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California Oil Disaster Just Keeps Getting Worse

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The California oil spill from a ruptured onshore pipeline continued to foul beaches and threaten wildlife along a majestic stretch of the California coast spread across 9 miles of ocean and officials said over 105,000 gallons may have been leaked.

Over one fifth of that, 21,000 gallons, has so far reached the sea, causing one of the worst ecological disasters in California history.

California has now declared a state of emergency, which will mobilize state resources to contain and mitigate the effect of the spill.

Federal regulators continued to investigate the leak as workers in protective suits began to rake and shovel the smelly black sludge off the beaches. Boats could be seen towing booms into place to corral the two slicks, located just off the Santa Barbara coast.

Ironically it was this same place where a much larger spill happened in 1969, the largest in U.S. waters at the time, which is credited with giving rise to the American environmental movement.

Federal regulators from the Department of Transportation, which oversees oil pipeline safety, are investigating the leak’s cause, the pipe’s condition and any potential regulatory violations that occurred.

The 24-inch pipe was built in 1991 and had no previous problems but the pipe underwent tests about two weeks ago and the results were not analyzed.

There is currently no estimate on the cost of the cleanup or how long the efforts will take.

The disgusting combination of soiled beaches and putrid stench of petroleum caused state parks officials to shut down Refugio State Beach and El Capitan State Beach over the Memorial Day weekend.

New Research Shows Surprising Age Of Dog Human Friendship

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New Research Shows Surprising Age Of Dog Human Friendship

A newly discovered ancient wolf bone suggests that man’s best friend may have been our friend much longer than we originally thought, according to new research. A DNA analysis suggests dogs diverged from wolves 27,000 to 40,000 years ago instead of between 11,000 to 16,000 years ago, as previously thought.

In a new study researchers radiocarbon-dated a Taimyr wolf bone found in northern Siberia and concluded it to be approximately 35,000 years old. The ancient wolf appears to be the most recent common relative of modern wolves and dogs.

Two scenarios could have played out about 40,000 years ago, with the simplest being that dogs became domesticated by humans around that time.

“The only other explanation is that there was a major divergence between two wolf populations at that time, and one of these populations subsequently gave rise to all modern wolves,” study co-author Love Dalén of the Swedish Museum of Natural History stated in a media release.

With that theory, however, the second wolf population would had to have gone extinct at some point.

“It is possible that a population of wolves remained relatively untamed but tracked human groups to a large degree, for a long time,” another study co-author, Pontus Skoglund, of Harvard Medical School said in the same release.

Earlier research estimated that genetic mutation rates were much faster than what the most recent research found. The mutation rate in the Taimyr wolf genome was, however, just half of what had been thought, Dalen told Reuters

“The difference between the earlier genetic studies and ours is that we can calibrate the rate of evolutionary change in dog and wolf genomes directly, and we find that the first separation of dog ancestors must have been in the older range,” Skoglund said.

An important implication of the study is re-imagining how dogs came to be an important part of human social groups. The prevailing theory is that dogs became domesticated once humans settled into agricultural-based communities and were no longer nomadic wanderers.

But humans may well have “caught wolf cubs and kept them as pets and this gradually led to these wild wolves being domesticated,” Dalen told the BBC. “If this model is correct, then dogs were domesticated by hunter gatherers that led a fairly nomadic lifestyle.”

The researchers published their study Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

Health Officials Warn Of Tuna Linked Salmonella Outbreak Affecting Nine States

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Health Officials Warn Of Tuna Linked Salmonella Outbreak Affecting Nine States

Food and Drug Administration officials are investigating a salmonella outbreak that has been linked to raw tuna. The deadly bacteria has thus far sickened 53 people in nine states.

The California Department of Public Health reported 31 cases as of late Thursday. Other states reporting incidents include Arizona, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

So far ten people have been hospitalized in serious condition but no deaths have thus far been reported.

The precise source of the outbreak is still being determined but most people who fell ill reported eating sushi containing raw tuna.

Salmonella is the most common source of food poisoning in the U.S. It is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, cramping and fever. If untreated it can lead to death, especially in those who are already weak.

The FDA advises that the elderly, young children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems should not consume raw fish or raw shellfish.

Human Rights Groups Denounce Facebook’s Internet.org Scheme In Open Letter To CEO

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Human Rights Groups Denounce Facebook’s Internet.org Scheme In Open Letter To CEO

Facebook’s duplicitous Internet.org initiative continues to gather opposition as over 60 rights groups from several nations across the globe, including the U.S., the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Austria, India and others, criticized Facebook, saying that the initiative undermines net neutrality. The rights groups assert that the low-cost internet-to-the-masses plan is self serving, giving Facebook effective control of the internet is developing countries.

With the control the powerful social network can favor its own sites and content while excluding competitors. It also conditions new internet users to expect Facebook’s watered down version of the net rather than the real thing.

In an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg , the organizations, many of whom have extensive experience in providing connectivity to the poor, claimed that the initiative had been wrongly marketed as providing access to the real, full, Internet, even though it provided access to only a limited number of services that are approved by Facebook and local Internet service providers.

Through Internet.org, Facebook and local telecom monopolies aim to extend internet connectivity to poor areas of the world currently without internet. The program, which was roundly criticized in India for creating “walled gardens,” offers only a hand chosen set of websites and services, including those of Facebook, at no data charges to users.

The service has already been launched in select countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Get Your WiFi Toasters Ready: Google To Release Internet Of Things Operating System Next Week

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Get Your WiFi Toasters Ready: Google To Release Internet Of Things Operating System Next Week

Everyone’s been dying to connect their toaster to the internet and Google may be the next big company to take on the challenge. Reports indicate that Google has developed secret software that can run on low-power devices and give them the ability to communicate with other connected devices nearby. Say, for instance, your toaster telling your fridge you just had two pieces of toast.

Internally, the software is called “Brillo,” but it may debut under an Android name next week, at Google’s I/O conference, in which it showcases every new and exciting its been working on. Reports are that the software can be used on everything from major home appliances like refrigerators to smaller tech like garden monitors, thanks to its ability to consume very little power and require unsophisticated computer controllers to run – it’s reported to be designed for devices that have as little as 32MBs or 64MBs of RAM.

The software will likely be barebones at first, rather than being a complete system with apps and services.

At this point nobody really knows how it will all look but a lot of companies are diving into the area. Microsoft is releasing Windows 10 IoT Core that’s designed for ATMs, ultrasound machines, and wearable tech devices.

Chinese company Huawei, if they are to be trusted, is making an OS that’s 10 kilobytes in size and meant to connect very small IoT gadgets.

Samsung recently announced a series of chips for IoT devices as well, while Apple is rumored to be launching a set of apps that work with Apple devices to control your home.

Connecting everyday objects is going to be big and there’s lots of money up for grabs for whoever can be the central player. Everyone knows this and wants to get there first.

United Arab Emirates Sentences Four Men To Life In Prison For Tweeting

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United Arab Emirates Sentences Four Men To Life In Prison For Tweeting

Middle Eastern legal insanity knows no bounds, with mass public executions, chopping of limbs and lengthy jail terms for minor offenses the norm. The area proved just how insane it is, after four men were sentenced to life in prison for disseminating information, rumours and pictures on Twitter that were said to harm the reputation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Another man was given 10 years in prison for the same offense.

State news agency WAM reported that the sentences were handed out by the State Security Circuit at the Federal Supreme Court on Monday,

The court found the men acted with “intent to ridicule and damage the reputation and prestige of the state symbols”, WAM said.

The first defendant, identified as H.A.M.A, was present for the verdict, while the other four, identified as J.H.A, H.K.A., R.A.A. and A.M.A., were sentenced in absentia.

Each of the defendants was also fined Dhs1 million or $270,000.

The court did not identify what nationality the men were nor if it is known where the four at-large individuals are.

H.A.M.A appeared with relatives, the media and members of civil society organisations, who roundly condemned the sentence as draconian and inhumane.

The court also handed down a three-year sentence to an Emirati, identified as A.S.A., on the charge of abusing state symbols at his workplace.

Six Police Officers Indicted Over Death Of Freddie Gray

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As Baltimore tries to recover from riots and violence that has plagued the city since, a grand jury indicted the six police officers charged in the arrest of Freddie Gray, the state’s attorney for Baltimore City, Marilyn J. Mosby, said Thursday. The officers were in charge of the arrest and subsequent death of Mr. Gray.

At a news conference, Ms. Mosby said the grand jury had returned with a wide range of charges against all six officers and had agreed with an earlier charge, the most serious, against van driver Caesar R. Goodson Jr. That charge was for second-degree depraved-heart murder.

The other officers charged are Lt. Brian Rice; Sgt. Alicia White; Officer Garrett E. Miller; Officer William G. Porter; and Officer Edward M. Nero.

The death of Mr. Gray occurred one week after he was transported by police and brought waves of violence throughout the city. That violence continues to this day, which is why we asked the question: does 1.3 homicides per day mean Baltimore is now safe?

Yemeni Hack Group Releases Thousands Of Secret Saudi Documents

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Yemeni Hack Group Releases Thousands Of Secret Saudi Documents

A supposed Yemeni hacking group announced that it has hacked Saudi Arabia’s Foreign, Interior and Defense ministries and released thousands of top secret documents. The dumped documents include names and addresses of Saudi spies as well as confidential correspondence of Riyadh officials over the last several decades.

“We have gained access to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) network and have full control over more than 3000 computers and servers, and thousands of users. We also have access to the emails, personal and secret information of hundreds of thousands of their staff and diplomats in different missions around the world,” the Yemen Cyber Army said in a statement.

The group said it has a vast trove of documents, including the contact addresses, phone numbers, emails, social account contents of not just the Saudi diplomats and foreign ministry staff, the country’s spies, intelligence agents, operatives, army personnel and hundreds of thousands of secret documents of the Saudi foreign ministry and top secret files and correspondence of senior Riyadh officials with other world countries and governments since early 1980s.

“We publish only few portions of the vital information we have, just to let them know that ‘truly the flimsiest of houses is the spider´s house’,” the statement added.

The hacking group also said that “portions of the visa secret information, thousands of documents from the Saudi Foreign Ministry automation system and secret emails will be published gradually so as to keep Saudi puppets always in fear of their identity disclosure”.

The statement threaten to automatically wipe the Saudi Foreign Ministry computer systems and servers at 12:00 Wednesday midnight.

The group warned that it would further attack the Saudi government if Riyadh refrains from attacking “Muslims in Yemen”, adding, “Do not blame anyone but yourself and expect greater harms.”

Yemen Cyber Army first came to light after it attacked the pro-Saudi news website, AlHayat, on April 14th in protest at Riyadh’s invasion of Yemen.

News of the attack was quickly picked up by Iran’s FARS news agency. Iran backs Islamist Houthi rebels in Yemen, which could indicate that it is really Iran behind the attacks. Given the broad scope of the incursion and sophistication needed for such an attack it is entirely plausible Iran is the actual responsible party.

Skipping Meals Shown To Increase Belly Weight Gain

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It turns out skipping breakfast, or any other meal, could have a big impact on your waist line, according to a new study conducted on animals. Researchers found evidence that skipping meals sets off a series of reactions in your body that can result in abdominal weight gain.

The study found that mice who ate all of their food as a single meal and fasted the rest of the day developed insulin resistance in their livers which is a telltale sign of pre-diabetes.

The meal-a-day mice were put on a restricted diet and subsequently lost weight compared to controls that had unlimited food. The mice regained weight as they ate more caloriess and nearly caught up to the unlimited food mice by the study’s end.

But the belly fat weighed more in the restricted-diet mice than in mice that were free to eat all day long. An excess of belly fat is associated with insulin resistance, risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

“This does support the notion that small meals throughout the day can be helpful for weight loss, though that may not be practical for many people,” said Martha Belury, the senior author of the study. “But you definitely don’t want to skip meals to save calories because it sets your body up for larger fluctuations in insulin and glucose and could be setting you up for more fat gain instead of fat loss.”

“With the mice, this is basically bingeing and then fasting,” Belury said. “People don’t necessarily do that over a 24-hour period, but some people do eat just one large meal a day.”

“Even though the gorging and fasting mice had about the same body weights as control mice, their adipose [belly fat] depots were heavier. If you’re pumping out more sugar into the blood, adipose is happy to pick up glucose and store it. That makes for a happy fat cell – but it’s not the one you want to have. We want to shrink these cells to reduce fat tissue,” Belury said.

The research is published online in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry.

Chinese Foreign Policy Falls Short As India Says ‘No, Thanks’

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Chinese Foreign Policy Falls Short As India Says ‘No, Thanks’

It’s a sign of both India’s rising prominence and strained relations between the two superpowers that China failed to secure India’s backing for its mega Silk Road projects during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit last week, a Chinese state-run think tank said.

“Modi’s first journey to China since he assumed office constitutes a significant step in building the Sino-India strategic mutual trust,” an article written by Liu Zongyi, a researcher at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said.

The paper continued with glowing words, as if to soothe the fact that Modi was having none of the two headed Chinese charm offensive.

“In the first place, the state heads of the two countries have strengthened mutual trust with practical actions,” it said, continuing that Modi had been given an “unprecedented welcome and reception in China”.

“Beijing received some return from New Delhi. Modi revealed at Tsinghua University that Chinese tourists would be able to apply for Indian e-visas, which, however, is not stated in the joint statement,” it said.

But China wants to accomplish big things in Asia, even as it riles it neighbors over disputed territory and continues to talk out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to foreign policy. It claims to know nothing about widespread cyber warfare, industrial espionage or a militarized space program, yet evidence is starkly to the contrary.

The recognized the diplomacy failure, acknowledging that “China has failed to gain support from India on issues concerning its key interests, especially in building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR).”

The Silk Road projects included road connectivity between China and Europe through Central Asia, the Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar (BCIM) Corridor, the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the MSR.

While India is taking part in the BCIM, it has already expressed concerns over the CPEC as it traverses Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The overall failure of the trip highlights India’s distrust for China, particularly its weaponized space program and increasing militarization. The moves have caused India to respond with its own investment in these areas, which have primarily focused on China as the enemy of choice when designing weapons systems.

It also show’s India increasing self confidence, where it is able to pick and choose the deals it wishes to do and will dictate terms not have them dictated.

Pentagon Approves Rush Shipment Of 2000 Anti Tank Rockets To Iraq

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Pentagon Approves Rush Shipment Of 2000 Anti Tank Rockets To Iraq

In a swift response to ISIS victories in Ramadi, the Pentagon announced Thursday that the United States would deliver 2,000 AT-4 anti-tank rockets to Iraq as early as next week. That number is double that announced just 24 hours before, a sign the Pentagon is taking the ISIS threat more seriously than ever. The rocket are intended to help Baghdad combat suicide car bombings by Islamic State fighters.

Spokesman Steve Warren said the delivery was intended to help Iraq defend against approaching suicide bombers driving in vehicles packed with explosives. This tactic was heavily used by Islamic State militants last weekend to help capture Ramadi from the Iraqi forces.

“This is a good counter to that (type of bombing),” Warren said.

The capture of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, handed the Iraqi government its most significant setback in a year and highlighted the weaknesses of both the Iraqi army and the U.S.-led air strikes against the terror group.

A senior State Department official said Wednesday that ISIS had carried out about 30 vehicle suicide bombings in order to take Ramadi.

The new anti-tank weapons will allow the Iraqi forces to destroy approaching suicide car bombers at a distance instead of having to rely on small arms fire to disable the engine or kill the driver, which can be difficult..

Warren said at a Pentagon news briefing that U.S. air cover had not been impeded by the weather during the Islamic State onslaught of Ramadi. His comments came after reports that Islamic State fighters had used a sandstorm to gain an advantage in the siege of Ramadi and that the storm had prevented U.S. warplanes from launching airstrikes.

Teamsters Union Wins Right To Cut Members’ Pensions By 20 Percent

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Teamsters Union Wins Right To Cut Members’ Pensions By 20 Percent

Big changes will be coming to those who are current Teamsters union members. The powerful union began informing retirees and current workers that their pension benefits will be cut, according to union representatives.

In a funny twist, the union spent its members’ own money on a lobbying campaign to win the right to shrink their retirement pay.

The decision could ultimately affect 410,000 current pension participants and more than 10 million U.S. workers nationwide. The cuts will begin next year.

The pension reductions were made possible after a lame-duck Congress passed the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) late last year, enabling any multiemployer pension fund to cut benefits to workers and current retirees if the plan is underfunded by 20 percent.

The Teamsters’ fund has been struggling with severe shortages for years, while the union simultaneously poured millions of dollars into political election efforts and Washington lobbying.

In 2014 the union and its affiliates spent about $5.9 million on lobbying and political contributions, with its main objective the passage of the pension reform law that gave it the right to start reducing benefits.

To date this year the union has spent $397,000 into Washington lobbying.

“Like many of our nation’s multiemployer pension funds, Central States Pension Fund has become severely underfunded and is headed toward financial failure if we don’t take immediate, decisive action,” said a CSPF letter to pensioners, dated April 8th.

“Baby Boomers are retiring in record numbers and the union workforce has been steadily declining for years. As a result, the Fund currently has more than three times as many retirees as active members — so, fewer contributions are coming in than benefits being paid out. To put this into perspective, for every $3.46 that the Fund pays out in pension benefits, only $1 is collected from contributing employers, which results in a $2 billion annual shortfall. Clearly, that math will never work,” the letter went on to say.

The new law means that the group hardest hit by reductions will be current workers and retirees under the age of 75. Retirees over the age of 80 and those with disabilities will continue to receive full benefits, and benefit reductions for those aged 75 to 80 will be done on a sliding scale.

Funnily enough, in a vain effort to defect blame, the April 8th letter blamed Congress, saying that because the MPRA wasn’t passed until December meant there was no legal solution in place that allowed the Teamsters pension fund “to develop a rescue plan from going broke.”

Russia Plans Children’s TV Channel To Recruit Child Soldiers

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Russian ruler Vladimir Putin continues his downward spiral of paranoia and desperation as his government announced the creation of a state-financed TV company that would seek to indoctrinate teens and younger children with state propaganda, government newspaper Izvestia reported on May 20th.

The Russian dictator has launched several initiatives, which we covered here, to recruit children into the communist party and its military.

Since he came to power 15 years ago, Putin has ruled the media and television to consolidate control over the country. Citizens now refer to television as the “zombie box” for its lack of credible content.

Viktor Vodolatsky, a puppet lawmaker for the ruling United Russia party has advocated for the idea of a channel that would help raise Russians as patriots, indoctrinating them in communist propaganda and a sense of duty to the military.

Vodolatsky told Izvestia that Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko has mandated that the Education Ministry form a working group that will create the new propaganda channel.

“The working group is already at the stage of being formed; it will soon start work,” Vodolatsky said. “Specialists are preparing concrete proposals on the issue of correctly conducting informational-patriotic work with teenagers.”

The channel will broadcast youth-oriented talk shows and programs on education, news, and other issues, according to Izvestia.

Putin’s government has stepped up its emphasis on patriotism amid the widely condemned invasion of Ukraine and biting sanctions that have been ruinous for the economy. As many as a third of Russian families are starving, according to recent reports, as shipments of vital grain and other crops have been cut due to sanctions.

As the sanctions now bite and Putin eyes an upcoming election he must rig, the increasingly desperate leader is looking for all ways to both control the vote and also avoid a popular uprising, such as Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, which are usually started by younger members of society.

He sees recruiting children to both the armed forces and communist party as a way to solidify what could otherwise be a rebellious base.

Court Rules Americans Do Not Have Right To Know CIA Torture Details

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In a shocking blow to democracy a federal judge has ruled the CIA can keep secret nearly 7,000 pages of a Senate report on its interrogation methods, as well as an internal agency review concerning the conduct of its officers.

U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg concluded that the 6,963-page report compiled by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the related “Panetta review,” are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

Boasberg stated that the Senate committee report remained a document under congressional control, and Congress made sure to exempt itself from FOIA.

“Congress has undoubted authority to keep its records secret, authority rooted in the Constitution, longstanding practice, and current congressional rules,” Boasberg stated.

Despite the fact that the Senate intelligence panel forwarded a copy of the full report to the CIA, Boasberg added, “should not be readily interpreted to suggest more wholesale abdication of control.”

Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU National Security Project, strongly objected to the ruling.

“The direct, contemporaneous evidence shows that the full torture report is subject to the FOIA because Congress sent it to the executive branch with instructions that it be broadly used to ensure torture never happens again,” Shamsi said. “The Senate’s landmark investigation into a dark period in our nation’s history should not stay behind closed government doors, but needs to see the light of day.”

The Senate committee released a summary of the report last December, following years of back-and-forth, but refused to disclose the full contents to the American people at the request of the CIA.

As we reported previously, the CIA is fearful details of their torture activities will cause a public outcry which could end the agency. They even went so far as to destroy tapes of the evidence yet, like all spy agencies, went free of punishment for their actions.

The cost to taxpayers of the report they will not see? $40 million.

The finding shows the politicians and judges have been corrupted by the intelligence community and are deeply fearful of retribution of they act against either the CIA or the more powerful NSA.

Despite numerous public criminal acts by both agencies none have been held to account, likely because they maintain a detailed dossier on every politician, judge, civil servant and military leader to ensure they get what they want and nobody interferes with their secret information gathering activities.

Why Uber Keeps Its Driver Pay Rate So Low

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Mike Novogratz, principal and director of investment giant Fortress Investments, offered an amazing anecdote about Uber in an upcoming podcast.

His comment appears to be from Uber CFO Brent Callinicos, who had previously worked at Google, and concerns why, exactly, Uber pays its drivers such a low rate. Novogratz did not mention Callinicos by name, but the anecdote was set during a period in which he was CFO.

Novogratz began his comment by noting that regardless of whether America has a Republican or Democratic administration, the percentage of earnings going to capital, versus labour, has decreased over the last 35 years.

He remarked “I had an interesting meeting with the CFO of Uber […] and they were raising capital. [They] had started their [fund-raising] roadshow at twenty five billion dollars valuation, and a week later the valuation had jumped to forty.”

“And I asked [the CFO], how do you justify the valuation? So he took me through their business model, and roughly, employees – drivers – get between twenty and twenty five per cent of the fare. And the thought was if we could raise that to twenty five to thirty per cent […] our margins would go up, and if you look at the growth and you add that extra, pure margin, we make a lot more money and we justify this forty billion dollar valuation.”

“And I asked a cheeky question,” said Novogratz. “‘Well, listen, you’ve got happy employees, you’ve got happy customers, you’ve got happy shareholders. The holy triumvirate are all really excited about your company. Why are you going to risk that and push the employees’ salary down by five per cent?'”

Without missing a beat, Callinicoss simply replied: “Because we can.”

The remark goes to illustrate just how hard-nosed Uber is, essentially waging wars on government, tax cab owner, tax cab drivers and its biggest investor, Google. All at the same time.

U.S. Spy Plane Buzzes Illegal Chinese Air Base

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Tensions between China and the United States keep ratcheting up as China’s navy issued eight warning messages to a U.S. military surveillance plane that passed over a group of man-made islands in the South China Sea.

The islands are the center of an international territorial dispute between China and its Asian neighbors and are deemed to be in violation of international law. China is constructing military bases on the islands, in a clear hostile move towards it neighbors.

“This is the Chinese navy, this is the Chinese navy, please go away quickly,” said a voice in English, to the P8-A Poseidon spy plane on Wednesday.

The Navy’s most advanced spy aircraft passed as low as 15,000 feet over the disputed Spratly Islands, which are fully 600 miles from the shores of mainland China.

The islands are claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Spy footage showed extensive military buildup at the sites, including an early warning radar system, military barracks, lookout tower and runway.

When the U.S. plane refused to leave the area, a Chinese official sent another radio transmission “This is the Chinese navy. You! Go!”

The surveillance flight is in line with recent comments by U.S. defense officials, who said they are considering sending military ships and planes to the South China Sea to enforce freedom of navigation, the key issue for the international community in the area.

The U.S. military has an large presence in East Asia and has repeatedly flown surveillance flights close to the artificial islands yet the Wednesday mission is one of the boldest challenges yet to China’s control in the area.

The Chinese development of the islands has led many East Asian governments to strengthen their military ties with Washington, in response to China’s attempt to expand its influence in the region.

Why China is pursuing such a military approach to its neighbors is puzzling, as increased globalization has led to more trade and economic ties than in the past. While countries previously fought each other and maintained closed economies, these days trade is tightly interconnected and wars are universally viewed as bad for business.

One possible reason for the military buildup is a frustrated Chinese population, oppressed by greedy communist overlords. The Chinese community party maintains tight control over freedom and communication while enriching itself from China’s new economic prosperity.

Beijing is deeply fearful of a revolution and so is likely planning for a diversionary war should tensions at home escalate too far. Such a war, against a lesser army like The Philippines, would be easily won yet rally the country’s population around Chinese nationalism while distracting from the oppression at home. Communist rulers could then continue to plunder the economy and enrich themselves personally.

Congress Doesn’t Care What You Think, Fast Tracks Super Secret Trade Agreement

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President Obama knows best. That’s the message congress signified to the American public on Thursday as it gave the President wide ranging authority to negotiate on behalf of the American people without any democratic oversight of just what deals he is cutting. The move came despite the strong opposition of most Democrats.

The 62-38 vote will allow Obama to negotiate trade deals that Congress can only accept or reject, but not change. The move make the role of President more like ruler-in-chief, as the amount of issues in a free trade deal make it unlikely one party or another will unilaterally veto a deal.

The move was welcomed by big corporations and their lobbyists, who effectively write such deals. The President’s office will usually take lobbyist proposals and write them directly into the deals without changing them whatsoever. The move cuts down on work by elected officials and panders to industry.

The average American, meanwhile, gets nothing. Or worse. The measures in such deals usually lead to loss of American jobs and industry in order to ensure corporate profits steadily climb. The deals also include broad provisions for spying, a favorite past-time of America’s secret police forces.

The trade agenda, known as the Trans Pacific Partnership, is Obama’s highest second-term priority. He is seeking to return favors to rich donors and build a legacy for himself once he leaves office.

The deal is so controversial that the American public and its elected officials have been barred from viewing any of its contents. Some drafts have leaked but the specifics of a final agreement are more classified than most military programs.

Critics are attacking the fast-track bill from many sides. Some demand crackdowns on countries that make their exports more affordable by keeping the currency artificially low, such as China.

Others insist that Congress first deal with pending expirations of a domestic surveillance program and the Export-Import Bank.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., spent hours on the Senate floor Wednesday criticizing the surveillance program yet to no avail. Mr Paul has supported such spying in the past and is using the obvious failure of his filibuster to bolster his chances of becoming President, where he would then once again authorize pervasive spying. This is has become commonplace in American politics – say one thing knowing its impossible, then do the opposite when elected. Par for the course in Washington.

Leading the Senate’s fast-track effort was antique Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah, among the oldest and most out of touch members of Congress. He is also one of the largest benefactors of big corporate support. So for him, like most of Congress, a trade deal just makes sense – keeps the big donors happy, regardless of what Americans actually want.

Secret Hunter Killer Space Plane Launches For Fourth Classified Mission

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A top secret U.S. Air Force space plane rocketed into orbit Wednesday, carrying a full load of technology experiments and secret missions. The launch happened early Wednesday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The unmanned mini-shuttle rode atop an Atlas V rocket, the workhorse of the U.S. Air Force.

This marks the fourth flight for the military program, which is heavily classified. The last X-37B mission lasted 674 days and ended with a California landing. No details about the mission were released, although amateur astronomers noticed radical orbit changes of the vehicle, indicating that it may be a tool to hunt and kill Chinese satellites.

China has been working on similar hunter killer space vehicles.

In typical top secret fashion the Air Force will not disclose how long this particular mission will last or where it will end.

The X-37B resembles a miniature version of the space shuttle. It is 29 feet long and its wingspan is about 15 feet. Overall it is about one quarter the size of NASA’s space shuttle.

The Boeing-built X-37B launches vertically and lands horizontally, is reusable, and has a cargo bay for experiments. The vehicle if operated robotically, with no humans aboard.

Referred to innocuously as OTV, or orbital test vehicle — it has a materials-sample experiment on board for NASA, and an experimental electric-propulsion thruster for the Air Force. While some say the most intriguing payload is a solar-sail demo sponsored by the Planetary Society, the most interesting publicly known cargo is the new thruster.

Such a thruster requires considerably less liquid propellant than previous designs which would enable more ability to move around while in orbit. Such movement is not particularly useful for satellites but would be a key feature in a hunter killer space drone designed to disable enemy satellites. Radical orbit changes, of the kind needed to take of enemy spacecraft, require lots of fuel using present systems and means that with current technology it would be expensive to disable an enemy’s fleet.

The new thruster system would mean spacecraft that could take out many enemy satellites from one launched vehicle, like the X-37B, which would make it far cheaper and faster to accomplish.

China, no doubt, will be watching the vehicle’s activity in space rather closely.

U.S. Health Insurer CareFirst Exposes 1.1 Million Health Records In Chinese Hack Attack

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U.S. health insurer CareFirst has admitted it has been hacked, the third such company to fall victim to hackers in recent months. The data breach compromised the records of 1.1 million of its customers.

Yet the breach took place in June last year but was only recently discovered. The lag time between hack and discovery indicates just how compromised many online customer record systems are these days.

The attack is similar to that perpetrated on Blue Cross, which had 11 million customer records stolen, and Anthem, which lost 80 million records.

The database accessed included member names, birth dates, email addresses and identification numbers. It remains to be seen if other records were compromised but given the magnitude of the attack this is likely.

“We deeply regret the concern this attack may cause,” CareFirst chief executive Chet Burrell said.

“We are making sure those affected understand the extent of the attack – and what information was and was not affected.”

CareFirst operates in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia and has 3.4 million customers.

Investigators looking into the breach said it resembled earlier attacks from China, the lead global sponsor of hacking into civilian computer systems.

NSA Hijacking Google Play Store To Install Spyware On Your Phone

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New revelations from the Snowden leaks show just how pervasive NSA spying has become. While the public hears about the ‘meta data collection program’, the agency’s exploits run far, far, deeper, according to newly leaked documents.

Analysis of the Snowden trove reveals that The National Security Agency and its allies in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand planned to hijack the data links to Google and Samsung app stores in order to infect smartphones with spyware.

The project was run by a secretive NSA electronic eavesdropping unit called the Network Tradecraft Advancement Team, an international spying group from the “Five Eyes” alliance — the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.

The top-secret document dates to November 2011 and February 2012, meaning that similar yet far more advanced programs are now in full operational status. The result for end users is that they have no idea if they are using the real Google Play store or the NSA’s booby trapped version.

The secret spy team used the NSA’s internet spying system XKEYSCORE to pinpoint smartphone traffic flowing across the Internet and then identified smartphone connections to app marketplace servers operated by Samsung and Google.

Codenamed IRRITANT HORN, the agencies developed a method to hack and hijack phone users’ connections to app stores so that they sent malicious “implants” to devices in addition to apps users actually wanted to download. The ‘implants’ could then collected every piece of data from the phones without their users noticing.

Such data included emails, texts, web history, call records, videos, photos and every other file stored on the devices.

The newly published document shows just how pervasive the secret police spying has become, infecting virtually every American and international mobile phone, PC or connected internet device. The NSA then processes this vast flow of data in the world’s largest computing cluster – which some estimate is bigger than Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft and Ebay combined.

Processed data is then added to ‘dossiers’ the agency has on every single American, including politicians, judges, civil servants, defense department officials and everyday Americans.

Santa Barbara Oil Spill Five Times Worse Than Originally Thought

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When energy companies tell you an oil spill is “just a few barrels” its safe to assume its much worse than that. Estimates for the Santa Barbara oil spill have gone from a few barrels, to 21,000 gallons and now company officials are saying that as many as 105,000 gallons of crude oil may have spilled from the ruptured pipeline.

The pipeline that ruptured is 24 inches in diameter and has been leaking oil near Refugio State Beach which happens to be a protected state park. The spill also comes just before Memorial Day weekend, the start of the summer tourist season.

The spill highlights the dangers of the pipeline and brings new attention to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline currently being debated by government officials. While Keystone XL lobbyists claim the pipeline is safer than rail by oil the latest spill highlights that pipelines, especially those carrying heavy grades of oil, are equally prone to catastrophic spills.

Plains All American Pipeline, the Houston-based owner of the pipeline, based the new spill estaimtes on the typical flow rate of oil and the elevation of the pipeline, said Rick McMichael, the company’s director of pipeline operations. It is unclear why this calculation was not disclosed to the public initially and points to an industry culture of hiding the truth from public eyes.

And given the pipeline is underground, a particularly dangerous construction method, it will take a few days to determine just how much crude oil was actually spilled. It’s entirely possible the spill is much larger than even the latest estimate.

Plains Chairman Greg Armstrong said he was deeply sorry for the spill yet refused to acknowledge why the public, and government officials, were not immediately notified of the magnitude of the spill.

“We apologize for the damage that has been done to the wildlife and to the environment, and we’re very sorry for the disruption and inconvenience that it has caused the citizens and visitors of this area,” he said.

“This spill is unlike ones that we’ve responded to in the past.” said Coast Guard Capt. Jennifer Williams. The spill began inland, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has authority, but has reached the shoreline and the water, where the Coast Guard is now responsible. Both agencies are now working on the case together.

“Oil recovery tends to be a complicated process that involves a lot of manual labor,” Williams said. “It can be a slow process, but we want to make sure that we do it right so we can get the beaches back to their pristine condition.”

In addition to damaging tourist beaches the spill has damaged pristine wildlife habitat, although the full extent of the damage is yet to be determined. The spill will likely produce localized effects similar to the catastrophic Deep Horizon still in the Gulf of Mexico, which has caused long lasting damage to marine ecosystems.

ISIS Militants Take Control Of UNESCO World Heritage Site Palmyra

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Islamist ISIS insurgents have seized “full control” of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra after government forces retreated from the area Thursday, according to reports.

The reports are reason for great fear – both for Palmyra’s residents and its archaeological treasures.

ISIS fighters occupy the modern city, which is just a few hundred meters from the ancient columns, temples and arches that have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in the Middle Eastern nation, reported that the Sunni jihadists made their attack early Thursday morning.

U.N. and Syrian officials fear that ISIS plans to destroy the ruins, just as it did the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud. The group also smashed statues in Iraq’s Mosul Museum.

The seizure of Palmyra is ISIS’ second huge victory in less than a week. Over the weekend, it took the key Iraqi city of Ramadi, which the U.S. State Department called a ‘major blow’.

An accurate picture of who controlled what in and around Palmyra was difficult to obtain. Syria’s state-run news agency, SANA, stated that Syrian forces had pulled out of some Palmyra neighborhoods amid a large assault from ISIS. The ISIS forces were trying to get into the archaeological sites.

At least 100 Syrian troops were killed in overnight fighting.

U.S Approves $1.87 Billion Arms Shipment To Israel

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U.S Approves $1.87 Billion Arms Shipment To Israel

While the genocide in Palestine strains relations with Israel, there is little mistake the two countries are firm friends after the State Department week approved the sale of $1.87 billion in munitions and precision guidance kits to Israel. The weapons sale will improve the capability of existing systems and make it easier for U.S. and Israeli forces to work together in combat.

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which handles every aspect of overseas arms and weapon sales, informed lawmakers on Tuesday about the deal. The sale is a big win for main contractors such as Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp , General Dynamics Corp, Raytheon Co. With cutbacks in U.S. military spending all four firms are eager to boost sales to overseas customers.

The sale will include 14,500 KMU-556C/B Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) tail kits built by Boeing to convert “dumb bombs” into precision guided weapons, as well as other conventional bombs, missile and munitions.

While lawmakers technically have 15 days to block the potential sale, such action is rare since deals are specially vetted before Congress is notified.

UN Finds 90 Percent Of E-Waste Dumped Illegally

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Your used iphones and ipods aren’t just an environmental hazard; they’re also big business for criminals, according to a new UN study. A United Nations report released Tuesday details a burgeoning multibillion-dollar criminal business where as much as 90 percent of the world’s electronic waste, everything from used computers to smartphones, is illegally traded or dumped at some point along the disposal line.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) much of the e-waste ends up in Africa and Asia. “We are witnessing an unprecedented amount of electronic waste rolling out over the world. Not only does it account for a large portion of the world’s non-recycled waste mountain, but it also poses a growing threat to human health and the environment, due to the hazardous elements it contains,” said Achim Steiner, U.N. Undersecretary-General and executive director of UNEP.

About 41.8 million metric tons of e-waste was generated in 2014, and could increase to 50 metric tons by 2018. A staggering 60 percent to 90 percent of e-waste is illegally traded or dumped, amounting to as much nearly $19 billion annually according to the report. E-waste is often mixed in with other waste, such as plastics, to hide it or simply labeled as less hazardous waste to circumvent regulations.

The reports call attention to the problem and calls for greater intervention from law enforcement agencies as well as NGOs and environmental groups to combat the problem.

Why The CIA Destroyed Torture Tapes: It Would Have Meant End Of The Agency

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When graphic photos of American soldiers abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to light in 2004, they sparked international outrage. The reaction by the world to the horrifying abuses sent shivers down the spine of senior CIA officials too.

But not because they were appalled. They were scared that their own, worse, torture tapes might surface and that public reaction would be to abolish the CIA.

The CIA had hundreds of hours of videotaped “enhanced interrogations” of two Al Qaeda suspects in CIA custody. These interrogations included waterboarding and other techniques classified as torture.

But, according to reports from PBS, those tapes would never see the light of day. Their destruction was ordered by the CIA’s top operations officer, Jose Rodriguez.

“I was told, if those videotapes had ever been seen, the reaction around the world would not have been survivable,” Jane Mayer of The New Yorker told the PBS show FRONTLINE.

Reports from the The New York Times about the tape’s destruction enraged the Senate Intelligence Committee, and triggered an independent investigation of the CIA’s covert interrogation program. It also led to rumors of infighting between the now-more-powerful NSA and the less-powerful CIA.

Rodriguez, like James Clapper and Keith Alexander, was never prosecuted. In the case of Rodriguez, President George W. Bush signed legislation granting immunity to him and anyone at the CIA who had participated in the program.

The revelations show a pattern wanton disregard for oversight and the rule of law. They show the people inside these programs will do anything to preserve their power and will fight to the death should anyone attempt to oversee or question their activities.

In short, they expose a deeply undemocratic underbelly of our country that is rotten from the core out.

Rich White Man Kills Endangered Black Rhino For Fun

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Rich White Man Kills Endangered Black Rhino For Fun

Meet Corey Knowlton, a serial murderer of protected wildlife who arrived quietly in Namibia to hunt the famed black rhino on May 13th.

Yesterday, he accomplished his goal and killed the magnificent creature. All for the thrill, of course.

Nearly 18 months ago, the Texas hunter bid $350,000 to kill the animal in the southern African country of Namibia. While the permit was issued by Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism and auctioned by the Dallas Safari Club its origins are dubious. African nations have both weak institutions a huge need for cash. $350,000 goes a long way.

Knowlton has since faced scathing criticism and death threats as the world reacted angrily to the hunt of one of the world’s most endangered species. Despite his pleas to the contrary the trip is being highly scrutinized by animal welfare groups around the world who universally condemn the hunt.

“At this point, the whole world knows about this hunt and I think it’s extremely important that people know it’s going down the right way, in the most scientific way that it can possibly happen,” Knowlton said, channeling his best conservation expert voice.

Knowlton, 36, from Dallas, views the hunt as a vital component of Namibia’s effort to save the animal from extinction. The $350,000 permit fee will go to fund government anti-poaching efforts across the country.

Killing of an older rhino bull, which no longer breeds but which could harm or kill younger males, is part of the science of conservation, both Knowlton and Namibia claim.

And yet no animal rights, environmental or scientists back up the claim that killing an endangered species is somehow good for the long term survival prospects.

Opponents like the International Fund for Animal Welfare have not been swayed, saying “We’ll simply never agree with that,” fund director Azzedine Downes said. “There’s a lot of other things that we can and must do in order to protect these animals.”

Killing the rare species also legitimizes illegal poaching, as Africans feel that they should be able to hunt their own animals if rich white men can do it. Chinese citizens also feel legitimized in their lust for rhino horns, as if Americans can kill these creatures surely they should be allowed to as well.

So while Mr. Knowlton now has his prize, the world is left to mourn the loss of one of its last majestic mega-beasts and work through the damage his highly publicized hunt has caused.

Another Massive Ivory Shipment Stopped From Going To China

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China’s never-ending demand for endangered elephant ivory remained unfulfilled Tuesday as a shipment from Kenya, declared as tea leaves, was found to contain about 3.7 tonnes of illegal ivory, making it the second largest seizure of illegal ivory by local authorities since 2002.

The seized shipment, which included four pieces of rhinoceros horns and 22 pieces lion teeth, is estimated to be worth $10 million.

The shipment was in two 20-footer containers from the African country and were transiting through Singapore to Vietnam and then onto China, the world’s largest consumer of endangered wildlife.

Upon inspecting the containers, Singapore authorities uncovered 1,783 pieces of raw ivory tusks. Further investigations into the shipment, which was seized last week, are underway.

International trade in ivory, rhinoceros horns and certain species of big cats’ teeth is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which Singapore is a signatory. China is not a signatory and does little to stem the trade is endangered animals.

“The illegal trade of endangered animal parts is fueled by increasing demand and poaching. The Singapore Government has zero tolerance on the use of Singapore as a conduit to smuggle endangered species and their parts and products,” said Ms Lye Fong Keng, Deputy Director of Singapore’s Quarantine & Inspection Group, Wildlife Section.

“We will continue to cooperate and collaborate with partner enforcement agencies nationally and internationally to curb wildlife trafficking,” she added.

Apple Decides To Cancel Prototype TV

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According to a recently published report in The Wall Street Journal, Apple last year gave up on releasing a branded HDTV set after nearly a decade worth of research and prototyping.

The reason?

It was ultimately unable to figure out a set of differentiating features that would position its TV apart from the competition.

Apple intensively researched various display technologies, in an effort to find something better than rivals such as Samsung and Sony.

It created a prototype that was transparent when turned off but used lasers to display an image when turned on. But the technology never made it past the research phase because it used a huge amount of power and produced an inferior quality image.

Other features it played with was 4K display, which would have been far too expensive and including built-in FaceTime functionality.

Apple executives only enter new markets when they can add something of value and in this case, Apple was unable to conjure up any compelling new products. This is unsurprising, given the number of manufacturers in the TV space and their innovative product offerings.

In short, Apple usually shakes up industries that lack innovation but in the TV industry there is plenty of it. Margins in the TV industry are also notoriously low, which doesn’t really align with Apple’s traditional business model.

Like all leaks, its more interesting who leaked it and why. The Journal report comes shortly after a letter published by activist investor Carl Icahn in which he stated why Apple shares should be valued at $240. Icahn believes that the company will not only enter the HDTV business, but the auto industry as well.

The WSJ leak is likely strategic PR to counter Icahn’s off-base assumptions.

Instead of owning hardware in the living room, Apple looks poised to control the software. According to various reports, Apple’s TV service will be a lightweight offering of about 25 stations that will be priced in the $30-$40 range.

Not exactly a big screen TV but likely a compelling offering nonetheless.

Blockbuster Film Zero Dark Thirty Contained CIA Propaganda To Justify Torture Program

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Blockbuster hit Zero Dark Thirty, a film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, contained CIA propaganda to portray the agency’s controversial “enhanced interrogation techniques” — widely described as torture — as a key to finding information that resulted in the killing of bin Laden.

While the CIA maintains that its now officially-shuttered program was effective in combating terrorism, the massive Senate torture report released in December 2014 found that the program was brutal, mismanaged and — most importantly — did not work.

“We’ve found that, faced with 9/11 and the fear of a second attack, everybody from the head of the CIA, to the Justice Department, to the president asked ‘Can we do it?’ — meaning, can we do it legally — not, ‘Should we do it?’ says FRONTLINE filmmaker Michael Kirk, part of the team which uncovered the propaganda efforts.

“As the debate over how far the U.S. should be willing to go in the fight against terrorism continues, we felt it was important to tell the story of this CIA program, comprehensively, in documentary form,” Kirk says. “What we’ve found raises some very tough questions.”

North Carolina Passes Sweeping Anti-Whistleblower Law

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In a 32 to 13 vote North Carolina’s Senate passed a bill Monday night which allows business owners to sue employees who secretly record audio or video in the workplace.

The move makes it illegal for employees to document criminal acts or other malfeasance by their employer.

The bill is specifically targeted at animal rights groups who make undercover recordings at poultry and cattle farms. Those recordings have shown some cases of animal mistreatment and health violations at some farms.

Yet the bill isn’t limited to agricultural businesses and applies to all businesses in the state. The penalty for violation is that employees can be sued for damages and court costs, effectively a financial death penalty for whistleblowers and their families.

Democratic Senator Josh Stein said that overall “the public will be worse off as a result of this bill. There will be violations of law that occur that would not have otherwise occurred because of this bill.”

“Our whistleblower laws do nothing for an employee who brings forward a violation of the law that affects the general public.”

An employee who discovers unsanitary conditions at a meat processing plant, or expired drugs being distributed at a pharmacy would not be covered.

This measure is now on its way to the governor’s desk.

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