Alternative News

Has US ‘Red Line’ On Syria Been Crossed?

[March 2013] "Four days after House Intelligence Committee Chairman (and former FBI agent) Mike Rogers reiterated in the Washington Post that the US 'red line' for military intervention in Syria would be that government's use of chemical weapons, the US-allied opposition fighters have apparently used some sort of chemical device in Aleppo, killing at least 26, including 16 Syrian Army soldiers. Does the 'red line' count if it is the US allies using the weapons? In other words, does the US attack the Syrian government anyway now that the line has been crossed even though government troops and innocent civilians are the victims of the attack?" Continue reading →

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Colorado man charged with two felonies for killing raccoons

"A 50-year-old Colorado man has reportedly confessed to authorities that he attacked a pair of raccoons in a bid for revenge for the death of his cat years ago. KCNC-TV reported on Tuesday that Richard Moller told police he suffered a 10-minute 'glitch' of anger on Monday that caused him to jump into a trash bin and use a piece of wood to hit the animals. He also reportedly said to officers that did not intend to use the nails protuding from the board to stab them, but instead wanted to cause 'blunt force trauma.' Though Moller faces two counts of felony animal cruelty, one of his co-workers at a Boulder, Colorado liquor store defended his character to KCNC, saying he was well-liked by customers." Continue reading →

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The Crucifixion of Tomas Young

"For Young, the war, the wound, the paralysis, the wheelchair, the anti-war demonstrations, the wife who left him and the one who didn’t, the embolism, the loss of motor control, the slurred speech, the colostomy, the IV line for narcotics implanted in his chest, the open bed sores that expose his bones, the despair—the crushing despair—the decision to die, have come down to a girl. Aleksus, his only niece. She will not remember her uncle. But he lies in his dimly lit room, painkillers flowing into his broken body, and he thinks of her. He does not know exactly when he will die. But it must be before her second birthday, in June. He will not mar that day with his death." Continue reading →

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The US-Syrian Quandary: A Case of Déjà-Vu

"All of this sounds just a little bit too familiar for our taste. We all know how much of a problem the Iraq debacle has been for the US government and its budget. In fact, we may just be weeks away from seeing Tomahawk cruise missiles raining on Damascus. As Doug Casey likes to put it, never let a good crisis go to waste. Though Syria is not a major producer of oil, the impact of its civil war can reach far beyond its borders to countries such as Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. We believe this saber-rattling by the US government is simply another step toward trying to secure the Persian Gulf… and its precious oil resources." Continue reading →

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How New Zealand banned software patents without violating international law

"What do you do when you’re a small country with a technology industry convinced that innovation requires the banning of software patents, but you’ve signed an international treaty that in theory obliges you to make software patentable? If you’re New Zealand, you simply declare that software isn’t an invention in the first place. In 1998, the head of the UK Patent Office commented that European law says that a piece of pure software is not technically an invention. In New Zealand, a poll of the members of the Institute of IT Professionals revealed that 94% were in favor of banning software patents. In India, courts have upheld that country’s ban on software patents." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin offers privacy—as long as you don’t cash out or spend it

"Using special algorithms, the researchers were able to associate large numbers of seemingly anonymous bitcoins addresses with certain major services such as exchanges and payment processors, said Sarah Meiklejohn, a doctoral candidate in computer science at UC San Diego, who assisted in the research. For example, they linked more than 500,000 Bitcoin addresses with Mt. Gox, a popular exchange in Japan where users buy and sell bitcoins. 'We saw a lot of people deposit into Silk Road directly from their Mt. Gox address,' Meiklejohn said. In those cases, law enforcement would have minimal work to obtain the name of a user if they presented a legal order to Mt. Gox." Continue reading →

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It Is Illegal To Feed The Homeless In Cities All Over The United States

"More than 50 large U.S. cities have adopted 'anti-camping' or 'anti-food sharing' laws in recent years, and police are strictly enforcing these laws. Sometimes the goal appears to be to get the homeless people to go away. Apparently heartless politicians believe that if the homeless can't get any more free food and if they keep getting thrown into prison for 'illegal camping' they will eventually decide to go somewhere else where they won't be hassled so much. This is yet another example of how heartless our society is becoming. The middle class is being absolutely shredded and poverty is absolutely exploding, but meanwhile the hearts of many Americans are growing very cold." Continue reading →

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Congress To Holder: Explain Why NSA Supplies DEA Info Which It Then Launders

"For example, they might send info to the DEA about a likely drug deal, and the DEA would then tell its agents that they should come up with a pretense to stop a certain truck at a certain truck stop at a certain time. The agents would work with local police to concoct a reason to pull the truck over, and voila, drugs found. But, most importantly, at no point would the fact that such information was used to lead to the stop be revealed, and that's unconstitutional. If you're accused, you're supposed to have access to all of the evidence being used against you. Continue reading →

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UW Researcher Moves Another Human’s Finger with his Thoughts

"Many new studies have shown that people can control things -- like video games or a cursor on a screen -- only with their thoughts, but a new project takes this to the next level: people controlling other people with their thoughts. A new study by University of Washington researchers created the first human-to-human brain interface that is noninvasive. It allowed the thoughts of one researcher to manipulate movement of another. The study used electroencephalography (EEG) -- which is used to record brain activity noninvasively from the scalp -- and transcranial magnetic stimulation, which is a noninvasive way of delivering stimulation to the brain to obtain a response." Continue reading →

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