Author: Paul

All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff, Danny Biederman

In spite of an $80-million investment in building incinerators for hazardous waste disposal in Afghanistan, the U.S. military left many of them unused, resulting in increased use of open-air burn pits whose dangerous fumes put thousands of soldiers and civilians at risk.

The repeated use by the U.S. military of burn pits to dispose of solid and hazardous wastes—from batteries, plastics and aerosol cans to tires and entire vehicles—was one of the foulest stories to come out of the Afghanistan war. The practice produced acrid smoke and exposed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilian personnel to toxic fumes that have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, cardiopulmonary diseases and reduced lung function.   Continue reading “U.S. Waste Disposal in Afghanistan: Unused Incinerators and Open-Air Burn Pits”

Reason – by J.D. Tuccille

Cops in Big Sky Country aren’t happy about it, but Montana lawmakers look ready to ban the use of license plate cameras by government agencies to track motorists’ movements. The legislative move comes after a stream of revelations of local, state, and federal tracking and databasing of Americans’ movements by car, without cause or warrant.

A year ago, the Department of Homeland Security killed a solicitation for bids to establish and maintain “a National License Plate Recognition (NLPR) database service” after a chorus of public outrage. The DHS plan may actually have been duplication of effort, since the DEA already has a national license plate scanning system maintained with the cooperation of local police. If passed, the Montana measure couldn’t block such efforts from D.C., but it would prevent agencies within the state from contributing to those schemes. Continue reading “Ban on Government License Plate Cameras Nears in Montana”

The Watchers

A dangerous Tropical Cyclone “Lam” formed in the Arafura Sea, between Australia and Indonesian New Guinea, on February 16, 2015. The system is expected to make landfall in Northern Territory, Australia on February 18 or 19 as a powerful Category 4 storm on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale.

There is already significant rainfall, around the 20 – 50 mm range, and there will be much heavier falls along the coast as the cyclone nears and intensifies over the next 36 hours to a peak intensity of about 166 km/h (103 mph).   Continue reading “Dangerous Tropical Cyclone “Lam” formed near Northern Territory, Australia”

The New American – by Alex Newman

Over the last decade in the United States, the deaths of over 100 children — at the very least — have been linked to receiving a measles vaccine, compared with zero children dying from the disease itself, according to the U.S. government’s own compiled data. Put another way, an American child would have been infinitely more likely to die after receiving a measles shot, percentage-wise, than from getting the actual measles disease in the last ten years. Thousands more have suffered from adverse reactions to the measles shot and other vaccines. The explosive numbers have massive implications for public health efforts, analysts said.   Continue reading “Over 100 Measles Vaccine Deaths, Zero Measles Deaths, Since ’04”

All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff, Danny Biederman

Perhaps the most questionable statistic to come out of the air war against ISIS so far is one that actually doesn’t exist, officially.

To date, no civilian casualties have been recorded, according to the U.S. military. That’s because American commanders aren’t counting them.

Lieutenant-General James L. Terry, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, has said that his people were “tracking no civilian casualties.”   Continue reading “In Battle against ISIS, U.S. Reverts to Not Counting Civilian Casualties”

Opposing Views – by Michael Allen

While politicians warn America every day of an impending attack by the terrorist group ISIS, police in the U.S. are killing one American every 8 hours.

According to the online database Killed By Police, 136 people have been killed by American police from Jan. 1 to Feb.15. The database is citizen-run because there is no federal law requiring local police departments to report how many people they kill.   Continue reading “Police Have Killed One American Every 8 Hours In 2015”

Business Insider – by Joseph Menn, Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate,Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world’s computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives.

That long-sought and closely guarded ability was part of a cluster of spying programs discovered by Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based security software maker that has exposed a series of Western cyberespionage operations.   Continue reading “Huge Spy Program Exposed: NSA has hidden software in hard drives around the world”

Breitbart – by CHARLIE SPIERING

First Lady Michelle Obama missed out on President Obama’s Valentine’s Day golfing weekend in sunny California, but it appears that she has her own trip planned for next month.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, the First Lady and her daughters Sasha and Malia will be traveling to Japan for a visit in March.

The trio will visit Tokyo and Kyoto, according to her schedule.   Continue reading “Michelle Obama Plans Spring Break In Japan With Sasha And Malia”

Prevent Disease – by JOE BATTAGLIA

It’s bad enough when core temperatures reach down to bone-chilling temperature, but when wind-chill comes into the picture, it can be devastating for the human body if left unprotected. Here are five terrible things extreme cold does to a human being.   Continue reading “Protecting Yourself From 4 Horrible Consequences of Extreme Cold”

The Watchers

A strong explosive eruption occurred at the Chikurachki volcano located on the Paramushir island, Northern Kuriles, Russia around 22:00 UTC on February 15, 2015. The last eruption of this volcano occurred in 2008.

Ash plume produced by the eruption reached an estimated altitude of 7.5 km a.s.l. It drifted west to a distance of more than 200 km. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Orange.   Continue reading “Strong explosive eruption of Chikurachki volcano, Northern Kuriles, Russia”

Yahoo Finance – by Michael Santoli

American savers have had it hard enough, earning next to nothing on bank deposits and money market funds. But could it get worse, with banks here charging depositors interest to hold their money and high-quality bonds yielding nothing at all?  

It might seem a curious question, given broad expectations for higher U.S. interest rates, as job growth gathers momentum and the Federal Reserve has openly hinted it is eager to end its seven-year policy of near-zero short-term interest rates.
Continue reading “Negative interest rates: Coming to America?”

RT

An earthquake measuring at 6.9 magnitude has struck off Honshu island in northern Japan, prompting a tsunami advisory which anticipated waves of up to 1m in height in Iwate Prefecture. People in some coastal areas have been advised to leave their homes.

The quake was recorded at around 8 am local time at a depth of approximately 10 kilometers. The epicenter was located off the Sanriku Coast, extending from southern Aomori prefecture, through Iwate prefecture and northern Miyagi prefecture.The strong quake could even be felt in in Tokyo, 690 kilometers away from the epicenter.   Continue reading “Tsunami & evacuation warnings after M6.9 offshore quake in Japan”

RT

In a move that could have ramifications for domestic anti-terrorism efforts, US House Speaker John Boehner said he would let funding for the Department of Homeland Security lapse on Feb. 27 in order to reverse Obama’s immigration reform actions.

House Republicans have passed a Homeland Security appropriations bill, but it is contingent upon defunding Obama’s 2012 and 2014 executive orders that negated the threat of deportation for an estimated five million undocumented immigrants seeking refuge in the United States.   Continue reading “Dept. of Homeland Security shutdown looms, would idle 15% of workforce”

Graham Cluley

This weekend, the New York Times published details of a high-tech criminal campaign which saw banks in Russia, Japan, Europe and the United States hit by a major malware attack and the theft of millions of dollars.

The story, which emerged from a Kaspersky report that was shared with the newspaper before its official publication, naturally received the attention of others in the media:   Continue reading “High-tech hackers stole $300 million from 100 banks, claims report”