Archive for November, 2012
Afghanistan: Opium Poppy Cultivation Rises Sharply from 2011-2012
November 22nd, 2012Via: New York Times: Opium poppy cultivation rose substantially in 2012 in an “alarming” trend, despite a major opium eradication effort by Afghan governors, United Nations officials said Tuesday as they released the organization’s 2012 opium survey, which was undertaken with the Afghan Ministry of Counternarcotics. The higher cultivation levels were driven by high prices […]
School Attempts to Suspend Student for Refusing to Wear a School-Issued RFID Tracker
November 22nd, 2012Via: Wired: 2:30 p.m. PST UPDATE: A local Texas judge on Wednesday tentatively blocked the suspension, pending further hearings next week. A Texas high school student is being suspended for refusing to wear a student ID card implanted with a radio-frequency identification chip. Northside Independent School District in San Antonio began issuing the RFID-chip-laden student-body […]
Navy Fires Two More Commanders
November 22nd, 2012David Petraeus, John R. Allen, Charles M. Gaouette, Jeffrey Sinclair, and now… Via: Stars and Stripes: The Navy on Monday dismissed two commanders amid allegations of misconduct, weeks before they were both scheduled to assume new commands. Capt. Ted Williams was relieved as commander of the amphibious command ship USS Mount Whitney, and Cmdr. Ray […]
Mideast Unrest Keeps Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group in the Med
November 22nd, 2012Via: Navy Times: More than 4,000 Marines and sailors deployed in the Mediterranean were ordered to remain in the region amid continued unrest in the Middle East, officials announced Monday. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, embarked on the three-ship Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, was ordered late last week to “stay in theater until otherwise […]
Stores Start Using Spy Mannequins to Boost Sales
November 22nd, 2012Via: Bloomberg: Fashion brands are deploying mannequins equipped with technology used to identify criminals at airports to watch over shoppers in their stores. Retailers are introducing the EyeSee, sold by Italian mannequin maker Almax SpA, to glean data on customers much as online merchants are able to do. Five companies are using a total of […]
Moscow Bans ‘Political Repression’ Protest
November 21st, 2012Via: Ria Novostri: The Moscow authorities have refused to grant permission for an opposition rally against “political repression” that was to be held later this week on that grounds that there is no such thing in Russia. “The current law does not provide any measures used by the state for repression based on political motives,” […]
More Americans Will Use Food Stamps For Thanksgiving This Year Than Ever Before
November 21st, 2012Via: U.S. News: More Americans will use food stamps to buy their Thanksgiving dinner this year than ever before, according to a new report from the nonprofit government watchdog group The Sunlight Foundation. The Food Stamp Challenge, which challenges higher-income families to live as if they are on food stamps, estimates that a person on […]
China Will Build the Tallest Building in the World in Just 90 Days [???]
November 21st, 2012Via: Gizmodo: According to its engineers, this will be the tallest skyscraper in the world by the end of March of 2013. Its name is Sky City, and its 2,749 feet (838 meters) distributed in 220 floors will grow in just 90 days in Changsha city, by the Xiangjiang river. Ninety days! It’s not a […]
Why Miami Is Becoming the ‘Russian Riviera’
November 21st, 2012Where’s Crockett and Tubbs? Via: CNBC: On a recent afternoon, Miami real-estate agent Jill Eber is taking a Russian millionaire on a mansion-shopping trip. “This is the Versace Room,” Eber says, walking into a vast living room of blue velvet sofas and gold French Imperial lamps. “It really makes a statement.” The mansion, “Castello del […]
Senate Bill Rewrite Lets Feds Read Your E-mail, Cloud Docs, Facebook Information and More Without Warrants
November 20th, 2012Update: Dropped — It won’t just be the NSA that will get to have all the fun… Via: Cnet: A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans’ e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law. CNET has learned that Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of […]
