Oil spill: BP to pay $20 billion and apologize

NEWS OF THE WORLD

BP agrees to $20 bil fund, exec apologizes
The company suspends its shareholder dividends to help pay for Gulf spill costs. "Should have never happened"

Like Wisdom Quarterly reported the day the story broke:

Afghanistan as Pandora: We're there because of unobtanium!
"Information intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and Psyops, is increasingly consumed by our domestic audience." --Declassified Pentagon document, "Information Operations Roadmap"(2003)

So it seems we've found rare minerals in Afghanistan! From the Huffington Post: By now everyone has just about lost their da[r]n minds about this New York Times article detailing Afghanistan's "discovery" of vast amounts of mineral wealth. Yes, it's way crazy old information (like the 70's old). Yes, it's Soviet Pentagon propaganda. If you've been reading us here, you already know ISAF's counter-insurgency strategy is a flaming wreck, and you already know what they're going to do about that. Propaganda and misinformation are all part of it.

So that's why we're in Afghanistan... to find/enrich ourselves with the mineral(s) "unobtanium." Whoever at Pentagon psy-ops is trying to justify our idiotic, costly occupation of the graveyard of empires that is clearly turning out to be a disaster, has, by invoking a blockbuster movie, totally misread Avatar, which, while essentially entertainment, did not exactly paint a favorable image of humans' exploitation of natural resources.

Apple's iPod drops calls

A dramatic design change in the new iPhone 4 aims to counter one of its biggest flaws. Apple killing tech sector? - Lower your cell phone bill

Swarm of quakes rattles region
(LA Times) More than two dozen earthquakes are recorded Monday night, the largest a magnitude 5.7 that could be felt throughout L.A. County. Experts say they were aftershocks of the 7.2 quake on April 4.

When it's okay to carry debt

The best policy: borrow only for a home and an education, two purposes with benefits outweighing the costs. If necessary, borrow to get basic, essential transportation, not to get luxuries like leather seats and navigation systems.

Nepal becomes major tourism destination for Asian travelers
KATHMANDU (Xinhua) -- Nepal is becoming a major tourism destination for Asian travelers, local media reported on Tuesday. The World Bank South Asia Economic Update 2010 reveals that travelers from East Asia made up 26.5 percent of the total tourist arrivals in Nepal, according to The Kathmandu Post daily. The statistics of the Nepal Tourism Board also reflect a similar trend.

Beyond Bigfoot and Loch Ness
Loren Coleman is the father of American cryptozoology, or the exploration for animals whose existence is generally doubted. There's more to it than Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, Coleman says. "People are interested in what Brad Pitt’s doing, not what his understudy or some other minor actor is doing. In the same way, people know the words Yeti, Bigfoot, and Loch Ness Monster.

The Google music store to launch this fall

The iTUNES store is currently the largest music retailer, but a new competitor is on the horizon reports CNET, as GOOGLE continues to build its own music service. "According to multiple music industry sources, GOOGLE could launch a music service that offers song downloads and streaming music as early as this FALL."

Kashmir back to normal after three days of shutdown
Schools reopened as did markets, banks and other business establishments in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley Tuesday following three days of separatist shutdowns. City roads once again returned to life with most main roads clogged with traffic. The Kashmir University, however, postponed all examinations scheduled for Tuesday.