Hundreds of Bangladesh textile plants shut indefinitely

“The textile industry’s main trade body said all operations at the nearby Ashulia industrial zone on the outskirts of Dhaka were being suspended until further notice. Shahidullah Azim, of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the decision was made ‘to ensure the security of our factories’. Most of Bangladesh’s top garment factories are based at Ashulia and there has been ‘virtually no work’ there since the April 24 Rana Plaza tragedy, Azim said. Ashulia is home to around 500 factories which make clothing for a string of major Western retailers including Walmart, H&M, Tesco and Carrefour.” Continue reading

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Internet giant Amazon hit by first strike in Germany

“German employees of Amazon staged their first-ever walkouts on Tuesday as the US Internet retail giant was hit by a dispute over pay. Employees at two logistics centres in Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig launched a strike with the start of the early shift at 6:00 am (0400 GMT), the giant services sector union Verdi said. In Bad Hersfeld, strikers planned to march to a rally in the city centre at around 11:00 am (0900 GMT), while employees in Leipzig rallied in front of the warehouse. Verdi is demanding that Amazon’s 9,000 employees in Germany be paid according to a sector-wide wage deal for the retail and mail-order industries.” Continue reading

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Internet Explorer 0-day attacks on US nuke workers hit 9 other sites

“Attacks exploiting a previously unknown and currently unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser have spread to at least nine other websites, including those run by a big European company operating in the aerospace, defense, and security industries as well as non-profit groups and institutes, security researchers said. The revelation, from a blog post published Sunday by security firm AlienVault, means an attack campaign that surreptitiously installed malware on the computers of federal government workers involved in nuclear weapons research was broader and more ambitious than previously thought.” Continue reading

Continue Reading Internet Explorer 0-day attacks on US nuke workers hit 9 other sites

Hacker encourages Florida motorists to ‘smoke weed erryday’

“A clever hacker broke into an LED highway sign in Winter Park, Florida on Saturday night and reprogrammed it to read: ‘Smoke weed erryday.’ The sign was clearly visible from Minnesota Avenue. It originally displayed a message about a pending road closure. Road signs like this are frequent targets for mischief-making hackers thanks to their ease of access and complete lack of basic security. Although they can be password protected, most road crews do not bother, leaving the default password as ‘DOTS.’ If they ever do, however, it won’t make much difference: all of the signs have a fail-safe that resets the password back to DOTS.” Continue reading

Continue Reading Hacker encourages Florida motorists to ‘smoke weed erryday’

Vermont Becomes the 17th State to Decriminalize Marijuana

“State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to a measure that will decriminalize possession of limited amounts of marijuana in Vermont. The bill will now be transmitted to Gov. Peter Shumlin, who is expected to sign it into law in coming weeks, at which time Vermont will become the 17th state in the nation to decriminalize or legalize marijuana. House Bill 200, introduced by Rep. Christopher Pearson (P-Burlington) with a tripartisan group of 38 co-sponsors, will remove criminal penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and replace them with a civil fine, similar to a traffic ticket.” Continue reading

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Tommy Chong claims cannabis helped cure his prostate cancer

“Tommy Chong, the veteran star of the dope-fuelled Cheech and Chong films, says he has beaten prostate cancer with a combination of cannabis use and a special diet. Chong, 74, was diagnosed with cancer in June last year following a three-year period in which he said he had been drug free. He now says he is 99% free of the disease after a Canadian doctor helped him change his diet to include a variety of special supplements, as well as hemp oil. He then sat for a number of sessions with a practitioner named Adam Dreamhealer, described as a ‘world-renowned healer’.” Continue reading

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Monsanto: Big Guy on the Block When it Comes to Friends in Washington

“Justice Clarence Thomas was on the bench, hearing the case with the other justices. Thomas worked as a corporate lawyer for Monsanto in the 1970s. Thomas has participated in at least one other case involving the company, Monsanto v. Geertson, which resulted in a favorable decision for Monsanto. Clarence Thomas aside, Monsanto has plenty of other ties to Washington. Eight lawmakers own stock in Monsanto, including Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and Reps. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Jim Renacci (R-Ohio), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.).” Continue reading

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IRS official knew in 2011 of ‘Tea Party’ targeting: watchdog report

“A senior Internal Revenue Service official knew in 2011 that IRS agents were giving extra scrutiny to conservative Tea Party groups, according to documents from a watchdog office obtained by Reuters on Saturday. A report from the Treasury Department’s Inspector General For Tax Administration (TIGTA) was expected to be issued publicly next week on the IRS practice, who knew about it and when. The TIGTA report finds that Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS’s tax-exempt groups unit, knew of the extra scrutiny as early as June 2011. The number of groups seeking 501(c)(4) status more than doubled from 2010 to 2012.” Continue reading

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