In The News: Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files. After the commentary, Tom Petty knows a kid who went mad and it makes one sad, When A Kid Goes Bad. Courtesy of the respective artists. » The crew of the International Space Station had to retreat to their Soyuz escape capsule earlier after a close encounter @ 600 feet with what is called "Space Junk" but is really "Earth Junk"... the trash we leave in space. NORAD's mission after the Cold War ended was almost entirely made up of tracking that junk. But "After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the NORAD mission evolved to include monitoring of all aircraft flying in the interior of the United States."(src) » The US Supreme Court has overturned California's ban on violent video games for children under 18 on first amendment grounds. One of the justices declared that the graphic violence in the game "Grand Theft Auto" is no worse than "Tom & Jerry" cartoons, which is absolutely and categorically wrong. An early 1960s study by the BBC showed conclusively that graphic realistic violence DOES affect children and cartoon violence really doesn't. That study was unique, because at the time, in Britain, there were children who had never watched TV. Therefore there was a valid control group to make the comparison from. References to that study can be found via a Google search. » In a second trial former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich has been found guilty on seventeen of nineteen charges including influence peddling president Obama's former senatorial seat. He could receive up to three hundred years, but he'll most likely be incarcerated for five to ten. His immediate predecessor is still in prison. » The forest/brush fires in Arizona continue, and in New Mexico twelve thousand people have been evacuated from Los Alamos... home to America's military nuclear research lab. The nuclear materials have allegedly been stored safely. » In OTHER nuclear nightmare news for the United States and specifically Nebraska, flooding on the Missouri River has left two nuclear power plants surrounded by flood waters with the protective dikes begining to weep, the stage before they break down, and there has been the collapse of at least one protective berm. The floodwaters are expected to remain for at least a couple more weeks and perhaps rise further. » White House meetings yesterday with leaders of the Senate garnered no results on the Federal Budget Debt Limit. » Finally, from Foreign Policy Magazine's AfPak Channel Daily Brief:

The governor of Afghanistan's Central Bank, Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, announced his resignation Monday from the United States, saying that his life "was completely in danger" in Kabul due to his investigation into the Kabul Bank scandal, where nearly $900 million was allegedly given out in bad loans, including to senior officials and relatives of Afghan president Hamid Karzai (NYT, Reuters, WSJ, FT, BBC, AJE, AFP, Tel, Bloomberg). In his resignation letter and comments Fitrat blamed officials for interfering in his investigation into the Kabul Bank, while a presidential spokesman called his departure "treason" and said Fitrat would be prosecuted as part of the investigation (Reuters, Bloomberg). [In full with all links]

More on that here: September 03 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Bank Run In Afghanistan - What WILL Be Left When The Bank Has Been Run And Looted? (Go), here, and here: "All this money magically appears from nowhere," - The Looting Of Afghanistan's Wealth By It's U.S. Installed Kleptocracy Begins In Earnest (Go) In OTHER News: War news this morning. Afghanistan and Iraq today. Libyan reports tomorrow. But will the US government use it as an excuse to stay? (and that same scenario exists for Afghanistan on our withdrawal too):

Spike in U.S. Deaths in Iraq Raises Worries By TIM ARANGO June 26, 2011 BAGHDAD Two American soldiers were killed Sunday in Iraq, the military command said, making June the worst month in combat-related fatalities for United States forces in Iraq in more than two years. The casualties also reflected the dangers ahead as the United States prepares to withdraw all its troops from Iraq by the end of the year. The June total of so-called hostile-related deaths of American soldiers is now 11, the most since May 2009, when 12 were killed, according to icasualties.org, an online database that tracks the deaths of foreign forces in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In a statement issued Sunday night, the American military said the two soldiers were killed conducting operations in the north... [More @ The NYTimes]

Do Tell?

What has the war in Afghanistan really achieved?

A new report argues that violence and billions in aid have produced a new criminal oligarchy

The IoS takes stock after one of the bloodiest months since the conflict began, and a week in which President Obama announced a speeding up of troop withdrawals. By Jonathan Owen, David Randall, Jane Merrick and Rupert Cornwell Sunday, 26 June 2011 At least 60 people died in a suicide bombing just 25 miles from Kabul yesterday. In a few days' time, a report on Afghanistan from the International Crisis Group will say that violence and the billions of dollars in international aid have brought wealthy officials and insurgents together. As a result, "the economy is increasingly dominated by a criminal oligarchy of politically connected businessmen". The negatives column in the Afghan war's balance sheet does not get any shorter. So far, the conflict has lasted nine years, eight months and 17 days, cost the lives of 2,547 coalition troops, and between 14,000 and 34,000 civilians, created millions of refugees, and opened up a black hole in Western economies that has sucked in more $500bn dollars. Afghanistan costs the US around $10bn (£6.3bn) a month; and Britain will pay £4.5bn this year. Such is the change in mood that the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has openly admitted the prospect of parleying with the Taliban, the very people we went to war to remove... [In Full, Independent UK]

They mean two different things ya know?

Get Out, or Get the Hell Out? That Is the Big Question in Afghanistan A Foreign Policy Magazine Roundtable Anthony Cordesman and Adam Mausner: A Race Against Time Thomas Ruttig: Where's the Progress? Ejaz Haider: Let's Face It, the Surge Didn't Work David J. Rothkopf: When Withdrawal Is a Big Step Forward Kori Schake: President Obama Changes Direction on Afghanistan, Again Michael Waltz: Obama's Dangerous Message [Discussion in full]

This is Razer Raygun saying 'Happy Motoring America...' Enjoy it while you can. Remember: (...and try not to let your government kill too many 'dusky natives' in the interim OK?) -30-
Creative Commons Copyright Courtesy of Cabale News Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR Radio. Listen to KVMR Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves Postings Auntie Imperial and Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here] The Consolidated Items Listing in RSS format [Here] Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated) In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.

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