April 4, 2014

Drone crashes near Lickdale Elementary School

An unmanned Pennsylvania Army National Guard drone crashed near Lickdale Elementary School Thursday afternoon.

The aerial vehicle, controlled by a remote operator, was part of a training exercise at Fort Indiantown Gap, said Maj. Ed Shenk, public affairs officer for the Pennsylvania National Guard.

The craft experienced "a hard landing" and was run over by a civilian vehicle on Fisher Avenue in front of the school and the Comfort Inn, according to the Pennsylvania National Guard. No one was injured. The craft was destroyed.

National Guardsmen picked up pieces of the craft from the embankment and front lawn of the school at 40 Fisher Ave.

http://www.ldnews.com/local/ci_25487919/drone-crashes-near-lickdale-elementary-school

Kudos to the driver who took out the military hardware before it could harm any children.

April 4, 2014

Broken ATM at Maine bank spits out $37,000

Police in Maine are investigating after a malfunctioning ATM at a bank spit out $37,000 in cash to man who requested $140.

South Portland police tell WGME-TV (http://bit.ly/1dXCy0i ) that they responded to the TD Bank branch at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday after getting a call from a woman who said a man was spending an unusual amount of time at the ATM she was waiting to use.

Responding officers found the man stuffing cash into a shopping bag.

The money was returned to the bank, and bank officials said they don't want to press charges. But police continue to investigate. The identity of the man wasn't released because he hasn't been charged.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Broken-ATM-at-Maine-bank-spits-out-37-000-5376131.php

April 4, 2014

County weighed buying up homes in mudslide area

A decade before a colossal landslide buried a Washington community, county officials considered buying up people's homes there to protect them from such a disaster.

A 2004 Snohomish County flood-management plan said the cost of buying Oso properties and removing residents from the path of a potential slide "would be significant, but would remove the risk to human life and structures."

But after weighing several options, the county instead recommended a project to shore up the base of the unstable hillside above the community about 55 miles north of Seattle, according to documents first reported by The Seattle Times.

A huge log wall was eventually built to reduce landslide and flood risks. But it wasn't enough to hold back the square mile of dirt, sand and silt that barreled down the hillside March 22, leveling homes and killing at least 30 people.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/County-weighed-buying-up-homes-in-mudslide-area-5372477.php

April 4, 2014

Wages have dropped nearly 8 percent since 2006

San Francisco was one of the nation's best cities for pay increases last quarter, Seattle-based PayScale reported Wednesday. Two other California cities also saw growth.

Nationwide, pay was up 0.5 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, PayScale reported. But pay rose by much more in some metro areas, while falling in others.

"Our results show the economy is on a steady, but very tepid recovery with wage growth rising at a slow rate," Katie Bardaro, PayScale's lead economist, said in the report. "We anticipate the trend of sluggish overall wage growth to continue in 2014 with a few industries such as science, biotech, and healthcare showing periodic gains that are more significant. "

Adjusting for inflation, wages have dropped nearly 8 percent since 2006, she added. PayScale expects wages to rise 0.3 percent this quarter from the previous quarter and 0.8 percent year over year.

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/San-Francisco-nears-top-for-pay-raises-5374043.php

The race to the bottom continues at full speed. Even the strongest wage growth lags inflation.

April 4, 2014

Mouthwash use 'linked to oral cancer'

Heavy use of mouthwashes may lead to a higher risk of oral cancer, an expert claims.

Research suggests that people rinsing with such products more than three times a day have a greater chance of developing mouth and throat cancer.

Dr David Conway, a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow Dental School, said people should not routinely use a mouthwash and stick to brushing and flossing instead.

Poor oral health – one of the reasons people regularly use the rinses – also plays a part in cancer risk, he added.

The research supports an Australian study in 2009, which said there was ‘sufficient evidence’ that mouthwashes containing alcohol contribute to an increased risk of the disease, because they allow cancer-causing substances to penetrate the lining of the mouth more easily.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2596497/Mouthwash-use-linked-oral-cancer-People-use-products-three-times-day-increase-risk.html

April 4, 2014

Jonathan Pollard, Again ...Why he must complete his time in prison

There has been a flurry of articles about the possibility that Jonathan Pollard, convicted Israeli spy who is now languishing in a North Carolina prison, might be released by President Barack Obama as a gesture to revive the moribund Middle East peace talks. Media accounts from Israel suggest that Secretary of State John Kerry, under pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has raised the issue of Pollard’s release with the president as an incentive to encourage Israel to complete its own release of Palestinian Israelis being held, which it has been delaying. The Palestinian Authority has reportedly indicated that it would not object to such a move.

As Pollard spied against the United States, not against either Israel or Palestine, the viewpoints from Tel Aviv and Ramallah are somewhat irrelevant but nevertheless interesting for anyone following the ebb and flow of the world’s most protracted search for a solution to two peoples who want to occupy the same space at the same time. Pollard’s supporters, including many former government officials and politicians, tend also to be strong advocates for Israel, which means they are seeing the issue in terms of their own perception of Tel Aviv’s interests. They have made a number of claims regarding his prolonged incarceration. They note that the life in prison sentence was unduly harsh and that the denial of parole is unprecedented after twenty-six years behind bars. They also maintain that Pollard was only providing background information to help Israel, an ally, and should not be judged by the same standard applied to spies like John Walker, Rick Ames and Robert Hanssen, all of whom worked for the Soviet Union during the Cold War, selling top secret intelligence to a powerful enemy.

<snip>

Recently, M.E. “Spike” Bowman, who was at the time the liaison between the Departments of Defense and Justice and coordinator of the damage assessment, wrote an op-ed entitled “Don’t Trust This Spy” for the New York Times and also elaborated on his view of Pollard in a paper presented at the March 7th National Summit to Reassess the US-Israel Special Relationship. Bowman confirms the unique damage done by Pollard, observing that there has been no other American spy who provided “information of the quantity and quality that Mr. Pollard has.” To cope with the volume, the Israelis had to install high speed copiers in a safehouse apartment they used with Pollard and it is estimated that he stole 360 cubic feet of documents, enough to fill a room. And it was nearly all information that was beyond secret, meaning top secret and SCI or codeword, which is the most sensitive information that the United States government possesses. The Israelis were delighted and were able to request specific documents from a Defense Intelligence Agency catalog of available intelligence reports that had been given to them by another of their spies in the Defense Department, who has never been publicly identified. Pollard’s high level clearance meant that he could get his Israeli Washington Embassy based case officer Colonel Avi Sella, who was also running spy Ben-Ami Kadish at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, anything that he wanted.

For those who hint at anti-Semitism to make their claim that Pollard was treated with disproportionate rigor Bowman notes that it was not a normal espionage case. The conviction was under a special statute (18 US Code 194) that protects information related to “…nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, early warning systems, or other means of defense or retaliation against large scale attack; war plans; communications intelligence or cryptographic information.” In other words, information that would make the United States vulnerable to attack by an enemy or would limit its ability to respond.

http://www.unz.com/article/jonathan-pollard-again/

April 4, 2014

Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act

Who are U.S. drones killing? lawmakers ask Obama

Are drone strikes creating more enemies for America than they are killing extremists? That’s the question at the heart of new bipartisan legislation aimed at requiring the executive branch to issue an annual report detailing the combatant and civilian death toll from missile strikes by U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, and Republican Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina, a frequent critic of “war on terrorism” policies, introduced the “Targeted Lethal Force Transparency Act.” The goal? Find out who is dying in drone strikes.

“Tactically, drones can be enormously effective. We’ve taken some really bad actors off the battlefield,” Schiff told Yahoo News in a telephone interview. “Strategically, it’s more of a mixed bag because it does alienate large numbers of people when there are civilian casualties.”

The measure calls for an annual report on the number of combatants and civilians killed or injured in strikes by remotely piloted aircraft. It also aims to require that the administration define what it considers “combatants” and “civilians.” And it seeks a full accounting of casualties over the past five years.

http://news.yahoo.com/who-are-u-s--drones-killing--lawmakers-ask-obama-200459477.html

April 3, 2014

‘I hate my job’ ‘I hate my job’ ‘I hate my job’ ‘I hate my job’ ‘I hate my job’ ‘I hate my job

An alcoholic Manhattan court stenographer went rogue, channeling his inner “Shining” during a high-profile criminal trial and repeatedly typing, “I hate my job, I hate my job” instead of the trial dialogue, sources told The Post.

The bizarre antics by Daniel Kochanski, who has since been fired, wreaked havoc on some 30 Manhattan court cases, sources said, and now officials are scrambling to repair the damage.

One high-level source said his “gibberish” typing may have jeopardized hard-won convictions by giving criminals the chance to claim crucial evidence is missing.

Kochanski’s botched transcripts include the 2010 mortgage-fraud trial of Aaron Hand, who was also convicted of trying to hire a hit man to take out a witness against him.

A source familiar with the case said Kochanski’s transcripts of that trial were a total mess.

“It should have been questions and answers — instead it was gibberish,” the source said.

And in a scene right out of 1980’s “The Shining,” where Jack Nicholson’s off-the-rails writer repeatedly types “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” a source said of Kochanski: “He hit random keys or wrote, ‘I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job,’ over and over.”

Read More: http://nypost.com/2014/04/03/alcoholic-court-stenographers-gibberish-imperils-guilty-verdicts/

April 3, 2014

Hidden cancer can make less-invasive hysterectomy deadly

Margaret and Joanne Jacobson believe their middle sister's fate was decided the moment her doctor used a device to mince her uterus into tiny pieces in order to extract it as part of a "minimally invasive" hysterectomy.

Lurking inside a large uterine fibroid was a hidden cancer, and the mincing procedure spread those microscopic malignant cells throughout her abdomen.

Two weeks after her surgery in March 2012, Elizabeth Jacobson of Sacramento was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. A second surgery, followed by months of chemotherapy, did no good. She died Jan. 8, 2013, at the age of 55.

"Her suffering was horrible," said Margaret Jacobson, medical director of Whatcom Hospice in Bellingham, Wash. "Everyone knows this happens, but they say it's just so rare. They feel OK about writing off people like my sister."

http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Hidden-cancer-can-make-less-invasive-hysterectomy-5368483.php

April 3, 2014

Starbucks says it’s sorry a barista put a Satanic symbol in teacher’s coffee

The devil is supposed to be in the details. He just might be in the coffee, too.

The viral world is all abuzz about a Louisiana schoolteacher who discovered what may be at least one Satanic symbol drawn in her coffee foam by a Starbucks barista in Baton Rouge.

The teacher, Megan Pinion, did what one does these days: Complained on Facebook. Starbucks’ Facebook page. On Sunday.



http://blog.sfgate.com/hottopics/2014/04/02/starbucks-says-its-sorry-a-barista-put-a-satanic-symbol-in-teachers-coffee/