Archive for August, 2010
The Kochtopus
August 28th, 2010Polemical essays can be worth reading, as long as one understands that the author’s goal is to push his or her rat poison, by showing you how bad that rat poison is over there. With this caveat in mind, you’re all set to feast on the tidy reality offered by a strongly polemical piece. I […]
Karzai Aide in Corruption Inquiry Is Tied to CIA
August 27th, 2010Shocking. Shocking. Are you shocked? I’m shocked. Via: New York Times: The aide to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan at the center of a politically sensitive corruption investigation is being paid by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to Afghan and American officials. Mohammed Zia Salehi, the chief of administration for the National Security Council, appears […]
Banks Back Switch to Renminbi for Trade
August 27th, 2010Via: Financial Times: A number of the world’s biggest banks have launched international roadshows promoting the use of the renminbi to corporate customers instead of the dollar for trade deals with China. HSBC, which recently moved its chief executive from London to Hong Kong, and Standard Chartered, are offering discounted transaction fees and other financial […]
Fed Seeks Delay of Bank Data Release While Considering Appeal
August 26th, 2010Via: Bloomberg: The Federal Reserve Board sought to delay the court-ordered release of documents identifying banks that might have failed without the U.S. government bailout while it considers an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Fed asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York yesterday to delay implementation of a ruling that compels […]
UVB-76 Activity Picking Up Over Last Several Days
August 26th, 2010Via: Wikipedia: UVB-76 is the callsign of a shortwave radio station that usually broadcasts on the frequency 4625 kHz (AM suppressed lower sideband). It is known among radio listeners by the nickname The Buzzer. It features a short, monotonous buzz tone, repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute, for 24 hours per […]
One in 10 Homeowners with a Mortgage Face Foreclosure
August 26th, 2010Via: AP: One in 10 American households with a mortgage is at risk of losing its home, and the foreclosure crisis could worsen if jobs remain scarce. About 9.9 percent of homeowners had missed at least one mortgage payment as of June 30, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday. That number, adjusted for seasonal factors, […]
48 Foot Yacht, Worth $1 Million, Registered with/to[?] U.S. Government, Washes Ashore in Florida, Engine Running, Lights On, Nobody Aboard
August 26th, 2010Update: Stolen from Cancun? Via: AP: The owner of a 48-foot Mexican yacht that mysteriously ran ashore with no one onboard and its engines running said today he had reported it stolen from a Cancun marina days earlier. Arturo Millet Reyes said the yacht was taken from private marina on Saturday and that he reported […]
Full-Body Scan Technology Deployed In Street-Roving Vans
August 26th, 2010Via: Forbes: As the privacy controversy around full-body security scans begins to simmer, it’s worth noting that courthouses and airport security checkpoints aren’t the only places where backscatter x-ray vision is being deployed. The same technology, capable of seeing through clothes and walls, has also been rolling out on U.S. streets.
Nightmarish Hospital Visit Capped by Beating, Accident Victim Says
August 26th, 2010The American Grindhouse is absolutely breathtaking. Via: Courthouse News Service: A man who was hurt in a car crash but was misidentified as a cancer patient claims security guards at Prince George’s Hospital beat him up when he tried to leave the hospital to avoid chest surgery he didn’t need – “to have a potentially […]
Joint Special Operations Command Hiring Interrogators and Covert Operatives for ‘Special Access Programs’
August 26th, 2010Via: Common Dreams: The US military’s most elite counter-terrorism force, the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), prides itself on the secrecy of its operations. JSOC runs classified, compartmentalized task forces in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, the Horn of Africa and elsewhere around the world. It has operated secret prisons and detention sites globally and is the […]
