Archive for May, 2009
UK: Pilots Refuse to Take Part in National Identity Card Trials
May 6th, 2009Via: Guardian: Airline pilots are to become the first group to refuse to take part in the national identity scheme when compulsory trials start at Manchester and London City airports this autumn. The British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa ), which represents more than 80% of commercial airline pilots, is to mount a legal challenge to […]
Ashton Lundeby, a Sixteen-Year-Old American, Has Been Disappeared by Homeland Security
May 6th, 2009UPDATE: This Looks Like a More Conventional Federal Case Now Via: Wired: The boy’s mother, Annette Lundeby, has even acknowledged in interviews that her son has been formally charged, has a court-appointed attorney, and has already made appearances in front of a judge. — Long ago, I took a class called Soviet Society and Culture. […]
Thought Police Muscle Up in Britain
May 6th, 2009Via: The Australian: BRITAIN appears to be evolving into the first modern soft totalitarian state. As a sometime teacher of political science and international law, I do not use the term totalitarian loosely. There are no concentration camps or gulags but there are thought police with unprecedented powers to dictate ways of thinking and sniff […]
Italian Government Paid Mob to Build Wind Turbines
May 6th, 2009Via: Financial Times: Like giant sentinels, dozens of wind turbines straddle the mountain ridges near Sicily’s infamous mafia stronghold of Corleone. But despite a strong breeze rippling the leaves in groves of olive and fig trees, the soaring blades of the turbines have stood motionless for over a year. Further west, near the port of […]
Bush Library: $100 Million In 100 Days
May 6th, 2009That’s a whole lotta copies of The Pet Goat. Via: CBS News: George W. Bush may have left office with just 22 percent approval rating, but the former president certainly still has his fans: According to Time, Mr. Bush’s backers have raised more than $100 million for his planned presidential library at Southern Methodist University […]
U.S. Says Bank of America Needs $33.9 Billion
May 6th, 2009Via: New York Times: The government has told Bank of America it needs $33.9 billion in capital to withstand any worsening of the economic downturn, according to an executive at the bank. If the bank is unable to raise the capital cushion by selling assets or stock, it would have to rely on the government, […]
She Loved Them to Death at Ray’s Hell Burger
May 6th, 2009Oh, brother, the Christians are going to love this. Look at the order number on the table. 42. I know, I know. It’s all a coincidence; just like when they covered up references to Jesus and photographed Obama so that he appeared to be speaking in front of a pyramid. Anyway, here’s what’s going to […]
GM Plans 1-for-100 Reverse Stock Split
May 6th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Shorts drool and autoflagellate with anticipation. Via: AP: General Motors Corp. notified shareholders Tuesday it is planning a reverse stock split that would give them one share of new stock for every 100 shares they currently own. The automaker said in […]
White House Won’t Release Alleged Photos from Air Force Operation Over Lower Manhattan
May 5th, 2009And Now: White House Will Release a Photo The White House plans to soon release a photo from the controversial Air Force One-style flyover of Manhattan last week, despite claiming earlier that there was no need to release any official images from the incident. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday that an […]
Georgia Says Foils Rebellion; Points Finger at Russia
May 5th, 2009Via: Reuters: Georgia said it put down a mutiny at a military base on Tuesday and accused Moscow of financing a coup on the eve of NATO war games in the former Soviet republic. Russia, which fought a war with Georgia last year, denied any involvement and said President Mikheil Saakashvili was trying to shift […]
