Hulleye Comes By!

From K5

Since the perspective of ordinary Lebanese on the current Lebanese-Israeli conflict doesn’t seem to be well represented in mainstream media, I’ve been looking for Lebanese bloggers to give at least some window into what some subset of the population thinks. I’ve tried to find a few of the more widely read blogs from multiple perspectives.

The following blogs are some of the more popular (from my research) in the English-language Lebanese blog community; most started in the turmoil last year that forced Syria to withdraw from Lebanon, either to support or oppose that withdrawal and/or to give opinions on what should happen next. A caveat is that these views mainly represent a cross-section of the better-educated and middle-class population of Lebanon.

Click here to read the rest of the entry and find the blog links.

The Homeland Security Department wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars last year on iPods, dog booties, beer-making equipment and designer jackets, congressional investigators have concluded.

Among the expenses that investigators described as abusive or otherwise questionable:

_More than 2,000 sets of dog booties, costing $68,442, that have sat unused in storage since emergency responders decided they were not suited for canines assisting in Gulf Coast recovery efforts.

_Three portable shower units for $71,170 from a contractor who investigators said overcharged the government. Customs and Border Protection agents could have gotten similar showers for nearly a third of the price _ and faster.

_12 Apple iPod Nanos and 42 iPod Shuffles, worth $7,000, for Secret Service “training and data storage.” Because the Shuffles cost less than $300, the Secret Service said they were not required to track them to ensure they were used properly.

37 black Helly Hansen designer rain jackets, costing nearly $2,500, for use in a firing range that the Customs and Border Protection purchaser later acknowledged shuts down when it’s raining.

_Conference and hotel rooms at a golf and tennis resort at St. Simons Island in Georgia, worth $2,395, for training 32 newly hired attorneys when they could have used a nearby federal law enforcement training center.

_A beer brewing kit and ingredients for more than $1,000 for a Coast Guard official to brew alcohol while on duty as a social organizer for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. “The estimated price for a six-pack of USCG beer was $12,” the investigators noted, adding: “Given that the six-pack cost of most beers is far less than $12, it is difficult to demonstrate that the Academy is achieving cost savings by brewing its own beer.”

Investigators also noted that Customs and Border Protection wasted up to $464,586 by buying meals-ready-to-eat over the Internet instead of contracting through the Pentagon, as is standard procedure. And they found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency cannot locate 107 laptops, 22 printers and two GPS units worth $170,000. FEMA also cannot find 12 of 20 boats the agency bought for $208,000.

oh did i mention that all these expenses were for helping Hurricane Katrina victims. How fortunate the Americans must feel that their taxes are going to such noble causes.

The first plasma discharge from China’s experimental advanced superconducting research center — the so-called “artificial sun” — is set to occur next month.

The discharge, expected about Aug. 15, will be conducted at Science Island in Hefei, in east China’s Anhui Province, the Peoples Daily reported Monday.

Scientists told the newspaper a successful test will mean the world’s first nuclear fusion device of its kind will be ready to go into actual operation, the newspaper said.

The plasma discharge will draw international attention since some scientists are concerned with risks involved in such a process. But Chinese researchers involved in the project say any radiation will cease once the test is completed.

The experiment will take place in a structure made of reinforced concrete, with five-foot-thick walls and a three-foot-thick roof.