In the News: Sep-09

Shell agrees landmark 4.0 bln-dlr gas deal with Iraq - 9 Sep 2008 at 12:49pm - BAGHDAD (AFP) - Royal Dutch Shell will form a gas venture with energy-rich Iraq worth up to four billion dollars, the oil ministry said Tuesday of the first Western oil major to do a deal with the central government since the 2003 invasion.

Budget deficit nears record under latest estimates - 9 Sep 2008 at 12:47pm - The federal government will run a near-record deficit of $407 billion this year, according to the latest Capitol Hill estimates.

Dangerous chemicals showing up in some air fresheners - 9 Sep 2008 at 12:08pm - Air fresheners marketed as a way to enhance the smell of your home may actually contain dangerous chemicals that could do harm, a CBC News investigation has found.

Video Shows Easy Hacking of E-Voting Machines - September 09, 2008 10:47:00 AM - The Security Group at the University of California in Santa Barbara has released the video that shows the attacks carried out against the Sequoia voting system. The video shows an attack where a virus-like software spreads across the voting system. The coolest part of the video is the one that shows how the 'brainwashed' voting terminals can use different techniques to change the votes even when a paper audit trail is used. Pretty scary stuff. The video is absolute proof that these types of attacks are indeed feasible and not just a conspiracy theory. Also, the part that shows how the 'tamperproof' seals can be completely bypassed in seconds is very funny (and quite disturbing at the same time).

House panel knocks VA over destroyed specimens - 9 Sep 2008 at 11:32am - WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers on Tuesday castigated Veterans Administration health officials for ordering the destruction of biomedical specimens on Legionnaires' disease and other infectious diseases that two prominent researchers had collected over a quarter-century.

WMD report: US remains 'dangerously vulnerable' - 9 Sep 2008 at 6:34am - WASHINGTON -- The United States remains "dangerously vulnerable" to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks seven years after 9/11, a forthcoming independent study concludes. And a House Democrats' report says the Bush administration has missed one opportunity after another to improve the nation's security.

Bush Administration Plans To Privatize Part Of VA - 9 Sep 2008 at 6:00am - The White House has announced that it will privatize parts of one of the most venerated federal programs for veterans. The news has prompted criticism from several national veterans groups.

Thought for the day:
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. -Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)