Letter urges natural resources minister Joe Oliver to consider consequences of his support for controversial policy The Canadian government’s promotion of the tar sands industry is setting the world on a course of catastrophic climate change, a group of climate scientists and economists have…
Israeli minister against Dead Sea potash sale
http://www.youtube.com/v/w0ROI0vv1bo?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Source: Israeli minister against Dead Sea potash sale
California’s Marin wetlands in critical condition
Marin County Parks is spearheading a project that has volunteers donating their weekends to reviving 110 acres of Kent Island and Bolinas Lagoon. The next phase is to strip nonnative plants — which have largely displaced native vegetation — and restore the natural habitat that has been…
FBI claims to have thwarted terror attack in Minnesota
Buford Rogers of Montevideo, Minnesota was arrested on Friday and charged him with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. More charges could be on the way, however, following a Monday morning statement made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.In a press release issued Monday, the FBI wrote they believe “that a terror attack was disrupted by law enforcement personnel” by arresting Rogers and that “the lives of several local residents were potentially saved” thanks to the investigation.Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis Division of the FBI, J. Christopher Warrener, said in the statement that “cooperation between the FBI and its federal, state and local partners enabled law enforcement to prevent a potential tragedy in Montevideo” last week.Authorities believed there “would have been a localized terror attack, and that’s why law enforcement moved quickly,” FBI spokesman Kyle Loven told the Associated Press on Monday.Police say that they executed a search warrant at Rogers’ home on Friday and uncovered Molotov cocktails, suspected pipe bombs and at least one gun. Because he was previously convicted of a felony burglary, Rogers cannot lawfully own a firearm and was subsequently charged with illegal possession for owning what the AP has identified as a Romanian AKM assault rifle. The AP has also uncovered another 2009 misdemeanor conviction for Rogers involving the dangerous handling of a weapon.The FBI thought Rogers was in the “planning stages” of a terror attack, the AP continued, and he is believed to have targeted an area in western Minnesota.Montevideo is roughly 130 miles west of Minneapolis, MN and only a few minutes’ drive from the state’s border with South Dakota.A local Fox affiliate wrote Monday that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Minnesota State Patrol, Bloomington police bomb squad and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources were all involved in executing the search warrant. … Read More
Author Michael Pollan: ‘If you’re letting a corporation cook it, the odds are you’re not getting healthy food’
JEFFREY BROWN: And finally tonight, what are you having for dinner? Where did it come from? And, most relevant to our topic today, did you prepare it, cook it, yourself? Michael Pollan has been exploring all things food in a series of books. His latest is “Cooked: A Natural History of…
U.S. Government Fears End of Megaupload Case
Several months ago Megaupload filed a request to dismiss the indictment against it, until the U.S. Government finds a way to properly serve the company.
Megaupload based its request on “Rule 4” of criminal procedure, which requires the authorities to serve a company at an address in the United States. However, since Megaupload is a Hong Kong company, this was and is impossible.
The defense argued that the court can only protect Megaupload’s due process rights by dismissing the case. However, the Government disagreed and asked the court to deny Megaupload’s motion. Among other things the Government claimed that federal rules shouldn’t be interpreted so narrowly.
Two weeks ago Megaupload renewed its request and the defunct file-hosting company noted that the Government was trying to change the law in its favor. The lawyers cited a letter to the Advisory Committee on the Criminal Rules where the DoJ made suggestions that would directly influence the Megaupload case.
Among other things the letter suggested an amendment to the law so that it would no longer be a requirement to serve a foreign company in the United States. Megaupload’s lawyers used the letter to point out to the court that the Government knew very well that it was not playing by the rules.
This week the U.S. Government replied to the motion, stating that Megaupload misrepresents the facts.
The Government explains that the DoJ’s letter begins with “a bedrock principle of criminal law, one that applies equally to both organizations and natural persons,” citing the following passage:
“When a person located abroad violates the laws of the United States, that person may be held criminally liable despite the fact that the person has never set foot in the United States.”
In other words, every person and company in the world should comply with U.S. law. The Government explains that some companies including Megaupload are exploiting “Rule 4” to remain unaccountable. However, the Government tells the court that the suggestion to improve the law doesn’t mean that Megaupload can’t be prosecuted.
“The Department never concedes, as Megaupload wrongly claims, that a proper interpretation of Rule 4 would bar the company’s prosecution,” the Government tells the court in its most recent filing.
In addition to this clarification the Government further references an additional legal precedent which shows that foreign companies without an address in the United States can be criminally prosecuted.
The Government’s response ends with a “warning” that dismissing the indictment against Megaupload, even temporarily, may mean the and of the case.
“Such dismissal, even without prejudice, would harm (perhaps fatally) the government’s ability to fully prosecute serious criminal conduct of the corporate defendant Megaupload, the ability of victims to obtain justice, and the public’s interest in resolving this case efficiently,” the Government writes.
With the sentence above the Government suggests that the entire case against Megaupload could collapse, putting a lot of weight on the decision of District Court Judge Liam O’Grady, and perhaps not unintentionally.
Under this pressure the Judge now has to decide whether or not Megaupload should be dismissed from the indictment. If that’s the case, Megaupload plans to give users access to the files that were seized, and it will also free up funds for a proper defense.
Source: U.S. Government Fears End of Megaupload Case
Smithsonian: New evidence shows Jamestown colonists ate 14-year-old girl’s brains
The first American colonists at Jamestown, Virginia resorted to cannibalism to survive harsh conditions between 1607 and 1625, according to a new find by scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The remains of a 14-year-old girl whose skull was split open after her…
