US president is the Wizard of Oz. But who stands behind the curtain?

Interesting analysis of the oligarchy that rules America.

BBC News - UK health system is top on 'efficiency', says report

For the country with the world's most expensive medical treatment (US), this is kind of embarrassing.

BBC News - "The US came last in the overall rankings, which also included data from Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand."

BBC News - Loss of bees could be 'a blow to UK economy'

BBC News - "If bees and other pollinators were to disappear completely, the cost to the UK economy could be up to £440m per year, scientists have warned.

This amounts to about 13% of the country's income from farming.

In a bid to save the declining insects, up to £10m has been invested in nine projects that will explore threats to pollinators.

The Insect Pollinators Initiative will look at different aspects of the insects' decline."

Giant 80 Meter Wide Sinkhole Opens in China

The Telegraph - Nasa warns solar flares from 'huge space storm' will cause devastation

The Telegraph - "Britain could face widespread power blackouts and be left without critical communication signals for long periods of time, after the earth is hit by a once-in-a-generation “space storm”, Nasa has warned."

'US Army sent 'hardcore' neo-Nazi troops to Iraq and Afghanistan'

What's wrong with the sun? - space - 14 June 2010 - New Scientist

The Sun is behaving very strangely of late.

Are there any reasonable explanations for spectacular sinkholes in China?

The Telegraph - "After the spectacular picture of a sinkhole in Guatemala caused by tropical storm Agatha, the Chinese internet has been abuzz with reports of large numbers of the eerily circular formations suddenly appearing across China."

Radiohead frontman: Music industry on verge of collapse

In an interview for a new high school textbook called The Rax Active Citizen Toolkit, which aims to inspire youngsters to become more politically literate, Yorke claims the music industry is on the verge of a major crisis and could collapse completely within "months".

Coming to Earth soon: Nasty solar storms - CSMonitor.com

"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity," said Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division. "At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we're getting together to discuss."

Yahoo - More Active Sun Means Nasty Solar Storms Ahead

Yahoo - "People of the 21st century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. But smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity."