breakthrough offers hope of finding cure for male infertility

Scientists have created human sperm in the laboratory for the first time. The extraordinary development, which until a few years ago belonged in the realms of science fiction, raises hopes that infertile men may one day be able to father their own biological children.

The sperm were created in a test tube, from stem cells derived from a five-day-old male embryo. The advance raises ethical questions over the safety of the procedure and the threat it poses to the future role of men. It was also challenged by experts who claimed the sperm-like cells produced in the experiment were not genuine sperm.

If the finding is confirmed, a single male embryo could, in theory, yield a stem-cell line which when stored could provide an unlimited supply of sperm. Once the stem-cell line was established, there would be no further reproductive need for men. In a briefing on the research, the scientists at Newcastle University and the NorthEast England Stem Cell Institute, led by Professor Karim Nayernia, raise the question of whether their discovery means "the end of men". CONTINUE

Obama Sucks Up to Putin and Medvedev

The image to the right is probably the best one I’ve seen all year long. It should win award after award, for it shows Obama’s true character, and the way his enemies think about him. In short, he sucks up to dictators of all stripes, talking about making love not war, while they are laughing at him, considering him a naive lightweight, who can be bullied around.

Here’s the strategic situation (just so you understand just how silly Obama’s speech of earlier today was): Russia supports extremists in the Middle East who hate America and Israel, and who wish to destroy both. It also supports dictators in South America actively (Hugo Chavez for instance) and, of course, oppressive regimes in other parts of the world (North Korea is a prime example). At the same time, Moscow does everything in its power to decrease America’s influence in the Balkans and the Caucasus. It bullies former soviet republicans into submission, blackmails and threatens them, and laughs at everyone who - mildly- dares to criticize Russia for its aggressive policies.

On top of all that, journalists who criticize Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev are killed, independent newspapers (and TV and radio stations) closed down, members of the opposition oppressed, and successful businessmen arrested and / or forced to flee.

So that’s some vital background information. Here’s a quote of Obama speaking today: CONTINUE

Federal Web sites knocked out by cyber attack

WASHINGTON – A widespread and unusually resilient computer attack that began July 4 knocked out the Web sites of several government agencies, including some that are responsible for fighting cyber crime, The Associated Press has learned.

The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the holiday weekend and into this week, according to officials inside and outside the government. Some of the sites were still experiencing problems Tuesday evening. Cyber attacks on South Korea government and private sites also may be linked, officials there said.

U.S. officials refused to publicly discuss details of the cyber attack. But Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said the agency's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued a notice to federal departments and other partner organizations about the problems and "advised them of steps to take to help mitigate against such attacks."

The U.S., she said, sees attacks on its networks every day, and measures have been put in place to minimize the impact on federal Web sites. CONTINUE

Illegal Aliens Rape - Murder More White Women

Illegal aliens murder more Americans every year than have
been killed in Iraq since the war began

White rape victim tells about rape by Marco Riz -
an illegal, Mestizo=indian from Guatemala

PROVIDENCE, - A White woman is carjacked in a local grocery store parking lot, then raped at Roger Williams Park. It was a crime that captured New England's attention as much for its random nature as its violent nature. It was June 8, 2008 when Heather was sitting in the passenger seat of the car in a Stop & Shop parking lot in Warwick with the doors unlocked while her mother did some food shopping. Heather says she was alone for only about two minutes when her life changed forever. A Mestizo with a knife and no good intentions suddenly was right there in the driver's seat. The police later arrested 27-year-old Marco Riz, who admitted he raped Heather in Roger Williams Park. Marco Riz is an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who was working at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant.

White woman found raped and strangled to death -
Jew-incited Negroid neighbor being sentenced

Lindsay Graygo, 29, was found raped and strangled in a partially-filled bathtub inside her apartment on Feb. 19, 2008. Derrick Oliver, who lived with his girlfriend and her son in the apartment below Graygo's, was questioned by police but was not immediately a suspect. Police arrested the divorced father of four in Detroit last June after DNA tests linked him to evidence found underneath Graygo's fingernails. A jury convicted Oliver of felony murder, rape and larceny last month after a week-long trial.

Canadan Hog Workers Hit by New Non-Pandemic Flu

"Saskatchewan pork continues to be safe ... This is not a food safety issue at all."

Isaiah 66:17

... They go into the garden and devour pork, disgusting things, and mice. "They will come to an end ," declares YAHWEH, The Christ

New flu virus not connected to H1N1 outbreak * Hogs transmitted virus to workers

By Rod Nickel SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, July 7 (Reuters) - Two farm workers in Western Canada have become infected with a new flu virus, health officials said on Tuesday, stressing the strain was not related to the H1N1 pandemic.

The two workers, both employees at a hog barn operation in the province of Saskatchewan, have fully recovered. A third case is under investigation.

The new virus contains genes from a seasonal human H1N1 flu strain and a flu virus common in the swine population called triple reassortant H3N2, said Dr. Greg Douglas, Saskatchewan's chief veterinary officer. The virus is not connected to the H1N1 strain, sometimes referred to as swine flu, that has killed more than 400 people worldwide.

That strain is believed to have begun in Mexico and has been labeled a pandemic by the World Health Organization. There are no signs of increased illness in the hog herd, Douglas added. "This is a human health issue," he said. "Saskatchewan pork continues to be safe ... This is not a food safety issue at all." CONTINUE

Delinquencies On Home-Equity Loans, Credit Cards Hit Historic Levels

Delinquencies on home-equity loans and credit card payments hit record highs in the first quarter of this year, according to data released today by the American Bankers Association.

Home-equity loans were one of the major culprits of the current crisis. To recap: Cheap credit caused a housing boom in the first part of this century. Skyrocketing home values led homeowners to take out home-equity loans -- essentially, treating their homes like ATMs -- to buy consumer products. Then, when home values started flattening then falling, it all collapsed, debt upon debt.

According to the American Bankers Association, delinquencies on home-equity loans climbed to 3.52 percent from 3.03 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, with late payments on the loans jumping to a record 1.89 percent.

This is due to job losses. With official U.S. unemployment at 9.5 percent and climbing, expect more delinquencies, as the bills come due and homeowners no longer have regular paychecks coming.

At the same time, the bankers said delinquent accounts on bank-issued credit cards spiked to a record 6.6 percent of outstanding card debt in the first quarter from 5.52 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.

This is even worse news: It means people are living off their credit cards with 28 percent interest rates now that their home-equity loans have run out.

This is why smart people are skeptical that the U.S. is in a real recovery. Many believe there's more bad news to come until unemployment starts dropping and home prices stabilize.

Critics turn up "Racial Bias" heat on Sotomayor

McConnell hints at racial bias; NRA expresses ‘very serious concerns’

WASHINGTON - Conservatives stepped up their criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday, but it was unclear how far Senate Republicans were willing to go to create bumps in what appears to be a smooth road to confirmation for President Barack Obama's first high-court choice.

Even as the Senate's top Republican suggested that Sotomayor let racial bias cloud her rulings, he and other GOP senators refused to say whether they would accede to conservative activists' demands to try to delay a final vote to confirm her until September. At the same time, the National Rifle Association raised what it called "very serious concerns" about Sotomayor based on her stance on weapons rights, yet it stopped short of opposing her, citing its "respect for the confirmation process."

The fresh critiques of Sotomayor came as the American Bar Association, a national lawyers' group, rated her "well-qualified" to be a justice after its members conducted scores of confidential interviews with her colleagues and pored through her record and writings to assess her integrity, qualifications and temperament. CONTINUE

Jews Arrested for Spying on America for the Cuban Government

The story seems like a throwback to the Cold War era: an American couple arrested by federal authorities and accused of spying on the U.S. for a communist country. But the couple in question are in custody right now. U.S. officials believe Dr. Walter Kendall Myers Jr. and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, have been spying for the Cuban government for 3 decades.

The following are excerpts from the Dept. of Justice press release regarding the couples’ arrest:

An indictment and criminal complaint unsealed today in the District of Columbia charge Walter Kendall Myers, 72, a.k.a. “Agent 202,” and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71, a.k.a. “Agent 123,” and “Agent E-634,” with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and to communicate classified information to the Cuban government. Each of the defendants is also charged with acting as an illegal agent of the Cuban government and with wire fraud. CONTINUE

Papal Message Seeks 'Global Authority' for Economy

VATICAN CITY, July 7 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday called for a "world political authority" to manage the global economy and for more government regulation of national economies to pull the world out of the current crisis and avoid a repeat.

The pope's call for a re-think of the way the world economy is run came in new encyclical which touched on a number of social issues but whose main connecting thread was how the current crisis has affected both rich and poor nations.

Called "Charity in Truth", parts of the encyclical appeared bound to upset conservatives because of its underlying rejection of unbridled capitalism and unregulated market forces, which he said had led to "thoroughly destructive" abuse of the system.

The pope said every economic decision has a moral consequence and called for "forms of redistribution" of wealth overseen by governments to help those most affected by crises.

Benedict said "there is an urgent need of a true world political authority" whose task would be "to manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result".

Such an authority would have to be "regulated by law" and "would need to be universally recognized and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights". CONTINUE

Foreign Troops To Patrol Your Neighborhood - Thanks to FEMA

National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09)

"National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09) is scheduled for July 27 through July 31, 2009. NLE 09 will be the first major exercise conducted by the United States government that will focus exclusively on terrorism prevention and protection, as opposed to incident response and recovery. " For the full text go here or to the FEMA site directly http://www.fema.gov/media/fact_sheets/nle09.shtm

"This year the United States welcomes the participation of Australia, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom in NLE 09." - http://www.fema.gov/media/fact_sheets/nle09.shtm

It is also known that the bankster government has imported a million or possibly more Chinese and Russian troops into the United States. What is particularly chilling about this FEMA exercise is that the Feds are coming right out and not only publically admitting to bringing foreign troops onto American soil they are planning to deploy these foreign troops in your neighborhood!

As citizens of the US do we have any legroom to complain about armed foreign soldiers marching up and down the streets in our neighborhood? After all, we have been sending US troops all over the world to slaughter men, women and children in cold blood. Speak to any of our boys back from Afghanistan or Iraq and ask the honest ones what it's like to invade another nation.

Considering that mountains of irrefutable evidence prove that the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US were perpetrated by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and bankster buddies, what exactly does 'terrorism prevention and protection' as opposed to 'incident response and recovery' imply? FEMA has been the overarching agency coordinating and planning terrorist acts on US soil. FEMA was there ready and waiting at the base of the World Trade Center before the planes hit the building.
CONTINUE

Prescription drug abuse an ‘epidemic’

"It's an epidemic and I'm afraid we're losing a whole generation,"

Prescription drug abuse ravages a state's youth
Kentucky officials see an ‘epidemic’; officials say drugs coming from Florida

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Full Story HERE

Our rainbow family: Three children, three skin colours, and all born to the same parents

I am at a loss to explain why they are all different colours -
I can only think it is some genetic thing.

If you thought the 'rainbow family' was confined to stars such as Angelina Jolie and Madonna, think again.

Carla Nurse and her husband Cornel have three beautiful children, all with different-coloured skin.

Six-year-old son Jermaine has golden skin and brown eyes. Daughter Tanisha, four, takes after her father, with dark skin, dark eyes and tight curls in her hair. And two-year-old son Jayden has fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes.

United Nations: Cornel and Carla Nurse with their children Tanisha, Jermaine and Jaden sitting between them. All the children have different skin colours despite sharing the same parents

Assumptions: Carla says she worries that people will think her children have different fathers - despite her loyalty to her husband

Mrs Nurse said the only downside to the attention her children generate was that others assume each one has a different father. 'When people think I've cheated it makes me so angry. I would never stray from Cornel.' CONTINUE

Michelle Obama bringing glamour to Moscow

MOSCOW (AP) — Michelle Obama brings her superstar glamour to Moscow this weekend as she accompanies her husband on his summit with the Russian president.

But the American first lady, who has wowed publics in the U.S. and Europe with her easy elegance and charm, will perhaps face a bigger challenge in winning over a Russian public that has scant respect for women who grab the limelight from their powerful husbands.

In a country where a presidential candidate once quipped he'd sooner pack his wife off to a convent than allow her to dabble in politics, Russia still has trouble with the concept of an empowered woman behind the throne.

"The institution of first lady in Russia is still quite young," said Alyona Doletskaya, editor of Russian Vogue and doyenne of the Moscow fashion scene. "So there are no huge expectations on the part of Russian public."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's wife Svetlana is pious and discreet and met her husband while she was a schoolgirl. She supports charity and the arts, but has assumed no independent voice on issues facing the country. She dresses conservatively, lacking the edgy fashion sense that has attracted a nationwide following for Michelle Obama.

Russia has known one iconic first lady in modern times: Raisa Gorbachev, wife of the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who was much loved around the world for breaking with tradition by appearing regularly in public with her husband, embracing high fashion and firing off wisecracks during official foreign trips. CONTINUE

Gordon Browns Wife Joins Thousands of Sodomites at Gay Pride Parade

Hosea 5:3-4
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from Me: for now,
O Ephraim, (England) thou commit whoredom, and Israel is defiled.
"Their wicked deeds do not permit them to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge YAHWEH

Sarah Brown, right, the wife of Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, poses for photographers as she joins the march during an annual gay parade organized by Pride London, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender charity, in central London, Saturday, July 4, 2009. Participants marched through central London streets with colorful floats, and enjoy performances on stages set up in squares such as Trafalgar Square.
The queer on the left is unidentified.

LONDON (AP) — The wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has joined thousands of revelers in London's annual gay pride march.

Sarah Brown held a red, white and pink version of the Union Jack as the noisy parade wound through the city center before a rally and concert in Trafalgar Square.

Everyone from drag queens to firefighters and soldiers in uniform joined the parade, organized by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups.

Earlier, organizers met the Browns outside 10 Downing St.

The prime minister said Britain had made "massive strides towards equality," including the introduction of civil partnerships for gay couples. These have the same legal status as marriage, but some campaigners want the word marriage to apply to both gay and straight couples.

Unemployed and on the Verge of Losing Everything: "I Don't Know How I'll Make It"

Jeremiah 11:14
They have not obeyed Me or followed My Law. "Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

So YAHWEH said to me,
"Do not pray for the welfare of this people.

Luz Guerra has already lost her job.
Now she might lose her car, her home and her health insurance.

It's summer and finally warm without being too hot. U.S. troops have withdrawn from Iraq. The kids are sleeping. It's the perfect time to just relax and enjoy the sunny weekends. Unless, of course, one is a part of the 50 percent of working Americans who said they are too "stressed" about losing their jobs to relax. The Bureau of Labor Statistics just released their report that 467,000 people lost their jobs in June. Those jobs came from every major industry sector, with the largest declines occurring in "manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction.”

The closer one looks at the numbers, the worse they look. In June 2007, the official U.S. unemployment rate was 4.5%. The just-released official unemployment rate for June 2009, is 9.5%, for blacks it's 14.7 percent, for Hispanics, 12.2 percent. When that number is adjusted to include those who have given up looking for work and the underemployed -- those people who can only find a part-time job and other "marginally-attached" workers, the actual unemployment rate is 16.5%, pretty high numbers for a country that has spent an additional $14.5 billion (of the $787 billion dedicated since Obama's election) to putting people "back to work.” Additionally, the amount of people out of work for over four months has grown significantly. People who are being laid off are being laid off permanently, not temporarily "let go” until the situation improves. CONTINUE

US Congressman says Michael Jackson was 'paedophile' and 'pervert'

"Let's cut out the psychobabble. This guy was a pervert. He was a child molester, he was paedophile, and to be giving this much coverage to him day in and day out, what does it say about us and our country? It's so politically correct"

Mr. Peter King

was born in Manhattan and was raised in Sunnyside, Queens. His family has strong Irish roots that trace back to County Galway and County Limerick.

A US congressman, Peter King, risked a huge backlash after he called Michael Jackson a "paedophile" and a "pervert" on YouTube.

Michael Jackson admitted allowing children to share his bed

"Let's cut out the psychobabble. This guy was a pervert. He was a child molester, he was paedophile, and to be giving this much coverage to him day in and day out, what does it say about us and our country? It's so politically correct," he said.

"There is nothing good about this guy. He may have been a good singer, done some dancing, but the bottom line is would you allow your child or grandchild to be in the same room with Michael Jackson. That would be horrifying."

Speaking outside a fire station King said more thought should be given to Americans dying in Afghanistan and people doing difficult jobs like firefighters and teachers.

His comments are likely to inspire a backlash in America where Michael Jackson has been hailed as a hero.

In a 2003 television documentary Jackson admitted allowing children to sleep in his bed.

Two years later he faced a lengthy trial after a 13-year-old boy claimed to have been molested. Jackson was cleared of all charges.

Bishop Accused of Hate For Asking Sodomites to Obey God

He's saying their [gays and lesbians] sexuality is a sin.
It's not. It's a gift from God. God made us all."

A partygoer at the annual Gay Pride street march through London (left) and Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester (right)

Michael Nazir-Ali accused of pandering to hate and homophobia

The Bishop of Rochester has been accused of pandering to hate and homophobia after calling on homosexuals to repent. Michael Nazir-Ali provoked outrage among gay groups when he urged Church leaders to stick to traditional values instead of being swayed by "culture and trends".

While calling for the "traditional teaching" of the Bible to be upheld, the Bishop said of homosexuals: "We want them to repent and be changed."

His controversial remarks were published just hours after more than half a million people, including the Prime Minister's wife, Sarah, took part in the Gay Pride parade in London.

Sharon Ferguson, of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, condemned Dr Nazir-Ali for making comments that she said would encourage hatred.

"It feeds to the more fundamental individuals who are looking to have their opinions ratified and speak hatefully and behave hatefully," she said.

"His comments are likely to cause more of a schism within the Church of England. He's saying their [gays and lesbians] sexuality is a sin. It's not. It's a gift from God. God made us all."

CONTINUE

Sandstorms plague Iraq and are killing people

Accented on the second syllable, that means the ill wind that blows in summer across Iraq , and other countries in the region, stirring sandstorms in its wake.

Vice President Joe Biden found out late last week what 25 million Iraqis have known for a long time-everybody talks about them, but nobody can do anything about them. His chopper flight from a U.S. base to the International Zone was canceled when a shamal turned the skies over Baghdad and beyond the same color as Biden's khaki desert boots.

He wound up donning body armor and a helmet for a caravan to his meetings with Iraqi leaders and others. Several NFL coaches visiting troops in Iraq also found their plane to Kuwait delayed a day.

That same storm still hovers over the capital. It coats parked cars in a tan frosting. It seeps under windowsills and doorways. It grits the teeth and stings the eyes. It clogs rifles and etches scrimshaw across sniper scopes.

And it kills people.

Three in Diyala Province this week, where 800 others were hospitalized with breathing and related ailments. Dr. Jeleel al Shammeri, head of the health department in Karkh in west Baghdad , said 13 major hospitals and 84 clinics had received several thousand patients over the last two days, many of them children. Dr. Ali Bustan , head of the health department in Rusafa in eastern Baghdad , said ERs had taken in 800 to 900 patients since Saturday night. "Thank God, we have not run out of medication," he said. CONTINUE

Iran Warns of Action if Israel Attacks Nuke Sites

TOKYO — Iran is ready to take "real and decisive" action if Israel attacks its nuclear facilities, a senior Iranian parliamentary official said Monday.

The remarks by Alaeddin Broujerdi, the head of Iran's parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, came after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden signaled that Washington would not try to prevent any such Israeli assault.

"Both the U.S. and Israel are aware of the consequence of an erroneous decision," Broujerdi told reporters at the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo.

"I believe our response will be real and decisive," Broujerdi said. He declined to elaborate.

Israel fears Iran is developing nuclear weapons to target the Jewish state. Iran denies it is pursuing an atomic arsenal, saying it only wants to produce nuclear power.

Israel's government has said it would prefer to see Iran's nuclear program stopped through diplomacy, but that it cannot rule out a military strike.

In an interview on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, Biden was asked whether the U.S. would stand in the way if Israel — viewing the prospect of an Iranian nuclear bomb as a threat to the existence of the Jewish state — decided to launch a military attack. CONTINUE

Seattle's landmark Smith Tower least 70 percent vacant

The Smith Tower in Seattle, which opened in 1914, now has a lot of empty space

Seattle's landmark Smith Tower is now at least 70 percent vacant; also, some former InfoSpace executives are off the hook in lawsuit alleging tens of millions in improper payments to option holders.

Thanks to the recession and Washington Mutual's collapse, there's no shortage of vacant office space in downtown Seattle. One of the emptiest buildings also is one of the region's best-known and most-loved.

The 95-year-old Smith Tower, once the tallest building west of Chicago, is at least 70 percent vacant, according to online listings and commercial real-estate databases.

The street-level retail spaces along Yesler Way and Second Avenue are empty save for a Starbucks. Upstairs, every floor from 8 through 17 is unleased and unoccupied, as are 19, 20 and 21. The fourth and fifth floors, vacated by Microsoft, are available for sublease.

The Smith Tower's owner, Walton Street Capital of Chicago, isn't advertising any available suites on floors 22 through 33, in the skinnier, needle-looking part of the tower. Office tenants occupy at least some of that space.

But Cleita Harvey, a principal with Urbis Partners, the building's leasing agent, said in an e-mail that only one- to two-year leases are being negotiated on those floors while Walton Street continues to consider converting them to luxury condos. CONTINUE

$1 Billion in Cattle Loss Due to Drought

There may soon be some relief from the Southeast Texas dry-spell that's been gripping our region for several weeks but it appears the damage has already been done for Texas cattle ranchers.

The online newspaper USAToday.com has reported that agriculture officials said on Friday, July 3, 2009 ranchers in the nation's largest cattle-producing state have already lost nearly $1 billion because of Texas' on-going drought.
Story HERE

B'nai B'rith charges Aussie Web site with anti-Semitic content

A screen-shot of newmatilda.com.

The Australian-based news Web site newmatilda.com has been charged by the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) with featuring anti-Israel and anti-Semitic content, particularly during the first three months of 2009, despite claims from the Web site's editor that it is providing fair coverage.

The ADC issued a report highlighting newmatilda's Israel coverage, taking issue with the website's balance of Israeli and Palestinian narratives and the proportion of stories covering the conflict in the region during these months, particularly concerning Gaza.

Contrary to the editor's claims of providing fair coverage, the report states that 17 out of the 18 articles concerning Operation Cast Lead featured the Palestinian narrative. None of the articles could be characterized as balanced, and one article acknowledged the existence of competing narrative, but argued for the validity of the Palestinian narrative.

Many of the ADC's concerns regarding newmatilda are rooted in the fact that as a new media source, newmatilda does not need to adhere to journalistic standards of reporting and opinion writing. As the writers are not necessarily trained journalists and their work does not fall under the jurisdiction of a news editor, such standards are not always upheld.

Despite the fact that Australia has laws against racial vilification, the report maintains that it is both more difficult to prosecute violations of these laws in new media sources and that incriminating articles are easier to remove. The report also claims that due to the fact that this information is made available to the general public, holding newmatilda to lower standards of journalistic integrity would be inappropriate. CONTINUE

Biden: U.S. Won't Stand in Way of Israel on Iran Nukes

The vice president says the Jewish nation has to do what's in its best interest as a sovereign nation, but the U.S. does too, and those two interests may clash if Israel goes after Iran's nuclear sites.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden seemed to give Israel a green light for military action to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat, saying the U.S. "cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do."

Israel considers Iran its most dangerous adversary and is wary of hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who just won a disputed re-election. He repeatedly has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and contends the Holocaust is a "myth."

Israel and the U.S. accuse Iran of seeking to develop weapons under the cover of a nuclear power program. Iran denies that.

"Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation -- what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else," Biden told ABC's "This Week" in an interview broadcast Sunday.

"Whether we agree or not. They're entitled to do that. Any sovereign nation is entitled to do that. But there is no pressure from any nation that's going to alter our behavior as to how to proceed," Biden said.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it prefers to see Iran's nuclear program stopped through diplomacy but has not ruled out a military strike.

"If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that. That is not our choice," Biden said. CONTINUE

Mossad: Saudis Would Turn Blind Eye to Israeli Strike on Iran

Report: Saudis Give Nod to Israeli Strike on Iran

The head of Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran's nuclear sites.

Earlier this year Meir Dagan, Mossad's director since 2002, held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility.

The Israeli press has already carried unconfirmed reports that high-ranking officials, including Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister, held meetings with Saudi colleagues. The reports were denied by Saudi officials.

"The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of both Israel and Saudi Arabia," a diplomatic source said last week.

Although the countries have no formal diplomatic relations, an Israeli defense source confirmed that Mossad maintained "working relations" with the Saudis.

John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who recently visited the Gulf, said it was "entirely logical" for the Israelis to use Saudi airspace.

Bolton, who has talked to several Arab leaders, added: "None of them would say anything about it publicly but they would certainly acquiesce in an overflight if the Israelis didn't trumpet it as a big success."