Raiders of the Lost Cattleprod: Long hot summer...

UN agency: Saudi Arabia to fund world summit on food security in Rome in November

US signs disabled rights treaty
The United States on Thursday signed a U.N. treaty enshrining the rights of the world's 650 million disabled people, saying it symbolized President Barack Obama's commitment to upholding human rights through international agreements.

The signing by U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice marked a dramatic shift from the Bush administration, which refused to take part in negotiations on the treaty, arguing that it would dilute protections for U.S. citizens under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

'$10 trillion' credit crunch cost
The global credit crunch has cost governments more than $10 trillion, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says.

The IMF says that rich countries have provided $9.2tn in government support for the financial sector, while emerging economies spent $1.6 tn.

House Approves $636 Billion Defense Spending Bill

U.S. judge rules for Fed in Fox News Network request

A U.S. judge on Thursday denied a bid by Fox News Network LLC seeking details from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve about the central bank's loans to companies affected by the financial crisis.
...
"I rule that one document, which the Board determined is not a record, is indeed, a record. The Board shall identify this document and either produce it or claim an exemption," Hellerstein said in a written order.

"In all other respects, I grant the Board's motion and deny Fox's motion, finding that the Board performed an adequate search and that Exemption 4 permits the Board not to disclose the documents that Fox seeks."

Under Exemption 4 of the FOIA, an agency must demonstrate that the information sought is a "trade secret" or "commercial or financial" in character and "obtained from a person" and "privileged and confidential."

G-20 police planning a puzzle for Pittsburgh chief

Arabic teacher at Clemson faces immigration charge
Clemson scholar moved to Alabama

After Bomb Scare, Tempers Flare at La Guardia
Even after terminals had reopened at La Guardia Airport, scores of flights were delayed and tempers were flaring.

Pentagon, Eyeing Iran, Wants to Rush 30,000-Pound Bomb Program

Regulators crack down on 3 Georgia banks
Regulators have served three small Georgia banks, including the Bank of Georgia in Peachtree City, with 'cease and desist' orders.

News From USJFCOM: Situational awareness experiment prepares for real world crises
During the recently completed Interagency Shared Situational Awareness (IA SSA) Limited Objective Experiment (LOE), U.S. Joint Forces Command and its partners addressed standards, policies and procedures involving sharing of information with interagency, multinational and non-government agencies during crisis operations.

Mystery ends: Pilot's remains found in Iraq desert
Capt. Speicher, finally coming home.

1 Month, 24 Bank Failures: Random Event or Wilting Economy?

Biggest revenue drop since 1932

Stocks Rally is "Excessive", Financial System "Very Damaged" Says Roubini
No, really? My take: over 10k by the time we get a "peace in our time" statement.

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Northwest Arctic, North Slope villages to have cell coverage by September
Like many small Alaska villages, Buckland is still waiting for running water and a sewer system. But long before a single flush toilet is installed, it will have connectivity of a different kind.

Buckland, along with every village in the North Slope Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough and a handful of other communities, is getting cell phone service this September through GCI.

Cell phones before sewers?

Nazi concentration camp survivor, 90, found strangled
A 90-year-old Holocaust survivor was found strangled Thursday in his Upper East Side apartment, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner said Friday.

Cash for Clunkers may take over your computer - Glenn Beck

And now today: Glenn Beck - The Government Removes Disclaimer,But Not The Law

It gives me the heebie-jeebies because I got a warning on another government site. See, I saw this story:
Florida man sees security exercise, calls police
and thought, gosh, there have been a lot of these drills lately. Maybe June or July is Disaster preparedness month or something?

So I went to FEMA's site (http://www.fema.gov/). They didn't have a 'news' section, so I clicked on Training. Once there I got there, I got distracted by this:

FEMA Training Organizations

Center for Domestic Preparedness

The Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) is the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)'s only federally chartered Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) training center. The CDP is located in Anniston, Alabama. The Noble Training Facility is also a component of the CDP.

Well, shiny. That's not so terribly far from me. So I clicked on the link, and got a Java pop-up box and this:

WARNING
The use of this U.S. Government system is restricted to authorized users only. Unauthorized access, use, or modification of this computer system or of the data contained herein or in transit to/from this system constitutes a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030 and state criminal and civil laws. These systems and equipment are subject to monitoring to ensure proper performance of applicable security features or procedures. Such monitoring may result in the acquisition, recording and analysis of all data being communicated, transmitted, processed or stored in this system by a user. If monitoring reveals possible evidence of criminal activity, such evidence may be provided to law enforcement personnel. Anyone who accesses a Federal computer system without authorization or exceeds their access authority, and by any means of such conduct obtains, alters, damages, destroys, or discloses information, or prevents authorized use of information on the computer, shall be subject to fine or imprisonment, or both.

Well, okay. So I backed away slowly.

Instead, here's the wikipedia entry on the CDP.

I wonder how many sites have such warnings?

Meanwhile, the natives are getting restless:

YouTube - Lloyd Doggett's meeting on Obamacare in south Austin, TX, 1 Aug 2009