More Fast and Furious Guns Surface at Crime Scenes in Mexico
August 14th, 2013Via: CBS:
Three more weapons from Fast and Furious have turned up at crime scenes in Mexico, CBS News has learned, as the toll from the controversial federal operation grows.
According to Justice Department tracing documents obtained by CBS News, all three guns are WASR-10 762-caliber Romanian rifles. Two were purchased by Fast and Furious suspect Uriel Patino in May and July of 2010. Sean Steward, who was convicted on gun charges in July 2012, purchased a third. The rifles were traced yesterday to the Lone Wolf gun shop in Glendale, Ariz.
During Fast and Furious and similar operations, federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) encouraged the Lone Wolf and other gun stores to sell massive amounts of weapons to questionable purchasers who allegedly trafficked them Mexican drug cartels.
Patino is said to have purchased 700 guns while under ATF’s watch. Ever since, a steady stream of the guns have been recovered at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S. But the Justice Department has refused repeated requests from Congress and CBS News to provide a full accounting. An estimated 1,400 guns are still on the street or unaccounted for.
X-47B Lands on U.S. Aircraft Carrier
August 14th, 2013Via: Wired:
The Navy’s X-47B drone completed its newest round of tests off the Virginia shore last week, making it the first pilotless unmanned jet in history to land aboard a moving aircraft carrier — one of aviation’s most challenging maneuvers.
The Navy heralded the achievement as the future of warfare. “It isn’t very often you get a glimpse of the future,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in a statement. “Today, those of us aboard the USS George H.W. Bush got that chance as we witnessed the X-47B make its first-ever arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier.”
…
The X-47B, developed by defense giant Northrop Grumman, was funded under a 2007 contract initially worth $635.8 million that has ballooned to $1.4 billion. Northrop Grumman enlisted the help of a dozen other companies, including General Electric, Dell, Moog, and Lockheed Martin, to carry out the contract. But for a project with such a hefty price tag, the X-47B will never be put into operational use. Instead, next year, four companies are expected to compete for a contract to design the next version of the X-47B with an eye toward putting them in the air in 2020, according to the Navy.
Taiwan Nuclear Power Plant Reportedly Leaking Radioactive Water
August 14th, 2013Via: The Hindu:
An aging nuclear power plant in Taiwan has been leaking radioactive wastewater for three and half years, according to a report released by the government’s watchdog this week.
The report by Control Yuan said spent fuel rod storage pools at the have leaked since December 2009.
The pools of the two reactors leaked 15,370 milliliters and 4,830 milliliters respectively, it said. Radioactive materials such as Caesium-137, Cobalt-60, Manganese-54, and Chromium-51 were detected in water collected at the site.
The First Nuclear Power Plant, on the northern coast, began commercial operation in 1979.
The report said operator Taiwan Power Co had failed to find the causes and the leaks continue.
Taipower said the leak was unavoidable because of condensation, but insisted that the storage pools were safe.
“All water leaked has been recycled. So it poses no threat to the environment,” company spokesman Chung-Cheng Lee said on Saturday. “We’ve provided the Control Yuan with several reasons but they declined to believe our explanation.” The report also directed Taipower to come up with solutions to problems of the shortage of capacity for spent rods at the plant.
Research Credit: RP
The Forgotten Cold War Plan That Put a Ring of Copper Around the Earth
August 14th, 2013Via: Wired:
During the summer of 1963, Earth looked a tiny bit like Saturn.
The same year that Martin Luther King, Jr. marched on Washington and Beatlemania was born, the United States launched half a billion whisker-thin copper wires into orbit in an attempt to install a ring around the Earth. It was called Project West Ford, and it’s a perfect, if odd, example of the Cold War paranoia and military mentality at work in America’s early space program.
The Air Force and Department of Defense envisioned the West Ford ring as the largest radio antenna in human history. Its goal was to protect the nation’s long-range communications in the event of an attack from the increasingly belligerent Soviet Union.
…
Concern about the clandestine and military nature of West Ford continued following this second launch. On May 24 of that year, the The Harvard Crimson quoted British radio astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell as saying, “The damage lies not with this experiment alone, but with the attitude of mind which makes it possible without international agreement and safeguards.”
Recent military operations in space had given the U.S. a reckless reputation, especially following 1962’s high-altitude nuclear test Starfish Prime. This famously bad idea dispersed radiation across the globe, spawning tropical auroras and delivering a debilitating electromagnetic pulse to Hawaiian cities.
Democracy Now On Amazon and Jeff Bezos
August 14th, 2013Disclosure: I have an affiliate relationship with Amazon.
The Democracy Now discussion below contains some legitimate gripes about Amazon, which I’ve covered on here in the past.
The most disturbing thing about Amazon (to me) is their work with CIA to build the agency’s new cloud computing infrastructure (news circa March 2013). That’s bad. But for a real thrill, let’s ask: Which U.S. companies with large footprints on the web aren’t colluding with U.S. intelligence? *silence* Learn from Lavabit. So what’s going on with the likes of Google and Facebook, etc.? A lot of ankle grabbing is my guess. I wouldn’t, however, be expecting splash pages to show up on those sites explaining how they’re shutting down because they refuse to collaborate with feds.
With the Bezos-buys-The Washington Post situation, in effect, we have a CIA contractor buying an old time CIA rag. *meh* People who talk about the Washington Post in reverential tones are just sad. It’s like the Hope and Change crowd. Give me a break. In the Democracy Now discussion, Jeff Cohen says, “The Washington Post has really been a newspaper of the bipartisan consensus.” That’s it.
If you want to make a point of criticizing Amazon’s labor practices, you better make the most of it while you can. Here’s where Amazon is headed; in a word, robots:
As for the bleating about the death of the traditional publishing model—It needs to die, and I’m glad that it’s dying. For all of the romantic talk about the age of local bookshops and publishers’ real or imagined appreciation of books and reading, etc. the publishers decided what was published! Sure, anyone could self publish, assuming that they could afford it, but that was not a trivial task in the old days. Selling those self published books would be another non trivial matter. With Amazon’s direct publishing model, many new authors, who would have never been published under the traditional system, are experiencing great success. This is a very positive development (for authors, not so much for publishers) and the fact that it wasn’t mentioned at all in the Democracy Now piece is incredible.
While we’re on about the big bad Amazon, let’s not forget about Amy Goodman: “Her silence about 9/11 is stunning.”
For people concerned with purity in their associations, the world as it is today is going to present one disappointment after another. I don’t know of any area where this is more true than with alternative news. Yep, Amazon is building computer systems for the CIA. That’s bad. What’s worse, if you ask me, is that one of the biggest figures in “alternative news” can’t deal with 9/11.
Thinking outside the box is good, as long as you understand that the “box” is really a Matryoshka doll.
Now, as for me earning money from being an Amazon Associate, I continue to be amazed that they even allow you guys to support Cryptogon in this manner. Here is a small selection of companies who have explicitly refused to allow Cryptogon to participate in revenue sharing programs:
REI
Sierra Trading Post
Overstock.com
Lehman’s
Dell Small Business
New York Mint
48HourPrint
I’m sure there are many others, but this is a list that was easy to pull.
The following companies initially allowed Cryptogon to participate in their revenue sharing programs, but subsequently terminated the relationships:
Google – Reason for termination: Bogus invalid-click explanation (look it up), and they held onto the earnings I’d accumulated. They get away with this hilarious fraud every day. I advocate the use of adblock+ because it’s bad for Google. I don’t even care that it blocks ads on my own site, by all means, use it!
Tradeking – No explanation for termination.
Swanson Health Products – They seem to want only want U.S. based affiliates now.
So, as for the claim in the piece below that Amazon is endangering, “The marketplace of ideas,” I’m living proof that this assertion is bullcrap.
But this CIA cloud business… *sigh*
So it goes.
Via: Democracy Now:
The Washington Post announced on Monday the paper had been sold to Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos for $250 million. Bezos, one of the world’s wealthiest men, now controls one of the most powerful newspapers in the country. Some critics of the sale have cited Bezos’ close ties to the U.S. government. In 2010, Amazon pulled the plug on hosting the WikiLeaks website under heavy political pressure. Earlier this year, Amazon inked a $600 million cloud-computing deal with the CIA. Independent booksellers and publishers have also long complained about Amazon’s business practices. We host a roundtable on the history of Amazon and the future of the newspaper industry. “Monopoly newspapers, especially The Washington Post in the nation’s capital, while it might not be a commercially viable undertaking, it still has tremendous political power,” says Robert McChesney, co-founder of Free Press. “What we have is a plaything for these billionaires that they can then use aggressively to promote their own politics.” Media critic Jeff Cohen notes that while The Washington Post notably published reports on Watergate and the Pentagon Papers decades ago, he thinks concerns that Bezos will ruin its journalistic tradition is unfounded, saying that in recent years, “The Washington Post has really been the newspaper of the bipartisan consensus.” We also speak to Dennis Johnson, publisher of Melville Books. “Amazon is a company that feels no pain. They’ve, as far as I can tell, never made money. … So, when you see him taking over The Washington Post and you wonder is he going to be able to monetize it, is he going to make it profitable, he probably doesn’t care,” Johnson says.
Research Credit: conceptualdecay
Egypt: At Least 149 Killed as Troops Clear Pro-Morsi Camps
August 14th, 2013Update: Egypt Declares State of Emergency
Via: Al Jazeera:
A state of emergency has been declared across Egypt, as security forces and supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi continue to clash around the country.
The announcement on Wednesday came amid a deadly crackdown by security forces on two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo.
The health ministry said at least 149 people had been killed in clashes around the country, but some members of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood said the death toll was much higher.
The state of emergency began at 4pm local time (14:00 GMT) and will last for a month, the presidency said in a statement.
The exceptional measures were taken as “the security and order of the nation face danger due to deliberate sabotage, and attacks on public and private buildings and the loss of life by extremist groups,” the presidency said.
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Via: NBC:
Egypt’s capital descended into a chaotic bloodbath Wednesday after security forces moved in on protest camps set up by supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, sparking deadly violence.
A month-long nationwide state of emergency was declared as the interim government tried to maintain order.
At least 95 people were killed and 874 injured, the country’s health ministry said, as unrest spread to other parts of the country.
Witness reports and pro-Morsi volunteers in Cairo put the toll much higher, but the none of the higher figures could be immediately confirmed by NBC News.
Unverified pictures posted to social media showed dozens of bodies after tear gas and gunfire engulfed the protest camps at Rabaa and Nahda.
Saudi Prince Defects, Discusses Dictatorship
August 13th, 2013Via: Russia Today:
Saudi Arabia, a major supporter of opposition forces in Syria, has increased crackdown on its own dissenters, with 30,000 activists reportedly in jail. In an exclusive interview to RT a Saudi prince defector explained what the monarchy fears most.
“Saudi Arabia has stepped up arrests and trials of peaceful dissidents, and responded with force to demonstrations by citizens,” Human Rights Watch begins the country’s profile on its website.
Political parties are banned in Saudi Arabia and human rights groups willing to function legally have to go no further than investigating things like corruption or inadequate services. Campaigning for political freedoms is outlawed.
One of such groups, which failed to get its license from the government, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), was cited by AFP as saying the kingdom was holding around 30,000 political prisoners.
Saudi Prince Khaled Bin Farhan Al-Saud, who spoke to RT from Dusseldorf, Germany, confirmed reports of increased prosecution of anti-government activists and said that it’s exactly what forced him to defect from his family. He accused the monarchy of corruption and silencing all voices of dissent and explained how the Saudi mechanism for suppression functioned.
“There is no independent judiciary, as both police and the prosecutor’s office are accountable to the Interior Ministry. This ministry’s officials investigate ‘crimes’ (they call them crimes), related to freedom of speech. So they fabricate evidence, don’t allow people to have attorneys”, the prince told RT Arabic. “Even if a court rules to release such a ‘criminal’, the Ministry of Interior keeps him in prison, even though there is a court order to release him. There have even been killings! Killings! And as for the external opposition, Saudi intelligence forces find these people abroad! There is no safety inside or outside the country.”
Research Credit: windhorse
Clintons Rent Republican Donor’s $11 Million Hamptons Mansion
August 13th, 2013More “Change” on tap for 2016? haha
Via: Daily Mail:
The Clintons have rented an $11 million Hamptons mansion owned by a wealthy Republican donor for the summer, MailOnline can reveal today.
Former president Bill, 66, and ex-Secretary of State Hillary, 65, are expected at the six-bedroom property in Sagaponack – owned by Michael Saperstein – at the end of the week.
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Michael Saperstein, 72, who is a former senior managing director at Bear, Stearns & Co, is a listed Republication donor and gave $15,000 to Mitt Romney’s failed Presidential campaign last year. He is also listed as an official Republican voter on property records linked to the Sagaponack address.
‘The Era of Ubiquitous Listening Dawns’
August 13th, 2013Via: MIT Technology Review:
The Moto X, the new smartphone from Google’s Motorola Mobility, might be remembered best someday for helping to usher in the era of ubiquitous listening.
Unlike earlier phones, the Moto X includes two low-power chips whose only function is to process data from a microphone and other sensors—without tapping the main processor and draining the battery. This is a big endorsement of the idea that phones could serve you better if they did more to figure out what is going on (see “Motorola Reveals First Google-Era Phone”). For instance, you might say “OK Google Now” to activate Google’s intelligent assistant software, rather than having to first tap the screen or press buttons to get an audio-processing function up and running.
This brings us closer to having phones that continually monitor their auditory environment to detect the phone owner’s voice, discern what room or other setting the phone is in, or pick up other clues from background noise. Such capacities make it possible for software to detect your moods, know when you are talking and not to disturb you, and perhaps someday keep a running record of everything you hear.
Clean Green Surveillance Drone
August 13th, 2013Via: Wired:
A new small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) boasts something no other has been able to do thus far: continuous flight for 9 hours and all on the clean energy of solar power.
AeroVironment‘s 13-pound Puma AE can be assembled and hand-launched in minutes and requires no infrastructure for launch or landing, making them attractive for frontline use where time and space can be too scarce for the requirements of full-scale drones.
And while it may be some time before the Pentagon is showing off solar-powered tanks, AeroVironment insists these types of solar technology advancements are indispensable for the military.
“This is a critical milestone with far-reaching implications for the many ways small UAS can benefit military, public safety and commercial customers,” said Roy Minson, senior vice president of the Monrovia, CA-based AeroVironment.
AeroVironment enlisted the help of Alta Devices for its proprietary, ultra-thin solar cells. Past attempts to attach solar power to small UAS were either too heavy or couldn’t produce enough power for long-range flights but, according to Minson, recent tests prove that the solar Puma AE technology ”can produce enough power, while adding negligible weight, so that endurance is no longer an issue for most customer missions.”
