BREVITAS

NORTH CAROLINA RULES THAT THIS PLATE DOESN'T MEAN 'I LOVE TOFU'

ECO CLIPS

Reuters - Global warming is likely to overshoot a 3.6 F rise seen by the European Union and many developing nations as a trigger for "dangerous" change, a Reuters poll of scientists showed. . . Ten of 11 experts said it was at best "unlikely" -- or less than a one-third chance -- that the world would manage to limit warming to a 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) rise above pre-industrial levels.

OBAMALAND

Telegraph, UK - Antiwar congressman and activists who played a key role in Mr Obama's election campaign criticized him for deploying the same "off the books" funding tactic that were introduced by his predecessor George W Bush. Mr Bush was accused of trying to mask the overall cost of the two conflicts – which now stands at virtually $1 trillion - by funding them via annual "emergency" supplements rather than through the usual budgetary process. The White House says the request, placed on Thursday evening, was needed to secure funding for the current fiscal year and that it will be the last made in this form before the first Obama budget kicks in.

JUSTICE & CIVIL LIBERTIES

Mercury News, CA - A civil rights group has accused authorities in Riverside County of unfairly targeting black-owned barbershops with raids in which officers burst into businesses with guns and bulletproof vests and questioned clients without warrants. The federal lawsuit alleges the Moreno Valley Police Department, the Sheriff's Department and a state inspection board conducted searches under the false pretext that they were part of a health inspection. . . At Fades Unlimited, officers ran criminal warrant checks on barbers and customers, the lawsuit claims. The ACLU said a barber who objected was handcuffed and detained in a police car for 10 minutes. . . Kevon Gordon, whose Hair Shack barbershop was also raided, said the officers treated his employees and customers like criminals because they were black. "It was sickening," Gordon said in a news release from the ALCU. "I have lost good customers and had my reputation called into question in a community where I've been working for 20 years. I wouldn't wish this on anyone."

INDICATORS

Rasmussen Reports - Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent are not sure which is better. Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided. Thirty-somethings are a bit more supportive of the free-enterprise approach with 49% for capitalism and 26% for socialism. Adults over 40 strongly favor capitalism, and just 13% of those older Americans believe socialism is better.

UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

Electric Politics has a podcast interview with Sibel Deniz Edmonds. . . Wikipedia - Sibel Deniz Edmonds (born 1970) is a Turkish-American former FBI translator and founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition. Edmonds was fired from her position as a language specialist at the FBI's Washington Field Office in March, 2002, after she accused a colleague of covering up illicit activity involving foreign nationals, alleging serious acts of security breaches, cover-ups, and intentional blocking of intelligence which, she contended, presented a danger to the United States' security. Since that time, court proceedings on her whistleblower claims have been blocked by the assertion of state secrets privilege. . . She claims that the FBI received information in April 2001, from a reliable Iranian intelligence asset, that Osama Bin Laden was planning attacks on 4-5 cities with planes, some of the people were already in the country and the attacks would happen in a few months

FOR FIRST TIME, A FEW TALK WHO SERVED AT THE MYSTERIOUS AREA 51

POLICE BLOTTER

Mr Good Post - A man has pleaded no contest to indecent exposure after police said he was arrested for performing a sex act with a car wash vacuum. The Saginaw News reported 29-year-old Jason Leroy Savage entered the plea Wednesday in Saginaw County Circuit Court.

FURTHERMORE . . .

Reuters - A Polish politician has criticized his local zoo for acquiring a "gay" elephant named Ninio who prefers male companions and will probably not procreate, local media reported on Friday. "We didn't pay 37 million zlotys (7.6 million pounds) for the largest elephant house in Europe to have a gay elephant live there," Michal Grzes, a conservative councilor in the city of Poznan in western Poland, was quoted as saying.. . . The head of the Poznan zoo said 10-year-old Ninio may be too young to decide whether he prefers males or females as elephants only reach sexual maturity at 14.