Archive for June, 2011
U.S. Funding for Future Promises Lags by Trillions
June 7th, 2011Via: USA Today: The federal government’s financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows. The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings […]
Dollar Index at 1-Month Low
June 7th, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. The U.S. Dollar Index is working its way down again. A break below 72.696 sets up a try for the strategic 70.792 level. The index is at 73.581 right now. Via: Reuters: The dollar fell to a one-month low against a […]
Doctors Will Launch Court Fight if Dr. David Kelly Inquest Demand Turned Down
June 7th, 2011Apologies for the Daily Mail link. Via: Daily Mail: A group of doctors is preparing to mount a legal challenge if the Attorney General this week refuses an inquest into the death of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly. Dominic Grieve, who has spent nine months considering the case for a new inquiry, is expected to […]
North China Is Dying
June 7th, 2011Via: New York Times: North China is dying. A chronic drought is ravaging farmland. The Gobi Desert is inching south. The Yellow River, the so-called birthplace of Chinese civilization, is so polluted it can no longer supply drinking water. The rapid growth of megacities — 22 million people in Beijing and 12 million in Tianjin […]
The Gitmo No One Talks About
June 7th, 2011Via: Salon: President Obama has presided over a threefold increase in the number of detainees being held at the controversial military detention center at Bagram Air Base, the Afghan cousin of the notorious prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. It’s the latest piece of news that almost certainly would be getting more […]
The Secret History of Boeing’s Killer Drone
June 7th, 2011Via: Wired: When the pilotless, wing-shaped warplane lifted off a runway at California’s Edwards Air Force Base for the first time on the morning of April 27, it was like the resurrection of the dead. The Boeing Phantom Ray — one of the most advanced drones ever built — came close to never flying at […]
Melted Fuel at Fukushima May Have Leaked Through Pressure Vessels
June 7th, 2011Via: Bloomberg: The melted fuel at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power station may have leaked through the pressure vessels of the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. The Japanese government will submit a report to the International Atomic Energy Agency that raises the possibility the fuel dropped through the […]
Hacker Groups Thoroughly Infiltrated by Government
June 6th, 2011Via: Guardian: The underground world of computer hackers has been so thoroughly infiltrated in the US by the FBI and secret service that it is now riddled with paranoia and mistrust, with an estimated one in four hackers secretly informing on their peers, a Guardian investigation has established. Cyber policing units have had such success […]
New Flow Battery Technology from MIT
June 6th, 2011Via: Technology Review: A radically new approach to the design of batteries, developed by researchers at MIT, could provide a lightweight and inexpensive alternative to existing batteries for electric vehicles and the power grid. The technology could even make “refueling” such batteries as quick and easy as pumping gas into a conventional car. The new […]
Syria Says 120 Forces Dead
June 6th, 2011Via: AP: Armed men attacked Syrian security forces in a tense northern city on Monday, state television said, and 120 policemen and security forces were killed in a region where the army has carried out days of deadly assaults on protesters calling for the end of President Bashar Assad’s rule. Communications were cut to the […]
