Court Rules Bush Admin Wrong to Fine CBS for Super Bowl Janet Jackson Striptease lifesitenews.com 7/22/8 ["The court claims this notorious act was not 'pervasive as to amount to "shock treatment" for the audience' but the wardrobe malfunction was clearly intended to shock the worldwide audience. It incited unprecedented outrage and immediate phone calls and emails from viewers to the FCC."]
Closing the Loophole on Pornography Sales cwalac.org 7/22/8 ["Congressman Paul C. Broun (R-Georgia), M.D., introduced the “Military Honor and Decency Act (H.R. 5821),” which closes that loophole so pornographic publications aren’t sold or subsidized by military exchanges. Legislation like H.R. 5821 would protect military families from the harmful effects of pornography and would encourage a family-friendly environment on military installations."]
Miami International Airport scanners see through clothes miamiherald.com 7/22/8 ["Miami is one of 21 airports nationwide receiving the new technology. The whole body imaging machines are already in use in Los Angeles, New York's JFK, Baltimore-Washington, Denver, Albuquerque, Ronald Reagan Washington, Detroit, Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix Sky-Harbor, Washington Dulles and Las Vegas airports."]
Canadians, Americans, International - Sign the On Line Petition: "Rescind Order of Canada From Morgentaler" lifesitenews.com 7/22/8 ["Over 2000 Have Signed "Rescind Order of Canada From Morgentaler" Petition in First 24 Hours"]
In tight times, shunning materialism saves money ap.google.com 7/22/8 ["On Wednesday, the Labor Department said consumer prices rose 1.1 percent in June, nearly the fastest pace in a generation."]
Family Farms sustainabletable.org 7/22/8 ["Family farmers are being forced out of business at an alarming rate. According to Farm Aid, every week 330 farmers leave their land.i As a result, there are now nearly five million fewer farms in the U.S. than there were in the 1930's."]
 

Is America too big to fail? iht.com 7/21/8 ["Together, Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee nearly half of the nation's $12 trillion worth of home mortgages.  ...The central banks of China and Japan are on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Fannie's and Freddie's bonds - debts they took on assuming that the two companies enjoyed the backing of the American government, argues Brad Setser, an economist at the Council on Foreign Relations."]
Overseas investors take hard look at U.S. mortgage giants iht.com 7/21/8 ["About one-fifth of securities issued by Fannie, Freddie and a handful of much smaller quasi-government agencies, some $1.5 trillion worth, were held by foreign investors at the end of March. One-tenth of all American mortgages are, in effect, in the hands of institutions and governments outside the United States."]
Paulson braces public for months of tough times ap.google.com 7/21/8 ["Paulson said the number of troubled banks will increase as they struggle to cope with big losses on bad mortgages. The government this month took over IndyMac after a run led it to become the largest regulated thrift to fail."]
Fuel's surge a headache for home health providers ap.google.com 7/21/8 ["...who care for roughly 12 million elderly and disabled patients nationwide and drive an estimated 5 billion miles a year, according to a recent study by the National Association for Home Care and Hospice.  The industry is also contemplating abandoning uneconomical home visits in far-flung locations..."]
UK:  'No decision' on giant database news.bbc.co.uk 7/21/8 ["No decision has been taken to create a huge database containing details of all phone calls, e-mails and internet use, security minister Lord West says.  ...There have been reports that the giant database is planned for the government's proposed Communications Data Bill."]
 

Saudis host a global interfaith conference in Madrid: a 'first step' csmonitor.com 7/19/8 ["In his opening remarks Wednesday at the three-day conference, host Saudi King Abdullah reminded his audience – nearly 300 religious, political, and cultural leaders from 50 different countries – of their shared purpose.  "If we want this historic encounter to succeed, we must look to the things that unite us: our profound faith in God, the noble principles and elevated ethics that represent the foundation of religions," he said. "]
Brazil: Offend a homosexual ... Go to prison for 5 years worldnetdaily.com 7/19/8 ["The bill also seeks to penalize private and public school administrators with up to three years in prison if they refuse to hire openly "gay" teachers.  According to the CNA, the measure will force prison time for any "moral, ethical, philosophical or psychological expression that questions homosexual practices.""]
US activists praise Senate for lifting HIV travel ban afp.google.com 7/19/8 ["With the vote, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services now has the authority to lift the HIV ban. It remained unclear if President George W. Bush's administration would take action or leave the issue to the next president, US media reported."]
 

Nintendo says sold 666,000 Wii in U.S. in June uk.reuters.com 7/18/8 [Editor:  II Timothy 3:1-4 foretells, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy  ...lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God"]
U.S. jobless claims rise, showing companies are staying lean iht.com 7/18/8 ["The number of people continuing to draw unemployment benefits fell to 3.1 million for the week ending July 5, the most recent period for which that information is available. That compared with 2.6 million a year ago."]
Merrill Lynch reports $4.9 billion loss cnn.com 7/18/8 ["Nation's largest brokerage suffers its fourth-straight quarterly loss, confirms plans to sell Bloomberg stake for $4.43 billion."]
Weis says he's open to assistance from State Police, but National Guard wouldn't help chicagotribune.com 7/18/8 ["A day after Gov. Rod Blagojevich called Chicago's rising crime rate "out of control" and offered state manpower to help, Police Supt. Jody Weis carefully waded into the political fray Thursday on the city's behalf  ...The governor's offer, which the administration said potentially involved using state troopers to patrol streets and National Guard helicopters to carry out surveillance, raised questions about whether it was more the result of a political struggle with Mayor Richard Daley rather than the need for more police."]
Virgin Mobile Solicits Youth to Strip for Charity, Posts Videos on Website lifesitenews.com 7/18/8 ["US mobile phone provider Virgin Mobile...  The "Strip2Clothe" drive has horrified parents, charities, and youth and family organizations with some saying that the campaign amounts to a gross exploitation of young people via the internet.  Virgin Mobile, however, has refused thus far to back down."]
SC gay group to pay for ads after state balks seattlepi.nwsource.com 7/18/8 ["A gay pride organization said Thursday it plans to raise $5,000 to pay for an advertising campaign that proclaimed "South Carolina is so gay" after the state refused to pick up the tab."]
As price of corn rises, catfish farms in U.S. dry up iht.com 7/18/8 [""It's a dead business," said John Dillard, who pioneered the commercial farming of catfish in the late 1960s. Last year Dillard & Company raised 11 million fish. Next year it will raise none. People can eat imported fish, Dillard said, just as they use imported oil.  ...Feed is now more than half the total cost of raising catfish, compared with a third of the cost of beef and pork production"]
US Senate triples funding for global AIDS fight afp.google.com 7/18/8 ["The Senate voted 80 to 16 to authorize 48 billion dollars over the next five years -- 18 billion dollars more than Bush had requested -- for the program, which also includes funds to battle tuberculosis."]
Malls get creative to draw more shoppers in tough economy usatoday.com 7/18/8 ["The International Council of Shopping Centers projects 144,000 store closures this year — up 7% from last year. That's the largest increase in the 14 years that the council has tracked the data."]
Our Prognosis Is Terminal newswithviews.com 7/18/8 [By Jim R. Schwiesow  "A people without God have no spiritual discernment and therefore have no wisdom. We clamor after the academicians and the so-called super intelligent and think their works brilliant.  ...it is the people - a godless and perverted people – of an iniquitous and degenerate mind that are perfectly and utterly responsible for the deterioration of our system and our society, and for the degenerates who rule over us."]
Freddie & Fannie Unconstitutional Bail Out Using What? newswithviews.com 7/18/8 [By Devvy Kidd  "The nation is awash in fear because they are coming to realize that while they've been buying all the hype from the cabal of gangsters in Washington for decades, reality is now setting in as poverty is slamming millions who used to belong to the middle class. From dangerous lending practices to the derivatives time bomb waiting to go off and inflation getting ready to launch into hyper inflation, the situation is more grim by the week."]
 

Family Advocates Take McDonald's Boycott to Home of the Golden Arches After "Hate" Smear lifesitenews.com 7/17/8 ["The American Family Association (AFA), Americans for Truth, the Illinois Family Institute, and the legal advocacy group Liberty Counsel held a joint press conference Wednesday in front of the McDonald's restaurant across from McDonald's corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois to protest the corporation's statements that people opposed to its support of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), were motivated by "hate.""]
Calif. court rejects gay-marriage-initiative case ap.google.com 7/17/8 ["The unanimous decision means that, barring further legal action, voters will consider a constitutional amendment in November that would again limit marriage in California to a union between a man and a woman. The court did not give a reason for deciding not to accept the case."]
Planned Parenthood in Hysterics over Bush Memo Defining Abortifacient Contraception as Abortion lifesitenews.com 7/17/8 ["Planned Parenthood and its abortion allies are apoplectic over a new Bush Administration memo that defines abortifacient contraception as abortion and proposes regulations that would prevent individuals and entities receiving federal money from discriminating against pro-life health care providers."]
The Fed's Cure for "Nature Deficit Disorder" in Our Kids crossroad.to 7/17/8 [By Professor Allen Quist  "Claiming to have the remedy for "nature deficit disorder," Congressional Democrats (along with some Republicans) are in the process of passing a new federal education program for all 50 states. The bill is called "No Child Left Inside" and is a major expansion of the federal education train-wreck, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).  ...This radical bill says that it will make K-12 students "environmentally literate" before they graduate. If passed, the program will actually indoctrinate our kids with the values of the sky-is-falling type of environmentalists, the same crowd that has given us $4.00 plus per gallon gasoline by making it impossible to tap into our huge oil reserves on the North Slope of Alaska and the outer continental shelf."]
 

Gay couples in U.S. are one step closer to marriage in Massachusetts iht.com 7/16/8 ["The Massachusetts Senate voted Tuesday to repeal a 1913 law that has been used to bar gay couples residing in other states from marrying in Massachusetts. The law prohibited couples from obtaining marriage licenses if they could not legally wed in the states in which they reside."]
Banks hit by fallout from the crisis at IndyMac latimes.com 7/16/8 ["As thousands of customers waited hours in the heat Monday to withdraw deposits from failed IndyMac Bank, investors dumped the stocks of many mortgage lenders, precipitating the steepest one-day decline in banking shares since 1989.  Southern California fixtures Downey Financial Corp. and FirstFed Financial Corp., specialists in the nontraditional mortgages that fueled the housing boom, were among the hardest hit, with their stock prices down 24% and 19% respectively. Shares of Washington Mutual Inc., the biggest savings and loan, fell nearly 35%."]
Police show up at IndyMac Branches in Encino, Northridge as waiting customers clash latimes.com 7/16/8 ["Los Angeles police were dispatched to IndyMac Bank branches in Encino and Northridge this morning when customers waiting to withdraw money became irate after several people tried to cut in line on the second day of the failed institution's federal takeover.  ...By 9:30 a.m., there were more than 100 customers waiting in two lines -- one for people who had put their names on the list Monday, and one for everyone else."]
Calif. blazes called state's largest 'fire event' ap.google.com 7/16/8 ["The emergency services office says it's the single largest fire event in the history of California."]
Monsanto patent fight ensnares Missouri farm town kansascity.com 7/16/8 ["Now Monsanto is raising the stakes against this so-called seed piracy with an unprecedented lawsuit against a farm co-op it accuses of aiding the illegal practice by cleaning seeds for use in future crops. That practice violates the contract between Monsanto and farmers which prohibits farmers from stockpiling seeds or selling second-generation seeds."]
The Shack's Wayne Jacobsen Resonates with Contemplative/Emerging Writers crossroad.to 7/16/8 ["...readers need to be aware that Jacobsen is a proponent of emerging and contemplative books and authors. It's an important thing to know because Christian figures are heralding the book, helping it to remain on the New York Times Best Seller list. Those that understand this book -- its obvious and its not so obvious messages--know that it's important to issue a warning. And the fact that popular Christian authors like Eugene Petersen and Gayle Erwin (The Jesus Style) endorse the book..."]
Iran and Russia sign major oil deal jpost.com 7/16/8 ["Gazprom's Chief Executive Alexei Miller met on Sunday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and went on to sign an agreement for developing Iranian oil and gas fields."]
GM to cut jobs, raise liquidity by $15 billion guardian.co.uk 7/16/8 ["The automaker said it would cut white-collar employment costs by 20 percent, a step expected to mean the loss of thousands of jobs among the 40,000 salaried workers GM employs in North America.  ...Wagoner said GM assumed U.S. industrywide auto sales would drop to 14 million vehicles this year and stay at that level in 2009, down from 16.15 million in 2007. GM also assumed that oil prices would average between $130 and $150 per barrel by 2009."]
 

Paulson Seeks Authority to Shore Up Fannie, Freddie bloomberg.com 7/15/8 ["...asked Congress for authority to buy unlimited stakes in and lend to the companies, aiming to stem a collapse in confidence. The Federal Reserve separately authorized the firms to borrow directly from the central bank."]
General Motors to announce more cuts Tuesday ap.google.com 7/15/8 ["General Motors Corp. is expected to cut several thousand salaried jobs and further slash truck production in response to falling U.S. sales and Wall Street's demands for more action to stem its losses, according to two people briefed on the plan."]
Investors seek solace in gold ft.com 7/15/8 ["On Friday there was a record one-day increase in holdings in gold exchange traded funds as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, linchpins of the US mortgage market, threatened to collapse and IndyMac Bank imploded – the third-largest financial institution to fail in the US."]
Wall Street's woes escalate ahead of earnings wave ap.google.com 7/15/8 ["None of the troubles that have rocked the market over the past year have let up yet: not the housing market, not high commodities costs, not the ailing financial system."]
Khamenei aide: Iran would attack heart of Israel jpost.com 7/15/8 ["Iran would "destroy" Israel as well as 32 US army bases in the region if the Islamic Republic is attacked, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday."]
President George W Bush backs Israeli plan for strike on Iran timesonline.co.uk 7/15/8 ["President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official."]
 

Bold Mediterranean summit opens diplomatic doors iht.com 7/14/8 ["Leaders of 43 nations with nearly 800 million inhabitants inaugurated a new Union for the Mediterranean on Sunday, designed to bring the northern and southern countries that ring the sea closer together through practical projects dealing with the environment, climate, transportation, immigration and policing.  ...Sarkozy spoke of partnership and urged the leaders toward peace, saying: "The European and the Mediterranean dreams are inseparable." He said that "everyone is going to have to make an effort, as the Europeans did, to put an end to the deadly spiral of war and violence, that, century after century, periodically brought barbarity to the heart of civilization.""]
IndyMac one of the largest bank failures in U.S. history iht.com 7/14/8 ["But IndyMac's customers, afraid their savings might disappear, stampeded tellers, demanding their money back. Most of Indymac's deposits are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which will operate the bank and try to sell it."]
Diesel hits record, gas ticks higher money.cnn.com 7/14/8 ["The price of diesel, which is used to power most trucks and commercial vehicles, hit $4.817 a gallon.  ...Prices for regular unleaded gas are 35% higher than where they were last year, and diesel prices have risen by more than 65% over the same period."]
US spells out Fannie-Freddie backstop plan ap.google.com 7/14/8 ["The Fed said it granted the Federal Reserve Bank of New York authority to lend to the two companies "should such lending prove necessary." They would pay 2.25 percent for any borrowed funds — the same rate given to commercial banks and Big Wall Street firms.  The Fed said this should help the companies' ability to "promote the availability of home mortgage credit during a period of stress in financial markets.""]
Oil fired up for an assault on $150 level ft.com 7/14/8 ["US crude on Tuesday recorded its largest one-day dollar decline - $5.33 a barrel - since the start of the first Gulf war in January 1991. Thursday saw the second largest one-day dollar gain - $5.60 - since crude futures started trading in the 1980s...  Some traders argued that the dollar was likely to come under further pressure as the Federal Reserve would find its ability to use interest rates to battle commodityrelated inflation pressures severely constrained by the increased threat of systemic failure across the financial markets."]
Government not expected to help more companies apnews.myway.com 7/14/8 ["Such an approach could mean beaten-down investment banks like Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) and regional banks must now fend for themselves as they try to recover from billions of dollars in mortgage-related losses. That is bound to unnerve Wall Street, already anxious as it awaits financial companies' earnings reports that are expected to be down a stunning 69 percent from a year ago when all the numbers are in."]
Spain to grant anonymity for women who have abortions afp.google.com 7/14/8 ["The majority of abortions in Spain take place in private clinics and are justified on the grounds that the pregnancy posed a "psychological risk" for the health of the woman."]
 

OPEC warns against military conflict with Iran iht.com 7/12/8 ["...warned Thursday that oil prices would see an "unlimited" increase in the case of a military conflict involving Iran, because the group's members would be unable to make up the lost production."]
IndyMac seized by FDIC; Office of Thrift Supervision reproaches Sen. Schumer forbes.com 7/12/8 [" IndyMac is the second-largest financial institution to close in U.S. history, said the Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates the company."]
Economics Undone crossroad.to 7/12/8 [By Carl Teichrib  "During the past fourteen months, the threat of economic uncertainty has permeated the business and financial communities. From the American sub-prime crisis to the globally expanding costs of energy and food, it’s evident that a major shake-up is in the works, and this economicturbulence has resulted in some very interesting stories. Here are a few that cropped up toward the end of June."]
Are You Ready for the Next Disaster? nytimes.com 7/12/8 ["Disaster psychology tells us that few of us judge the risk of prospective hazards accurately, or take sensible precautions even if we do. We may believe that something terrible will happen in our nation or even our in city, but we tend to think it won’t touch us directly. Moreover, we’re often skeptical of official advice about public safety."]
McDonalds Strikes Back at Family Boycott with Charges of "Hate" lifesitenews.com 7/12/8 ["...the AFA, which has over 2.2 million members, has pointed out that its boycott has nothing to do with McDonald's homosexual employees, but everything to do with McDonald's cash from its 31,000 restaurants worldwide flowing from families into anti-family endeavors."]
Chinese Government is Top Foreign Holder of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Bonds marketwatch.com 7/12/8 ["The top five foreign holders of Freddie and Fannie long-term debt are China, Japan, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. In total foreign investors hold over $1.3 trillion in these agency bonds..."]
Food Costs Driving Up School Meal Prices usnews.com 7/12/8 ["According to the School Nutrition Association, 75 percent of school nutrition directors who responded to a recent survey said they plan to raise meal prices to cope with soaring costs. Prices for foods such as bread, milk, and cheese have jumped 17 percent in the past year alone. Some districts say they have no choice but to pass on the extra cost to students. In Tempe, Ariz., for example, students will no longer get Peter Piper Pizza, and a rice bowl—one of the most popular items—will now cost $4.25."]
Senate passes mortgage rescue plan seattletimes.nwsource.com 7/12/8 ["The new program would let the FHA insure as much as $300 billion in new mortgages, helping an estimated 400,000 homeowners."]
Another Disabled Young Person Dehydrated to Death in Terri Schiavo's Hospice lifesitenews.com 7/12/8 ["Unquestionably conscious cognitively disabled patients are now being denied sustenance in every state in U.S."]
Mediterranean Union to be launched euobserver.com 7/12/8 ["France will on Sunday (13 July) launch the Union for the Mediterranean – the brainchild of President Nicolas Sarkozy, which will bring together EU member states and a number of North African and Middle East countries."]
Oil sets new trading record above $147 a barrel ap.google.com 7/12/8 ["...s hostilities rise between the West and Iran — raising the likelihood that this winter's heating bills will be the priciest yet.  Crude oil's brief jump past $147 a barrel Friday arrived not only as the United States and Israel view Iran as a growing threat, but also as the U.S. dollar fell and worries erupted over possible supply disruptions in two other major oil-producing nations: Nigeria and Brazil."]
 

U.S. Considers Takeover of Two Mortgage Giants nytimes.com 7/11/8 ["The government officials said that the administration had also considered calling for legislation that would offer an explicit government guarantee on the $5 trillion of debt owned or guaranteed by the companies. But that is a far less attractive option, they said, because it would effectively double the size of the public debt."]
Fears rise on trillion-dollar trouble for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac afp.google.com 7/11/8 ["...as fears intensify about a potential calamity at the firms, which underpin trillions of dollars in home loans.  On Thursday, Freddie Mac shares plunged 22 percent to eight dollars, and are down over 40 percent this week and 75 percent this year.  Fannie Mae sank 14 percent to 13.20 dollars, down 26 percent in the week and 64 percent for the year."]
Fannie, Freddie insolvent, Poole tells Bloomberg reuters.com 7/11/8 ["Chances are increasing that the government may need to bail out the two mortgage companies, Poole was quoted as saying."]
Fake euro notes on the rise ECB reveals guardian.co.uk 7/11/8 ["The ECB said the number of fake euro notes seized by authorities had jumped more than 15 percent in the first six months of the year."]
Americans use less gas, hurt highway trust fund-CBO reuters.com 7/11/8 ["The fund is built on an 18.4 cent tax levied on each gallon of gas. It had been forecast to run out by 2009, but the fund is now shrinking more quickly, Peter Orszag testified to a Senate panel."]
Some in U.S. replace oil heat with wood stoves reuters.com 7/11/8 ["In New England, which has the nation's highest rates of heating oil use, homeowners are bracing for a near doubling in the cost to fill home oil storage tanks compared with last year.  The surging cost has spread alarm among heating oil distributors, mainly small and often family-run businesses. Their profit margins already squeezed, they now face the prospect of taking on unprecedented amounts of debt to buy fuel for winter."]
 

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Our News Perspective Color Coding Editor's Pick / Must Read Newspaper Article Head's Up! Popular Propaganda Essay / Commentary / Opinion Recommended Link/Reading Alert Issue - news of special note People acting/Good news TIP: All links should open in a new window. "A prudent man forseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."   Proverbs 22:3 and Proverbs 27:12  KJV   Word study on this verse