It’s a hit

Breaking: CNN is reporting that the spy satellite has been hit. I was tracking the satellite on a Web site and it disappeared from the radar around 10:28 p.m. ET when it was southwest of Hawaii. No word yet on what the outcome is.

Satellite, rocket rendezvous planned for 10:30 p.m. ET

Nation: CNN is now reporting that the first attempt to shoot down the spy satellite at 10:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. Hawaii time) today. (It would place it during the lunar eclipse, too.) As I write this, the satellite’s altitude is 157 miles. An engineer friend told me that once it reaches 140 miles it will be at the point where it could plummet at any time.

Nation: Here’s an interesting twist to the story of that Texas oil refinery explosion that helped push the price of oil over $100 a barrel for the first time. According to HomelandSecurityUS.com,the oil refinery is owned by ALON Israel Oil Co. Ltd. In the wake of Islamic terrorist Imad Fayez Mughniyeh’s assassination, could this explosion be a form of retribution?

Tech:A blow against Internet freedom was delivered by a federal judge in San Francisco who ordered that Wikileaks.org be shut down, the New York Times reports. The Web site “invites people to post leaked materials with the goal of discouraging ‘unethical behavior’ by corporations and governments.”

Health: The Sydney Morning Herald reports Indonesia’s Health Minister claims that “the United States and the World Health Organisation are part of a global conspiracy to profit from the spread of bird flu and the US may use samples to produce biological weapons.”

World: The Associated Press (via The Jerusalem Post)reports that Iraqis are rounding up the homeless and mentally ill from the streets of Baghdad for fear they will be used unwittingly by al-Qaida as suicide bombers.