Archive for February, 2015
Record Number of Americans Gave Up Citizenship in 2014
February 11th, 2015Via: NBC: While politicians are focused on all the foreigners who want to become Americans, perhaps they should consider all the Americans who are becoming foreigners. According to the latest data from the Treasury Department, spotted by Andrew Mitchel at the International Tax Blog, a record 3,415 Americans renounced their citizenship in 2014. That was […]
Obama Sends Letter to Congress Seeking Authorization of ISIS Fight
February 11th, 2015Back around 2003, I had a T-shirt made with this logo on the front: It never goes out of style. Via: New York Times: President Obama on Wednesday formally asked Congress to authorize a three-year military campaign against the terrorist group the Islamic State that would avoid a large-scale invasion and occupation but in addition […]
Judge Rules for NSA in Warrantless Search Case
February 11th, 2015Via: Reuters: A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled in favor of the National Security Agency in a lawsuit challenging the interception of Internet communications without a warrant, according to a court filing. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California wrote the plaintiffs failed to establish legal standing to pursue a claim that the government […]
Millions of Facebook Users Don’t Realize They Are on the Internet
February 10th, 2015Via: Quartz: Indonesians surveyed by Galpaya told her that they didn’t use the internet. But in focus groups, they would talk enthusiastically about how much time they spent on Facebook. Galpaya, a researcher (and now CEO) with LIRNEasia, a think tank, called Rohan Samarajiva, her boss at the time, to tell him what she had […]
Why Animals Eat Psychoactive Plants
February 10th, 2015Via: BoingBoing: What Ronald K. Siegel discovered seems strange at first. He explains in his book Intoxication: After sampling the numbing nectar of certain orchids, bees drop to the ground in a temporary stupor, then weave back for more. Birds gorge themselves on inebriating berries, then fly with reckless abandon. Cats eagerly sniff aromatic “pleasure” […]
Stopped Out of USO
February 10th, 2015Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. I set a stop limit order to get me out of USO with a few cents gain in case it went down again. Well, that’s what happened early this morning. The picture on oil is more blurry now. I can see […]
U.S. to Establish New Cybersecurity Agency
February 10th, 2015Via: Reuters: The U.S. government is creating a new agency to monitor cybersecurity threats, pooling and analyzing information on a spectrum of risks, a senior Obama administration official said on Tuesday. The Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC) will be an “intelligence center that will ‘connect the dots’ between various cyber threats to the nation […]
Introducing Spot
February 10th, 2015Via: Boston Dynamics (Google):
JPMorgan Employee and His Wife Found Dead in Their Home in Apparent Murder-Suicide
February 10th, 2015Via: nj.com: A JPMorgan Chase & Co. employee and his wife were found dead in their home in an apparent murder-suicide. It happened in Closter Friday evening, where the bodies of Michael and Iran Pars Tabacchi were discovered. Authorities say Iran was stabbed and strangled, while Michael died of a self-inflicted stab wound. But it […]
Mystery Milky Rain Falls on Washington, Oregon
February 8th, 2015Via: USA Today: Rainfall described as milky-colored, dusty or dirty fell across parts of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, with its origin is unclear. The National Weather Service received reports of the dirty rain from more than 15 cities from Hermiston, Ore., to Rathdrum, Idaho, on Friday. The weather service’s Spokane office collected water samples that […]
