Archive for January, 2010
Computers Down at All 168 California DMV Offices
January 23rd, 2010Via: AP: A systemwide computer failure at the California Department of Motor Vehicles caused several hours of delays at all 168 offices Thursday. The offices remained open, but with computers unable to connect to the state’s network, DMV workers were forced to do everything by hand, such as processing driver’s licenses and registrations, DMV spokeswoman […]
Internet Generation at Risk of Rickets
January 23rd, 2010I really had to laugh at this: “Fifty years ago, many children would have been given regular doses of cod liver oil, but this practice has all but died out,” noted co-author Tim Cheetham, also a professor at Newcastle. The good professor should visit our home! Rebecca, my wife, did a lot of research into […]
Iraq Spent $85 Million Useless Bomb Detectors
January 22nd, 2010Via: BBC: A BBC Newsnight investigation has found that a so-called “bomb detector”, thousands of which have been sold to Iraq, cannot possibly work. Leading explosives expert Sidney Alford told Newsnight the sale of the ADE-651 was “absolutely immoral”. “This type of equipment does not work,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind betting that lives have […]
Taking Tea with the Lizards
January 22nd, 2010Via: Joe Bageant: But we know the truth. And the truth is that the same pack of greaseball oligarchs have done it again. Managed to slip the schnickle to the proles – again. Because in the big picture, the one where the money is counted (and money is the only thing that counts in capitalism’s […]
Chavez: U.S. Weapon Test Caused Haiti Earthquake
January 22nd, 2010If you know of better sources for this information, please send them over. UPDATE: Hugo Chavez Did Not Accuse the U.S. of Causing the Haitian Earthquake It turned out that the dodgy sources for the Chavez thing lived up to their reputations. Via: The Anti Press: On January 19, Spanish newspaper ABC, a newspaper of […]
Supreme Court: Corporations Can Spend What They Want in Political Races
January 22nd, 2010Via: MSNBC: In a landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down laws that banned corporations from using their own money to support or oppose candidates for public office. By 5-4 vote, the court overturned federal laws, in effect for decades, that prevented corporations from using their profits to buy political campaign ads. […]
TSA Employee Planted Bag of White Powder in Traveler’s Bag as a Joke
January 22nd, 2010Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler Via: philly.com: In the tense new world of air travel, we’re stripped of shoes, told not to take too much shampoo on board, frowned on if we crack a smile. The last thing we expect is a joke from a Transportation Security Administration screener – particularly one this stupid. […]
Royal Navy Flotilla Withdrawn to Cut Costs, Weeks Before Haiti Disaster; First Gap in Cover in Caribbean Since 17th Century
January 21st, 2010See: PENTAGON DISASTER RELIEF EXERCISE FOR HAITI WENT LIVE AFTER EARTHQUAKE HIT Via: Times Online: A Royal Navy flotilla that might have provided relief in the first hours after the Haitian earthquake was withdrawn weeks before the disaster because of budget constraints, the Ministry of Defence said last night. Naval sources told The Times that […]
Unfunded Benefits Dig States’ $3 Trillion Hole
January 21st, 2010Via: Bloomberg: Everyone seems to know the current path of federal fiscal policy is a deathtrap over the long term. What’s peculiar is the relative inattention to the balance sheets of state and local governments. Hidden behind accounting fictions, the politically unspeakable reality is that public employee pension systems are under-funded by more than $2 […]
Initial Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Rise
January 21st, 2010Green shoots continue to drive the recovery. Via: AP: A surprising jump in first-time claims for unemployment benefits is a painful reminder that jobs remain scarce six months into the economic recovery. The increase deflated hopes among some analysts that the economy would produce a net gain in jobs in January. The Labor Department said […]
