FondServisBank, which works with Russian companies in the aerospace industry, said that it had hired [no-longer-secret agent Anna] Chapman…
••• Like their American counterparts, Russian banks know how to cash in on failure.
This year, another major carrier experienced interruptions ranging from nine days to six weeks and was unable to comply with 14 wiretap orders. Its interception system “works sporadically and typically fails when the carrier makes any upgrade to its network,” the official said…
[T]he F.B.I. sent engineers to help the companies fix the problems. The bureau spends about $20 million a year on such efforts.
••• New York Times exposes the domestic surveillance subsidy.
Tax Payers Should Demand US Property, M1 Garand Rifles, Back From Korea
••• An American firearms enthusiast demands the return of rifles loaned to South Korea 50 years ago, because “we still own them.”
With Israel possessing the most powerful military in the Middle East and one of the richest and best-equipped in the world, many will be scratching their heads as to why the IDF needs “charity”.
••• Khaled Diab questions tax breaks for military fundraisers.
Why did the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s need to build more than 300 [of the most powerful nuclear bombs in the arsenal]? … What did war planners have in mind? It’s a tale that should have lessons for today as the Obama administration considers spending more than $180 billion over the next decade modernizing the nation’s nuclear stockpile…
••• Bureaucratic inertia + private profit = insane military policy.
Americans, angry with their governments, angry with the world, fearful of China, scornful of Europe, may ask each other, “why bother?” That’s probably what policymakers told each other in Rome, circa 410.
Sarah Palin embodies that ignorant and parochial perspective…
••• Michael White has no idea what Sarah Palin is about.
••• …after your group admitted to sabotaging it.