Archive for June, 2009
How Do ‘Anti-Stab’ Knives Work?
June 16th, 2009And now, from the land on Monty Python, the “anti-stab” knife, complete with “combination tip” that “reduces the risk of injury” and an “ergonomic handle” that “reduces aggressiveness.” Does it come with a Union Jack dribble bib? If you think that these knives would reduce stabbings at all, you’re beyond lost and you’ll believe anything. […]
California Puts 90-Day Hold on Foreclosures
June 16th, 2009The Titanic is sinking, start bailing water with your martini glasses. Via: Los Angeles Times: California is imposing a 90-day moratorium on housing foreclosures under a new law that took effect Monday. The law is expected to make lenders try harder to keep borrowers in their homes. Lenders must prove they tried to modify the […]
Elmer Fudd Nation
June 16th, 2009Via: Counterpunch: If I was an oligarch and I wanted to buy my spoiled little shit of a son a toy that would make him laugh and laugh for hours, I’d buy him a middle-class American. Because Americans are funny the way all dupes and chumps are funny. You can trick today’s Americans time and […]
Defense Department Sees Protests as Terrorism
June 16th, 2009Allow me to distribute a clue to the ACLU. This is from my 2005 essay, Militant Electronic Piracy: Non-Violent Insurgency Tactics Against the American Corporate State: The U.S. military classifies political activism as “low intensity conflict.” The scale of warfare (in terms of intensity) begins with individuals distributing anti-government handbills and public gatherings with anti-government/anti-corporate […]
Prechter: U.S. Likely to Lose AAA Rating
June 16th, 2009Via: Reuters: Technical analyst Robert Prechter on Monday said he sees the United States losing its top AAA credit rating by the end of 2010, as he stuck by a deeply bearish outlook on the U.S. economy and stock market. Prechter, known for predicting the 1987 stock market crash, joins a growing coterie of market […]
Supertankers Storing Oil Plan to Deliver Cargoes, ICAP Says
June 16th, 2009Via: Hellenic Shipping News: A fifth of supertankers being used to store oil are scheduled to deliver their cargoes, according to ICAP Shipping, a unit of ICAP Plc, the world’s biggest broker of deals between banks. A so-called notice of redelivery was issued for seven of 33 supertankers storing crude, Simon Chattrabhuti, a London-based analyst […]
Iran: Shots Fired at Massive Political Rally
June 15th, 2009Via: BBC: Shots have been fired at a rally in Iran where hundreds of thousands of people were demonstrating against last week’s presidential election results. Unconfirmed reports said one protester was killed and several more were hurt when security forces opened fire. The crowd had been addressed by beaten candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who believes […]
The Navy’s New 100 KiloWatt Laser Weapons
June 15th, 2009Don’t miss the picture of the high voltage power supply. That reminds me of my favorite English-Russia post; satellite image, machine translation. Bzzzzzt, bzzzzzt, ZAP! Via: Popular Mechanics: The Office of Naval Research has awarded Raytheon a year-long contract to develop the preliminary design of a 100 kilowatt experimental Free Electron Laser (FEL) for naval […]
Raytheon Surveillance Blimps: “Local Authorities Could Install a Built-in LED Screen to Attract Sponsors”
June 15th, 2009Is your city too broke to pay for one of these blimps? “Raytheon says local authorities could install a built-in LED screen to attract sponsors, generate revenue and defer operating costs.” What a country! Via: Newsweek: At first glance, there was nothing special about the blimp floating high above the cars and crowd at this […]
Italy: Neo-Fascist ‘Blackshirts’ to Start Foot Patrols in Milan?
June 15th, 2009Please tell me this is nonsense. Via: Telegraph: A neo-Fascist group that claims it has thousands of recruits has announced plans to start anti-crime foot patrols on the streets of Milan. The resemblance between their outfits and those of Benito Mussolini’s Blackshirts has triggered a judicial inquiry. The Italian National Guard says that it has […]
