Monthly Archives: September 2013
Capitol SWAT leader replaced after questioning stand down
Members of a Washington DC Swat team who the BBC has learned were ordered not to respond to Monday’s Navy Yard shootings have yet to be contacted by the authorities. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24163244 The Capitol Police tactical response team was told by a supervisor to leave the scene instead of aiding municipal officers. The department has […]
Despite problems The Experts allowed Alexis to continue
Aaron Alexis called the police in Newport, R.I., to complain that he was hearing voices sent by a “microwave machine,” “Brenda from The Experts Inc. called re: Mr. Alexis in 407,” a Residence Inn employee noted in a log dated Aug. 7. “She explained that he is unstable and the company is bringing him home,” […]
Halliburton admits to destroying evidence in Gulf spill case
A US court has accepted a guilty plea from Halliburton for destroying evidence connected with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24168384 In a statement, the company said it had agreed to a fine of $200,000 for the unauthorised deletion of a computer record. One of the firm’s employees was also charged on […]
RSA security warns customers of NSA encryption cracking
RSA, the internet security firm, has warned customers not to use one of its own encryption algorithms after fears it can be unlocked by the US National Security Agency (NSA). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24173977 In an advisory note to its developer customers, RSA said that a default algorithm in one of its toolkits could contain a “back door” […]
US limits airspace for Maduro’s trip to UN
In a speech in the capital Caracas, Nicholas Maduro also accused the US of refusing to issue a visa to a top official in order to attend a UN meeting next week. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24173124 US officials have not confirmed or commented on the claims. Venezuela’s relations with the US have been often been strained, both under […]
Glyphosate damages soil as well as poisoning enviroment
“Anything you put on the land affects the chemistry and biology of the land, and that’s a powerful pesticide,” Iowa farmer Dennis Von Arb said. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/business/misgivings-about-how-a-weed-killer-affects-the-soil.html?ref=us His neighbor grows “traited,” or biotech, corn and soy on some 1,500 acres and estimates that his yield would fall by 20 percent if he switched to conventional […]
Texas appeals court exempts Delay of money laundering
His political career collapsed in 2005 when Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican who was the House majority leader, was indicted on money-laundering charges that resulted in a three-year prison sentence. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/us/politics/conviction-of-delay-in-texas-donation-case-is-overturned.html?ref=us Thursday as a Texas appeals court threw out the November 2010 verdict, ruling that what he was convicted of — laundering corporate contributions […]
US fines Beanie Babies tycoon Ty Warner for tax evasion
The billionaire creator of Beanie Babies toys Ty Warner “went to great lengths” to hide more than $3m (£1.9m) of income in a secret Swiss bank account. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24155274 The 69-year-old Illinois tycoon’s net worth is estimated by Forbes at $2.6bn, ranking him the 209th richest American. Mr Warner, who also has a reputation for philanthropy, […]
Feds tell local SWAT to “stand down” at Navy Yard shooting
One of the first teams of heavily armed police to respond to Monday’s shooting in Washington DC was ordered to stand down by superiors. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/24153252 A tactical response team of the Capitol Police, a force that guards the US Capitol complex, was told to leave the scene by a supervisor instead of aiding municipal officers. […]
FISA court says NSA justified and blames tech companies
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday offered its most extensive public explanation for why it has allowed the government to keep records of all Americans’ phone calls, releasing a previously classified opinion in which it said the program was constitutional and did not violate Americans’ privacy rights. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/opinion-by-secret-court-calls-collection-of-phone-data-legal.html?hp In a 29-page opinion that quoted […]
Obamacare highlights healthcare lobbying corruption
Washington’s health care revolving door is spinning fast as the new online health insurance marketplaces, a central provision of President Obama’s health care law, are set to open Oct. 1. Those who had a hand in the law’s passage are now finding lucrative work in the private sector, as businesses try to understand the complex […]
Russia to tie chemical attack to Syrian rebels at UN
Russia will give the Security Council evidence implicating Syrian rebels in a chemical attack on 21 August, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24140475 Syrian officials supplied the evidence. A UN report released on Monday concluded the nerve agent sarin was used in the attack in Damascus, which the US blames on the Syrian […]
American poverty grows as elite wealth grows
The number of Americans in poverty rose last year to 46.5 million, according to US Census data, despite a stock market recovery. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24139251 The figure edged up from 46.2 million in 2011, meaning the national poverty rate remains unchanged at 15%. It is the sixth year in a row that the rate failed to improve, […]
US DOD behind 3D printed live organ development
Miniature human organs developed with a modified 3D printer are being used to test new vaccines in a lab in the US. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24125678 The “body on a chip” project replicates human cells to print structures which mimic the functions of the heart, liver, lung and blood vessels. The organs are then placed on a microchip […]
Brazil looks to separate from NSA spy grid
Brazil is considering ways to make local use of the internet less dependent on US-based services, following leaks about Washington’s cyberspy operations. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24145662 The South American nation has suggested forcing internet firms to open data centres in Brazil, which would be used to store locally generated material. It is also pursuing a plan to build […]
Mysterious circumstances surround Navy Yard shooting
Aaron Alexis, 34, is the alleged lone shooter in the Washington navy yard shooting which happened just after 8am on Monday as many of the 3,000 employees were arriving for work on the base. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/17/washington-naval-yard-shooting-suspect-arrested-guns However, The Washington Post, citing police sources, reported that three shooters, including one in military fatigues, were involved. The attackers […]
UN chemical report inconclusive in assigning blame
A United Nations report’s authors did not assign blame for the attack on the outskirts of Damascus, the details it documented included the large size and particular shape of the munitions and the precise direction from which two of them had been fired. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/world/europe/syria-united-nations.html?hpw The main point of the report was to establish whether chemical […]
JPMorgan Banksters admit “groundbreaking” wrongdoing
JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay about $800 million to a host of government agencies in Washington and London — and make a groundbreaking admission of wrongdoing — to settle allegations stemming from a multibillion-dollar trading loss. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/jpmorgan-set-to-pay-fines-for-whale-trading-losses/?emc=eta1 The settlements, expected this week, will help the nation’s biggest bank move beyond last year’s $6 billion […]
CDC admits drug-resistant infections out of control
Federal health officials reported Monday that at least two million Americans fall ill from antibiotic-resistant bacteria every year and that at least 23,000 die from those infections, putting a hard number on a growing public health threat. It was the first time that federal authorities quantified the effects of organisms that many antibiotics are powerless […]
Dirty Babylon 