Hail Mary?
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has unleashed another flurry of jabs on Washington, ridiculing the federal government’s rebate checks as being “like giving a drink to an alcoholic” on Thursday, and said the presidential candidates are looking for easy solutions to complex economic problems.
The billionaire and potential independent presidential candidate also said the nation “has a balance sheet that’s starting to look more and more like a third-world country.”
President Bush signed legislation Wednesday that will result in cash rebates ranging from $300 to $1,200 for more than 130 million people.
The mayor last month said the economic stimulus package was shortsighted, and presented his own views on where the federal government should be focusing its attention. Specifically, he said the government should adopt a capital budget to oversee long-term infrastructure spending, instead of the current year-to-year spending.
He says that the government should also think differently about immigration, and that bringing more workers in rather than keeping them out is the key to long term economic stability.
Read Mayor Bloomberg’s remarks at this week’s 5: wcbstv.com – Bloomberg Ridicules Washington On Economy
Saving the world and flexing muscle
Taking a page from Hollywood science fiction, the Pentagon said Thursday it will try to shoot down a dying, bus-sized U.S. spy satellite loaded with toxic fuel on a collision course with the Earth.
The military hopes to smash the satellite as soon as next week – just before it enters Earth’s atmosphere – with a single missile fired from a Navy cruiser in the northern Pacific Ocean.
The dramatic maneuver may well trigger international concerns, and U.S. officials have begun notifying other countries of the plan – stressing that it does not signal the start of a new American anti-satellite weapons program.
“We’ll take one shot and assess,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve used a tactical missile to engage a spacecraft.”
Read the story at this week’s 4: My Way News – US to Try to Shoot Down Spy Satellite
Thom Yorke
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke shares some of his favorite music with NPR All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. The two talk about Radiohead’s latest work, In Rainbows and listen to some of the artists Yorke admires, including German electronica group Modeselektor, rapper Madvillain, techno duo Autechre and more.
Hear some of Yorke’s favorite artists at this week’s 3: NPR Media Player
Good Intel?!
The U.S. has recently shared sensitive information with the International Atomic Energy Agency on key aspects of Iran’s nuclear program that Washington says shows Tehran was directly engaged in trying to make an atomic weapon, diplomats told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The decision by the U.S. administration to declassify its intelligence and indirectly share it with Iran through the IAEA was a clear reflection of Washington’s’ drive to pressure Iran into admitting that it had focused part of its nuclear efforts toward developing a weapons program.
Shared in the past two weeks was material on a laptop computer reportedly smuggled out of Iran, said another diplomat, accredited to the IAEA. In 2005, U.S. intelligence assessed that information as indicating that Tehran had been working on details of nuclear weapons, including missile trajectories and ideal altitudes for exploding warheads.
He said that after declassification, U.S. intelligence also was forwarded on two other issues—the “Green Salt Project”—a plan the U.S. alleges links diverse components of a nuclear weapons program, including uranium enrichment, high explosives testing and a missile re-entry vehicle, and material in Iran’s possession showing how to mold uranium metal into warhead form.
Read the article at this week’s 2: US Intel Links Iran With Nuke Bomb Bid
Dear Jesus: What about the “Flex-o-pleaser?”
Joy Wilson went looking for something to spice up her marriage without compromising her Christian beliefs.
Finding nothing, she founded her own “sin-free” sex toy business. Book22.com caters to the Christian community with books, toys and occasional advice. The name refers to the Song of Solomon, the extended love poem that forms the 22nd book of the Bible.
“We pray about things before we add them to our site,” she says. “We live our lives very openly in front of Jesus, so we just kind of pray for direction about which way he would have us go, and I have to be honest with you — he’s really surprised us. … Almost our whole entire ‘special order’ page has come about from that.”
Hear the interview at this week’s 1: NPR: The Joy of Christian Sex Toys