T.G.I.F. News Shorts

The Perseid Meteor shower is at its peak this weekend.
This chart shows how the Perseids might appear to a person looking northeast at 11PM local time in mid-August. The meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, from which they get their name.
(Aug. 7) - The Perseid meteor shower, an annual celestial event beloved by millions of skywatchers around the world, returns to the night sky this coming week. But moonlight will interfere somewhat with the view.
Sky & Telescope magazine predicts that the Perseid shower will reach its peak late on Friday and Saturday nights, August 11-12 and 12-13 (for viewers in North America). The rate of activity should pick up after midnight until the first light of dawn. Read more.

Updates on the foiled terror attacks on U.S. bound planes. Tighter security and National guardsmen at many airports.

National Guardsmen watch travelers at New York's JFK International Airport on Friday morning.

U.S. travelers adjusting to tighter rules
Effects of thwarted terror plot likely to linger
Friday, August 11, 2006; Posted: 1:58 p.m. EDT (17:58 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Airlines scrambled to recruit more baggage handlers Friday as U.S. travelers quickly adapted to new security measures by simply checking luggage they normally would have carried with them.
Passengers also faced a second level of security checks starting Friday, with random bag searches at the airline gates. Read more.

Seeking mega-attack, militants again target planes
Thu Aug 10, 2006 1:52pm ET173
By Mark Trevelyan, Security Correspondent
BERLIN (Reuters) - A plot to blow up several airliners flying between Britain and the United States highlights militants' long-held obsession with planes and their hunger for a mega-attack to eclipse September 11.
Uncovered by British police and intelligence, the plot triggered the highest security alerts on both sides of the Atlantic since the 2001 attacks.
Washington said the operation was in some ways suggestive of al Qaeda, which specializes in simultaneous mass-casualty strikes but has failed in the last five years to come anywhere close to its 9/11 toll of nearly 3,000 victims. Read more.

The terror plot was thwarted due to U.S. intercepts of phone calls. This will upset the MSM and the libs since they strongly oppose the NSA wiretaps of terrorists. The only people that have anything to fear from the NSA is the bad guys.
Thwarting the Airline Plot: Inside the investigation
Exclusive: U.S. picked up the suspects' chatter and shared it with British authorities; new federal alert warns that peroxide-based explosives could also be employed in future attacks in the U.S.
By BRIAN BENNETT AND DOUGLAS WALLER/WASHINGTON Read the whole thing.

This news will surely rile the MSM and the libs as well. Army is still meeting it recruiting goals.

US Army seen reaching recruiting goal despite war
Thu Aug 10, 2006 4:50pm ET168
By Will Dunham


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, which fell short in recruiting last year, made its 14th straight monthly goal in July and is expected to hit its 2006 target despite the Iraq war making recruiting harder, officials said on Thursday. Read more.