Archive for February, 2014
Paxil May Promote Breast Cancer
February 20th, 2014Via: Los Angeles Times: A team of researchers from the City of Hope in Duarte has developed a speedy way to identify drugs and chemicals that can disrupt the balance of sex hormones in human beings and influence the development and progress of diseases such as breast cancer. In a trial screening of 446 drugs […]
Chief of the Korea Division of the National Security Agency Charged with Murder of Adopted Son
February 19th, 2014The person who heads the “Korea Division” of the NSA is only thirty six years old? Via: NBC: A Maryland man has been charged with the murder of his adopted 3-year-old son, Montgomery County police said Tuesday. Brian Patrick O’Callaghan, 36, of Damascus has been charged with first degree murder and child abuse. In court, […]
Ukraine: 25 Dead in Protests
February 19th, 2014Via: CNN: They’ve given up their ground before — voluntarily, as a political concession. But that seems to be over. After the deaths of 25 people in clashes a day earlier, Ukrainian protesters are prepared to stand and fight again Wednesday. Police want to clear them out of central Kiev. Some of them died trying […]
Half of U.S. Prison Sex Crimes Involve Staff Toward Inmates
February 19th, 2014Even as I read the first sentence, I thought, “This number is probably off by an order of magnitude.” Well, keep reading down the article… Via: Reuters: Nearly 9,000 incidents of sexual victimization against inmates in U.S. prisons and jails were reported in 2011, with roughly half of them involving corrections staff, according to a […]
Capital One Says It Can Show Up At Cardholders’ Homes, Workplaces
February 18th, 2014Yeah, well, maybe people should call Capital One and cancel their accounts. Via: Los Angeles Times: Ding-dong, Cap One calling. Credit card issuer Capital One isn’t shy about getting into customers’ faces. The company recently sent a contract update to cardholders that makes clear it can drop by any time it pleases. The update specifies […]
Plutocrats in Drag Joke About Financial Crisis at Private Party
February 18th, 2014Via: New York Magazine: “Good evening, Exalted High Council, former Grand Swipes, Grand Swipes-in-waiting, fellow Wall Street Kappas, Kappas from the Spring Street and Montgomery Street chapters, and worthless neophytes!” It was January 2012, and Ross, wearing a tuxedo and purple velvet moccasins embroidered with the fraternity’s Greek letters, was standing at the dais of […]
‘Star Wars’ at Sea: Navy Ready to Deploy Laser System This Summer
February 17th, 2014Via: AP: Some of the Navy’s futuristic weapons sound like something out of “Star Wars,” with lasers designed to shoot down aerial drones and electric guns that fire projectiles at hypersonic speeds. That future is now. The Navy plans to deploy its first laser on a ship later this year, and it intends to test […]
Washington: ‘Bizarre’ Cluster of Severe Birth Defects Haunts Health Experts
February 17th, 2014Via: NBC: A mysterious cluster of severe birth defects in rural Washington state is confounding health experts, who say they can find no cause, even as reports of new cases continue to climb. Federal and state officials won’t say how many women in a three-county area near Yakima, Wash., have had babies with anencephaly, a […]
Land of the Freefalling Position on the Press Freedom Index
February 17th, 2014Via: Reporters without Borders: Countries that pride themselves on being democracies and respecting the rule of law have not set an example, far from it. Freedom of information is too often sacrificed to an overly broad and abusive interpretation of national security needs, marking a disturbing retreat from democratic practices. Investigative journalism often suffers as […]
U.S. Special Forces Trained to Use Backpack Nukes
February 17th, 2014Via: Russia Today: Skiing down a mountain and into a battlefield with a nuclear bomb strapped to your back seems like something you’d see only in a James Bond movie, but that’s just one of the things the US elite military personnel were trained to do during the Cold War. In a detailed report by […]
