Archive for February, 2011
The Octopus Conspiracy: One Woman’s Search for Her Father’s Killer
February 9th, 2011Via: Wired: On the morning of July 1, 1981, three bodies were discovered behind a shabby, concrete ranch house on Bob Hope Drive, a main drag in a sand-swept stretch of California’s scorching Coachella Valley. The corpses were sprawled in a semicircle, on chairs and beds that had been dragged into the backyard. Each of […]
The Deepening Mystery of Raymond Davis and Two Slain Pakistani Motorcyclists
February 9th, 2011Update: It’s Official: Raymond Davis Is a CIA Contractor Via: Los Angeles Times: Pakistani and U.S. authorities say U.S. Embassy worker Raymond Davis, who killed two alleged robbers in Lahore, works for the CIA. —End Update— Wow. You have to check out hyperion-protective.com. No really. Must see. But be warned: Your sides will hurt from […]
U.S. Corn Reserves Hit Lowest Level in 15 Years
February 9th, 2011Via: AP: U.S. reserves of corn have hit their lowest level in over 15 years in part because of higher demand from the ethanol industry, hinting at tighter supplies and higher food prices in 2011. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Wednesday that the ethanol industry demand for corn is up 50 million bushels after […]
WikiLeaks Cables: Saudi Arabia Oil Reserves Overstated by 40%
February 9th, 2011Via: AFP: THE US fears Saudi Arabia may not have enough oil reserves to prevent prices rising sharply, according to leaked cables. The cables from the US embassy in Riyadh, obtained by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take heed of a warning from a former Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom’s crude oil reserves may […]
Jet Loaded with Millions in Gold and Cash Seized by Congolese Authorities Linked to Texas Philanthropist
February 9th, 2011Via: Dallas News: A Gulfstream jet seized by Congolese authorities suspected of being used to smuggle gold from rebel-controlled strongholds is apparently owned by a North Texas aviation firm owned by Southlake philanthropist David Disiere, records show. Dow Jones reported today that the tail number on the jet is N886DT, which FAA records shows to […]
Forgive Me iPhone, For I Have Sinned
February 9th, 2011Via: CBS: A new app for devices like the iPhone and iPad aims to take the intimidation factor out of Confession for Catholics — and the Church is giving it the thumbs-up. Forgive Me iPhone, For I Have SinnedYou’ll still have to tell a priest your sins in person, but “Confession: A Roman Catholic App” […]
CIA Officers Make Grave Mistakes, Get Promoted
February 9th, 2011Via: AP: In December 2003, security forces boarded a bus in Macedonia and snatched a German citizen named Khaled el-Masri. For the next five months, el-Masri was a ghost. Only a select group of CIA officers knew he had been whisked to a secret prison for interrogation in Afghanistan. But he was the wrong guy. […]
Pentagon’s New Ground Robot Can Hear You Breathing… Through a Wall
February 9th, 2011Via: Wired: America’s robots make deadly weapons. But there are countermeasures to even the most fearsome bot now in service. To avoid detection by aerial drones, Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have begun traveling in smaller groups. In his excellent book War, Sebastian Junger even describes Afghan fighters covering themselves with blankets on sun-warmed rocks to […]
Suez Canal Still Operating as Service Workers Strike
February 9th, 2011Via: Bloomberg: Shipping on Egypt’s Suez Canal, used to carry about 8 percent of global seaborne trade, is transiting on schedule after service workers linked to the waterway began striking, the Suez Canal Authority said. Workers from Suez Canal Co. began a sit-in today, Al-Ahram newspaper reported earlier today in its online edition, without saying […]
China Creates Rare Earth Strategic Reserves
February 9th, 2011Via: AFP: China is building up strategic reserves of rare earth metals in a move that could give it better control over the resource so indispensable to high tech products, the Wall Street Journal reported. Storage facilities have been built in recent months in the northern region of Inner Mongolia with the capacity to hold […]
