Archive for December, 2009
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December 31st, 2009Thank you. MS CA$50 MW $20 AC CA$10
CIA Officers Killed in Afghanistan Bomb Attack
December 31st, 2009Via: BBC: Eight Americans reportedly working for the CIA have died in a bomb attack in Afghanistan, the worst against US intelligence officials since 2001. A bomber wearing an explosive vest entered Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost Province, near Pakistan. A Taliban spokesman said one of its members who was working for the Afghan […]
Federal Court Restricts Taser Use by Police
December 30th, 2009Via: Los Angeles Times: A federal appeals court this week ruled that a California police officer can be held liable for injuries suffered by an unarmed man he Tasered during a traffic stop. The decision, if allowed to stand, would set a rigorous legal precedent for when police are permitted to use the weapons and […]
Bankers Get $4 Trillion Gift From Barney Frank
December 30th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: I quickly discovered why members of Congress rarely read legislation like this. At 1,279 pages, the “Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” is a real slog. And yes, I plowed through all those pages. (Memo to Chairman Frank: “ystem” at line 14, page 258 is missing the first “s”.) The reading was […]
Bubbles, Bubbles and More Bubbles
December 30th, 2009Par for the course in Fiat Currency Hell. Via: AP: A string of exploding investment bubbles that started with the dot-coms and ended with mortgages and oil dominated the years from 2000 to 2009. And it looks like the next decade will be no different. It doesn’t seem to matter to many hedge fund traders […]
GSM Encryption Has Been Cracked
December 30th, 2009The analog mobile phone systems from the 1980s sent conversations flying around, totally in the clear. Anyone with decent scanner used to be able to listen to the calls. Now, with a bit of open source software and some inexpensive hardware, in a way, it’s back to the future. Keep in mind, however, that this […]
National Irish Bank Moves to Cashless Banking (Not The Onion)
December 29th, 2009What if you want more cash than whatever pissant amount they allow you to remove from the ATM each day? Oh, I almost forgot, only criminals need that much cash. Via: Irish Times: IT MIGHT sound like a contradiction in terms, but for the first time one of the main Irish consumer banks is moving […]
Balance of Terror: From Detroit City to Ghazi Khan
December 29th, 2009Via: Chris Floyd: A lone man on an airliner makes a badly botched attempt to ignite what appears to be some kind of hastily cobbled-together device that might or might not have caused some kind of unspecified but apparently non-crippling damage to the plane. The plane lands safely; no one is killed. Yet the reverberations […]
Pakistan: Detained Americans had Nuclear Power Site Map
December 28th, 2009Were they wearing Dockers? Via: Guardian: Police are trying to determine whether five Americans detained in Pakistan had planned to attack a complex that houses nuclear power facilities. The young Muslim men, who are from the Washington DC area, were arrested in Pakistan earlier this month. Pakistani police and government officials have made a series […]
Murder of Antonio Ferrigno
December 28th, 2009Update 2: 1/1/2010: Trying to Get Reuters to Cover It I sent Reuters a note, letting them know about this and how there’s no mainstream coverage of the story in English. —End Update— Update 1: Cryptogon Reader Contributes English Translation of the Story Below: Thanks Domi: Murdered inhabitant of Rijswijk appears to be nuclear physicist […]
