European Stocks in Sharp Selloff
September 5th, 2011Via: CNBC:
European shares fell sharply on Monday amid renewed fears over the euro zone debt crisis and a warning from Deutsche Bank’s CEO on the outlook for banks.
The DAX led the losers, falling by over 5 percent, while stocks in London and Paris also fell sharply.
The biggest loser in Germany is Deutsche Bank after CEO Joseph Ackermann told a banking conference that the euro zone debt crisis could kill weak banks and stunt profits for the rest of industry for years to come.
Cryptogon Reader Signs Up for Hosting with BlueHost
September 5th, 2011Thanks to the owner of prestonhallen.com for signing up for hosting with BlueHost. Cryptogon received $90 as a result.
California Employment at Record Low
September 5th, 2011Via: Bloomberg:
The percentage of working-age Californians with jobs has fallen to a record low, and employment may not return to pre-recession levels until the second half of the decade, according to a research group.
Just 55.4 percent of working-age Californians, defined as those 16 or older, had a job in July, down from 56.2 percent a year earlier and the lowest level since 1976, the Sacramento- based California Budget Project said in a report released late yesterday.
California’s 12 percent unemployment rate in July, the nation’s second-highest after Nevada, compared with 9.1 percent nationwide. The most-populous state lost 1.4 million jobs during the recession that began three years ago, and has gained back only 226,800, or about 17 percent, according to the report.
Capital of Scrap: Dying Detroit Looting Itself
September 5th, 2011Those bailouts are going well.
Via: Russia Today:
CIA, MI6 Helped Gaddafi on Dissidents
September 4th, 2011[???]
Via: Reuters:
Documents found in the abandoned Tripoli office of Muammar Gaddafi’s intelligence chief indicate the U.S. and British spy agencies helped the fallen strongman persecute Libyan dissidents, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.
The documents were uncovered by the human rights activist group in the abandoned offices of Libya’s former spy chief and foreign minister, Moussa Koussa.
The group said it uncovered hundreds of letters between the CIA, MI6 and Koussa, who is now in exile in London. Letters from the CIA began, “Dear Moussa,” and were signed informally with first names only by CIA officials, Human Rights Watch said.
The current military commander for Tripoli of Libya’s provisional government, Abdel Hakim Belhadj, was among those captured and sent to Libya by the CIA, Human Rights Watch said.
“Among the files we discovered at Moussa Koussa’s office is a fax from the CIA dated 2004 in which the CIA informs the Libyan government that they are in a position to capture and render Belhadj,” Human Rights Watch’s Peter Bouckaert, who was part of the group that found the stash, told Reuters.
“That operation actually took place. He was captured by the CIA in Asia and put on a secret flight back to Libya where he was interrogated and tortured by the Libyan security services.”
The files shed new light on the practice known as rendition, used by the United States under former President George W. Bush, in which the terrorism suspects were handed over to other countries for interrogation. Rights groups have criticized the United States for sending these suspects to countries where they were likely to be tortured.
Multiple White House Officials Knew About Fast and Furious Arms Trafficking Operation
September 4th, 2011Via: CBS:
CBS News has obtained a series of emails that show the White House had more information on ATF’s controversial Fast and Furious operation than previously disclosed. But administration officials insists nobody at the White House knew specifically that ATF was allowing guns to “walk” into the hands of suspected gun traffickers for Mexican drug cartels.
ATF allegedly allowed more than two thousand assault rifles and other weapons to fall into the hands of suspects from late fall of 2009 through 2010.
The emails indicate three White House officials were briefed on gun trafficking efforts that included Fast and Furious. The officials are Kevin O’Reilly, then-director of North American Affairs, now assigned to the State Department; Dan Restrepo, senior Latin American advisory; and Greg Gatjanis, a national security official.
The Washington Post Piece About the ‘Wasted’ Tens of Billions of Dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan
September 4th, 2011There are, however, a few metrics by which “victory” for the U.S. in Afghanistan may be measured.
First of all, the fact that mayhem continues is a victory for the corporations that profit from the absurd war-related contracts.
There’s the unknown billions of heroin related dollars that are generated from covert operations in Afghanistan. The transformation of Afghanistan into a narcostate is a victory for black money operators.
Ultimately, victory will mean that Afghanistan becomes pacified in a manner that facilities effortless corporate rape. The purpose of the U.S. military is to tie the victim down. Then the people in the suits step into the room…
Since the U.S. spends $20 billion per year for air conditioning in tents in Iraq and Afghanistan, to place the total amount of wasted money in both conflicts at $30 billion is just about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read.
This “waste” is one of the core reasons of why 9/11 happened in the first place. The other two, if you ask me, are energy and drugs.
Here’s a more useful number to consider:
Via: Washington Post:
At least one in every six dollars of U.S. spending for contracts and grants in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade, or more than $30 billion, has been wasted. And at least that much could again turn into waste if the host governments are unable or unwilling to sustain U.S.-funded projects after our involvement ends.
Those sobering but conservative numbers are a key finding of the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, which will submit its report to Congress on Wednesday. All eight commissioners agree that major changes in law and policy are needed to avoid confusion and waste in the next contingency, whether it involves armed struggle overseas or response to disasters at home.
Tens of billions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted through poor planning, vague and shifting requirements, inadequate competition, substandard contract management and oversight, lax accountability, weak interagency coordination, and subpar performance or outright misconduct by some contractors and federal employees. Both government and contractors need to do better.
Our final report shows that the costs of contracting waste and fraud extend beyond the disservice to taxpayers. The costs include diminishing for U.S. military, diplomatic and development efforts; fostering corruption in host countries; and undermining U.S. standing and influence overseas.
Related: Killing Each Taliban Soldier Costs $50 Million?
Introducing iImpersonateThePolice: Apple Corporate Security Team Searched a Man’s House While SFPD Waited Outside
September 3rd, 2011In my opinion, the fact that Calderón consented to the search, even though he thought the Apple employees were police officers, is the most terrifying aspect of this.
No warrant, no search. It’s pretty simple.
Why he opened the door, and said anything to these people, is also a mystery to me.
Anyway, here’s a link for Apple’s investigators to review: California Penal Code Section 538d:
Any person other than one who by law is given the authority of a peace officer, who willfully wears, exhibits, or uses the authorized uniform, insignia, emblem, device, label, certificate, card, or writing, of a peace officer, with the intent of fraudulently impersonating a peace officer, or of fraudulently inducing the belief that he or she is a peace officer, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Via: San Francisco Weekly:
The bizarre saga involving a lost prototype of the iPhone 5 has taken another interesting turn. Contradicting past statements that no records exist of police involvement in the search for the lost prototype, San Francisco Police Department spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield now tells SF Weekly that “three or four” SFPD officers accompanied two Apple security officials in an unusual search of a Bernal Heights man’s home.
Dangerfield says that, after conferring with Apple and the captain of the Ingleside police station, he has learned that plainclothes SFPD officers went with private Apple detectives to the home of Sergio Calderón, a 22-year-old resident of Bernal Heights. According to Dangerfield, the officers “did not go inside the house,” but stood outside while the Apple employees scoured Calderón’s home, car, and computer files for any trace of the lost iPhone 5. The phone was not found, and Calderón denies that he ever possessed it.
In an interview with SF Weekly last night, Calderón told us that six badge-wearing visitors came to his home in July to inquire about the phone. Calderón said none of them acknowledged being employed by Apple, and one of them offered him $300, and a promise that the owner of the phone would not press charges, if he would return the device.
The visitors also allegedly threatened him and his family, asking questions about their immigration status. “One of the officers is like, ‘Is everyone in this house an American citizen?’ They said we were all going to get into trouble,” Calderón said.
One of the officers left a phone number with him, which SF Weekly traced to Anthony Colon, an investigator employed at Apple, who declined to comment when we reached him.
Reached this afternoon, Calderón confirmed that only two of the six people who came to his home actually entered the house. He said those two did not specifically state they were police officers.
However, he said he was under the impression that they were all police, since they were part of the group outside that identified themselves as SFPD officials. The two who entered the house did not disclose that they were private security officers, according to Calderón.
“When they came to my house, they said they were SFPD,” Calderón said. “I thought they were SFPD. That’s why I let them in.” He said he would not have permitted the search if he had been aware the two people conducting it were not actually police officers.
It remains unclear whether these actions might constitute impersonation of a police officer, which in California is a misdemeanor that can bring up to a year of jail time. Apple has not responded to our requests for comment. “I don’t have any indication of that. I’m not going to go there,” Dangerfield said, when asked about whether the Apple detectives might have misrepresented themselves.
DARPA Researchers Rig Cyborg Beetles to Capture Energy That Powers Neuro Control Electronics
September 3rd, 2011The creature flaps its wings and generates power for the electronics that the remote operators use to control its flight.
Sound familiar?
Governments figured out this model long ago: Income tax, property tax, sales tax, fuel tax, fart tax, etc. They’ve got everyone coming and going, the system feeds on our activity through taxes and consumption, and this nourishes the controllers and social engineering mechanisms that keep the zombie consumer death machine running. Like the cyborg beetle, most people have no idea what’s happening.
Anyway, enjoy your weekend!
Via: PhysOrg:
For many years, researchers have been working on designing and fabricating micro-air-vehicles (MAVs), flying robots the size of small insects. But after realizing how difficult it is to create a tiny, lightweight flying vehicle capable of carrying a payload and being powered by a long-life onboard power source, some researchers have recently stopped trying to copy real-life insects and started using the insects themselves, with a few small tweaks. For instance, using tiny stimulators near their antennae, electrodes implanted in their central nervous systems, or neuromuscular interfaces, researchers have found that it’s easier to control insect’s brains – and therefore, flight – than to build robotic insects from scratch.
“Although we have seen a tremendous and exciting effort in MAV development in the last decade, cyborg insects are much more advantageous when it comes to the aerodynamic performance, flight duration, payload capability, and energy storage at miniaturized scales,” Ethem Erkan Aktakka from the University of Michigan told PhysOrg.com. “The current technology is simply not there yet to beat nature’s evolution over several thousands of years.”
So far, the neural control systems in cyborg insects have generally been powered by batteries. But now Aktakka and coauthors Hanseup Kim and Khalil Najafi from the University of Michigan (Kim is currently with the University of Utah), have developed an energy scavenger that generates power from the wing motion of a Green June Beetle during tethered flight. Two generators – one on each of the beetle’s wings – use piezoelectric devices to produce a total of 45 µW of power per insect. The researchers predict that this power could be increased by an order of magnitude through a direct connection between the generator and the insect’s flight muscles.
Related: The God of High Places
Man Dies from Tooth Infection, Couldn’t Afford Medication
September 3rd, 2011Via: ABC News:
A 24-year-old Cincinnati father died from a tooth infection this week because he couldn’t afford his medication, offering a sobering reminder of the importance of oral health and the number of people without access to dental or health care.
According to NBC affiliate WLWT, Kyle Willis’ wisdom tooth started hurting two weeks ago. When dentists told him it needed to be pulled, he decided to forgo the procedure, because he was unemployed and had no health insurance.
When his face started swelling and his head began to ache, Willis went to the emergency room, where he received prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medications. Willis couldn’t afford both, so he chose the pain medications.
The tooth infection spread, causing his brain to swell. He died Tuesday.
Calls to Willis’ family were not immediately returned. University Hospital in Cincinnati, where Willis was admitted, did not comment, citing federal privacy laws.
“People don’t realize that dental disease can cause serious illness,” said Dr. Irvin Silverstein, a dentist at the University of California at San Diego. “The problems are not just cosmetic. Many people die from dental disease.”
Willis’ story is not unique. In 2007, 12-year-old Deamonte Driver also died when a tooth infection spread to his brain. The Maryland boy underwent two operations and six weeks of hospital care, totaling $250,000. Doctors said a routine $80 tooth extraction could have saved his life. His family was uninsured and had recently lost its Medicaid benefits, keeping Deamonte from having dental surgery.
“When people are unemployed or don’t have insurance, where do they go? What do they do?” Silverstein said. “People end up dying, and these are the most treatable, preventable diseases in the world.”
