| The Obama administration is appealing the first -- and likely only -- lawsuit that produced a ruling against the secret National Security Agency warrantless surveillance program, adopted after the 2001 terror attacks. |
| Radiation from a mobile phone call can make brain regions near the device burn more energy, according to a new study. |
| Cutting atmospheric soot, methane and ground-level ozone is the quickest way to tackle climate change in the short term , according to a new report. |
| State Rep. Sharon Cissna is returning to Alaska by sea after refusing a pat-down search at a Seattle airport. |
| Governments around the world, including Canada and the United States, have issued travel warnings for Bahrain over the past week, citing violence in the streets and a threat of terrorism. Today, Formula 1 met the threat with a decision to cancel its season opening Grand Prix. |
| Judging from the extent to which one partner defies the will of the other, decade after decade, the world's only superpower is the weaker partner. |
| The Anaheim Union High School District has decided to track habitual school-skippers Big Brother-style. At the movies instead of pre-algebra? They're watching you. |
| Scientists have now shown how plankton provided a critical link between the atmosphere and chemical isotopes stored in rocks 500 million years ago. |
| On 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart' (weekdays, 11PM ET Comedy Central), Jon Stewart played a few clips of pundits and politicians comparing the protests to those in the Middle East |
| Chemical used to clean iPhone touch screens linked to declining health among staff at Wintek factory in Suzhou |
| The Iranian Cyber Army has taken down the Voice of America website and defaced it after accusing the US-funded broadcaster of propaganda. |
| Not only does the restaurant refuse to serve agents, they have called police before to have "their kind" forcibly removed from the premises. |
| About 1.6m children in the UK are living in severe poverty, charity Save the Children says, a figure it calls a "national scandal". |
Koch Industries Front Group Americans For Prosperity Launches Ad To Support Walker's Union Busting
| A children's charity warns the number of children living in severe poverty in Scotland is likely to rise dramatically. |
| Propelled through space using sunlight as fuel, solar sails have been a dream of space buffs for decades. Thanks to advances in materials science and electronics, two paper-thin craft have now left Earth, and a third will be on its way by the end of the year. |
| An analyst aggregate expects GM to post a $5.3 billion net profit for 2010 when it announces figures later this week. |
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It was only a matter of time before race would show its Skunky head in the debate over marijuana in California.
A newly discovered technique makes it possible to create a whole new array of plastics with metallic or even superconducting properties. |
| Studies show folic acid protects the DNA in cells from cancer-causing substances. |
| Most people would never suspect that a 'trash tree,' one with little economic value and often removed by farmers due to its ability to destroy farmland, could be the key to fighting a deadly bacterium. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found an antibiotic in the Eastern Red Cedar tree that ... |
| Time Magazine's intelligence columnist reported on Tuesday that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has ordered his security forces to sabotage the country's oil facilities, citing a source |
| An alcoholic drink a day can keep heart disease at bay, according to a review of 30 years of research by a team in Canada. |
| Der von Staatschef Muammar al-Gaddafi totgesagte Innenminister Libyens hat sich nach eigenen Angaben "der Revolution angeschlossen". In einem Interview des arabischen Nachrichtensenders Al-Arabiya appellierte Abdulfattah Junis an die Armee des nordafrikanischen Landes, auf die Forderungen der Demonstranten einzugehen. "Unser Ziel ist es, die Jugend von Tripolis zu unterstützen, damit die Stadt wie zuvor Bengasi befreit wird" |
Libyan warship defects to Malta. [link]
Several American news outlets withheld information about the CIA capacity of a US citizen who was arrested in Pakistan last month after killing two men. Continue reading →  |
| Es gibt Geschehnisse im echten Leben, die sind spannender als sich ein Autor für einen Spionage-Thriller ausdenken kann. So wie die Ereignisse um den CIA-Agenten Raymond Allen Davis, der in Pakistan wegen der Ermordung von zwei Personen, illegalen Waffenbesitz und Spionage im Gefängnis sitzt. Die diplomatischen Beziehungen zwischen den USA, die seine Freilassung verlangen, und Pakistan, die ihn nicht herausgeben und vor Gericht bringen wollen, hat zu einer sehr ernsten, wenn nicht sogar gefährlichen Situation zwischen den Ländern geführt. |
| Deutsche und britische Undercover-Polizisten spitzeln gemeinsam gegen antikapitalistische Bewegungen. Ihre internationale Verwendung ist ein Projekt von Ex-Innenminister Wolfgang Schäuble. Konkurrenz kommt von privaten Sicherheitsfirmen |
| Flüge fallen voraussichtlich aus, viele Fähren bleiben wohl in den Häfen. Auch Eisenbahn, Nahverkehr und Ministerien werden bestreikt: Aus Protest gegen das Sparpaket der griechischen Regierung wollen heute wieder etliche Menschen protestieren - doch nicht alle Athener wollen mitmachen. Sie bezweifeln, ob die Streiks auch etwas bewirken. |
| Mehr als 200.000 Arbeiter und Jugendliche haben sich bisher an den Massenprotesten in der Hauptstadt von Wisconsin beteiligt, die schon über eine Woche dauern. Am Montag forderten erneut Zehntausende die Rücknahme der Pläne des Republikanischen Gouverneurs Scott Walker. Er will öffentliche Ausgaben zusammenstreichen und greift die Löhne und Tarifrechte der 175.000 öffentlichen Beschäftigten des Bundesstaats an. |
| In nur fünf Jahren hat sich die Anbaufläche für Mais fast verzehnfacht. Ursache sind dem WWF zufolge die "falschen Förderanreize" der EEG-Umlage für Strom aus Biogas. Unsinn, meint der Biogasrat - Schuld am Mais-Boom sei die Massentierhaltung. Von Johanna Treblin |
| Die USA versuchen mit einem politischen Eiertanz ihren Flottenstützpunkt in Bahrain, den strategisch wichtigsten im Persischen Golf, zu retten. |
| James Petras, ein emeritierter Soziologie-Professor aus den USA, untersucht das Versagen der CIA und des Mossad beim Volksaufstand in Ägypten und leitet daraus hoffnungsvolle Perspektiven für die Zukunft ab. |
| Saudi Arabia's King returns after months abroad and announces increased benefits for his citizens, as anti-government protests continue in parts of the Arab world. |
| Um dem Volk Angst einzujagen, greift Ali Abdullah Saleh zu ungewöhnlichen Mittel. Eine Rede im Fernsehen wurde abgebrochen, als der jemenitische Präsident drohte, Aufständischen die Genitalien abzutrennen. |
| A Scottish oil worker stranded with 300 people in a Libyan desert camp says the group only has enough supplies to last one day. |
| Ein Privatjet mit der libanesischen Ehefrau von Hannibal al-Ghadhafi an Bord durfte nicht auf dem Flughafen Beirut landen. Das berichtete ein libanesisches Radio am Mittwoch. Im Flugzeug waren auch andere Familienmitglieder. Die libanesischen Flugbehörden weigerten sich am Dienstag, eine Landegenehmigung für den internationalen Flughafen in Beirut zu erteilen, nachdem Libyen die Identität der Insassen nicht preisgeben wollte. |
| Thousands of people gather in the Indian capital, Delhi, to take part in a rally to protest against rising food prices and unemployment. |
| More planes and ships head for Libya to rescue foreigners from the chaos as thousands remain stranded at Tripoli airport. |
| Staatlicher Händler will 280.000 Tonnen Mahlweizen kaufen |
| A study by the National Institutes of Health in the US suggests that mobile phones could have an effect on the brain. |
| A judge in New York rules that Barclays' takeover of Lehman Brothers' US assets in 2008 was flawed but fair. |
| A higher proportion of children in Wales live in severe poverty compared to the rest of the UK, according to Save the Children. |
| Ich habe bei dem Deutschen Bundestag eine Petition eingereicht, die fordert, jedem Wohnungsnutzer das Recht zu geben, jederzeit den Austausch elektronischer Geräte zur Erfassung des Verbrauchs von Energie, Wasser usw. in seiner Wohnung ("intelligente Zähler"/"Smart Meter") gegen herkömmliche Stromzähler, Wasserzähler usw. zu verlangen. Diese Petition kann ab heute auf der Petitionsseite des Deutschen Bundestags mitgezeichnet werden. |
| Ein stellvertretender ostdeutscher Polizeichef namens Andreas Arnold hat Bundestagsvizepräsident Wolfgang Thierse angezeigt - wegen Beleidigung der Polizei. Thierse hatte am Samstag im MDR-Fernsehen gesagt: Die Polizei ist eben vollauf damit beschäftigt, die Neonazis zu schützen. Das ist sächsische Demokratie. |
| Wie immer der Machtkampf in Libyen ausgeht - die politischen Verhältnisse in dem Mittelmeerstaat werden nicht die gleichen sein wie zuvor. Der Virus der Aufstände in den arabischen Nachbarländern hat die scheinbar so sichere Machtbasis von Staatschef Gaddafi in überraschend kurzer Zeit in ihren Grundfesten erschüttert und einen Sturz sehr viel wahrscheinlicher als eine Konsolidierung gemacht. |
| ISoldat53 writes "State government workers are unable to connect to a pro-union web site, defendwisconsin.org, from the wifi at the state capitol." Someone probably should let Hillary Clinton know. Read more of this story |
| Qatar's prime minister expresses an interest in investing in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group - both part-owned by the UK government. |
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Takichi writes "The New York Times is reporting on research linking cell phone use and increased metabolism, with high statistical significance, in the areas of the brain close to the antenna. The study was led by Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and is published (abstract) in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The impact, good or bad, of the increased stimulation is speculative, but this research shows there is a direct relationship between cell phone signals and the brain that warrants further study." Read more of this story
Police fire tear gas to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators in Athens as a 24-hour general strike grips Greece. |
| David Cameron threatens Iran with fresh sanctions if it continues its nuclear weapons programme, saying it risks becoming "a pariah state". |
| Wired introduces you to five artists who specialize in the weird, violent world of creating songs for and about Mexico's drug lords. |
| Als Ende letzter Woche Umfragen bekannt wurden, wonach 74% (ARD/Infratest dimap) bzw. 68% (RTL/Forsa) der Befragten für den Verbleib Guttenbergs im Amt votiert hätten, erhielten wir einige Mails von NachDenkSeiten-Nutzern, die die Korrektheit dieser Befragungen in Zweifel ziehen. Es ist zwar sehr wahrscheinlich, dass die Formulierung der Fragen und auch die Erhebung selbst im Sinne eines guten Ergebnisses für Guttenberg angelegt wurden. |
| Kritiker hatten schon vor Jahren die Migrationsverträge der Schweiz mit der EU als krisenuntauglich bezeichnet. Derweil schiffen auf der italienischen Mittelmeerinsel Lampedusa täglich Migranten aus Nordafrika ein. Mittlerweile befinden sich gegen 1800 Migranten auf der Insel, viele davon im überbesetzten Auffanglager. Bei den Verträgen von Schengen und Dublin kann man nicht von Sicherheitsabkommen sprechen. Sie garantieren im Normalfall offene Grenzen, und in der Krise funktionieren sie nicht. |
| Seagulls learn to doze when others do, triggering 'waves' of sleep through seabird colonies, a study reveals. |
| How do large groups of individuals move in a collective fashion? A symposium at this year's AAAS meeting brought together researchers who are looking to elucidate the underlying mathematics of group dynamics, from fish to humans. |
| HAVANA (Reuters) - The United States will soon order NATO to invade protest-wracked Libya to take control of its rich oil fields, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro predicted in a column published on Tuesday |
| The IRS is auditing medical marijuana dispensaries in California, with advocates calling for a change in federal tax laws. The problem is tax code 280-E, which does not allow "drug trafficking organizations" to deduct business expenses. |
| Here's a run-down on events and key analysis on the fast-moving events in Wisconsin's state capitol -- and nationwide. |
| The children of Moammar Gadhafi were increasingly engaged in recent months in covering up scandals fit for a "Libyan soap opera," including negative publicity from extravagant displays of wealth, such as a million-dollar private concert by pop diva Beyonce, according to a new batch of secret diplomatic cables released Wednesday. |
| A prank caller pretending to be billionaire conservative businessman David Koch was able to have a lengthy conversation with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker about his strategy to cripple public employee unions, the governor's office confirmed Wednesday. |
| Centrica signs a "strategically important" deal with Qatar to secure gas supplies worth £2bn over the next three years. |
Federal agencies are bracing for a government shutdown, preparing contingency plans to operate at reduced capacity should funding run out on March 4. Agencies would cease most operations , keeping on only employees engaged in military or law enforcement duties, or providing medical care.
To avoid a shutdown , Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced Tuesday he will introduce "a clean Continuing Resolution" next week "to keep the federal government running for 30 days at current funding levels." The bill will include $41 billion in budget cuts, setting up a showdown with House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) who promised to oppose any funding measure without additional cuts.
Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi said yesterday that he would rather " die as a martyr " than relinquish the reins of power in the face of massive protests. While Qaddafi's grip on the capital Tripoli has tightened, vowing to track down and kill demonstrators "house by house," the eastern half of Libya "was slipping beyond his control." A Guardian reporter in Libya says there is a " mass defection of the military here ."
Tens of thousands of demonstrators in Manama's Pearl Square in Bahrain yesterday waved red-and-white Bahraini flags "in the largest demonstration since a Shiite-led campaign against the government began eight days ago." "A ribbon of cheering protesters filled the eastbound lanes of an almost two-mile stretch of highway, streaming into the square to reiterate calls for changes ."
Home prices went down for the fifth straight month, indicating that real estate values are headed for a double dip decline. "My intuition rates the probability of another 15%, 20%, even 25% real home price decline as substantial," said Yale University economics professor Robert Shiller. "That is not a forecast, but it is a substantial risk ."
Clashes over state budget problems have spread to Indiana and Ohio, where public workers and Democratic politicians battled proposed cuts to public employee unions. In Ohio, protesters gathered at the capitol to oppose a GOP bill that would restrict collective bargaining rights, and in Indiana, Democratic lawmakers left the state to avoid a vote on anti-union legislation.
Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago yesterday with a 55 percent majority, realizing " his lifelong dream ." In a statement released after all other five candidates conceded, President Obama said "as a Chicagoan and a friend, I couldn't be prouder."
And finally: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has passed a unique anniversary" yesterday - five years without asking a single question during the court's oral arguments. "The other eight justices ask on average 133 questions per hourlong session," but Thomas has remained silent - the only Justice to have done so for so long in recent history.
Why is this not on the frontpage: THE CIA WAS RECENTLY CAUGHT TOP-SECRETLY ARMING AL-QAEDA TO STRIKE US FORCES TO PROVOKE ALL-OUT WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST [link]
Julian Assange is very likely to be extradited. [link]
| About three-quarters of the world's coral reefs are at risk, a major assessment warns, with overfishing and climate change the biggest factors. |
If you think the government of the United States would never use deadly force against its citizens to silence peaceful protest please remember Kent State. [link]
| The Indian government says that it is preparing for a "mammoth operation" involving planes and ships to evacuate its nationals from Libya. |
Koch Whore: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker | Video | MUST GO VIRAL ASAP [link]
| A rare whiff of class conflict in modern America? |
| Seven members of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ruling party quit in protest over the use of violence against anti-government protesters. |
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Jeffrey Cox is a deputy attorney general for the state of Indiana, and he has some strong views about the protests in Wisconsin. In response to a Mother Jones tweet this weekend reporting that riot police might be used to clear protestors from the capitol building in Madison, Cox tweeted back: "Use live ammunition":
Cox remained steadfast in his position that the protestors should be killed when confronted on Twitter by Mother Jones' Adam Weinstein, writing that "against thugs physically threatening legally-elected state legislators & governor? You're damn right I advocate deadly force." (There have been no reports that the protestors have physically threatened any elected officials).
Mother Jones contacted the Office of the Indiana Attorney General, and a spokesman told the magazine that Cox's statements were "inflammatory" and that there would be "an immediate review" Cox's online statements. "We do not condone any comments that would threaten or imply violence or intimidation toward anyone," he added.
That review might take a while. On his blog , Cox has a long record of inflammatory rhetoric. Mother Jones notes that he has compared former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and members of SEIU to "brownshirts," and wrote that his Afghanistan policy is " KILL! KILL! ANNIHILATE! "
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Jay Bookman reports that right-wingers posting on the Free Republic website have been calling for armed counterprotests in Atlanta today. In response to a pro-labor SEIU rally, one Free Republic user anounces that counterprotesters carrying arms will attend " with the usual accoutrements ." Reviewing the comments section, Bookman writes, "A couple of posters advised against bringing firearms to the rally, but that point of view did not seem to carry the day."
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| 78 neue Wasserwerfer für deutsche Polizeien spritzen bald mit noch höherem Druck aus drei Rohren. Hinzu kommen 52 Spähfahrzeuge mit Zoom und Richtmikrofon. Zwei Fahrzeuge werden noch 2010 übergeben, drei weitere in 2011 ausgeliefert. Der Stückpreis liegt über 900.000 Euro, bis 2019 ist die Anschaffung 78 neuer Geräte für insgesamt 75 Millionen Euro geplant. |
| Tripolis (dpa) - Die Lage in Libyen bleibt explosiv. Während sich Gaddafi mit vier Brigaden in einem Stützpunkt verschanzt, bejubeln Bewohner im Osten ihre Befreiung. Der internationale Druck auf das Regime in Tripolis wächst. Ausländer verlassen das Land - die Benzinpreise steigen. |
| Brüssel (dpa) - Europa steht vor einem schwer vermittelbaren Widerspruch. Während die EU-Außenbeauftragte Catherine Ashton den libyschen Machthaber Muammar al-Gaddafi auffordert, sein Volk nicht zu unterdrücken, enthüllt ein offizieller Bericht, dass der exzentrische libysche Führer die Demokratiebewegung in seinem Land womöglich mit Bomben aus europäischer Produktion bekämpft. |
| The Foreign Office says 400 jobs are to be lost at consulates and embassies across the world as it tries to meet cuts in its budget. |
Fox Reverses Results Of Gallup Poll To Claim Americans Oppose Union Collective Bargaining Rights
Yesterday, USA Today and Gallup released a new poll that found that a whopping 61 percent of Americans oppose efforts like those of Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) to strip public sector unions of collective bargaining rights. The poll also found that only a third of Americans support such a policy, indicating that Walker is pandering to the far-right of the American electorate and is hardly representative of mainstream political thought in this country.
| The Defense Department's anti-WMD branch is looking to consolidate and secure clinics in Burundi, Kenya and Uganda that store samples of dangerous pathogens like foot-and-mouth and anthrax. |
| Two former executives are jailed for paying kickbacks to win contracts from Saddam Hussein's Iraq. |
| An MI5 desk officer suspected one of the 7 July bombers was a trained terrorist two months before the 2005 attacks on London, the inquests hears. |
| David Cameron is 'tempering his words because British nationals are still there' |
| Libya's former justice minister tells a Swedish newspaper Colonel Gaddafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing. |
Teachers unions are illegal in five states. These states rank 50th, 49th, 48th, 47th, and 44th in test scores. [link]
| Bisher galt in der EU eine Nulltoleranz-Politik: Gentechnisch veränderte Organismen, die in der EU nicht zugelassen sind, hatten im Tierfutter nichts zu suchen. Doch das wird sich künftig ändern. |
| Die ägyptische Staatsanwaltschaft hat dem früheren Regierungschef Atef Obeid und einem weiteren Exminister verboten, das Land zu verlassen. |
Iraq War Facts: Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq as $390,000. 4,439 US troops are dead. 32,033 are wounded, 20% of which are serious brain or spinal injuries. 30% of returning troops develop serious mental & health problems. Iraqi civilian casualties stand well above 600,000. [link]
| Libyan ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi battles to control the country's west as protesters consolidate eastern towns and foreigners continue to flee. |
| The first of three planes chartered by the government to bring Britons home from Libya takes off, amid criticism of the government response. |
| Während Großbritannien und den USA offensichtlich an einem raschen Sturz Gaddafis gelegen ist, deckt die Mehrheit der Mitgliedsländer der "Europäische Union" (EU) - darunter Deutschland, Frankreich, Österreich, Luxemburg und vor allem die ehemalige Kolonialmacht Italien - den Diktator Gaddafi und benutzt die durch dessen (zumindest teilweisen)Verbleib an der Macht entstehende regionale Krise zur Aktivierung ihres inneren und äußeren Interventions-Mechanismus. Diese Aktivierung erfolgte gestern Nachmittag, in aller Stille, neben allerlei leerem Rauschen hohler Erklärungen. |
| Nach dreimonatiger Abwesenheit ist König Abdullah von Saudi-Arabien in seine Heimat zurückgekehrt - mit einem Sack voller Wohltaten für seine Untertanen. Volumen: Rund 35 Milliarden Dollar. |
| Bei der grössten Demonstration seit Jahren sind in der indischen Hauptstadt Delhi mindestens 100'000 Gewerkschafter auf die Strasse gegangen. Die Proteste richteten sich vor allem gegen die steigenden Lebensmittelpreise und die Politik der Regierung. |
| Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama holt sich neue Wirtschaftsberater von namhaften Unternehmen an seine Seite. Zu den Mitgliedern zählen unter anderen American-Express-Chef Kenneth Chenault, Citigroup-Chairman Richard Parsons und Kodak-Chef Antonio Perez. |
| Demonstranten trugen ein Transparent mit der Aufschrift "Wir sterben" und stellten symbolisch einen Sarg vor dem Parlamentsgebäude ab. "Hände weg von unseren Löhnen und Renten" und "Die Reichen sollen für die Krise zahlen" |
| US president condemns the violent crackdown by Libyan authorities on peaceful protesters as "outrageous and unacceptable". |
| CWmike writes "Researchers at the University of Michigan announced Wednesday that they have created the first prototype for a millimeter-scale computing system that can hold up to a week's worth of data when implanted in something as small as a human eye. The computer, called the Phoenix chip, is just over one cubic millimeter in size and was designed to monitor eye pressure in glaucoma patients. 'This is the first true millimeter-scale complete computing system,' said Dennis Sylvester, a professor at the school and one of the researchers on the project. Within the computer is an ultra low-power microprocessor, a pressure sensor, memory, a thin-film battery, a solar cell and a wireless radio with an antenna that can transmit data to an external reader device held near the eye." Read more of this story |
| The active ingredient in cannabis, THC, can help cancer patients improve their appetite and sense of taste. Patients who took THC pills had improved appetites and enjoyed their food more than patients who took a placebo. |
| "Super skin" is what one researcher wants to create. She's already developed a flexible sensor that is so sensitive to pressure it can feel a fly touch down. Now she's working to add the ability to detect chemicals and sense various kinds of biological molecules. She's also making the skin self-powering, using polymer solar cells to generate electricity. And the new solar cells are not just flexible, but stretchable -- they can be stretched up to 30 percent beyond their original length and snap back without any damage or loss of power. |
