Mainstream News

GAO Now Investigating DHS Ammo Purchases

"The Government Accountability Office tells Whispers it is now investigating large ammunition purchases made by the Department of Homeland Security. Chuck Young, a spokesman for GAO, says the investigation of the purchases is 'just getting underway.' The congressional investigative agency is jumping into the fray just as legislation was introduced in both the Senate and the House to restrict the purchase of ammo by some government agencies (except the Department of Defense). The AMMO Act, introduced Friday, would prevent agencies from buying more ammunition if 'stockpiles' are greater than what they were in previous administrations." Continue reading →

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Rand Paul stirs business ire over blocking of U.S. tax treaties

"Citing privacy concerns about Americans' tax data, Paul, a Republican and libertarian, has single-handedly blocked Senate action on treaties with Hungary, Switzerland and Luxembourg that have been signed by authorities on both sides, but have been awaiting Senate review since 2011. Major U.S. businesses such as IBM Corp and Fluor Corp are lobbying for Senate action on tax treaties, according to Senate lobbying disclosure documents. The U.S. Treasury in 2012 began signing new tax pacts with countries as part of implementation of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a 2010 anti-tax-evasion law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRand Paul stirs business ire over blocking of U.S. tax treaties

Feats of Bridge-Building Bravura

"Mr. Johnson saw a way to keep traffic flowing for all but 10 days of the three-year project, helping shave $28 million from its estimated cost. As the new bridge is constructed on temporary piers, cars whiz past it a scant 55 feet upstream on the old bridge. When work on the new bridge is finished, traffic will be briefly rerouted onto it, so the old one can be demolished. In the grand finale this July, the new 15,260-ton steel bridge, pulled by powerful strand jacks, will slide slowly upstream on steel beams lubricated with high-grade silicon grease, before finally coming to rest in the footprint of the original bridge." Continue reading →

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Hiring Spreads, but Only 14 Cities Top Prerecession Level

"Employers are hiring more readily across the U.S., though only 14 of the nation's 100 biggest metropolitan areas have more jobs now than they did before the 2008-09 recession. Six of them are in Texas, according to researchers at the Brookings Institution, who recently analyzed local economic conditions through the end of 2012. Austin added more jobs, percentage-wise, than any other metro area, helped by stable employment at the state government and University of Texas as well as high-tech jobs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHiring Spreads, but Only 14 Cities Top Prerecession Level

Google wants to build the Star Trek computer

"Singhal predicted that will happen in three years’ time—by then, he says, Google’s Star Trek machine will be so good that you’ll ask it a question and expect a correct answer at least twice a day. 'And in five years you won’t believe you ever lived without it. You’ll look back at today’s search engine and you’ll say, is that really how we searched?' Singhal says. He adds: 'These are the best times we’ve ever had in search. I have done this for 22 years, and I've been at Google for 12 years, so I should know. This is the most exciting time—every morning I come into work more excited than ever. Strap in. It's all happening in our lifetimes.'" Continue reading →

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Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo makes first powered flight

"The spaceplane being developed by UK billionaire Sir Richard Branson has made its first powered flight. The vehicle was dropped from a carrier aircraft high above California's Mojave Desert and ignited its rocket engine to go supersonic for a few seconds. Sir Richard's intention is to use the spaceship to carry fare-paying passengers on short pleasure rides above the Earth's atmosphere. His company Virgin Galactic has already taken hundreds of deposits." Continue reading →

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UK businessman found guilty of selling fake bomb detectors to Iraq

"A businessman has been found guilty of a multimillion-pound fraud involving the sale of fake bomb detectors to Iraq and around the world. A jury at the Old Bailey found Jim McCormick, 57, from near Taunton, Somerset, guilty on three counts of fraud over a scam that included the sale of £55m of devices based on a novelty golfball finder to Iraq. They were installed at checkpoints in Baghdad through which car bombs and suicide bombers passed, killing hundreds of civilians. Last month they remained in use at checkpoints across the Iraqi capital. McCormick also sold the detectors to Niger, Syria, Mexico and a UN agency in Lebanon." Continue reading →

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Princeton grad accused of spying for Cuba while employed by State Department

"Former United States government employee Marta Rita Velazquez ’79 has been accused of espionage for Cuba against the United States, according to an indictment released by the FBI on April 25. Velazquez is charged with passing documents and information regarding national defense to Cuban intelligence. The indictment, which was originally returned by a Washington, D.C. grand jury in 2004 and only unsealed yesterday, also alleges that Velazquez helped recruit U.S. citizens to serve as Cuban agents. One alleged co-conspirator, Ana Belen Montes, pleaded guilty to espionage in 2002 and is now serving a 25-year sentence in the US." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrinceton grad accused of spying for Cuba while employed by State Department

CIA ‘gave millions in cash’ to Karzai over the years

"The CIA has delivered tens of millions of dollars in cash packed in suitcases and backpacks to the office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai for more than a decade. 'We called it ghost money,' Khalil Roman, Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 to 2005, told the Times. 'It came in secret, and it left in secret.' The money was aimed at obtaining influence, but instead fueled rampant corruption, current and former officials told the newspaper. There appears to be no oversight over the secret CIA money, which is aimed at gaining influence by paying off warlords and politicians including some linked to the drug trade and even the Taliban." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA ‘gave millions in cash’ to Karzai over the years

Kenya’s new cellphone money model could disrupt global banking industry

"M-Shwari is a new banking platform that allows subscribers of Kenya’s biggest mobile network, Safaricom, to operate savings accounts, earn interest on deposits, and borrow money using their mobile phones. It expands on Kenya’s revolutionary use of sending money by mobile phone — known as M-Pesa, 'mobile money' in Swahili — launched in 2007 and now widely used across the east African nation, where some 70 percent of people have mobile phones. With a minimum transfer of cash set at five shillings — around five US cents — the application revolutionised day-to-day banking for millions left out of the formal system." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKenya’s new cellphone money model could disrupt global banking industry