Category Archives: Fail!

Japan’s Lower House Passes Bills to Give Military Limited Combat Powers – The New York Times

“The Fourth Reich grabbing Greece and now Japan embracing militarism again!”

The vote was the culmination of months of contentious debate in a society that has long embraced pacifism to atone for wartime aggression. It was a significant victory for Mr. Abe, a conservative politician who has devoted his career to moving Japan beyond guilt over its militarist past and toward his vision of a “normal country” with a larger role in global affairs.

via Japan’s Lower House Passes Bills to Give Military Limited Combat Powers – The New York Times.

How did Sandra Bland die?

The Texas police, on the other hand, is 100 percent hoping we believe this young woman with no apparent mental health problems, who had just started a new job, who was outspoken in the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and whose brutal arrest had just been caught on video, committed suicide. Sorta like how they wanted us to believe Walter Scott had gained control of the cop’s taser before he was shot? Or that Freddie Gray was “intentionally trying to injure himself” in the back of that van?

A believer in the power of social media to make change, Bland can be heard thanking the bystander recording her arrest as she’s taken into police custody — custody from which she was never released alive. May Bland’s friends and family get the truth and justice for her.

via How did Sandra Bland die?.

Genetically engineered moths could be released in Britain to save crops

“So, who is pretending that all unintended consequences which could have a monstrous negative effect have been accounted for? The person who thought it would be a good idea to import rabbits or camels to Australia?”

Research shows that releasing moths which only produce male offspring causes population crashes

 

via Genetically engineered moths could be released in Britain to save crops.

When Hacking Team Met Bart Gellman : Additional Focus : Our Work

Last Sunday, the Milan-based spyware firm uncreatively known as “Hacking Team”—notorious for selling powerful, out-of-the-box surveillance tools to any government or law enforcement agency willing to pay the hefty price-tag—was itself hacked by unknown actors.

The firm’s compromised Twitter account began tweeting links to over 400 gigabytes of internal data, including company emails, invoices, financial documents, and source code—most of which appears to have been stored sans encryption on company servers.

To add insult to injury, the hacker(s) responsible—seemingly the same person(s) who infiltrated spyware purveyor Gamma Group last year—changed Hacking Team’s Twitter account name to “Hacked Team.”

The contents of the data dump confirms what researchers and journalists had long suspected: that Hacking Team regularly sells its spyware to repressive regimes—including Ethiopia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan—some of whom have used the technology to spy on reporters and activists.

In other words, the company has more than earned the appellation bestowed upon it by Reporters without Borders: Hacking Team is an “Enemy of the Internet.”

via When Hacking Team Met Bart Gellman : Additional Focus : Our Work.

East Jerusalem youth find escape in drugs | Middle East | DW.COM | 15.07.2015

Tamer Zakkak, director of a counseling center situated in the old city, claims over 5,000 children aged 12-17 years are using drugs in East Jerusalem. The center, run by the charity Caritas Jerusalem, has noticed that more children are being drawn toward drugs at increasingly younger ages.

“In the past we were working with children, 16, 17, 18, who were dealing with drug addiction,” Zakkak said from his office, just outside the old city walls. “In some cases we are now dealing with 13- and 14-year olds.” Zakkar refers to his most recent case as an example: a 13-year-old homeless boy hooked on marijuana and ecstasy.

Children as young as nine begin on what appear to be harmless legal highs, but before they know it they are craving a much bigger hit, says Zakkak. He is referring to synthetic marijuana. Packed with potent chemicals that can induce psychotic episodes, it is cheap, readily available, addictive – and a hit with the youth. “Some people leave school age eight or nine and start working in the streets, learning from adults and other youth in the streets about drugs,” Zakkak adds. “Heroin is the second level.”

via East Jerusalem youth find escape in drugs | Middle East | DW.COM | 15.07.2015.

Bird Flu Cost the US $3.3 Billion and Worse Could Be Coming – Phenomena: Germination

As I reported earlier, animal-health authorities suspected—and virus analysis is now confirming—that while the flu was originally brought to the US by wild birds migrating down from Canada, most of the spread within the US was due to people and vehicles inadvertently carrying the virus from farm to farm.

via Bird Flu Cost the US $3.3 Billion and Worse Could Be Coming – Phenomena: Germination.

“Maryn is an excellent reporter and researcher. I think she will find or has already found and will report soon that if some wild birds were involved in the transmission of avian influenza, they most likely acquired it from domestic industrial flocks in China, Korea. Wherever industrial poultry is practised across the globe, this flu is developing, mutating in the industrial settings and being transmitted more by commerce, than migrating birds that come in contact with infected industrial birds.”

Italy′s sovereign debt hits record high | Business | DW.COM | 14.07.2015

“Is Italy next on 4th Reich’s over-reach to dominate Europe?”

Italian public debt has risen upwards of 2.2 trillion euros in May, new data showed Tuesday – a new record for the southern European country that is the eurozone’s second-most indebted after Greece.

The new numbers from the Central Bank of Italy come at a time when the Greek debt crisis is dominating headlines and observers view ballooning public debt within the currency union with worry.

Italy’s debt is now at 132 percent of GDP, compared to Greece’s 175 percent. Both countries find themselves far from the 60 percent debt-to-GDP ratio target set by the European Commission.

The consequences of an Italian debt crisis would however be more dire – it’s the third largest economy in the eurozone.

via Italy′s sovereign debt hits record high | Business | DW.COM | 14.07.2015.

Tularemia warning issued in New Mexico

The New Mexico Department of Health issued a warning Monday about the risk of contracting tularemia.

The warning was issued after a 51-year-old Los Alamos Countyman received laboratory confirmation from the Scientific Laboratory Division of the Health Department that he has tularemia. He returned home after receiving hospitalization.

Health professionals also have reported 33 tularemia cases in pet cats and dogs so far this year. The pets were located throughout Santa Fe, Torrance, Taos, Los Alamos and Bernalillo

via Tularemia warning issued in New Mexico.