Archives March 2021

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Microsoft announced on Thursday they are partnering with KIND Financial to help governments track the production and distribution of legal marijuana. Kind Financial, a California-based start-up company, began selling its Agrisoft Seed to Sale software three years ago. Microsoft is admitting Kind’s software on the Government portion of its Azure cloud service.

Although Kind Financial CEO David Dinenberg stressed to The Guardian they “absolutely do not touch the plant”, his company does business with growers and distributors of marijuana, as well as the governments that regulate it. State law in twenty-five US states — but not US federal law — has legalized marijuana, whether medicinally or for recreational use. Kimberly Nelson, Microsoft executive director of state and local government solutions, said they expect significant demand for technology to help states make sure cannabis distribution within their state is done according to their laws.

Kind also provides kiosks similar to automated tellers (ATMs) to facilitate marijuana transactions in dispensaries. The distribution of marijuana is often done only with cash or through machines like the ones Kind offers since many banks in the United States shy away from the marijuana industry entirely. Microsoft is not interacting with this part of Kind’s operations, however.

Microsoft and Kind will apply for contracts with state governments for their software. Currently, they have applied to Puerto Rico, a US territory, where medical marijuana has recently been made legal. BioTrackTHC, a company similar to Kind Financial, already has contracts with Washington, New Mexico, and Illinois.

Dinenberg said his company’s partnership with Microsoft is a major step in advancing the legitimacy of cannabis-related businesses.

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Preliminary tests performed on samples taken from six villagers in the Kabanjahe District of Sumatra in Indonesia have tested negative for the deadly H5N1 Avian Flu virus.

“Investigations by the ministry of health lab and Namru, too, on August 2 and 3 on all specimens collected from the suspected cases in Kabanjahe district came up negative,” said Indonesia’s health minister, Siti Fadilah Supari.

Final test results are expected in at least seven days from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. “The World Health Organization (WHO) requires human samples to be sent to one of WHO’s six collaborative centres. So, we only need to send them to CDC Atlanta as it has worked with the U.S. NAMRU-2 lab here,” added Supari.

Supari also stated that all individuals are suffering from the “common flu.”

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Speaking before an audience of 750 soldiers and airmen on Tuesday night at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, US President Bush began an effort to shore up waning support for military actions in Iraq.

The president again attempted to link the September 11, 2001 attacks with his decision to invade and occupy Iraq(The U.S. official 9/11 Commission report concluded that Saddam and Iraq were not involved in 9/11 in any way). Right from the opening of his speech, he mentioned the 9/11 attacks and also did it on four additional occasions. During the speech, Bush did not refer to the now-relinquished hunt for weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq. The U.S. has failed to provide any convincing evidence for the existence of a WMD, even though this was one of the chief reasons President Bush cited to justify the invasion of Iraq.

Democrats criticized the president for trying to link 9/11 with the war in Iraq;”The president’s frequent references to the terrorist attacks of September 11 show the weakness of his arguments,” Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic leader, said. “He is willing to exploit the sacred ground of 9/11, knowing that there is no connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq.”

Opinion polling conducted this week by USA Today, CNN and Gallup found for the first time that a majority of Americans, 50% to 47%, see the Iraqi war as something separate from what Bush is calling the “global war against terrorism.”

The speech comes as more bad news regarding the Iraq War, amid rising IraqI War casualties (1,740 killed, 13,000 wounded), and damaging testimony to the U.S. Congress about Halliburton fraud in Iraq, and the Downing Street Memo. In addition, vice-president Dick Cheney‘s claim that the Iraqi insurgency was in its “last throes” was contradicted in Senate testimony by General John Abizaid, who said “In terms of comparison from six months ago, in terms of foreign fighters, I believe there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago.”

In his speech, Bush discussed the question of setting a timeline for withdrawal of troops, or sending more troops. “Some Americans ask me, if completing the mission is so important, why don’t you send more troops? If our commanders on the ground say we need more troops, I will send them. But our commanders tell me they have the number of troops they need to do their job,” Bush said. US Commanders have previously commented on the problems caused by lack of coverage at the Syrian border.

The president said the war effort is a two-pronged strategy using military and political pressure to install, “a free, representative government [in Iraq] that is an ally in the war on terror.” The U.S. and multi-national Iraqi military coalition goal is an offensive campaign to take the fight to terrorists and insurgents in the region. The elimination of Saddam Hussien was a necessary step to build, “institutions of a free society, a society based on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and equal justice under law.” Bush cited the free national elections held in January and the establishment of a Transitional National Assembly as progress on the political front, and now calls for the drafting of a constitution with the involvement of Shia, Kurds and Sunni groups.

The speech was received by the usually spirited troops in an atmosphere of quiet that only once interrupted his speech with polite applause near the end when Bush said: “So we’ll fight them there, we’ll fight them across the world, and we will stay in the fight until the fight is won.”

Monday, September 26, 2005

A report confirming that the IRA has fully decommissioned all of its armaments has been submitted to the British and Irish governments on Monday (September 26, 2005).

The Chairman of the decommissioning body, General John de Chastelain met representitives of both governments, before releasing details of the report at a press conference in Belfast. A partial catalogue of the arms stock was included, as well as the statements of two independent observers present at the decommissioning process. The observers are a Catholic priest, and a Methodist minister.

Both witnesses stressed their independence and de Chastelain commented that it was clear from their observations that the weapons had been gathered from individuals and put beyond use. De Chastelain refused to be drawn on details of the exact numbers of weapons decommissioned, the IRA having agreed to decommissioning based on confidentiality. The decommissioning panel did make comments that the weapons decommissioned did correspond with the estimates of weapons held, included a mix of new and old weapons, including surface to air missiles and heavy machine guns.

General de Chastelain, along with Andrew Sens and Tauno Nieminen, has been in Ireland overseeing this latest round of decommissioning since September. Before now, they had been allowed to witness three acts of decommissioning. However, lack of details in the reports provided afterwards meant that opponents questioned the moves.

Statements from both governments, as well as the major Northern Irish political leaders, are expected later on Monday.

The IRA announced that it was calling an end to its armed campaign in July, and ordered members not to take part in any other activities. The Unionist paramilitary UDA had withdrawn from the decommissioning after initial talks in 1999. de Chastelain indicated inventory of decommissioned weapons will not be published until full paramilitary decommissioning is complete.

DUP MP Nigel Dodds said that decommissioning was always required for “building and instilling confidence in the unionist community”, and that “it was absolutely vital to have that visual aspect.”

UUP leader Sir Reg Empey said that the report needed to make clear that absolutely all arms had been put beyond use.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said that both governments must now move forward with implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Fein’s Alex Maskey called the day “historic”, commenting that the responsibility now rests with the DUP and the governments to move forward.

During the press conference, General de Chastelain faced critics who questioned the truthfulness of the process. He responded with “We have no Doubt … We have nothing to gain by misleading you.”

Friday, May 3, 2013

With over 100 Guantanamo Bay detainees in a hunger strike against their incarceration, President Barack Obama, on Tuesday, renewed his push for the closure of the facility.

President Obama addressed a news conference at the White House on Tuesday saying he would have a team of officials review the issue before again appealing to Congress to close the prison holding “terror” suspects in Cuba. “I think it is critical for us to understand that Guantanamo is not necessary to keep America safe,” he said. “It is expensive. It is inefficient. It hurts us in terms of our international standing. It lessens co-operation with our allies on counter-terrorism efforts. It is a recruitment tool for extremists. It needs to be closed.”

These remarks were made after 40 US Navy medical staff were sent to the facility to deal with the growing hunger strike that began on February 6 this year, where twenty one inmates are now being force fed; five of those are in hospital. “I don’t want these individuals to die,” President Obama said.

Calls by the Center for Constitutional Rights however, have called for President Obama to transfer men from the facility now; a power he has over Congress. “He should use the certification/waiver process created by Congress to transfer detainees, starting with the 86 men who have been cleared for release,” the New York-based group said.

When asked for greater details about President Obama’s intentions, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the president was “considering a range of options for ways that we can reduce the population there,” including “reappointing a senior official at the State Department to renew our focus on repatriating or transferring” lower-risk detainees.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A family of six were injured at Flat Rock Bridge Family Resort and campground in Lebanon, Maine after a severe thunderstorm caused trees to topple, with one landing on a tent. A 10-year-old girl was critically injured after a tree fell on the tent she was sleeping in. Witnesses say the girl was pinned under the tree for at least 10 minutes before they were able to remove it.

Witnesses also say the day was beautiful and sunny, but at around 6:00 p.m. (EDT) a storm rolled in, darkening the sky, followed by heavy winds and rain. Witnesses describe a “funnel-like wind” which lifted items off the ground and threw them around. The strong winds then brought down trees and limbs, with one landing on the family’s campsite and tent. Severe lightning was also reported.

“The female patient was loaded into Lebanon Ambulance One and transported to Frisbie Hospital in Rochester to be stabilized and then was transferred to the trauma center at Maine Medical Center. Her injuries were considered critical and life threatening when she left the scene,” said Jason Cole, the assistant rescue chief for the area. The victims names have not been released and the girl’s current condition is not yet known.

Rescuers responding to the scene noticed several other trees and limbs scattered around other campsites and searched all 350 sites, but no other injuries were reported. Other campers say they had several close calls with tree limbs and debris. At least 12 trees were reported to have toppled during the storm. The family’s car was also destroyed when a tree limb landed on it.

The National Weather Service in Maine says it will investigate whether or not the storm produced a tornado.

Friday, November 24, 2006

Mr Alexander Litvinenko, reputed to have been an Ex-Russian spy who had defected to Britain, died last night in mysterious circumstances. He had alleged many associations between people in high places and organised international crime, implying that President Putin and Romano Prodi among others had been involved personally. He had sought political asylum in UK in 2000 and became a naturalised citizen in October this year, just weeks before his death.

Mr Litvinenko was said to have been investigating the shooting of Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya, a well-known critic of Russian activities in Chechnya, in her apartment in Moscow October 7, 2006. It is reported that he had met two Russians in a hotel room, one said to be former member of the KGB in connection with the affair and he went on to meet Mario Scaramella at a sushi bar in Piccadilly where some papers were exchanged. Some hours after this he was taken ill.

Mr Litvinenko was admitted to Barnet General Hospital, north London on November 1, 2006 complaining of feeling sick. By November 11, he was said to be suffering from serious poisoning. A week later he was transferred to University College Hospital in central London. A week later he was said to have been poisoned by ingesting thallium, once used in rat poison, but, in the opinion of some doctors, there were signs of radioactive poisoning, including loss of weight and shedding of hair. Various explanations of his condition were offered. Last night he suffered a heart attack, after having left a message blaming President Putin for having him killed.

The radioactive isotope polonium-210 was found in his blood and urine as reported by the United Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency. The post-mortem was cancelled. Subsequently the Agency examined conditions in the hospitals in which Mr Litvinenko has been treated. Police visited the Itsu sushi restaurant in Piccadilly, his home in Muswell Hill and the Millennium Hotel, Grosvenor Square where the meeting on November 1 had been held. Traces of radiocactivity were found in all three places. It is speculated that the polonium was probably eaten by Litvinenko as a substance that could be combined with a salt-like substance, such as polonium nitrate.

It was reported that a meeting had been held in Cabinet Office Briefing Room A (COBRA) used for high level emergency planning and control, to consider the implications of these events. The Foreign Office asked Moscow for a response to the accusation of Russian involvement and President Putin himself dismissed the allegations saying (before the cause of death had been established) that there was no proof of an unnatural death and that the case was being used as a “political provocation”.