News:

Source: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060831/D8JRML500.html

Views:
I think this move will turn out a good one for the West. Although it won’t repair the damage done by our necessary support of Israel in the recent conflict, it should send a message to the people of Lebanon that we truly do care about them and that what Israel did was solely to rid the country of Hezbollah.

At the same time, I feel that these promises may be coming a bit late. There were reports even in the first days of the cease fire that Hezbollah was providing aid to Lebanese civilians. As a result, I would not be surprised if civilian support increased following the cease fire. It’s the right move, but will it have the right effect? Perhaps only time can tell.

At the same time, with the United States pegging $125 million, I want to know how we can be guaranteed that this money will go only into the rebuilding of civilian infrastructure and to feed or clothe civilians. If Hezbollah gets their dirty little hands on this I can only imagine the problems. The last thing the world needs is further instability in the Middle East, and if Israel has to go back into Lebanon on a major offensive, I?d be very worried.

Common Sense:
After a conflict or disaster, in fact any time that aid is needed, countries sending aid need to get it out as quickly as they possibly can and they need to keep promises and pledges. The pledges will start to gather some support among the citizens, but it’s not until the real money flows that true civilian support of the giving nation will begin. At the same time, one would have to imagine that reverting on a promise for funds or simply taking too long will diminish the effect of support that the aid would otherwise garner.

To sum it up, get the aid fast and don’t make empty promises. It?s for your own good, I?m afraid.

I know this is a departure from the usual content here at News. Views. Common Sense. and it?s likely you?ve already heard it, but I couldn?t resist.

News:
It?s official ? Pluto is no longer a traditional planet. During the voting near the end of the 2006 meeting of the International Astronomical Union, a formal definition of planet was adopted ? clearing up years of confusion and leading to Pluto?s demotion.

The object must orbit the sun, have the gravity needed to form into a fairly round shape, and have removed nearby debris from its orbit. With this new definition of planet, a new class have been made official ? the dwarf planet. The definition cites dwarf planets as those which orbit the sun, has the gravity and round shape, but have not cleared their orbits of debris. A dwarf planet also excludes natural satellites, such as moons.

With Pluto?s reclassification, our solar system is left with eight traditional planets ? Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune ? and three of these new dwarf planets ? Pluto, Ceres (previously an asteroid but considered a planet when first discovered), and 2003 UB313 (a Pluto-like body far beyond Pluto?s orbit).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_redefinition_of_planet

Views:
I found it interesting that there had not been a readily agreed upon definition of a planet ? that it really depended on which astronomer you asked ? and the fact that things had been that way for years. I recognize that the elimination of Pluto as a traditional planet will cause some strife, but in time people will adjust.

The new classification of dwarf planet, however, may pose more problems. It is believed that there are dozens of Pluto-like objects beyond Pluto and 2003 UB313, which begs the question: will we have to learn 20 or 30 planets in the future? Then again, that could be kind of fun.

On very much a different note, what does this mean for astrologers and others who depend on the planets for there ?psychic abilities?? My guess it that this will show ? once and for all ? that astrology and horoscopes are (thank goodness) total nonsense and fraud.

Common Sense:
Time to update those textbooks! After more than 80 years of teaching that our solar system consists of nine planets ? Pluto among them ? this change will take a while to get used to. My guess is that there will be resistance to this from some organizations, but it time all will accept.

News:
More than a week after British and American authorities foiled plans to detonate explosives on trans-Atlantic flights, the first formal charges have been filed in the case. British officials charged a total of 11 people with terrorism related charges, while another 11 remain under investigation.

The suspected terrorists, mostly from the London area, were charged with crimes including conspiracy to commit murder, possession of articles that could be used to prepare a terrorist attack, and failure to report information which could have prevented a terrorist attack.

Also revealed were numerous details about the investigation, including a listing of many objects taken in the search. Among these: suppliers for creating bombs and liquid explosives, 200 cell phones, 400 computers, thousands of pieces of digital storage media, suspicious books, suicide notes, and martyrdom videos.

(Source: The Associated Press)

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Views:
I can?t get over the amazing job that British and American security and intelligence officials did in foiling this terrible plot. It may be getting old, but such a true victory over terrorism seems to make all the extra added security over what has been almost the last five years truly worth it.But I digress. IT does not really come as much of a surprise that these charges were coming ? after all such a big bust is going to lead to a gamut of charges - but I was interested by some of the details of the investigation. I fully appreciate that something like this is going to take some planning, but the seizure of 400 computers and 8,000 pieces of digital storage media seems, perhaps, a tad excessive. I just hope that the authorities in the United Kingdom can find the evidence they need to bring these inhuman villains to justice.

On the other hand, some of the charges have me wondering. Specifically, the 17 year old who was charged with ?possession of articles that could be used to prepare a terrorist act? ? what the heck is that supposed to mean. More importantly, would those same items elicit similar changes if this person was not evolved in the plot? Not that it really matters, but one does have to wonder.

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Common Sense:
The biggest lesson to be learned from the charges is quite simple: if you have any information regarding a pending terrorist attack, report it to the authorities right away. Although it is not immediately clear how deeply involved the two charged with only failure to report the plot were, but it is possible that they would not have faced charges otherwise. Certainly, this is not something you want happening to yourselves, your friends, or your loved ones.

News:
By now, everyone knows of last week?s thwarted terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives on trans-Atlantic flights from Great Britain to the United States. Most people also recall the claims of Homeland Security officials that there is not feasible technology for detecting liquid explosives and that those which do exist are plagued with false alarms. Apparently these DHS officials were not aware of work going on elsewhere in our government. Read the rest of this entry »

What can I say? This has to be one of the best episodes of Hot Air in a while. Fake Latin aside, her speech raises a number of good points.

We need to take care of the problem of illegal immigration and we need get those who refuse to solve the problem out of power. If that includes those in positions of power in Congress and the Bush administration, then so be it! Read the rest of this entry »

News:
According to the Associated Press, the United States Department of Homeland Security will soon begin increasing requirements for checking passenger lists against the US ‘No Fly’ list. Current policy requires that international flights destined for the United States submit passenger lists to the Department of Homeland Security within 15 minutes of takeoff. The changes, which may be in place as soon as early 2007, will require passenger lists to be submitted (and checked by the DHS) before the flight can even take off. Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, that’s right - I’ve gone ahead and redone the site once again. To be quite frank, I was getting sick of trying to make my custom backend work just how I wanted it and I finally gave in. I also decided that the front end needed a new design.

As such, this new version of the site was born. I also decided that “News, Views, and Common Sense” just would not cut it and thus renamed the site “News. Views. Common Sense.” along with a new logo. Read the rest of this entry »