in the news this week

Washington, D.C.-Senator Norm Coleman today submitted a statement into the Congressional Record denouncing a final report issued by the United Nations' Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) suggesting that the U.N. assume global governance of the Internet. Since its inception and creation in the United States, the U.S. has assumed the historic role of overseeing the Internet's growth and has overseen its development. The U.N. taskforce report suggests that in addition to terminating the U.S.'s leadership role, the authority and functions of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organization overseen by the U.S. Department of Commerce, should be transferred as well. Senator Coleman strongly opposes these measures. (Matt Drudge)

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy grew at a 3.4 percent annual pace from April through June, the ninth straight quarter exceeding 3 percent, as booming sales allowed companies to pare bloated inventories. Inflation slowed. .. The string of quarterly growth increases exceeding 3 percent is the longest since the 13 quarters ended in the first three months of 1986.

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- A handwritten lyric of the Beatles song, ``All You Need is Love,'' sold for a hammer price of 600,000 pounds ($1 million) last night at a sale of John Lennon memorabilia in London's Hippodrome rock-music venue.

Economists are lifting projections for U.S. economic growth in the second half on expectations that the nation's retailers and manufacturers will be restocking inventories and ramping up production to keep up with demand. (WSJ)

August 2, 2005 -- Morgan Stanley's new CEO, John Mack, addressed his beleaguered retail brokerage troops yesterday on the firm-wide squawk box and helpfully explained that "Kissing ass just won't cut it anymore." (NY POST)

We are appealing to the United Nations, human rights groups, and other nations to pressure our government to release my husband. Our struggle must reach out past the borders of Iran now. Our leaders will not listen to their people, they will only respond to external pressure." (The wife of dissident journalist Akbar Ganji yesterday told The New York Sun)

(Washington, NY SUN)- A spokesman for Iran’s union of student organizations. Tahkim Vahdat says a hunger strike by jailed dissident journalist, Arbar Ganji, has inspired the country’s democracy movement.

“Before deploying from Savannah, Georgia, to Iraq by a chartered airliner, the troops of the 48th Brigade Combat Team, a National Guard unit, had to go through the same security checks as any other passengers. Lt. Col. John King, the unit's commander, told his 280 fellow soldiers that FAA anti-hijacking regulations require passengers to surrender pocket knives, nose hair scissors and cigarette lighters. "If you have any of those things," he said, almost apologetically, "put them in this box now" as you cannot take them onto the airplane with you. The troops were, however, allowed to take their assault rifles, body armour, helmets, pistols, bayonets and combat shotguns.”

Sources familiar with the investigation tell ABC News an additional 12 bombs and four improvised detonators were found in the trunk of a car believed to be rented by suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer. Police believe the bombers drove the car to Luton, where they boarded trains to London. (ABC)

Vardan Kushnir, notorious for sending spam to each and every citizen of Russia who appeared to have an email was found dead in his Moscow apartment on Sunday, Interfax reported Monday .He died after suffering repeated blows to the head. (MosNews.com)

"I summon my blue-eyed slaves anytime it pleases me. I command the Americans to send me their bravest soldiers to die for me. Anytime I clap my hands a stupid genie called the American ambassador appears to do my bidding. When the Americans die in my service their bodies are frozen in metal boxes by the US Embassy and American airplanes carry them away, as if they never existed. Truly, America is my favorite slave."(King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz, Jeddeh 1993)

Eminem and the Tweenies might make unusual bedfellows. But the BBC was yesterday forced to censor a song by the popular children's characters, not for reasons of sex or violence but because it was likely to cause tooth decay. (The Guardian)

The sculpture, a plastic bottle of water full of melted ice from the Antarctic, was intended to be a telling comment on the dangers of global warming. But one light-fingered, and presumably thirsty, visitor to the exhibition may have missed the point. Rather than musing on the hazards that will be created if the icecaps melt, the visitor is believed to have drunk the piece. Police have been called in to investigate the mystery of the missing water bottle, which vanished from the Way With Words literary festival at Dartington Hall in south Devon. (The Guardian)