Los Angeles Abandons Red Light Cameras; Most Citations Unpaid
June 8th, 2011Via: CBS:
The civilian board that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department has put the brakes on the city’s red-light traffic camera program.
The Police Commission agreed Tuesday to reject a proposal from police officials to award a new contract to the company that has been operating the cameras.
An audit last year questioned the effectiveness of the program, finding that a majority of citations have gone uncollected. Commissioner Alan Skobin says that since the courts don’t pursue drivers who refuse to pay the tickets, the camera program lacks enforcement power.
Poll: 48% of Americans Say That Another Great Depression Is Likely to Occur in the Next Year
June 8th, 2011Via: CNN:
Forty-eight percent say that another Great Depression is likely to occur in the next year – the highest that figure has ever reached. The survey also indicates that just under half live in a household where someone has lost a job or are worried that unemployment may hit them in the near future. The poll was conducted starting Friday, when the Labor Department reported that the nation’s jobless rate edged up to 9.1 percent.
“The poll reminded respondents that during the Depression in the 1930s, roughly one in four workers were unemployed, banks failed, and millions of Americans were homeless or unable to feed their families,” says Holland. “And even with that reminder, nearly half said that another depression was likely in the next 12 months. That’s not just economic pessimism – that’s economic fatalism.”
According to the survey, more than eight in ten Americans say that the economy is in poor shape, a number that has stubbornly remained at that level since March.
And Now… Obama Pledges Help for Greek Bailout
June 8th, 2011Via: CNBC/Reuters:
President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged European countries and bondholders to prevent a “disastrous” default by Greece and pledged U.S. support to help tackle the country’s debt crisis.
Obama, whose political prospects have suffered from persistently high unemployment and ballooning U.S. debt, has pinpointed the euro zone crisis as one foreign “headwind” hitting the U.S. economy.
Interview: Arnie Gundersen Talks About Radioactive Dust from Fukushima in Seattle
June 8th, 2011Keep an eye on the situation with reactor 4.
Via: Chris Martenson:
Arnie Gundersen: Yea, and actually we should extend this to the West Coast, because the same particles there too. To answer your question about Tokyo; what I’m advising people in Tokyo who are there now, is take your shoes off at the door, wet dust. Don’t dry dust. We are actually finding that contamination inside houses is higher now than contamination outside because it has been trucked in over the last two months and it hasn’t left. And if you dry dust you throw all of that radioactive material up into the air. I am also advising friends there to buy these little HEPA filters, high efficiency particulate filters that look like a little round device that sits on the floor, and change the filters frequently. Also advising people to remove the filters in their air conditioners and the air conditioner in their car, and replace them. Because they pick up particles over the last couple of months and it is a good time to replace them as well. Also telling people don’t do any demolition work. The last thing you want to do right now is tear a wing off your house because you will stir up that dust, not knowing exactly what’s in it, you run a risk of contamination.
The other things I am telling friends in Tokyo is keep your eye on Unit Four. If there is an earthquake and Unit Four topples don’t believe the authorities you are well beyond where science has ever imagined and it is time to get on a flight and get out of there.
…
Chris Martenson: Alright, to wrap this up, I am just interested in for all of our listeners who may live in Japan or live in the West Coast or wherever they may be; if there is an aftershock and if Building four sort of topples over what would your advice be, I heard your advice to the people in Japan, get on a plane if possible or get far away or know which way the wind is moving and go in the other direction. What would you do if you were in the United States and you saw that that had happened?
Arnie Gundersen: Well, I am in touch with some scientists now who have been monitoring the air on the West Coast and in Seattle for instance, in April, the average person in Seattle breathed in 10 hot particles a day.
Chris Martenson: What? I did not know that.
Arnie Gundersen: Well, the report takes some time to make its way into the literature. The average human being breathes about 10 meters a day of air, cubic meters of air. And the air out in the Seattle area are detecting, when they pull 10 cubic meters through them, this is in April now, so we are in the end of May so it is a better situation now. That air filter will have 10 hot particles on it. And that was before the Unit Four issue. Clearly we all can’t run south of the equator to our second homes in Rio or something like that. But it will stay north of the equator for anyone who has a Leer jet and can get out. But I guess what I am advising at that point is keep your windows closed. I would definitely wear some sort of a filter if I was outside. I certainly wouldn’t run and exercise until I was sure the plume had dissipated. This isn’t now. This is, as you were saying, this is worst case. If Unit Four were to topple, I would close my windows, turn the air conditioner on, replace the filters frequently, damp mop, put a HEPA filter in the house and try to avoid as much of the hot particles as possible. You are not going to walk out with a Geiger counter and be in a plume that is going to tell you the meter. The issue will be on the West Coast, hot particles. And the solution there is HEPA filters and avoiding them.
Research Credit: Pookie
Scottish Power to Raise Price of Domestic Gas by 19% and Electricity by 10%
June 8th, 2011Via: Guardian:
Scottish Power is to raise the price of domestic gas and electricity bills by 19% and 10% respectively from August 2011, blaming the increases on a rise in wholesale energy costs and volatility in global energy markets.
The rise, which will affect 2.4m households and add £175 a year – or 48p a day – to the average dual fuel customer’s bill, was described as a “body blow for consumers” by Consumer Focus.
Scottish Power, which last increased prices in November 2010 – raising gas bills by 2% and electricity by 8.9% – said it will notify customers from 11 June, giving them at least 30 days’ notice before the price change is due to take effect.
Raymond Jack, Scottish Power’s UK retail director, said: “Wholesale prices for gas and electricity have increased significantly since the end of last year, and continuing unrest in global energy markets means future prices are volatile. We understand times are difficult for many people, and we have done what we can to absorb these additional costs for as long as possible to minimise the impact on our customers.
“The rising burden of non-energy costs faced by Britain’s energy suppliers – including the cost of meeting government environmental and social programmes and the cost of distributing electricity on the national grid – has also placed further upward pressure on energy bills.”
But the energy provider was blasted by consumer groups who believe its move could prompt a wave of further price rises from the other “big five” energy providers just months after last winter’s price rises.
Audrey Gallacher, head of energy at Consumer Focus, said: “This huge increase will be a body blow for consumers, and we fear other firms will follow Scottish Power’s lead. Companies have been softening customers up for price rises for months, but customers will shocked at the scale of this rise.
“We know suppliers like the comfort of the pack and that price rises come in waves. Every household in the country will now be bracing themselves for impact.”
California: SWAT Team Breaks Into Home, Detains Family Over Student Loan Default
June 8th, 2011Update: Questions, Questions
News10 dissappeared the first story about this.
Via: News10:
A federal education official Wednesday morning offered little information as to why federal agents raided a Stockton man’s home Tuesday.
The resident, Kenneth Wright, does not have a criminal record and he had no reason to believe why what he thought was a S.W.A.T team would be breaking down his door at 6 in the morning.
“I look out of my window and I see 15 police officers,” Wright said.
As Wright came downstairs in his boxer shorts, he said the officers barged through his front door. Wright said an officer grabbed him by the neck and led him outside on his front lawn.
“He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there,” Wright said.
According to Wright, officers also woke his three young children, ages 3, 7, and 11, and put them in a Stockton police patrol car with him. Officers then searched his house.
“They put me in handcuffs in that hot patrol car for six hours, traumatizing my kids,” Wright said.
As it turned out, the person law enforcement was looking for – Wright’s estranged wife – was not there.
Wright said he later went to Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston and Stockton Police Department, but learned the city of Stockton had nothing to do with the search warrant.
U.S. Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton confirmed for News10 Wednesday morning federal agents with the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), not local S.W.A.T., served the search warrant. Hamilton would not say specifically why the raid took place except that it was part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Hamilton said the search was not related to student loans in default as reported in the local media.
—End Update—
Via: 10News:
Kenneth Wright does not have a criminal record and he had no reason to believe a S.W.A.T team would be breaking down his door at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
“I look out of my window and I see 15 police officers,” Wright said.
Wright came downstairs in his boxer shorts as the officers team barged through his front door. Wright said an officer grabbed him by the neck and led him outside on his front lawn.
“He had his knee on my back and I had no idea why they were there,” Wright said.
According to Wright, officers also woke his three young children ages 3, 7, and 11, and put them in a Stockton police patrol car with him. Officers then searched his house.
As it turned out, the person law enforcement was looking for was not there – Wright’s estranged wife.
“They put me in handcuffs in that hot patrol car for six hours, traumatizing my kids,” Wright said.
Wright said he later went to the mayor and Stockton Police Department, but the City of Stockton had nothing to do with Wright’s search warrant.
The U.S. Department of Education issued the search and called in the S.W.A.T for his wife’s defaulted student loans.
Bank Not Responsible for Letting Hackers Steal $300K from Customer
June 8th, 2011Via: Wired:
A judge in Maine has ruled that a bank that allowed hackers to steal more than $300,000 from a customer’s online account isn’t responsible for the lost money, saying the customer should have done more to protect the account credentials.
Magistrate Judge John Rich sided with Ocean Bank in recommending that the U.S. District Court in Maine grant the bank’s motions for a summary dismissal of a complaint filed by Patco Construction Company. The ruling was reported Monday by BankInfoSecurity.
The case raises questions about how much security banks and other financial institutions should be reasonably required to provide commercial customers and could set a precedent for liability in circumstances where customer systems are hacked and banking credentials are stolen. Small and medium-sized businesses around the U.S. have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to such activity, known as fraudulent ACH (Automated Clearing House) transfers.
Patco Construction Company, a family-owned business in Sanford Maine, sued Ocean Bank, which is owned by People’s United Bank, after discovering in May 2009 that hackers were siphoning about $100,000 per day from its online bank account. The hackers had sent a malicious email to employees that allowed them to surreptitiously install the Zeus password-stealing trojan on an employee computer.
After obtaining Patco’s banking credentials and waiting for its account to fill up with money, the hackers used the credentials to initiate a series of electronic money transfers. Nearly $600,000 in transfers were made out of the account before Patco realized it had been hacked. Ocean Bank, after being notified of the fraud, was able to block about $240,000 in transfers. But Patco was unable to retrieve the rest.
Patco sued the bank for failing to notice the fraudulent activity and stop it. According to Patco, the out-of-character transactions triggered alarms inside the bank, but the bank didn’t notice them and let the transfers go through. Patco also accused the bank of failing to implement “best” security practices by requiring customers to use multi-factor authentication.
Research Credit: John Glenn
Facebook Quietly Switches On Facial Recognition Tech By Default
June 8th, 2011Via: Register:
Facebook has rolled out its facial recognition technology to countries outside of the US, but has switched the feature on by default without telling its users first.
UK-based security expert Graham Cluely noted earlier today that Facebook had slotted the tech into the social network.
The Mark Zuckerberg-run company started using its facial recognition software in December last year for its Stateside users in a move to automatically provide tags for the photos uploaded by Facebook users.
The tech works by scanning newly uploaded pics and then identifies faces from previously tagged photos already stored in Zuckerberg’s internet silo.
When the software was introduced in the US late last year, Facebook pointed out that users could disable the function.
“If for any reason you don’t want your name to be suggested, you will be able to disable suggested tags in your Privacy Settings,” the company wrote on its blog post last December.
But now that the tech has reached other shores, Facebook clearly didn’t feel the need to alert its international stalkerbase that its facial recognition software had been switched on by default within the social network.
Research Credit: eo
Lehman Could Escape with Just a Public Rebuke
June 7th, 2011Via: New Zealand Herald / Bloomberg:
United States Securities and Exchange Commission investigators may issue a public rebuke of Lehman Brothers Holdings and its former executives instead of suing them for actions that led to the firm’s 2008 failure, say three people with knowledge of the matter.
SEC enforcement lawyers, who have struggled for more than two years to find definitive evidence that the company and its leaders violated securities laws, are concerned that a legal attack on Lehman’s accounting practices would likely fail, the people said, speaking anonymously.
Instead, the enforcement staff may recommend that the agency take the rare step of publishing a so-called report of investigation, also known as a 21(a) report.
U.S. Funding for Future Promises Lags by Trillions
June 7th, 2011Via: USA Today:
The federal government’s financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.
This gap between spending commitments and revenue last year equals more than one-third of the nation’s gross domestic product.
Medicare alone took on $1.8 trillion in new liabilities, more than the record deficit prompting heated debate between Congress and the White House over lifting the debt ceiling.
…
Corporations would be required to count these new liabilities when they are taken on — and report a big loss to shareholders. Unlike businesses, however, Congress postpones recording spending commitments until it writes a check.
The $61.6 trillion in unfunded obligations amounts to $534,000 per household. That’s more than five times what Americans have borrowed for everything else — mortgages, car loans and other debt. It reflects the challenge as the number of retirees soars over the next 20 years and seniors try to collect on those spending promises.
