Overall U.S. Intelligence Budget: $80.1 Billion
October 29th, 2010Does the number include all of the special access programs?
Via: Los Angeles Times:
The U.S. government on Thursday disclosed for the first time in more than a decade what it spent in total on intelligence gathering in the fiscal year that just ended: $80.1 billion.
That’s more than the U.S. spent on the Department of Homeland Security ($53 billion) and the Justice Department ($30 billion), according to figures from the White House Office of Management and Budget. It represents about 12% of the nation’s $664-billion defense budget.
The total intelligence budget has doubled since 2001, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement.
TSA Rolling Out New “Hand Sliding” Pat-Down Technique at Airports
October 29th, 2010Homeland Security rubdown?
Via: AP:
The Transportation Security Administration is changing the way it pats down passengers at airports — moving from the screener’s traditional hand pat to more of a hand-sliding motion, a law enforcement official said Thursday.
The TSA regularly reviews and updates its screening procedures, agency spokeswoman Kristin Lee said. And screeners will continue to use the pat-down method to help detect hidden and dangerous items like explosives or bomb parts.
Lee said the procedure will continue to be conducted by screeners who are the same gender as the passenger. The TSA, for security reasons, would not provide details about the differences in the new technique for pat-downs.
Private Prison Interests Behind Arizona Immigration Law
October 29th, 2010“I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise.”
—Fight Club
Via: NPR:
Last year, two men showed up in Benson, Ariz., a small desert town 60 miles from the Mexico border, offering a deal.
Glenn Nichols, the Benson city manager, remembers the pitch.
“The gentleman that’s the main thrust of this thing has a huge turquoise ring on his finger,” Nichols said. “He’s a great big huge guy and I equated him to a car salesman.”
What he was selling was a prison for women and children who were illegal immigrants.
“They talk [about] how positive this was going to be for the community,” Nichols said, “the amount of money that we would realize from each prisoner on a daily rate.”
But Nichols wasn’t buying. He asked them how would they possibly keep a prison full for years — decades even — with illegal immigrants?
“They talked like they didn’t have any doubt they could fill it,” Nichols said.
That’s because prison companies like this one had a plan — a new business model to lock up illegal immigrants. And the plan became Arizona’s immigration law.
Research Credit: JH
Cryptogon Backchannel Blog
October 28th, 2010Some of you might be interested in this:
https://www.cryptogon.com/backchannel/
“Let’s get real,” Prof. Kotlikoff says. “The U.S. is bankrupt.”
October 28th, 2010Via: The Globe and Mail:
Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff says U.S. government debt is not $13.5-trillion (U.S.), which is 60 per cent of current gross domestic product, as global investors and American taxpayers think, but rather 14-fold higher: $200-trillion – 840 per cent of current GDP. “Let’s get real,” Prof. Kotlikoff says. “The U.S. is bankrupt.”
Writing in the September issue of Finance and Development, a journal of the International Monetary Fund, Prof. Kotlikoff says the IMF itself has quietly confirmed that the U.S. is in terrible fiscal trouble – far worse than the Washington-based lender of last resort has previously acknowledged. “The U.S. fiscal gap is huge,” the IMF asserted in a June report. “Closing the fiscal gap requires a permanent annual fiscal adjustment equal to about 14 per cent of U.S. GDP.”
This sum is equal to all current U.S. federal taxes combined. The consequences of the IMF’s fiscal fix, a doubling of federal taxes in perpetuity, would be appalling – and possibly worse than appalling.
‘Coal Country’ Documentary, Aired on Planet Green, Called Potential Threat by PA Dept of Homeland Security
October 28th, 2010Via: Treehugger:
I don’t know if we should be flattered or scared: It’s come to TreeHugger’s attention that Coal Country, a documentary which originally aired on Planet Green’s Reel Impact series of programing last November, was singled out at the time as a potential security threat by the Pennsylvania Department of Homeland Security…
Afghanistan: Russia Steps in to Help NATO
October 28th, 2010Rare earth minerals for everyone who helps NATO steal them.
In other news: Coalition Win Impossible: Gorbachev.
Via: Independent:
Russia has agreed to return to the war in Afghanistan at the request of the Western states which helped the mujahedin to drive its forces out of the country 21 years ago.
The Independent has learnt that Moscow is engaged in training the Afghan army and counter-narcotics troops and has agreed in principle to supply Nato with several dozen helicopters for use in Afghanistan.
A number of aircraft have already been sold to Poland, a member of the US-led coalition, for use in the conflict. Now Nato is in talks with the Russians over direct supplies of more helicopters, training the pilots, and allowing arms and ammunition to be transported through Russian territory as an alternative to a Pakistani route which has come under repeated Taliban attack.
A groundbreaking agreement with Russia on the issue is likely to be announced at the Nato summit next month in Lisbon, which is due to be attended by President Dmitry Medvedev.
World’s Fastest Supercomputer… Is In China
October 28th, 2010Via: Nvidia Press Release:
Tianhe-1A, a new supercomputer revealed today at HPC 2010 China, has set a new performance record of 2.507 petaflops, as measured by the LINPACK benchmark, making it the fastest system in China and in the world today.
…
Tianhe-1A was designed by the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) in China. The system is housed at National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin and is already fully operational.
The Disturbing Actroid-F Robot
October 28th, 2010Via: Plastic Pals:
AIST opened the doors of their lab for a couple of days (October 14th ~ 15th) to show off their robotics development and middleware. On display was the Actroid-F, developed by Kokoro Co. Ltd. and ATR. The operator’s facial expressions and head movements are tracked and replicated by the robot. The android is being positioned as an observer in hospitals to gauge patient reactions. However, despite the advances made in the last few years such as reducing the cost by a third by eliminating redundant actuators, it can’t escape the uncanny valley. The jerky head movements are particularly unnerving, but not to worry; its legs don’t actually work, so it can’t get up and chase you.
Woman Kills Baby Because He Cried While She Played Farmville (A Game on Facebook)
October 28th, 2010Via: Florida Times Union:
A Jacksonville mother charged with shaking her baby to death has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Alexandra V. Tobias, 22, was arrested after the January death of 3-month-old Dylan Lee Edmondson. She told investigators she became angry because the baby was crying while she was playing a computer game called Farmville on the Facebook social-networking website.
Tobias entered her plea Wednesday before Circuit Judge Adrian G. Soud. A second-degree murder charge is punishable by up to life in prison.
Related:
Woman Neglected Children, Let Dogs Die of Starvation As She Played Video Game
Baby Dies as Parents Raise Virtual Child Online
