Wikileaks tidbits

The Guardian

Arab leaders are privately urging an air strike on Iran

US officials have been instructed to spy on the UN leadership.

Grave fears in Washington and London over the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme

Suspicions of corruption in the Afghan government, with one cable alleging that vice-president Zia Massoud was carrying [...]

Following Hungary and Ireland, France to seize pension funds

They are stealing from pensioners to pay short-term debt owed to banksters who knowingly made risky private loans. This is corruption. No other word applies.

Don’t be surprised when Geithener tries to grab 401(k) pensions here.

Oh, the Irish made sure that senior bondholders got paid back at 100% on the dollar even if that [...]

DNS benchmark from Gibson Research

The always amazing Gibson Research has a free program, DNS Benchmark, which checks your Domain Name Servers then recommends how to optimize them. If you have no idea what that means, the Conclusions tab on DNS Benchmark tells you exactly what to do in understandable terms.

Gibson Research is also the author of Spinrite, [...]

Ireland should default, and force the banksters to take losses

The problem is not debt incurred by the government but rather that the banksters, who knowingly bought garbage bonds and made flaky loans, are demanding to be paid back at 100% on the dollar by the government and that the Irish taxpayers foot the bill for banker’s plunder, greed, and recklessness. This is criminal. [...]

It’s hard to watch the rape of Ireland

31 billion euros for Irish bank capital capital aid … Out of 31.5 billion euros total tax revenue for the year! Leaving 0.5 billion euros for the rest of the government. And please note that 31 billion is a *voluntary* contribution to the banks by the government. … Mortgaging the people of Ireland for at [...]

Cap and trade works in Europe. That because it’s mandatory

Cap and trade is mandatory in the EU for large corporations. They must participate. And guess what, it is successful. Unlike in the US where a a timid little voluntary cap and trade system was tried and predictably failed, the EU system has demonstrably lowered emissions and increased the use of clean, renewable energy. [...]

Saving the Salton Sea, one field of algae at a time

Aquafornia

“By substituting some of the crops that are more water intensive for algae, that water can be sent into the Salton Sea and the collapse of the habitat from increased salinity might be thwarted,” said Neal Driscoll, professor of geology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

[...]

Cameron reacts to the student protests in Britain

This is brilliant, savagely funny too.

“Clegg has lied so much his nose is bigger than Pinnochio’s… [The protesters were] supposed to march in line like in the 2003 anti-war demos. They’re not supposed to resist! The liberals were supposed to cover our arses, give us a ‘progressive edge’, make us less nasty. [...]

iPhone 4.02 update can cause iTunes library to vanish

If your iPhone update to 4.02 caused your iTunes library on the iPhone to vanish, connect to iTunes on your PC, play one song, the library will reappear.

Oregon wannabe jihad bomber

The FBI apparently gave him ample chances to back out so it wasn’t entrapment. Mohamed Osman Mohamud is 19 and will probably spend the rest of his life in prison. Planning violent jihad with someone you met on the net is right up there with middle-aged men thinking it really is a 14 yo girl [...]