Yearly Archives: 2013

Military air tankers join fight against deadly Arizona wildfire

"The US military ordered four air tankers to join fire-dousing efforts in Arizona, where firefighters were battling a still out-of-control inferno which killed 19 of their comrades. The Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) planes will be redeployed from other states to help tackle blazes including the Yarnell Hill fire, which remained zero percent contained despite a doubling of ground crews fighting it. The extra firefighting aircraft, which are specially-equipped military C-130 planes, can drop 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, and can be refilled in less than 12 minutes." Continue reading →

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Customs And Border Patrol Considered Weaponizing Drones

"A Customs & Border Protection (CPB) report, released in response to EFF’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the agency, shows CBP has considered adding weapons to its domestic Predator drones. The report, titled 'Concept of Operations for CBP’s Predator B Unmanned Aircraft System' and submitted to Congress on June 29, 2010 shows that, not only is the agency planning to sharply increase the number of Predator drones it flies and the amount of surveillance it conducts by 2016, but it has considered equipping its Predators with 'non-lethal weapons designed to immobilize' targets of interest." Continue reading →

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What Real Independence Looks Like

"With confiscatory taxation at all levels, the gutting of the Bill of Rights through the so-called Patriot Act, the NDAA, secret courts, executive orders, indefinite detention, the need to be in compliance with an ever growing stack of regulations, edicts, and laws, the militarization of the police, the use of the IRS as a political weapon, assassination of US citizens without due process, indirect capital controls through FATCA, NSA warrantless spying, worldwide perpetual warfare with an undefined enemy... If history is any guide, it is not going to be pretty and I strongly recommend seeking an insurance policy before it's too late. Internationalization is that insurance policy." Continue reading →

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Egypt’s Tamarod protest movement

"Tamarod is a new grassroots protest movement in Egypt. The group, whose name means 'rebel' in Arabic, claims it has collected more than 22 million signatures for a petition demanding President Mohammed Morsi step down and allow fresh presidential elections to be held. Following Sunday's massive demonstrations, in which millions of people took to the streets in Cairo and other cities, Tamarod gave the president an ultimatum to resign or face a campaign of 'complete civil disobedience'. It urged 'state institutions including the army, the police and the judiciary, to clearly side with the popular will as represented by the crowds'." Continue reading →

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Run4Guns In Utah. It Annoys Gun Control Advocates.

"A pro-gun group in Utah is organizing an event to be held this September: Run4Guns. Residents are invited to strap on a holster and a pistol, and then join the fun. The event will be held in Spanish Fork. Promoters are heralding this as the nation’s first open carry run. There will be a 3.1 mile race. Additionally, there will be a half-mile 'armed dash.' Proceeds from the event will go toward victims of gun violence. this is a nice touch. It makes it difficult for the anti-gun brigade to complain. But difficult does not mean impossible." Continue reading →

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Obama administration pushes new public health research agenda on gun control

"Americans who own or want guns likely will be subject to rafts of new questions from social scientists, medical researchers and law enforcement officials intent to discover just what guns they own, why they own them and what they intend to use them for — not to mention where and how they keep them. They will also likely have more researchers poring over such issues as whether childhood education programs against gun violence actually work; whether there actually is any relationship between violence in the media and in real life; and whether school safety plans drawn up by in the wake of highly publicized mass shootings actually are effective." Continue reading →

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3D Printer Company Aims to Block Printing of Guns

"A Danish 3D printer company has developed an algorithm that would prevent independent 3D printer owners from being able to print gun part files, adding fuel to the demonization and censorship campaign already being waged against the incredible technology’s powerful potential. According to Create it REAL’s CEO Jeremie Pierre Gay, his company’s line of 3D printers will be sold with the software already loaded that will block files recognized as gun part components before they’re printed – so far namely those needed to assemble the Liberator or Defense Distributed’s lower receiver." Continue reading →

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NSA Whistleblower: Phone Collection Data Could Be Used to Determine Active Tea Party Members

"William Binney worked for the NSA for over 30 years as a cryptanalyst-mathematician but resigned in 2001 as a whistleblower. In the clip below, he discusses the problems with mass NSA data collection and also explains how the data could be used to identify, for example, who are the key active members of the Tea Party." Continue reading →

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Traveling on a Revoked Passport…What Can You Do Next?

"In order for Snowden to depart safely from the Sheremetyevo without a second passport, he will need to procure some type of refugee travel document. So-called 'refugee passports' originated nearly 100 years ago when World War I ended. They look like regular passport booklets with two diagonal stripes in the upper left corner on the front cover. Hopefully, none of you reading this post will ever find yourself in the situation Edward Snowden is now experiencing: traveling internationally on a passport your country has revoked. But if you do, I hope that you take a precaution Snowden never did: to obtain a second passport, 'just in case.'" Continue reading →

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State Department bureau spent $630,000 on Facebook ‘likes’

"State Department officials spent $630,000 to get more Facebook 'likes,' prompting employees to complain to a government watchdog that the bureau was 'buying fans' in social media, the agency's inspector general says. The department's Bureau of International Information Programs spent the money to increase its 'likes' count between 2011 and March 2013. Despite the surge in likes, the IG said the effort failed to reach the bureau's target audience, which is largely older and more influential than the people liking its pages. Only about 2 percent of fans actually engage with the pages by liking, sharing or commenting." Continue reading →

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