CHINA TRAINING 200,000 CHEERLEADERS FOR THE GAMES

The New England Patriots cheerleaders have been hired to assist. More on China below.

BLOODSHED IN THE TERROR WARS
HOUSING CRISIS GETS WORSE
DEBATE AT THE G-8

WASHINGTON: I am in the Nation’s Capital this ayem for the press conference by NACA–the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation’s press conference which will challenge the announcement yesterday by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke proposing reforms to protect homeowners. NACA CEO Bruce Marks say they are remedies for an industry that no longer exists….The head of the FHA is saying in the Washington Post that his agency does not have the money to pay for the proposals being debated in Congress to bring relief to homeowners. Once again Washington is offering too little and too late:

OBAMA PROPOSES BANKRUPTCY LAW CHANGES

The other news I have time for this morning…

ESCALATION

Just as confidence seemed to be making the warheads in the US even cockier, we had that attack on the Indian Embassy yesterday in Afghanistan and a comment followed by a US commander claiming that 400 insurgents were killed in Afghanistan since April. These claims are extremely unreliable and the bloodletting goes on. This morning three cops outside the US Embassy in Istanbul Turkey were killed. Rest assured, we are not getting a full body count report from the terror wars.

Also, while the wire services were reporting all those dead “insurgents”, the International Red Cross was sending out another release:

Kabul / Geneva (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) deplores the high number of civilian casualties caused by recent attacks in different parts of the country. At least 250 civilians are reported to have been killed or injured in various incidents since 4 July.

‘’Civilians continue to be killed and wounded in the ongoing hostilities. We call on all parties to the conflict, in the conduct of their military operations, to distinguish at all times between civilians and fighters and to take constant care to spare civilians,” said Franz Rauchenstein, head of the ICRC’s delegation in Kabul. “Civilians must never be the target of an attack, unless they take a direct part in the fighting. These fundamental requirements of international humanitarian law, also known as the laws and customs of war, are binding on all parties to an armed conflict.”

Whatever the means and methods of warfare chosen by the parties to the conflict, they must take all necessary precautions to verify that targets are indeed military objectives and that attacks will not cause excessive civilian casualties and damage.

There’s more from the Media Line agency on Istanbul:

An attack against the United States Consulate-General in Istanbul, Turkey, was thwarted on Wednesday morning by Turkish police officers.

Six people were killed, including three armed men and three policemen, during a shoot-out outside the consulate.

Broadcasting live from the scene of event, Turkish television channels showed at least two bodies lying on the ground, while paramedics were attempting resuscitation on one of those wounded in the attack.

Initial reports indicated that a group of armed men arrived in a car at the consulate, located in the heart of Istanbul, on Kaplıcalar Mevkii Street. The attackers opened fire at the building and police officers guarding the consulate returned fire. During the gunfight six people were killed, three on each side, Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler said.

The consulate-general refused to give any details regarding the attack.

No group has yet taken responsibility for the incident, which was the first strike against U.S. interests in Turkey.

Two bomb attacks in November 2003 targeted the British consulate in Istanbul and the local headquarters of the British-owned HSBC bank. The attacks claimed dozens of lives, including that of then consul-general Roger Short.

FROM THE MAIL AND GUARDIAN

Zimbabwe’s government said on Tuesday that the G8 leaders’ rejection of President Robert Mugabe’s legitimacy was racist and an insult.

RGE OFFERS ANALYSIS OF KEY ISSUES AT G 8

With the cost of rice and wheat having more than doubled over the last twelve months, rising food prices dominated the worries of global leaders, who created a new aid program to boost agricultural investment in the world’s poorest nations. Such investment should enable countries to feed themselves on a sustainable basis. The presence of important African and Asian leaders, many of whom face the largest social and political spillover from high food prices, at the margins of the summit, helped build consensus.

So far, emerging economies have resisted cuts to emissions and energy conservation to avert global warming, arguing that most of the buildup of greenhouse gases is the developed world’s fault. Yet with developing economies’ demands for fuel likely to rise sharply, the G8 leaders are on the verge of convincing major developing economies such as China and India to back G8 targets to halve emissions output by 2050 in return for promises of cash and technology.

Turning to purely economic issues, the dollar’s resumed slide towards a re-test of its all-time lows versus the euro has drawn public concern from G8 policymakers but, with relative interest rate and growth differentials continuing to favor the Euro, any official intervention to rescue the dollar is unlikely to have a sustained effect. Some analysts see a possibility of a role switch between the Fed and the ECB as early as autumn: Inflation will prompt the Fed to hike rates to maintain credibility while the Eurozone economy may face a serious slowdown and moderating inflationary pressures; but Fed hikes are highly unlikely given downside risks to growth and to financial sector stability. G7 central banks worry about a disorderly dollar decline but have yet to back up their rhetoric with action.

IRAN TESTING MISSILES

Iran has test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles, including one which it has previously said could reach Israel and US bases in the region.

RE IRAN: Did IAEA Revive Uranium Paper Issue Under Pressure?

FROM CAROLYN BAKER: THE U.S. IS NOT LIKELY TO HAVE A WAR WITH IRAN ANYTIME SOON

TML: Syrian Dissidents Demand Probe of Prison Riots

Syrian dissidents are demanding an international investigation into riots in a Syrian prison, in which several dozen people have reportedly been killed.

Legal experts and Syrian opposition parties are condemning what they call the deteriorating situation at ‘Sidnaya military prison near Damascus.

Riots broke out in the jail on Saturday after inmates protested during a prison count, resulting in confrontations between the inmates and state security forces. Initial reports said inmates had taken as many as 300 soldiers hostage at the scene.

There have been conflicting reports as to the outcome of the riots and the casualty count.

Opposition groups say at least 25 inmates were killed, 100 wounded and that most of the casualties were Islamists and political dissidents. They caution that the accurate death toll could be a lot higher.

They accuse Syrian officials of purposely downplaying the severity of the crisis to divert attention from it and from the mistreatment of Islamist prisoners.

Officials say they have controlled the situation, but opposition members and human-rights groups say they have been in contact with inmates at the scene who say that dozens have been killed and that the riots have not been quelled.

Hostage rescue or p.r. stunt?

Todd Chretien examines political developments triggered by the release of hostages held by rebels in Colombia.

“There has definitely been disinformation about what happened during the rescue of Íngrid Betancourt and the 13 other hostages of the FARC,” media watchdog Maryclen Stelling said on television in Venezuela. “The first version given by the Colombian government makes us believe in innocent guerrillas, without malice, who were fooled into bringing [the hostages] to the helicopter. However, rescues aren’t so marvelous even in Hollywood.”

WHAT SHOULD THE HOUSE DO?

Alternet asks:

Karl Rove’s attorney sent the House Judiciary Committee a letter stating that Rove will not be attending a hearing that he has been subpoenaed for on July 10th, citing executive privilege.

What will the House Judiciary Committee do: let it slide or arrest him for contempt (as some members have threatened)? How do you think Rove’s refusal to show up should be taken

WP: THE MOVE TO THE MIDDLE—CANDIDATES CHANGING STANCES ON IRAQ

COST OF CABLE UP

Report: cable more expensive in wake of FCC franchise reform

By Matthew Lasar

Ars Technica

Undeterred by a recent court defeat, advocates of community based television today released a survey suggesting that the Federal Communications Commission’s new video franchising rules have hurt independent TV and failed to lower cable rates for consumers. “As incumbents and new entrants apply to operate under these new franchises, more communities will experience the cutbacks and degradation of PEG [public, educational, and governmental access TV] services reported in this survey,” the study concludes, “leaving many communities in the nation without the diverse, local programming provided through PEG channels.”

The report, titled Assessing the Damage, is released by the Alliance for Community Media (ACM) and the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA). It represents the latest skirmish in a particularly bitter battle between community media access groups and the FCC over the degree of leverage that cities and counties can exert on video franchise seekers. In December of 2006 the Commission passed rules that substantially weakened that influence. ACA, the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and a host of other groups took the FCC’s move to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and lost in late June.

You Have Come A Long Way, Baby

Female Crash Dummies Part of Updated Vehicle Safety Tests

L FONG WRITES:

UAE’s 7 billion debt forgiveness was no coincidence. It was timed with Iraq’s demand for a US troop withdrawal timetable.

The Middle East contains not only smart but wealthy people who do not want the US to continue messing up their prospects for prosperity. In the Calgary, Canada airport there are glossy Middle East business magazines available for free.

The San Francisco airport just inaugurated direct SFO-Dubai flights. JPMorganChase money.
On the popular TV show of Jim Kramer Mad Money, just yesterday, there was an ad for GE, yes General Electric, selling new steel production technology to a Chinese steel company. Slightly jarring to see scenes of Chinese factory workers in new environs with Madison Avenue style special effects implying environmentally friendly steel for a clean planet. Good for China, though, which keeps getting bashed in US media.

Program note:

Interviewing millionaires and peasants, drag queens and students as he tours nightclubs, classrooms, factories and upscale malls, Ted Koppel takes viewers beyond the oft-seen China in Ted Koppel on Discovery: The People’s Republic of Capitalism, an ambitious four-part series that begins Tonight on the Discovery Channel.

MEDIA FREEDOM PROMISED

VOA: With just one month to go before the Olympics, China is reaffirming its promises of complete media freedom and unfettered Internet access during the games. These assurances come even as foreign journalists working in Beijing report continued harassment and interference by Chinese authorities. Stephanie Ho has more on the story.

China has unveiled its new media centers, which are the largest ever built for any Olympics. The Main Press Center and International Broadcast Center have been set up to serve more than 21,000 foreign and domestic reporters who will be covering the Olympics.

BILL BOWLES ON THE RUSSIAN SPY KILLED IN LONDON

It seems to me that polonium is not the kind thing you can pick up at your local Walmart, let alone tote around the planet by air, hence it seems inconceivable that the Russian govt in some form or other is not involved even if, at the very least, it’s someone with very powerful connections to government. How else do you get hold of the damn stuff? And what a way to kill someone! SPECTRE meets the Oligarchy.

NOT A GOOD SIGN

FT: Fed credit facility to last into next year

Large US investment banks will be able to access emergency cash from the Federal Reserve into next year as long as financial market turmoil persists, Ben Bernanke, said on Tuesday in a sign of the growing concern
among US policymakers that market strains will continue for some time….Irish bank stocks tumbled Tuesday on rising investor worries that Europe’s best performing economy over the past decade was lurching towards
recession.

Thats all I have time for. Still jet lagged. For the reader who wondered, LA Observed. a local online newsletter has published my letter responding to an uninformed and deeply flawed comment on my recent article on credit cards in LA’s City Beat.

Your comments welcome. Write: dissector@mediachannel.org