Archive for January, 2011
John P. Wheeler III: Former Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force, Member of Council on Foreign Relations, Consultant to Mitre Corporation Found Dumped in Landfill
January 3rd, 2011Update: Wheeler’s Widow Thinks it Was Assassination; “Sounds Like a Pro to Me” Via: Salon: The silence strengthens a hunch Klyce has had since the beginning: That Wheeler’s death wasn’t random. “I think perhaps no one has been on the reward because they’ve already been paid,” she said. Then there’s the way Wheeler’s body was […]
Britain: Whitehall Policy Unit Dreaming Up Psychological Tricks to Alter Behavior; Default Policy Options for Passive Citizens to Bring About ‘Benevolent Outcomes’
January 3rd, 2011Ahh, the diabolical Cass Sunstein is in the news again. You’ll love this. Via: Independent: The public will have “social norms” heavily emphasised to them in an attempt to increase healthy eating, voluntary work and tax gathering. Appeals will be made to “egotism” in a bid to foster individual support for the Big Society, while […]
Weather Project in Abu Dhabi Resulted in Dozens of Man-Made Rainstorms
January 3rd, 2011Via: Telegraph: A secret £7 million weather project in Abu Dhabi has resulted in dozens of man-made rainstorms, according to reports. Scientists employed by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the UAE and leader of Abu Dhabi, successfully created more than 50 rainstorms in the state’s Al Ain region last year, mostly in […]
Thousands of Blackbirds Fell from the Sky Over Arkansas on New Year’s Eve
January 3rd, 2011Update: Now There Are 500 Dead Birds in Louisiana Via: WBRZ: Around 500 dead blackbirds and starlings have been found in Pointe Coupee Parish, according to state wildlife officials. The birds were spotted lying in roads and ditches near Labarre Elementary School. The community is between Morganza and New Roads on Highway 10. Scientists from […]
Japan: Nanotech Team Creates Palladium-Like Alloy
January 3rd, 2011Via: PhysOrg: Japanese researchers have created an alloy with properties similar to palladium, a precious metal used in many high-tech goods, a news report said Thursday, dubbing the breakthrough “present-day alchemy”. Kyoto University professor Hiroshi Kitagawa and his team said they used nano-technology to combine rhodium and silver, elements which do not usually mix, to […]
How America Turned Into a Nation of Speedfreaks and Ritalin Patients
January 3rd, 2011Via: Alternet: In the fullness of history, all the different varieties of speed may have been products of the twentieth century, even though they are still around nearly a decade into the twenty-first, and show no sign of waning. Speed is too much of a reflection of its time. The twentieth century was an era […]
The Lamb Chop Boom
January 3rd, 2011Via: Foreign Policy: Forget gold and oil. Investors looking to beat the recession in the next decade might want to consider hitting the open range and starting a sheep farm. In 2010, Australian rams began selling for more than $100 a head for the first time in history as dwindling stocks sent mutton prices soaring. […]
Think the Employment Situation is Bad in the U.S.? Try Getting a Job in Southern Europe
January 3rd, 2011Via: New York Times: Francesca Esposito, 29 and exquisitely educated, helped win millions of euros in false disability and other lawsuits for her employer, a major Italian state agency. But one day last fall she quit, fed up with how surreal and ultimately sad it is to be young in Italy today. It galled her […]
Gorgon Stare
January 3rd, 2011Via: Washington Post: In ancient times, Gorgon was a mythical Greek creature whose unblinking eyes turned to stone those who beheld them. In modern times, Gorgon may be one of the military’s most valuable new tools. This winter, the Air Force is set to deploy to Afghanistan what it says is a revolutionary airborne surveillance […]
Sacramento Girl Needed Amputations After 5-Hour Wait at Emergency Room
January 1st, 2011Via: Sacramento Bee: As his tiny daughter’s skin turned blotchy and her body went limp during a lengthy wait at Methodist Hospital’s emergency room, Ryan Jeffers panicked. “This wasn’t a simple flu,” he said. “My daughter needed help.” Little did he know that the girl was near death from a common infection that had invaded […]
