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Geneva unveils wireless electric bus technology

“A revolutionary new electric bus that operates without overhead wires will begin operating in Geneva next month. The bus was developed by a public-private consortium including ABB Sécheron, the Geneva public transport authority (TPG) and SIG, the canton of Geneva’s utility company and supplier of electricity. The articulated bus works on a flash system that allows it to be recharged in 15 seconds at every stop with an overhead device that delivers 400 kilowatts of electricity. The vehicle is capable of storing enough energy to operate between stops, the consortium said.” Continue reading →

3-D-printed gun available for download after firing first shots

“The nonprofit group that created the world’s first 3-D-printed gun on Sunday proved that the weapon could be fired. In a YouTube video published by Defense Distributed, 3-D-printed gun creator Cody Wilson fires a single shot from ‘the Liberator,’ which features interchangeable barrels to handle different caliber bullets. On the first attempt, the pistol showed no damage after firing a single standard .380 round. A second attempt misfired due to a misalignment. A Computer-aided design (CAD) file that would allow others with 3-D printers to create their own handguns was made available for free on Monday.” Continue reading →

Botched Kim Dotcom case spurs New Zealand to allow domestic spying

“New Zealand unveiled plans Monday to allow its foreign intelligence agency to spy on local residents, to fill a loophole exposed when Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom was illegally snooped upon. Prime Minister John Key said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) needed additional powers because the challenges facing intelligence agencies had changed enormously in the past decade. Existing legislation says the GCSB is supposed to focus on foreign intelligence and cyber-security, explicitly forbidding it from spying on New Zealand citizens or residents.” Continue reading →

Amsterdam forced Jews to pay rent while in WWII concentration camps

“Amsterdam council has vowed to probe revelations that it forced Jews returning from World War II concentration camps to pay rent arrears, even if their homes had been destroyed or occupied by Nazis. The scandal, involving an unknown number of Jews and non-Jews living in city-owned properties, was uncovered by a young art history student in Amsterdam’s archives. Less than a quarter of Amsterdam’s Jewish population survived the war, with the Netherlands occupied by the Nazis from 1940 to 1945. The council even issued fines for late rent payments for homes that were confiscated and occupied by Nazi forces or members of the Dutch collaborationist NSB movement.” Continue reading →

Dutch chemical trader ordered to pay victims of Saddam Hussein’s gas attacks

“A Dutch businessman who sold Iraq’s former regime chemicals that were used in deadly gas attacks against Kurds in Iraq and in Iran was ordered on Wednesday to pay 400,000 euros ($520,000) in compensation to some of the victims. The court ruled that Frans van Anraat must pay 25,000 euros plus interest to each of the 16 plaintiffs in the case. Van Anraat is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence on charges of complicity to war crimes in relation to the chemicals he sold to Saddam Hussein’s regime between 1985 and 1989. The substances enabled the production of mustard gas used notably to massacre 5,000 Kurds in 1988 at Halabja, northwest Iraq.” Continue reading →

Leirion Gaylor Baird’s Tax-Raising Petition Story Tough to Swallow

On April 15, 2013, Nebraska Watchdog published “Lincoln council candidate mistakenly signed petition to raise taxes”, reporting that Gaylor Baird signed a document calling on the City Council to raise the property tax levy by 5-cents in 2011. The candidate responded to Watchdog’s inquiry by explaining that when she’d been […]

Police in Springfield, Mass. adopt Iraq-style ‘counterinsurgency’ tactics

“Police in Springfield, Massachusetts have adopted Iraq-style ‘counterinsurgency’ tactics and are applying them to gang busting with amazing results. U.S. counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq focused on keeping militants at bay while creating stable space for a community to come together and begin resolving issues that create violence. To officer Mike Katone, freshly home from a war zone and working for the Springfield police force, that strategy made more and more sense the longer he looked at his city’s gang problems.” Continue reading →

Food Stamp Nation: 20% of U.S. Households

“The economic recovery rolls on. The number of American households receiving food stamps has hit 23 million. This is 23 million out of 115 million households. That’s 20%. The government has a solution. Stop calling them food stamps. It has now issued cards that look just like credit cards. If the recovery is real, why are more Americans on food cards? Because the farm bloc wants its subsidies, and the welfare bloc does, too. It’s a matter of supply and demand. If demand stays high, farm prices stay high. There is nothing like free food to increase demand. Food cards offer free food. Rising demand proves there is rising need. Rising need proves that more food cards are necessary.” Continue reading →