THE HEADLINES

Dr. Evan Kohlman, terrorist expert for NBC News

WITH NEW TERRORIST ACTS IN NORWAY, TIME FOR NEWS MEDIA TO TROT OUT THEIR BOGUS “TERRORISM EXPERTS.“

(AntiWar.com)

In immediate aftermath of a massacre attributed to a right-wing anti-Muslim extremist, newspaper and television “pundits” came forth with claims that the attacks were the work of Muslim terrorists, a claim that was later retracted by many. In reviewing the vagaries of the “terrorist expert industry,” Philip Giraldi singles out for special treatment the designated such expert at NBC, Evan Kohlmann, an expert with no real expertise, on the Muslim connections to the massacre

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THE NORWAY ATTACKS: WHAT AFFECT WILL THEY HAVE ON EUROPEAN ANTI-IMMIGRANT AND ANTI-MUSLIM TENDENCIES?

(New York Times)

This question is debated, without definitive conclusion, by analysts who note how the weakness of left parties in Europe and the strength of right ones will be affected by nearly-universal condemnation of the actions of a right-wing zealot. The “easy” answer that the event would predict that the post-Oklahoma City bombing in which President Clinton pushed a more leftist agenda in reaction to a “vast right wing conspiracy” may be repeated in Europe, but leftists are “cautious” to push this button lest they be accused of “exploiting” the event for their own political gain.

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BIG CHICKEN IS PRODUCING BIG POLLUTION IN CHESAPEAKE BAY AND THE GULF OF MEXICO.

(Mother Jones)

New Pew Foundation report called Big Chicken notes the large increase in “dead zones” devoid of marine life in both the Bay and the Gulf, and points the finger of responsibility at agricultural and food-processing industries in the area: to run-off of fertilizers and pesticides and of animal waste. Many chicken processing plants have chosen to locate their facilities on the very banks of these bodies of water. The industry pushes back with claims that perhaps most of the contamination is coming from urban sources, but the Pew report responds that 70% is traceable to agricultural and food-processing sources. As a Mother Jones article on the matter puts it, “your chicken is killing your crab cake.

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DOES CELL-PHONE USE PLACE CHILDREN AT GREATER RISK OF BRAIN CANCER?

(USA Today)

A new large-sample study of cell phone use among children with and without brain tumors suggests that this is not the case. Among other things, the study suggests that this effect would result in higher rates of tumor frequency on the side of their heads that the phones are held, which was not found to be true in the study. American Cancer Society, which lists child cell phone use as among “carcinogenic” practices, doesn’t entirely yield the point, saying parents should reduce the risk by having their children use phones which they do not have to hold to their ears to hear.

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WHAT DID SARASOTA COUNTY, FL GET FOR THE $5.3 MILLION IT PAID OUT TO EMPLOYERS TO CREATE NEW HIGHER-PAYING JOBS?

(Sarasota Herald-Tribune)

Not so much so far, as companies that got grants to create such jobs have a spotty record in fulfilling the terms of their grants, especially in terms of their paying the better wages they had agreed to pay. Those “hungry for jobs” in Sarasota are continuing to feel the hunger pangs, even if they have jobs with wages insufficient to satisfy that hunger.

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Quote of the day…

It’s now easier to buy homes on credit, find a job and access higher education in Mexico. We have become a middle class country. Sacramento’s Mexican consul general,

Carlos González Gutiérrez, on reports of frequent returns of undocumented immigrants from CA to Mexico as Mexican economy has improved.

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