Month: January 2015

WTOP

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has permanently shut down a cellphone spyware app called “StealthGenie” that exposed targets to having their calls and emails monitored without their knowledge.

Judge Leonie (LAY-uh-nee) Brinkema in Alexandria issued a permanent injunction shutting down StealthGenie on Tuesday. That follows a temporary injunction issued last year.   Continue reading “Judge permanently shuts down cellphone spyware app”

RT

An Israeli human rights group has accused the IDF of war crimes during last year’s Gaza invasion by launching airstrikes that intentionally targeted residential areas, killing women and children, while claiming that Hamas was hiding behind civilians.

As prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague are conducting a preliminary inquiry into possible war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories, the 49-page report by B’Tselem human rights group claims the allegations are true.   Continue reading “Gaza war ‘unlawful’: Israeli rights group blames IDF for deliberately targeting residential areas”

BATR – by James Hall

The resounding victory of Alexis Tsipras in the Greek election was certainly a referendum that rejected the austerity demands placed on Greece by the European Union. The Wall Street Journal says the following, in Syriza Win in Greek Election Sets Up New Europe Clash.

“A Syriza victory marks an astonishing upset of Europe’s political order, which decades ago settled into an orthodox centrism while many in Syriza describe themselves as Marxists. It emboldens the challenges of other radical parties, from the right-wing National Front in France to the newly formed left-wing Podemos party in Spain, and it sets Greece on a collision course with Germany and its other eurozone rescuers.”   Continue reading “Greek Vote Pushes EU to Limit”

The Business Times

[SYDNEY] China’s Fosun Group and fund manager Propertylink are buying a Sydney office building for A$116.5 million (US$92 million), the second large real estate purchase this week in the city as Chinese firms scout for investments abroad.

They will buy the 14,672-square-meter (158,000-square-foot) tower at 73 Miller Street in North Sydney, according to statements from the two buyers. The building will be held by Fosun’s insurance unit, the Chinese company said.   Continue reading “China’s Fosun buys Sydney Tower with partner for insurance unit”

FAS – by Steven Aftergood

National security secrecy can be an impediment to veterans who are seeking treatment for traumas suffered during military service yet who are technically prohibited from disclosing classified information related to their experience to uncleared physicians or therapists.

The problem was epitomized by the case of U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel Somers, who participated in classified Special Operations missions in Iraq. He returned with significant physical, mental and psychological damage. He killed himself in June 2013.     Continue reading “Classification May Impede Treatment for Vets”

Guns Save Lives – by Dan Cannon

Here is yet another example of the anti-gun “long-con” for eventual gun control. While anti-gun lawmakers in many states as well as at the federal level are being kept in check fairly well right now, they are banking on change for the next generation.

In addition to ridiculous zero tolerance policies on anything even remotely resembling a firearm in schools, lawmakers apparently want to try to restrict children’s exposure to firearms as well.   Continue reading “New York Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Ban Children From Attending Gun Shows”

Yahoo News – by Stan Lehman

SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian police raid to recover stolen cars and cargo came up with a more interesting find: two war tanks.

Police in Brazil’s biggest city said Tuesday that the engineless tanks were found inside a warehouse in Sacoma, a low-income district in Sao Paulo. Police also confiscated 500 television sets, car body parts and a recently stolen semitrailer truck.   Continue reading “Brazilian police searching for stolen goods find 2 tanks”

The Daily Sheeple – by Melissa Melton

Cue the pro-vaccine crowd’s b.s. arguments as to why this is doesn’t matter and we should all keep taking the risk shooting up our children in the hopes this won’t happen to us.

Via Daily Mail:

A five-year-old girl has died in hospital three days after developing a strain of the flu that she was vaccinated against – as a deadly outbreak of the virus continues to sweep across the country.

Continue reading “A 5-Year-Old Girl Just Died of the Very Strain of Flu She Was Vaccinated Against”

Mail.com

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — In the latest sign of Libya’s descent into chaos, gunmen stormed a luxury hotel used by diplomats and businessmen in the capital Tuesday, killing 10 people, including an American, a French citizen and three people from Asia.

Two attackers were killed following an hourslong standoff that included a car bomb that exploded in the parking lot of the seaside Corinthia Hotel. It was unclear if other gunmen were involved in the attack, which also killed five Libyan guards.   Continue reading “Gunmen storm Libya hotel, killing American, 9 others”

ABC 11 – by Dina Cappiello

The Obama administration floated a plan Tuesday that for the first time would open up a broad swath of the Atlantic Coast to drilling, even as it moved to restrict drilling indefinitely in environmentally-sensitive areas off Alaska.

The proposal envisions auctioning areas located more than 50 miles off Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia to oil companies no earlier than 2021, long after President Barack Obama leaves office. For decades, oil companies have been barred from drilling in the Atlantic Ocean, where a moratorium was in place up until 2008.   Continue reading “Obama Administration Proposes Oil Drilling Off North Carolina Coast”

Mint Press News – by  Moreh B.D.K.

The small town of Yellow Springs, Ohio is known as a haven for artists and activists. The legendary comedian Dave Chappelle calls the village home, as does Antioch College and University, the institution from which Martin Luther King, Jr’s wife Coretta graduated.

One such activist who has been involved in the protests demanding justice for John Crawford is Minerva Barker.

Barker is a person with disabilities, but in spite of those disabilities, she was assaulted by overzealous and violent members of the Yellow Springs Police Department. She describes the incident as follows:   Continue reading “Cop Who Assaulted and Took Phone From Woman With Disabilities Will Now Face Criminal Charges”

The New York Times

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia on Monday executed a man convicted of raping several girls in a case that has captured the kingdom’s attention and marks the first beheading carried out under the newly enthroned King Salman.

The Interior Ministry said Moussa al-Zahrani was executed in the city of Jiddah. The ministry statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, said al-Zahrani was convicted of luring underage girls, intoxicating them, forcing them to watch pornographic videos and then physically and sexually assaulting them.   Continue reading “First Beheading Under New Saudi King Stirs Attention”