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13 Dec 2011 10:33

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World: Uh, of course: Iran won’t give spy drone back to United States

  • problem Earlier this month, a secret radar-evading drone plane, owned by the U.S., went down over Iran, which claims they took it down using electronic warfare.
  • request After Iran got a hold of the plane (which, mind you, violated their airspace), they showed it off in footage, leading the U.S. to ask for their expensive toy back …
  • denial … however, Iran has no plans to do so, because they’re in the midst of studying it for intelligence reasons. Oh, well, the U.S. says it wasn’t expecting it back. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Oct 2010 17:11

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U.S.: The U.S. spends LOTS of money on intelligence, defense

  • $80.1
    billion     the amount the U.S. spent on intelligence in 2010
  • $664
    billion     the amount the U.S. spends on its total defense budget source
  • » Why this is a big deal: Two reasons. First of all, the intelligence spending numbers were never reported during the most recent Bush Administration – this is the first time we’ve gotten new numbers here in nearly a decade. Secondly, the intelligence budget has effectively doubled in the ten years – which makes sense if, you know, you account for 9/11 happening in the meantime. If you’re a high-spending government looking for something to cut to correct years of fiscal irresponsibility, though, this might be a good spot to look.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Sep 2010 11:09

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Tech: Scientists claim to have found the “Homer Simpson gene” in mice

  • A big question this research raises is why would we, or mice, have a gene that makes us less smart – a Homer Simpson gene? I believe that we are not really seeing the full picture.
  • Emory University professor John Hepler, PhD • Regarding the research he’s done which shows that mice get smarter if you take a certain gene out of them. The RGS14 gene turns off a certain part of the brain, the CA2 region, and many scientists aren’t sure what it’s for. However, when they turned off the gene in mice, they suddenly had much stronger mental abilities. Neat. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jul 2010 10:46

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U.S.: The Washington Post’s been busy the last two years or so

  • The amount of work that went into this is impressive. Beyond the stories themselves – an early Pulitzer contender about how the government’s intelligence apparatus has grown so huge that nobody knows how big it is – is an immaculately-designed mini-site, full of huge amounts of data about where all that intelligence money goes. It includes a pretty smart use of the jQuery carousel feature, immersive graphics (above), and data to last you for weeks. The Post has long been the ugliest of major old-guard newspapers, cluttered in all the ways that the Post itself is clean and classy. This – to us – proves that they have the capacity to turn that ship around. (Edit: Scott Clevenger notes that this series will also become a Frontline special on PBS.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jul 2010 08:56

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U.S., World: Russia and the U.S. all ready to exchange some spies!

  • If at last he is freed — not in the way we wanted, because we wanted him to restore his good name, but it is difficult to do it given our judicial system — at least he will be freed in this way. If he leaves today, it will happen quietly.
  • Lawyer Anna Stavitskaya • Regarding her client, Russian scientist Igor V. Sutyagin, and his possible pending release as soon as today. The scientist, currently being held for treason in Russia, will be reportedly exchanged for ten reported Russian spies as part of a prisoner swap. The U.S. and Russia have neither confirmed nor denied it, although it’s been widely reported and Stavitskaya says Sutyagin verbally agreed to the exchange. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jul 2010 11:25

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U.S.: Will the U.S. press charges against Wikileaks source Bradley Manning?

  • YES about time; he has been detained since May source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jun 2010 10:36

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U.S.: The reported source of that crazy Wikileaks video is in custody

  • Hillary Clinton, and several thousand diplomats around the world are going to have a heart attack when they wake up one morning, and find an entire repository of classified foreign policy is available, in searchable format, to the public.
  • SPC Bradley Manning • Regarding some of the documents he sent to Wikileaks. Manning was arrested two weeks ago for reportedly leaking a number of documents to the site, most notably this video, in which a number of innocent civilians are killed in a helicopter attack. Manning was turned in by a hacker, and has not been charged yet. But holy crap. This guy gave Julian Assange and his boys a lot of classified info. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Jun 2010 23:08

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U.S.: Meet Obama’s shoulder-tapped nominee for intelligence head

  • Who is this guy?James Clapper, currently working as the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, spent 32 years in the Air Force, then later joined Robert Gates in the Bush administration. Like Gates, he stuck around with Obama.

    Early complaintsDemocrats and Republicans have criticized the choice because Clapper isn’t an outsider and has deep ties to the Defense Department. Oh, and they like complaining. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2010 10:18

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World: Israel knows a thing or two about espionage scandals

  • 12 major international scandals Israel has been tied to source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Feb 2010 10:01

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World: Iran’s space program has officially caught up to 1957

  • They launched a rocket with live animals into space. Not content to be 70 years behind the U.S. when it comes to nuclear technology, the Middle Eastern country has gladly chosen to be 50 years behind the U.S. (and Russia!) when it comes to space exploration. Rats, turtles and worms were the lucky guinea pigs for the Kavoshgar-3 endeavor, which could lead to a newfound bolstering of its ballistic missile program. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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