links for 2009-06-17

"Talk about putting a target on the back of a Fox News anchor. A shout-out from the hated Times op-ed page? Things only got worse for Smith over the weekend when the Times' Frank Rich also singled out the Fox News anchor for praise. I mean, c'mon. Were Krugman and Rich trying to get the guy fired?!" No it's not big enough.

"The number of new houses started in the US rebounded in May from April's record low, the Commerce Department has said. Housing starts jumped 17.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 532,000 units in May, up from April's figure of 454,000. However, the rate was still down 45.2% from May 2008. Also on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve said industrial production fell 1.1% in May from April, which was worse than had been expected." Some what good news.

What's the worse ad you could think up, this has to be worse.

"A man who spent eight years in jail for a murder he did not commit has criticised the British justice system after returning to his home in Grimsby." I would be upset too.

"President Barack Obama, under growing criticism for not seeking to end the ban on openly gay men and women in the military, is extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. Obama plans to announce his decision on Wednesday in the Oval Office, a White House official said Tuesday. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the president hadn't yet signed the presidential memorandum." Trying to please the lgbqt community.

"US President Barack Obama is resisting pressure to side with Iran's opposition as mass protests continue over the nation's disputed presidential poll. In a TV interview Mr Obama said there might not be much difference between the policies of President Ahmadinejad and rival Mir Hossein Mousavi. Mr Mousavi's supporters have continued street protests despite the threat of government force and earlier bloodshed." Don't agree however one comment in the article makes it make more sense. "The BBC's Justin Webb, in Washington, says Mr Obama is wary of the US becoming sucked into a protest movement in favour of Mr Mousavi, particularly as some intelligence reports suggest that Mr Ahmadinejad might have genuinely won the election."

"The writer claims that @change_for_Iran, @persiankiwi, @stopahmadi and others are fake accounts created in Israel. The six points he uses to back up the claim are pathetic." Logic is so hard for some people.

"General Motors has reached a tentative agreement to sell Saab to the Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg." And GM gets a cool $600 million.

"The US leader played down Arab anger over the terms Mr Netanyahu laid out in a major policy speech on Sunday. But Mr Obama again demanded an end to Israeli settlement activity, over which he and Mr Netanyahu have locked horns." The speech basically said that Israel would recognize a Palestinenian state if it was demilitarized.

"Former US President Jimmy Carter has said he had to "hold back tears" while viewing destruction on a visit to Gaza. He is due to meet leaders from Hamas, which controls Gaza but is considered a terrorist group by western countries. The veteran politician is expected to hand over a letter for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from his family."

"The UN has warned that it has run out of food to provide for nine million Ethiopians who rely on its assistance. A UN spokesman told the BBC the port of Djibouti was seriously congested and there was little prospect of supplies arriving for the next five months."

"This was such a fun project — this is what users of Internet Explorer 6 see when they visit Momentile." Best ever.

What????

"Policing games in England and Wales cost £8m a year, officers told MPs, and the contribution from clubs was "inconsistent" with the costs involved." At that amount I would be wanting the businesses to start covering my costs.

"This Internet scuttlebutt is false. Graduating midshipmen have gone without swords at graduation for decades, even when Bush and Cheney spoke." Do people even believe this sort of stuff.

"US senator John Ensign, considered a rising star in the Republican Party, has admitted to an extra-marital affair with a member of his campaign staff." That knocked his star down a little bit.

"A contract has been signed at the Paris air show that will lead to the development of a remarkable spacecraft to test re-entry technologies." So cool.

"A federal judge in Manhattan said on Tuesday that he would probably allow two military lawyers to help defend a former Guantánamo detainee who was ordered by President Obama to face trial in a civilian court. The detainee, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, has been charged with assisting in the 1998 bombing of the American Embassy in Tanzania, which killed 11 people and wounded scores. He would also have at least two civilian lawyers, one with experience in death penalty cases, the judge said."

"Yet on Monday afternoon, a 27-year-old State Department official, Jared Cohen, e-mailed the social-networking site Twitter with an unusual request: delay scheduled maintenance of its global network, which would have cut off service while Iranians were using Twitter to swap information and inform the outside world about the mushrooming protests around Tehran. The request, made to Twitter’s co-founder, Jack Dorsey, is yet another new-media milestone: the recognition by the United States government that an Internet blogging service that did not exist four years ago has the potential to change history in an ancient Islamic country." I'm right now so proud of our government.