navy blimpWhen we already have dozens of satellites in space and Google Earth, why would the Navy be using a blimp to do mapping? This looks like surveillance to me.

CBS Baltimore

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — You may have noticed an unusual sight over the Baltimore area in the last few days—a Navy balloon hovering in the sky.   Continue reading “Eye In The Sky: Navy Research Blimp Hovering Over Maryland”

PHOTO: Grasshoppers at a market near Oaxaca, Mex.ABC News

Chew on this.

A team of MBA students were the recipients of the 2013 Hult Prize earlier this week, providing them with $1 million in seed money to produce an insect-based, protein-rich flour for feeding malnourished populations in other countries. The product is called Power Flour.

“It’s a huge deal because we had a very ambitious but highly executable five-year plan in place,” said team captain Mohammed Ashour, whose team hails from McGill University in Montreal. “So winning this prize is a great step in that direction.”   Continue reading “Flour Made From Insects Will Feed Underfed Populations”

Pope John Paul IIThe Guardian – by Sam Jones and Lizzy Davies

John XXIII, the pontiff who called the landmark second Vatican council, and John Paul II, who crisscrossed the globe during his 26 years as leader of the Roman Catholic church, will be declared saints in April in a historic ceremony that could be attended by their two living successors.

The announcement of the date for the canonisations had been expected since July, when Pope Francis approved a second miracle attributed to John Paul, clearing the path for the fastest canonisation in modern times.   Continue reading “Popes John Paul II and John XXIII to become saints”

The Daily Caller – by Sarah Hurtubise

President Barack Obama famously promised, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” He later got even more specific.

“If you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have,” Obama said.   Continue reading “Ten states where Obamacare wipes out existing health care plans”

Army Times – by Antonieta Rico

Fort Hood service members who refuse to show identification to law enforcement officers can face action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to a policy issued by the 1st Cavalry Division commander Sept. 5.

Texas state law requires people to identify themselves to police only if they are legally arrested. But the Fort Hood policy requires soldiers to show their ID to law enforcement whenever they are asked to do so by authorities.   Continue reading “Fort Hood soldiers can face UCMJ if they won’t show ID to cops”

MassPrivateI

Since 2010, the National Security Agency has been exploiting its huge collections of data to create sophisticated graphs of some Americans’ social connections that can identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, according to newly disclosed documents and interviews with officials.   Continue reading “The NSA is gathering your social-networking connections, what about the FBI?”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — New York is indeed an expensive place, but experts say that alone doesn’t explain a recent report that found the city’s annual cost per inmate was $167,731 last year — nearly as much as it costs to pay for four years of tuition at an Ivy League university.

They say a big part of it is due to New York’s most notorious lockup, Rikers Island, and the costs that go along with staffing, maintaining and securing a facility that is literally an island unto itself.   Continue reading “NYC inmate almost as costly as Ivy League tuition”

Information Clearinghouse – by UPI

TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 27 (UPI) — Israel’s military chiefs are pushing for a bump in the $3.1 billion a year the Jewish state receives in U.S. military aid even though the 10-year agreement doesn’t expire until 2017 and America is struggling with domestic economic issues.

Among other things, the Israelis are citing a 2008 U.S. law that for the first time legally committed Washington to maintain the Jewish state’s technological superiority — its Qualitative Military Edge, or QME, in military terminology — over its regional adversaries, particularly Iran, which has been pursuing nuclear technology.  Continue reading “Israel Starts Campaign to Boost U.S. Military Aid”

The Daily Caller – by Michael Bastasch

Not all scientists are panicking about global warming — one of them finds the alarmism “hilarious.”

A top climate scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology lambasted a new report by the UN’s climate bureaucracy that blamed mankind as the main cause of global warming and whitewashed the fact that there has been a hiatus in warming for the last 15 years.   Continue reading “Top MIT scientist: Newest UN climate report is ‘hilariously’ flawed”

Russian servicemen gear up at a military ground southeast of Minsk, September 25, 2013. (REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko)Blouin News – by Mark Galeotti

Every two years, Russia holds massive military exercises in its north-western territories that open a window onto its strategic thinking and combat capabilities. September’s demonstrated both a growing aggression in Russian military posture, as well as an underlying strategy to keep the West off-balance.

The latest of these Zapad (“West”) exercises were amongst the biggest yet, a six-day event running until September 26 involving ground, air and sea forces from Russia and its ally Belarus. The exercises were run in Belarus, near the Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian borders, and in Russia’s Kaliningrad territory, between Poland and Lithuania.   Continue reading “Russian troops wargame invasion of Europe for political gain”

robotNatural News – by Mike Adams

As much as seventy percent of the human race will become obsolete within just three generations. Why? Because robotics technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that highly-capable humanoid robots with advanced vision recognition and motor coordination systems are going to take over most menial labor jobs.

Supporting this conclusion, a new study just released by Oxford scientists concludes that 47% of all jobs are “at risk” of being replaced by automation systems and robots in just one generation (roughly 20 years). But this is just the opening chapter of the robotics revolution that will rapidly make human labor all but obsolete.   Continue reading “Robotics revolution to replace most human workers in three generations; labor class to be systematically eliminated”

Who says crime doesn’t pay?

The Telegraph – by Edward Malnick, and Robert Mendick

The former prime minister has taken to criss-crossing the globe in a bespoke aircraft that comes complete with state room, lounge, kitchen and crew.

Precisely how frequently he uses the Bombardier Global Express is hard to discern, since flight records are kept secret. But certainly for the past month it has been Mr Blair’s preferred mode of travel.   Continue reading “Former prime minister Tony gets a £30m Blair Force One”

Punch – by ENYIOHA OPARA, MINNA

BARELY one week after Niger State Government threatened to jail anybody who refused to allow polio vaccine to be administered on his or her child, 120 persons have been arrested for contravening the directive.

The Director of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Shehu Yabagi, who disclosed this to newsmen in Minna on Tuesday, said among the arrested persons were those who had consistently opposed the polio vaccine immunisation exercise in the state.   Continue reading “120 arrested for refusing polio vaccine in Niger”

Girl, 3, brings 13 bags of pot to schoolNew York Post – by Dana Sauchelli and Natasha Velez

This was no Micky Mouse comedy act.

A three-year-old girl brought 13 bags of marijuana to a Harlem school in a pink Minnie Mouse backpack Friday after she was set up by a family friend, law enforcement sources said.

Kelly Mena, 24, slipped the reefer into the pink backpack and sent the tot to the Early Life school on West 147th St. near Eighth Avenue, law enforcement sources said.   Continue reading “Girl, 3, brings 13 bags of pot to school”

Fakest of the fake? Barack Obama's Twitter following includes 19.5 million people who don't exist, and the first lady has 1.9 million nonexistent fans of her ownDaily Mail – by DAVID MARTOSKO

Among influential U.S. political tweeters, President Barack Obama is the undisputed king of the fake followers. A MailOnline analysis ranks his sizable Twitter following as the most deceptive total among the 21 most influential accounts run by American politicians: More than 19.5 million of his 36.9 million Twitter followers are accounts that don’t correspond to real people.

The four phoniest accounts in the sample, which included Democratic and Republican Party leaders in Washington, D.C., were those belonging to President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, first lady Michelle Obama and the White House communications shop.   Continue reading “Barack Obama is political king of the fake Twitter followers, with more than 19.5 MILLION online fans who don’t really exist”

imageZero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

The situation in Italy appears to be going from bad to worse. With a confidence vote pending for Tuesday as the government dissolves into chaos for the umpteenth time, and following the resignation of the CEO of one of Italy’s largest non-financial corporations (Telecom Italia), the largest bank (by assets) in Italy – Intesa SanPaolo has announced – effective immediately – the resignation of its CEO and replacement with Carlo Messina. According to sources, the now former CEO had lost the confidence of shareholders (which is odd given the bank’s stock is near 2-year highs). We can’t help but wonder Ayn Rand-like at the devolution of the ruling class in Italy and what happens next (in light of the crumbling manufacturing and production data).   Continue reading “CEO Of Italy’s Largest Bank Surprisingly Resigns”