Society's ChildS

Eye 1

How Real is the Threat from Islamic Terrorism in the U.S.?

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Statistically, your chances of dying from a bee sting or a lightning strike are much greater than your chances of dying in a terrorist attack in America.

The anthrax attack and the Fort Hood shooting had nothing to do with foreign terrorists. The shoe bomber and the underwear bomber were not attacks in the US. I'll give you the Times Square bombing, even though it was such an utterly incompetent failure that it's difficult to believe that it was actually meant to succeed. I mean, really, what kind of moron thinks that a large firecracker will blow up a propane tank? If they actually had meant to kill people it would have been ten times easier and almost foolproof to just fill a Ryder truck with drums of gasoline, stop it in one of the tunnels at rush hour, and torch it.

The anthrax attacks, in particular, were traced to U.S. scientists at Fort Detrick, MD who were viciously anti-Muslim. These attacks had absolutely nothing to do with Al Qaida, and everything to do with causing enough hysteria to enable the administration's plans to repeal the Bill of Rights piecemeal without anyone daring to protest. Blaming these attacks on Muslim terrorists is simply the worst kind of disinformation, and this is no longer even controversial.

Bad Guys

Toxicologist: Oil spill far more toxic than admitted

oil spill, michigan
© Unknown

Nicholas Forte has spent the last year with an array of health issues. Headaches. Migraines. Nausea. Breathing problems so severe they would land him in the hospital.

"We have no idea what it is," the 22-year-old Battle Creek resident told Michigan Messenger. "Then it escalated to seizures."

And while the seizures landed him in the hospital - at one point stopping his heart and his breathing - doctors are at a loss to understand why. Tests indicate none of the expected patterns for epilepsy.

Crusader

UK: Anti-Israel protests disrupt BBC Proms concert

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© UnknownA group of about 20 people had gathered outside the hall to protest the appearance of the orchestra
Protesters have disrupted a BBC Proms concert by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The soloist, Gil Shaham, was about to play Bruch's violin concerto conducted by Zubin Mehta when some people in the audience began booing and shouting.

BBC Radio 3 interrupted its live broadcast twice before returning later.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign had earlier called on people to boycott the concert and urged the BBC to cancel it.

The pro-Palestinian group claimed that the IPO showed "complicity in whitewashing Israel's persistent violations of international law and human rights".

Health

Israeli hospitals go on emergency footing ahead of mass resignation

Public hospitals across Israel on Thursday began preparations for the expected resignation of hundreds of medical residents next week, over unmet demands for higher salaries and improved working conditions.

Some 960 residents earlier this week tendered their resignation en masse after the government rejected their demands, and said they will quit their posts on Sunday.

Israel's Health Ministry issued a letter to hospital directors on Wednesday instructing them to implement measures to deal with the severe shortage of personnel, which officials described as " unprecedented," the Yedioth Ahronot newspaper reported Thursday.

Binoculars

Special forces raid BP's Moscow office

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© Associated PressHeadquarters of BP's Russian operations in downtown Moscow
BP's troubled relationship with Russia sank to a new low yesterday after special forces raided its Moscow office and its partners in a joint venture escalated their campaign against the company.

The raid came a day after BP suffered the humiliation of being usurped by ExxonMobil in a landmark alliance with the Kremlin-controlled Rosneft, a deal that BP had claimed as its own.

Police armed with assault rifles searched for documents relating to the dispute between BP and a minority shareholder in its Russian joint venture TNK-BP.

The shareholder, Andrei Prokhorov, claims that BP harmed TNK-BP's interests by failing to include the joint venture in its proposed alliance with Rosneft and is seeking $US3 billion in damages as a result.

Stormtrooper

Libya commander: 50,000 dead in uprising

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© Associated Press
Military commander with Libya's interim ruling council estimates revolution has so far claimed 50,000 lives

An estimated 50,000 people have been killed since the beginning of Libya's uprising to oust Muammar Gaddafi six months ago, a military commander with the country's interim ruling council said on Tuesday.

"In Misrata and Zlitan between 15,000 and 17,000 were killed and Jebel Nafusa (the Western Mountains) took a lot of casualties. We liberated about 28,000 prisoners. We presume that all those missing are dead," he said.

"Then there was Ajdabiyah, Brega. Many people were killed there too," he said, referring to towns repeatedly fought over in eastern Libya.

"About 50,000 people were killed since the start of the uprising," Colonel Hisham Buhagiar, commander of the anti-Gaddafi troops who advanced out of the Western Mountains and took Tripoli a week ago, told Reuters.

Heart - Black

UK: Queen's guard at Windsor Castle and his primary school teacher wife appear in court charged with 'raping pre-teenage girl'

A soldier who guards the Queen at Windsor Castle and his primary school teacher wife have appeared in court charged with raping a pre-teenage girl.

Simon Davies, 37, and wife Fiona, 44, were held by police after a video of the alleged incident was found during a raid on a London home.

Police swooped on the house as part of an investigation into a child porn ring. It is believed the footage was being circulated online by paedophiles.

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© AlamyCharged: A soldier who guards the Queen at Windsor Castle has been arrested and charged, alongside his primary school teacher wife, with raping a pre-teenage girl

Family

Shocking footage shows girl, four, driving car down motorway

girl 4, drives car
© Snip

A girl of four has been filmed driving down a busy main road while her dad shouts instructions from the back seat.

The incredible footage, apparently shot by the girl's mother, shows her speeding along a four-lane motorway, calmly overtaking other cars as she goes.

In the background, her parents can be heard reminding the youngster - who is not wearing a seatbelt - to look ahead and not be distracted.

Eagle

Iranian Commander Predicts "Military Rule" in Major US Cities

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© Unknown
A senior Iranian commander said that the US plans massive deployments of police forces in major cities fearing the eruption of popular protests similar to the recent developments in the Middle East, the Arab world and the European countries.

The Deputy Head of Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri described the deployment of US police forces in cities as "military rule," which basically aims at a quick crackdown on political unrest in the country under a "threadbare" pretext of preventing terror attacks in the US.

He noted how incumbent US President Barack Obama has followed in the path of his predecessor, George W. Bush, in inflicting huge costs on US taxpayers through the continuation of the Bush-era war policies.

Difficult living conditions, unemployment, an increasing suicide rate among US troops and the Americans' inability to pay off their mortgages are among other hardships the Obama administration has brought about for the people in the United States, Jazayeri added.

Cowboy Hat

US govt tunes out legendary guitar firm over 'illegal' wood from India

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© UnknownJimi Hendrix with his restrung Gibson flying V.
Washington: George Harrison played 'While my guitar gently weeps' on the instrument manufactured by them. Eric Clapton sang his paean to Layla and laid down Sally on their storied equipment. Jimi Hendrix generated Midnight Lightning and Jerry Garcia took a long strange trip - all on legendary Gibson guitars.

But contemporary musicians, especially guitarists, are fretting that they will soon be playing a different tune. Uncle Sam says it has the wood on Gibson, the legendary American guitar maker whose instruments were used by the above musicians and whose products are considered the last word in the west's most popular instrument.

So where does India fit into this story? The US government says Gibson has been illegally importing tropical hardwoods such as ebony, rosewood, and mahogany, used in making guitars, from India, in violation of American laws that bar import of endangered plants and woods. Not true, says Gibson, arguing that its imports are legal and New Delhi itself has not made an issue of it.