Mainstream News

Arkansas Attorney General Won’t Let School Arm Teachers

"Arkansas school districts can’t use a little-known state law to employ teachers and staff as guards who can carry guns on campus, the state’s attorney general said Thursday in an opinion that likely ends a district’s plan to arm more than 20 employees when school starts later this year. The Lake Hamilton School District has been using the same law for years to train a handful of administrators as security guards, but the guns are locked away and not carried by the administrators during the school day." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArkansas Attorney General Won’t Let School Arm Teachers

More than 1,000 Iraqis killed in July, highest monthly toll since 2008

"More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in sectarian violence in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, the United Nations said, as Sunni Islamist groups stepped up their insurgency against Iraq’s Shi’ite-led government. Most of the 1,057 victims were civilians, killed in a relentless campaign of bombings and shootings that some Iraqis fear could drag the country into another war. July’s toll brought the number of people killed in militant attacks since the start of the year to 4,137. Last week hundreds of convicts ran free after simultaneous attacks on two high-security prisons, raising questions about the ability of the security services to combat al Qaeda." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMore than 1,000 Iraqis killed in July, highest monthly toll since 2008

Iraq-Turkey oil export pipeline seen back in 72 hours after new attack

"A bomb placed under the Kirkuk-Ceyhan line in Iraq's Ninewa province exploded early Sunday halting flows, a senior Iraqi oil official told Platts. 'The exports were completely stopped from Kirkuk,' said the senior official with the state-run North Oil Company, who asked not be identified. The official said the explosion took place in Ain al-Jahsh, south of the city of Mosul, in the middle of an area increasingly rife with al-Qaeda and other militants. The pipeline had been operational for just two weeks since the last attack, on June 21, which kept the route offline until July 17." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIraq-Turkey oil export pipeline seen back in 72 hours after new attack

Bakken flaring burns more than $100 million a month

"The amount lost to flaring pales in comparison to the $2.21 billion in crude oil production for May in North Dakota. Still, energy companies are working to build more pipelines and processing facilities to connect many of the state's 9,000 wells - a number expected to hit 50,000 by 2030. But it is a process that takes time and is not always feasible. Roughly 29 percent of natural gas extracted in North Dakota was flared in May, down from an all-time high of 36 percent in September 2011. But the volume of natural gas produced has nearly tripled in that timeframe to about 900,000 million cubic feet per day." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBakken flaring burns more than $100 million a month

Police arrest more than 200 protesters for trespassing at Chevron plant

"Police arrested more than 200 demonstrators for trespassing at Chevron Corp in the California city of Richmond on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of a massive refinery fire and to protest a proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The arrests came as a throng of sunflower-carrying picketers chanted, 'Hey hey, ho ho, fossil fuels have got to go,' as people of all ages walked onto Chevron’s property to draw attention to a growing movement against fossil fuel. The arrests included three people in wheelchairs and demonstrators as young as 18 years old. Media reports said most of those arrested were cited and released." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice arrest more than 200 protesters for trespassing at Chevron plant

Get ready for the ‘War on Sugar’

"The 'metabolic syndrome' maladies associated with insulin resistance and obesity – many authorities now just use the term 'diabesity' – are expected soon to overtake tobacco as the leading cause of heart disease in the world. And perhaps of cancer, too. Farmer Mike Small has high hopes for the campaign for a Scottish tax on sugar-sweetened beverages: he and his sustainable food campaign, the Fife Diet, will launch a new manifesto for it in September. Forms of sugar-sweetened beverage tax have already started in Denmark, France, Finland and Hungary. Scotland, Small says, is in the mood to follow." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGet ready for the ‘War on Sugar’

Watch: How GPS spoofing can take control of drones and ships

"A University of Texas researcher who has hacked the navigational systems of drones and ships told PBS on Friday that anyone with his software could do the same. Humphrey’s and and his graduate students used a technique called 'GPS spoofing,' in which false GPS signals are broadcast that trick a vehicle’s GPS receiver. The researchers first used the technique to commandeer an aerial drone. More recently, they commandeered a ship. Milton Clary of Overlook Systems Technologies told PBS that spoofing attacks posed a huge threat." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWatch: How GPS spoofing can take control of drones and ships

The concept of delusions gets a big — but unnoticed — overhaul

"It’s not clear who forcibly sedated her in 1972. It’s not certain that she was admitted to a psychiatric ward in the following year. Many people thought she was mad as she ranted about conspiracies in the White House during eccentric phone calls to the press. Questions about Martha Beall Mitchell’s sanity were encouraged by the Nixon administration, who consistently briefed against her and probably had her medicated against her will. But ultimately her claims were proven correct when the Watergate scandal broke. Claims against authorities are often dismissed by suggesting that the person has mental health problems." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe concept of delusions gets a big — but unnoticed — overhaul

Senator Schumer: Putin is behaving like a schoolyard bully

"A senior Democratic senator said on Sunday that the U.S.-Russia relationship had become 'poisonous' and urged President Barack Obama to consider moving next month’s Group of 20 summit away from the Russian city of St. Petersburg. Charles Schumer accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to antagonize the United States by granting American fugitive Edward Snowden asylum for one year. 'President Putin is behaving like a schoolyard bully,' Schumer said on the CBS television talk show 'Face the Nation.' 'In my experience, I’ve learned unless you stand up to that bully, they ask for more and more and more.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenator Schumer: Putin is behaving like a schoolyard bully

What Bradley Manning’s life will be like in military prison

"Bradley Manning faces the prospect of years of monotony with no Internet access in a small military prison cell but he would likely be allowed to mix with other inmates and exercise outdoors. The 25-year-old Manning, who has yet to be sentenced, would be able to nominate friends and relatives for visits pending official approval. A handshake, a brief kiss or a hug that does not involve touching below the waist are allowed during visits, and visitors and inmates may hold hands. Prisoners are allowed to telephone friends and family through payphones that may only be used at set times, but they are not permitted to send email or browse the Internet." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Bradley Manning’s life will be like in military prison