Monthly Archives: July 2013

Digital Carjackers Show Off New Attacks, Funded By $80,000 Pentagon Grant

"This fact, that a car is not a simple machine of glass and steel but a hackable network of computers, is what Miller and Valasek have spent the last year trying to demonstrate. Miller, a 40-year-old security engineer at Twitter, and Valasek, the 31-year-old director of security intelligence at the Seattle consultancy IOActive, received an $80,000-plus grant last fall from the mad-scientist research arm of the Pentagon known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to root out security vulnerabilities in automobiles." Continue reading →

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DEA raids pot shops in Washington state, where marijuana is legal

"The Drug Enforcement Administration swooped in on several medical marijuana storefronts in Washington on Wednesday, despite the state’s law allowing marijuana possession. Raids took place in Pierce, King and Thurston counties. They were reportedly targeted by a two-year investigation into dispensaries thought to be laundering money and selling marijuana under the table to unlicensed buyers. Voters in Washington passed an initiative last November that legalized adult marijuana possession up to one ounce and directed the state to develop ways of regulating production and taxing sales of the drug." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDEA raids pot shops in Washington state, where marijuana is legal

Senate committee votes unanimously to sanction any country that takes Snowden

"The 30-member Senate Appropriations Committee adopted by consensus an amendment to a spending bill that would direct Secretary of State John Kerry to meet with congressional committees to come up with sanctions against any country that takes Snowden in. Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela have said they could offer sanctuary to Snowden. Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said he introduced the amendment to try to get the attention of any country that might take in Snowden, not Russia in particular, although he noted Moscow has lined up against the United States on other issues, including the civil war in Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenate committee votes unanimously to sanction any country that takes Snowden

CIA displays Osama bin Laden’s personal AK-47 at ‘secret’ museum

"An AK-47 assault rifle once owned by terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is on display at a museum in Washington, D.C. Problem is, you’ll never get to see it up close. That’s because the weapon is stored inside a glass case at the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) 'secret' museum, according to NBC News, and visitors are strictly prohibited. 'I think for our people it’s an acknowledgment that the hard work over that 10 years and partnership with other members of the intelligence community and partnership with the military was a success,' a spokesperson said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA displays Osama bin Laden’s personal AK-47 at ‘secret’ museum

Homeland Security’s Future Home: A Former Mental Hospital

"Chris Mills frequently gives tours of St. Elizabeths Hospital, a former mental institution where the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is building a $4.5 billion headquarters. It’s the largest construction project in the District of Columbia since the Pentagon was completed in 1943. The project is moving slowly, even by the geologic standards of the U.S. government. It’s been plagued by delays and mounting costs. People might not even remember Napolitano when the building is completed, which might be around 2026. Today, DHS has 240,000 employees and a yearly budget of $60 billion." Continue reading →

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Eminent Domain and the Decline of Detroit

"Detroit’s sixty year decline, culminating in its recent bankruptcy, has many causes. But one that should not be ignored is the city’s extensive use of eminent domain to transfer property to politically influential private interests. For many years, Detroit aggressively used eminent domain to promote 'economic development' and 'urban renewal.' The most notorious example was the 1981 Poletown case, in which some 4000 people lost their homes, and numerous businesses were forced to move in order to make way for a General Motors factory. The Poletown takings ended up destroying far more development than they ever created." Continue reading →

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No Free Sun for You! Why Arizona Wants to ‘Tax’ Solar Power

"On July 12, Arizona’s largest electric utility announced a plan to drastically change net-metering, the way in which homeowners and businesses with solar rooftops sell excess power back to the grid. Net-metering is the foundation for all solar leasing; without it, solar companies can’t entice homeowners with the promise of 'cut your electric bill, no money down' but instead would rely on sales of expensive systems. The proposal would slap existing solar-paneled homeowners with a fee of up to $100 per month for the privilege of selling excess power back to APS. If you don’t already have solar panels, you can never share in net-metering as we know it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNo Free Sun for You! Why Arizona Wants to ‘Tax’ Solar Power

Cheese shop owner on crusade to block FDA ban on mimolette

"The US fate of the bright-orange, mild-tasting French cheese has been in jeopardy for months and the Food and Drug Administration has blocked all further imports. Why? Because US regulators determined the cantaloupe-like rind of the cheese was covered with too many cheese mites, even though the tiny bugs give mimolette its unique flavor. 1.5 tonnes (3,300 pounds) of cheese were blocked from being imported. Benoit de Vitton of French import company Isigny says those 1.5 tonnes were eventually destroyed. Mmenus inform diners about the FDA decision, noting that mimolette has been 'the National Cheese of France since King Louis XIV.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCheese shop owner on crusade to block FDA ban on mimolette

Pope Francis warns Latin America against legalizing drugs

"Pope Francis has warned Latin America against legalizing drugs, arguing that liberal policies under consideration in his home region will not reduce the problem. 'A reduction in the spread and influence of drug addiction will not be achieved by a liberalization of drug use, as is currently being proposed in various parts of Latin America,' he said on the third day of his trip. Guatemala’s president has called for legalization, a vision shared by ex-presidents in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia but opposed by the United States and Mexican governments. Uruguayan President Jose Mujica has proposed legalizing marijuana." Continue reading →

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Church of England declares war on payday loans firm

"Church of England leader Justin Welby has told a company offering short-term high-interest loans that the church wants to 'compete' it out of existence by promoting not-for-profit credit unions. Welby, who came into office in February, has launched a campaign to expand credit unions as an alternative to payday lending that he hopes will boost competition in the banking sector. Members of credit unions pool their savings in order to provide each other with low-interest credit and other financial services. The British government announced in April that it was investing £38 million in credit unions to help them provide an alternative to payday lenders." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChurch of England declares war on payday loans firm