Year: 2014

Watchdog – by Eric Boehm

Government employees and politicians get preferential treatment from the Transportation Security Administration simply for being government employees and politicians.

Meanwhile, everyone else is stuck in an “aviation security caste system” based on dozens of watchlists compiled by the TSA, FBI and other law enforcement agencies, along with a secret formula the TSA believes can sort passengers based on hypothetical analyses and conjecture.   Continue reading “Government employees and politicians get special status from TSA”

RT

The United States has a plan to fight the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant diseases. But some experts believe that by not focusing those that ingest most of these drugs – farm animals – humanity could face a huge problem in the future.

Roughly 80 percent of all antibiotics in the US are used on farm animals, according to the Verge. With livestock consuming the vast majority of antibiotics, the bacteria found inside the animals gradually develop resistance against the drugs when they are not administered in strong enough doses – meaning they also become much harder to treat in humans if and when the bacteria are transferred.    Continue reading “Farmacology: Disease researchers say Obama’s antibiotic resistance plan should target livestock”

RT

A bill preventing paparazzi from targeting celebrities with camera-equipped drones has been signed by California Governor Jerry Brown, just days after he was criticized for shooting down a bill requiring police to obtain a warrant to use a drone.

The law, approved on Tuesday, bans the use of a drone to capture images and record voices of people who did not give their permission for it.    Continue reading “California governor outlaws paparazzi drones, days after approving police UAVs”

Mail.com

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban suicide bombers struck two buses carrying Afghan soldiers in Kabul early Wednesday, killing seven people and wounding 21, just a day after the signing of a key U.S.-Afghan security pact.

The long-awaited deal allows U.S. forces to remain in the country past the end of 2014, ending the uncertainty over the fate of foreign troops supporting Afghans as they take over the fight against the Taliban insurgency.   Continue reading “Taliban suicide bombers kill 7 in Kabul, wound 21”

Mail.com

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Mohamed Mohamud, the young Somali American convicted of trying to bomb Portland’s downtown square while it was filled with holiday cheer, will learn Wednesday if he gets to leave prison before he’s an old man.

Mohamud, 23, could get life in prison at Wednesday’s hearing in U.S. District Court, but federal prosecutors recommend a 40-year sentence. The Somali American was arrested Nov. 26, 2010, after pressing a keypad button on a cellphone that he believed would trigger a bomb where thousands of people gathered for the annual lighting of a Christmas tree.   Continue reading “Judge to sentence man in tree-lighting terror case”

Natural News – by Ethan A. Huff

In a bid to contain the rapidly escalating Ebola epidemic, Sierra Leone recently instituted a three-day quarantine during which time the nation’s residents were told to stay at home to avoid infection. But as we reported, this mandatory lockdown resulted in major food shortages in many parts of the country, turning an otherwise benevolent effort into the equivalent of forced genocide.

After urging people to stay home for their own safety, and promising to provide necessary rations, Sierra Leone’s government had trouble actually following through with this plan. Part of this was due to the fact that, because of the shutdown, the transport of food and other necessary supplies came to a grinding halt, resulting in immediate shortages.   Continue reading “Ebola quarantine zones quickly become starvation death traps”

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BATR – by James Hall

Seldom does the enormous bond market turn on the fate of a single trader. Well, the news that Bill Gross was leaving Pimco under suspicious circumstances did not go unnoticed. The WSJ writes:

“The yield on the 10-year benchmark Treasury note was hovering around 2.506% immediately before the disclosure that Mr. Gross was leaving the hundreds-of-billions of dollars in Treasurys and other debt he oversaw at Pimco to go to rival firm Janus Capital Group Inc.   Continue reading “How stable is the Bond Market?”

Yahoo News

Seoul (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, who has not been seen for nearly a month due to apparent health problems, sent a congratulatory message to China on its national day Wednesday, state media said.

Kim was last seen in public on September 3. A rare admission from North Korea that he was suffering “discomfort” has triggered frenzied speculation about his health and close scrutiny of any mention of the young leader in state media.   Continue reading “Ailing North Korea leader sends message to China”

The Daily Beast – by Josh Rogin

Last week, an airstrike from the American-led coalition nearly hit a command-and-control facility affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, the moderate rebels the Obama administration says are America’s “boots on the ground,” according to two opposition leaders. They are asking the Obama administration to please coordinate with them in the future before America bombs its only allies in Syria.

Since U.S. airstrikes against ISIS in Syria began on Sept. 22, there has been no coordination between the U.S. military and its alleged partners on the ground, according to FSA leaders, civilian opposition leaders, and intelligence sources who have been briefed on the U.S. and allied military operation. It’s this lack of communication that led to an airstrike that hit only 200 meters from an FSA facility in the suburbs of Idlib. One source briefed on the incident said multiple FSA fighters were killed in the attack.   Continue reading “America’s Allies Almost Bombed in Syrian Airstrikes”

Yahoo News – by JIM KUHNHENN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is initiating a program to give refugee status to some young people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in response to the influx of unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Under the program, immigrants from those countries who are lawfully in the United States will be able to request that child relatives still in those three countries be resettled in the United States as refugees. The program would establish in-country processing to screen the young people to determine if they qualify to join relatives in the U.S.   Continue reading “Refugee plan set up for Central American minors”

Breitbart – by ADELLE NAZARIAN

Following news Tuesday of the first confirmed Ebola case in the United States, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, issued a statement calling for the mobilization and amplification of efforts from the United States and the international community to aid West Africa in order to prevent the spread of the deadly hemorrhagic virus:

Communicable diseases do not stop at borders. While the likelihood of a major outbreak in the United States is still very unlikely, with this case, it is more clear than ever that the rapid spread of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone presents a clear and present danger not only to West Africa, but to the broader international community. Continue reading “‘Clear and Present Danger’: CA’s Royce Warns on Ebola”

AlterNet – by Andrew Nikiforuk

In the slums of Monrovia, where the Ebola virus has spun out of control, health authorities have now provided citizens with a new version of the 10 commandments.

The alarming protocol speaks volumes about the deadly pace of an evolving epidemic that has unsettled West Africa, and will have global implications if the virus reaches the urban slums of India or China.

Given that barely 18 per cent of infected patients ever make it to a hospital, most Liberians now struggle or die with the disease at home. The sick die in pools of shit, vomit and blood.   Continue reading “The Ten Commandments of Ebola – Where the Choices Can Be Life or Death”

Burlington Free Press – by Sam Hemingway

A Vermont State Police trooper pulled over and later impounded a car in March, never charging the driver with any crime but requiring him to pay the cost of having the car towed away, a newly filed lawsuit claims.

The traffic stop, conducted by Trooper Lewis Hatch, was initiated because snow obscured a small part of the license plate, although that is not a motor vehicle offense, the lawsuit alleged.   Continue reading “ACLU accuses state police of improper stop”