Germany: Man Dies from Poison Umbrella Stab
May 13th, 2012The name of the victim hasn’t been released.
Via: The Local – Germany:
A German man has died after being stabbed in the backside by a stranger wielding a poison umbrella which injected him with mercury, fatally poisoning him.
Police have admitted they have been left at a loss by the attack, which took place nearly a year ago, when the 40-year-old man was attacked by the mysterious stranger in Hannover.
The case mirrors the murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov who was killed with a poisoned umbrella in London in 1978 at the height of the Cold War.
A post-mortem and toxicological examination being carried out on the German man are expected to point to mercury poisoning as the cause of death, Der Spiegel news magazine said on Friday.
The man was diagnosed with mercury poisoning a few weeks after the attack, and fell into a coma.
He had said he was attacked by a slim stranger who had a sticking plaster on his face.
After months in a coma, the victim had seemed to be improving, a spokeswoman for the state prosecutor said. He had been in a rehabilitation centre, but this Wednesday he suddenly died.
The prosecutor are now searching for the mysterious assailant, investigating a possible charge of grievous bodily harm resulting in death.
Texas Legislature: Video of Vote Fraud
May 13th, 2012Via: KEYE Austin Repost on YouTube:
Radio Interview: Arnie Gundersen on KGO – Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4
May 13th, 2012Reposted on YouTube:
U.S. Military Taught Officers: Use ‘Hiroshima’ Tactics for ‘Total War’ on Islam
May 13th, 2012Via: Wired:
The U.S. military taught its future leaders that a “total war” against the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims would be necessary to protect America from Islamic terrorists, according to documents obtained by Danger Room. Among the options considered for that conflict: using the lessons of “Hiroshima” to wipe out whole cities at once, targeting the “civilian population wherever necessary.”
The course, first reported by Danger Room last month and held at the Defense Department’s Joint Forces Staff College, has since been canceled by the Pentagon brass. It’s only now, however, that the details of the class have come to light. Danger Room received hundreds of pages of course material and reference documents from a source familiar with the contents of the class.
Research Credit: emulsified
NSA Not Required to Reveal Any Dealings with Google
May 12th, 2012Via: AFP:
The top-secret US National Security Agency is not required to reveal any deal it may have with Google to help protect against cyber attacks, an appeals court ruled Friday.
The US Court of Appeals in Washington upheld a lower court decision that said the NSA need not confirm or deny any relationship with Google, because its governing statutes allow it keep such information secret.
The ruling came in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from a public interest group, which said the public has a right to know about any spying on citizens.
The appeals court agreed that the NSA can reject the request, and does not even have to confirm whether it has any arrangement with the Internet giant.
“Any information pertaining to the relationship between Google and NSA would reveal protected information about NSA’s implementation of its information assurance mission,” Judge Janice Rogers Brown wrote in the appeals opinion.
The non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a formal request to make public documents related to the dealings, and said much of the information had already been in news media.
The request stemmed from a January 2010 cyber attack on Google that primarily targeted the Gmail email accounts of Chinese human rights activists.
According to the Google blog, the Internet group’s chief legal officer David Drummond stated that the firm was notifying other companies that may have been targeted and was also working with the relevant US authorities.
The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post reported that Google had contacted the NSA immediately following the attack.
According to news reports, the NSA agreed to help Google analyze the attacks in a bid to better protect the California-based search company and its users from future intrusions.
Chinese Physicists Teleport Photons Over 100 Kilometers
May 12th, 2012Via: MIT Technology Review:
So these guys clearly have their eye on the possibility of satellite-based quantum cryptography which would provide ultra secure communications around the world. That’s in stark contrast to the few kilometres that are possible with commercial quantum cryptography gear.
Of course, data rates are likely to be slow and the rapidly emerging technology of quantum repeaters will extend the reach of ground-based quantum cryptography so that it could reach around the world, in principle at least.
But a perfect, satellite-based security system might be a useful piece of kit to have on the roof of an embassy or distributed among the armed forces.
Something for western security experts to think about.
Bug 33484: Printing Multiple Files from Windows Explorer at Once Makes LibreOffice Unusable
May 12th, 2012This is as Offtopic as it gets, but here goes.
With LibreOffice installed, if you try to print multiple documents from the Windows Explorer, you have probably noticed that this behavior doesn’t work. Someone is reporting a similar issue on the Mac as well.
The LibreOffice people currently don’t know what’s causing this, but if you can add anything that might help the developers fix this, please see bug 33484.
Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO
May 11th, 2012Via: Bloomberg:
Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire co- founder of Facebook Inc. (FB), renounced his U.S. citizenship before an initial public offering that values the social network at as much as $96 billion, a move that may reduce his tax bill.
Facebook plans to raise as much as $11.8 billion through the IPO, the biggest in history for an Internet company. Saverin’s stake is about 4 percent, according to the website Who Owns Facebook. At the high end of the IPO valuation, that would be worth about $3.84 billion. His holdings aren’t listed in Facebook’s regulatory filings.
Saverin, 30, joins a growing number of people giving up U.S. citizenship, a move that can trim their tax liabilities in that country. The Brazilian-born resident of Singapore is one of several people who helped Mark Zuckerberg start Facebook in a Harvard University dorm and stand to reap billions of dollars after the world’s largest social network holds its IPO.
Spy School Teaches the Basics of Intelligence Gathering to Kids, Teens
May 11th, 2012Lesson #1: Try not to crash jets with tons of cocaine on board. Mmmkay?
Via: Tampa Bay Online:
Spy School — a Tampa Bay History Center program specially designed for teens — will instruct youngsters about surveillance, information gathering and disguise.
Agents and experts will teach children ages 12 to 18, offering tips on how to enter the espionage career field.
The two-part spy series is part of the history center’s traveling exhibition, “Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America.” Spy School begins Saturday and offers a guided tour with curator Rodney Kite-Powell.
Research Credit: RP
JPMorgan Loses $2 Billion
May 11th, 2012Update: Fitch Downgrades JPMorgan Chase
Via: CNN:
The closing bell brought no relief for JPMorgan Chase on Friday, as a major credit rating agency moved to downgrade its debt almost exactly 24 hours after the bank revealed a $2 billion trading loss.
Fitch Ratings downgraded both JPMorgan’s short-term and long-term debt, with the latter falling to A+ from AA-. The bank, the country’s largest by assets, was also placed on ratings watch negative.
—End Update—
Via: Bloomberg:
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the firm suffered a $2 billion trading loss after an “egregious” failure in a unit managing risks, jeopardizing Wall Street banks’ efforts to loosen a federal ban on bets with their own money.
The firm’s chief investment office, run by Ina Drew, 55, took flawed positions on synthetic credit securities that remain volatile and may cost an additional $1 billion this quarter or next, Dimon told analysts yesterday. Losses mounted as JPMorgan tried to mitigate transactions designed to hedge credit exposure.
