Why Is The Federal Government Running Ads Secretly Created & Owned By NBC Universal?
June 9th, 2011Via: Tech Dirt:
We certainly suspected this when New York City first announced that it was running a series of silly and misleading videos as part of a media campaign to “Stop Piracy in NYC,” but now it’s been confirmed that these videos were not, in fact, New York City’s, but are purely NBC Universal’s. At the time, NYC had “thanked” NBC Universal (among others), but had not admitted that NBC Universal “owned” and had created the videos themselves. However, in response to one of the Freedom of Information requests that I filed with New York City, the city noted that the videos are property of NBC Universal. I had asked for any licensing info between NYC and Homeland Security/ICE because ICE was using the same videos. Since NYC had clearly suggested that those videos were the creation of the NYC government, I assumed that ICE must have licensed the videos from NYC. However, NYC responded to my request by saying that there was no such info to hand over, because it did not license the videos to Homeland Security. And the reason was that NYC did not own the videos:
The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment has no records responsive to your request. Please note that NBC Universal owns the material, not the City of New York.
Not The Onion: Real-Life Mercenaries to Star in Blackwater Videogame
June 9th, 2011Via: Wired:
Blackwater Worldwide, the real-life mercenary team linked to the killing of civilians and noncombatants in Iraq during U.S. operations there, will be the subject of a Kinect-supported videogame coming to the Xbox 360 later this year.
Published by 505 Games and titled, simply, Blackwater, the game is being produced in consultation with the private security contractor’s founder, the former Navy SEAL Erik Prince.
A news release called it “an intense, cinematic shooter experience,” set in a fictional North African town, in which players, as Blackwater operatives, battle two warlords’ factions to protect the city.
“This game and its immersive Kinect-based approach will give players the chance to experience what it is like to be on a Blackwater team on a mission without being dropped into a real combat situation,” Prince said in a statement issued by 505. The game was developed in conjunction with former Blackwater members “to ensure accuracy of moves, gestures and gameplay,” the 505 release said. “The game also features a selection of officially-licensed weapons for your soldier to choose from.”
The game may also be played using a standard controller.
U.S. General Wants to Train Afghans Until 2017
June 9th, 2011Via: Wired:
There once was a time when President Obama implied that the Afghanistan war would at least start to end in July 2011. Then that date got pushed back to 2014. Now, the general in charge of training Afghan forces to take over for departing Americans pegs that date closer to 2016 or 2017 — that is, if the U.S. doesn’t want the entire Afghan security apparatus to implode.
What will ensure Afghan soldiers don’t collapse? “Strategic patience and an enduring commitment,” Lt. Gen. William Caldwell told a crowd at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Translated from the mil-speak: many more years and billions of dollars. Asked by Danger Room how much longer the training mission needs to last, Caldwell replied, “We won’t complete doing what we need to do until about 2016, 2017.”
Corn at Three-Year High as USDA Slashes Inventory Estimates
June 9th, 2011This is pretty grim, considering that much of what Americans eat is corn, in one form or another.
Via: Bloomberg:
Corn jumped to the highest in almost three years after the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast tighter supplies, as adverse weather hurt crops.
U.S. stockpiles before the start of the 2012 harvest may fall to 695 million bushels, the lowest since 1996, even as farmers harvest a record crop, the USDA said. World inventories are projected to drop to the lowest since 2004 next year. Prices have more than doubled in the past year as global production trailed gains in demand for livestock feed and biofuels.
The Biggest Bank in France Has Suddenly Cut ATM Daily Cash Access Limit in Half
June 9th, 2011Via: Max Keiser:
I just got off the phone with Pierre Jananovic . . . La Banque Postale has lowered the limits on the amounts of cash customers can withdraw per week by 50%. First of all, for you Americans and Brits, the way France works its banking system – customers are limited to how much they can withdraw per week from their accts no matter what the balance. Now what has happened here is that Gold card members – who could take out 3,000 euros a week – are now limited to 1,500 a week.
Japan: High Radiation on the Ground in Tokyo
June 9th, 2011Definitely see: Interview: Arnie Gundersen Talks About Radioactive Dust from Fukushima in Seattle.
Via: YouTube:
Another beautiful day in Japan, I am 135 miles / 220 Km south of Fukushima, on the outskirts of the Tokyo area. It is Tuesday, June 7th, as you can see in the video, I just walk outside of my house and …. radiation. The air is not dangerous but the ground is. The radiation is much higher in low lying areas and the government here is desperately trying to keep it quiet.
Saudi Regime Delays Revolution with Payouts
June 9th, 2011Via: New York Times:
As one nation after another has battled uprisings across the Arab world, the one major country spared is also its richest — Saudi Arabia, where a fresh infusion of money has so far bought order.
The kingdom is spending $130 billion to pump up salaries, build housing and finance religious organizations, among other outlays, effectively neutralizing most opposition. King Abdullah began wielding his checkbook right after leaders in Tunisia and Egypt fell, seeking to placate the public and reward a loyal religious establishment. The king’s reserves, swollen by more than $214 billion in oil revenue last year, have insulated the royal family from widespread demands for change even while some discontent simmers.
U.S. Is Escalating War in Yemen
June 9th, 2011Via: New York Times:
The Obama administration has intensified the American covert war in Yemen, exploiting a growing power vacuum in the country to strike at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets, according to American officials.
The acceleration of the American campaign in recent weeks comes amid a violent conflict in Yemen that has left the government in Sana, a United States ally, struggling to cling to power. Yemeni troops that had been battling militants linked to Al Qaeda in the south have been pulled back to the capital, and American officials see the strikes as one of the few options to keep the militants from consolidating power.
Telecom New Zealand Overcharging: Contact the Commerce Commission
June 9th, 2011Reminder to those in New Zealand who are battling Telecom’s swindling: Gather all of your information and send it to the Commerce Commission.
Via: New Zealand Herald:
Telecom can’t count and could be overcharging thousands of customers’ broadband accounts.
That’s the message from some customers who are complaining Telecom has been over-counting their broadband usage for several months.
The Herald has received detailed internet usage logs from two Telecom customers – one in Dunedin and the other in New Plymouth – which show over-counting broadband downloads, in one period by as much as 139 per cent. Both have raised the matter repeatedly with Telecom, but have yet to get an explanation.
“We showed Telecom five days of data as early as February 14,” says director Mark Peisker of Dunedin’s CueClub. “There was massive variance between our data and that reported by the Telecom usage meter. I said to them: ‘Your counting has very little to do with what comes down my line to me’.”
CueClub’s data taken from its two internet routers shows an average of 62 per cent over-counting during a three month period – the worst month being May when Telecom counted an extra 118.24 gigabytes (GB) of usage amounting to $203.97 in overcharging.
Similarly Alister Lambert in New Plymouth first logged a fault with Telecom in January.
His monitoring of his router data over the last four months reveals over-counting of around 30 per cent each month.
Related: Don’t Be a Victim of Telecom New Zealand
Steve Jobs Proposes Eco Temple Headquarters for Apple as Factory Workers Who Make the Company’s Products Die from Explosions and Suicides
June 8th, 2011Can you believe this guy?
Here you go, Steve, read up, I bet your employees are: The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t.
Via: NBC:
Skip ahead about 2,000 years and think of the ruins of buildings that humans (or otherwise) might experience — much like travelers see the Acropolis today.
Apple’s newly proposed headquarters might spark speculation as to its purpose. A perfect circle, standing four stories tall, that housed 12,000 workers — and bucked convention by burying the parking lots and doubled the trees. Oasis? Maybe a temple? A killer shopping mall?
Or maybe a landed spaceship, as Steve Jobs described it to the Cupertino City Council on Tuesday night.
Boasting the world’s largest piece of architectural glass, the circular structure would be built on some former Hewlett-Packard property that Jobs’ team bought.
The entire area to be renovated is about 150 acres, according to Jobs. The campus design would actually increase green space and landscaping by about 350 percent more than at present. Campus parking goes underground to help increase the tree count from 3,700 to 6,000. The senior arborist at Stanford is overseeing that aspect of the project.
Related:
Workers Assembling Apple Products Urged to Sign Anti Suicide Pledge
Another Foxconn Employee Commits Suicide
