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Magic Hat

Yasser Arafat died of natural causes say Russian experts report


BBC
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 08:26 UTC
Yasser Arafat
© UnknownYasser Arafat died in a Paris hospital on 8 November 2004, four weeks after falling ill
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died of natural causes, not radiation poisoning, Russian forensic scientists have said.

Their investigation was one of three carried out on his remains in 2012. Arafat died in Paris in 2004, aged 75.

Last month, Swiss scientists said they had detected high levels of radioactive polonium but could not say if it had caused his death.

A French inquiry is also said to have found he was not a victim of poisoning.


Comment: From this article, here were the:
Three parallel inquiries

Swiss report - 8 Nov 2013: High levels of polonium; moderate backing for poisoning theory
French report - 3 Dec 2013: Source says poisoning theory rejected in favour of death by natural causes
Russian report - 26 Dec 2013: Death by natural causes not from radiation exposure
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People

Migrations: Census bureau expects Florida to surpass New York in population


Breitbart
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
The U.S. Census Bureau said Florida is likely to surpass New York in population in 2014, if it hasn't already.

Demographers expect Florida to replace New York as the third most populous state, separated by as little as a few thousand people.

The Census Bureau is expected to release its population estimates Monday, the New York Times reported Friday. California and Texas are expected to hold firm as the No. 1 and No. 2 most populous states, respectively.

The census figures indicate foreign-born migrants are moving to warm-weather states, like California, Texas and Florida, and New York is losing roughly 50,000 people each year to Florida, most of them retirees.

"It's going to happen," said Andrew A Beveridge, a professor of sociology at Queens College. "And if Florida accidentally grew faster and New York slowed down, it could have happened already."
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Arrow Down

1.3 million losing unemployment benefits Saturday in the US

Bradley Klapper
Associated Press
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 12:00 UTC
Unemployment Benefits
© AP Photo/Alan Diaz, FileThis Aug. 14, 2013 file photo shows job seekers checking out companies at a job fair in Miami Lakes, Fla. More than 1 million Americans are bracing for a harrowing, post-Christmas jolt as federal unemployment benefits come to a sudden halt this weekend. The development entails potentially significant implications for the recovering U.S. economy and sets up a tense battle when Congress reconvenes in the new year.
For families dependent on cash assistance, the end of the federal government's "emergency unemployment compensation" will mean some difficult belt-tightening as enrollees lose their average monthly stipend of $1,166.

Jobless rates could drop, but analysts say the economy may suffer with less money for consumers to spend on everything from clothes to cars. Having let the "emergency" program expire as part of a budget deal, it's unclear if Congress has the appetite to start it anew.

An estimated 1.3 million people will be cut off when the federally funded unemployment payments end Saturday.

Some 214,000 Californians will lose their payments, a figure rising to more than a half-million by June, the Labor Department said. In the last 12 months Californians received $4.5 billion in federal jobless benefits, much put back into the local economy.

More than 127,000 New Yorkers also will be cut off this weekend. In New Jersey, 11th among states in population, 90,000 people will immediately lose out.
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Arrow Down

Only NPR is left: Liberal Commercial Talk Radio Disappears in NY, LA, SF in 2014


Truth Revolt
Thu, 26 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
ed schultz
© Unknown
2014 will mark the beginning of a massive change for liberal talk radio across the country. In New York, WWRL 1600 AM will flip to Spanish-language music and talk, throwing Ed Schultz, Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, and Alan Colmes off the air. In Los Angeles, KTLK 1150 will be dumping Stephanie Miller, Rhodes, Bill Press and David Cruz off the air in favor of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. In San Francisco, KNEW 960 will leave Miller, Hartmann, and Mike Malloy without a radio home in the market.

Thanks to radio consolidation and the secondary status of leftist talk in major markets across the country, the final death knell for liberal talkers could be tolling. Leftist talkers simply don't have the same radio draw as conservatives; KTLK was ranked #41 in the market in November 2013, with WWRL registering almost no pulse at all. KNEW registered just an 0.4 in the San Francisco market in December 2013, placing it #31 in the market.
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Arrow Down

As Chicago's cycling grows, so does bike tax temptation

Jason Keyser
Associated Press
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 12:10 UTC
Mike Salvatore
© AP Photo/Charles Rex ArbogastIn this photo taken Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013, in Chicago, Mike Salvatore, owner of Heritage Bicycles talks about the emerging increase in bike riders at his Lakeview neighborhood store. A recent debate on a proposed city bicycle tax has put the spotlight back on cycling. Salvatore believes that no one would have taken that proposal seriously 10 years ago. “Why would you tax bikers, who bikes?! Seriously, 10 years ago there was a handful of nutcases who biked around Chicago. No one would have taken it seriously.”
Early blasts of snow, ice and below-zero temperatures haven't stopped a surprising number of Chicago cyclists from spinning through the slush this winter, thanks in part to a city so serious about accommodating them that it deploys mini-snow plows to clear bike lanes.

The snow-clearing operation is just the latest attention city leaders have lavished on cycling, from a growing web of bike lanes to the nation's second largest shared network of grab-and-go bicycles stationed all over town. But it also spotlights questions that have been raised here, a city wrestling with deep financial problems, and across the country.

Who is paying for all this bicycle upkeep? And shouldn't bicyclists be kicking in themselves?

A city councilwoman's recent proposal to institute a $25 annual cycling tax set off a lively debate that eventually sputtered out after the city responded with a collective "Say what?" A number of gruff voices spoke in favor, feeding off motorists' antagonism toward what they deride as stop sign-running freeloaders. Bike-friendly bloggers retorted that maybe pedestrians ought to be charged a shoe tax to use the sidewalks.
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Binoculars

Video surveillance of downtown Houston to expand


KHOU.com
Fri, 27 Dec 2013 09:30 UTC
Downtown Houston
© KHOU.com

Police surveillance of downtown Houston will expand with the addition of 180 new cameras.

The installation of the cameras means police will have nearly 1,000 surveillance feeds available to them. The Houston Chronicle reports most cameras are pointed on public areas around downtown, stadiums and the theater district.

Police Chief Charles McClelland says Houston has more critical infrastructure than New York City and must rely on video to provide necessary police coverage.

The city has spent more than $18 million in federal money to build its camera system and has another $5 million in reserve.

Houston also has expanded its video network through private sharing agreements, such as by accessing networks along rail lines.

Officials say data is not kept to determine if the cameras are driving down crime.
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Handcuffs

Feds charge white man with hate crime in first 'knockout' prosecution

Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times
Thu, 26 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
Image
© KRIV-TVConrad Alvin Barrett
The Obama administration filed a federal hate-crimes charge Thursday against a man whom authorities accused of using the "knockout game" to target a black man, videotaping it, and then bragging about the assault to strangers.

The charge marks the first time the administration has taken action on a "knockout" case after the game became an Internet and media phenomenon. It chose a case in which the person accused is white, even though most other cases reported in the news have involved black assailants.

In this case, the man accused is 27-year-old Conrad Alvin Barrett, who the Justice Department says attacked a 79-year-old black man in Fulshear, Texas, just west of Houston. Justice Department officials said they brought the case to make a point about hate crimes.

"Suspected crimes of this nature will simply not be tolerated," said Kenneth Magidson, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas. "Evidence of hate crimes will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted with the assistance of all our partners to the fullest extent of the law."

Mr. Barrett's attorney, George Parnham, told CNN that his client is on medication to treat bipolar disorder. Mr. Parnham said Mr. Barrett "is very sorry" for the victim.
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Shopping Bag

'Seasteads' offer libertarians the vision of floating cities for the future

Paul Peachey
The Independent
Thu, 26 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
Image
© IndependentThe Swimming City by Andras Gyorfi, the winning entry in a Seasteading Institute design contest.

Available soon, for sale or rent: brand new island with sea views from the terrace, fresh fish daily and swimming pool in the resort hotel. An ideal base for 225 pioneers with £100m-plus to spare and a yearning for a new political and social system.

And if you don't like it, no problem. Hitch the house to the back of a tug boat and try somewhere else.

For the right-wing American libertarian with deep-seated problems with Big Government, the 19th century challenge to "Go West, young man" retains a powerful appeal. But for the current target audience - the free-wheeling capitalist dotcom millionaire in Silicon Valley - going west means getting wet.

Not an issue, according to a new design report investigating the feasibility of "seasteads", communities of like-minded, self-governing individuals established on the high seas, free from what its proponents see as the restrictions of nations, welfare systems and punitive taxes.

The seasteading movement has emerged as a political movement - with nods to climate change and land shortages - to create new water-borne city states. Over 85 pages, a Dutch engineering and urban development company has outlined the feasibility of a floating "village" for 225 permanent residents and 50 hotel guests - a blueprint that the pioneering seasteaders hope will become hundreds of floating petri dishes of social and political experiments.
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Pistol

Wall Street advisor recommends guns, ammo for protection in collapse

Paul Bedard
Washington Examiner
Thu, 26 Dec 2013 12:33 UTC
Image
© Washington ExaminerImage from Marotta's website warning investors to prepare a "bug-out" bag in case of a fiscal collapse.
A top financial advisor, worried that Obamacare, the NSA spying scandal and spiraling national debt is increasing the chances for a fiscal and social disaster, is recommending that Americans prepare a "bug-out bag" that includes food, a gun and ammo to help them stay alive.

David John Marotta, a Wall Street expert and financial advisor and Forbes contributor, said in a note to investors, "Firearms are the last item on the list, but they are on the list. There are some terrible people in this world. And you are safer when your trusted neighbors have firearms."

His memo is part of a series addressing the potential for a "financial apocalypse." His view, however, is that the problems plaguing the country won't result in armageddon. "There is the possibility of a precipitous decline, although a long and drawn out malaise is much more likely," said the Charlottesville, Va.-based president of Marotta Wealth Management.

Marotta said that many clients fear an end-of-the-world scenario. He doesn't agree with that outcome, but does with much of what has people worried.
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Cell Phone

Teen arrested for pulling knife on dad after not getting iPhone for Xmas

Jon David Kahn
Breitbart.com
Thu, 26 Dec 2013 00:00 UTC
ipad knife drama

A Massachusetts teenager was arrested on Christmas day after police say he pulled a knife on his father because he did not receive an iPhone he wanted for Christmas. 18-year-old Alexander Torres was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery and malicious damage to a motor vehicle, according to Brockton Police Lt. Bruce Zeidman.

"The suspect was fighting with everyone in the house and he pulled out a knife on his father," Zeidman said.

Torres' father was uninjured but the teen's 24-year-old stepbrother was sent to Good Samaritan Medical Center, although police did not provide information as to why.
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