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Lebanese President Blames Israel for 'Renewing Aggression' on Border

Jonathan Lis, Anshel Pfeffer, Avi Issacharoff, Eli Ashkenazi, Amos Harel
Haaretz.com
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:57 UTC
Image
© Reuters
Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman inspects the area where clashes between Israeli forces and the Lebanese army took place on Tuesday in southern Lebanon on August 7, 2010.
President Suleiman praises Lebanese Armed Forces for resisting Israeli 'attacks and provocations' after Monday's clash between Lebanese, IDF soldiers.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman blamed Israel on Monday for "renewing its aggression" on the border with Lebanon after Israel Defense Forces troops traded fire with Lebanon's army in the Mount Dov region on the border between the two countries.

Suleiman, who was speaking at a ceremony commemorating the 66th anniversary of the Lebanese Armed Forces, praised the army the army for standing guard against Israeli "attacks and provocations", as well as its resistance during the 2006 Lebanon war between Israel and Hezbollah.
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Evil Rays

Australia: Federal Transport Minister Launches Trial of Full Body Scanners at Sydney Airport

Tim Vollmer
News.com.au
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:13 UTC
Image
© Cameron Richardson
Full body scanner ... Sydney Airport will be the first in Australia to trial the scanner with Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese claiming privacy and health concerns have been addressed.
A full body scanner billed as "the most advanced passenger screening technology available in the world'' has been unveiled at Sydney Airport today as part of a two week trial of the equipment.

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese said passengers would be able to volunteer to test the device, which uses low-energy radio waves to detect items concealed under clothing, as of tomorrow.

Despite emitting 10,000 times less radiation than a single mobile phone call, advanced computer software can detect miniscule differences in the radio wave radiation that is reflected from the body, highlighting suspicious objects on a "stick figure" outline of the person.

"We regard aviation safety and security as our most important priority,'' Mr Albanese said.

"It is safe, it is secure, privacy concerns have been addressed.''

While taxpayers will fund the trail and associated research, costing about $6 million dollars, Mr Albanese said the cost of any roll-out of the machines would be borne by private airport operators.

Comment: While government pathocarats are busy trying to assure everyone there is no danger from these scanners, there is abundant evidence to the contrary:

Is Anyone Surprised? TSA Misled Public on Dangers of Airport Body Scanners

Airport Body Scanners "Could Give You Cancer"

Body Scanners May be Emitting More Radiation Than What is Recorded

Cancer Cluster Possibly Found Among TSA Workers

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Cult

Pentagon to Use Genetic Code to Identify Perfect Soldier?

Joe Wolverton
New American
Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:59 UTC
Image
Old soldiers never die, they just pass on their genetic code?

A report issued by a defense science advisory panel suggests that the Pentagon may begin collecting DNA from military personnel to identify the genome sequence that defines a good soldier. Findings reported by JASON, an independent group of scientists which advises the U.S. government on matters of science and technology, recommends that the Pentagon take advantage of "the rapidly falling cost of gene sequencing by preparing to engage in the mass sequencing of the genomes" of the men and women of the armed forces.

The physicists, biologists, chemists, oceanographers, mathematicians, and computer scientists that comprise the JASON project, point out that the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have access to an untapped source of valuable genetic information and are "uniquely positioned to make great advances" in the science of genetic research in this crucial field. Specifically mentioned are the decades of archived medical records and DNA samples already on file at the VA.

A commentary on the report published by the ACLU claims:
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Radar

Bulldoze: The New Way To Foreclose

Stephen Gandel
Time
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:43 UTC
Image
© Meredith Jenks / Getty Images
Banks have a new remedy to America's ailing housing market: Bulldozers.

There are nearly 1.7 million homes in the U.S. in some state of foreclosure. Banks already own some of these homes and will soon repossess many more. Many housing economists worry that near constant stream of home sales from banks could keep housing prices down for years to come. But what if some of those homes never hit the market.

Increasingly, it appears banks are turning to demolition teams instead of realtors to rid them of their least valuable repossessed homes. Last month, Bank of American announced plans to demolish 100 foreclosed homes in the Cleveland area. The land is then going to be donated back to the local government authorities. BofA says the recent donations in Cleveland are part of a larger plan to rid itself of its least saleable properties, many of which, according to a company spokesperson, are worth less than $10,000. BofA has already donated 100 homes in Detroit and 150 in Chicago, and may add as many as nine more cities by the end of the year.
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HAL9000

What we wish Obama had said

Steve Almond
Salon
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:07 UTC
Obama
© Associated Press
President Obama
Does anyone else have a sick sense of déjà vu this morning?

After months of slow-motion capitulation, President Obama has cut an eleventh-hour deal with Republican leaders to raise the debt ceiling. After vowing to heed the public outcry for a balanced approach, he has instead consented to a plan that manages to run rough-shod over the poor and middle-class, coddles those who caused the recession, imperils the government's two most popular entitlement programs, and virtually guarantees that our economy will continue to falter.

In other words, just another day at the office for our 44th president.


Comment: It's a useful exercise now and then to imagine a different, better reality where truth-telling is common. As Robert Kennedy said, "There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
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Vader

Israeli and Lebanese troops trade fire


Aljazeera
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:38 UTC
israeli,lebanese,
© Reuters
The last major violent flare-up along the Israeli-Lebanese border was during the Nakba Day protest in May
UN official refuses to confirm if Israeli soldiers crossed Blue Line and prompted warning shots from the Lebanese side.

Israeli and Lebanese troops have exchanged fire along the countries' border, officials say.

The Israeli and Lebanese sides offered different accounts of Monday's incident, which did not appear to have caused casualties.

The Israeli military said its army unit was on a routine patrol within Israeli territory when it received fire on Monday morning from over the border in Lebanon near Ghajar, a disputed village which straddles a strategic corner where boundaries between Syria, Israel and Lebanon meet.
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Bad Guys

Britain, Japan warn of disaster if no U.S. debt deal

Tomasz Janowski and Olesya Dmitracova
Reuters
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 04:25 UTC
British and Japanese officials warned Sunday of disastrous consequences for the global economy if last-minute talks among lawmakers in Washington failed to agree on raising the U.S. borrowing limit and averting a debt default.

Governments across the world fear that because of the key role of the U.S. dollar in global banking and trading systems, there could be severe instability when Asian financial markets reopen Monday if a U.S. debt deal is not in sight by then.

In Washington, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Senate Republican who is playing a key role in the debt talks, said "we're very close" to a $3 trillion deal that would raise the debt ceiling while cutting the U.S. budget deficit.

But a senior White House official warned that an agreement was "not there yet."

"If they get this one wrong and there's a default -- we don't expect that, we think that they will sort this out -- but if that were to happen, it has consequences for every family and every business in this country and all across the world," said Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the British Treasury.
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Stormtrooper

Russia, U.S., Canada to hold second air force anti-terror exercise


RIA Novosti
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:11 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti. Skryinikov
The exercises will include AWACS (airborne early warning and control) and refueling aircraft, as well as combat aircraft
The Russian Air Force and NORAD, the U.S. and Canadian joint air defense command will hold a second round of anti-terrorism exercises on August 8-11, the Commander in Chief of the Eastern military district, Igor Muginov said on Monday.

"The main aim of the drills is to improve the Russian Air Force's and NORAD's capabilities for fighting terrorism in the air," Muginov said.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Ruling Another Step Toward Police State

W. Bryan Hubbard
Kentucky.com
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:41 UTC
home, privacy
© San Jose Mercury News
On Oct.13, 2005, Lexington police pursued a man suspected of dealing drugs into the breezeway of an apartment complex. During their pursuit, they passed the residence of Hollis King and thought the smell of marijuana smoke emanated from it. They knocked on his door, identified themselves and asked to enter his home.

They then heard movement within the apartment, at which point they broke down his door. Police explained that their warrantless and forcible entry into his apartment was triggered by sounds they believed to be consistent with the destruction of incriminating evidence.

In 2010, the Kentucky Supreme Court honorably defended our right to be free from warrantless searches when it invalidated the police actions that resulted in King's arrest and subsequent conviction.

But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the state's justices and essentially declared that police may forcibly enter homes without a warrant should they hear noises within that are consistent with the destruction of evidence. The court declined to share the auditory standards by which such destruction is to be legally judged.

Four days before that decision, the Indiana Supreme Court declared that its citizens had no right to resist illegal police entry into their homes. By eliminating a right that dates back to the ratification of the Magna Carta in 1215, the court's decision gives Indiana's armed agents the authority to enter any home anytime without just or proper cause.
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War Whore

US, Europe Warn Assad Over Syria Crackdown


Agence France-Presse
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
US President Barack Obama speaks in Washington, DC July 29, 2011 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Obama and European leaders condemned a crackdown by Syrian forces, which activists said killed nearly 140 people, and vowed to increase pressure on the regime
US President Barack Obama and European leaders condemned a crackdown Sunday by Syrian forces, which activists said killed nearly 140 people, and vowed to increase pressure on the regime.

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, while the European Union denounced the timing of the violence coming on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan.

"I am appalled by the Syrian government's use of violence and brutality against its own people," Obama said in a statement.

"The reports out of Hama are horrifying and demonstrate the true character of the Syrian regime.

"In the days ahead, the United States will continue to increase our pressure on the Syrian regime, and work with others around the world to isolate the Assad government and stand with the Syrian people," he added.

Human rights groups said Syrian forces had killed nearly 140 people on Sunday as President Bashar al-Assad crushed dissent on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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