Archive for March, 2013
Fake Fingers to Fool the Boss at Brazil Hospital
March 13th, 2013Via: AFP: Five doctors at a Brazilian hospital have been suspended after they were accused of covering for absentee colleagues by using fake silicone fingers with their prints to fool biometric machines. Globo television showed footage of a doctor touching her finger to the device, then using two fake digits to do the same for […]
Doubts About Johns Hopkins Research Have Gone Unanswered
March 13th, 2013This one would make a great addition to your Bullshit-As-Science and Academic Grant Swindling file folders. In this situation with Nature and Johns Hopkins, note what happened to the guy who tried to expose it. Via: Washington Post: The numbers didn’t add up. Over and over, Daniel Yuan, a medical doctor and statistician, couldn’t understand […]
Robobees
March 13th, 2013Via: Harvard: Overview of the Micro Air Vehicles Project INSPIRED by the biology of a bee and the insect’s hive behavior … we aim to push advances in miniature robotics and the design of compact high-energy power sources; spur innovations in ultra-low-power computing and electronic “smart” sensors; and refine coordination algorithms to manage multiple, independent […]
Pentagon Creating Teams to Launch Cyberattacks
March 13th, 2013Via: Washington Post: The Pentagon’s Cyber Command will create 40 offensive cyber-teams by the fall of 2015 to help defend the nation against major computer attacks and assist combat commands as they plan offensive capabilities, Gen. Keith Alexander testified to Congress on Tuesday. The new teams are part of a broader government effort to shield […]
Over 20 Tons of Heroin Seized in Afghanistan
March 12th, 2013Is this Karzai’s way of negotiating better terms? Via: RIA Novosti: Almost 21 tons of heroin have been seized in an operation in eastern Afghanistan , the head of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) said on Tuesday. “An operation was carried out yesterday in the province of Nangarhar, during which several drug production labs […]
Vatican Department Shares Rome Palazzo with Gay Sauna
March 12th, 2013Via: BBC: A historic palazzo in Rome that houses a key Vatican department is also the home of a well-known gay sauna. The Holy See paid 20m euros (£17.5m) in 2008 for around 20 apartments in the building for the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples. Its Prefect Emeritus, Cardinal Ivan Dias, is one of […]
Japan Extracts Gas from Methane Hydrate
March 12th, 2013Via: BBC: Japan says it has successfully extracted natural gas from frozen methane hydrate off its central coast, in a world first. Methane hydrates, or clathrates, are a type of frozen “cage” of molecules of methane and water. The gas field is about 50km away from Japan’s main island, in the Nankai Trough. Researchers say […]
Is HSBC Really ‘Too Big to Jail’?
March 12th, 2013Via: Yahoo Finance / The Exchange: In December, HSBC (HBC) admitted to money laundering violations covering $200 trillion worth of transactions involving Mexican and Columbian drug cartels, groups allegedly aligned with terrorist organizations, sanctioned nations and others. The Department of Justice (DoJ) explained it could not exact a penalty greater than one month’s profits because […]
Private Prisons: The More Americans They Put Behind Bars The More Money They Make
March 12th, 2013Via: InvestmentWatchBlog: How would you describe an industry that wants to put more Americans in prison and keep them there longer so that it can make more money? In America today, approximately 130,000 people are locked up in private prisons that are being run by for-profit companies, and that number is growing very rapidly. Overall, […]
Homeless Houston Veteran Ticketed for Dumpster Diving for Food
March 12th, 2013This guy must not have gotten the memo. After serving the Empire, WalMart is hiring. Via: News92FM: A homeless Navy veteran faces up to a $500 fine for dumpster diving in downtown Houston. Veteran James Kelly was cited for “disturbing the contents of a garbage can” on Thursday morning of last week in front of […]
