The Freedom Watch

Syria strike could bring Raytheon payday

"A U.S. attack on Syria could translate into big bucks for defense giant Raytheon, which makes the Tomahawk cruise missile that’s said to be President Barack Obama’s weapon of choice. Reports that the White House is planning an attack to punish Damascus for the use of chemical weapons sent Raytheon’s stock price to a 52-week high this week — and have reawakened grumblings in Congress that the military doesn’t buy enough Tomahawks. Raytheon has delivered 252 missiles this fiscal year and 361 last fiscal year. And any Tomahawks fired at Syria would almost certainly represent a future increase in orders for the missiles, which can go for about $1 million apiece." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyria strike could bring Raytheon payday

Mother, daughter sentenced for Internet scam targeting U.S. military supporters

"A Colorado mother and daughter were sentenced on Wednesday for their roles in a 'Nigerian internet romance scam.' Karen and Tracy Vasseur were convicted of stealing more than $1 million from 374 victims who thought they were sending money to aid members of the U.S. military. Unknown conspirators in Nigeria would establish online relationships with victims via e-mail or social media by sending them fake military documents and personal photographs. After the relationship was established, the purported military member would request large sums of money, ostensibly for satellite phones that would allow them to speak to the victims or travel funds that would allow them to visit." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMother, daughter sentenced for Internet scam targeting U.S. military supporters

Fukushima leak is ‘much worse than we were led to believe’

"They are worried about the enormous quantities of water, used to cool the reactor cores, which are now being stored on site. Some 1,000 tanks have been built to hold the water. But these are believed to be at around 85% of their capacity and every day an extra 400 tonnes of water are being added. 'The quantities of water they are dealing with are absolutely gigantic,' said Mycle Schneider, who has consulted widely for a variety of organisations and countries on nuclear issues. 'What is the worse is the water leakage everywhere else - not just from the tanks. It is leaking out from the basements, it is leaking out from the cracks all over the place. Nobody can measure that.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFukushima leak is ‘much worse than we were led to believe’

Fukushima Radioactive Plume To Hit The US By Early 2014

"The first radioactive ocean plume released by the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster will finally be reaching the shores of the United States sometime in 2014, according to a new study from the University of New South Wales — a full three or so years after date of the disaster. Many researchers, and also officials from the World Health Organization, have argued that the radioactive particles that do make their way to the US will have a very limited effect on human health — as the concentration of radioactive material in US waters will be well below World Health Organization safety levels. But needless to say, there is some debate on this matter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFukushima Radioactive Plume To Hit The US By Early 2014

Turn Your Desk Into a Pharmaceuticals Factory

"The Week's Chris Gayomali frets that '[t]oday's primitive psychedelics and artificial mood-boosters may be just the beginning' once 3D printing transforms chemical engineering. The Customs Minister from the land o' hobbits, Maurice Williamson, worries on Radio New Zealand, 'If people could print off ... sheets of Ecstasy tablets at the party they're at at that time, that just completely takes away our border protection role in its known sense.' Cronin, among others, suggests that controlling the 'chemical ink' is the key to preventing DIY recreational chemistry with 3D printers. But much current research uses bathroom sealant as the ink, and that's not the easiest material to restrict." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTurn Your Desk Into a Pharmaceuticals Factory

Taxpayers funding study of link between marijuana, domestic violence

"The National Institute on Drug Abuse, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, is granting $1.86 million to the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions to investigate the drug’s link to aggression. The study will run from 2013 to 2017 and will follow couples in which one or both partners use marijuana to determine whether its use 'results in affective, cognitive, or behavioral effects consistent with partner aggression.' NIDA has a $1.05 billion budget for 2013 and has publicly acknowledged that it does not fund research into the potential benefits of medical marijuana." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaxpayers funding study of link between marijuana, domestic violence

California hunger strike: judge approves force-feeding of prisoners

"Jail officials in California have been given permission to force-feed hunger strikers who are entering their seventh week of a statewide protest against prison conditions. The order strikes out directives recently signed by some prisoners that they be allowed to die. US District Court Judge Thelton E Henderson ruled that California prison doctors may force-feed selected inmates who are near death, even if they had previously signed orders asking not to be resuscitated. About 136 California inmates are taking part in a hunger strike that began on 8 July demanding an end to a policy of housing inmates believed to be associated with gangs in near-isolation for years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCalifornia hunger strike: judge approves force-feeding of prisoners

Federal court upholds California ban on foie gras sales

"A US federal appeals court upheld California’s ban on the sale of foie gras Friday, 13 months after the block on the controversial delicacy came into force. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims that the ban interferes with free trade, made in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles by a group of Canadian and US foie gras producers. California lawmakers agreed the ban in 2004, but gave the western US state’s only foie gras producer seven-and-a-half years to comply before it came into effect on July 1 last year. Restaurants serving the gourmet item — made by force-feeding ducks or geese, a practice some animal rights campaigners regard as cruel — can be fined up to $1,000." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFederal court upholds California ban on foie gras sales