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How about pictures of Adam Curry in various states of alarm from sleeping to screaming about the swine flu military industrial multinational Illuminati conspiracy? BTW, how much is this committee going to cost that Obama simply saying, “Waterboard this thing into oblivion the way Dick would!” wouldn’t accomplish?
The Obama administration [this] week is expected to create an official committee to consider modifying or even abolishing the widely ridiculed color-coded terrorism alert system introduced by the Bush administration after the 9/11 attacks.
Current and former government officials, who asked for anonymity when discussing nonpublic information, told NEWSWEEK that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will appoint a “task force” made up of national, state, and local government experts, possibly including governors and mayors, to examine whether the color-coded system has outlived its usefulness. Bush administration officials who developed and oversaw the system may also play a role. The committee is likely to solicit comments about the alert system from industries affected by it, including airlines and companies that make or ship hazardous materials. The committee will have 60 days to examine the system and draw up recommendations on its future.
Democratic Rep. Jane Harman […] says the color-coding system had become so ineffective that even top officials like Tom Ridge, George W. Bush’s first homeland-security secretary, used to make jokes about it.
So, what would you replace it with?
But Geithner says things are improving? Maybe he’s talking about Goldman Sachs.
The recent unemployment numbers have undermined confidence that we might be nearing the bottom of the recession. What we can see on the surface is disconcerting enough, but the inside numbers are just as bad.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary estimate for job losses for June is 467,000, which means 7.2 million people have lost their jobs since the start of the recession.
[…]
Here are 10 reasons we are in even more trouble than the 9.5% unemployment rate indicates:– June’s total assumed 185,000 people at work who probably were not. The government could not identify them; it made an assumption about trends. But many of the mythical jobs are in industries that have absolutely no job creation, e.g., finance. When the official numbers are adjusted over the next several months, June will look worse.
– More companies are asking employees to take unpaid leave. These people don’t count on the unemployment roll.
– No fewer than 1.4 million people wanted or were available for work in the last 12 months but were not counted. Why? Because they hadn’t searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey.
There are seven more reasons. But why isn’t the stimulus helping?
How could this happen when Washington has thrown trillions of dollars into the pot, including the famous $787 billion in stimulus spending that was supposed to yield $1.50 in growth for every dollar spent? For a start, too much of the money went to transfer payments such as Medicaid, jobless benefits and the like that do nothing for jobs and growth. The spending that creates new jobs is new spending, particularly on infrastructure. It amounts to less than 10% of the stimulus package today.
Oh. I think I need a drink. Got a couple of bucks I could borrow?
I’ve been meaning to catch readers up to these “Auto-Tune the News” sketches that make a mockery of the news with some interesting editing and synthesizer work.
Not many people are carting around tower computers and keyboards to hotels rather than laptops, but combined with things like how easy it is to hack WEP encryption (rather than more secure, but still crackable, WPA & WPA2) on wireless networks and so on, this is just one more way others can find out what you’re doing.
On the other hand, how much you wanna bet the CIA, et al have known about this for decades. And used it against, oh, let’s say… you.
Power sockets can be used to eavesdrop on what people type on a computer. Security researchers found that poor shielding on some keyboard cables means useful data can be leaked about each character typed. By analysing the information leaking onto power circuits, the researchers could see what a target was typing.
[…]
The research focused on the cables used to connect PS/2 keyboards to desktop PCs.Usefully, said the pair, the six wires inside a PS/2 cable are typically “close to each other and poorly shielded”. This means that information traveling along the data wire, when a key is pressed, leaks onto the earth (ground in the US) wire in the same cable. The earth wire, via the PC’s power unit, ultimately connects to the plug in the power socket, and from there information leaks out onto the circuit supplying electricity to a room. Even better, said the researchers, data travels along PS/2 cables one bit at a time and uses a clock speed far lower than any other PC component. Both these qualities make it easy to pick out voltage changes caused by key presses.
[…]
“The PS/2 signal square wave is preserved with good quality… and can be decoded back to the original keystroke information,” wrote the pair in a paper describing their work.They demonstrated it working over distances of 1, 5, 10 and 15m from a target, far enough to suggest it could work in a hotel or office.
- Microsoft all over the news.
- 60-percent of all companies are not going to upgrade to Win7.
- MSFT still expects to sell 177 million copies by end of year.
- Apple Netbook coming for sure.
- Comcast setting up IPTV shop.
- Girl falls into manhole while texting.
- MSFT doing music streaming next.
- What will make Linux on the netbooks succeed?
- I run down the Wired list called “Reasons why Nokia gets no love in the USA.”
Right click here and select ‘Save Link As…’ to download the mp3 file.
North Korea’s “dear leader”, Kim Jong-il, has life-threatening cancer, South Korean media claimed today, prompting fears for the country’s long-term stability. The reports came days after images appeared of the 67-year-old looking gaunt in a rare public appearance, increasing speculation that his health was worsening after a reported stroke last year.
Seoul’s YTN television channel reported that Kim had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, citing unidentified intelligence officials in South Korea and China as saying the illness was threatening his life. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said it could not confirm the report, and a unification ministry spokesman, Chun Hae-sung, told reporters he knew nothing of the claims. US officials contacted by Reuters were unable to comment. Tensions on the peninsula have been running high in recent months, since the North’s nuclear and missile tests, making the stability of the regime a more pressing issue than ever.
While he looked thin and limped slightly, analysts said his attendance sent out the message that he was still in charge. Daniel Pinkston, a senior analyst and expert on North Korea at the International Crisis Group, warned that Japanese media had floated many rumours about Kim’s health. He pointed out that the subject was so sensitive that a specific diagnosis of illness seemed “a little odd”, adding: “This kind of information would not be shared easily or casually.”
Kim – celebrated in North Korea for accomplishments such as hitting 11 holes-in-one in the first round of golf he ever played – took power in 1994. But while he took over the military National Defence Commission and the Workers’ party, he did not become president, instead naming his late father as “eternal leader”.
11 holes in one?….Uh-huh. Now where did I put the BS Meter?!?!?
Following a recent series of high-profile shooting incidents in the United States, the southern state of Tennessee is changing its gun laws this week.
It is relaxing them.
Soon, Tennessee’s bars and restaurants will no longer be off-limits for registered weapons. State legislators – a quarter of whom own firearms – have passed a law allowing guns into bars and restaurants, but preventing their owners from buying alcohol.
The basic wingnut defense.
For the bill’s Democratic sponsor – State Senator Doug Jackson – it is a case of preserving the rights of individuals and those of individual states.
“People are fearful about tomorrow. They feel insecure. And the Second Amendment right is something that they cherish and it’s a means of protecting themselves and their family and defending what they have. It provides security in troubled times.”
Nashville’s police chief, Ronal Serpas does not believe that people who walk into bars with guns will steer clear of the shot glasses.
“If you think about how alchohol influences the choices people make… I don’t believe people are not going to drink and have guns, because I know they drink and drive,” he says.
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A book about the beginnings of the globally popular social networking site, which now has more than 200 million users, is set to hit American bookshelves on 14 July. And far from being a story of bespectacled nerds, it promises to be a tale of sex with Victoria’s Secret models, hard-partying champagne bashes and the dark deeds of the rich and powerful.
The cover of the book, The Accidental Billionaires, sets the raunchy tone. It features an overturned cocktail glass and a discarded bra next to the blurb: “A tale of sex, money, genius and betrayal.” The exposé is written by the Boston-based author Ben Mezrich, who has previously, and controversially, chronicled the deeds of Las Vegas gamblers, high-powered financiers and Japanese gangsters.
Purporting to tell the story of Facebook’s founding by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and his friends, it charts the site’s rise from a private project aimed at judging the attractiveness of his fellow students to a way for classmates to keep in touch, and eventually to a global phenomenon valued at billions of dollars.
Along the way Mezrich paints a story of backstabbing, wild sex, hard drinking and, at one stage, feasting on roasted koala on a yacht owned by a Silicon Valley millionaire. “No one has really succeeded in making Silicon Valley sexy. But this book might,” said Caroline McCarthy, a journalist for the technology website CNET, who has reviewed a rare advance copy.
Perhaps no wonder, then, that The Accidental Billionaires is the subject of a major movie deal after actor Kevin Spacey signed on to produce it. Spacey even wrote a review of the book on its Amazon page, calling it “a captivating story of betrayal, vast amounts of cash, and two friends who revolutionised the way humans connect to one another – only to have an enormous falling out and never speak again”.
Is this what Social Networking is all about?
09.07.12 Sunday – Episode #112
Click image to go to No Agenda.
John and Adam discuss the news of the day from an International Perspective
Queue / Cue / Q the closing credits — We hope you enjoy the show!
Running time: approx. 90 mins.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — You’ve seen the iconic picture of a soldier with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, but that could soon be a thing of the past. A new study commissioned by the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs recommends a complete ban on tobacco, which would end tobacco sales on military bases and prohibit smoking by anyone in uniform, not even combat troops in the thick of battle.
According to the study, tobacco use impairs military readiness in the short term. Over the long term, it can cause serious health problems, including lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. The study also says smokeless tobacco use can lead to oral and pancreatic cancer. The Defense Department’s top health officials are studying the report’s suggestions and will make recommendations to the Pentagon’s policy team and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The study recommends phasing out tobacco products such as cigarettes and cigars over a five- to 10-year period.
However, the suggested ban does not sit well with many in uniform, including retired Gen. Russel Honore, best known for coordinating military relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina-affected areas with an ever-present stogie. He said soldiers at war need to puff. “When you’re tired and you’ve been going days on end with minimum sleep, and you are not getting the proper meals on time, that hit of tobacco can make a difference,” said Honore, who was in charge of the Army’s training programs before he retired. Other soldiers questioned whether this was a good time to stamp out smoking, given the Army’s concern with a high suicide rate.
They needed a study for this? Really?
Some athletes borrow to fund their training, others depend on supportive family.
Logan Campbell, a New Zealand taekwondo champion has chosen a more unorthodox way of funding his bid for the 2012 London Olympics. He has opened up a brothel in Auckland, NZ’s largest city.
The 23-year-old, who finished in the top 16 in the taekwondo featherweight division at the Beijing Olympics, turned pimp after funding dried up and he feared he was in danger of missing the games in 2012.
The Beijing campaign cost around $NZ150,000, most of which came from his parents. His father, Max, an auctioneer, worked two jobs to get him to Beijing and Mr Campbell said he was sick of being a burden on his parents.
His new venture, he hopes, will earn him the $NZ300,000 he needs to be a serious medal contender in London after being beaten in Beijing by eventual bronze medallist Sung Yu-Chi of Taiwanto…
His parents were supportive, he said. “Mum was hesitant but she met the girls, a couple came over to her house and she was sweet as. She realised they were just normal people supporting their kids and stuff,” he said.
It’s OK if you’re pimping for McDonald’s or Nike, Citibank or Chevrolet.
Sex is the only problem. As it often seems to be in English-speaking nations.
 
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From the you-can’t-make-this-crap-up-department, unless you’re dealing with mortgages in Florida:
“Due to state foreclosure laws, lenders are obligated to name and notify subordinate lien holders,” said Wells Fargo spokesman Kevin Waetke.
Being a taxpayer-subsidized, too-big-to-fail institution, it’s possible that one of the few ways for Wells Fargo & Co. to know what it is doing is to notify itself with a court filing.
In this particular case, Wells Fargo holds the first and second mortgages on a condominium, according to Sarasota, Fla., attorney Dan McKillop, who represents the condo owner.
As holder of the first, Wells Fargo is suing all other lien holders, including the holder of the second, which is itself.
[…]
Wells Fargo’s defense lawyers even filed an answer to their client’s own complaint.“Defendant admits that it is the owner and holder of a mortgage encumbering the subject real property,” the answer reads. “All other allegations of the complaint are denied.”
This is even dumber than the lending practices that led to this foreclosure mess, yet this is what the court record says. I learned about this from “The Consumer Warning Network” Web site, which posted an article by Angie Moreschi titled, “Have The Banks Gone Crazy?”
“We’ve apparently reached the perfect storm for complete and utter idiocy by some banks trying to foreclose on homes,” Moreschi wrote.
McKillop, the condo owner’s attorney, told me he thinks Wells Fargo doesn’t know what it’s doing, and that its lawyers figure it is all billable hours to them.
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