Did the Second Amendment wash away, too?After New Orleans, will American firearms owners ever again be able to trust government, and especially police officers -- even ones they know personally?
A simple look at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina reveals a disturbing chain of events that had the issue to do with anything but guns, there would have been an uproar in the media.
But this is about firearms and the law-abiding people who own them -- people who have had their guns, their private property, forci... (more)
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Flagrant abuse of Iraqi detainees revealedNEW YORK, Sept 24: In a most devastating report, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Saturday that US Army troops subjected Iraqi detainees to severe beatings and other torture at a base in central Iraq from 2003 through 2004, often under orders or with the approval of superior officers, according to accounts from soldiers.
The new report, “Leadership Failure: Firsthand Accounts of Torture of Iraqi Detainees by the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division,” provides sol... (more)
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Woman arrested over Menezes leakA woman has been arrested over the leak of findings about the fatal police shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes on the Tube, it has emerged.
The 43-year-old was arrested at one of a number of London addresses searched.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) leak prompted claims police had covered up details of the shooting at Stockwell station in July.
No details were given on the grounds for Wednesday's arrest. The woman was lat... (more)
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Man dies 2 days after Metro police use Tasers on himA young Nashville man whom police tried to subdue with Tasers died yesterday, prompting Metro police to launch two investigations into the circumstances surrounding his death.
Patrick Aaron Lee, 21, died yesterday afternoon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He was taken to the hospital after a confrontation with officers outside Mercy Lounge, a live music venue off Eighth Avenue South, shortly after 11:30 p.m. Thursday.
The cause of death has not yet been det... (more)
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China’s hidden trade in children: The communist party is trying to cover up the scandal of the 'lost boys' stolen for profitTHE faces of China’s lost boys stare out from hundreds of pictures that once captured joy but now serve only to remind their parents of a cruel loss of innocence.
A plague of kidnapping has swept across Yunnan, a remote southwestern province, claiming hundreds of boys from the city of Kunming alone.
One vanished while his father bought sweets. Two more were led away in broad daylight from a busy market. The children have gone from poor townships and rural farm... (more)
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China sets new rules on Internet newsBEIJING (Reuters) - China set new regulations on Internet news content on Sunday, widening a campaign of controls it has imposed on other Web sites, such as discussion groups.
"The state bans the spreading of any news with content that is against national security and public interest," the official Xinhua news agency said in announcing the new rules, which took effect immediately.
The news agency did not detail the rules, but said Internet news sites must "be direct... (more)
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Flood walls in New Orleans were ‘structurally flawed’Concrete flood walls that were supposed to protect New Orleans were not overwhelmed by high waters during Hurricane Katrina as federal officials have claimed, but ruptured because they were structurally flawed, according to Louisiana scientists.
From the mud splattered on buildings still standing near to the flood walls and the results of a computer simulation of the storm - known as a “hindcast” - a team from the Hurricane Center at Louisiana State University in Baton... (more)
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In 1 year, Halliburton's stock doubles as troop deaths doubleSince the beginning of the Iraq war, Halliburton, the Texas energy giant once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, has seen its stock price more than triple in value. When the U.S invaded Iraq in March of 2003, Halliburton's stock was selling for $20 per share. The stock price at the close of market activity on Monday was $66.
In the last 12 months, the total number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq almost doubled as Hall... (more)
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SAS in secret war against Iranian agentsTWO SAS soldiers rescued last week after being arrested by Iraqi police and handed over to a militia were engaged in a “secret war” against insurgents bringing sophisticated bombs into the country from Iran.
The men had left their base near the southern Iraqi city of Basra to carry out reconnaissance and supply a second patrol with “more tools and fire power”, said a source with knowledge of their activities.
They had been in Basra for seven ... (more)
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National Security Agency gets fix on Internet usersInternet users hoping to protect their privacy by using anti-virus software, Web anonymizers, false identities and disabled cookies on their computer's Web browser have something new to worry about – a patent filed by the National Security Agency (NSA) for technology that will identify the physical location of any Web surfer.
Patent 6,947,978, granted this week, describes a process based on latency, or time lag between computers exchanging data, of "numerous" known locations... (more)
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Cameras watch, nudge thugs: More eyes in the sky may come to a neighborhood near youResidents love them for the way they protect their streets. Cops say they help push dope dealers away.
Crime-spotting cameras have been used since June in four Cincinnati neighborhoods, drawing rave reviews from residents and giving police a new tool to make arrests.
Now, Cincinnati City Council is considering buying 117 more to start putting 16 more neighborhoods on video.
"The technology is just so good," said Lt. Col. James Whalen, who was District... (more)
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Product tracking RFID technology comes of age in Canadian marketplaceMARKHAM, Ont. - Tiny wireless transistors are working themselves up the food chain.
Better known as RFID (radio frequency identification device), the information-laden chips, as small as a pinhead, will soon be tracking food shipments from the farm to the grocery checkout counter.
A new Canadian RFID Centre, located in the Markham, Ont., IBM Solution Delivery Centre, is unique in Canada.
There, Canadian food producers, manufacturers, distributors and ... (more)
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US army plans to bulk-buy anthraxTHE US military wants to buy large quantities of anthrax, in a controversial move that is likely to raise questions over its commitment to treaties designed to limit the spread of biological weapons.
A series of contracts have been uncovered that relate to the US army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. They ask companies to tender for the production of bulk quantities of a non-virulent strain of anthrax, and for equipment to produce significant volumes of other biological agents.... (more)
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Nuke attack drug contracts up for grabs: Feds to tap drug makers for stockpiles against radiation poisoningNEW YORK (CNN/Money) - As Americans brace themselves against Hurricane Rita, the second huge hurricane in one month, the government is preparing to spend some serious money on another potential threat: nuclear attack.
As part of Project Bioshield, the Department of Health and Human Services has been allocated $5.6 billion to build up the Strategic National Stockpile with drugs, vaccines and therapies to prepare for the threat of terrorist attacks. About $1 billion of this budget h... (more)
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US Northern Command and Hurricane RitaThere are indications that the Bush Administration is preparing to enact far-reaching emergency procedures in response to Hurricane Rita, which could potentially lead the country into a situation of Martial Law.
Following his visit to Texas on September 23, President Bush traveled together with DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff to The Peterson Air Force Base, at the headquarters of US Northern Command in Colorado Springs.
He spent the night of September 23 at Colorad... (more)
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Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by KatrinaIt may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphi... (more)
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Bush plea for cash to rebuild Iraq raises $600 An extraordinary appeal to Americans from the Bush administration for money to help pay for the reconstruction of Iraq has raised only $600 (£337), The Observer has learnt. Yet since the appeal was launched earlier this month, donations to rebuild New Orleans have attracted hundreds of millions of dollars.
The public's reluctance to contribute much more than the cost of two iPods to the administration's attempt to offer citizens 'a further stake in building a free and prospe... (more)
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US troops use 250,000 bullets for every rebel killedUS forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan - an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed - that American ammunition-makers cannot keep up with demand. As a result the US is having to import supplies from Israel.
A government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years, largely as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as changes in military doctrine.<... (more)
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So what were two undercover British soldiers up to in Basra?An Iraqi judge yesterday issued arrest warrants for two British soldiers, presumed to be SAS men, whose detention by Iraqi police and subsequent rescue by British forces in Basra last week has thrown an unprecedented spotlight on Britain's role in Iraq.
Early yesterday a flurry of rockets was fired at buildings occupied by British troops, but police said the only injuries were suffered by an Iraqi family in a house hit by one missile. Tensions aroused by last week's clashes remain... (more)
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Bill Would Permit DNA Collection From All Those ArrestedSuspects arrested or detained by federal authorities could be forced to provide samples of their DNA that would be recorded in a central database under a provision of a Senate bill to expand government collection of personal data.
The controversial measure was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week and is supported by the White House, but has not gone to the floor for a vote. It goes beyond current law, which allows federal authorities to collect and record samples o... (more)
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Girl arrested over Bollocks to Blair shirtPolice arrested a 20-year-old gamekeeper for wearing a “Bollocks to Blair” T-shirt at a game fair last weekend
A girl was arrested for wearing her “Bollocks to Blair” T-shirt at the Midlands Game Fair last weekend. Charlotte Denis, 20, a gamekeeper from Gloucestershire, was stopped by police as she left the Countryside Alliance stand because of the “offensive” slogan.
Shocked and dismayed to be made a public spectacle, Denis tried... (more)
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Major Victory For Firearms Owners And Freedom In LouisianaThe United States District Court for the Eastern District in Louisiana today sided with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and issued a restraining order to bar further gun confiscations from peaceable and law-abiding victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
“This is a significant victory for freedom and for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The court’s ruling is instant relief for the victims who now have an effective means of defending themselves from the robbe... (more)
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Taser defends giving stock options to policeTaser International gave potentially lucrative stock options to six police officers from 2001 to 2003, most of whom promoted Taser's stun guns and, in some cases, urged their cities to buy them.
Court documents released this week show that officers in Arizona, California, Washington, Texas, and Canada received thousands of company stock options, some only weeks after urging police commanders or city officials to purchase Tasers.
All but one of the six officers are n... (more)
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U.S. Court Hears Chinese Media’s Role in TortureHARTFORD, Conn. – On a sunny Thursday morning in a packed federal courtroom, the audience heard how the state-owned media in China has furthered a campaign of torture against Falun Gong adherents in China.
Zhao Zhizhen, a CCP official and the former Director of Wuhan TV Station in China was served with a summons in July 2004 when he was visiting New Haven. The lawsuit was filed by Falun Gong practitioners under the Torture Victim Protection Act a statute passed by Congress i... (more)
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Journalist With Laptop Treated as Terrorist On London UndergroundLONDON COPS seem to be picking up people at random, accusing them of being terrorists and taking their electronic goods into custody.
David Mery, who among other things is an IT reviewer and who we know pretty well, was waiting for his girlfriend with his laptop in his rucksack in Southwark tube station. The next thing he knew he was surrounded by uniformed cops, cuffed and his rucksack checked for devices.
Police found a "nice laptop" in the bag which they confisca... (more)
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