Suspicions Run Deep in Iraq That C.I.A. and the Islamic State Are United
September 25th, 2014Via: New York Times:
The United States has conducted an escalating campaign of deadly airstrikes against the extremists of the Islamic State for more than a month. But that appears to have done little to tamp down the conspiracy theories still circulating from the streets of Baghdad to the highest levels of Iraqi government that the C.I.A. is secretly behind the same extremists that it is now attacking.
“We know about who made Daesh,” said Bahaa al-Araji, a deputy prime minister, using an Arabic shorthand for the Islamic State on Saturday at a demonstration called by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr to warn against the possible deployment of American ground troops. Mr. Sadr publicly blamed the C.I.A. for creating the Islamic State in a speech last week, and interviews suggested that most of the few thousand people at the demonstration, including dozens of members of Parliament, subscribed to the same theory. (Mr. Sadr is considered close to Iran, and the theory is popular there as well.)
Research Credit: winstonsmith
Bosch DLR130K Digital Distance Measurer
September 25th, 2014I’ve been selling solar power systems to people here in New Zealand for the past few months. When someone wants to get a system, I have to conduct a site visit to make sure that their property is suitable and gather information for the installers. I take pictures of the roof, meter box or boxes, distribution boards, etc. Google and Bing sometimes have satellite imagery that is usable to do a roof measurement, but mostly they don’t, or clouds are covering the property.
It’s up to me to measure the roof, and draw a plan.
I did a few site visits where I climbed up onto roofs with a 30 meter wind-up measuring tape and that pretty much sucked. It’s Northland New Zealand, expect wind and or rain.
I went looking for a better way to do it and found this Bosch DLR130K Digital Distance Measurer:
Bosch DLR130K
I found it hard to believe that this gadget would be accurate down to the millimeter. I ran my standard tape measure out from a wall and tried it from a few different distances.
Believe it or not, it reads the exact distance.
So this is far more accuracy than I need, but to be able to stand at the corner of a roof and zap the length and width in a couple of seconds is very nice. I still carry my 30 meter wind-up tape measure with me… as ballast, I guess. haha No, I suppose the handy Bosch laser gadget could crap out on me, or something. But I don’t plan on using that old-style tape much on future jobs.
The Bosch DLR130K comes with a sturdy nylon carrying pouch and some batteries.
Cryptogon Readers Send Contributions
September 25th, 2014Thank you.
Anonymous Bitcoin .187
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China’s Tech Factories Turn to Student Labor
September 25th, 2014Via: Dow Jones:
CHONGQING, China—On the outskirts of this southwestern Chinese hub lie the student factories.
Schools send thousands of teenagers here to put together electronic devices for some of the world’s largest brands. Many students say they are given no choice.
…
Student interns have become increasingly entrenched in China’s labor force, especially among major electronics makers. At some factories, interns say they outnumber regular workers.
Some major brands like H-P and Apple Inc. AAPL -0.87% say they are working with their suppliers to make sure intern use is reasonable and complies with labor laws, but acknowledge that violations occur.
The practice has the official stamp of approval of China’s Ministry of Education, which in 2010 said vocational schools must supply students to fill labor shortages.
…
On a recent evening, uniformed workers streamed out of Chongqing’s major electronics factories to buy noodles or sizzling sausages. Of the roughly two dozen workers stopped at random, nearly all said they were vocational students, with majors ranging from computer science to tourism to education.
Some interns said they were paid around the same as regular workers, or around 1,300 renminbi ($212) a month before overtime, though several students, including a 16-year-old girl surnamed Yang who makes laptops at Compal, said they had to pay most of their base wages to their school.
Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance
September 24th, 2014Via: EFF:
This week, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott used recent terrorist threats as the backdrop of a dire warning to Australians that “for some time to come, the delicate balance between freedom and security may have to shift. There may be more restrictions on some, so that there can be more protection for others.”
This pronouncement came as two of a series of three bills effecting that erosion of freedoms made their way through Australia’s Federal Parliament. These were the second reading of a National Security Amendment Bill which grants new surveillance powers to Australia’s spy agency, ASIO, and the first reading of a Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill that outlaws speech seen as “advocating terrorism”. A third bill on mandatory data retention is expected to be be introduced by the end of the year.
Whilst all three bills in this suite raise separate concerns, the most immediate concern—because the bill in question could be passed this week—is the National Security Amendment Bill. Introduced into Parliament on 16 July, it endured robust criticism during public hearings last month that led into an advisory report released last week. Nevertheless the bill was introduced into the Senate this Tuesday with the provisions of most concern still intact.
In simple terms, the bill allows law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant to access data from a computer—so far, so good. But it redefines “a computer” to mean not only “one or more computers” but also “one or more computer networks”. Since the Internet itself is nothing but a large network of computer networks, it seems difficult to avoid the conclusion that the bill may stealthily allow the spy agency to surveil the entire Internet with a single warrant.
U.S. Attacking Oil Infrastructure Belonging to… ISIS?
September 24th, 2014Via: CNN:
U.S. and coalition warplanes pounded ISIS positions in eastern Syria on Wednesday, targeting what a Pentagon official described as mobile oil refineries being used by the so-called Islamic State terror group to help finance its operations.
The latest round of airstrikes were aimed at cutting off money flowing to ISIS, which makes up to $2 million a day from oil produced by the mobile refineries, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, told CNN.
Fighter jets from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates flew alongside U.S. aircraft during the operation, hitting 12 locations, Kirby said.
FBI Plans Rapid DNA Dragnets
September 24th, 2014Via: Nextgov:
The FBI is preparing to accelerate the collection of DNA profiles for the government’s massive new biometric identification database.
Developers of portable DNA analysis machines have been invited to a Nov. 13 presentation to learn about the bureau’s vision for incorporating their technology into the FBI’s new database.
So-called rapid DNA systems can draw up a profile in about 90 minutes.
The Next Generation Identification system, or NGI, the successor to the FBI’s criminal fingerprint database, is designed to quickly ID crooks through facial recognition, iris matching, tattoo cross-checks and vocal recordings, among other unique traits.
But critics say aggregating DNA along with all this other data makes it easier for authorities to track the general population.
Various FBI divisions “are collaborating to develop and implement foundational efforts to streamline and automate law enforcement’s DNA collection processes” including at arrest, booking and conviction, according to an Aug. 19 notice about the industry briefing. The ongoing groundwork is expected to facilitate the “integration of Rapid DNA Analysis into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index (CODIS) and Next Generation Identification (NGI) systems from the booking environment.”
Scientists Make Airborne Ebola… In Laboratory Conditions Only *wink*
September 24th, 2014Via: Reuters:
Ben Neuman, a Reading virologist who has been monitoring the Ebola epidemic since it began in Guinea, noted that under carefully controlled laboratory conditions, scientists have shown it is feasible to make Ebola transmit through air, but added: “So far there is no solid evidence that it actually happens out there in the real world.”
Strange New “2014” Addition to the Georgia Guidestones
September 24th, 2014Via: Vigilant Citizen:
A recent addition to the monument- a block on which is inscribed 2014 – was placed inside an indent between the English and the Spanish slab.
Germany: DHL Begins Drone Deliveries to Island
September 24th, 2014Via: Reuters:
Logistics firm DHL is using a drone to fly parcels to the German island of Juist, in what it says is the first time an unmanned aircraft has been authorized to deliver goods in Europe.
The company, owned by Germany’s Deutsche Post, joins the likes of Amazon.com and Google in testing the potential for drones to deliver parcels and packages.
Its drone – the “parcelcopter” – can fly at up to 65 km (40 miles) an hour. It will deliver medication and other urgently needed goods to the car-free island of Juist, off Germany’s northern coast, at times when other modes of transport such as flights or ferries are not operating.
If the trial is successful, the craft could be used to deliver such packages to other remote areas or in emergencies.
