Dollar for Dollar

Remember those days when you could travel north to Canada get a great exchange rate on their dollar? You could spend a lot of time and money on St. Catherine’s Street in Montreal (You know who you are, and you know what you did!). CTV reports those big-dollar days – big U.S. dollar-days – are over.

Elections In Turkey

“Democracy has passed a very important test.” Secular Turkey votes to have its current governing party - with Islamist roots - remain in power. BBC

Check out these two lead paragraphs about Bush’s Executive Order on how the C.I.A. can handle detainees suspected of terrorism. They sound like they’re about different stories. BBC New York Times The U.S. must reveal information about prisoners at Gitmo. New York Times It’s the foreign policy, stupid. Washington Post

China has its own “war on terror.” It’s brutal. (London) Times Al-Qaeda’s brutality in Iraq has one unintended consequence: It’s own members are becoming informants for U.S. forces. (London) Times

Maybe someone’s devoutly religious. Maybe they picked up some duty-free whiskey at the terminal before your flight. Whatever the case, Homeland Security will know about it - and keep the information for 15 years - when passengers fly to the U.S. Guardian

Identity thieves are looking at your Facebook and MySpace pages. BBC

Background on the NBA referee scandal.. And the referee himself. Sports Illustrated

Do you live in Richistan? Probably not. Guardian If you do, you could probably afford the world’s most expensive prosti- um, escort - pictured here: Esquire

This preacher really knocks ‘em out. Check out the big guy who said, “Hit me two times!!”

Home Soon?

The troops will come home from Iraq - most of them anyway. A small force will remain there for a long time say Pentagon planners. Washington Post

G8 recap. Maybe that $60 billion commitment to fight AIDS in Africa and the other agreements made there aren’t as great as they sound. BBC Here are some examples of where they fell short: Telegraph Sure, the world leaders said they agreed on several things, but does there need to be a summit with these leaders? Time

Why is everything - EVERYTHING! - such a big secret? Washington Post

Can the rich get richer without the poor getting poorer? New York Times What do you think?


Tony, Carmela and AJ get their onion rings. That guy at the counter goes to bathroom. Meadow walks in. Tony looks up. And that’s it? The end of The Sopranos? Was it a winner or a loser?

Dropping some money when dropping an f–bomb is fine if the cash goes to the office swear jar.

Wolfie Nearly Out

Paul Wolfowitz, one of the architect’s of the Iraq War, is negotiating how hard he will get kicked out as head of the World Bank. Why? He gave his girlfriend a big raise. Washington Post What does the World Bank do? BBC

The White House tried to get then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to extend the NSA eavesdropping program while he was “extremely ill and disoriented” in the hospital due to gall bladder surgery. New York Times

It pays to be a millionaire when you run for president. Washington Post

Bono says the goals made to raise money for developing countries at the G8 summit two years ago aren’t being met by some countries. The reason they may have been made in the first place was sympathy after the 7/7 bombings. Guardian

The military has banned the use of some sites - MySpace, YouTube for example - on military computers. It’s not censorship, because they can use the sites on other servers, but it’s not going to easy or cheap for troops to get on the web. U.S. News & World Report

For those of you thinning - or have lost it - up top, there may hope: A cure for baldness. Sydney Morning Herald

Even though it’s a comedy, it’s hard to believe somebody would spend money to make this movie. Yes, it’s a real movie!

The Date Is Off

Dems back off on a date to withdraw from Iraq, but they - and some Republicans - still want some conditions for war funding. Washington Post It’s al-Qaeda again? Washington Post Take a look at another effort by King George to execute warrantless searches. New York Times

7/7 bombing victims call for an inquiry on how MI-5 missed the bombers. After the attack investigators said the suicide bombers were “clean skins” - unknown to MI-5. (London) Times Police were pursuing the 7/7 leader five months before the attacks. Guardian

What’s going on with the secularists in Turkey? BBC

Arrests warrants have been issued by the International Criminal Court for a Sudanese minister and a militia leader for war crimes in Darfur. Let’s see if this warrant has teeth and the men are arrested. AP/The Australian

Do you bank with JP Morgan-Chase? According to this video, they don’t dispose of their customer information properly. CNN Money

That contaminant that got into your pet’s food may have also gotten into YOUR food. Reuters (video)

Why did NASA refuse a partnership with Russia on the second Moon shot? Telegraph Meanwhile, be healthy on your trip to Mars or you might get voted off the spaceship. AP/CNN

How much do countries give in aid. Maybe a little. Maybe a lot. It depends on how you count it. Economist

Enjoy a few pints beer over the course of the week? It could make your brain smaller. (Melbourne) Age But making that pint could be good for the environment. BBC

The big De La Hoya-Mayweather fight is on Saturday night. And it will continue on Sunday, and Monday..

There Is Other News

A series of bombings killed at least 158 people and possibly close to 200 in Baghdad on Wednesday. The largest explosion was in a market, which one witness said turned into “a swimming pool of blood.” BBC

The Supreme Court upholds a ban on partial birth abortions. The ruling doesn’t overturn Roe v. Wade, but it could “encourage antiabortion state legislatures to pass laws not only adding new restrictions but looking to challenge Roe itself.” Washington Post

Even after 32 people murdered at VA Tech, Congress isn’t likely to make any big moves on gun control any time soon. MSNBC

UK pound pounded through the $2 mark on Tuesday for the first time since 1992. It stayed over $2 on Wednesday. BBC

Did you think you were “suffering alone?” Or was it a blessing when CrackBerry service went down on Tuesday night? New York Times

Do-over! Some people want to scrap the Internet and start it up again from scratch. (Melbourne) Age

Timing is everything, and the White Sox’s Mark Buehrle pitched his no-hitter at a lucrative time. Fox Sports

You’re supposed to look both ways before crossing the street AND the train tracks.

Further Isolation

Iran is in the news on two fronts. Britain is getting less diplomatic about insisting Iran return its 15 marines. Guardian Background on Iran’s seizure of the marines. Time And after U.N. sanctions were imposed this weekend, Iran said it would limit cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency on its nuclear program. Reuters

Here’s how one of those government databases that collects names and information works. The “bar for inclusion is low, and once someone is on the list, it is virtually impossible to get off it.” Washington Post

In other citizen surveillance news, the NYPD kept records on people who intended to protest at the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC. They included people around U.S. and in other countries “who had no apparent intention of breaking the law.” New York Times

Could this be Zimbabwe’s Mugabe’s last stand? (London) Times Why is South Africa noticeably quiet on this? New York Times

Why political rights (you know the old favorites: free speech, due process, etc.) trump economic and social rights. Economist

This guy is trying to sell Moonshine as a premium spirit. Do you order that neat or on the rocks? Los Angeles Times

When Ctrl + Alt + Del = $38 Billion loss! AP/(Melbourne) Age

What Do You Think? John and Elizabeth Edwards announced her cancer has returned and he’s going to stay in the race for President. They were interviewed on 60 Minutes (video) and he told Katie Couric he’s in the race for the “duration.” Should he stay in it? If he’s elected president, will Elizabeth’s illness be too much of a distraction? Cynically speaking, will this boost his poll numbers? Who’s place is it to judge? Let us know at Joe.


Ever want to watch all six Rocky movies in a row, but didn’t have the time? We’re assuming the answer is no, but here’s the entire series in five seconds.

A Plan Of Their Own?

House Dems may agree on a plan for Iraq: $100 million in appropriation for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, then out of Iraq by the end of ‘07. AP/Yahoo Problem: A general on the ground says the Bush-proposed troop build-up will need to last to February ‘08. New York Times U.S. Commander in Iraq says there’s no “military solution” to Iraq. You gotta start talking. Reuters

Now that the Libby trial is over, the question is: Will Bush pardon him? Washington Post

Why do people who criticize the Russian government end up shot or dead? Telegraph And why is Russia a deadly place for journalists? Guardian

For all the trouble starting Daylight Saving Time this weekend could cause - hopefully we wont’ be calling it Y2K7 - will we be saving any energy the proponents claim? Time

By 2010, you could be one of 32 million paying more taxes because of the AMT. CNN Money

It’s Go Time! 91-year-old man challenges 92-year-old Jack Lalanne to a boxing match. Don King will be asked if he’s interested in promoting it. Only in America. AP/Yahoo

Did your furry friend suddenly died? Or maybe you’re pooch likes leaving deposits on your rug? Wouldn’t it be great if there were a pet service like NetFlix so you always had a cool pet?

180

After Senate Republicans stopped a floor debate on Iraq, a group of them turned around and support the debate. Washington Post Why are so many helicopters going down in Iraq? Time

Rudy is the GOP favorite. Time ..but does he need an attitude adjustment? Newsweek

One of the world’s top four greenhouse gas emitters, China says wealthier nations need to step up and do something about global warming before it does. New York Times Talk is cheap, and this writer says talking is all that will be done about the environment. Newsweek

In another 180, Apple’s Steve Jobs said he wants to remove copy protection from music sold on i-Tunes. Remember, it was Apple who made a ton of money because the i-Pod only plays music downloaded from i-Tunes. CNET Will the major labels risk removing copy-protection from their music? Guardian

Renters will end up paying more this year, even though paychecks won’t increase by the same amount. USA Today

Tour de France champion Floyd Landis will not defend his title. BBC

A-Rod can opt-out of his contract at the end of the 2007 season. He hasn’t said if he’ll do it, but let’s take a look at a few scenarios. ESPN

Think you might have beer-goggles? Researchers have looked into it and come up with a formula you can use to figure it out.. if you’re still sober enough. BBC

Being tied up with a sexy stranger might seem like a good idea, but you could lose an arm or two.