Mortgage delinquencies will continue to rise and set records the rest of this year in California, according to projections to be released today by TransUnion, one of the three big U.S. credit-reporting companies..... in the immediate future the percentage of California home loans that are delinquent at least 60 days or are in foreclosure is projected to skyrocket to more than 14% by year's end from 9.7% as of June 30, TransUnion said. In the region including Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the delinquency rate also was expected to hit 14% at the end of the year, up from 10.7% as of June 30. ... California's overall economic picture is worse than that of the country as a whole. The unemployment rate was 11.9% in July compared with the nation's 9.4%. What's more, the whipsaw of home prices from the housing boom and bust was exaggerated in California, leaving more borrowers than average "underwater," or owing more than their homes are worth.

An Agriculture Department agency has begun enforcing a policy banning the use of Web browsers other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, to the surprise of employees who rely on other browsers, such as Mozilla's Firefox, to help in developing Web sites for public use. An operations manager at USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service on Friday e-mailed a memo to CSREES employees that stated, "In keeping with the requirements of the Federal Desktop Core Configuration, all third-party browsers will be removed from customer workstations beginning Tuesday, Aug.18. Internet Explorer is the standard browser and will be maintained. Netscape, Google Chrome and Firefox will be removed."The Federal Desktop Core Configuration, a 2008 governmentwide policy administered by the Office of Management and Budget, requires that agencies standardize operating system and browser settings to prevent security breaches. OMB officials said the configuration does not require agencies to bar non-IE browsers.

While Americans eat more than 22 teaspoons of sugar per day, the American Heart Association urges individuals to limit their sugar intake in order to remain healthy. "For the first time we've created specific recommendations about the amount of sugars that can be consumed in a heart-healthy diet," said Rachel Johnson lead author of a report published in Circulation. According to the report, too much sugar not only leads to obesity but also places the individual at a greater risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. The new guidelines revealed that women should eat less than 100 calories (equal to six teaspoons or 25 grams) of added processed sugar per day. The limit for moderately active women aged 51-55 is as low as 5 teaspoons (80 calories) and for sedentary women aged 71-75 is as low as 3 teaspoons (48 calories). As for men, the permitted sugar amount is reported to be less than 150 calories, equal to nine teaspoons or 37.5 grams. The new guidelines recommend active men aged 21-25 to eat less than 18 teaspoons (288 calories) and sedentary men aged 46-50 to eat less than 9 teaspoons (144 calories). AHA officials say that the guidelines are only for "added sugars" used to make foods and drinks rather than the natural sugar found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, or milk. They therefore urged food and beverage companies to limit the sugar content of their products.

Television news is optimal as modern-day media operates "in between" a populace and the facts they require for a system of governance reliant on informed consent. Here the focus is Wolf Blitzer at Cable News Network who typifies how "the people in between" manipulate public opinion in plain sight and, to date, with legal impunity While working as a Washington correspondent for Jerusalem Post (1973-1990), Blitzer served as an editor of Near East Report, a publication founded by Isaiah Kenen, a registered foreign agent of Israel, who also founded the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC coordinates a network of transnational political operatives known loosely as "the Israel lobby." Neither AIPAC nor Blitzer has yet registered as a foreign agent in the U.S. .. As a writer for Hebrew language newspapers in the 1970s, Blitzer wrote under the name Ze'ev Barak--Hebrew for "wolf lightning." Initially a military reporter for CNN, he became a fixture on television news as CNN's Clinton-era White House correspondent until 1999 when he became a high profile CNN anchor. Since August 2005, CNN (marketed as "the most trusted name in news") has featured the former AIPAC editor broadcasting from a White House-associative studio set branded as "The Situation Room." CNN colleague John King deploys a similar credibility enhancing set by broadcasting from "The State of the Union." On one key media principle U.S. law is clear: the airwaves belong to the public. The nation's Founders knew that the preservation of self-governance depends on an informed populace. That's why modern-day lawmakers enacted legislation to ensure that media outlets are not concentrated in a few hands, enabling a fifth column to shape public opinion around a predetermined agenda.

Saeed Hajjarian, a premier reformist strategist who was disabled in a 2000 assassination attempt, has been accused of having links with the British intelligence service. During the fourth round of the mass trials held for those arrested during Iran's post-election violence, the co-founder of Iran's main reformist party, the Islamic Participation Front, was linked to renowned political theorist John Keane, Open Society Institute's George Soros and German philosopher Jurgen Habermas. "Hajjarian has twice met with John Keane, the British mastermind connected to MI5," the prosecution said. Hajjarian, the prosecutor said, had met well-known philosopher and sociologist Jurgen Habermas, who is famous for the theory of Civil disobedience. According to Habermas, societies can actively refuse to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government, or of an occupying power, without resorting to physical violence. The Soros Foundation which according to the indictment planned to launch a "velvet coup" in Iran was also named as having links with Hajjarian. George Soros, the chairman of the foundation, has reportedly helped fund the 1989 "Velvet Revolution" in the Czech Republic. The "brain of reformists" is among the 140 people accused of orchestrating the post-election violence in Iran, which resulted in the death of around 30 people and injured hundreds more.

British police have heightened security outside the premiers' office as hundreds of demonstrators protested the Israeli prime minister's visit to the country. Hundreds of people attended the demonstration on Tuesday to protest the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands as UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown held a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu in London. The demonstrators were protesting 'the occupation,' waving Palestinian flags, and signs reading 'Stop the siege on Gaza,' 'Free Palestine,' and 'Stop Israel detonators' and hollered slogans like "Netanyahu's a war criminal." Netanyahu arrived in London on Monday for two days of meetings with Brown and US Mideast mediator George Mitchell. After the meeting the two premiers attended a press conference during which Brown said the demand to halt settlement construction remains in place. Netanyahu however said Jerusalem "is not a settlement. It is the sovereign capital of the State of Israel. We have been building in Jerusalem for 3,000 years." The status of Jerusalem has been among the thorny issues in the stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, with the Israelis claiming the city as their "eternal, undivided capital"-- a position not recognized by the international community.