Random stories

* The Scotsman has a summary of what happened in London today, where apparently another four bombs on mass transit failed to detonate as planned.

* Today the House voted to extend the Patriot Act, with representatives somewhat shamelessly using the events in London to help push through the legislation. The ACLU has more.

* The Guardian has a story on the crisis of child starvation in Niger.

* According to the AP, a new Pentagon report suggests that US military morale is low in Iraq, but the suicide rate has dropped substantially in recent months.

* Jim Lobe and Juan Cole note the irony, which remains deeply muted in US media coverage, that the benefits of the Iraq war are accruing mostly to Iran.

* Residents in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar seem worried that the US military is getting ready to pull a Fallujah on them. So, they're fleeing in droves, according to CNN.

* USA Today reports that being a kid nowadays means spending a lot of time indoors.

* IPS notes new studies that claim the dominance of neoliberal ideology results in poor global health.

* Taking a cue from the last 30 years of GOP dominance, Susan Douglas thinks the left should be reframing the issue of morality and taxes.