Author: Sunfire

RT News

Members of the House Intelligence Committee accepted amendments to the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act Wednesday, voting to include the new provisions by an 18-2 margin after a closed door meeting.

Members of the House Intelligence Committee accepted amendments to the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act Wednesday, voting to include the new provisions by an 18-2 margin after a closed door meeting. It puts the bill back on the table for consideration after failing last year.   Continue reading “Amended CISPA moves to House after closed-door vote”

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An Arkansas state attorney general has announced that the ExxonMobil pipeline rupture that has leaked thousands of barrels of oil in central Arkansas is “substantially larger” than initially believed, but that the size of the leak still remains unknown.

Cleanup crews have already recovered about 28,200 barrels of ‘oily water’ and 2,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and debris, but may still have a long way to go before all of the 22 residents evacuated from Mayflower, Arkansas, can return to their homes.   Continue reading “Arkansas ExxonMobil oil spill even worse than thought”

RT News

A trove of leaked classified reports has confirmed what many had suspected – US drone kills in Pakistan are not the precision strikes against top-level al-Qaeda terrorists they are portrayed as by the Obama administration.

Instead, many of the attacks are aimed at suspected low-level tribal militants, who may pose no direct danger to the United States – and for many there appears to be little evidence to justify the assassinations.   Continue reading “Leaked report: Nearly half of US drone strikes in Pakistan not against al-Qaeda”

RT News

A North Korean missile launcher has moved into the firing position with rockets facing skyward, Kyodo reports, citing a Japan defense official.

The Japanese government is on high alert, citing indications that Pyongyang might soon launch ballistic missiles at its island neighbor.   Continue reading “N. Korean missile launchpad moved into firing position – report”

Mail.com

AMSTERDAM (AP) — If you’ve worked in an office, you’re probably familiar with the soft glow of fluorescent tubes drifting from the ceiling. If Europe’s Philips brand is right, those lamps could soon be history.

Royal Philips NV, the Dutch consumer appliances giant, said Thursday that it has developed an LED light that will soon be far more efficient than the best fluorescents on the market. That should make it cheaper and greener, as well.   Continue reading “Goodbye fluorescent bulb? Philips says yes.”

Mail.com

ROME, Maine (AP) — A man who lived like a hermit for decades in a makeshift camp in the woods and may be responsible for more than 1,000 burglaries for food and other staples has been caught in a surveillance trap at a camp he treated as a “Walmart,” authorities said Wednesday.

Christopher Knight, 47, was arrested last week when he tripped a surveillance sensor set up by a game warden while stealing food from a camp for people with special needs in Rome, a town of about 1,000 whose population swells with the arrival of summer residents.   Continue reading “Maine hermit living in wild for 27 years arrested”

RT News

The 11 largest drug companies have made $711 billion in profits in just a decade, largely due to overcharging Medicare, which does not seek out competitive prices and uses taxpayer funds to support Big Pharma.

Since Medicare is prohibited from purchasing drugs based on their cost, its prescription drug program has been making large payouts to drug companies that have overcharged the program for years, according to an analysis by Health Care for America Now (HCAN).   Continue reading “Big Pharma made $711 bln overcharging seniors and disabled”

RT News

Eurozone unemployment levels have hit 12 percent – the highest in the history of eurozone record-keeping, since the currency was launched in 1999.

The average unemployment rate across the eurozone’s 17 constituent European Union countries rose from January’s initial 11.9 percent high to 12 percent in February, meaning a further 33,000 people were put out of work. Overall, 19.071 million are jobless across Europe.   Continue reading “Eurozone unemployment hits all-time high: 19 million out of work”

RT News

The eight-wheeled Stryker armored vehicle, which enjoyed a visible role during the US mission in Iraq, is now the subject of reports of a badly managed maintenance program that is likely to cost taxpayers something around a billion dollars.

According to Washington State’s Tacoma News Tribune, nearly $900 million worth of parts accumulated at an Auburn, Washington warehouse, essentially collecting dust as they were never installed on General Dynamic’s Strykers deployed overseas – if they were ever needed in the first place.   Continue reading “US Army accumulates $900 million in useless, obsolete parts”

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A federal judge has ruled that Stockton, California will be allowed to enter bankruptcy. The city, located near San Francisco and home to 300,000, is the largest yet in the US to file for bankruptcy, marking a new low point in a trend sweeping California.

US Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein ruled Monday that Stockton would be allowed to begin reorganizing its debt in order to continue carrying out “its obligations to its citizens on fundamental public safety as well as other basic government services.”   Continue reading “California city becomes America’s largest, latest to enter bankruptcy”

RT News

A Chinese frigate has locked weapon-targeting radar on a Japanese guard vessel in the area of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, said Japan’s Defense Ministry. The islands are the subject of a territorial row between Beijing and Tokyo.

The incident occurred at the end of January, but took time to confirm. Japan’s Foreign Ministry sent a formal protest to China on Tuesday in connection with the incident. Continue reading “Chinese frigate targets Japanese guard ship near disputed islands”

RT News 

US senators have requested the legal justification for the killings of US citizens suspected of terrorism by the Obama administration. Meanwhile a ‘chilling’ leaked memo showed that the government sees little need for constraint on the issue.

A group of 11 senators on Monday wrote a letter to President Barack Obama, asking him to release all Justice Department memos on the practice of targeting US citizens suspected of being terrorist leaders with lethal force, particularly drone airstrikes. The request comes as the administration seeks Senate approval for John Brennan, Obama’s nomination for CIA chief. Continue reading “Senators ask Obama for legal basis for targeted killings of Americans”

RT News

At least 54 countries including Syria, Iran, Sweden, Iceland, and UK offered CIA “covert support” to detain, transport, interrogate and torture suspects in the years following the 9/11 attacks, according to a new report.

The 213-page report released by the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), a New York-based human rights organization, documents wide-ranging international involvement in the American campaign against Al-Qaeda. Continue reading “54 countries helped CIA to kidnap, detain and torture – report”

Continue reading “Iran rolls out bold design for homemade fighter jets”

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North Korea has announced it’s about to carry out a third nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, which it says are designed to target the United States.

“We are not disguising the fact that the various satellites and long-range rockets that we will fire and the high-level nuclear test we will carry out are aimed at the United States,” North Korea’s National Defense Commission says. Continue reading “North Korea plans new nuclear test, threatens to target US”

Mail.com

AYUTLA, Mexico (AP) — The young man at the roadside checkpoint wept softly behind the red bandanna that masked his face. At his side was a relic revolver, and his feet were shod in the muddy, broken boots of a farmer.

Haltingly, he told how his cousin’s body was found in a mass grave with about 40 other victims of a drug gang. Apparently, the cousin had caught a ride with an off-duty soldier and when gunmen stopped the vehicle, they killed everyone on the car.
Continue reading “In Mexico, self-defense squads battle violence”

RT News

Russia is to start building two new advanced nuclear-powered Borei class submarines before year’s end. Once complete, they will be lurking under the sea with 20 Bulava nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles each.

One of the submarines may be named Aleksandr Suvorov after one of the most decorated generals of the Russian Empire, a source in the defense industry told the media. Its construction is expected to start on July 28, which is Russian Navy Day.
Continue reading “Russia to start building 2 nuclear Borei super-subs in 2013”