Snapzu Politics: June 2016

Thursday 30 June 2016

US airstrikes kill at least 250 ISIS fighters in convoy outside Fallujah, official says

A series of American airstrikes killed at least 250 ISIS fighters driving in a convoy outside Fallujah on Wednesday, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News. The strikes occurred on the outskirts of the Iraqi city in "southern Fallujah," a second U.S. defense official told Fox News. "There was a strike on a convoy of ISIS fighters trying to leave a neighborhood on the outskirts of southern Fallujah that we struck," the official said.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/06/29/us-airstrikes-kill-at-least-250-isis-fighters-in-convoy-outside-fallujah-official-says.html?source=Snapzu

Jamaica plans marijuana dispensers for tourists

Jamaica is planning to install marijuana-dispensing kiosks for tourists in order to regulate a growing drug market and to bring in more government revenue. The new Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) is drawing up plans for the kiosks just two months after small amounts of the drug were finally legalized in a country where marijuana has long been part of the culture.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jamaica-proposes-marijuana-dispensers-for-tourists-at-airports-following-legalisation-a7110241.html?source=Snapzu

SF Passes Most Expansive Styrofoam Ban in US

San Francisco on Tuesday adopted the nation’s most extensive ban on Styrofoam, according to the supervisors who sponsored the legislation. The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to outlaw polystyrene foam, better known by its brand name, as it relates from everything from egg cartons to buoys as of Jan. 1, 2017. The old legislation, enacted in 2007, banned the product as it related to food packaging. Now most every product made of Styrofoam — down to the beach coolers sold at the grocery store — are now forbidden in San Francisco.
Read more: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/San-Francisco-Passes-Most-Expansive-Styrofoam-Ban-in-US--384896561.html?source=Snapzu

The two biggest threats to mankind, according to Stephen Hawking

Professor Stephen Hawking says he believes pollution and human “stupidity” remain the biggest threats to mankind, while also expressing his concerns over the use of artificial intelligence in warfare.
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stephen-hawking-pollution-stupidity-artifical-intelligence-warfare-biggest-threats-mankind-a7106916.html?source=Snapzu

Holocaust escape tunnel discovery a blow against deniers: “It was dug out by spoons. By people who were shackled around the ankles”

The awful story of the Nazi treatment of European Jews may be most awful in Lithuania, then a part of the Soviet Union in which 95 percent of the Jewish population was killed. But a recent discovery near the nation’s capital, Vilnius, offers a glimmer of something a bit brighter: a tunnel through which a handful of Jews, awaiting execution underground, were able to escape. The tunnel’s exact location was only confirmed this month, as archeologists investigated near the place where 100,000 people...
Read more: http://www.salon.com/2016/06/29/holocaust_escape_tunnel_discovery_a_blow_against_deniers_it_was_dug_out_by_spoons_by_people_who_were_shackled_around_the_ankles/?source=Snapzu

Catch-22 for workers who are too young to retire, too old to rehire

Are you prepared for the possibility of being too old to hire and too young to retire? Over the past five years, the Employee Benefit Research Institute's Retirement Confidence Survey (to download the survey, click here) has shown that between 45 percent and 50 percent of retirees leave the workforce earlier than planned. The American Society on Aging, meanwhile, found that 45 percent of unemployed 55- to 64-year-olds were reported as unemployed long-term (i.e., 27 weeks or longer) versus 33 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds.
Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/29/catch-22-too-young-to-retire-too-old-to-rehire.html?source=Snapzu

Boris Johnson Says He Won't Run For Prime Minister

The populist ex-mayor of London, a vocal proponent of the Brexit, was considered a top candidate to replace David Cameron as prime minister. Then one of Johnson's allies announced his candidacy.
Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/30/484138032/boris-johnson-says-he-wont-run-for-prime-minister?source=Snapzu

FBI Arrests Trio for Defrauding Movie Investors of $12 Million

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested three men for allegedly running an “advance fee” scheme that swindled movie investors out of more than $12 million. An indictment unsealed in Manhattan Federal Court charged James David Williams of Calabasas, Calif.; Steven Brown of Santa Monica, Calif.; and Gerald Seppala of Minnesota with wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy. Williams and Brown are also charged with laundering the proceeds of the fraud.
Read more: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/fbi-arrests-defrauding-movie-investors-1201806236/?source=Snapzu

Fatal crash of Tesla Model S in Autopilot mode leads to investigation by federal officials

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is opening a preliminary evaluation into Tesla’s autopilot feature after the fatal crash of a Model S that was in self-driving mode, the electric automaker said Thursday.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tesla-crash-20160630-snap-story.html?source=Snapzu

"W" Is for "Why"

A new biography exposes the mysterious confidence behind George W. Bush’s greatest failures.
Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/04/bush-by-jean-edward-smith?source=Snapzu

Michael Phelps makes history as first U.S. men's swimmer to qualify for five Olympics

Michael Phelps held five fingers high after his hand hit the wall, a sure sign he realized he’d done something much larger than win another race.
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/olympics/phelps/bal-michael-phelps-makes-history-as-first-u-s-men-s-swimmer-to-qualify-for-five-olympics-20160629-story.html?source=Snapzu

Home Computers Connected to the Internet Aren't Private, Court Rules

A federal judge for the Eastern District of Virginia has ruled that the user of any computer that connects to the Internet should not have an expectation of privacy because computer security is ineffectual at stopping hackers. The June 23 ruling came in one of the many cases resulting from the FBI's infiltration of PlayPen, a hidden service on the Tor network that acted as a hub for child exploitation, and the subsequent prosecution of hundreds of individuals.
Read more: http://www.eweek.com/security/home-computers-connected-to-the-internet-arent-private-court-rules.html?source=Snapzu

What media companies don’t want you to know about ad blockers

New York Times CEO Mark Thompson caused a minor stir a couple weeks ago when he gave a speech at an advertising conference declaring that “No one who refuses to contribute to the creation of high quality journalism has the right to consume it.” By Trevor Timm.
Read more: http://www.cjr.org/opinion/ad_blockers_malware_new_york_times.php?source=Snapzu

107 Nobel laureates sign letter blasting Greenpeace over GMOs

More than 100 Nobel laureates have signed a letter urging Greenpeace to end its opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The letter asks Greenpeace to cease its efforts to block introduction of a genetically engineered strain of rice that supporters say could reduce Vitamin-A deficiencies causing blindness and death in children in the developing world.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/06/29/more-than-100-nobel-laureates-take-on-greenpeace-over-gmo-stance/?source=Snapzu

Bill Clinton, AG Loretta Lynch meet on tarmac in Phoenix

Meeting comes as Hillary Clinton is under federal investigation for private email server, but both sides say encounter was purely social
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-bill-clinton-loretta-lynch-meet-on-tarmac-in-phoenix/?source=Snapzu

Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, dies aged 87

Toffler was one of the world’s most famous futurists who foresaw how digital technology would transform the world Alvin Toffler, a guru of the post-industrial age whose books, including Future Shock, anticipated the transformation brought about by the rise of digital technology, has died. He was 87. Toffler died in his sleep at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, on Monday, said Yvonne Merkel, a spokeswoman for his Virginia-based consulting firm Toffler Associates.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/30/alvin-toffler-author-of-future-shock-dies-aged-87?source=Snapzu

Mutilated body washes up on Rio Olympic beach volleyball venue

Discovery is latest high-profile incident amid rising crime, a recession and a major political scandal with barely a month to go until Brazil hosts Olympic Games
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/29/rio-de-janeiro-mutilated-body-beach-olympics-volleyball?source=Snapzu

Puerto Rico will default on $1 billion of debt on Friday

Puerto Rico is going to default, again. The governor of the commonwealth, Alejandro García-Padilla, wrote in an article for CNBC on Wednesday that Puerto Rico would not make some $1 billion in bond payments on Friday as it struggles with the long-term implications of its massive deficits. "On July 1, 2016, Puerto Rico will default on more than $1 billion in general obligation bonds, the island's senior credits protected by a constitutional lien on revenues," he said in the article.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/puerto-rico-1-billion-default-friday-2016-6?source=Snapzu

Hackers steal $10 million from a Ukrainian bank through SWIFT loophole

Hackers have stolen $10 million from an unnamed Ukrainian bank, according to an independent IT monitoring organization. The Kyiv branch of ISACA, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, reported this week that the theft had occurred via the SWIFT international banking system, the organization responsible for managing money transfers between financial institutions worldwide.
Read more: https://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/hackers-steal-10-million-from-a-ukrainian-bank-through-swift-loophole-417202.html?source=Snapzu

Wednesday 29 June 2016

An Endless Cycle of Indecisive Wars

Why is a 'mass extinction' of independent states taking place in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond? By Patrick Cockburn.
Read more: http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176158/?source=Snapzu

The Terrible Cost to Democrats and Our Nation of Ignoring Tom Frank’s Warnings

"Thomas Frank is a historian and writer. He is also the man who tried to save the Democratic Party and our Nation from great harm..." By William K. Black.
Read more: http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2016/06/terrible-cost-democrats-nation-ignoring-tom-franks-warnings.html?source=Snapzu

Ford dealership steals art from indie game Firewatch

A Ford dealership in Quincy, MA spent all day being bombarded with inquiries from video game journalists after blatantly ripping off art from indie game Firewatch. The title, developed by San Francisco-based studio Campo Santo, is set in the Wyoming wilderness and uses a heavily stylized visual aesthetic courtesy of graphic designer and illustrator Olly Moss, who led art direction for the project as a member of the Campo Santo team.
Read more: http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/27/12045514/ford-firewatch-game-art-copyright-campo-santo?source=Snapzu

How the mafia is causing cancer

When doctors in rural Italy began to see a surge in cancer cases, they were baffled. Then they made the link with industrial waste being dumped by local crime syndicates. Ian Birrell learns about the tragic consequences. A few days before I visited the rather scruffy Hospital of Saint Anna and Saint Sebastian in Caserta, a boy aged 11 arrived complaining of headaches. Doctors feared the worst – and sure enough, the case was rapidly diagnosed as another child with brain cancer.
Read more: http://mosaicscience.com/story/how-mafia-causing-cancer?source=Snapzu

‘Unprecedented’: Scientists declare ‘global climate emergency’ after jet stream crosses equator

Climate scientists this week expressed alarm after “unprecedented” data showed the Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream crossing the Equator.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/unprecedented-scientists-declare-global-climate-emergency-after-jet-stream-crosses-equator/?source=Snapzu

IKEA recalls 36 million chests, dressers after six deaths

Swedish furniture retailer IKEA Group is recalling almost 36 million chests and dressers in the United States and Canada that have been linked to the deaths of six children, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Tuesday. The furnishings can topple over if they are not anchored securely to walls, posing a threat to children, the commission said in a statement.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-recall-ikea-ab-idUSKCN0ZE2CB?source=Snapzu

Hell Sucks

There is a map of Vietnam on the wall of my apartment in Saigon, and some nights, coming back late to the city, I'll lie out on my bed and look at it, too tired to do anything more than just get my boots off. The map is a marvel, especially absorbing because it is not real. For one thing, it is very old. It was left here years ago by a previous tenant, probably a Frenchman since the map was made in Paris.
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a46147/hell-sucks-michael-herr/?source=Snapzu

5,300 U.S. water systems are in violation of lead rules

Eighteen million Americans live in communities where the water systems are in violation of the law. Moreover, the federal agency in charge of making sure those systems are safe not only knows the issues exist, but it's done very little to stop them, according to a new report and information provided to CNN by multiple sources and water experts. "Imagine a cop sitting, watching people run stop signs, and speed at 90 miles per hour in small communities and still doing absolutely nothing about it...
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/28/us/epa-lead-in-u-s-water-systems/index.html?source=Snapzu

Ohio's deadliest tornado hit Lorain, Sandusky 92 years ago on June 28

Ninety-two years ago a tornado ripped through downtown Lorain and Sandusky, killing 85 people and causing tens of millions dollars damage, more than a billion dollars in today's dollars. It is the deadliest tornado in Ohio history,
Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/06/the_deadliest_tornado_in_ohio.html?source=Snapzu

State Supreme Court Finds Dogs Are "Sentient Beings," Not Mere Property, In Landmark Ruling

This is a MAJOR victory for animals.
Read more: http://barkpost.com/oregon-court-finds-dogs-are-sentient-beings/?source=Snapzu

The Reaction to Brexit Is the Reason Brexit Happened

If you believe there's such a thing as "too much democracy," you probably don't believe in democracy at all. By Matt Taibbi. [Disable adblocker]
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-reaction-to-brexit-is-the-reason-brexit-happened-20160627?source=Snapzu

Canada, Mexico move to improve ties as U.S. election looms

Canada and Mexico agreed to settle a pair of protracted bilateral disputes on Tuesday in the run-up to a U.S. presidential election in November that could shake ties between the three North American nations. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said starting Dec. 1, Canada would scrap rules obliging Mexican visitors to obtain visas. The former Conservative government imposed the restrictions in 2009 to stop what it said were bogus asylum claims.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-mexico-idUSKCN0ZE220?source=Snapzu

In Pentagon bomb squad, an investigation and a fight to stave off financial ruin

The Pentagon bomb squad's pay was effectively cut 25 percent. By Dan Lamothe.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/28/in-pentagon-bomb-squad-an-investigation-and-a-fight-to-stave-off-financial-ruin/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories-2_bombsquad-8a-stream:homepage/story?source=Snapzu

Chronic fatigue syndrome is in your gut, not your head

Physicians have been mystified by chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition where normal exertion leads to debilitating fatigue that isn't alleviated by rest. There are no known triggers, and diagnosis requires lengthy tests administered by an expert. Now, for the first time, researchers report they have identified biological markers of the disease in gut bacteria and inflammatory microbial agents in the blood.
Read more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160627160939.htm?source=Snapzu

China might be trying to militarize space

A new space junk collector could be used as anti-satellite weapon, experts say.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-might-be-trying-to-militarize-space-2016-6?IR=T?source=Snapzu

Apple granted patent for way to stop iPhones from taking photos at concerts or sensitive locations

One of the things that really spoils live concerts these days is that half the people there don’t seem to want to watch it live at all – they’d rather watch it through their phone screen, holding the device up and blocking the view of those behind them. This is a problem Apple is seeking to solve in a patent first applied for in 2011 and granted today.
Read more: http://9to5mac.com/2016/06/28/apple-patent-infra-red-block-photos/?source=Snapzu

Tuesday 28 June 2016

The Scottish Scoundrel Who Changed How We See Data

When he wasn't blackmailing lords and being sued for libel, William Playfair invented the pie chart, the bar graph, and the line graph.
Read more: http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-scottish-scoundrel-who-changed-how-we-see-data?source=Snapzu

Ancient Birds' Wings Preserved in Amber

Two wings from birds that lived alongside the dinosaurs have been found preserved in amber. The "spectacular" finds from Myanmar are from baby birds that got trapped in the sticky sap of a tropical forest 99 million years ago.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36651471?source=Snapzu

A Virtually Perfect Date

It’s a comic about video game phrases. The Black Forest cake references portal. Panel 1 references Starcraft. Panel 2 references Fallout. Panel 3 references Baldur’s Gate. Panel 4 references Pokemon.
Read more: http://www.theism-comics.com/main/a-virtually-perfect-date/?source=Snapzu

The New Yorker, BuzzFeed, and the push for digital credibility

The fragmented nature of the digital landscape has created a conundrum for magazines and other news outlets. Being seen as reliable is crucial to a news organization’s survival. But if readers are finding stories in every corner of the Web, and may not even remember where they first read them, how can publishers build a loyal audience? Do brands even matter anymore?
Read more: http://www.cjr.org/special_report/newyorker_buzzfeed_trust.php?source=Snapzu

Who got rich off the student debt crisis

A generation ago, Congress privatized a student loan program intended to give more Americans access to higher education. In its place, lawmakers created another profit center for Wall Street and a system of college finance that has fed the nation’s cycle of inequality. Step by step, Congress has enacted one law after another to make student debt the worst kind of debt for Americans – and the best kind for banks and debt collectors. Today, just about everyone involved in the student loan industry makes money off students – the banks, private investors, even the federal government.
Read more: https://www.revealnews.org/article/who-got-rich-off-the-student-debt-crisis/?source=Snapzu

Texas Mom Who Killed 2 Daughters Called 'Family Meeting' Before Shootout

A Texas mother who shot her two daughters to death on her husband's birthday last week had called "a family meeting" before the shootout, authorities said Monday. Christy Sheats, 42, was then killed by a police officer after she allegedly refused to drop a .38-caliber handgun. In a statement, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said that on Friday afternoon, Christy gathered her children, 22-year-old Taylor and 17-year-old Madison, and her husband, Jason, who had just turned 45, in the living room of their home west of Houston.
Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-mom-who-killed-daughters-called-family-meeting-shootout-n599961?source=Snapzu

British pound could hit history-making dollar parity by end of 2016

Investors should prepare for the British pound to hit parity with the U.S. dollar by the end of the year or early in 2017, said at least one analyst — and should parity happen, it’ll be a first. After last week’s surprise U.K. vote to exit the European Union trading bloc, sterling fell more than 12% against the dollar on Friday before trimming some of its unprecedented drop late in the U.S. trading day. But bears regained the upper hand on Monday, sending the currency to a fresh 30-year low at $1.3121.
Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/british-pound-could-hit-history-making-dollar-parity-by-end-of-2016-2016-06-27?source=Snapzu

Explosions hit main airport in Istanbul

Two explosions hit Istanbul's main international airport on Tuesday, wounding several people, a Turkish official said, in what appeared to be the latest in a string of attacks in Turkey's biggest city this year.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-blast-idUSKCN0ZE2J1?source=Snapzu

A.I. Downs Expert Human Fighter Pilot In Dogfights

In the military world, fighter pilots have long been described as the best of the best. As Tom Wolfe famously wrote, only those with the "right stuff" can handle the job. Now, it seems, the right stuff may no longer be the sole purview of human pilots. A pilot A.I. developed by a doctoral graduate from the University of Cincinnati has shown that it can not only beat other A.I.s, but also a professional fighter pilot with decades of experience. In a series of flight combat simulations, the A.I. successfully evaded...
Read more: http://www.popsci.com/ai-pilot-beats-air-combat-expert-in-dogfight?source=Snapzu