The Nightowl Newswrap

Third times the charm For the third time a military judge has authorized attorneys for Salim Ahmed Hamdan to send questions to top-level al Qaeda detainees in the Guantánamo Bay prison camp. Military Judge Navy Captain Keith Allred refused to let Pentagon prosecutors hide beneath the petticoats of "national security" arguments.

Wildly off the mark Remember five years ago, when the deserter-in-chief was humping hard to sell his glorious war, he and administration lackeys were singularly dedicated to trying their damnedest to convince a gullible America on the notion that the whole thing could be done for the bargain-basement price of 50-60 Billion bucks? Yeah, well, those were the days. Even the Pentagram Pentagon pegs the costs at $600 Billion and counting. As for me, I'm more inclined to believe the Nobel Laureate in Economics who says it's going to cost us $3 Trillion.

Heparin Contaminant Identified The contaminant that led to the deaths of nineteen critical care patients in the United States who received Heparin from Chinese sources was molecularly modified Chondroitin Sulfate. "This is a biological compound that is not found in nature," said Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "At this point, it's still to be determined if it was introduced intentionally or by accident." If it was an accident, the protocols and chain of custody procedures are lacking. If it was added intentionally to boost profits, its even worse. Either way, it's criminal.

Political Turmoil in Kuwait The Emir or Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, dissolved the parliament on Wednesday claiming that it was necessary to preserve national unity and citing security concerns in the region. New elections have been set for May 17, in keeping with the Kuwaiti Constitution which specifies that new elections must be held within 60 days of a parliamentary dissolution.

Is there anybody out there? Just nod if you can hear me...The organic compound methane has been detected on a planet orbiting a star 63 light years away from our solar system. Water has also been detected in the atmosphere of the planet, but scientists stress that the planet is far too hot to support or sustain life.

Asian stocks slump as credit crisis worsens Doubts about the global economy drug down Asian stocks and caused a dramatic dip in the prices of commodities and precious metals. "Commodities was the one area that had been untouched by the credit chaos, but that seems to be changing," said Robert Rennie, chief currency strategist at Westpac in Australia.

Wall Street gets all the love. Main Street, not so much...While the Fed pumps billions into flagging Wall Street corporations in an effort to reverse the swing of the economic pendulum, Main Street continues to struggle as consumer confidence remains low and most Americans are convinced that the economy is in a recession, no matter what aWol says.

Kosovo recognized by Baltic states A month after Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, their nationalist cause is advancing as Hungary and Croatia recognized the nascent nation on Wednesday. Bulgaria will do so tomorrow. Of course, Serbia had a tremendous hissy-fit, with Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic declaring on Wednesday during a trip to Athens that "[E]very country that decides to recognize the illegally declared state of Kosovo breaches international law."