05 Aug 2010
Commodity ETFs: Toxic, deadly, evil

The next meltdown is already on the way ...

The warning screams at you: "Do Not Buy Commodity ETFs!" Yes, this Bloomberg BusinessWeek cover reads like National Enquirer or a flashing neon sign on the Vegas Strip.

(link) [Marketwatch]

20:32 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Feds admit storing checkpoint body scan images

Void Where Prohibited by Law"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Hrumpf. Guess that pesky Fourth Amendment is just one more bit that's void where prohibited by law...

For the last few years, federal agencies have defended body scanning by insisting that all images will be discarded as soon as they're viewed. The Transportation Security Administration claimed last summer, for instance, that "scanned images cannot be stored or recorded."

Now it turns out that some police agencies are storing the controversial images after all. The U.S. Marshals Service admitted this week that it had surreptitiously saved tens of thousands of images recorded with a millimeter wave system at the security checkpoint of a single Florida courthouse.

(link) [CNET]

20:23 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link