"Remember when Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson promised to unveil an entirely 3D-printed handgun made of ABS plastic with the firing pin its only metal part? Well, he's apparently done it. Forbes's Andy Greenberg was given a sneak peek of the result, and it looks and appears to be quite an achievement. If all goes well, the plans will be unveiled at Defcad.org next week." Continue reading →
"The number of names on a highly classified U.S. central database used to track suspected terrorists has jumped to 875,000 from 540,000 only five years ago, a U.S. official familiar with the matter said. Maintained by the National Counterterrorism Center, the highly classified database is not a 'watchlist' but instead is a repository of information on people whom U.S. authorities see as known, suspected or potential terrorists from around the world." Continue reading →
"A woman who killed a police officer 40 years ago and later fled to Cuba has been placed on the FBI’s list of 'most wanted terrorists,' US officials said Thursday. Law enforcement officials said Joanne Chesimard is the first woman ever to make the list, and one of only two to make the list accused of crimes carried out on US soil. US authorities say that on May 2, 1973, Chesimard, a member of the radical Black Liberation Army group, along with two accomplices, fatally shot the highway police officer during a traffic stop. She was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and other crimes in 1977 and sentenced to life in prison." Continue reading →
"Orange County officials are considering requiring two hikers to pay for a portion — or even all — of a $160,000 search party after a small amount of methamphetamine was found in their car. Nicolas Cendoya, 19, and Kyndall Jack, 18, got lost while on an Easter Sunday hike in Trabuco Canyon near Los Angeles. With little water, they called authorities to report their status before losing cell phone service. Now, Cendoya is facing drug charges and officials have yet to decide for what other portion of the search he and Jack will be held accountable." Continue reading →
"The Florida Legislature on Thursday gave final approval to legislation limiting the due process available to recipients of red light camera tickets and increasing the potential penalty for those challenging a fine to $408. The changes were included in a 220-page omnibus transportation bill which saw more than sixty amendments considered. The final package was adopted unanimously in the state Senate. Earlier in the day, the House had approved language that would have entirely banned right turn on red tickets, which remain a major source of revenue for municipalities. This was stripped out and replaced with a less significant provision." Continue reading →
"The latest is a new government regulation that was snuck into a transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, aka, MAP-21. Some progress, the bill requires corporations to calculate payments into pensions based on a 25-year average on interest rates, instead of current rates. In other words, with current low rates, corporations in reality need to make larger contributions to meet pension fund growth goals. But according to new government regulations, corporations now need to calculate pension fund payments based on an interest rate earned on pension assets that can't possibly be earned." Continue reading →
"The US food and drug regulator on Friday called the addition of caffeine to children’s foods like chewing gum and jelly beans 'dangerous' and warned of a possible crackdown. Food and Drug Administration deputy commissioner Michael Taylor said the rise in such caffeine-added products outside the beverage industry was 'very disturbing,' after candy giant Mars Inc. announced a caffeinated version of its Wrigley gum. That was added last month to a slew of 'high energy' foods on the market sporting substantial added caffeine, including pancake syrups, instant oatmeal, waffles, potato chips, marshmallows and sunflower seeds." Continue reading →
"It behooves us all to periodically stop and examine our life path. What's missing in your life? What seemingly never gets fixed, and unfixed, makes your unhappy or unfulfilled? On examination, you may find that the problem is that you are adhering to convention, and doing so at great personal cost. Nancy did something that probably not one in a half a million people in her circumstances would have done – break the chains of convention and set out to enjoy the remaining years of what is likely to be a much longer life as a free and independent woman." Continue reading →
"You probably haven’t heard of HD Moore, but up to a few weeks ago every Internet device in the world, perhaps including some in your own home, was contacted roughly three times a day by a stack of computers that sit overheating his spare room. In February last year he decided to carry out a personal census of every device on the Internet as a hobby. '[It] drew quite a lot of complaints, hate mail, and calls from law enforcement,' he says. But the data collected has revealed some serious security problems, and exposed some vulnerable business and industrial systems of a kind used to control everything from traffic lights to power infrastructure."
"There are some absurd examples of waste at the Pentagon, including 'green' jet fuel that costs 15 times as much as regular fuel. This is even worse than the bizarre $600,000 frog statue than the Defense Department selected to adorn a new $700 million office building. I realize that the $700 million office building should be the bigger issue, but I can’t help but be irked by the thought that taxpayers are being raped and pillaged for the frog. In any event, the $700 million for the office building is pocket change compared to the amount of money we misallocate to subsidize Western Europe to protect against a Warsaw Pact military alliance that no longer exists!" Continue reading →