Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has died of typhoid in Pakistan, according to reports in a regional French newspaper.

The paper quoted one of the country's secret service reports, saying that Saudi Arabia is convinced that Bin Laden died a month ago.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1234892,00.html

The $425-million facility expected to be built in St. Lucie County will use lightning-like plasma arcs to turn trash into gas and rock-like material. It will be the first such plant in the nation operating on such a massive scale and the largest in the world.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060909.wvaporizetrash/BNStory/Science/home

First, let's talk about the famous photo of the Israeli girls writing messages on the Israeli shells, which I would include here if I knew how. Thishas given Israel some really bad PR.  This is from the Jerusalem Post:

In the public relations battle brewing on-line, there is a new eye to the center of the storm surrounding the war with Hizbullah - a series of photos showing Israeli children writing messages on shells meant for targets in Lebanon.

An official close to Israel's public relations campaign said that there was "no way" to spin the incident in a positive light. "Some people are simply irresponsible," said the official.

http://tinyurl.com/rwcfv

An online battle is being waged about this incident, with many people shocked by the image of youngsters and shells.  

Then, there is this the effect of bad PR on Israeli politicians. According to an Israeli security specialist:

Ben-Dor said if Israel's image has been in any way tarnished by the so far lopsided toll of death and destruction of air strikes in Lebanon, it is likely to suffer more if a decision is made to push forward on the ground.

"A lengthy ground war in Lebanon will make Israel look very violent and aggressive at the very moment that Israel needs maximum credibility to rally the world to a common front against the real existential threat before us — Iran's nuclear ambitions," Ben-Dor said.

"Any move forward now could become a hindrance to our security later. That is part of the decision that has to be made."

Criticism of Israel's air campaign over Lebanon peaked on the weekend, with the most pointed comments coming from British Foreign Office minister Kim Howells. "The destruction of the infrastructure, the death of so many children and so many people. These have not been surgical strikes," Howells said after visiting Lebanon on Saturday.

http://tinyurl.com/q3xcc

Maybe next time, there will be spin doctors working  before starting the shooting.

The first time I read about the incidents in the Western media, I got the distinct impression that the killed and captured IDF soldiers had been on the Lebanese side of the border.  In my opinion, this was an Israeli incursion into Lebanon.

Later that day, after reading posts on various blogs and other western media stories, I realized that somehow I had gotten the story wrong:  the stories invariably said that Hezbollah had entered Israel to kill and kidnap Israeli soldiers, and my view of the situation changed:  the Israelis needed to defend themselves.

Now, I read various stories in the non-western press, for example at Asia Times (www.atimes.com) and they are validating my first impression:  

To them, it is legitimate self-defense. They back this argument by saying that Israel still controls the Sheba Farms, which are part of Lebanon, and still has Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails. Also, they add that the Israeli tank destroyed by Hezbollah, and the soldiers captured and killed on July 12, had trespassed into Lebanon's side of the border with Israel.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HG15Ak02.html

(And if you have time, read the rest of the article - it's the only one to do that I've read that explains everything that is happening in Lebanon right now)

So George Bush is saying that Israel has the right to defend itself, but this wouldn't sound so good if it was Israel that had started this latest round of events, would it?   Is there a concerted effort in the MSM of the West to actually change history or is this just a misunderstanding?

According to Wayne Madsen, Sarkozy may not be as clean as he looks in the Clearstream affair and may actually be linked to American neo-cons:

French Prime Minister under full scale neo-son attack. French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, under fire for carrying out an order from President Jacques Chirac to investigate neo-con Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy's financial sources and discovered links to a Luxembourg-based clearinghouse called Clearstream. Sarkozy was suspected of illegally receiving kickbacks involving the sale of six French frigates to Taiwan in 1991. According to informed French and Italian sources, Sarkozy, who is being defended by the global neo-con media as the victim of a "smear campaign," appears to be up to his neck in suspicious foreign financial connections and that is what prompted DeVillepin, Chirac, and French intelligence to investigate the right-wing and vociferously anti-Arab and anti-Muslim Interior Minister. Sarkozy is suspected of links to the same Russian-Israeli mafia syndicates that have been connected to Jack Abramoff, Dick Cheney, and leading Israeli politicians.