German government plans sweeping social attacks

The new German government held a two-day cabinet conference Tuesday and Wednesday at Schloss Merseburg in Brandenburg. According to Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the meeting was meant to create “a comradely atmosphere in which we can resolve problems in a spirit of mutual [...]

DARPA’s Simulated Cat Brain Project a ‘Scam’: Top Scientist

Last year, the Pentagon’s premiere research arm gave IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) nearly $5 million to make electronics that mimic the “function, size and power consumption” of a cat’s brain. Last week, IBM’s lead researcher on the project, Dharmendra S. Modha, announced that he had made major progress [...]

German army chief resigns over Afghan civilian deaths

The German army’s chief of staff has stepped down after reports of Afghan civilian deaths in a September air strike involving German troops.
Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told parliament on Thursday Wolfgang Schneiderhan had submitted his resignation.
Schneiderhan “has released himself from his duties at his own request,” zu Guttenberg [...]

Norway opens first osmotic power plant

Norway has unveiled the world’s first osmotic power plant, which utilizes the energy unleashed when fresh water and seawater are mixed to produce clean electricity.
Osmotic power is a renewable and emissions-free energy source that Norwegian firm Statkraft has been researching into for 10 years. The company hopes to [...]

“NET problem”

Russia’s intelligence services got connected to the secret information bases of the Interpol.
Our police have a considerable amount of experience collaborating with their foreign colleagues. Now, it will be expanded by means of electronic communication
Yesterday, the European Union officially gave Russia online access to the special databases of [...]

GlaxoSmithKline Pulls Swine Flu Vaccines in Canada: May “Trigger Life-Threatening Allergies”

LONDON — Pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday it has advised medical staff in Canada to not use one batch of swine flu (influenza A virus subtype H1N1, a type of swine influenza) vaccines in case they trigger life-threatening allergies.
Company spokeswoman Gwenan White said that they issued the [...]

Courtroom First: Brain Scan Used in Murder Sentencing

A defendant’s fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) brain scan has been used in court for what is believed to be the first time.
Brain scan evidence that the defense claimed shows the defendant’s brain was psychopathic was allowed into the sentencing portion of a murder trial in Chicago, Science reported [...]

The Department of Gomer Pyle

I was an average high school student. I had to attend summer school between my junior and senior years just to graduate with my class and even then, on graduation night, I wasn’t sure there’d be a diploma waiting for me. I was always more interested in playing ball and [...]

Inland Valley Hispanic College Fund taking scholarship applications

The Hispanic College Fund has opened up its student applications for the 2010-11 scholarship season.
More than $2 million will be awarded in scholarships to about 500 Latino students from the United States and Puerto Rico.
Entries will be open until Feb. 16.
This is the 17th year the Hispanic College Fund has supported [...]

Big Bear: Community Needs Forum Set for Wednesday, December 2

The public has ideas, and the governments of the Valley are all ears.
A community needs forum is set for Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 1:30 p.m. Members of all areas of Big Bear Valley are invited, along with merchants and service organization representatives. The audience is invited to share ideas on [...]

Big Bear: Neil Derry Fired Don Allen

Don Allen wants to set the record straight. He did not resign his seat on the Big Bear Valley Recreation and Park District advisory commission five months ago.
“I was removed,” said Allen, who represented the community of Moonridge on the board until June 30.
Allen was serving as the commission president [...]

DHS Announces “Global Entry” Biometric Identification System for U.S. Airports

Today, the Department of Homeland Security proposed to make permanent Global Entry, a program the agency says will “streamline the international arrivals and admission process at airports for trusted travelers through biometric identification.” Under the proposed system, pre-registered international travelers can bypass conventional security lines by scanning [...]

CIA’s Lost Magic Manual Resurfaces

At the height of the Cold War, the Central Intelligence Agency paid $3,000 to renowned magician John Mulholland to write a manual on misdirection, concealment, and stagecraft. All known copies of the document — and a related paper, on conveying hidden signals — were believed to be destroyed in [...]

Affidavit From Ex-Editor Miniter Details Inner Workings Of Washington Times

A wide-ranging affidavit by Washington Times editorial page editor Richard Miniter in the lawsuit he is filing against the Times provides a detailed picture of the inner workings of the newspaper that has been rocked in recent weeks by the canning of three executives and the resignation [...]

‘Counterinsurgency’ to Fight U.S. Crime? No, Thanks

After the sickening murder of a 9-year-old boy in Washington, our friend Spencer Ackerman made an impassioned plea: U.S. Central Command chief General David Petraeus for D.C. metro police chief. The idea of America’s leading counterinsurgent taking on one of its most crime-ridden towns definitely has a certain [...]

Czech government expresses regret for illegal sterilizations of Roma women

On Nov. 22, at the instigation of Czech Human Rights Minister Michael Kocáb, the government of the Czech Republic expressed regret over the illegal sterilizations of women that have been performed in the country. Speaking after a cabinet session, Kocáb said a set of measures are being designed to [...]

FBI Releases 2008 Hate Crime Statistics

“Statistics released today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed that 7,783 criminal incidents involving 9,168 offenses were reported in 2008 as a result of bias toward a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or disability. Published by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Hate Crime Statistics, 2008, [...]

Fernando Bermudez exonerated–informant found to have lied

Cleared of murder charges after serving 18 years, Fernando Bermudez was freed on Friday. See NYT story here and my previous post.
Four witnesses recanted their testimony, stating that they had been pressured by the government into identifying Mr. Bermudez as the shooter.
The main witness, Efraim Lopez, testified falsely under a [...]

The War on Drugs: FAIL: An Interview With Clifford Thornton Jr.

Climate Scientists’ E-Mail Hacked

This archive presents over 120Mb of emails, documents, computer code and models from the Climatic Research Unit at the , written between 1996 and 2009.
The CRU has told the BBC that the files were obtained by a computer hacker 3-4 days ago.
This archive includes unreleased global temperature analysis [...]

Government taking newborn DNA samples without permission

China air force talks space supremacy

The commander of the Chinese Air Force has described dominating the space as an imperative for the country’s security.
The commander of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), Xu Qiliang, said on Monday superiority in space could give a nation control over war zones both on land and at sea, [...]

Aliens in Alliance? UK military smears US ‘Martian’ generals

Microsoft wants to take away news

Microsoft is holding talks with News Corporation and other media-companies to convince them to remove their news content from the Google search engine while continuing to feature their material on the Microsoft search engine. One source told the Financial Times that this initiative had originated with Keith Rupert [...]

Our research has shown that child trafficking increases when you have military bases

Excerpt:
When I reached her by phone, Goodnight said, “Our research has shown that child trafficking increases when you have military bases and a strong agricultural presence in the area.” That’s why, this year, before Shaniya Davis’s disappearance and the discovery of her body made “human trafficking” a hot topic, [...]

Let’s Eliminate Welfare for Terrorists

Of all the factors on the table in the current Afghan strategic review, the War on Drugs and its unintended consequences should be front and center. Our 95-year effort to create a Drug Free America by enforcing world-wide prohibition has twisted our foreign policy out of shape all over the globe and [...]

Google Provides Free Access to Full Text of Court Opinions

Google is taking a swing at the Lexis/Nexis / Westlaw duopoly by offering free searches and free access to the full text of state, district, and appellate court opinions. Law journals, too.
Starting today, we’re enabling people everywhere to find and read full text legal opinions from U.S. federal and state district, [...]

Senator Wants Answers on Drugs from DoD

Senator Benjamin Louis “Ben” Cardin (D-MD) stops by the Editor’s Desk to chat about the letter he just sent to Secretary Robert Michael Gates regarding his concerns over the amount of prescription drugs being given to troops in the war zones and the long-term consequences of that practice.  [...]

Psychiatrist warning of violence danger among returned Marines fired

UPDATED AND EXPANDED: In the wake of the Fort Hood tragedy, there have been media reports that mental health staff had been concerned about Major Nidal Malik “AbduWali” Hasan, but did not report their concerns to higher authorities. Rather, these staff hoped he would disappear, into Fort Hood and then [...]

Posts from Anwar al-Awlaki’s Blog

New York times article on Anwar al-Awlaki is here.
Some posts from his blog, retrieved from Google’s cache:
Website coming back online, November 11, 2009
Nidal Hassan Did the Right Thing, November 9, 2009
RSS Feed, November 9, 2009
Response to Abdullaah bin Abdur-Rahmaan al-Jarboo, October 11, 2009
Eid Mubarak! Taqabbal Allah minna [...]

Free Legal Help to Online Journalists

The Citizen Media Law Project announced the launch of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University’s Online Media Legal Network (OMLN), a new pro bono initiative that connects lawyers and law school clinics with online journalists who need legal help. OMLN will provide [...]

CCR Files Opening Brief in First Supreme Court Case to Challenge Patriot Act

Obama Administration Defending Law that Makes Speech Advocating Human Rights a Terrorist Crime
November 17, 2009, New York – Yesterday, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed the first brief in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the first case to challenge a portion of the Patriot Act before the [...]

Town to photograph every car that enters and leaves

Tiburon, California, is a twee little place. If you aren’t familiar with the old-country colloquialism “twee,” it means, well, something like “precious.” Like one of those dogs Paris Hilton used to carry in her purse.
When one wanders through its little streets, just north of San Francisco, one gets the sense [...]

San Bernardino Police Hold Sister Hostage, Threaten Children in Attempt to Coerce Burglar

SAN BERNARDINO – Wylena Andrews landed in jail, she says, because police wanted her brother for burglarizing a sergeant’s house.
When they couldn’t find him, they took Andrews as a bargaining chip and threatened to haul her siblings off to Child Protective Services unless her brother turned himself in.
“I kept saying [...]

There’s a Message Here…

CIA Lithuanian torture site located

Christian leaders unite to teach youth intolerance

A group of 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that “could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples.”
Citing Martin Luther King, Jr. [...]

iePolitics: More on Arrowhead Regional Medical Center

After being off work and without a paycheck for the past four weeks thanks to our FORMER County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer, writing that last article was a bit cathartic.  Mark was a bit upset with me for several reasons, one of which is that I finally got sick of [...]

iePolitics Commentary: Sheriff Hoops, Part 2

Sheriff Rod Hoops let’s continue from my last posting.
I do not want our readers to think that misconduct such as the credentials falsification issue with Sheriff’s Captain Bart Gray is nothing but an aberration.
It is actually the opposite. In other words it happens quite frequently.
Not only are special accommodations made for [...]

iePolitics: Extensive Investigation at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center

Sources have confirmed that officials from the state regulatory agency have converged on Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) in what has been described by one long-term employee as the most extensive investigation/inspection of the facility since its opening ten years ago.  The investigation involves all units in the hospital [...]

Seattle City Attorney Peter Holmes Backs Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

Incoming Seattle City Attorney Peter Holmes says he’s still stunned by his election victory over incumbent Tom Carr. One area where Holmes hopes to bring change is in the city’s attitudes toward marijuana enforcement. Holmes says he has no plans to charge anyone with simple marijuana possession. And he’s [...]

Los Angeles DA Joins Ranks of Drug Cartel Bitches Against Medical Marijuana

It was a petulant fit of pique, certainly entertaining, and potentially hilarious — if safe access for so many medical marijuana patients weren’t hanging in the balance.

After things didn’t go his way at Monday’s Los Angeles City Council joint committee meeting, District Attorney Stephen Lawrence (“Steve”) Cooley pronounced Tuesday [...]

Russia confirms adherence to death penalty ban obligations

Moscow will stick to its commitments on the abolishment of the capital punishment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said on Thursday.
Constitutional Court of Russian Federation extended a moratorium on capital punishment earlier on Thursday. The court said that the ban, introduced in 1999, had begun an [...]

Privacy concerns as NSA admits “helping” Microsoft

Security experts raised privacy concerns after a US National Security Agency official revealed that the Agency collaborated with Microsoft during the development stage of Windows 7. The revelation was made in a prepared statement by NSA information assurance director Richard Schaeffer, before the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism [...]

The Coming Nuclear Crisis

The world is about to enter a period of unprecedented investment in nuclear power. The combined threats of climate change, energy security and fears over the high prices and dwindling reserves of oil are forcing governments towards the nuclear option. The perception is that nuclear power is a carbon-free technology, [...]

White House nominates a new slate to the Broadcasting Board of Governors

The Broadcasting Board of Governors oversees the United States Government’s non-military broadcasting. Its function is to provide managerial guidance from talented private sector leaders. The combined audience of the broadcasting it oversees is over 171 million, an increase of 71% over 2003, according to the BBG. Programming is in [...]

FBI kept tabs on Pulitzer-winning author Studs Terkel for 45 years

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which acted as America’s political police during the Cold War, spent several decades watching Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel, who died earlier this year at age 96.  The revelation was made by the City University of New York’s NYCity News Service, which [...]

Global Fertility Rates Falling

Uffer Era Ends on a 3-2 Vote

Mark H. Uffer’s five-year tenure as the county’s top administrative officer drew to a close this week with a 3-2 vote of the board of supervisors.
The sacking of Uffer, who was named interim county administrative officer in March 2004 and then given the official title as CAO in September 2004, [...]

When It’s Crunch Time at College, Students Turn to Adderall

Can ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) stimulants like Adderall (amphetamines) be the answer for college students looking to increase academic performance? They think so.
It’s a week before final exams and you haven’t begun studying. These general education classes are, simply, a drag and you’re already tired from fraternity, sorority or [...]