Archive for January, 2015
The Invasion of America
January 8th, 2015Via: Aeon: Between 1776 and the present, the United States seized some 1.5 billion acres from North America’s native peoples, an area 25 times the size of the United Kingdom. Many Americans are only vaguely familiar with the story of how this happened. They perhaps recognise Wounded Knee and the Trail of Tears, but few […]
New Antibiotic Pulled From Dirt
January 8th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: Scientists have discovered an antibiotic capable of fighting infections that kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, a breakthrough that could lead to the field’s first major new drug in more than a quarter-century. The experimental drug, which was isolated from a sample of New England dirt, is called teixobactin. It hasn’t […]
Fracking Confirmed as Cause of Rare “Felt” Earthquake in Ohio
January 7th, 2015Via: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (.pdf): A new study links the March 2014 earthquakes in Poland Township, Ohio to hydraulic fracturing that activated a previously unknown fault. The induced seismic sequence included a rare felt earthquake of magnitude 3.0, according to research published online by the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of […]
Paris: Charlie Hebdo Shooting
January 7th, 2015Update: Terrorist Leaves ID Document at Scene [???] Fascinating. Well, at least it hadn’t been aboard a plane that smashed into a skyscraper. Via: CNN: Police found an ID document of Said Kouachi at the scene of the shooting, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported. “It was their only mistake,” said Dominique Rizet, BFMTV’s police and justice […]
3D Printing: Engineering World on Cusp of Major Historical Change
January 7th, 2015Via: AFP: 3D printing will revolutionise war and foreign policy, say experts, not only by making possible incredible new designs but by turning the defence industry — and possibly the entire global economy — on its head. For many, 3D printing still looks like a gimmick, used for printing useless plastic figurines and not much […]
Billionaire Sex Offender’s Phone Book Contained E-Mail Addresses, 21 Phone Numbers For Bill Clinton
January 6th, 2015Via: Smoking Gun: As part of a civil suit filed against Epstein by several of his victims, lawyers for the women floated the possibility of subpoenaing Clinton since he “might well be a source of relevant information” about Epstein’s activities. While Clinton was never deposed, lawyers obtained Epstein’s computerized phone directory, which included “e-mail addresses […]
FBI Says Search Warrants Not Needed to Use “Stingrays” in Public Places
January 6th, 2015Via: Ars Technica: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is taking the position that court warrants are not required when deploying cell-site simulators in public places. Nicknamed “stingrays,” the devices are decoy cell towers that capture locations and identities of mobile phone users and can intercept calls and texts. The FBI made its position known during […]
Our System Is So Broken, Almost No Patented Discoveries Ever Get Used
January 5th, 2015Via: Wired: We all know the patent system is broken. But most people believe that the biggest problem with it is abusive litigants who extort so-called “license fees” from small businesses unable to pay the cost of standing up to them in court. Their activities, of course, have no more in common with real patent […]
Writers Say They Feel Censored by Surveillance
January 5th, 2015Via: New York Times: A survey of writers around the world by the PEN American Center has found that a significant majority said they were deeply concerned with government surveillance, with many reporting that they have avoided, or have considered avoiding, controversial topics in their work or in personal communications as a result. The findings […]
Disclosure: Long Oil
January 5th, 2015Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. I bought United States Oil ETF (USO) this morning.
