Privacy concerns are taking a back seat to a massive power grab again as top Congressional Democrats are proposing to institute a national ID card under the guise of “immigration reform.” The proposal (pdf) insists that the government can “end illegal employment” by requiring every worker in the country to carry a biometric ID card including fingerprint data with them at all times. The bill insists that the ID card would “prevent future waves of illegal immigration.” Called the “Believe” System, the plan would have every employer required to check the validity of the ID card with a digital scanner before they would be allowed to hire anyone.

A second oil drilling rig has overturned near Morgan City, Louisiana, after the oil slick from the first accident in the Gulf of Mexico washed ashore. No injuries have been reported. The overturned rig is unrelated to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatens the coast's fragile ecosystem. US Coast Guard officials are currently investigating reports as fishermen in coastal towns fear for their livelihood. The oil rig can carry about 20,000 gallons of diesel fuel, but Coast Guard officials do not know how much fuel was on board. Coast Guard investigators say no fuel leaks have been found so far.

U.S. Interior Department inspectors began boarding deep-water platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana mobilized the National Guard as an expanding oil slick that may rival the Exxon Valdez spill approached the coast.Future drilling must safeguard against a recurrence, President Barack Obama said today in remarks at the White House, promising a “thorough review” of the BP Plc well leak the government estimates is spewing 5,000 barrels a day. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was ordered to report in 30 days the additional precautions needed, Obama said. The department’s Minerals Management Service, regulator of offshore drilling, is focusing on the blowout preventer, equipment used by all drillers that should have prevented the spill and an explosion that resulted in the death of 11 people, Mike Saucier, an agency spokesman, said yesterday at a press conference. “I continue to believe that the domestic oil production is an important part” of U.S. energy policy, Obama said in remarks at the White House. “But I’ve always said it must be done responsibly, for the safety of our workers and our environment.” No additional drilling will be authorized until its determined what happened aboard the rig, owned by Transocean Ltd., White House senior Advisor David Axelrod said today on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder dispatched a team of lawyers to New Orleans to meet the U.S. Attorney and spill responders. WUWT: NASA Satellite Tracking the Gulf Oil Spill. WSWS: The victims of the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

A raid by US-led troops has killed two women and a child in southern Afghanistan amid rising public opposition to the presence of foreign forces there. NATO officials said the victims were killed on Friday when their vehicle came under fire as they were traveling on a highway in Zabul province, AFP reported. Two others have reportedly been injured in the attack in the southern province, where American troops make up the bulk of the NATO contingent. On Thursday, a civilian was killed when foreign troops attacked the home of a member of parliament in eastern Afghanistan. A report by the UN earlier said over 2,400 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2009, the largest number of civilian toll since the 2001 US-led invasion of the country.

US lawmakers on Friday denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's plans to join a major UN nuclear disarmament summit next week in New York and urged he not be given a visa to attend. "This is preposterous, and allowing it to happen will make a mockery of the effort to stop the spread of nuclear weapons to rogue states and terrorist groups," 14 Republican senators wrote to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Nation: Crippling, Crushing, and Suffocating Iran:

On Wednesday afternoon, members of the House and Senate gathered for a conference committee meeting to discuss the bills passed by each house to impose sanctions on Iran. As I sat down at my desk to write this, I pulled out my Roget's Thesaurus to see how many synonyms for "crippling," 'crushing," "overwhelming," "suffocating," and so on there are. There are a lot. And many of them, including those just mentioned, were used by members of Congress competing to see strongly each one could condemn Iran. It wasn't pretty.

Yesterday, WUWT reported on a University of Melbourne study claiming that melting ice is behind the warming of the Arctic.

“Findings published in Nature today reveal the rapid melting of sea ice has dramatically increased the levels of warming in the region in the last two decades. The sea ice acts like a shiny lid on the Arctic Ocean. When it is heated, it reflects most of the incoming sunlight back into space. When the sea ice melts, more heat is absorbed by the water. The warmer water then heats the atmosphere above it.”

If this were true, we would expect to see that months with the most ice loss would also show the most warming. In fact, we see the exact opposite. AWIP: Melting sea ice has been shown to be a major cause of warming in the Arctic according to a University of Melbourne study.

NPR News reports that the FBI is investigating the possible bribery of federal officials overseeing mining industry regulation by Massey Energy, the owner of the Upper Big Branch mine that exploded three weeks ago, killing 29 miners. "The Mine Safety and Health Administration is the target of a federal criminal investigation," NPR notes, and "FBI agents are also exploring potential criminal negligence on the part of Massey Energy."

The Ditch -In a never-published Vandivert photograph, LIFE war correspondent Percy Knauth (left) sifts through dirt and debris in the shallow trench in the garden of the Reich Chancellery where the bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun are believed to have been burned after their suicides. Vandivert's typed notes around this scene include one of the more laconic of the photographer's sometimes-slangy observations of what he witnessed while exploring outside the bunker: "[S]hattered bird feeding box on tree trunk ... These bird feeding boxes are also seen all over the Berchtesgaden hangout [i.e., Hitler's mountaintop retreat in the Bavarian Alps]. Seems to have been a great thing with Hitler."

BEIJING — China said Friday that a Chinese diplomat in the U.S. was beaten and injured by Houston police and urged an investigation to ensure diplomatic practices are not violated. The statement from China's Foreign Ministry said police harassed and beat a deputy consul-general while he was driving to the Chinese Consulate in Houston. The statement said a family member also was involved, but did not say if that person was injured. According to a CBS News report, Houston police last Saturday tried to stop a car which was missing a license plate. When the car didn't stop, they pursued it into a garage without realizing the garage belonged to the Chinese Consulate. Police handcuffed and arrested the driver, injuring him, the CBS report said.

Findings published in Nature today reveal the rapid melting of sea ice has dramatically increased the levels of warming in the region in the last two decades. Lead author Dr James Screen of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne says the increased Arctic warming was due to a positive feedback between sea ice melting and atmospheric warming. “The sea ice acts like a shiny lid on the Arctic Ocean. When it is heated, it reflects most of the incoming sunlight back into space. When the sea ice melts, more heat is absorbed by the water. The warmer water then heats the atmosphere above it.” “What we found is this feedback system has warmed the atmosphere at a faster rate than it would otherwise,” he says.

WUWT: Is Melting Ice Warming The Arctic?

Yesterday, WUWT reported on a University of Melbourne study claiming that melting ice is behind the warming of the Arctic. If this were true, we would expect to see that months with the most ice loss would also show the most warming. In fact, we see the exact opposite.

Top UN scientist complains about YouTube video, claims defamation. Marc Morano argues that everything in the video about Mann's unscientific methods is true. Michael Mann, creator of the infamous "hockey stick" graph isn't amused by a YouTube satire video featuring the refrain "hide the decline," a quote from the Climategate emails. He's threatened to sue the video's creators. Marc Morano, editor of CFACT's award winning ClimateDepot appeared on FoxNews to discuss.

Marc was asked whether he thought Mann could prove that the point the satire was making was not true. "I don't think he can," Morano replied. "I mean, this just goes to show you how the mighty have fallen. Michael Mann was a top U.N. scientist who is now in 2010 spending his time worrying about YouTube videos. This video is absolutely accurate. Michael Mann is the inventor of the temperature hockey stick which even recently the Royal U.K. statistical society said was exaggerated. Other German scientists have called it statistical rubbish. He's been called a statistical charlatan. He has had report after report attacking the foundation - the idea that 20th century temperatures are unprecedented is what Michael Mann is peddling through the U.N." WUWT: Virginia Attorney General goes after Mann and UVA.

The Minot Air Force Base says one of their Airmen was killed in a training exercise around midnight. In a press release officials say a male Airman from the 17th Munitions Squadron was struck in the head while at work, and died of injuries soon after. They are not releasing the name of the Airman. A spokeswoman from the Minot Air Force Base says cases like this are extremely rare and it has been at least ten years [?!?] since something like this has taken place. Since the Minot story broke a week ago about the missing nukeclandestine operation from Minot, we have the following (for those who are paying attention):

1. All six people listed below are from Minot Airforce base
2. All were directly involved as loaders or as pilots
3. All are now dead
4. All within the last 7 days in 'accidents'

Silly me, seeing more than there is to this story. I guess this is just another coincidence. But no doubt now that there will be more coincidences in the near future because as I have stated before, you need about fourteen signatures to get an armed nuke onto a B-52, and they may have told their wives and friends...

A German scientist has developed one of the first translation programs suitable for everyday use. Sheer computing power gives the Google software surprisingly good results -- perhaps the best yet seen created by a machine. The system already commands 52 languages, and the databases for 296 other languages are in development. They include such exotic tongues as Sardinian, West Frisian and Zulu.