Engineering Evil

By Agence France-Presse Friday, September 28, 2012 13:26 EDT Topics: financial transaction ♦ France and Germany ♦ FTT France and Germany are bidding to revive a controversial financial transactions tax (FTT), seeking support from the European Commission and enough EU… Read More ›

Syrian rebels defect to Government forces

Syrian rebels defect Thursday, 27 September 2012 A group of Syrian rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) defected and joined pro-government forces on Wednesday. The troops’ commander announced that “the road is open,” and called on to other rebels… Read More ›

Spain’s rising debt costs eat up austerity gains: separatist crises in Catalonia and the Basque region that threaten to break the country apart.

Spain has pushed through €40bn of fresh austerity measures in the teeth of recession, despite violent protests across the country and separatist crises in Catalonia and the Basque region that threaten to break the country apart. Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy… Read More ›

World’s smallest state, Vatican holds one-of-a-kind trial of Pope’s former butler

By Agence France-Presse Friday, September 28, 2012 8:03 EDT Topics: Paolo Gabriele ♦ vatican The trial of Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler and a Vatican computer technician for leaking secret papers starting on Saturday has no precedent since the Holy… Read More ›

Obamas outspent UK Royal Family by $1.35 Billion last year

Thursday, 27 September 2012 Taxpayers spent $1.4 billion dollars on everything from staffing, housing, flying and entertaining President Obama and his family last year, according to the author of a new book on taxpayer-funded presidential perks. In comparison, British taxpayers… Read More ›

‘Worst copyright law in history:’ Panama set to crack down on piracy

Published: 28 September, 2012, 06:43 Edited: 28 September, 2012, 06:43 Panama’s legislature has approved a draconian file sharing law that gives law enforcements free hand to pursue and punish file sharers directly, and grants officials bonuses based on fines levied…. Read More ›

Spain must leave the euro: ” Spain is damned if it leaves, but damned for eternity if it stays”

Mario Draghi’s promise to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro never did look like inducing any more than a temporary lull in the storm; still less did the German Constitutional Court’s thumbs up to the European bail-out fund… Read More ›

Air Force Chief Admits to Cyber Slowness: ” Hostile intrusions into government, private and academic networks are causing the loss of “the equivalent of the Library of Congress” every year”

Sep. 25, 2012 – 03:17PM | By BRIAN EVERSTINE The new head of the Air Force said he “isn’t exactly sure” what the Air Force is doing in cyberwarfare, and he will wait to invest in cybersecurity until the… Read More ›

Japan ‘stole’ our islands, Chinese foreign minister tells U.N.

PoliticsSep. 28, 2012 – 11:35AM JST UNITED NATIONS — China took a bitter territorial dispute with Japan to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi accusing Tokyo of stealing disputed islands. The Japanese government’s purchase of… Read More ›

Help! Pop music really is slower and sadder than when the Beatles and Abba ruled the charts

Researchers say modern music has lost the ‘feelgood factor’ Claim the only artist to have carried on the tradition of ‘pure pop’ is Lady Gaga By Fiona Macrae Science Correspondent PUBLISHED:10:58 EST, 27 September 2012| UPDATED:11:00 EST, 27 September 2012… Read More ›

Organized crime behind the $100 billion illegal logging industry decimating worldwide forests

By Agence France-Presse Thursday, September 27, 2012 17:00 EDT Topics: illegal logging ♦ Interpol Organised crime is now a big player in illegal logging, which accounts for up to 30 percent of all wood traded globally, the UN and Interpol… Read More ›

Military conflict ‘looms’ between China and Japan: Speculation already taking place into what role the U.S. will play in the War

War between China and Japan looms, with neither power willing to back down over a disputed chain of islands, expert warns. Yan Xuetong who has warned that unless one side backs down, there could be a repeat of the Falklands… Read More ›

Teachers suspected of abuse given anonymity

Maths teacher Jeremy Forrest, who disappeared with one of his 15-year-old pupils, might not have been identified to the public under controversial laws that come into force next week. Megan Stammers, left, and hand in hand with Jeremy Forrest on… Read More ›

More than 1,000 Nigerian women stranded for fifth straight day at Saudi airport because they were not accompanied by men

By Agence France-Presse Thursday, September 27, 2012 7:13 EDT Topics: Nigerian officials ♦ Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan ♦ Nigerian women More than 1,000 Nigerian women pilgrims remained stranded at a Saudi airport for a fifth straight day Thursday after… Read More ›

Wang Xuemei casts doubt on theory British businessman was murdered with cyanide by wife of ousted leader Bo Xilai

Heywood conviction unsafe, warns top Chinese forensic scientist Tania Branigan in Shanghai guardian.co.uk, Thursday 27 September 2012 13.54 EDT Neil Heywood and Gu Kailai, wife of Bo Xilai. Photograph: Reuters A leading Chinese forensic scientist working for the government has… Read More ›

Study: Couples who share housework have a higher risk of divorce

By Agence France-Presse Thursday, September 27, 2012 15:29 EDT Topics: housework ♦ The divorce ♦ Thomas Hansen Couples who share housework duties run a higher risk of divorce than couples where the woman does most of the chores, a Norwegian… Read More ›

US rapidly increased electronic surveillance

By Ralph Turchiano on September 27, 2012 • ( 1 )

Published: 27 September, 2012, 21:51 The US Justice Department has wiretapped the phones of more Americans in the last two years than the entire decade before it, and federal surveillance targeting the Internet usage of US civilians has surged wildly,… Read More ›

10 Things the Food Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know

2008 study posted for filing By Adam Voiland Adam Voiland Two nutrition experts argue that you can’t take marketing campaigns at face value With America’s obesity problem among kids reaching crisis proportions, even junk food makers… Read More ›

Video shows TSA agents shouting ‘freeze’ to passengers in departure lounge

By Ralph Turchiano on September 27, 2012 • ( 1 )

By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:08:35 EST, 27 September 2012| UPDATED:09:19 EST, 27 September 2012 A new video reveals a strange TSA security tactic: demanding that travelers ‘freeze’ in place, even though they have already been through airport security. A passenger… Read More ›

China official says spat with Japan derails free trade talks

Posted 2012/09/27 at 11:46 am EDT BEIJING, Sep. 27, 2012 (Reuters) — A festering territorial dispute between China and Japan has derailed talks for a free trade zone involving the two countries and South Korea, an adviser to China’s central… Read More ›

Donor network ‘pressured medics to declare patients dead so organs can be harvested’

‘This kid is dead, you got that?’ Donor network ‘pressured medics to declare patients dead so organs can be harvested’ The New York Organ Donor Network accused of bullying doctors into declaring patients brain dead when they are still alive… Read More ›

China blasts Japan PM’s hardline stance on islands: Called Japan ” self-deceiving “

On Thursday, China hit back at the Japanese prime minister for his statement that Tokyo would not compromise in the ongoing territorial dispute over islands in the East China Sea. PM Yoshihiko Noda said the previous day that the islands… Read More ›

Spanish Ire, Symbolized by a Carrot: Central Government is Losing Control

By Ralph Turchiano on September 27, 2012 • ( 1 )

September 26, 2012 By RAPHAEL MINDER MADRID — As Spanish domestic politics threaten to spin beyond the control of the central government, they are also making it harder for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to meet Spain’s financial obligations to the… Read More ›

Cleansing the Internet of Terrorism: Leaked EU Proposal Would Erode Civil Liberties: Including Banning some Languages

By Ralph Turchiano on September 27, 2012 • ( 1 )

September 26, 2012 | By Jillian C. York and Katitza Rodriguez A new project aimed at “countering illegal use of the Internet” is making headlines this week. The project, dubbed CleanIT, is funded by the European Commission (EC) to the… Read More ›

Man who caught Gadhafi abducted and killed

Wednesday, 26 September 2012 Tension gripped Misrata Tuesday after the death of a rebel from the western city who was credited with capturing late Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi, but who was later abducted and tortured in a rival town. Omran… Read More ›

Rent-to-own computers secretly recorded users having sex: FTC

By Eric W. Dolan Wednesday, September 26, 2012 19:53 EDT Topics: Aspen Way Enterprises Inc. ♦ Designerware ♦ Rental Purchase Several rent-to-own computer companies illegal used software on their computers to secretly record their customers having sex, according to the… Read More ›

Mass. chemist’s colleagues had questioned her work: 60,000 drug samples submitted in the cases of about 34,000 defendants are now in question

AP foreign, Wednesday September 26 2012 BRIDGET MURPHY Associated Press= BOSTON (AP) — A chemist at the center of a drug lab testing scandal admitted she faked results for two to three years, forged signatures and skipped proper procedures, a… Read More ›

Riot police dodge fire bombs and tear gas hurled at protesters as demonstration in Athens against cuts descends into violence: 500,000 Protest

Officers were set alight by exploding bombs as a protest descended into carnage near country’s parliament About 500,000 people joined the anti-government rally to demonstrate against new austerity measures in Greece Police were seen fighting with protesters in what is… Read More ›

U.S. Army General who ‘had forced sex and inappropriate relationships with female soldiers’ in Afghanistan flown home in disgrace

Jeffrey Sinclair returned to Fort Bragg after being posted with Airborne Division in 2010 Sinclair has been in the Army for 27 years and served in first Gulf War Charges include possessing pornography and alcohol while deployed By Daily Mail… Read More ›

Where is everybody?

Picture of the DaySep. 27, 2012 – 06:52AM JST Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda addresses the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday. Noda spoke about Japan’s territorial disputes with China and South Korea and… Read More ›

Japan won’t compromise with China on claim to islands, Noda says

Japan will never budge on its “sacred” ownership claim to islands in the East China Sea also claimed by China, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said, doing little to ease tensions with Asia’s top economic power. While Japan isn’t seeking a… Read More ›

The great hospital robbery: Defibrillators, baby heart monitors, even beds – thieves are walking out of NHS wards with vital equipment

By John Naish PUBLISHED:20:32 EST, 24 September 2012| UPDATED:02:20 EST, 25 September 2012 You may think that even the lowest, most callous criminal would draw the line at stealing life-saving medical equipment such as baby heart monitors and emergency… Read More ›

ANA reports 40,000 cancelations on its China routes

All Nippon Airways says 40,000 seat reservations have been cancelled for its regular flights linking Japan and China, amid souring bilateral relations. ANA president Shin-ichiro Ito on Wednesday revealed the cancellations of the bookings for flights on 17 routes, from… Read More ›

Anti-cuts protests erupt on streets of Athens and Madrid: ” 70,000 people marched to the Greek parliament chanting “EU, IMF Out!”

5:32pm EDT By Renee Maltezou and Julien Toyer ATHENS/MADRID (Reuters) – Demonstrators have clashed with police on the streets of Athens and Madrid in an upsurge of popular anger at new austerity measures being imposed on two of the euro… Read More ›

German court rules Catholics must pay tax to remain in church

By Agence France-Presse Wednesday, September 26, 2012 12:41 EDT Topics: catholics ♦ roman catholics ♦ the Catholic Church A top German court ruled on Wednesday that Roman Catholics must pay their church tax in order to remain a member of… Read More ›

Science warns that your voting choices may be completely irrational

By David Ferguson Wednesday, September 26, 2012 13:47 EDT Topics: Leonard Mlodinow ♦ Scientific American Are you voting for the more attractive candidate to represent your district in Congress? Are you backing Barack Obama for president because you prefer the… Read More ›

Chinese citizen arrested over U.S military exports

By Agence France-Presse Wednesday, September 26, 2012 18:06 EDT Topics: carbon fiber ♦ china ♦ Ming Suan Zhang NEW YORK — A Chinese citizen has been charged in New York with illegally attempting to export highly restricted material from the… Read More ›

China White Paper Claims Ownership of Islands Under Japanese Control: Claims the U.S. decision to hand them over to Japan was a “backroom deal” and a “grave violation of China’s territorial sovereignty.”

Sep. 25, 2012 – 02:41PM By Wendell Minnick TAIPEI — The Chinese State Council Information Office has issued a white paper about the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute with Japan. The paper, released Sept. 25, is available in English on the People’s… Read More ›

Hong Kong tycoon offers $65 million bounty to marry off lesbian daughter

*EngineeringEvil: * Would like 2nd Confirmation of this release. By Agence France-Presse Wednesday, September 26, 2012 2:46 EDT Topics: Cecil Chao ♦ hong kong ♦ lesbian daughter A Hong Kong tycoon has offered a $65 million “marriage bounty” to any… Read More ›

Outrage as Pennsylvania high school marching band commemorates 1917 Russian Revolution at half time

By Ralph Turchiano on September 25, 2012 • ( 2 )

By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED:07:56 EST, 25 September 2012| UPDATED:08:12 EST, 25 September 2012 A Pennsylvania high school marching band has caused outrage by commemorating the Russian Revolution in a halftime performance – brandishing red flags, military uniforms, hammers and… Read More ›

‘He was the da Vinci of mental manipulation’: Guru goes on trial for ‘brainwashing’ French aristocratic family out of £3.6m fortune

Thierry Tilly is accused of defrauding 11 members of theVédrines family He allegedly told them they were in mortal danger and he’d protect them Tilly denies persuading victims to part with property, savings and jewellery By Leon Watson PUBLISHED:04:24 EST,… Read More ›

Russia suspends import and use of American GM corn after study revealed cancer risk

The European Food Safety Authority orders review in to the research, conducted at a French university Russia’s decision could be followed by other nations Experts at the University of Caen conducted an experiment running for the full lives of rats… Read More ›

Chinese protester opposing government takeover of village land ‘is crushed to death by state-controlled road-flattening truck’

By Ralph Turchiano on September 25, 2012 • ( 1 )

Protester He Zhu Hua, appears to be crushed in shocking images He opposed being moved after government tried to claim land for commercial use Reports claim government then tried to hide body and sent security to quell anger from residents… Read More ›

Korea to watch China’s drone use for territory claims: China Mobilizing Drones to go after Korea’s island of Ieodo

Lee calls top security meeting to discuss N.K., regional tension Territorial tension is brewing again between Korea and China after Beijing reportedly devised a plan to mobilize drones to monitor areas outside its jurisdiction, including Korea’s island of… Read More ›

Cell scientist pushes to clone extinct mammoth

2012-09-24 19:56 A South Korean private bioengineering laboratory led by disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk said Monday it is stepping up efforts to make progress in cloning an extinct woolly mammoth. To that end, the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation… Read More ›

BBC apologises to the Queen for Abu Hamza disclosure

Security correspondent Frank Gardner prompts crisis by telling how Queen lobbied home secretary for arrest of radical cleri Dan Sabbagh, Peter Walker and Caroline Davies The Guardian, Tuesday 25 September 2012 15.19 EDT Abu Hamza, who faces extradition to the… Read More ›

Citizens United ruling accounts for 78 percent of 2012 election spending

By Ralph Turchiano on September 25, 2012 • ( 1 )

By Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian Monday, September 24, 2012 19:54 EDT Topics: citizens united ♦ super PACs ♦ the Sunlight Foundation Almost $465m of outside money has been spent on the US presidential election campaign so far, including $365m that… Read More ›

China carrier a show of force as Japan tension festers:”China will never tolerate any bilateral actions by Japan that harm Chinese territorial sovereignty,” Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said on Tuesday. “