Politics

People’s Liberation Army ‘Unit 61398’ – US Ready To Strike Back Against China Cyberattacks – China Denies Cyber Attack Allegations

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– Cyber-assault HQ: how US is under attack from this office in Shanghai (Independent, Feb 19, 2013):

A barrage of malicious cyber-attacks against computer networks in the United States and other countries over several years has been sourced by a private US security firm to a single building on the fringes of Shanghai, which, it says, is occupied by the Chinese military.

A 60-page report released by Mandiant, a Virginia-based firm that specialises in cyber-espionage, concludes that hundreds or perhaps thousands of English-speaking Chinese computer experts toil daily inside the anonymous-looking 12-storey building in the Pudong district of Shanghai. ‘Unit 61398’, as it is known, hacks into foreign networks on behalf of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Mandiant alleges.

“The nature of Unit 61398’s work is considered by China to be a state secret; however, we believe it engages in harmful computer network operations,” the security firm said in the report, which drew instant rebukes from the Chinese government. “It is time to acknowledge the threat that is originating in China, and we wanted to do our part to arm and prepare security professionals to combat that threat effectively.”

The company asserted that the unit, one of several in China believed to be involved in invading overseas computer systems, had “stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organisations across a diverse set of industries beginning as early as 2006”.  While most of the activity targeted corporations in the United States are smaller number is located in Canada and Britain, it said.

– US ready to strike back against China cyberattacks (AP, Feb 19, 2013):

WASHINGTON (AP) – As public evidence mounts that the Chinese military is responsible for stealing massive amounts of U.S. government data and corporate trade secrets, the Obama administration is eyeing fines and other trade actions it may take against Beijing or any other country guilty of cyberespionage.

According to officials familiar with the plans, the White House will lay out a new report Wednesday that suggests initial, more-aggressive steps the U.S. would take in response to what top authorities say has been an unrelenting campaign of cyberstealing linked to the Chinese government. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the threatened action.

The White House plans come after a Virginia-based cybersecurity firm released a torrent of details Monday that tied a secret Chinese military unit in Shanghai to years of cyberattacks against U.S. companies. After analyzing breaches that compromised more than 140 companies, Mandiant has concluded that they can be linked to the People’s Liberation Army’s Unit 61398.

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– China denies cyber attack allegations (BBC News, Feb 20, 2013)

UAE To Buy $200 Million Worth Of US Drones

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– UAE to buy $200mn worth of US drones (PressTV, Feb 19, 2013):

The United Arab Emirates has signed $1.4 billion in military contracts that includes $200 million worth of U.S.-made drones.

Washington has traditionally used “obedient Arab dictatorships” in the Persian Gulf as military bases in the region, according to antiwar.com.

Arming adversarial Arab monarchs with drones merely feeds the process of proliferation, the report added.

Read moreUAE To Buy $200 Million Worth Of US Drones

Pravda: ‘Putin Warns Obama’

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– Putin warns Obama (Pravda, Feb 18, 2013):

Last Saturday the US media went wild saying things about Russia like,

“Russian nuclear bombers intercepted near Guam” – NBC News

“Air Force confirms Russian jets circled US territory of Guam” – Fox News

“Sending a Message’: Russian Bear Bombers Caught Circling Guam Before Obama Delivered the State of the Union” – The Blaze

It happened right before Obama delivered his State of the Union address they said.  The funny thing was that it happened last Tuesday but was not reported until Saturday. Yes, the Blaze is right. There was a message. NBC and others would have been on time with the news if they had listened closer to Putin rather than kissing Obama’s behind and following Soros’ orders. Last Thursday, Putin sent Obama a Valentine:

“Any kind of direct or implicit interference with Russia’s home affairs, all sorts of pressure being exerted on our country and our allies – is absolutely unacceptable.”

No, he never mentioned the US but implied it as he has done in other speeches like “bomb and missile democracy” and we all know who is spreading that across the world lately.

Read morePravda: ‘Putin Warns Obama’

UN: US Has Failed To Pursue The Church Pedophilia

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Cardinal Roger Mahony and other top Roman Catholic officials from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles worked behind the scenes to protect priests involved in sexual abuse of children. (File photo)

– US has failed to pursue the church pedophilia: UN (PressTV, Feb 19, 2013):

The United Nations has accused the United States for failing to pursue cases of child sex abuse among religious leaders and groups.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child released a report this month highlighting widespread sexual abuse committed by clerics and staff of religious institutions in America, along with a lack of measures “to properly investigate cases and prosecute them”.

“The committee is deeply concerned at information of sexual abuse committed by clerics and leading members of certain faith-based organizations and religious institutions on a massive and long-term scale,” the report said.

This comes as the American Catholic Church attempts to tackle an ongoing nationwide scandal over a pattern of covering-up allegations of sexual crimes committed by abusive priests.

Read moreUN: US Has Failed To Pursue The Church Pedophilia

Iran Sentences 4 To Death In Biggest Bank Fraud Case

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– Iran sentences 4 to death in biggest bank fraud case (PressTV, Feb 18, 2013):

Iran Judiciary has handed down death sentence to four people convicted of involvement in the biggest embezzlement case in the country’s banking history.

“Four people were sentenced to death on charges of corruption on earth and disrupting the country’s economic system,” Iran’s Judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei told reporters on Monday.

Read moreIran Sentences 4 To Death In Biggest Bank Fraud Case

Just Say NO: Seattle Residents Kill the City’s Drone Program

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– Just Say NO: Seattle Residents Kill the City’s Drone Program (Liberty Blitzkrieg, Feb 19, 2013):

The anti-surveillance state movement is gaining traction and following Charlottesville, Virginia becoming the first city to pass anti-drone legislation, the engaged citizenry of Seattle have now succeeded in killing their city’s own drone program earlier this month.  On the state level, while legislation has been introduced in several places, it appears Florida is closest to enacting domestic surveillance drone regulations into law.  The title of the bill is the “Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act.”

From Forbes:

Read moreJust Say NO: Seattle Residents Kill the City’s Drone Program

Most Americans Are Debt Slaves … While The Super-Rich Have Up To $32 Trillion In Offshore Tax Havens

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– Super-Rich Hold Up To $32 Trillion In Offshore Havens: Report (Reuters, July 22, 2012):

Rich individuals and their families have as much as $32 trillion of hidden financial assets in offshore tax havens, representing up to $280 billion in lost income tax revenues, according to research published on Sunday.

The study estimating the extent of global private financial wealth held in offshore accounts – excluding non-financial assets such as real estate, gold, yachts and racehorses – puts the sum at between $21 and $32 trillion.

The research was carried out for pressure group Tax Justice Network, which campaigns against tax havens, by James Henry, former chief economist at consultants McKinsey & Co.

He used data from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations and central banks.

– Money Is A Form Of Social Control And Most Americans Are Debt Slaves (Economic Collapse, Feb 19, 2013):

Is America really “the land of the free”?  Most people think of money as simply a medium of exchange that makes economic transactions more convenient, but the truth is that it is much more than that.  Money is also a form of social control.  Just think about it.  What did you do this morning?  Well, if you are like most Americans, you either got up and went to work (to make money) or to school (to learn the skills that you will need to make money).  We spend a great deal of our lives pursuing the almighty dollar, and there are literally millions of laws, rules and regulations about how we earn our money, about how we spend our money and about how much of our money the government gets to take from us.  Not that money is a bad thing in itself.  Without money, it would be really hard to have a modern society.  Unfortunately, our money is based on debt, and debt levels in the United States have exploded to absolutely unprecedented levels in recent years.  The borrower is the servant of the lender, and if you are like most Americans, nearly every major purchase that you make in your life is going to involve debt.  Do you want to get a college education so that you can get a “good job”?  You are told to get a student loan.  Do you want a car?  You are encouraged to get an auto loan and to stretch out the payments for as long as possible.  Do you want a home?  You are probably going to end up with a big fat mortgage.  And of course I could go on and on and on.  The cold, hard truth of the matter is that most Americans are debt slaves.  Most of us spend our entire lives trapped in an endless cycle of debt that we never escape until we die, and meanwhile our years of hard labor are greatly enriching those that own our debts.

Read moreMost Americans Are Debt Slaves … While The Super-Rich Have Up To $32 Trillion In Offshore Tax Havens

Connecticut Proposes Bill For Forced Mental Health Checks On Homeschoolers

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– Connecticut proposes bill for forced mental health checks on homeschoolers ?(Natural News, Feb 19, 2013):

Connecticut officials are proposing legislation that would require state investigations of children on an unprecedented level, critics contend, by calling for a “confidential behavioral health assessment” of every public school student in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades, as well as every homeschooled student aged 12, 14 and 17.

The proposed legislation, called Bill 374, has been labeled by critics as little more than a shocking home invasion measure, WorldNetDaily reported.

“It’s outrageous that state officials could come into private homes and potentially remove children if they are assessed as a threat as a result of the investigation,” Dee Black, senior counsel to the Home School Legal Defense Association, told the website. “Regardless of what state officials claim, I don’t believe the results [of the investigations] will be held confidential.”

Read moreConnecticut Proposes Bill For Forced Mental Health Checks On Homeschoolers

Minister Toshimitsu Motegi: Not Appropriate To Say Fukushima Contained

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I find the term ‘The END’ very appropriate, not for Fukushima, but for Japan itself.

– Not Appropriate to Say Japan N-Accident Contained: Minister (Jiji Press, Feb. 19 2013):

Tokyo –It is not appropriate to say that the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s <9501> Fukushima No.1 power plant has been contained, industry minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday.

“The word, ‘end,’ is inappropriate because many tasks remain unresolved,” Motegi told a House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting, speaking of a declaration of the end of the accident that was issued by the previous government.

“We don’t use that word.”

Read moreMinister Toshimitsu Motegi: Not Appropriate To Say Fukushima Contained

Rick Santelli Bashes Central Bankers’ ‘Sand-Castle Economies’ (Video)

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– Santelli Bashes Central Bankers’ “Sand-Castle Economies” (ZeroHedge, Feb 19, 2013):

It has been four years since Rick Santelli’s epic “are you listening Mr. President?” speech and the bad behavior has merely been more and more rewarded. Assisted by the enablers of the world – Central Bankers – and their liquidity pump of awesomeness, Santelli exclaims that all we are doing is “promoting bad behavior,” as the elites “build sand castle economies.” His frustration is contagious as he outlines just what has not happened in the last four years – from no-budget to blow-out deficits, and from grand deals to grand bargains to no deals, and Europe’s imploding economies – he sums it up perfectly – “we’re gonna need a lot of luck.”

Is Nigeria (And Its Light Sweet Crude) About To Be Drawn Into The Mali ‘Liberation’ Campaign?

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– Is Nigeria, And Its Light Sweet Crude, About To Be Drawn Into The Mali “Liberation” Campaign? (ZeroHedge, Feb 19, 2013):

Precisely a month ago, when we last looked at the ongoing French campaign in Mali, whose diplomatic justification before the people of the “democratic” world was the eradication of “insurgents”, and various other “Al Qaeda rebels”, we asked readers, rhetorically, to look at a map of Mali and tell us what they see.

We even provided an answer:

“Nothing. Mali is one of the most irrelevant countries in West Africa from a resource standpoint, and what happens inside of it is certainly irrelevant from a greater geopolitical standpoint. What is more important is what this map doesn’t show, specifically the name of the country located a few hundred miles to the south: Nigeria.

Now Nigeria is important: very important. Or rather, Nigerian light sweet, one of the highest quality crudes in the world, is. And thanks to the “bungled” French peacemaking attempt, the US now has a critical foothold in what is the most strategically placed stretch of desert in Western Africa, a place where US “military trainers” will now be deployed at will. Be on the lookout for curious escalations in violence around the capital Abuja, and key port city Lagos, in the coming months once the current Mali fracas is long forgotten.”

It appears that Nigeria will be drawn into the fray far sooner than even we expected following today’s news that Islamist militants from neighboring Nigeria abducted a French family of seven, including four children, in northern Cameroon on Tuesday, French President Francois Hollande said. Next up: Al Qaeda is mysteriously discovered to be aiding and abetting “evil” insurgent Malians out of Nigeria, and the French campaign, with the generous and stealthy support of the US, shifts slowly but surely southward to its ultimate destination: liberating all that Nigerian light sweet oil.

From Reuters:

Read moreIs Nigeria (And Its Light Sweet Crude) About To Be Drawn Into The Mali ‘Liberation’ Campaign?

Fed Buys Back 30 Year Bond Auctioned Off Last Thursday

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Flashback:

– Watch Bernanke Lie To Congress: Monetizing The Debt (The Daily Bail):

“The Federal Reserve will not monetize the debt.”

– Fed Buys Back 30 Year Bond Auctioned Off Last Thursday (ZeroHedge, Feb 19, 2013):

Earmuffs time for those people (all utterly clueless three or so of them) that the Fed does not monetize the US debt.From last Thursday, the the US Treasury so generously issued $16 billion in 30 year bond (Cusip: QZ4)…

Read moreFed Buys Back 30 Year Bond Auctioned Off Last Thursday

EU Approves 500-Strong Military Mission In Mali

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– EU approves 500-strong military mission in Mali (PressTV, Feb 18, 2013):

The European Union (EU) has formally given the go-ahead to the launch of a 500-strong military mission in Mali to support France in its war on the West African country.

During a Monday session, European Union foreign ministers formally approved the final phase in setting up the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) to purportedly train the Malian army.

Read moreEU Approves 500-Strong Military Mission In Mali

US Senator: US To Play Active Military Role In Mali

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– US to play active military role in Mali: US Senator (PressTV, Feb 18, 2013):

An American Senator says the United States is likely to play a more active military role in Mali, where a French-led war is raging, after the West African country holds elections.

“There is the hope that there will be additional support from the United States in these and other areas, but… American law prohibits direct assistance to the Malian military following the coup,” Senator Christopher Coons, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa, told journalists in the Malian capital, Bamako, on Monday.

Read moreUS Senator: US To Play Active Military Role In Mali

Body Of Russian Lawmaker Mikhail Pakhomov Found In Barrel Filled With Cement

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– Mikhail Pakhomov Dead: Body Of Russian Lawmaker Found In Barrel Filled With Cement (Huffington Post, Feb 18, 2013):

Police made a gruesome discovery in a private garage in the Noginsky district of the Moscow region on Sunday night. A body found hidden in a metal barrel filled with cement reportedly belongs to Russian lawmaker Mikhail Pakhomov.

“Pakhomov’s body was discovered in a barrel of cement near the village of Obukhovo in the Moscow Region district of Noginsk,” a spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee told state news agency RIA Novosti.

“Investigators have gathered enough evidence to establish the violent nature of Pakhomov’s death,” the Committee also said, according to SkyNews.

Read moreBody Of Russian Lawmaker Mikhail Pakhomov Found In Barrel Filled With Cement

Department Of Homeland Security Now Armed For ’24-Year Iraq War’

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– Feds buying enough bullets for ’24-year war’ (WND, Feb 17, 2013)

Federal, non-military agencies, noted radio host Mark Levin last week, have purchased enough ammunition recently to not only shoot every American five times, but also engage in a prolonged, domestic war.

The numbers are based on recent reports that put the total federal ammunition buy in the last 10 months at approaching two billion rounds.

“To provide some perspective,” Levin noted, “experts estimate that at the peak of the Iraq war American troops were firing around 5.5 million rounds per month. At that rate, the [Department of Homeland Security] is armed now for a 24-year Iraq war. A 24-year Iraq war!”

What do federal agencies need with all that ammunition?

Read moreDepartment Of Homeland Security Now Armed For ’24-Year Iraq War’

30 Corporations With Over $163 Billion In Profits Paid Zero Taxes, Had Even A NEGATIVE $10.6 Billion Tax Liability

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Flashback:

Documentary: America: Freedom To Fascism – Director’s Authorized Version

– Abolish The Income Tax: You Won’t Believe Who Is Getting Away With Paying Zero Taxes While The Middle Class Gets Hammered (Economic Collapse, Feb 18, 2013):

The federal income tax is a bad joke and it needs to be abolished.  All over the nation, hard working American families are being absolutely crushed by oppressive levels of taxation, and our politicians are constantly coming up with new ways to extract money from all of us every single year.  Meanwhile, many ultra-wealthy Americans and many of the most profitable corporations in the country pay little to nothing in taxes.  In fact, as you will see below, there are dozens of very prominent corporations that make billions of dollars in profits and yet don’t pay a dime in taxes.  Tax avoidance has become a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States.  Those that have the resources to “play the game” use shell companies, offshore tax havens and the thousands of loopholes in our tax code to minimize their tax burdens as much as possible.  Meanwhile, the rest of us get absolutely hammered.  This is fundamentally unfair.  The federal income tax system is irreversibly broken at this point, and it is time to abolish it.  If you think that the federal income tax system can be “fixed”, then you probably have never studied it.  Our tax code is nearly 4 million words long and it is absolutely riddled with thousands of loopholes that favor big corporations and the ultra-wealthy.  We should come up with a better, fairer way to fund the government.  The United States once prospered greatly without a federal income tax, and it could do so again.

Read more30 Corporations With Over $163 Billion In Profits Paid Zero Taxes, Had Even A NEGATIVE $10.6 Billion Tax Liability

The Reflation Party Is Ending As China Withdraws Market Liquidity For First Time In Eight Months

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– The Reflation Party Is Ending As China Withdraws Market Liquidity For First Time In Eight Months (ZeroHedge, Feb 19, 2013):

Since institutional memories are short, it is time to remind readers that it was the threat, and subsequent reality, of China overheating in the spring and summer of 2011 (when record high food prices sent the entire North African region in a state of coordinated revolt and gradually moved far east), when even the Great firewall of China could not block news of frequent break outs of localized violence from hungry and angry mobs, that halted and broke the spine of the great reflation trade then (and yes, 2013 has so far been a carbon copy replica of 2011 as we summarized in “It’s Deja Vu, All Over Again: This Time Is… Completely The Same“).

Furthermore, as only Zero Hedge forecast back in mid-2012, when ever other commentator was shouting over the rooftops that an RRR or interest rate cut out of Beijing was imminent, the PBOC would be the last to stimulate the market with monetary easing as it was well-aware that an entire developed world reflating at the same time would hit none other than China the fastest as the hot money flew straight into Shanghai. Just as it did in 2011. So instead China proceeded to engage in a series of daily reverse repos, or ultra-short term liquidity injections that prevented the advent of wholesale inflation: after all the Fed, the BOJ, the ECB and soon, the BOE, were doing it for them. And the last thing the country with the highest allotment of CPI, or book inflation, to food and energy can afford, is to let foreign central banks dictate its price level. After all, it has more than enough of its own.

Well, the Chinese New Year celebration is now over, the Year of the Snake is here, and those following the Shanghai Composite have lots to hiss about, as two out of two trading days have printed in the red. But a far bigger concern to not only those long the SHCOMP, but the “Great Reflation Trade – ver. 2013″, is that just as two years ago, China appears set to pull out first, as once again inflation rears its ugly head. And where the PBOC goes, everyone else grudgingly has to follow: after all without China there is no marginal growth driver to the world economy.

End result: China’s reverse repos, or liquidity providing operations, have ended after month of daily injections, and the first outright repo, or liquidity draining operation, just took place after eight months of dormancy.

From the WSJ:

Chinese authorities took a step to ease potential inflationary pressures Tuesday by using a key mechanism for the first time in eight months.

The move by the central bank to withdraw cash from the banking system is a reversal after months of pumping cash in. That cash flood was meant to reduce borrowing costs for businesses as the economy slowed last year—but recent data has shown growth picking up, along with the main determinants of inflation: housing and food prices.

Read moreThe Reflation Party Is Ending As China Withdraws Market Liquidity For First Time In Eight Months

Fallout Ruining Everything 180 Km Away Fukushima Nuke Plant

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From the article (180 km from Fukushima Daiichi):

“Everything I’ve done up till now, it’s all become no good. I can’t collect wild vegetables and I can’t sell my mushrooms. There are problems with the fish in the rivers and I have to worry about contamination levels in the wild game, too. That’s what makes me the most angry,” he said.

– Fukushima radiation threatens to wreak woodland havoc (Japan Times, Feb 17, 2013):

For Yuji Hoshino, mushrooms were a way of life. The 50-year-old farmer grew up watching his father raise shiitake mushrooms on their land at the foot of the mountains in Sano, southern Tochigi Prefecture.

Later, he became the one to yearly cut about 15,000 logs, each about a meter long and the diameter of a coffee saucer, from oak forests near his home. He would stud these logs with specially inoculated spore pegs and then stack them in forests and greenhouses for the crop to mature. Three to eight years later, hundreds of thousands of fleshy, white-and-brown mushrooms would be ready to pick.

Read moreFallout Ruining Everything 180 Km Away Fukushima Nuke Plant

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: America Shamed Again: A Colonized People

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Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

– America Shamed Again: A colonized people — Paul Craig Roberts (Feb 17, 2013):

Americans have been shamed many times by their elected representatives who cravenly bow to vested interests and betray the American people. But no previous disgraceful behavior can match the public shame brought to Americans by the behavior of the Senate Republicans in the confirmation hearing of Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense.

Read moreDr. Paul Craig Roberts: America Shamed Again: A Colonized People

WA: Hanford Nuclear Tank Is Leaking Liquids

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From the article:

“Central to that cleanup is the removal of millions of gallons of a highly toxic, radioactive stew — enough to fill dozens of Olympic-size swimming pools — from 177 aging, underground tanks. Many of those tanks have leaked over time — an estimated 1 million gallons of waste — threatening the groundwater and the neighboring Columbia River, the largest waterway in the Pacific Northwest.”

– Hanford Nuclear Tank in Wash. Is Leaking Liquids(ABC News, Feb 16, 2013):

The long-delayed cleanup of the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site became the subject of more bad news Friday, when Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that a radioactive waste tank there is leaking.

The news raises concerns about the integrity of similar tanks at south-central Washington’s Hanford nuclear reservation and puts added pressure on the federal government to resolve construction problems with the plant being built to alleviate environmental and safety risks from the waste.

The tanks, which are already long past their intended 20-year life span, hold millions of gallons of a highly radioactive stew left from decades of plutonium production for nuclear weapons.

Read moreWA: Hanford Nuclear Tank Is Leaking Liquids

Drones Are Taking To The Skies In The U.S.

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– Drones are taking to the skies in the U.S. (Los Angeles Times, Feb 15, 2013):

WASHINGTON — While a national debate has erupted over the Obama administration’s lethal drone strikes overseas, federal authorities have stepped up efforts to license surveillance drones for law enforcement and other uses in U.S. airspace, spurring growing concern about violations of privacy.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it had issued 1,428 permits to domestic drone operators since 2007, far more than were previously known. Some 327 permits are still listed as active.

Operators include police, universities, state transportation departments and at least seven federal agencies. The remotely controlled aircraft vary widely, from devices as small as model airplanes to large unarmed Predators.

The FAA, which has a September 2015 deadline from Congress to open the nation’s airspace to drone traffic, has estimated 10,000 drones could be aloft five years later. The FAA this week solicited proposals to create six sites across the country to test drones, a crucial step before widespread government and commercial use is approved.

Local and state law enforcement agencies are expected to be among the largest customers.

Read moreDrones Are Taking To The Skies In The U.S.

European Bank CEO Admits: ‘The Whole Thing Is Doomed’

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– European Bank CEO Admits: “The Whole Thing Is Doomed” (ZeroHedge, Feb 18, 2013):

As the European parliament attempts to create a budget and Draghi repeats how the temporary lull in European growth is merely a prelude to a growth renaissance in the second half of the year (not to be confused with the verbatim lie rehashed by European dignitaries in 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009), it appears a few leaks of truthiness are seeing daylight in the disunion. In a shockingly frank interview, the CEO of Saxo Bank describes the Euro’s recent rally as illusory and that “the whole thing is doomed,” as the continent is not supported by a fiscal union. As Bloomberg reports, Lars Seier Christensen says he would be a “seller of the EUR at anything near 1.40,” noting that “right now we’re in one of those fake solutions where people think that the problem is contained or being addressed, which it isn’t at all.” Confirming that the only thing holding the farce together is political not economic efforts, he sums the situation up perfectly: “people have been dramatically underestimating the problems.”

Via Bloomberg,

Lars Seier Christensen, co-chief executive officer of Danish bank Saxo Bank A/S, said the euro’s recent rally is illusory and the shared currency is set to fail because the continent hasn’t supported it with a fiscal union.

“The whole thing is doomed,” Christensen said yesterday in an interview at the bank’s Dubai office. “Right now we’re in one of those fake solutions where people think that the problem is contained or being addressed, which it isn’t at all.”

Read moreEuropean Bank CEO Admits: ‘The Whole Thing Is Doomed’