Pennsylvania police chief suspended over profanity-laced, anti-liberal gun videos

“The Pennsylvania police chief who made a profanity-laced videos while firing machine guns and ranting about liberals has been suspended without pay for 30 days. After a 55-minute executive session, the Gilberton Borough Council voted 5-1 on Wednesday to suspend Chief Mark Kessler for using ‘borough property for non-borough purposes without prior borough permission’ by using machine guns and other weapons in his YouTube videos. Kessler had donated the weapons to the borough earlier in the year.
In online videos, Kessler had used profanity to berate ‘libtards’ and suggested an armed rebellion against the government.” Continue reading

Continue Reading Pennsylvania police chief suspended over profanity-laced, anti-liberal gun videos

More than 1,000 Iraqis killed in July, highest monthly toll since 2008

“More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in sectarian violence in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, the United Nations said, as Sunni Islamist groups stepped up their insurgency against Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government. Most of the 1,057 victims were civilians, killed in a relentless campaign of bombings and shootings that some Iraqis fear could drag the country into another war. July’s toll brought the number of people killed in militant attacks since the start of the year to 4,137. Last week hundreds of convicts ran free after simultaneous attacks on two high-security prisons, raising questions about the ability of the security services to combat al Qaeda.” Continue reading

Continue Reading More than 1,000 Iraqis killed in July, highest monthly toll since 2008

Bakken flaring burns more than $100 million a month

“The amount lost to flaring pales in comparison to the $2.21 billion in crude oil production for May in North Dakota. Still, energy companies are working to build more pipelines and processing facilities to connect many of the state’s 9,000 wells – a number expected to hit 50,000 by 2030. But it is a process that takes time and is not always feasible. Roughly 29 percent of natural gas extracted in North Dakota was flared in May, down from an all-time high of 36 percent in September 2011. But the volume of natural gas produced has nearly tripled in that timeframe to about 900,000 million cubic feet per day.” Continue reading

Continue Reading Bakken flaring burns more than $100 million a month

Police arrest more than 200 protesters for trespassing at Chevron plant

“Police arrested more than 200 demonstrators for trespassing at Chevron Corp in the California city of Richmond on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of a massive refinery fire and to protest a proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The arrests came as a throng of sunflower-carrying picketers chanted, ‘Hey hey, ho ho, fossil fuels have got to go,’ as people of all ages walked onto Chevron’s property to draw attention to a growing movement against fossil fuel. The arrests included three people in wheelchairs and demonstrators as young as 18 years old. Media reports said most of those arrested were cited and released.” Continue reading

Continue Reading Police arrest more than 200 protesters for trespassing at Chevron plant

Get ready for the ‘War on Sugar’

“The ‘metabolic syndrome’ maladies associated with insulin resistance and obesity – many authorities now just use the term ‘diabesity’ – are expected soon to overtake tobacco as the leading cause of heart disease in the world. And perhaps of cancer, too. Farmer Mike Small has high hopes for the campaign for a Scottish tax on sugar-sweetened beverages: he and his sustainable food campaign, the Fife Diet, will launch a new manifesto for it in September. Forms of sugar-sweetened beverage tax have already started in Denmark, France, Finland and Hungary. Scotland, Small says, is in the mood to follow.” Continue reading

Continue Reading Get ready for the ‘War on Sugar’

Watch: How GPS spoofing can take control of drones and ships

“A University of Texas researcher who has hacked the navigational systems of drones and ships told PBS on Friday that anyone with his software could do the same. Humphrey’s and and his graduate students used a technique called ‘GPS spoofing,’ in which false GPS signals are broadcast that trick a vehicle’s GPS receiver. The researchers first used the technique to commandeer an aerial drone. More recently, they commandeered a ship. Milton Clary of Overlook Systems Technologies told PBS that spoofing attacks posed a huge threat.” Continue reading

Continue Reading Watch: How GPS spoofing can take control of drones and ships

Glenn Greenwald: Congress ‘forced to learn about what the NSA is doing’ from newspapers

“Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald on Sunday chided the U.S. government for claiming it had provided ‘robust oversight’ of the NSA even though members of Congress were forced to go to his paper to learn about secret programs that gather data on American citizens. ‘We keep hearing that there’s all kinds of robust oversight by Congress,’ Greenwald said, adding that lawmakers had provided ‘very detailed letters trying to get this information and they’re being blocked from getting it and they’ve said, and other members have said that they are forced to learn about what the NSA is doing from what they’re reading in our reporting.'” Continue reading

Continue Reading Glenn Greenwald: Congress ‘forced to learn about what the NSA is doing’ from newspapers

The concept of delusions gets a big — but unnoticed — overhaul

“It’s not clear who forcibly sedated her in 1972. It’s not certain that she was admitted to a psychiatric ward in the following year. Many people thought she was mad as she ranted about conspiracies in the White House during eccentric phone calls to the press. Questions about Martha Beall Mitchell’s sanity were encouraged by the Nixon administration, who consistently briefed against her and probably had her medicated against her will. But ultimately her claims were proven correct when the Watergate scandal broke. Claims against authorities are often dismissed by suggesting that the person has mental health problems.” Continue reading

Continue Reading The concept of delusions gets a big — but unnoticed — overhaul