Opium field in AfghanistanCNS News – by Ali Meyer

After 12 years of occupation by U.S. military forces, Afghanistan set a record for growing opium poppies in 2013, according to newly released data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

“Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a sobering record high in 2013,” said the UNODC. “According to the 2013 Afghanistan Opium Survey, cultivation amounted to some 209,000 hectares, outstripping the earlier record in 2007 of 193,000 hectares, and representing a 36 per cent increase over 2012.”   Continue reading “After 12 Yrs of U.S. Occupation, Afghanistan Sets Record for Growing Opium”

hot waxThe Daily Sheeple – by Lily Dane

A Dallas woman waxed a would-be thief who pulled a knife on her and demanded her bag and money.

Teresa Mendez was walking home on Sunday night when the man approached her. She told him she didn’t have any money or a purse with her, so he went for her bag.

Mendez is a beautician and the bag she was carrying was full of supplies from her salon.   Continue reading “Woman Uses Unlikely Weapon to Fight Off Thief”

The deadliest weapon in the Russian Marine’s arsenalIndrus – by Anton Valagin, Rossiyskaya Gazeta

The Russian Marines operate assault ships, which deliver the ‘Black Death (as the Marines are called)’ to the battlefield. These vessels have landing ramps at the bow and stern. Troops and military hardware are loaded onto the vessel via the stern ramp in port, while the forward ramp is used to disembark troops and equipment directly into the water, or even onto land given a suitable shore (the bow is ballasted down for this reason). The craft are able to land troops and equipment in a force four gale.  Continue reading “The deadliest weapon in the Russian Marine’s arsenal”

ARS Technica – by Casey Johnston

The company E2V has developed a prototype device that uses a radio-frequency pulse to shut down a car’s engine at range, according to a report from the BBC. While the range of the device is fairly short, it worked on a handful of cars and motorbikes and could also potentially be used on boats.

The product, named the RF Safe-stop, works by sending an RF pulse to a car at up to 50 meters (164 feet) away. The pulse “confuses” the car’s electronic systems, which the BBC said made the “dashboard warning lights and dial [behave] erratically.” The engine then stalls, and the car comes to a stop. How safely and quickly the vehicle would stop depends on the vehicle, and this technique would not work on older vehicles.   Continue reading “New product shuts car engines off with a radio pulse”

Technica – by Dan Goodin

Serial hacker Samy Kamkar has released all the hardware and software specifications that hobbyists need to build an aerial drone that seeks out other drones in the air, hacks them, and turns them into conscripted army of unmanned vehicles under the attacker’s control.

Dubbed SkyJack, the contraption uses a radio-controlled Parrot AR.Drone quadcopter carrying a Raspberry Pi circuit board, a small battery, and two wireless transmitters. The devices run a combination of custom software and off-the-shelf applications that seek out wireless signals of nearby Parrot drones, hijack the wireless connections used to control them, and commandeer the victims’ flight-control and camera systems. SkyJack will also run on land-based Linux devices and hack drones within radio range. At least 500,000 Parrot drones have been sold since the model was introduced in 2010.   Continue reading “Risk Assessment / Security & Hacktivism Flying hacker contraption hunts other drones, turns them into zombies”

hqdefaultMax Velocity Tactical

I recently posted about ‘More on the SWAT Threat‘. I am enjoying the fact that my posts are generating some really good comments from a generally high quality of commenter right now. I am beginning to see myself as just the initiator of a discussion: Pose a post, step back: “Discuss!”

However, the SWAT post generated a bit of doom and gloom and it was described as a realistic but gloomy post. Well, not one to give you problems without solutions, that is why I am writing today. Here is one comment that just came in, with my response:   Continue reading “Doom, Defeat & Solutions”

Landry ThompsonHuffington Post –  by David Moye

A dance student from Tulsa, Okla., on a trip to Houston was taken into custody on Saturday after she was discovered in her instructor’s car.

Landry Thompson, 13, was visiting Houston with her dance instructor, Emmanuel Hurd, to take a series of dance classes from top industry professionals.

On the way back to their hotel with Thompson and another dancer, Hurd, who also goes by the name Emmanuel Cross, stopped at a gas station to get his bearings.   Continue reading “Landry Thompson, 13, Taken Into Custody After Dozing Off In Dance Instructor’s Car”

Mediate – by Noah Rothman

During a congressional committee hearing about the constitutional limits imposed on the presidency and the implications of President Barack Obama’s disregard for implementing the Affordable Care Act as written, one expert testified that the consequences of the president’s behavior were potentially grave. He said that the precedent set by Obama could eventually lead to an armed revolt against the federal government.

On Tuesday, Michael Cannon, Cato Institute’s Director of Health Policy Studies, testified before a congressional committee about the dangers of the president’s legal behavior.   Continue reading “Expert Testifies to Congress that Obama’s ‘Ignoring Laws’ Could Lead to Overthrow of Government”

Jon Rappoport

Whether we know it or not, like it or not, want it or not, we are engaged in a struggle, and that struggle concerns the human spirit—understanding it, experiencing it, defending it against attacks.

The spirit isn’t some vague ghost or apparition. It’s front and center, even in this blind world. It animates action. It has great power. It defies reduction.   Continue reading “Technocracy is failed mind control”

Activist Post

A new algorithm designed at the University of Toronto has the power to profoundly change the way we find photos among the billions on social media sites such as Facebook and Flickr. This month, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will issue a patent on this technology.

Developed by Parham Aarabi, a professor in The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and his former Master’s student Ron Appel, the search tool uses tag locations to quantify relationships between individuals, even those not tagged in any given photo.   Continue reading “New Algorithm Will Hunt You Down In Untagged Photos”

police stateThe Sleuth Journal

As, “We the People”, try to figure out how to contend with the presence of Russian and Chinese soldiers on our soil as well as how we are going to deal with the NDAA and Executive Order 13603 when martial law is upon us, we do not need to be dealing with a local out of control police force. Yet, increasingly your local police poses the greatest man-made threat to your freedom and longevity.

Although there are still some quality people filling the ranks of our local law enforcement forces, increasingly, we are contending with officers who view you and me as the enemy. As a result, the Constitution, fair play and common sense take a holiday when you deal with the police.   Continue reading “Take The Police Out Of The Police State”

Home Security - Photo by Intel Free PressThe American Dream – by Michael Snyder

The wealthy are spending more to protect themselves from all the rest of us than ever before.  So why are they so concerned about the future?  Do they know something that the rest of us don’t?  Or do they just have the money to buy the type of security that the rest of us would if we could?  Over the past few years, wealthy people all over America have been equipping their homes with futuristic high tech security systems that go far beyond the kinds of things portrayed in recent Hollywood films such as “The Purge“.

We are talking about security bunkers with their own sustainable sources of food and water, hidden passageways that lead to ballistics-proof panic suites, and thermal heat detectors that can detect someone hiding up to 15 kilometers away.    Continue reading “Why Are So Many Wealthy People Building Futuristic High Tech Security Bunkers?”

Screenshot from www.kleargear.comRT News

Nearly five years after a Utah couple cancelled a transaction with a company called KlearGear.com, the web company has slapped them with a hefty fine in retaliation for a negative online review, damaging their credit rating.

John Palmer told CNN that in 2008 he cancelled a gift order meant for his wife Jen because it was never delivered. Frustrated by the customer service, or lack thereof, the Palmers explained their situation in a post on Ripoff Review, a complaint site where dejected customers warn others to stay away from certain companies.    Continue reading “Utah couple hit with $3,500 fine for leaving negative online company review”

Children Abused massachusettsHuffington Post

In one year, more than 200 children were abused while under the state of Massachusetts’ care, according to a new report.

The Boston Herald reports:

State officials found evidence supporting 249 allegations of physical and sexual abuse and poor care involving youngsters in state-watched settings last year, according to the Office of the Child Advocate’s 2013 report, a copy of which was obtained by the Herald.   Continue reading “249 Children Abused In State Custody In Massachusetts: Report”

new york corruptionHuffington Post – by Paul Blumenthal

WASHINGTON — In a sweeping indictment of New York politics, a commission empaneled by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to investigate official corruption in the state released its preliminary report, detailing abuses of power and endorsing major changes to campaign finance and anti-corruption laws.

The report issued by the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption on Monday points to numerous ongoing investigations while laying out patterns of systemic corruption. The commission relied on 200 subpoenas, millions of pages of documents, dozens of interviews and the use of data analytics technology designed for counter-terrorism to parse all the campaign finance and lobbying material.   Continue reading “We Knew New York Was Corrupt, But We Didn’t Know It Was This Bad”

Freshkills Park Solar farm on Staten IslandMother Nature Network

In an announcement made last week by outgoing Nanny-in-Chief Michael Bloomberg, it was revealed that the mythical land of runaway zebras and Mafia Wives the borough of Staten Island will be home to New York City’s largest solar installation — a 10-megawatt power plant that, when completed, will have the capacity to produce enough juice to power in the ballpark of 2,000 homes. More specifically, the facility will be located on what used to be the largest landfill in the entire world before New York City started to export its insane amount of garbage to other states (thanks a bunch Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania!) in 2001.   Continue reading “NYC’s largest solar facility coming to former Staten Island dump”

Byzantium in ZucottiNew York Observer – by Drew Grant

Update: Looks like the ad is actually part of a viral campaign for Cinemax’s Hunted, whatever the hell that is. Also, it’s been there for a year? You’d think we’d have heard of it by now!

It’s times like this that we really miss Occupy New York. This advertisement for ByzantiumSecurity.com is featured prominently outside Cipriani’s Wall Street, which is about half a block away from the former Zuccotti Park HQ of the organization that brought the “1%-er” terminology to such a forefront in cultural conversations over two years ago.   Continue reading “Update: Security System Promotes ’1 Percent-er’ Ad Near Zuccotti Park”

Retired Detective James Griffin and items on which he says fellow cops scrawled “rat.”New York Daily News – by JOHN MARZULLI

An NYPD lieutenant shamed a detective in front of the entire squad, branding him a “rat” for reporting misconduct to the Internal Affairs Bureau, two of his former colleagues confirmed.

The two detectives detailed the humiliation in sworn statements filed in connection with former Detective James Griffin’s federal lawsuit, which contends he retired after being publicly disgraced by his supervisor. Griffin had previously been threatened by fellow detectives, ostracized, and found the word “rat” scrawled on his locker and a hole punched through his desk.   Continue reading “NYPD lieutenant branded whistleblower detective a ‘rat’ in front of squad: former colleagues”

Redinel Dervishaj, seen here in 2012 after he was taken into custody for a fatal stabbing, was arrested on Tuesday along with Denis Nikolla and NYPD cop Besnik Llakatura.New York Daily News – by JOHN MARZULLI

A NYPD cop and two goons — including a reputed gangster who was involved in a fatal stabbing of a groom-to-be — were arrested Tuesday with extorting monthly “protection” payments from an Albanian restaurant in Queens, federal authorities said.

The cop, Besnik Llakatura, conspired to shake down the restaurant owner with Llakatura playing the role of the good cop with the victim who was his friend, authorities said.   Continue reading “NYPD Cop and reputed gangster arrested for shaking down Queens restaurant owner: prosecutors”