The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.
It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion.
Nature loss 'dwarfs bank crisis'
In Reversal, Democrats Shelve Iran Resolution
Falling from shoo-in status to widely rejected legislation within the space of four months, a resolution that would have opened the door for a naval blockade on Iran was officially shelved at the end of September, after several of its cosponsors withdrew their support.
AIPAC framed the bill as a necessary escalation of tactics toward Iran. In a statement on the legislation, AIPAC announced, "Iran poses a growing threat to the United States and our allies as it continues rapidly advancing toward a nuclear weapons capability.
TVNL Comment: AIPAC is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. This pro Israel lobby framed a resolution to enable an act of war against Iran by the US. This resolution has been tabled, not defeated.
Report: U.S. spied on Americans' intimate conversations abroad
The chairman of the Senate intelligence committee is looking into allegations that a U.S. spy agency improperly eavesdropped on the phone calls of hundreds of Americans overseas, including aid workers and U.S. military personnel talking to their spouses at home.
The allegations, by two former military intercept officers assigned to the National Security Agency, include claims that U.S. spies routinely listened in on intimate conversations and sometimes shared the recordings with each other. At least some of the snooping was done under relaxed eavesdropping rules approved by the Bush administration to facilitate spying on terrorists.
Pentagon sees reconciliation with Taliban, not Qaeda
The United States would be prepared to reconcile with the Taliban if the Afghan government pursued talks to end the war, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday.
But he said Washington would not consider any negotiations with al Qaeda.
US debt clock runs out of digits
The US government's debts have ballooned so badly the National Debt Clock in New York has run out of digits to record the spiralling figure.
The digital counter marks the national debt level, but when that passed the $10 trillion point last month, the sign could not display the full amount.
Webb Urges Halt To U.S. Propaganda In Iraq
Saying the United States should not be spending hundred of millions to "… propagandize the Iraqi people," Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) today sent a letter asking Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to halt contracts that would pay civilian defense contractors $300 million to produce pro-American news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements inside Iraq.
Air Force decides 'cyber war' not worth separate command
U.S. Air Force senior leaders met in Colorado Springs last week and decided to establish a nuclear major command rather than a separate Air Force cyber command.
Biloxi and other cities around the country hoping to be chosen as the headquarters for the U.S. Air Force cyber command learned instead the Air Force will establish a Numbered Air Force for cyber operations within Air Force space command. This is expected to make the cyber force much smaller and less important than originally planned.
Mullen: Afghanistan military situation will worsen next year
The highest-ranking U.S. military officer warned Thursday that the situation in Afghanistan will likely get worse next year and that it will take time to turn it around because it has been headed in "the wrong direction" for the last two years.
Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the security situation in Afghanistan cannot improve until there's economic and political development in Afghanistan and the U.S. and its coalition partners have embraced a strategy that links Afghan and Pakistani issues.
TVNL Comment: How many more people will die because of the 'wrong direction' the US has taken for the past eight years? Just asking.
Inside Account of U.S. Eavesdropping on Americans
Despite pledges by President George W. Bush and American intelligence officials to the contrary, hundreds of US citizens overseas have been eavesdropped on as they called friends and family back home, according to two former military intercept operators who worked at the giant National Security Agency (NSA) center in Fort Gordon, Georgia.
Page 1045 of 1135
