More than 100 spy agencies working to gain access to systems, official says
Excerpt:
“The United States is losing enough data in cyber attacks to fill the Library of Congress many times over, and authorities have failed to stay ahead of the threat, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday.
In a sobering assessment, the Defense Department's Jim Miller said more than 100 foreign spy agencies were working to gain access to U.S. computer systems, as were criminal organizations.” Photo source
Posted by Paul Armentano (Deputy Director of NORML and the NORML Foundation)
So this is your administration on drugs. Any questions?
Obama drug plan ‘firmly opposes’ legalization as California vote looms
via The Hill“The Obama administration said Tuesday that it “firmly opposes” the legalization of any illicit drugs as California voters head to the polls to consider legalizing marijuana this fall.
The president and his drug czar re-emphasized their opposition to legalizing drugs in the first release of its National Drug Control Strategy this morning.
“Keeping drugs illegal reduces their availability and lessens willingness to use them,” the document, prepared by Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, says. “That is why this Administration firmly opposes the legalization of marijuana or any other illicit drug.”
Is anyone surprised? You shouldn’t be. After all, this is the same Gil Kerlikowske that has said repeatedly that legalization is not in his vocabulary, and publicly stated, “Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit.” And this is the same administration that recently nominated Michele Leonhart to head the DEA — the same Michele Leonhart who overruled the DEA’s own administrative law judge in order to continue to block medical marijuana research, and publicly claimed that the rising death toll civilians attributable to the U.S./Mexican drug war “a signpost of the success” of U.S. prohibitionist policies.”
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People help assemble a 590 pound hamburger at Yonge Dundas Square in Toronto, Canada on Thursday, May 6, 2010.
The burger's creators hope it will be deemed by Guinness World Records to be the world's largest.… Read more
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What I find interesting in this unusual story is that the man in question must have looked really young to pose as a 16-year old when he’s actually 22-years old.Imagine what a facade he must have kept up for years. He even claimed to be homeless and the high school basketball coach took him in.
One more interesting tidbit: the school in question, Permian High School, was used as a model for the prime time show “Friday Night Lights.”
Man formerly starred in Florida, posed as 16-year-old
Excerpt:
“The revelation means Permian likely will have to forfeit the 2009 basketball season in which the 6-foot-5 player known as Jerry Joseph led the team to District 2-5A state playoffs and earned newcomer of the year accolades.”
Shoppers able to check propensity for Alzheimer's, breast cancer, diabetes
Beginning Friday, shoppers in search of toothpaste, deodorant and laxatives at more than 6,000 drugstores across the nation will be able to pick up something new: a test to scan their genes for a propensity for Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, diabetes and other ailments.
At Senate hearing, lawmaker predicts 'liability chase' among companies
As BP critics stand up behind him, Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America, waits to testify Tuesday before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington.
Fisherman, hotel operators and others likely to seek compensation
A new sign advertises the "Oil Spill Law Group" in Bayou LaBatre, Alabama. A BP lobbyist says the company has already paid $3.5 million in damages.
Long-suffering tribe fears oil may strike final blow
The native Houma people, who have long relied on fishing and trapping in the marshlands of Louisiana, have been through a lot as a tribe.
They have been robbed of their lands, subjected to segregation, witnessed the steady erosion of marshlands and been displaced by hurricanes. Now, some fear the oil slick that threatens to invade the bayou could be the final blow to their culture and traditions.
Antoine "Whitney" Dardar (right), a Houma tribal elder, has been fishing and trapping in the bayou near Golden Meadow, La., for his whole life.
Every now and then someone asks me to read their book and to do a review on it. I’m not really sure why I’m picked for this honor, but it’s happened several times in the last 18 months.
I’m certainly not a respected book critic, nor do I ever expect to be one. I do love reading and there’s very little I won’t read. My curious mind is constantly on the prowl. Research is a joy I lavish upon myself.
Karen Louie-Joyce, the web manager for Jessica Stern, a world-class social scientist, Harvard lecturer, and one of the foremost U.S. experts on terrorism and post-traumatic stress disorder, contacted me with a request to review Stern’s new book.
In her new book DENIAL: A Memoir of Terror, Jessica investigates her own unsolved adolescent sexual assault at the hands of a serial rapist, and, in so doing, examines the horrors of trauma and denial.
The book is in the mail,thanks to Karen, and I should have it by the end of the week. I’m not sure how long it is, so I won’t make any predictions on when the review will appear. But fear not readers, I will do my best. As some of you may know, trauma is a subject near to me as I’m a Vietnam veteran with service-connected PTSD.
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We can thank China once more for sending us toxic products. If it isn’t kids toys it’s drywall!
Claire's bracelets have high levels of harmful cadmium
Also:
Cadmium: Walmart, Claire's pull children's jewelry from shelves
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Coastal development and overfishing contribute to decline
Climate change, coastal development and overfishing have effectively wiped out nearly a fifth of the world's coral reefs, and by the end of this century they "are unlikely to look much like the reefs that we are familiar with today," said Peter Mumby, a marine biologist at the University of Queensland in Australia, who envisions smaller and weaker reefs that harbor fewer fish.
"But there will still be reefs and they will still be very important," he said. "And so what we really have to do is take all the steps we can locally to preserve reefs for future generations, including Australia's Great Barrier Reef, shown here.
By Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard
Posted: 05/09/2010 01:30:19 AM PDT
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill may signal the final battle in a war on the fragile ecosystems of the coastal states that was launched decades ago by Big Oil.
Oil companies steadily destroyed the Gulf Coast's ecosystems since the 1950s, when they carved canals through the marsh to make way for drilling rigs and pipelines, according to John Lopez, director of sustainability at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.
No one knows exactly how much oil is escaping (estimates keep going up). Last week President Obama said, “We're dealing with a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster.” Environmentally, the spill couldn't have happened at a better time to cause maximum damage to wildlife and the fishing industry.
As if that damage isn't bad enough, even the coastal land is threatened, as the dwindling marsh grasses will be killed by the oil. “The result,” said Michael Parr, vice president of the American Bird Conservancy “could mean the elimination of a natural barrier that keeps Louisiana's coastline from eroding.”
Go here to read the rest.
Related stories: Federal regulators haven’t kept up up with oil drilling expansion
Try to divert Gulf oil aborted; tar blobs hit Ala.
Photos from the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the gulf
UPDATE:
Blogs/web sites that have picked up today’s column: (as of 10:16 a.m. PST)
It only took 100 days for Trump to seize unrestrained power by breaking every rule in the Constitution and defying nearly every norm in our...
