July 2009
Hackers show how Apple iPhone can be taken over by... →
A “serious memory corruption bug” in the iPhone can make it vulnerable to being taken over by a single specially-crafted text message, security researchers showed today.
So if you get a text message that consists of a square on your iPhone - perhaps you should worry. Or, much more likely, it’s a prank from a friend trying to freak you out.
The Black Hat conference in Las Vegas...
Iraqi officials 'colluded in British kidnapping' ... →
Iraqi government officials may have colluded in the kidnapping of five Britons two years ago in a bid to prevent high-level corruption being exposed, it has been reported.
Skunk pack 'spotted' in English countryside -... →
Gary McKinnon: UK hacker loses extradition battle →
By David Hughes
The High Court’s rejection of Gary McKinnon’s appeal against extradition to the United States where he faces a lengthy prison sentence for hacking into military computers once again raises the unbalanced nature of our 2002 extradition treaty with America.
This lop-sided measure means a British citizen can be extradited to the US without any prima facie case of a crime having been...
R.I.P Sir Bobby Robson
For personal reasons my day has been deeply affected by the death of this great man. Apart from being a brilliant football manager he also came from the same part of the country as me and my parents. My father used to proudly boast that as a young lad he’d played in the same local league as Sir Bobby and played against him many times. While Sir Bobby went on to become a professional...
lickystickypickyme:
Lawyer: “Now sir, I’m sure you are an intelligent and honest man—” Witness: “Thank you. If I weren’t under oath, I’d return the compliment.”
Dispatch From Lostinthought
retropolitics:
I guess I can’t put it off any longer - the time has come for me to sign off of here. I have no more money and too many bills to pay - from where I sit things look very intimidating.
As a result of all of this topsy-turveyness it’s become way too difficult to concentrate on anything other than how I will survive for the next few … shit I dunno when things are going to get better...
If you've ever worked for a boss that reacts...
Arcelor-Mittal Steel, feeling it was time for a shake up, hired a new CEO.
The new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers.
On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning on a wall.
The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business.
He walked up to the guy leaning against the wall and asked, ‘How much money do you make a...
“Although I’ve gotta say, when I hear critics talk about out of control spending...”
– President Obama at a Townhall Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina (via Obama Finds His Inner Partisan - TaylorMarsh.com) (via apsies) (via soupsoup)
Say as you see it Obama!
Guide to holidaymakers: don't sing in your... →
Sunshine.co.uk, an online travel agent, said it had seen an “influx of inquiries” from worried holidaymakers about the rules and regulations of their chosen destination.
Here is the list of examples of which they say holidaymakers should be aware:
In Milan it is a legal requirement to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits.
In Massachusetts, taxi drivers are...
EU forces passengers on and off the buses -... →
Bus passengers who travel along a route of more than 30 miles must get off the vehicle midway through their journey to comply with new EU laws.
Lunatics running the EU Asylum again!
UK soldier to Gordon Brown: why I won't return to... →
jhnbrssndn:
Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, from the Royal Logistics Corps, is the first British soldier to speak out publicly against the war in Afghanistan. He explains in the letter below, delivered to Gordon Brown at Downing Street on Thursday 30 July, why he will not return to fight in Afghanistan because he believes politicians must stop wasting soldiers’ lives in an unjustified war. Court...
“The problem with the gene pool is that there’s no lifeguard.”
– David Gerrold (via simko) (via isay) (via jmarie3)
A Brief History on the Economy of Fear
n1ghtcrwler:
Here’s the thing. I commented a while back that I didn’t buy all the talk about group [x] being the downfall of our society. I don’t much care who your scapegoat is, ultimately it is really just a scapegoat. But a look into this behavior highlights, to me, the thing that I am willing to believe could cause the downfall of our society. It isn’t bombs, or revolution, or socialism,...
I’m sure you’ve all seen this before but I still like and relate to it.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930’s 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s !
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products,...
Guy Fawkes' blog of parliamentary plots, rumours... →
The post Expensegate updated “Green Book” of rules for MPs for expense claiming written essentially by MPs, for the benefit of MPs is front-paged on the Telegraph this morning. Surprise, surprise they have upped the amount they can pocket in cash, tax free, without the need for receipts from £400 a month to £500 a month for “subsistence”. A benefit worth over £9,000-a-year if they paid tax on it....
Hillary Clinton made security help 'threat' to... →
Mrs Clinton personally told the Foreign Secretary that the US government would consider the dramatic step if a short summary of the treatment of Binyam Mohamed is placed in the public domain, the High Court was told.
A hearing was told that the move could cause “serious harm” to Britain’s national security and potentially put the lives of British citizens at risk.
Nice! Way to...
“Ed Balls says the Labour Party is.. “clearer and more attuned to the realities...”
– Guy Fawkes’ blog of parliamentary plots, rumours and conspiracy
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha (excuse me) hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
UK troops forced out of Iraq as mandate expires... →
Six years and four months after the invasion of Iraq almost all remaining British forces are leaving the country quietly, without any ceremony. To the embarrassment of the UK Government, the 150 military personnel are having to relocate to Kuwait after the Iraqi parliament failed to ratify an agreement by Friday. Without this accord the troops do not have any legal right to stay on. British...
“The head of the NIH can be a Christian, a Jew, a Moslem, even an atheist, and it...”
– PZ Myers (via retropolitics)
New York gives homeless people a one-way ticket to... →
jmarie3:
shaneguiter:
abbyjean:
Mayor Bloomberg’s solution to New York City’s homeless problem is to make families hit the road. The Guardian reports that under a new initiative by the Mayor’s administration, hundreds of New York City families have received vouchers for plane, rail, and bus tickets, as well as for gas, to help them leave the city. All a homeless family needs to qualify for the...
“Yeah yeah yeah, I know Guillermo del Toro is Spanish. But face it, Spaniards...”
– Tonight I Was Thinking … . « The Worst SEO Blog Ever! (via insertname)
I didn’t say that, but if the cap fits……
Search of the Day →
rwatuny:
Real search queries from real people.
via @clutterdiet
I love this one
“jesus high resolution photos”
0 EXPLANATIONS/CONFESSIONS
SIMILAR SEARCHES ~ IMPOSSIBLE, JESUS, PICTURES, WTF
Magic!
Words and Wars of Ideology
squashed:
Janet Albrechtsen wrote in The Austrailian, that the language police are oppressing her when they tell her to stop calling people Islamo-Fascists. She argues that the people she’s describing self-identify as Islamic and claim to speak for Islam. And their actions are decidedly fascist. Isn’t she simply calling it as it is?
Yes and no. There are many phrases she could choose—and if...
“He experienced one of those “self” moments, one of those moments when you...”
– from Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams (via x0)
That sums up perfectly the last 90 minutes of my day so far.
"Britain's own Guantánamo" | Comment is free →
shadowfirebird:
‘Piece by piece, the truth is finally coming out about Britain’s own Guantánamo Bay – Diego Garcia. Today the human rights lawyers group Reprieve began a legal case on behalf of Saad Iqbal Madni, who they say was transited through the UK-controlled Indian Ocean island as part of the CIA’s secret rendition programme.’
‘Months later, however, Reprieve and the Spanish newspaper El...
Reports of Prison Abuse and Deaths Anger Iranians →
caraobrien:
retropolitics:
Robert F. Worth | NYTimes.com
Some prisoners say they watched fellow detainees being beaten to death by guards in overcrowded, stinking holding pens. Others say they had their fingernails ripped off or were forced to lick filthy toilet bowls. The accounts of prison abuse in Iran’s postelection crackdown — relayed by relatives and on opposition Web sites — have set...
“At Goldman we always round to the nearest $50 billion, so anything less than $25...”
– Michael Lewis (via soupsoup)
Dictionary definition of “silly money”.
(via jonathan-deamer) (via jhnbrssndn)
I REALLY hope that this is a wind-up!
Making less in the health care biz
southpol:
Ezra Klein quotes T.R. Reid’s The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care:
It’s hard to imagine any private general practitioner in the United States charging just $27 for an office visit, or any specialist willing to settle for $34 for a normal consultation. Most of the fixed prices set by the health ministry amount to one third, and sometimes...
“I bet I’m the only person in the world that’s not on Twitter by now and I don’t...”
– Me- I don’t think I will ever see the real use of it. (via little-wing)
Welcome back!
Not the only person. I’m not on Twitter either, and also don’t care.
(via jmarie3)
Me neither!
Mediation urged to stop repeat of G20 violence |... →
shadowfirebird:
‘Independent negotiators should settle disputes between police and protesters to stop a repeat of the violence at the G20 summit where thousands of demonstrators were contained for hours using the controversial tactic of kettling, a parliamentary inquiry proposes today.
The report, by the joint committee on human rights, says police and demonstrators were to blame for failure to...
"Being green is no crime" | Comment is free →
shadowfirebird:
‘The Big Green Gathering was cancelled when the organisers voluntarily surrendered their license to hold a festival, granted by Mendip council on 30 June, after taking legal advice which told them they were powerless to stop a court injunction which would ruin the festival as a whole and several people in particular; namely the organiser Brig Oubridge and the farmer who had...
Civil liberties: Unnecessary humiliation is not... →
lifetheuniverseandeverything:
This is heartbreaking.
Maha Elgenaidi, the executive director of a nonprofit community organization in Santa Clara, California, outlines her experience being detained and interrogated at US customs after a trip to Malaysia, an experience all too common for American Muslims. Excerpt:
I was told to take my bags and put them on the table. They then began to search all...
Socialism And The Politics Of Fear →
retropolitics:
Frank Llewellyn | CBS News
Republicans have attacked health care reform and modest progressive tax reform proposals as somehow “un-American,” “European,” and, God-forbid, “socialist!”
Since when did being European become a derogatory term?
"No legal process for bouncer fines" | Comment is... →
shadowfirebird:
‘Norfolk magistrates were unaware that the police had accredited bouncers in the Prince of Wales Road area of Norwich, which contains many of the city’s clubs and pubs, because the police had not consulted either JPs or local judiciary. Suddenly bouncers belonging to a firm called Eventguard were handing out fines without any kind of formal procedure or transparency. Paul Allen,...
