Archive for the 'Elite' Category
Central American Gangs: Made in America
August 16th, 2014Via: Guardian: Central America didn’t always have a gang epidemic. That was exported there by us. And the current immigration crisis is as much a United States legacy as it has become a local tragedy – a consequence of US-financed civil wars from the 1980s that sparked the first migration wave, and of US policies […]
Texas Governor Rick Perry Indicted
August 16th, 2014Just another day at the office. Via: Statesman: A Travis County grand jury Friday indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two charges related to his effort last year to force District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to resign after her drunken driving arrest. Grand jurors charged Perry, 64, with abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony, and coercion […]
The Kilobot Project: A Low Cost Scalable Robot System for Demonstrating Collective Behaviors
August 15th, 2014Here’s one for your This-Will-End-Badly file folder. Via: Harvard: In current robotics research there is a vast body of work on algorithms and control methods for groups of decentralized cooperating robots, called a swarm or collective. These algorithms are generally meant to control collectives of hundreds or even thousands of robots; however, for reasons of […]
U.S. Navy Bombing American-Made Equipment in Iraq
August 12th, 2014Via: Defense News: When the Iraqi Army’s 2nd Division broke and fled ahead of the advancing columns of ISIL fighters near Mosul earlier this summer, they left behind a treasure trove of US supplied military equipment that the jihadists have since turned on the civilian population. Among the spoils were hundreds of Humvees, small arms […]
Colgate Total Ingredient Linked to Hormones, Cancer Spotlights FDA Process
August 12th, 2014Via: Bloomberg: The chemical triclosan has been linked to cancer-cell growth and disrupted development in animals. Regulators are reviewing whether it’s safe to put in soap, cutting boards and toys. Consumer companies are phasing it out. Minnesota voted in May to ban it in many products. At the same time, millions of Americans are putting […]
“Ample Evidence” Silicon Valley Firms Engaged in “An Overarching Conspiracy” Against Their Own Employees
August 11th, 2014Via: New York Times: There is “ample evidence” that Silicon Valley was engaged in “an overarching conspiracy” against its own employees, a federal judge said on Friday, and it should either pay dearly or have its secrets exposed at trial. Judge Lucy H. Koh of the United States District Court in San Jose rejected as […]
The Music Industry Is Brainwashing People to Like Bad Pop Songs
August 11th, 2014Via: mic.com: After a couple dozen unintentional listens, many of us may find ourselves changing our initial opinions about a song — eventually admitting that, really, Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” isn’t as awful as it sounds. PBS’ Idea Channel’s Mike Rugnetta explains, it’s akin to a musical “Stockholm syndrome,” a term used originally by criminologist […]
Billionaire Paid $100 Million for a Get Out of Jail Free Card
August 6th, 2014Via: The Verge: Bernie Ecclestone is an exceptionally wealthy man who until recently will have been familiar to Formula 1 racing fans and quite unimportant to the rest of the world. Only what he did today should make him a figure of global notoriety: Ecclestone paid $100 million to have a German court dismiss corruption […]
The NSA Is Being Sued for Keeping Keith Alexander’s Financial Records Secret
August 5th, 2014Via: Vice: Former NSA Director Keith Alexander’s lucrative entrance into the private sector has raised a heap of ethical questions about the spy chief’s intentions. Now the NSA has yet another dilemma on its hands: Investigative journalist Jason Leopold is suing the agency for denying him the release of financial disclosure statements attributable to its […]
Australia Bans Reporting of Multi-Nation Corruption Case Involving Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam
July 30th, 2014Via: Wikileaks: Today, 29 July 2014, WikiLeaks releases an unprecedented Australian censorship order concerning a multi-million dollar corruption case explicitly naming the current and past heads of state of Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, their relatives and other senior officials. The super-injunction invokes “national security” grounds to prevent reporting about the case, by anyone, in order […]
