US President Barack Obama has really got his hands onto it – by trying to make modern America so communist that I feel really sorry for people over the pond – they have to endure this utter nonsense for 3.5 more years.
Obama’s administration now ask their supporters to send an e-mail to “flag@whitehouse.gov” if they spot “misinformation” on health care reform. Basically, they ask everyone to rat out their neighbours, relatives, friends etc, if they …

The Georgian blogger who fell victim to yesterday’s enormous cyber assault that hit LiveJournal, Facebook and Twitter, affecting hundreds of millions of web users around the world, blamed the Kremlin for the attack, the Guardian reports.
The blogger – a 34-year-old economics lecturer called Georgy, better known to his online readers as Cyxymu – said he believed the denial-of-service strike was an attempt to silence his criticism of Russia’s conduct in the war over the disputed …

Nothing is sacred for some people, apparently: one of many afterparties after Madonna’s concert in Estonia’s capital Tallinn was held in an active Lutheran church.
The afterparty in Tallinn’s Church of the Holy Spirit took place on 4th August, after Madonna had given her first concert in this tiny Nordic republic. Church officials, including reverend Gustav Piir, said that the event was unplanned – as there was a private birthday party in the churchyard, and then …

A man prosecuted for stealing a 25p banana has been cleared after a trial which cost the taxpayer £20,000, the Daily Mail reports.
James Gallagher, 23, was accused of stealing the fruit from the Del Villagio restaurant in Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre. But a jury at Birmingham Crown Court jurors took less than half an hour to find him not guilty of burglary and a lesser charge of theft.
“It’s shocking, it’s just a waste of taxpayers’ money,” …

Lord Mandelson took over from Harriet Harman as Gordon Brown’s stand-in today – without bothering to break into his holiday in Corfu, The Times reports.
Lord Mandelson’s week co-ordinating the Government while Brown enjoys a summer break formally begins on Monday but aides admit that he has been “on-call” since the handover on Thursday night.
The peer flew to Corfu around a week ago, insisting that he saw no reason why he should allow the events of …

British troops are being encouraged by the Ministry of Defence to use Twitter and Facebook to keep in touch with family and friends, the Daily Telegraph reports.
In a “liberalisation” of its social networking policy, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that British troops are no longer required to seek permission to use the sites but they ask personnel to use common sense over the amount of detail revealed.
The MoD said they would actively sponsor soldiers …

Michael Douglas’ son Cameron travelled coast to coast dealing large quantities of methamphetamine before his arrest last month, the AP reports.
The criminal complaint in federal court in Manhattan alleges that Cameron Douglas was paid tens of thousands of dollars trafficking the drug — referred to in transactions by the code words “pastry” or “bath salts” — since 2006. Cash and drugs were routinely exchanged through shippers like FedEx.
The 30-year-old son of the Oscar-winning actor was …

As it’s Friday and the end of the week is nigh, it’s time for another political spectrum test. Brace yourselves: for the first time such a test indicates I could be a Libertarian… Fortunately, it seems that only by a tiny margin.
Here are the results:
My Political ViewsI am a right moderate social libertarianRight: 6.6, Libertarian: 1.13Political Spectrum Quiz
My Foreign Policy ViewsScore: 6.51Political Spectrum Quiz
My Culture War StanceScore: 3.67Political Spectrum Quiz

A 28-year-old doctor, who admitted being friends with London and Glasgow car bombers, lending them money, and meeting them at key points in the build up to the plot, is to be allowed to remain in Britain, since the Government dropped their attempt to deport him.
Mohammed Asha was cleared of involvement – despite him admitting otherwise – at the end of a trial last year.
The Home Office has now dropped their attempt to deport him …

A driver was fined for moving a yard through a red light to allow a police van responding to an emergency call to pass, the Daily Mail reports.
Phillip Lilley was waiting at a junction in Droylsden, Manchester when he saw the police van behind him with its blue lights on and sirens blaring. The 36-year-old, watched two cars drive through the red light before edging his black Lexus forward so the van could pass.
But he was …

Today at 12:34:56 is a magical moment in countries that write dates like normal people, as in day, month, year, including Britain.
Americans apparently celebrated their 12:34:56 7/8/9 a month ago, on 8th July, as they usually write month/date.
So happy magical moment, I hope something nice happens to you.
The last time a moment like this occurred, King Edward VII was on the throne and the doomed Titanic was five months into construction – that was on …

Renny Harlin has been set to direct an untitled drama based on actual events that took place during the five-day Russia-Georgia war a year ago, Variety reports.
Harlin will shoot the film in areas near the conflict. Pre-production is already under way, as is casting, for a mid-September shoot. The film will be made on a budget far less than Harlin is accustomed to, with financing put together by Rex Films’ George Lascu and Michael P. …

A commander from Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud’s group says Mehsud was killed in a US.missile strike earlier this week, the AP reports.
Kafayat Ullah, an aide to Mehsud, confirmed to The Associated Press by telephone Friday that Mehsud and his second wife were killed in Wednesday’s missile attack in South Waziristan.
Mehsud was Pakistan’s top Taliban commander and the country’s most wanted man.
Mehsud’s death represents a major coup in the US-led fight against terrorists in both Pakistan …

US delegation of Republican congressmen visiting Israel yesterday said that the Obama administration’s policy on Israel is misguided, puts too much emphasis on the issue of settlements and ignores the bigger threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, the AP reports.
Led by minority whip Eric Cantor from Virginia, the only Jewish Republican in Congress, the delegation of 25 Republicans say their weeklong mission to Israel is designed to show solidarity with the Jewish state and promote Mideast peace. A …

Residents of an affluent suburb in Southampton have decided to pay £3.15 a week to fund a private security force to patrol the streets, the Daily Mail reports.
Hundreds of residents who have lost faith in the police force have clubbed together to hire the private team of uniformed officers to protect them from crime in the area.
Security firm Atraks say their team will use the powers of citizen arrest as they patrol the leafy streets …

It was probably Russian hackers who brought down Twitter yesterday and also attacked Google and Facebook, all that effort in order to try to silence a pro-Georgian blogger.
A year after Russia brutally attacked Georgia, the co-ordinated cyber assaults shut down down Twitter for a couple of hours and disrupted access for Facebook users.
LiveJournal, a blogging site, was also hit while Google managed to fend off denial of service attacks, The Times reports. The hacking technique …