theyTOLDyou
Google CEO Eric Schmidt on privacy
updated
Cancer, leukaemia and infant mortality are all increasing in the Iraqi town of Fallujah, which saw fierce fighting between US forces and Sunni insurgents, a new survey says.
Still one of the most dangerous places in Iraq, doctors have been reporting a large number of birth defects since the 2004 offensive.
"My guess is that they're hoping to be able to shut down at least some of the production from the well so once they open it back up to the surface ... it will be producing at a rate less than what it was 'open flow.' So it'll be harder to measure what the total flow was from the well when it was completely uncontrolled."
Reversing its oft-repeated position that it was acting only on behalf of its clients in its exotic dealings with the American International Group, Goldman Sachs now says that it also used its own money to make secret wagers against the U.S. housing market.
A senior Goldman executive disclosed the "bilateral" wagers on subprime mortgages in an interview with McClatchy, marking the first time that the Wall
Street titan has conceded that its dealings with troubled insurer AIG went far beyond acting as an "intermediary" responding to its clients' demands.
The official, who Goldman made available to McClatchy on the condition he remain anonymous, declined to reveal how much money Goldman reaped from its trades with AIG.
Something is killing crops, trees, even weeds and nobody can explain why.
Farmers are scratching their heads and some are worried their crops may be lost to the mysterious plague.
It's happening along a large swath of land near the Shelby and Tipton county border along Herring Hill Road and elsewhere near the Mississippi River bottoms.
Tiny dots appear to have burned onto leaves of all types of plants, and they appear different depending on the plant.
American officials told a Houston newspaper that the Zetas drug cartel may have been involved in a plot to blow up Falcon Dam.
The dam is located on the Rio Grande near the Zapata and Starr County lines.
Law enforcement officials and emergency management officials told the Houston Chronicle that authorities secretly scrambled to prevent the rumored plot.
The Iranian government says it has evidence that one of its nuclear scientists was abducted and is being held in the US against his will.
Shahram Amiri disappeared a year ago while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
A video broadcast by Iranian TV purports to show Mr Amiri saying he was kidnapped and is living in Arizona.
Hours later, another video posted on YouTube appeared to show the scientist saying he was happy in America. The US denied abducting him.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this week that thanks to the new health-care reform law, musicians and other creative types could quit their jobs and focus on developing their talents because taxpayers would fund their health care coverage.
New documents obtained by the KING 5 Investigators reveal stunning details about recruiter misconduct in the Washington National Guard.
They expose the tactics of one burned out recruiter and raise questions about what the Guard did when it caught her and another soldier red-handed.
According to IPCC scientist Mojib Latif the weather we've seen marks the beginning of a "mini-ice age". He claims that ocean currents have more to do with the trend than man-made greenhouse gas emmissions.
MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan talks with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer about the release of a 2,200 page report laying out a potential criminal case against Lehman Brothers, whose collapse led to a major financial meltdown.
Lehman's allegedly used transactions called "repo transactions", which works basicaly the same as a pawn shop transaction, and catagorized the transactions as a sale rather than as a loan to hide their debts.
In the name of improved security a hacker showed how a biometric passport issued in the name of long-dead rock 'n' roll king Elvis Presley could be cleared through an automated passport scanning system being tested at an international airport.
A US Marine from northern Indiana was killed in Afghanistan, and now the ABC 7 I-Team has learned that defense officials are investigating whether Lance Corporal Josh Birchfield was shot to death by private security contractors hired by the US government.
Birchfield's fellow Marines say the Afghan guards were high on opium at the time.
Officer Polanco says One Police Plaza's obsession with keeping crime stats down has gotten out of control. He claims Precinct Commanders relentlessly pressure cops on the street to make more arrests, and give out more summonses, all to show headquarters they have a tight grip on their neighborhoods.
"Our primary job is not to help anybody, our primary job is not to assist anybody, our primary job is to get those numbers and come back with them?" said Officer Polanco.
Dubai's police chief said on Monday that travelers suspected of being Israeli will not be allowed into the United Arab Emirates even if they arrive with alternative passports.
Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim says the move comes after the killing of a Hamas operative in Dubai, blamed by the Emirates authorities on Israel's Mossad spy agency.
A grandfather is taking his 2nd Amendment fight to the U.S. Supreme Court in what is expected to be a landmark case. Otis McDonald, 76, is suing the city of Chicago over its handgun ban.
McDonald says he wants the right to protect himself from gang members who threaten the Morgan Park neighborhood where he lives.
McDonald's case will be argued before the nation's high court next week.
The global economy looks set to plunge back into recession as the sovereign debt pressure currently rocking Europe intensifies, Ashok Shah, CIO of London & Capital, told CNBC Wednesday.
"There's a risk of a double dip recession round the corner," Shah said. "Given the sovereign debt crisis that is going around the Mediterranean countries, this is going to put a lot of pressure on Europe."
The economic outlook for Europe is deteriorating very rapidly and that is adding to the factors dragging on the economic recovery, Shah told CNBC.
The Israeli air force has unveiled an unmanned surveillance drone which local media say can fly for over 20 hours and reach Iran.
It said that the Israeli-made "Eitan" drone is physically larger than any other drone and can fly at higher altitudes, while carrying more weight including advanced technological systems.
On one side of the issue, the Federal Trade Commission offers tips to prevent and react to identity theft. Chief among the tips: Keep your personal identifying information secure.
Yet another federal Web site makes the Social Security numbers of North Carolinians who file for bankruptcy readily available.
It's the sort of security we've seen a lot of since 9-11 at places like airports and seaports and major sporting events. Bomb sniffing dogs, pat-downs and metal detector wanding, gloved inspections of hand-held bags were all performed in the shadow of...Greyhound buses.
"We do this for a couple of reasons," stated Transportation Security Administration Federal Security Director Gary Milano. "To sort of invent the wheel in advance -- in case we have to if there is any specific intelligence requiring us to be here. This was to show that we and our partners are ready to move in at a moments notice."
Six suspects in the assassination of a senior Hamas official in Dubai entered the country using British passports, it emerged yesterday.
Police in the Gulf state announced that they were hunting for 11 suspects, including a woman, for the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a top Hamas commander, who was found dead in his Dubai hotel room on January 20.
...
Hamas has accused Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, of responsibility for the killing. General Khalfan said that Israeli involvement could not be ruled out. We do not rule out Mossad, but when we arrest those suspects we will know who masterminded it, he said.
In an interview on CNBC's Squawkbox this morning, COP chair Elizabeth Warren said simply, "Well it's bad."
Then she explained, "We're looking at a situation where about half of all commercial real estate loans are going to be underwater by the end of this year, and that is going to have a direct impact on about 3,000 community banks, or about 40 percent of our entire banking system." Not good.
A controversy was brewing in East Palo Alto Tuesday night after a police detective made apparently joking comments through his Facebook account saying open carry advocates who visibly carry guns in public should be shot.
A murder warrant was issued Monday against a former Philadelphia police officer accused of fatally shooting a neighbor during an off-duty altercation in November.
Frank Tepper, 43, faces charges of murder and other counts in the shooting of 21-year-old William Panas Jr. in the city's Port Richmond section. Tepper's attorney said that his client acted in self-defense.
Official news agency reports Syrian president, Lebanese parliament speaker discussed 'repeated Israeli threats against the region's countries and the Israeli extremism threatening to destroy the chances for peace by igniting the region'
Syrian President Bashar Assad addressed the voices of war and peace in the Middle East for the first time Sunday evening. Speaking in a meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry, Assad stressed that his government and the Syrian people would stand by Lebanon "in any case of an Israeli attack which it may face."
Yesterday CNBC caught up with Biderman on the floor of the exchange, and he brought up the topic again, noting that retail wasn't buying, and that companies weren't buying each other. So that, we suppose, leaves the government, though right in the very beginning he says he has "no evidence" for this, and he insists he's not a conspiracy theorist.
A judge has sealed a potentially explosive videotape taken in the aftermath of a racially charged incident in this small central Louisiana town two years ago.
On January 17, 2008, an unarmed man -- wanted on what police said was an outstanding arrest warrant -- was struck by a 50,000-volt Taser nine times within the space of 14 minutes.
The suspect, Baron "Scooter" Pikes, was handcuffed during each separate Taser incident, according to the Winnfield Police Department. The officer who fired the Taser, Scott Nugent, is white. Pikes, who was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital, was black.
While defending Tim Geithner, Jim Cramer states "The Bavarian Illuminati, The Trilateral Commission, Goldman Sachs, and the Queen of England are not all bad".
CBS News Investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports official filings and our own investigation show at least 106 people from the House and Senate attended - spouses, a doctor, a protocol expert and even a photographer.
For 15 Democratic and 6 Republican Congressmen, food and rooms for two nights cost $4,406 tax dollars each. That's $2,200 a day - more than most Americans spend on their monthly mortgage payment.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pennsylvania) debate the merits and faults of the Federal Reserve and whether or not the Federal Reserve should be audited on CNBC's Squawk Box.
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pennsylvania) debate the merits and faults of the Federal Reserve and whether or not the Federal Reserve should be audited on CNBC's Squawk Box.
Haitian police shot and killed a man they suspected of stealing rice in earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince on Thursday, leaving his body on the sidewalk for hours as his family mourned.
The dead man's mother identified him as Gentile Cherie, a 20-year-old carpenter. A companion with him was wounded, and a third man nearby was hit by what he said was a stray bullet.
Witnesses said no one was looting at the time. Josef Josnain, the owner of a shop near the city's airport, said the five bags of rice the men were found with fell from a truck and passers-by picked them up. And Cherie's wounded companion, who did not give his name, said a truck driver gave them the rice.
"A truck stopped and we jumped on, and the driver gave us the rice as a gift," he said. "But the cops shot us."
A CNN crew spotted police stopping the two men Thursday afternoon. They stopped to film the arrests, but while they were getting out of the car, they heard four gunshots and saw the men on the ground. Both had been shot in the back.
Bryan High students who skip school will soon be tracked 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It's called the Attendance Improvement Management Program or AIM, and it has been used across Texas and the United States.
Students who find themselves in Brazos County Justice of the Peace Tommy Munoz's truancy court will be enrolled.
German protesters have demonstrated against the planned introduction of body scanners at airports by stripping down to their underwear and, in some cases, beyond.
The group of protesters, calling itself a 'Fleshmob', converged on Germany's Berlin-Tegel airport this week, writing messages on their bodies and handing out leaflets voicing their concerns about the new scanners' invasion of privacy.
The Council of Europe will launch a probe into pharmaceutical companies after reports that vaccine manufacturers pressured the World Health Organization into declaring swine flu pandemic seeking increase in profits.
It was supposed to be a deadly pandemic, but is so far is nothing more than a serious cold.
And it has left a lasting headache as a debate rages over whether pharmaceutical companies deliberately misled governments about the seriousness of swine flu to make them stockpile vaccines.
California lawmakers on Tuesday endorsed an overhaul of the state's marijuana laws by pushing forward a bill to legalize adult recreational use and taxation of the drug.
The 4-3 vote by the Assembly Public Safety Committee was the first in the nation by a legislative body supporting recreational use of the drug. But several of the lawmakers who voted for the plan said they did so only to extend debate.
Note: Apparently this is an old story from November, 2007, though it first came to my attention the day I posted the video.
Here's a link to the original story: http://www.click2houston.com/investigates/14659066/detail.html
The Houston Police wanted to keep the tests secret, but the local NBC affiliate KPRC was able to capture footage of the launch of the aircraft and track it using their news helicopter.
Police helicopter pilots told the KPRC crew that the surrounding airspace was restricted and threatened the pilot with action from the FAA. When the FAA was contacted several times by the KPRC news crew they stated that there was no restriction.
HPD, Homeland Security and other guests watched the tests from an area ranch. The entrance of the ranch was blocked by police and the press was not allowed in.
The drone is equipped with surveillance hardware including cameras and can stay airborne for 15-24 hours without landing.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is being criticized by opposition supporters ahead of parlimentary elections for his "weak response" to Iran's seizure of a disputed oil field near the border between the two countries.
Iranian forces have withdrawn from the oil field, but are still on Iraqi soil.
A committee of Iranian and Iraqi officials has been set up to settle the dispute.
The gunman, who appears to be a plainsclothes security official, opens fire on a crowd of unarmed demonstrators.
Instead of scattering and running away, the protesters chase after the gunman.
Representative Pete Hoekstra uses the Christmas day failed terrorist attack to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign.
"I have pledged that I will do 'everything possible' to prevent these terrorists from coming to Michigan. But I need your help. If you agree that we need a Governor who will stand up [to] the Obama/Pelosi efforts to weaken our security please make a most generous contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250 to my campaign."
Retired Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney says Muslim men should be strip searched before entering the United States.
"We've got to go to more than just the normal process that they're talking about now," McInerney said. "We have got to go to very, very strict screening and we've got to use profiling. And I mean, be very, very serious and harsh about the profiling. If you are an 18-28 year old Muslim man, then you should be strip searched. If we don't do that, there's a very high probability that we're gonna lose an airliner."
Kazakhstan has denied US reports of possible uranium supplies to Iran.
"Kazakhstan unconditionally observes all requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), so any [uranium] sale surpassing the IAEA control is out of the question," a spokesperson for the Kazakh Foreign Ministry was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.
Gerald Celente predicts The Crash of 2010, hyperinflation, protectionism, anti-immigration, and a new third political party
The idea is simple: If enough people who have money in one of the big four banks move it into smaller, more local, more traditional community banks, then collectively we, the people, will have taken a big step toward re-rigging the financial system so it becomes again the productive, stable engine for growth it's meant to be. It's neither Left nor Right -- it's populism at its best. Consider it a withdrawal tax on the big banks for the negative service they provide by consistently ignoring the public interest. It's time for Americans to move their money out of these reckless behemoths. And you don't have to worry, there is zero risk: deposit insurance is just as good at small banks -- and unlike the big banks they don't provide the toxic dividend of derivatives trading in a heads-they-win, tails-we-lose fashion.
Sheftel is a controversial figure in Israel, but no one disputes he knows his law. He is convinced Israel will not have to answer charges of war crimes in front of the international courts for what it did in Gaza.
Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) pointed out some rather astounding language in the Senate health care bill during floor remarks tonight. First, he noted that there are a number of changes to Senate rules in the bill--and it's supposed to take a 2/3 vote to change the rules. And then he pointed out that the Reid bill declares on page 1020 that the Independent Medicare Advisory Board cannot be repealed by future Congresses
Just when every tactic in the book had been seemingly exhausted in the health care debate, Rock the Vote comes along with a new one: if you want health care reform, don't sleep with anyone who opposes it until his or her mind is changed.
The spill over Iran allegedly building the trigger for a nuclear bomb is just another US ploy to make its allies sanction the country, said Seyyed Mohammad Marandi from the University of Tehran.
The U.S. general in charge of northern Iraq says soldiers who become pregnant or father a child while serving can be subjected to military justice.
He said the pregnancy offense is punishable with jail time. Moreover, this punishment is totally lawful, according to authorities.
Israel has admitted that it harvested organs from the dead bodies of Palestinians and Israelis in the 1990s, without permission from their families.
"In practice, we have not been building for a year and a half, so why pretend," he said in an address at the Ariel University Center. "Like in soccer, you make tactical moves sometimes. It is clear to everyone that in ten months, we will be building again full force; anyone who understands anything knows this."