Archive for June, 2010
Police Raid Catholic Church Headquarters in Belgium
June 26th, 2010Via: Telegraph: Belgian police have raided the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and the home of the recently retired Cardinal of Belgium as part of an investigation into the sexual abuse of children by clergy. On Thursday morning, 30 police officers swooped on the palace of the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, sealing off buildings and […]
Canada: Show ID or Face Arrest Near G8 and G20 Summits
June 26th, 2010Via: Ottawa Citizen: The Ontario government secretly passed legislation giving police sweeping new powers for the duration of the G8 and G20 summits. Police are now able to jail anyone who refuses to furnish identification and submit to a search while within five metres of a designated security zone in downtown Toronto. Critics reacted furiously […]
“Kill TV” in the “Death Star”
June 26th, 2010Via: New Zealand Herald: They called it the “Death Star” because according to one source who worked inside it, “you could just reach out with a finger and eliminate” somebody. On the walls were television screens, known by the special forces boys as “Kill TV”, where footage from image-intensifier cameras of the enemy being blown […]
The Runaway General
June 26th, 2010This is a decent article, but I’m not sure what to take away from it. I was reading the article mainly to see what all the fuss was about; the dramatic summoning of McChrystal to the White House, the resignation, the media obsessed with talk of insubordination, etc. The comments that were critical of the […]
Telecom New Zealand Outage
June 23rd, 2010Update: Vodafone 3G vs Telecom XT Here’s an outstanding technical comparison between the two national mobile broadband systems that are available in New Zealand: Vodafone 3G vs Telecom XT —End Update— Update: Telecom XT Is Still Not Working, I’m Trying Vodafone Now I wrote out my Telecom saga, but thought, “Nobody wants to read this.” […]
Monsanto Wins as Supreme Court Backs Alfalfa Seed Planting
June 22nd, 2010Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in favor of Monsanto Co., overturned a judge’s ban on the planting of alfalfa seeds engineered to be resistant to the company’s Roundup herbicide. The 7-1 ruling shifts the focus of the environmental dispute to the Agriculture Department, which under today’s ruling now can consider allowing limited planting. […]
Chinese Manufacturers Looking to Replace Workers with Machines
June 22nd, 2010Mmm hmm. New Sharp Flat Panel Factory: No Humans on Assembly Line Etc. etc. etc. Via: Bloomberg: New minimum wage laws, a looser yuan and worker strikes like those affecting Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. are raising costs at plants in China’s Pearl River Delta, leading to increased automation of assembly lines. Foxconn […]
Next WikiLeaks Release May Involve ECHELON
June 22nd, 2010If they have information related to tasking the system, such as the words and phrases used, or the targets of the system, or actual intercepts, that would be pretty astonishing. It’s hard to believe that they would have stuff like this, but who knows… Look at that 9/11 pager data dump. Where did that come […]
McChrystal Called Back to Washington Over Comments Made to Rolling Stone
June 22nd, 2010Via: Washington Post: The top U.S. general in Afghanistan was headed to Washington early Tuesday for an impromptu White House meeting, after apologizing for an upcoming magazine article that portrays him and his staff as flippant and dismissive of top Obama administration officials involved in Afghanistan policy. The profile in Rolling Stone magazine, titled the […]
U.S. Worried About Losing Gigantic Surveillance Honeypot to Russian Company
June 22nd, 2010Dr. Evil and the rest of the scum and villainy in the universe communicate via clear text instant messenger? Via: Financial Times: Senior US law enforcement officials have objected to AOL’s pending sale of one of the largest instant-messaging services to a Russian investment firm, fearing it will put some of the world’s top criminals […]
