6 August - Early News Picks

Why did no one object to the "Pentagon mosque"?

Muslims have been praying inside the Pentagon since Sept. 11 but right-wingers have been strangely silent

Nadler: Attacks on mosque "shameful and divisive"

Russian capital enveloped by smog amid wildfires

Natural Gas Could Lead To New Lebanon-Israel War

The discovery of large natural gas reserves under the waters of the eastern Mediterranean could potentially mean a huge economic windfall for Israel and Lebanon, both resource-poor nations — if it doesn't spark new war between them.

The Hezbollah militant group has blared warnings that Israel plans to steal natural gas from Lebanese territory and vows to defend the resources with its arsenal of rockets. Israel says the fields it is developing do not extend into Lebanese waters, a claim experts say appears to be correct, but the maritime boundary between the two countries — still officially at war — has never been precisely set.

GASOLINE FROM THIN AIR?

• An agricultural enzyme can convert carbon monoxide into propane.
• The organism that produces the enzyme is usually found in the soil around the roots of nitrogen-fixing plants.
• The enzyme could eventually turn carbon dioxide into gasoline.

Want a cheap electric vehicle? Head west, my friend

• California is offering $5,000 cash rebates (like Cash for Clunkers) for people who buy electric vehicles. With one of those lucrative deals in hand, plus the $7,500 federal tax credit, you can score a Nissan Leaf for approximately $20,000 (instead of $32,780);
• Nearly all electric vehicles, many of which are to be sold initially in very targeted markets, will be offered in the state. The Coda sedan will be sold nowhere else;
• The EV Project and ChargePoint America programs, both financially supported by the Department of Energy, will put many thousands of free electric vehicle chargers on state roads, creating an infrastructure unlikely to be duplicated anywhere else.
  
  
  San Francisco’s hand got even better. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District just announced that it is putting $5 million into a program that will add:

  
  

  • 3,000 home chargers for home garages and apartment buildings;
  • 2,000 public chargers at work places and “high-density parking areas”;
  • 50 fast chargers (480 volts) next to major highways.

Israel Returning Turkish Flotilla Ships

Three Turkish towing ships arrived in Israel on Thursday morning to take the ships, which have been anchored in Israeli ports since the May 31 interception by Israel’s Navy, back to Turkey. The personal equipment aboard the vessels also will be returned.
The ships were part of a six-ship flotilla carrying activists and humanitarian aid that was intercepted in international waters off the coast of Gaza. The boarding by Israeli commandos of one of the ships, the Marmara, sparked violent clashes that led to the deaths of nine Turkish nationals, including one dual Turkish-American citizen.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry, in a letter to Turkish officials, said it expects Turkey to prevent other Turkish ships from attempting to violate the Gaza blockade.

( Chutzpah. Israel is not a NATO signatory and has violated Turkish merchant marine treaty protections while continuing a UN condemned war crime. Nothing to see here...move along.)

With Military Suicides on the Rise, Parents of Two Soldiers Who Took Their Own Lives Say Obama’s Words Ring Hollow

 In June alone, at least thirty-two active-duty and reserve officers took their own lives, the highest monthly figure since record keeping began. 

Forced U.S. military extensions to end

Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared in March 2009 that Stop Loss had to end, saying it was "breaking faith" with those who volunteered to serve. He had ordered the services to reduce stop loss in 2007. However, the numbers of troops affected climbed more than 40% in the months that followed, largely because of the additional troops sent to Iraq. 

U.S. lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan

Twitter
Obnoxious Pentagon spokesperson issues formal threat against WikiLeaks: Destroy everything, or else http://cs.pn/aOxf0Y
Pentagon Spokesman Geoff Morrell conducted a daily briefing at the Defense Department. He called on the website WikiLeaks to return all of the classified war documents in their possession and delete them from the website

Pentagon Demands Wikileaks 'Returns' Leaked Documents; Does It Not Know How Digital Documents Work?

Obama is also pulling equipment and bases from Iraq

The drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq since January 2009 comprises roughly three times as many troops as the President ordered to Afghanistan last December.

Partial Readings: Dispatches from Media-land

Arianna Ciccone worries that a wiretapping bill before the Italian parliament will threaten internet press freedom. The law demands that “‘those responsible for information websites’…issue corrections within 48 hours to any complaint regarding website content, whether blogs, opinion, comment and/or information in general.... More

Saudi and RIM talks progress as Blackberry ban looms

6 Charts That Suggest The Unemployment Crisis Is WORSE Than It Looks

Canada, U.S. both lose jobs in July

Canadian full-time job losses offset by part-time gains. U.S. economy lost 131,000 jobs in July, keeping the American unemployment rate at 9.5 per cent, the Labour Department reported Friday.Economists had expected losses of 60,000 jobs.The Labour Department reported public service jobs fell by 202,000, while private employment rose by 71,000.

Is Harper just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic?

Stephen Harper is heading to Rideau Hall on Friday morning to shuffle his cabinet, which is becoming an almost semi-annual event.

This mini-shuffle (the last one was in January) was precipitated by Government House Leader Jay Hill’s decision not to run in the next election. At the Tory summer national caucus meeting Thursday in Ottawa, it was made clear that it was Mr. Hill’s last day in his post.

Recession-battered states cut funding for the disabled

Minnesota judge frees man convicted in acceleration crash of Toyota

Illegal immigrants also risk arrest leaving U.S.

( I'll bet you thought that quip about the border fence was there to keep people IN was a joke. )

Heavy weaponry seized at border

Why politicians are right not to trust the public

There's a reason why politicians don't cut the defense spending even when polls tell them they should : most politicians distrust voters just as much as most voters distrust politicians.

The Most Powerful Scientist Ever: Winston Churchill's Personal Technocrat

The Prof would pronounce judgment on the best use of shipping space, the profligacy of the army, the inadequacy of British supplies, the optimal size of the mustard gas stockpile, the necessity of bombing German houses—and, when the time came, the pointlessness of sending famine relief to Bengal.

What Colliding Galaxies Look Like: Photos That Will Amaze HT Digg

Prayers really can heal the sick, finds international study

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1300506/Prayers-really-heal-sick-finds-international-study.html#ixzz0vqygomik

( Scoffers say study unscientific and prejudicial )

New Way to Boost Vaccines

Richard P. Phipps, Ph.D., found that the same molecules used in drugs that treat diabetes also stimulate B cells in the immune system, pushing them to make antibodies for protection against invading microorganisms.

Trashing tar balls on the Gulf: Is there a better way than dumping it?

GM crop escapes into the American wild

Transgenic canola found growing freely in North Dakota.