"The former CEO of Redflex, a major red light camera vendor, and John Bills, former Managing Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Transportation, have been indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from a contract with the City of Chicago.
According to the indictment, a friend of Bills was hired as a contractor and paid $2 million. Much of that money was then kicked back to Bills, who also got a Mercedes and a condominium via Redflex employees.
The defendants are facing 23 counts including: mail fraud, wire fraud, and bribery. Each fraud count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years."
***
Weaponize?
The BBC and other outlets are reporting that a major quarantine center for patients who have been infected with the Ebola virus in Liberia has been looted and ransacked.
Reports vary on the motive of the attack, but officials have confirmed that the Ebola patients are missing and that the quarantine center's medical supplies have been stolen.
Officials say that the looters are highly likely to contract the virus themselves and worsen the epidemic further, as the WHO counts 1000+ lives claimed by the virus total."
***
Can't beat em' eat em'.
"NPR commentator Bonny Wolf has a unique solution to battle the threat of invasive fish species in our waterways. She proposes we fight them with a knife, fork, and a few lemon wedges.
From the article:
"Take the snakehead, which has made its way into tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.
It competes with native species for food, and then eats the native species, not to mention the odd frog or bird, with its mouthful of sharp teeth.
It's been called "Fishzilla."
It breeds fast, has no natural predators and can grow to be 4 feet long.
The northern snakehead hangs out in grassy shallows, making it hard to catch.
But a couple of years ago, Maryland started promoting the snakehead as an eating fish.
Its harvest has increased from zero to 5,000 pounds a year.""
***
Windows PC users pay attention!
Right on schedule, Microsoft rolled-out an onslaught of patches for its "Patch Tuesday" last week, and despite the fact that it wasn't the true "Update 2" for Windows 8.1 many of us were hoping for, updates are generally worth snatching up.
Since the patch rollout, it's been discovered that four individual updates are causing random BSoD issues for its users, with KB2982791, a kernel-mode related driver, being the biggest culprit.
Because of the bug's severity, Microsoft is recommending that anyone who updated go and uninstall a couple of the specific updates, or rollback using Windows Restore.
You can uninstall these updates in much the same way you uninstall any app; the difference is that once you're in the "Programs and Features" section, you'll need to click on "View installed updates" on the left.
***
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has updated its guide for protecting yourself and your cell phone at a protest.
In addition to being extremely powerful tools (real-time communication to many watchers via social media, and video recording functionality), cell phones can also give authorities a lot of information about you if they confiscate it.
The EFF is trying to encourage cell phone use and prepare people to use them. (The guide is based on U.S. laws, but much of the advice makes sense for other places as well.) Here are a few small snippets:
"Start using encrypted communications channels. Text messages, as a rule, can be read and stored by your phone company or by surveillance equipment in the area. ... If the police ask to see your phone, tell them you do not consent to the search of your device.
Again, since the Supreme Court's decision in Riley, there is little question that officers need a warrant to access the contents of your phone incident to arrest, though they may be able to seize the phone and get a warrant later. ... If your phone or electronic device was seized, and is not promptly returned when you are released, you can file a motion with the court to have your property returned."
***
At lunch last week in Newport Beach, Ca, I saw a group of Irvine police and Newport Beach police officers dressed like military combatants having lunch together.
We were in a "Z-Pizza " near Lido Island.
It made me very uncomfortable seeing them dressed as they were when they were only the police and not the military as their clothing and equipment were suggesting.
Their "Military" presence was giving me mixed signals that they were dangerous and not public servants at all. Our public servants that we hire and give authority to, protecting and serving us.
I asked them if they were going to "kick in a few doors" and they told me that they were on a "training exercise."
Are we the public their enemies now, here on USA soil?
The police took an oath of office to protect and to serve us.
These police officers I saw at lunch had very over the top intimidating attitudes in their military appearance and projected their attitude as if they were unapproachable and not my fellow citizens of America at all.
I am not the only one that is uncomfortable with this insane turn of events:
After a decade of sending military equipment to civilian police departments across the country, federal officials are reconsidering the idea in light of the violence in Ferguson, Missouri.
Wondering how the St. Louis County Police ended up armed with surplus military gear, and what equipment other departments have? A FOIA request at MuckRock has turned up every item given to local law enforcement under the Pentagon's 1022 program, the mechanism by which local law enforcement can apply for surplus or used military gear.
"Our main streets should be a place for business, families, and relaxation, not tanks and M16s," Johnson wrote in a Dear Colleague letter sent Thursday to other members of Congress.
No comments:
Post a Comment