The US, the world's hedge fund By Max Fraad Wolff There are some strange facts about the asset and trade positions of the US economy in the globalizing economy. The United States runs massive and growing trade deficits, is borrowing at a clip that would arouse the suspicions of a casino pit boss, and has been selling its assets to anyone who will buy. In the past 24 months, the US balance on goods and services comes in just shy of negative-$1.5 trillion. Across the same period, the US has sunk further into debt to the rest of the world. For 2006, exports of US$1.4378 trillion and imports of $2.2014 trillion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $763.6 billion, $46.9 billion more than the 2005 deficit of $716.7 billion. For goods, exports were $1.0237 trillion and imports were $1.8598 trillion, resulting in a goods deficit of $836.1 billion, $53.3 billion more than the 2005 deficit of $782.7 billion. As a result of that shortfall the US has been selling assets and borrowing. The net international investment position (NIIP) is the Bureau of Economic Analysis's broadest measure of US-owned foreign assets less foreign-owned US assets. There has been a dramatic and sustained deterioration in the US NIIP over the past several decades. Between 1986 and 1988, the US transformed itself from creditor to the world to debtor extraordinaire. It has never looked back, nor has it been forced to. Asia Times

Yes, spitting in the face is crime, court rules Thu Mar 8, 8:08 AM ET A man who intentionally spat at another can be charged with criminal assault, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday. Jeffrey Lewellyn was sentenced to two years probation and 50 hours of community service after he spat in 2004 at a patient who swore at him on the grounds of a Veterans Administration Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington. He appealed the conviction, arguing that spitting did not constitute an assault, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed. "Intentionally spitting on another person is an offensive touching that rises to the level of simple assault," the three-judge panel wrote.

Highest Paying Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree - 1) Brick Masons - Average Hourly Pay Rate: $20.11+ - 2) Air Traffic Controllers - Average Yearly Salary: $100.000+ - 3) Nuclear Power Plant Operator – Average Hourly Pay Rate: $31+ - 4) Telecommunications Equipment Installers – Average Hourly Pay Rate: $22+ - 5) Police Officer – Average Hourly Pay Rate: $22+ - 6) Postal Service Employees - Average Hourly Pay Rate: $21+ - 7) Computer Software Engineer – Average Yearly Salary: $52,000+ - 8) Electricians - Average Yearly Salary: $32,000+ - 9) Computer Programmer – Average Yearly Salary: $55,000+ - 10) Gaming Managers – Average Hourly Pay Rate: $36+ - 11) Immigrations and Customs - Average Yearly Salary: $59,000+ - 12) Firefighting Supervisor – Average Yearly Salary: $60,000+ - 13) Freelancing - Average Hourly Pay Rate: $20 to $50+ - 14) Real Estate Broker – Average Yearly Salary: $76,000+ - 15) Ship Engineer – Average Yearly Salary: $57,000+ - 16) Elevator Repair – Average Yearly Salary: $58,000+ - 17) Power Distributor – Average Yearly Salary: $59,000+

Japan's Ritsumeikan University researchers unveil a prototype model of the micro medical robot, measuring 1cm in diameter, 2cm in length and weighing only 5-grammes, which enables it to stay and move inside a human body to remove or treat the affected part of disease especially cancer, at the Biwako Kusatsu campus of the university in Kusatsu city, Shiga prefecture near Kyoto. The surgical micro robot can attach various kind of medical devices such as micro camera, micro manipulators, various sensors and drug delivery injector.

Earth Crust Missing In the Center of the Atlantic Scientists have discovered a large area thousands of square kilometers in extent in the middle of the Atlantic where the Earth’s crust appears to be missing. Instead, the mantle - the deep interior of the Earth, normally covered by crust many kilometers thick - is exposed on the seafloor, 3000m below the surface. Marine geologist Dr Chris MacLeod, School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Sciences said, “This discovery is like an open wound on the surface of the Earth. Was the crust never there? Was it once there but then torn away on huge geological faults? If so, then how and why?” To answer some of these questions Dr MacLeod with a team of scientists, led by marine geophysicist Professor Roger Searle, Durham University, will travel to the area which lies mid-way between the Cape Verde Islands and the Caribbean. The expedition will be the inaugural research cruise of a new UK research ship RRS James Cook. The team intends to use sonar to image the seafloor and then take rock cores using a robotic seabed drill. The samples will provide a rare opportunity to gain insights into the workings of the mantle deep below the surface of the Earth. Cardiff University scientists will shortly set sail next week (March 5th) to investigate a startling discovery in the depths of the Atlantic. CaribJournal.com

Young Blair's obscene gesture The mysterious affair of Tony Blair and the picture he would rather forget began to unravel today when it emerged that it was digitally enhanced to spare the Prime Minister's blushes. The photograph of Mr. Blair making a regrettable hand gesture was taken when he was a student at Oxford University in the mid-Seventies. Daily Mail

Topless wife photo ends man's pole protest Fri Mar 2, 9:24 AM ET A German man who spent 10 days in a self-made box atop a 72-foot-tall pole to protest a looming jail term was lured off his perch by his wife -- who sent up a topless picture of herself in his lunch box. Fred Gregor, 45, was bidding to have his 15-month conviction for fraud overturned by squatting in his tiny cubicle atop a converted television mast. He told Reuters in a telephone interview last week that he wanted a new trial. His wife Susanne, 25, backed his protest until the former stripper and mother of their five children decided she had had enough.

KISS & TELL ON TEACH TESTIMONY FROM 'BOY' By LAURA ITALIANO New York Post March 2, 2007 -- At 13, he had yet to shave. He was still a little guy, too – his beautiful Montessori schoolteacher was tall, and he only came up to her bosom. So begins what prosecutors say is the story of this Queens cop's boyhood seduction at the hands of Lina Sinha, a respected Upper East Side Montessori schoolteacher and administrator 16 years his senior. Sinha is on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court, battling charges of statutory rape and sodomy, and of tampering with witnesses and evidence, some 80 counts in all. Prosecutors say that in 1996, when Sinha was 29 and the now-cop was only 13, she began giving him oral sex in the classrooms, field-trip van and adjacent rooms of the Montessori School on East 55th Street. But the twisted relationship allegedly accelerated to full intercourse - starting as a 15th-birthday present - and would last through his years at college and the Police Academy. It ended, after nine years, in 2004, when the cop-in-training broke it off. Sinha then allegedly began a revenge campaign of false accusations of rape and gunpoint threats against him - ultimately leading him to divulge his boyhood secret to investigators, prosecutors say. Sinha is additionally charged with having a depraved sexual fling in 2001 with a second boy student, who was only 12. In each case, Sinha preyed upon a child in a vulnerable time in his life - promising love, marriage and children, prosecutor Rachel Hochhauser told jurors in opening arguments yesterday.

School district: Sixth graders had sex in class March 5, 2007 05:14 PM EST Sandra Chapman /13 Investigates Indianapolis - For months it's been a well-kept secret. But now Warren Township Schools confirm a disturbing case of sex in the classroom. The illicit activity has parents concerned and a district at a loss for words. Shop class gives students a chance to learn outside of the book. But at Warren Township's Raymond Park Middle School, two students engaged in illicit acts in view of goggled eyes. 13 Investigates was tipped off by a disturbed resident who writes: "...during school hours in a classroom with an experienced teacher present, two sixth graders completed the act of intercourse...at least ten students were witnesses. No disciplinary actions were taken against the teacher... All teachers were told to keep quiet." Middle school students having sex in a busy classroom while a teacher is present? Warren Township Associate Superintendent Jeff Swensson confirmed it's true. It's been kept under wraps since November. The principal at Raymond Park Middle School would not speak to us about the incident or parents concerns. The superintendent in charge of middle schools in the district also backed out of an on-camera interview and instead provided a three-sentence statement: "Two students were involved in inappropriate conduct in a lab class last semester. We have investigated the matter and taken appropriate action. The school corporation considers the matter closed and will have no further comment." Associate Superintendent Jeff Swensson told Eyewitness News off camera the teacher didn't know what was going on because another student acted as a "look-out." But once the teacher discovered the behavior, immediate action was taken. Swensson says the students involved were recommended for expulsion. But he did not say whether the board followed that recommendation. Warren Township School Police were not aware of the incident and say no report was made even though the children were recommended for expulsion.

The first clothing-free workout session at a Dutch gym went ahead as planned in Heteren, eastern Netherlands, Sunday March 4, 2007, and participants and observers said it met expectations. Around a dozen middle-aged and elderly men braved the glare of nearly twice that number of journalists, including reporters, photographers and at least five television teams, to fulfill their dream of exercising naked. 'There are things that you like to do, and for a nudist, it just feels better to do them with your clothes off,' said Ron van der Putten, left, who drove for more than an hour to take part in the first session, dubbed 'Nudifit'. 'You feel more free.'

Prisoner caught with grenade where? Fri Mar 2, 9:25 AM ET An inmate at an El Salvador jail was caught with a hand grenade stuffed up his backside -- a novel attempt to disguise his apparent escape plans. Guards at the San Francisco Gotera prison outside the capital San Salvador found the V40 grenade, about the size of a golf ball, lodged up the man's rectum during a security clampdown, a prison spokesman said on Thursday. They also caught another 16 inmates who each swallowed a mobile phone. "We'll have to expel the objects and if they won't come out we'll have to perform surgery in hospital," said Alberto Uribe, a spokesman for the El Salvador prison service. Last year, prison guards found an M67 grenade in the vagina of a female visitor at the overcrowded La Esperanza-Mariona prison on the northern fringes of San Salvador. Prisoners in the Central American country use weapons to try to escape or attack fellow inmates and prison guards, and use cellular phones to order free gang members to commit crimes or smuggle narcotics.

Brusha Brusha Brusha If you're like us, you don’t think much about your toothbrush until the three-month mark when it begins resembling a toilet brush and you’re forced to chuck it and begin again. If the cycle is beginning to wear thin, consider the latest in dental technology: titanium. Whereas nylon bristles absorb water and bacteria, the titanium alloy is resistant to both and has better elasticity, which makes for a more effective cleaning. Best of all, the brush lasts two to five years, so you can spend what was previously toothbrush-shopping time on something more worthwhile like floss comparison. TiFinity $47; tifinitytoothbrush .

Conversation Hog A motorcycle helmet doesn’t have much space for gadgets, so this Bluetooth headset does double duty. It answers cell phone calls and communicates with an included passenger’s headset over a radio intercom. Cardo Scala-Rider TeamSet $230; cardowireless.com

Yamaha Gen-Ryu concept Equal parts bike, torpedo and art deco rocking horse, the Gen-Ryu features a 600cc inline four-cylinder gas engine paired with a high-output electric motor to equal the performance of a 1,000cc machine. The rigid aluminum body and long wheelbase are designed to enhance handling. A host of safety features, such as a rear-mounted CCD camera and LCD screen and a cornering light system, boost the rider's safety.

Yamaha Deinonychus concept Taking advantage of two in-wheel motors to free up space around this electric motorcycle's frame, Yamaha installed a pair of electrohydraulic pistons that work in concert with extendable front forks to allow this bike to change its shape based on application. Fully extended, the pistons lengthen the chassis for cruising; when compressed, the pistons pull the wheels closer together and increase ground clearance for off-road tomfoolery. The two rocket-booster-looking canisters on the back are batteries, and the Deinonychus is designed to accommodate up to four of them depending on whether the rider would rather skim weight or ride for longer.

2007 Honda Goldwing Starting in spring 2006, Honda's flagship motorcycle will be available with the world's first motorcycle airbag, able to inflate in 0.06 second and fully absorb the rider's forward energy in 0.15 second (less time than it takes to blink an eye). This innovation represents a major advance in motorcycle safety.

OWLS

Electric Lead Slingers

Chinese J-10 Fighter Chengdu J-10 (Jian-10 Fighter aircraft 10) / F-10 There has been much speculation on the development of China's J-10 fighter. Many suggested the aircraft's design was based on the Lavi - the unsuccessful attempt by Israel to develop an indigenous F-16 fighter. Only in December 2006 did China officially acknowledged the fielding of the J-10, when the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) released videos and photos of the aircraft via China Central Television (CCTV) and Xinhua News Agency. By then, it was apparent that the J-10 has the potential of becoming one of the most significant fighters in the next few decades.

MISC. PHOTO’S