Author: Sunfire

RT News

American immigration officials have deported one of the dozens of activists taken into custody last month while protesting current US immigration policy.

Rocio Hernandez Perez was one of 34 immigrants who attempted to cross into the US on September 30, knowing they were not authorized to live in the country. Perez, like the majority of the group, came to the states illegally as a child and had spent most of her life there.   Continue reading “Dreamer activist deported after protesting US immigration policy”

RT News

The research and development arm of the US Department of Defense plans to establish drone-mounted laser weapons, a scheme referred to as ‘Project Endurance’ in the agency’s 2014 budget request.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seeks to produce “technology for pod-mounted lasers to protect a variety of airborne platforms from emerging and legacy EO/IR [electro-optical and infrared] guided surface-to-air missiles.”   Continue reading “DARPA developing drone-mounted lasers to shoot down missiles”

RT News

After suffering numerous problems with the latest class of surface warships, the Navy is hoping for a win with the introduction of the largest destroyer in United States history.

On Monday, the Navy launched the new USS Zumwalt into Maine’s Kennebec River for the first time. Originally designed simply for shore bombardment, the ship is now intended to serve multiple purposes, including backing up Marines on clandestine missions.   Continue reading “US Navy gets largest and most expensive destroyer ever”

RT News

Military personnel are increasingly turning to liposuction in order to pass the Pentagon’s body fat test in an effort to maintain future prospects amid a budget-cutting environment.

US service members say that the test used by the Defense Department measures the neck and waist to estimate body fat, which can easily lead weed out muscular or bulky physiques in addition to flabbier ones.   Continue reading “US military personnel increasingly choosing liposuction to beat body fat tests”

RT News

An Oakland, CA activist says local police officers sent surveillance footage of him participating in a protest last week to his employer, resulting in his firing Monday.

The activist, who goes by @Anon4Justice on Twitter, tweeted the details Monday morning in what appears to be police use of surveillance footage in combination with private and public records that identified @Anon4Justice and led to his employer.   Continue reading “Oakland activist allegedly fired after police tracked him at protest, alerted his employer”

RT News

Ten car bombs ripped through the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing at least 42 and wounding dozens more, officials said. A separate blast targeting soldiers in the northern city of Mosul reportedly killed 14 more, bringing Sunday’s death toll to 56.

Nine of the blasts targeted predominantly Shiite Muslim districts over the course of half an hour, police said.    Continue reading “56 killed in day of carnage as 11 car bombs rip through Iraq”

RT News

The world’s first bitcoin ATM will open in Vancouver, Canada, next week – dispensing Canadian dollars in exchange for the anonymous crypto-currency. But only if your palm scan matches the ATM’s records, that is.

The machine will be set up near downtown Vancouver coffee house Waves, is one of five ATMs bought by Canadian firm Bitcoiniacs from Nevada-based producer Robocoin.    Continue reading “Cash-for-bitcoins: World’s first palm scan-activated bitcoin ATM to open in Canada”

RT News

By 2030, more than half of Americans could be obese, taxing the nation’s health while costing the country $500 billion in lost economic productivity. The food industry, however, is doing its best to keep the public hooked – no matter what the price.

With one out of three adults clinically obese and 40 percent of children officially overweight, the US is the fattest country in the developed world. The burgeoning public health crisis will see instances of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer skyrocket over the next two decades, taking an already strained healthcare system to breaking point.    Continue reading “Battle of the bulge: US food corporations fueling obesity epidemic with addictive ingredients”

RT News

Hi-tech weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin presented its latest effort in surveillance technology this week – a web of self-organising sensors with the ability to trigger any kind of device from a distance and have it operating autonomously.

The presentation took place at the annual meeting of The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) that took place Monday through Wednesday.    Continue reading “Rock, paper, surveillance: US Army investing in smarter ‘spy rocks’”

RT News

US authorities have reported their largest-ever Bitcoin bust amounting to $28 million of the digital currency. It was seized from the owner of the controversial Silk Road website, which was shut down three weeks ago.

A Friday statement by federal prosecutors in New York details the seizure of 144,336 bitcoins, which were discovered on the computer belonging to Silk Road founder Ross William Ulbricht, alias “Dread Pirate Roberts,” Reuters reports. Ulbricht was arrested Oct. 1 in San Francisco on several charges of conspiracy.    Continue reading “FBI makes record $28 million Bitcoin bust”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The $5.1 billion that JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay hardly ends its legal troubles over mortgage securities it sold.

It’s merely a down payment. JPMorgan still faces heavy financial burdens. The bank has set aside $23 billion to cover legal costs — and it may need it all. In a statement Friday night, JPMorgan called its latest settlement an “important step” toward resolving allegations over mortgage-backed securities it sold. The $5.1 billion would resolve federal claims that it misled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about risky home loans and securities they bought before the housing market collapsed.   Continue reading “JPMorgan’s $5B settlement doesn’t end its troubles”

RT News

Los Angeles is considering a ban on the cultivation, sale and distribution of genetically modified organisms, which would make the city the largest GMO-free zone in the US.

Los Angeles City Councilmen Paul Koretz and Mitch O’Farrell introduced Friday a motion to curb growth and proliferation of GMO seeds and plants within the city.    Continue reading “Los Angeles may become largest GMO-free area in the US”

RT News

Pakistan’s top officials have not only had knowledge of the US drone program that is now deeply unpopular in the country, but have quietly been authorizing it for years, according to a report based on classified documents and internal Pakistani memos.

The Washington Post published a report Wednesday describing a top-secret Central Intelligence Agency file which, using maps and aerial photos taken between 2008 and 2011, details dozens of drone attacks.   Continue reading “CIA consulted with Pakistani government in conducting drone strikes – report”

RT News

NASA has just set a new record for communication speeds in space by firing lasers at the moon and achieving download speeds five times faster than via the radio signals we currently employ for the task.

The information beamed by lasers on Earth was sent to a probe named Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), launched last month with the aim of measuring the Moon’s hardly evident atmosphere while orbiting it. Aboard that probe are a series of lasers mounted onto the outer hull.   Continue reading “NASA hails new era of laser-fast interplanetary internet”

NJ.com

TOMS RIVER — An encampment of homeless people in the woods near the Jersey shore will gradually be phased out as its 80 or so occupants are given at least a year of housing under an agreement reached today.

The deal would eliminate the need for Lakewood’s so-called Tent City and end a seven-year dispute about local governments’ responsibility to care for the poor.   Continue reading “Judge: Homeless at Lakewood’s Tent City will be offered indoor housing instead of evicted”

RT News

Despite President Obama’s assurance that the troubled HealthCare.gov website is currently undergoing fixes, Consumer Reports is suggesting people “stay away” from the federal online marketplace for another month.

According to the organization’s verdict, the amount of problems cropping up means the “Obamacare” website isn’t worth the hassle of wrestling with until it’s functioning properly.   Continue reading “Consumer Reports: Stay away from healthcare.gov for at least another month”

Mail.com

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — When Charlie Worboys lost his job, he feared searching for a new one at his age might be tough. Six years later, at 65, he’s still looking.

Luanne Lynch, 57, was laid off three times in the past decade and previous layoffs brought jobs with a lower salary; this time she can’t even get that. They’re not alone. A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds many people over 50 reporting great difficulty finding work and feeling that their age is a factor.   Continue reading “For jobless over 50, a challenging search for work”

RT News

The US Supreme Court announced Monday that it will consider a challenge from a Florida man who was ruled mentally disabled in 1992 but was later found competent enough to be executed after scoring the state minimum on an IQ test.

The high court will test whether Florida used a lawful process to determine if convicted murderer Freddie Lee Hall, who is awaiting execution pending the appeals process, was in fact not mentally disabled.    Continue reading “Supreme Court will hear challenge to IQ threshold for death penalty”

RT News

CryptoSeal, a virtual private network that has guaranteed its customers would be insulated from internet surveillance, announced that it will close down rather than risk exposure to government monitoring and the costly fees that accompany compliance.

CryptoSeal issued a Monday statement indicating that the company will still offer its VPN for businesses, but its customer-only service will no longer be available. For a small fee, an individual user can establish their own encrypted internet connection through a VPN service and reroute all of their traffic through that point.   Continue reading “CryptoSeal VPN service opts to close down rather than grant NSA access”