Al-Qaeda’s Syrian wing is helping to finance its activities by selling the product of oilfields that once helped to prop up the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Up to 380,000 barrels of crude oil were previously produced by wells around the city of Raqqa and in the desert region to its east that are now in rebel hands - in particular Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda off-shoot which is the strongest faction in this part of the country.
// read more.. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10065802/Al-Qaedas-Syrian-wing-takes-over-the-oilfields-once-belonging-to-Assad.html
// RELATED.. CFR report on supporting Al Qaeda with Syrian rebels http://www.cfr.org/syria/al-qaedas-specter-syria/p28782
// Syrian Rebels Tied to Al Qaeda Play Key Role in War http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/world/middleeast/syrian-rebels-tied-to-al-qaeda-play-key-role-in-war.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
// Hacked Emails Reveal ‘Washington-Approved’ Plan to Stage Chemical Weapons Attack in Syria http://www.infowars.com/hack-reveals-washington-approved-plan-to-stage-chemical-weapons-attack-in-syria/
The odds are you are not just a face in the crowd any longer. Even if your picture isn’t plastered all over social networking and photo-sharing sites, facial recognition technology in public places is making it harder if not impossible to remain anonymous. Lesley Stahl reports on the new ways this technology is being used that even has one of its inventors calling it too intrusive. Her 60 Minutes report will be broadcast Sunday, May 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Professor Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie Mellon, who researches how technology impacts privacy, stunned Stahl with an experiment. He photographed random students on the campus and in short order, not only identified several of them, but in a number of cases found their personal information, including social security numbers, just using a facial recognition program he downloaded for free. Acquisti says smart-phones will make “facial searches” as common as Google searches in the future. And nearly everybody can be subject to such prying, even those who are careful about their Internet use.
“One of the participants, before doing the experiment, told us, ‘You’re not going to find me because I’m very careful about my photos online.’ And we found him,” says Acquisti, “Because someone else had uploaded a photo of him.”
// read more.. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57584887/big-brother-is-big-business/
FOX19 has exclusively learned that as many as four people may be the first Cincinnati Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees to face disciplinary action, and possibly even criminal charges, for allegedly targeting Tea Party and Liberty groups applying for non-profit status.
// read more.. http://www.fox19.com/story/22265631/four-cincy-irs-workers-not-two-allegedly-connected-to-scandal
// RELATED.. “Audit this”- Philadelphia Eagles’ Evan Mathis shared a photo on his Instagram of him peeing on an IRS building sign pic.twitter.com/6pLZNNuuCD
// Number of targeted groups swells to 500..http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2013/05/15/reports-irs-spared-liberal-groups-as-tea-party-languished-more-conservative-orgs-targeted-than-first-thought-n1596864
// When Obamacare’s individual mandate takes effect in 2014, all Americans who file income tax returns must complete an additional IRS tax form. http://www.atr.org/obamacare-taxpayers-must-report-personal-health-a7611
IRS and Justice Dept. wiretapping, mandated healthcare, aiding al Qaeda in Libya and Syria.. the Obama administration can’t seem to perform under the Constitution…http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/scandal-politics-sweep-capitol-hill-91297.html
// RELATED.. Rand Paul: Obama is working with ‘anti-American globalists plot[ting] against our Constitution.’ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/11/rand-paul-obama-is-working-with-anti-american-globalists-plotting-against-our-constitution/
James Holmes, the student accused of the ‘Batman’ movie massacre in a Colorado cinema, could be given a truth serum as part of a narcoanalytic interview to determine whether he is insane, as a judge enters a not guilty plea on his behalf.
// read more.. http://rt.com/usa/cinema-shooting-insanity-guns-154/
// “truth serum”
In Wisconsin, while the state Department of Agriculture “once supported farmers who offered raw dairy through direct-to-consumer sales,” the state agency has reversed its position under pressure from the FDA.
When the state legislature tried to block the newly developing crackdown on farmers who provide their products directly to consumers, the governor vetoed the proposal.
In the case, the state of Wisconsin is arguing it can regulate when consumers gain access to such products through private deals.
A mystery in Quincy continues to deepen: Who is flying around the city from dusk to dawn, for the past ten days or so?
“It’s frightening, not just weird, but frightening,” said one resident of the Wollaston section.
Every night for nearly the last two weeks, residents have spotted a low-flying aircraft doing loops over the city. WBZ has learned the FAA knows what’s going on, but the agency isn’t telling.
// read more/watch video.. http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/05/09/mystery-aircraft-frightens-quincy-residents/
“At first I thought I was hallucinating,” said Maria Smilios of Astoria. “He pulled out this gun.”
Smilios saw the toy up close, and at first thought it was the real thing. She gave CBS 2 a cellphone photo she said shows Pawlowski firing pellets at a tree.
“The next thing, he took his son, who is 3, and showed him how to use it, and then the family took turns shooting the gun. He gave it to his daughter, who took off on the bicycle and started racing around the park with the gun pointing this way and just started pointing it at the kids,” Smilios said.
// read more.. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/05/08/exclusive-man-arrested-for-allegedly-shooting-realistic-toy-gun-with-kids-in-queens-park/
// RELATED. Hello Kitty Bubble Gun Gets 5-year-old Suspended | Video - ABC … abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/kitty-bubble-gun-year-suspended-18263233
// Boy who held pencil like gun suspended http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/suffolk/boy-who-held-pencil-like-gun-suspended
// Student suspended for shaping Pop-Tart into gun http://www.ktnv.com/news/watercooler/194673111.html
