Mainstream News

One By One, California Agents Track Down Illegally Owned Guns

"In a recent operation, a caravan of four unmarked trucks traversed the bedroom communities of San Francisco's East Bay. The trucks carry nine state agents wearing bulletproof vests and armed with .40-caliber Glock pistols and Tasers. They'll spend the next six hours looking for illegal guns, explains Special Agent Kisu Yo of the California Department of Justice. Beginning In 2007, California officials began collecting names from court records, medical facilities and lists of known or wanted criminals, then cross-referenced them against the federal instant criminal background check system for gun-buyers. The list is updated every day." Continue reading →

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Son of legendary Chinese Communist military leader apologizes for Cultural Revolution

"The son of a legendary Communist military leader and politician in China has publicly apologised for persecuting people at his school during the Cultural Revolution, according to a blog. Chen Xiaolu offered his remorse to teachers, staff and students at his former school in Beijing for leading denunciations and sending people to labour camps. Chen said that while there were moves by some in China to argue in favour of the Cultural Revolution, such 'inhumane violations of human rights should not appear again in any form in China'." Continue reading →

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Worth $355 million, Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest member of Congress

"Republican Darrell Issa of California was 2012′s richest member of Congress, worth at least $355 million, according to a ranking published Tuesday. The congressman, who made his fortune in car security systems, topped the annual list of the 50 wealthiest lawmakers published by The Hill newspaper, a trade publication about Washington politics. The rankings were based on financial disclosure forms filed by members of Congress. Outside of Congress, President Obama and his wife Michelle Obama were worth between $1.8 and $6.8 million in 2012 according to figures published in May." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWorth $355 million, Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest member of Congress

New Zealand passes law allowing domestic surveillance

"New Zealand passed legislation Wednesday allowing its main intelligence agency to spy on residents and citizens. The bill to expand the power of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) passed by 61 votes to 59. 'This is not, and never will be, about wholesale spying on New Zealanders,' Prime Minister John Key told parliament. 'There are threats our government needs to protect New Zealanders from, those threats are real and ever-present and we underestimate them at our peril.' The push to change the law came after it emerged last year that the GCSB illegally spied on Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom." Continue reading →

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Obama Presses for Action on Bank Rules

"President Obama urged the nation’s top financial regulators on Monday to move faster on new rules for Wall Street, telling them in a private White House meeting that they must work to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. Administration officials and some lawmakers have expressed frustration that critical parts of Mr. Obama’s overhaul of the financial system, which was voted into law three years ago and is known as the Dodd-Frank act, remain unenforced as an alphabet soup of federal agencies wrangle over how to adopt it." Continue reading →

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Austrian brewer revives 300-year-old beer

"An Austrian brewery is offering beer lovers a trip back in time by reviving a 300-year-old recipe it found in the town archives. The family-owned Hofstetten brewery in the Upper Austrian town of Saint Martin recreated the 'Neuhauser Herrschafts Pier' from ingredients listed in an invoice for the local Neuhaus castle in 1720, when Austria was one of Europe’s big powers. Using small crops of emmer and malting barley grown from ancient seed varieties agricultural historians had preserved, owner Peter Krammer was able to reproduce the mix of barley, wheat and hops that marked the brew made three centuries ago." Continue reading →

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Finally…a beer that won’t give you a hangover

"Scientists have created a beer which could finally put an end to the dreaded hangover. The beer has been created by a team of researchers in Australia who say it prevents drinkers from becoming dehydrated. They have added electrolytes - an ingredient in sports drinks - which helps to keep them refreshed. However, inevitably, some may feel there is a downside to the new drink. In order to create it, they have had to reduce the alcohol content. The team also said that despite adding the electrolytes, it did not effect the taste of the drinks. Hangovers are caused by several factors but dehydration is known to be one of the biggest causes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFinally…a beer that won’t give you a hangover

UK: Fire chief told policeman to leave ‘drowning’ man in 3ft deep lake [2012]

"The father of a man who drowned in 3ft of water after emergency crews were ordered not to rescue him has hit out at health and safety rules that ‘hinder’ the 999 services. David Burgess, whose son Simon lay floating face down in a lake for more than half an hour while firemen, police and paramedics watched, said it was impossible to ‘eliminate all risk’ for the emergency services. A fire crew claimed safety rules stopped them from going more than ‘ankle-deep’ into the water [..] And a policeman and a paramedic who both volunteered to jump in were given orders not to do so by a fire station watch manager." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK: Fire chief told policeman to leave ‘drowning’ man in 3ft deep lake [2012]

Spanish banks’ bad loan ratio rises to record in June

"The overall bad debt ratio for Spanish banks was up from 11.2 percent in May and has been steadily increasing since a drop-off at the end of last year when rescued lenders transferred toxic property assets to Spain's so-called bad bank. Spanish lenders' earnings were gutted last year by steep government-enforced provisions on properties and loans to developers, in the wake of a 2008 real estate crash. Those unable to cope were bailed-out with European funds, and most of their real estate loans were transferred to a government-backed bad bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpanish banks’ bad loan ratio rises to record in June

Germany Fights Population Drop

"There is perhaps nowhere better than the German countryside to see the dawning impact of Europe’s plunge in fertility rates over the decades, a problem that has frightening implications for the economy and the psyche of the Continent. In some areas, there are now abundant overgrown yards, boarded-up windows and concerns about sewage systems too empty to work properly. The work force is rapidly graying, and assembly lines are being redesigned to minimize bending and lifting. Raising fertility levels in Germany has not proved easy, even while spending $265 billion a year on family subsidies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGermany Fights Population Drop