Archive for August, 2013
Abandoned Dogs Roam Detroit in Packs as Humans Dwindle
August 21st, 2013Via: Bloomberg: As many as 50,000 stray dogs roam the streets and vacant homes of bankrupt Detroit, replacing residents, menacing humans who remain and overwhelming the city’s ability to find them homes or peaceful deaths. Dens of as many as 20 canines have been found in boarded-up homes in the community of about 700,000 that […]
The Department of Homeland Security Testing Crowd-Scanning Project Called the Biometric Optical Surveillance System
August 21st, 2013Via: New York Times: The federal government is making progress on developing a surveillance system that would pair computers with video cameras to scan crowds and automatically identify people by their faces, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with researchers working on the project. The Department of Homeland Security tested a crowd-scanning project called […]
Japan Nuclear Agency Seeks Fukushima Alert Level Upgrade
August 21st, 2013Via: BBC: Japan’s nuclear agency wants to raise the severity level of a radioactive water leak at the Fukushima plant from one to three on an international scale. Highly radioactive water was found to be leaking from a storage tank into the ground at the plant on Monday. It was first classified as a level […]
WinCo: Meet the Low-Key, Low-Cost Grocery Chain Being Called ‘Walmart’s Worst Nightmare’
August 21st, 2013Via: Time: Retail analysts say the world’s biggest retailer has reason to fear a small grocery chain that’s based in Idaho and boasts a business model that allows it to undercut Walmart on prices. So about that eye-catching Walmart quote. Those are the words of Burt Flickinger III, a widely respected supermarket-retailing-industry expert who works […]
Pervez Musharraf Faces Charges in Connection with the 2007 Assassination of Benazir Bhutto
August 21st, 2013Via: AP: A Pakistani court on Tuesday indicted former president and army chief Pervez Musharraf on murder charges in connection with the 2007 assassination of iconic Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, deepening the fall of a once-powerful figure who returned to the country this year to make a political comeback. The decision by a court […]
Groklaw Legal Site Shuts Over Fears of NSA Email Snooping
August 20th, 2013Via: Guardian: The award-winning legal analysis site Groklaw is shutting because its founder says that “there is no way” to continue to run it without using secure email – and that the threat of NSA spying means that could be compromised. “There is now no shield from forced exposure,” writes the site’s founder, Pamela Jones, […]
Obama Administration Asks Supreme Court to Allow Warrantless Cellphone Searches
August 20th, 2013Via: Washington Post: If the police arrest you, do they need a warrant to rifle through your cellphone? Courts have been split on the question. Last week the Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to resolve the issue and rule that the Fourth Amendment allows warrantless cellphone searches.
Soda Consumption In Children Could Lead To Violent Behavior
August 19th, 2013In other news: “When parents did cut television out of their homes, they reported that their kids didn’t bug them as much for junk food and toys advertised on TV.” Via: CBS: Studies of young soda drinkers often focus on added risk for childhood obesity. But now, a new study suggests the sweet stuff could […]
Cholera Strain Introduced to Haiti by UN Still Killing People
August 19th, 2013Via: The Atlantic: Despite much evidence to the contrary, for nearly three years, the United Nations has categorically denied that it introduced cholera into Haiti after the country suffered a devastating earthquake in 2010. Since then, cholera has killed more than 8,000 people and infected more than 600,000, creating an ongoing epidemic. As new cases […]
CIA Admits It Was Behind Iran’s Coup
August 19th, 2013If there’s a bigger snoozer posted on Cryptogon, I don’t know what it is. What the casual reader may not know about, however, and what the piece below doesn’t mention, is SAVAK: SAVAK (Persian: ?????, short for ?????? ??????? ? ????? ???? S?zem?n-e Ettel?’?t va Amniyat-e Keshvar, Organization of Intelligence and National Security) was the […]
