Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

• Minister predicts end of world... again

  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A California ministry that warned the end of the world would come Friday awoke to discover that Earth was undergoing its usual gyrations with no signs of a cataclysmic event. Oakland-based Family Radio International stirred a global frenzy when it predicted the rapture would take 200 million Christians to heaven on May 21. Its most recent pronouncement said natural disasters would destroy the globe on Friday.

• Luxury Condo, For Saleh or Rent - By Ken Silverstein - Foreign Policy

  If Saleh is forced out -- he has held power for more than three decades -- the asset hunters might want to begin their search in Washington, D.C. Real estate records show that in 2007 a man named Ahmed Ali Saleh bought four condominiums in a luxury building in Friendship Heights, right near one of the capital's swankiest shopping areas. He paid $5.5 million -- in cash -- for the condos. He also owns a property assessed at about $220,000 in Fairfax, Virginia, bought in the 1990s.

• California adopts first cap-and-trade program in U.S. - latimes.com

  The California Air Resources Board on Thursday unanimously adopted the nation's first state-administered cap-and-trade regulations, a landmark set of air pollution controls to address climate change and help the state achieve its ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The complex market system for the first time puts a price on heat-trapping pollution by allowing California's dirtiest industries to trade carbon credits. The rules have been years in the making, overcoming legal challenges and an aggressive oil industry-sponsored ballot initiative.

• The median U.S. wage in 2010 was just $26,363 - The Washington Post

  The government has released the first official payroll data for 2010. As you might expect, the numbers aren’t too encouraging. The “raw” average wage--net compensation divided by total number of workers--was $39,959.30, according to the data from the Social Security Administration. But the median wage is far lower: 50 percent of workers earned less than or equal to $26,363.55 for 2010

• ‘We are wall Street…we are smarter and more vicious than [dinosaurs]‘ - FT

  “We are Wall Street. It’s our job to make money. Whether it’s a commodity, stock, bond, or some hypothetical piece of fake paper, it doesn’t matter. We would trade baseball cards if it were profitable. I didn’t hear America complaining when the market was roaring to 14,000 and everyone’s 401k doubled every 3 years. Just like gambling, its not a problem until you lose. I’ve never heard of anyone going to Gamblers Anonymous because they won too much in Vegas.

• Dubai International Airport adds SnoozeCube units - AMEinfo.com

  Dubai International Airport has added new facilities in Terminal 1 to provide added comfort to weary transit passengers. Ten sound-proof 'SnoozeCube' units have been installed containing a full-sized bed, touch-screen TV, and high-speed internet. Dubai is the first airport to install the system, said developer of the SnoozeCube, Larry Swann.

• Israel plans new settlement of 2,600 that will isolate Arab East Jerusalem | World news - The Guardian

  Israel has submitted plans to build the first big Jewish settlement in the occupied territories in 25 years, in a move condemned as an "assassination" of attempts to revive peace negotiations. A leading Israeli peace group, Peace Now, denounced the plan to build 2,600 homes at Givat Hamatos on the southern edge of Jerusalem as a "game changer" because it would virtually cut off the Arab east of the city from the rest of the occupied West Bank.

• Kenyan forces hunt Somali militants - FT

  Kenyan and Somali troops launched an attack on Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda in Somalia on Sunday, following a spate of kidnappings of tourists and aid workers in Kenya. Kenya said at the weekend it would hunt the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents following Thursday’s kidnapping of two aid workers from Dadaab, in north-eastern Kenya, home to the world’s largest refugee camp. More than 400,000 Somalis who have fled war and famine shelter there, close to the border.

• Self-Immolation: French Math Teacher Sets Herself on Fire in Front of Students - AFP

  A 44-year-old math teacher who set herself on fire in front of students at her school in southern France died Friday. The AFP reports that the self-immolation appears to have been prompted by a confrontation between the teacher and a group of rowdy students at a Thursday meeting aimed at clearing the air between the instructor and her pupils.

• New Deal accomplishments: Do conservatives who attack the New Deal actually know what America gained from it? - Slate Magazine

  651,000 miles of highway. 8,000 parks. The Triborough Bridge. Do conservatives who attack the New Deal actually know what America gained from it?

• Saudi oil Saudi energy demand to double by 2028 - Gulf News

  Saudi Aramco has forecast that the kingdom's daily energy demand will reach an equivalent of 8.3 million barrels by 2028, more than double the 3.4 million barrels equivalent in 2009. Currently, of the 8.3 million barrels daily in oil production, more than three million barrels are consumed by the domestic market mainly to fuel national industries.

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