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US, Texas: Drone Pilot Finds "River of Blood" Outside Dallas Meatpacking Plant

Eric Pfeiffer
The Sideshow
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© sUAS News
Blood clearly visible on the left, one of the images used as evidence.
A drone pilot hobbyist in Dallas stumbled across a river of blood coming from a large meatpacking plant. The small drone plane had a camera equipped, which captured images of the red river, suspected of being made of pig blood from the plant

"I was looking at images after the flight that showed a blood red creek and was thinking, could this really be what I think it is? Can you really do that, surely not?" the pilot tells sUAS News. "Whatever it is, it was flat out gross. Then comes the question of who do I report this to that can find out what it is and where it is coming from."
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Pirates

The Pirate Party: Justice for Legitimate Ex-Users of Megaupload

Charlie Osborne
ZDNET
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:18 UTC
joint-complaint-of-those-affected-by-the-closure-of-megaupload-service
© PP-Cat
The Pirate Party are planning civil action against the FBI for the closure of Megaupload. Was there a point to the closure of the storage locker in the first place?

Just a few days after the majority of the tech community were sitting smugly over coffee watching headlines confirming the temporary defeat of SOPA, Megaupload disappeared overnight from the digital radar.

After the FBI took it upon themselves to close down the storage locker, seize the domain names, confiscate over $50 million in assets and arrest the founders, the rage and confusion of users was felt worldwide.

"We believe that the rights of ordinary people are being ignored by those intent on maintaining a flawed business model via excessive legislation. We believe that unjust laws like SOPA, PIPA and now ACTA must be fought, and that ordinary internet users should have legal recourse against the copyright lobby."
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Sheeple

Google's New Privacy Policy: The Good, Bad, Scary

Larry Dignan
ZDNET
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:52 UTC
googprivacy
© zdnet

"I'm all for breaking down data silos, but when Google knows more about me than my wife I get a bit worried".

Google has updated its privacy policy in a way that breaks down product silos, but allows the search giant to mine data across all of its services.

In a blog post, Google outlined the changes. These changes are the enterprise Holy Grail in many respects. Companies everywhere want to break down product walls to get a 360 degree view of customers. The difference with Google is reach and it is actually succeeding. In a nutshell, Google is:
  • Making its privacy policies easier to read.
  • Aggregating data across products for Google and user experience.
  • And arguing that it's easier to take your data and go somewhere else.
Here's how this boils down for this Google user between work and personal uses.
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Eagle

US: Man Pleads Not Guilty to Trying to Kill Obama

Eric Tucker
The Associated Press
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00 UTC
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez
© unknown
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez
An Idaho man accused of firing shots at the White House pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he tried to assassinate President Barack Obama.

A lawyer for Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez entered the plea on his client's behalf during a brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Washington. Ortega did not say anything during the proceedings and will remain held without bond. He has another court date next month.

Prosecutors say Ortega used an assault rifle with an attached scope to fire a series of shots at the White House from long range on the night of Nov. 11. Obama and his wife, Michelle, were out of town at the time. In the months before the shooting, investigators say, he had had become obsessed with Obama, referred to him as the anti-Christ and told at least one person that he planned to "take care of" the president.

Prosecutors say he drove away after the shooting and crashed his car, then took off on foot. Authorities searching his car found a semi-automatic rifle, 12 spent shell casings and three fully-loaded magazines, and bullet impact points were located in the area of the White House that's known to be the living quarters of the First Family. Authorities recovered a bullet from a window frame on the Truman Balcony.
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Info

US, New York: Ground zero Building Struggles to Find Tenants

Chris Hawley
The Associated Press
Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:15 UTC
Three World Trade Center
© unknown
80-story building at ground zero struggles to find tenants, might top out at 7 stories

An 80-story skyscraper under construction at ground zero will have to stop at seven stories unless the developer can line up more tenants, planners said Monday, adding to problems that have plagued the $11.7 billion World Trade Center project.

Silverstein Properties Inc. said it is still looking for tenants to fill the first 10 floors of Three World Trade Center, the third-highest building in the planned office complex. Without those leases, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will not guarantee the financing that Silverstein needs to finish the building.

Construction would end at the "podium" level on the seventh floor, with the option of building up later on, and the floors below would be filled mainly with retail stores.

Many companies in New York are reluctant to invest in new offices because of the poor economy, and dozens are negotiating lower rents as five-year leases signed before the housing crash begin to expire. But both Silverstein and the Port Authority said they are confident the developer can get enough tenants lined up.
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Arrow Down

US: Massachusetts Dentist Who Used Paper Clips Instead of Stainless Steel in Root Canals Admits to Fraud


The Associated Press
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00 UTC

A former dentist in Massachusetts has pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud for using paper clips instead of stainless steel posts in root canals.

Michael Clair is scheduled to be sentenced next week. He has pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicaid of $130,000, assault and battery, illegally prescribing prescription drugs and witness intimidation charges.

Prosecutors say the 53-year-old Clair was suspended by Medicaid in 2002 but continued filing by using the names of other dentists in his Fall River practice.
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Top Secret

US: Last of Secret Kennedy Tapes Released

Lauren Keiper
Reuters
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00 UTC

Image
© Reuters/JFK Presidential Library and Museum
The final 45 hours of White House recordings secretly taped during John F. Kennedy's time in office were released on Tuesday, offering researchers unique perspective into the last three months of his administration.

The recordings are part of a collection of more than 248 hours of taped meetings and 12 hours of phone conversations that have been reviewed and released by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum since 1993.

"The president's intelligence really comes across," said Maura Porter, declassification archivist with the presidential library who worked on the tapes for a decade.

Kennedy can be heard stumping experts with his questions in areas that were not necessarily his forte, she said.

The recorded conversations were made deliberately by the president, often captured in the Oval Office or Cabinet Room, but were kept secret from even Kennedy's top aides, the library said in a statement.
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Dollar

Fake Support: Romney Campaign Pays People to Support Candidate


You Tube
Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:00 UTC
On camera, a Romney "supporter" at an early voting location says he was paid by the South Florida Romney campaign effort to wear a shirt and maintain a presence. Having a handful of Romney supporters at the site likely helped make the impression on potential voters who lack the capacity to think for themselves that they, because of Romney's large "support", they should vote for him. Makes perfect sense...

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Handcuffs

US: Marine denies firing at Iraqi women and children

Julia Watson
Associated Press
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:35 UTC
Image
© AP/Gregory Bull
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich arrives for a court-martial session at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Wuterich, accused of killing unarmed Iraqi women and children in the Iraqi town of Haditha in 2005, pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty Monday, Jan. 23, 2012
Camp Pendleton, California - A Marine facing sentencing over one of the worst attacks on civilians by U.S. troops during the Iraq War told a judge Tuesday in a surprise development that he never fired his weapon at any women or children.

The statement by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich came a day after he pleaded guilty to a minor charge of negligent dereliction of duty as part of a deal that will mean little or no jail time.

"The truth is: I never fired any weapon at any women or children that day," Wuterich said in a statement during his sentencing hearing.

Wuterich also said in his statement that his guilty plea should not suggest that he believes his men behaved badly or that they acted in any way that was dishonorable to their country.

Wuterich, 31, led the squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqis in assaults in the town of Haditha in 2005. As part of a deal that stopped his manslaughter trial Monday, Wuterich faces no more than three months in confinement for the lesser charge.
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Bomb

Car bombs kill 14, wound 75 in Iraq capital

Kareem Raheem
Reuters
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:30 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Kareem Raheem
A soldier inspects a damaged vehicle at the site of a bomb attack in Sadr city in northeastern Baghdad January 24, 2012.
Baghdad - Four car bombs exploded in mainly Shi'ite Muslim areas of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 14 people and wounding 75, underlining a political crisis that threatens to revive sectarian strife in Iraq.

The first blast hit a group of day laborers gathering for jobs in the poor northeastern Sadr City area of the capital, leaving a chaotic scene of scattered shoes and food, and pools of blood. The bomb killed at least eight people and wounded 24, police and hospital sources said.

"We were all standing waiting to earn our living and all of a sudden it was like a black storm and I felt myself thrown on the ground," said Ahmed Ali, a 40-year-old laborer whose face and hair were burned by the explosion.

"I fainted for a while then I woke up and hurried to one of the cars to take me to the hospital," said Ali, lying on a bed in the emergency room at Imam Ali hospital in Sadr City.

The second blast near a traffic roundabout in Sadr City killed three people and wounded 26 others, the sources said.

Comment: Who benefits if the Iraqi people go to civil war with one another?

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