USA Brass Ammunition Company Raided by Obama"s EPA - Alleges "Environmental Violations"

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USA Brass Ammunition Company Raided by Obama"s EPA - Alleges "Environmental Violations"

The head of the bankrupt company behind W.Va’s chemical spill wants to get paid

It’s hard out there for Freedom Industries President Gary Southern

Salon.com

The head of the bankrupt company behind W.Va’s chemical spill wants to get paid

Epic battle between Tesla and Chris Christie ends in defeat for the electric car company

The company attacked the NJ governor on Twitter after he pushed “anti-Tesla” legislation

Salon.com

Epic battle between Tesla and Chris Christie ends in defeat for the electric car company

Chaos as company accidentally invites 61,000 people to job interview

Reuters
February 26, 2014

Police dispersed an angry crowd of jobseekers outside an employment office in Stockholm on Wednesday after it called 61,000 people for a recruitment meeting by mistake.

“Something has gone wrong with the mailing list … it has set off a very messy situation at the city office,” said Clas Olsson, acting director of the employment office.

An email call for a recruitment meeting that should have gone out to about 1,000 jobseekers went out to considerably more people, about 61,000 – apparently all the registered job seekers in Stockholm, police said.

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This article was posted: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 12:45 pm

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Infowars

Chaos as company accidentally invites 61,000 people to job interview

Bad Company: Honolulu Rail Car Supplier Ansaldo Breda May be Sold, Liquidated

Bad Company: Honolulu Rail Car Supplier Ansaldo Breda May be Sold, Liquidated
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Ansaldo Honolulu, responsible for $ 1.4 billion in constriction, future maintenance of all Honolulu Rail cars, and the driver-less signaling system which will control them is a joint venture of Ansaldo STS and Ansaldo Breda. Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s (HART) $ 5.36 billion rail system depends on Ansaldo Honolulu for existence–but the survival of Ansaldo’s Italian parent company, Finmeccanica, depends on getting rid of Ansaldo Breda.

That’s the word from Alessandro Pansa, who became Finmeccanica CEO last year after his predecessor was thrown into jail.  Testifying before the Italian Chamber of Deputies February 10, Pansa explained:

Ansaldo Breda is “likely to jeopardize the future of Finmeccanica.” … Finmeccanica “can not do the restructuring” of Ansaldo Breda because “it is not economically and financially viable.  All the sacrifices made … will be wasted on the performance of Ansaldo Breda.  The situation in which we find ourselves today does not allow you to ensure the survival, development and success to all companies in the group.”  You do not run “the risk of having to think of more amputations or crushing the group ‘if’ the company is sold off.  In the long run, the current economic and financial situations are not compatible with a listed company on the market, every day is accountable to shareholders and lenders.”

To prevent Breda from crushing Finmeccanica, Pansa is pursuing a sale of the very unprofitable rail car maker Ansaldo Breda by linking it with the profitable rail signal firm Ansaldo STS.  As Pansa explains, “We’re not dismantling the Italian industrial system.”

The Medi Telegraph, January 29, 2014, optimistically reports:

General Electric is accelerating purchase negotiations with Finmeccanica for the acquisition of Ansaldo STS and – surprisingly – Breda too. For the first time, the American firm has accepted the condition set out by the CEO Alessandro Pansa who has always insisted that both companies should be sold together. There seems to be no written offer yet, however General Electric confirmed its willingness to negotiate the purchase of the whole business, which is the jewel of STS railroads plus the Breda trains, the financially-critical side of Finmeccanica….

The news have not been confirmed nor denied at Piazza Montegrappa. There are still rumors that Hitachi Rail and Mitsubishi are in the race, but sources close to the deal insist that GE has a clear advantage….

This might sound like good news for Honolulu Rail, but Reuters, February 14, 2014 has more details which indicate the liquidation or splitting up of Ansaldo Breda remains part of the picture:

Daily la Repubblica reported on Friday that a plan, to be unveiled by the end of February, envisaged the spin-off of Ansaldo Breda’s healthy assets. These would be transferred to a new company called InMove Italia together with a minority stake in Ansaldo STS.

InMove Italia would then be sold to state holding Cassa Depositi e Prestiti while what was left of Ansaldo Breda would turn into a “bad company” to be gradually liquidated….

“It would be positive for Finmeccanica as it would get rid at least in part of AnsaldoBreda while for STS it is not good news because the sale of a minority stake pushes forward the prospect of a buyout offer for the whole company.”

After last year’s jailing of Giuseppe Orsi, Finmeccanica’s previous CEO, Honolulu Rail officials went through the motions of questioning Ansaldo’s ability to fulfill its rail contract.

A March 7, 2013 dog and pony show featuring a HART teleconference with Ansaldo STS officials is described in a Pacific Business News article:

Ansaldo STS is stronger than AnsaldoBreda, but there is no foreseeable risk with working with AnsaldoBreda, Ansaldo STS CFO Christian Andi said via teleconference from Italy.

Andi addressed HART board members’ concerns about the possibility of Finmeccanica selling its transportation companies to focus on defense and aerospace work.

Any new owner of Ansaldo would have to fulfill the contract….

That could be quite a trick if both Ansaldo STS and Ansaldo Breda are broken up and the remainder of Ansaldo Breda is liquidated.  But of course nobody from HART asked about that.  Instead HART CEO Daniel Grabauskas said “the companies we are working with have excellent reputations.”

Andrew Walden

Editor, HawaiiFreePress.com

More Posts – Website – Twitter

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COMMENTS

Watchdog Wire

Read more about Bad Company: Honolulu Rail Car Supplier Ansaldo Breda May be Sold, Liquidated and other interesting subjects concerning NSA at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Company says it can beam free Wi-fi to every person on Earth...

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Company says it can beam free Wi-fi to every person on Earth...

Walmart manager blasts company policy: Some employees haven’t gotten a raise in nine years

By Arturo Garcia
Thursday, February 6, 2014 22:29 EST

An unidentified Walmart store manager ripped the corporation in an anonymous letter published on Thursday, saying practices have deteriorated over the past two decades.

“Walmart use [sic] to keep giving you raises no matter your hourly rate,” the manager wrote to Gawker. “They now have caps based on position held. I have many associates who have not received a raise in nearly nine years.”

The manager’s letter stated that he began working for the company shortly after the death of founder Sam Walton in 1992, and used to consider himself a defender of Walmart’s policies.

“Walmart was a good company to work for in relations to the retail sector,” he wrote. “However I feel horrible for the associates I have to manage and the struggles they face. I ask this question, How come in 1999 Walmart could pay me over $ 10 an hour but in 2014 I hire people in at $ 8.00 an hour?”

Not only are incoming employees paid less, he said, but they are also ineligible for Christmas bonuses. Also, store managers no longer have the authority to authorize raises; instead, that is decided at the corporate level.

“I could keep going but basically Walmart has been hacking on its benefit and pay structure for years to save on cost,” the manager wrote. “Their over all view point [sic] is that there is little difference in performance and return on investment [between] a ten year associate and a new hire.”

The manager also explained that he could “never send an honest feedback” within the company without fearing for repercussions, saying Walmart had discontinued a feature allowing any employee to submit questions to former chief executive officer Lee Scott.

“Retaliation is alive at Walmart,” the author told Gawker, saying he wrote in using a new email address to further protect himself.

[Image via Agence France-Presse]

Arturo Garcia

Arturo R. García is the managing editor at Racialicious.com. He is based in San Diego, California and has written for both print and broadcast media, including contributions to GlobalComment.com, The Root and Comment Is Free. Follow him on Twitter at @ABoyNamedArt

The Raw Story

Walmart manager blasts company policy: Some employees haven’t gotten a raise in nine years

Israeli Tech WILL read your mind - For Airport and Company use!!

posted on Jan, 22 2014 @ 11:51 AM

These should be mandatory for every Presidential and Congressional election, as well as Supreme Court candidates. They should also be used for Congressional hearings and police miscconduct investigations.

AboveTopSecret.com New Topics In General Conspiracies

Israeli Tech WILL read your mind - For Airport and Company use!!

UPDATE 1-China"s Qihoo 360 denies Alibaba to take stake in company

UPDATE 1-China"s Qihoo 360 denies Alibaba to take stake in company
http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Wed Jan 8, 2014 10:16pm EST

By Paul Carsten

BEIJING Jan 9 (Reuters) – Chinese Internet company Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd denied on Thursday that e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd would take a stake in the company after its shares surged almost 10 percent on Wednesday on speculation the two were in talks.

“These are rumours someone has made up,” said Qu Xiaodong, vice chairman of Qihoo, which has a market capitalisation of $ 10.93 billion and specialises in security software and is China’s second-largest search engine by users.

Alibaba, which is gearing up for an IPO that could conservatively value the company at more than $ 100 billion, said it does not comment on rumours or speculation.

Qihoo shares shot up 9.3 percent on Wednesday on rumours the two companies were in the advanced stages of discussions for Alibaba to take a stake in Qihoo.

Alibaba and Qihoo have cooperated in the past, having launched a product search engine for online shopping in May last year.

Qihoo has already captured 22.5 percent of China’s search engine market as of December since breaking on to the scene in 2012, according to Alibaba-owned Internet data analysts CNZZ.

It is second only to Baidu Inc, whose search engine market share in China fell to 63 percent as of December from 80.4 percent in August 2012, when Qihoo launched its own search product.

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Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate

Read more about UPDATE 1-China"s Qihoo 360 denies Alibaba to take stake in company and other interesting subjects concerning Real Estate at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Warren Buffett Bought Stake in Pipeline Company on Same Day as North Dakota Oil Train Explosion

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Warren Buffett Bought Stake in Pipeline Company on Same Day as North Dakota Oil Train Explosion

Report: $10 million NSA contract tied influential security company RSA

By End the Lie

RSA products (Image credit: Travis Goodspeed/Flickr)

A $ 10 million National Security Agency (NSA) contract was arranged with computer security giant RSA with the goal of creating a back door into widely used encryption products, according to an exclusive Reuters report.

This comes after the Obama administration’s advisory panel criticized the NSA’s practice of undermining encryption. Previously, it was reported that the NSA and British GCHQ crack encryption and “covertly influence” companies and that encryption standards were weakened under NSA influence.

It was already revealed that the NSA created and distributed a random number generation formula that was intentionally flawed in order to create a back door into common encryption products.

Reuters also previously reported that RSA was the key distributor of the formula by placing it in “Bsafe,” a tool used to enhance computer security.

Yet the latest Reuters report published Friday reveals that “RSA received $ 10 million in a deal that set the NSA formula as the preferred, or default, method for number generation in the BSafe software, according to two sources familiar with the contract.”

Even before it was reported that RSA received millions in exchange for rolling out the flawed NSA formula, Reuters notes that some security experts were shocked.

RSA “had a long history of championing privacy and security, and it played a leading role in blocking a 1990s effort by the NSA to require a special chip to enable spying on a wide range of computer and communications products,” Reuters reports.

This, however, didn’t stop them from accepting what made up over one third of the yearly revenue at the relevant division of RSA in exchange for helping the NSA.

Unsurprisingly, RSA and their parent company EMC Corp, did not answer questions for the story. When the earlier reports were published, both companies urged customers to stop using the NSA formulas.

However, RSA issued a statement, saying the company “always acts in the best interest of its customers and under no circumstances does RSA design or enable any back doors in our products. Decisions about the features and functionality of RSA products are our own.”

Most of the dozen current and former employees of RSA interviewed by Reuters said the company made a mistake in agreeing to the NSA contract.

Many reportedly cited RSA’s shift away from pure cryptography products as one of the reasons it happened, though several said the company was misled by government officials.

“They did not show their true hand,” one anonymous individual briefed on the NSA-RSA deal said, referring to the NSA. The individual said that NSA officials did not say they knew how to break the encryption.

Just how accurate that is remains unknown. The NSA declined to comment for the Reuters report.

I’d love to hear your opinion, take a look at your story tips and even your original writing if you would like to get it published. I am also available for interviews on radio, television or any other format. Please email me at [email protected]

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Report: $10 million NSA contract tied influential security company RSA

From Oppo to OnePlus: a new company wants to build the next great smartphone

When Oppo vice president Pete Lau resigned last month, the timing was almost puzzling. Lau had just helped to bring CyanogenMod onto the company’s new handset, the N1, finally pairing Oppo’s high-end specs and sleek design with software that could create what enthusiasts might see as the perfect package. But even then, Lau wasn’t satisfied. “Everyone should have access to the best and latest technology,” Lau tells The Verge in an email.

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“The Nexus line has taught consumers that it’s possible to purchase phones online.”

Lau is now launching a new company that aims to make that a reality. He’s calling it OnePlus, and its goal is to create Lau’s dream smartphone — one that marries fast, high-end hardware with equally high-end design. “We will create a more beautiful and higher quality product,” Lau says. “We will never be different just for the sake of being different. Everything done has to improve the actual user experience in day-to-day use.”

For years, building a smartphone was only a possibility for the biggest of tech companies, but more and more small manufacturers have begun throwing their hats in the ring — from Jolla, to Blu Products, to Yota Devices. OnePlus is the latest in that ilk of small manufacturers, and it has a similar outlook: it doesn’t aim to use cheap components, just to cut down on cost by carefully choosing where it spends money. For OnePlus, those costs will be cut out by eschewing retail stores for online sales. “The Nexus line has taught consumers that it’s possible to purchase phones online,” Lau says. “This is good for latecomers like us.” OnePlus plans to get started by releasing a smartphone in the first half of next year, but everything from wearables to mobile accessories could follow from there.

What that first phone will look like is still a mystery though. Google+ posts by Lau and CyanogenMod founder Steve Kondik suggest that CyanogenMod could come bundled, but Lau isn’t saying much for now. “Getting to know Steve, I feel we share the same philosophy – we both just want to create the best product, no matter what,” Lau says. “I believe that there are more opportunities for us to work together in the future.” OnePlus’ phones will be running on Android, but he won’t say if any customizations will come on top.

Small companies that came before OnePlus have already proven that it’s possible for them to build an attractive smartphone at an equally attractive price. Whether OnePlus can actually build one that’ll make consumers forget about Best Buy or their local wireless store and head online is another question. “A lot of the phones on the market aren’t perfect enough,” Lau says. “This is where our chance lies.”

David Pierce contributed to this report.

• Source OnePlus


• Related Items android smartphone cyanogenmod oppo pete lau oneplus indie smartphone Cellphones

The Verge – All Posts

From Oppo to OnePlus: a new company wants to build the next great smartphone

Yelp"s Where The Sidewalk Ends @ Guilt & Company

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Yelp"s Where The Sidewalk Ends @ Guilt & Company

UPDATE 1-Nasdaq"s No. 2 executive to leave company -sources

UPDATE 1-Nasdaq"s No. 2 executive to leave company -sources
http://currenteconomictrendsandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/3770a__p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Mon Nov 25, 2013 2:26pm EST

By Jessica Toonkel and John McCrank

NEW YORK Nov 25 (Reuters) – Nasdaq OMX Group Inc executive Eric Noll, the exchange operator’s top internal candidate to replace Chief Executive Robert Greifeld, is leaving to take a job in private equity, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.

A spokesman for Nasdaq declined to comment. Noll did not immediately return calls.

Fox Business Network reported earlier on Monday that Noll, who heads execution services at Nasdaq, was leaving the company.

An announcement is expected on the matter after the market close. The sources wished to remain anonymous because they are not permitted to speak to the media.

Tom Wittman, a former president of the Nasdaq OMX PHLX options market and who now manages all of Nasdaq’s products and pricing for U.S. equities and derivatives, is likely to fill Noll’s position, said the two sources, who were not allowed to speak with the media.

Brian Hyndman, senior vice president of global data products at Nasdaq, could also be considered for the role, one of the people said.

The departure of Noll, who masterminded the exchange operator’s $ 750 million purchase of electronic Treasuries-trading platform eSpeed that closed in July, leaves a hole in Nasdaq’s succession planning process.

Nasdaq’s board and its executives have been working on succession planning with some urgency since early 2011 when Adena Friedman, then chief financial officer, left to go to private equity firm Carlyle Group LP.

Greifeld had been positioning Friedman as his successor, and her departure put a spotlight on the lack of depth in the management bench.

There are a host of external candidates for the top job at Nasdaq, Friedman included, though Greifeld has no immediate plans to leave the company, sources told Reuters in September.

Besides Friedman, external candidates on the list include Xavier Rolet, CEO of the London Stock Exchange ; Magnus Bocker, CEO of the Singapore Exchange Ltd ; Craig Donohue, former CEO of CME Group Inc who is taking a job at OCC, the clearinghouse for all U.S. stock options; Tom Kloet, CEO of Canada’s TMX Group Ltd ; and Chris Concannon, formerly of Nasdaq and now a partner at trading firm Virtu Financial.

Noll, an expert on market structure and former Susquehanna International Group executive, was hired by Nasdaq to replace Concannon a little more than four years ago.

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Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate

Read more about UPDATE 1-Nasdaq"s No. 2 executive to leave company -sources and other interesting subjects concerning Real Estate at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Nasdaq"s No. 2 executive to leave company: sources

Nasdaq"s No. 2 executive to leave company: sources
http://currenteconomictrendsandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/b1ace__p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

Eric Noll, executive vice president, transaction services of NASDAQ OMX, speaks during the Investment Company Institute’s (ICI) Capital Markets Conference in New York, October 10, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Carlo Allegri

Reuters: Business News

Read more about Nasdaq"s No. 2 executive to leave company: sources and other interesting subjects concerning Business at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Good Grief… Government Awards Even MORE Contracts To Canadian Company That Produced HealthCare.Gov Disaster

A dog returns to its vomit.

Since the ObamaCare exchange website launched on Oct. 1, government officials have signed at least five different agreements with CGI totaling $ 7 million, according to USASpending.gov, a government website that lists government contracts. The contracts were for computer and software development at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Commerce, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

One contract, for instance, was signed Oct. 19 by Department of Commerce officials that gives CGI Federal $ 266,164 to provide “IT and Telecom Systems Development” for the Patent Office.

I want to say I’m surprised here, but honestly I’m now only surprised if/when government doesn’t make such awful, irresponsible decisions. This sort of madness is now very normal in American government.

LibertyNEWS.com » Today’s News

Good Grief… Government Awards Even MORE Contracts To Canadian Company That Produced HealthCare.Gov Disaster

Americas largest gun shop dropped by credit card company

The Blaze – by Dave Urbanski

The Hyatt Gun Shop of Charlotte, N.C., has been doing business for the last four years with  a subsidiary of Visa — a key Obama campaign donor — that specializes in credit card transactions.

But the subsidiary, Authorize.net/CyberSource, reportedly has ended its relationship with the nation’s largest gun store for a reason that might get you scratching your head.   

Because the Hyatt Gun Shop sells, well, guns.

The Authorize.net email said that gun sales violated a section of the service agreement it signed with the gun shop, reportedly after Hyatt detailed its sales and products — and, you know, its name – according to the Washington Examiner.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Justin Anderson, Hyatt’s marketing director, who added it took a week and thousands of dollars to line up a “gun friendly” credit card processor for online sales.

More from the Examiner:

The brushoff of Hyatt’s business has sparked a national boycott effort against Authorize.net and parent company CyberSource organized by the website Grass Roots North Carolina. “It looks like the small but noisy anti-gun crowd has gotten to what must be a jelly-spined PR department at CyberSource and Authorize.Net. Either that, or leadership at these companies have simply become anti-gun all on their own,” said the website in announcing the boycott.

Anderson suspects that the company, purchased by Visa in 2010, got cold feet dealing with a leading gun seller and he said that he’s heard of other gun stores being dropped. The company had no immediate comment.

The sudden move comes two weeks after the Washington Navy Yard shootings which were followed by President Obama’s plea for more gun control.

Several Visa executives contributed to the president’s re-election campaign, the Examiner notes, adding that their total was $ 21,780, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Here’s the email notice from Authorize.net:

Dear Hyatt Gun Shop Inc,

Authorize.Net LLC (“Authorize.Net”) has determined that the nature of your business constitutes a violation of Section 2.xiv of the Authorize.Net Acceptable Use Guidelines and Sections 3.3 and 11.3 of the Authorize.Net Service Agreement (the “Agreement”). These sections include, but are not limited to, the sale of firearms or any similar product. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 4 of the Acceptable Use Guidelines, your ability to access and use the Authorize.Net Services will be terminated on September 30, 2013.

(H/T: Washington Examiner)

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/28/americas-largest-gun-shop-abruptly-dropped-by-credit-card-co-and-the-reason-will-have-you-shaking-your-head-in-disbelief/

Americas largest gun shop dropped by credit card company

More bad news for McAuliffe car company as GreenTech China venture stalls

HAPPIER DAYS: Terry McAuliffe and his partners unveiled big plans for a Chinese car factory in August 2011. Today, construction has stopped.

By Kenric Ward | Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau

ALEXANDRIA – Terry McAuliffe — slammed by Republicans for touting a Chinese car plant — suffered a reversal when construction of the Inner Mongolia facility reportedly was halted.

As chairman of GreenTech Automotive, McAuliffe announced a joint venture to produce and sell vehicles in China two years ago. Watchdog.org posted video of McAuliffe showing off the dusty site in Ordos.

But the sprawling project stalled when Chinese government funding dried up, according to recent news reports. Construction is said to be on an “indefinite hold.”

As in the United States, GreenTech’s China venture leaned on government incentives.

Marianne McInerney, GreenTech’s vice president for sales and marketing, told Factcheck.org the company was awaiting a decision on whether promised government financial assistance will be restarted.

“Unfortunately, the city of Ordos experienced a significant economic downturn and the project was placed on hold,” GreenTech told Factcheck. “As soon as the (Ordos) city government provides the agreed upon incentive, work would restart.”

GreenTech has said the plant would assemble cars largely from “core components” made in the United States. The company said exporting complete U.S.-made vehicles to China is “economically infeasible” due to China’s high tariffs.

Whether the Ordos project succeeds, McAuliffe’s political opponents say he’s the loser.

“Only his company’s failures could halt Terry McAuliffe’s efforts to build a plant in China — taking jobs he promised Virginians overseas,” Tim Miller, executive director of the conservative America Rising PAC, told Watchdog.

GreenTech abruptly announced in April that McAuliffe had resigned as company chairman in December 2012 in order to make his second run for governor. He remains a major shareholder in the company, which has filed an $ 85 million libel lawsuit against Watchdog.

Kenric Ward is chief of Watchdog’s Virginia Bureau. Contact him at kenric@watchdogvirginia.org or at (571) 319-9824. @Kenricward

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11. McAuliffe hones China’s crony-capitalism model in U.S.


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13. McAuliffe company’s China hook-up: Will it work?


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30. Watchdog report on McAuliffe spurs FOI request to Homeland Security


31. McAuliffe leaves GreenTech questions hanging at debate


32. Totally wired: McAuliffe went to Napolitano to expedite company funding


33. McAuliffe bragged about GreenTech’s cash position while begging feds for faster processing of ‘cash for visas’


34. Investigation targets Homeland official’s relationship to McAuliffe company


35. Even before news of federal probe, McAuliffe ducked GreenTech questions


36. McAuliffe company pressed Homeland official on 81 investor visas


37. Rodham company sought visa for controversial Chinese exec


38. Immigration official says he met with McAuliffe to discuss visas for foreign investors


39. Whiners: Mayorkas says Gulf Coast ‘continues to complain’


40. VIDEO: Ex-GreenTech employee says little happened at Horn Lake plant


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42. National security on ‘hold’: Lawmakers press McAuliffe for answers


43. Citizens United documentary film delves into McAuliffe, GreenTech


44. VIDEO: Terry McAuliffe’s 15 million-square-foot car plant … in China


45. Feds call McAuliffe car company’s use of investment program ‘possible fraud’


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48. McAuliffe ‘desperate’ over documentary, Citizens United says


49. GreenTech weighed Fisker-style federal loan


50. Group tells Terry: Follow ‘McAuliffe Standard’ on disclosure


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52. Congressman: McAuliffe owes Virginians explanation about White House meeting


53. Feds loosen oversight as McAuliffe car company makes mysterious management change


54. GreenTech execs use Times and ABC to throw McAuliffe under the (non-electric) bus


55. Aide in union contribution swap hosts California fund-raiser for McAuliffe


56. Despite denials, docs show McAuliffe company asked feds to fast-track visa for investor tied to spy list


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More bad news for McAuliffe car company as GreenTech China venture stalls

Private Company To Put A Telescope On The Moon

Lunar citizen science by 2016!

By Shaunacy Ferro Posted 07.19.2013 at 4:45 pm

International Lunar Observatory International Lunar Observatory Association/Moon Express, Inc.

Private space exploration is coming to the Moon, and soon. The world’s first mission to the Moon’s sunny South Pole will put a private telescope on a the lunar peak Malapert Mountain as early as 2015.

Moon Express, a private ‘lunar commerce’ startup, and the International Lunar Observatory Association, a nonprofit devoted to moon observation, have teamed up to put the International Lunar Observatory, a 2-meter radio antenna, on the Moon to observe the galaxy without the interference of Earth’s atmosphere, which absorbs some kinds of radiation.

ILOA plans to start small, establishing a scientific presence on the Moon, and eventually move on to human exploration and settlement. A preliminary mission with a smaller telescope will launch in 2015.

The full observatory, slated to arrive in 2016, would provide “scientific research, commercial broadcasting and [enable] Galaxy 21st Century education and “citizen science” on the Moon,” according to a press statement from the two organizations. Its access and controls will be available via the Internet to the general public, as well as researchers.

Moon Express will also send a small rover to prospect for resources, including metals, minerals and water, that could be extracted from the lunar surface and one day sold on Earth.

Though the timeframe for getting the observatory to the Moon has been described as a bit ambitious–even by the Moon Express CEO Bob Richards, according to Wired–Moon Express is in the running for Google’s Lunar XPRIZE to land a robot on the lunar surface by 2015.

[Wired]

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Private Company To Put A Telescope On The Moon