Update:
1. DHS built domestic surveillance tech into Predator drones
Homeland Security's specifications say drones must be able to detect whether a civilian is armed. Also specified: "signals interception" and "direction finding" for electronic surveillance. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has customized its Predator drones, originally built for overseas military operations, to carry out at-home surveillance tasks that have civil libertarians worried: identifying civilians carrying guns and tracking their cell phones, government documents show.
The documents provide more details about the surveillance capabilities of the department's unmanned Predator B drones, which are primarily used to patrol the United States' northern and southern borders, but have been pressed into service on behalf of a growing number of law enforcement agencies including the FBI, the Secret Service, the Texas Rangers, and local police
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-575722...or-drones/
2. Israel may lose $500 million in US aid
After Washington fiscal talks fail, new budget crisis begins. If parties fail to reach compromise, cuts may affect foreign aid as well, including military aid for development of anti-missile batteries. US President Barack Obama emerged Friday from a unsuccessful, last-minute meeting with congressional leaders declaring there was no progress on blocking what he called "dumb and arbitrary" cuts that will begin carving $85 billion of government spending by day's end.
The cuts will likely affect American citizens, but also Washington's military aid to Israel. If the crisis is not solved in a compromise reached during the 2013 fiscal year, the Jewish state stands to lose up to $760 million in security aid.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,...18,00.html
3. US: Cuba is a State Sponsor of Terrorism
The United States is grasping at straws in justifying the continued economic embargo on Cuba by claiming the country is in a category with Iran, Sudan, and Syria as officially recognized state sponsors of terrorism. Washington, of course, refuses to provide any evidence of this, even as the charge of Cuba’s “support for acts of international terrorism” is increasingly questioned.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/03/01/us-cu...terrorism/
4. Local warming: U.S. cities in front line as sea levels rise
Built at sea level on reclaimed wetland, Norfolk has faced floods throughout its 400-year history. But as the Atlantic Ocean warms and expands, and parts of the city subside, higher tides and fiercer storms seem to hit harder than they used to.
Dealing with this increased threat has put Norfolk at the forefront of American cities taking the lead on coping with intense weather, from floods to droughts to killer heat, without waiting for the federal government to take the lead.
Still, many scientists see the frequent flooding as consistent with projected consequences of rising global temperatures, spurred by increased emissions of greenhouse gases.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/2...0020130227
5. No slack for Manning: Prosecutors to press for life
Military prosecutors intend to pursue more serious charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning despite his having plead guilty to lesser charges. The whistleblower faces life imprisonment if he is found guilty of aiding the enemy. Manning, 25, admitted on Thursday to handing over a trove of classified documents to WikiLeaks. He voluntary plead guilty to 10 relevant charges, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years.
The move was a 'naked plea' – unlike a plea bargain, there is no arrangement with the prosecution to drop other charges. It did, however, give prosecutors the option to only purse the charges to which Manning confessed, and proceed straight to sentencing.
http://rt.com/usa/manning-trial-charges-...ution-720/
6. New Study Shows: Food Fraud Soared 60% Last Year
So what is food fraud anyway? Well, it’s sort of what you would expect. It’s when companies label food one way, but the truth turns out to be completely different. I have been predicting an escalation in this trend for years, since it was obvious that as inflation led to increases in food prices, companies would resort to this type of behavior to keep margins inflated. So in their latest study, the non-profit food fraud detectives at the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) show us the extent of this extremely dangerous trend.
But a new scientific examination by the non-profit food fraud detectives the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), discovered rising numbers of fake ingredients in products from olive oil to spices to fruit juice. In a new database to be released Wednesday, and obtained exclusively by ABC News today, USP warns consumers, the FDA and manufacturers that the amount of food fraud they found is up by 60 percent this year.
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/01/22/...last-year/
7. China Central Bank Says It Is "Fully Prepared For Looming Currency War"
Just in case Lagarde (and everyone else except for the Germans, who have a very unpleasant habit of telling the truth), was lying about that whole "no currency war" thing, China is already one step ahead and is fully prepared to roll out its own FX army. According to China Times, "China is fully prepared for a looming currency war should it, though "avoidable," really happen, said China's central bank deputy governor Yi Gang late Friday." We look forward to the female head of the IMF explaining how China is obviously confused and that it is not currency war when one crushes their currency to promote "economic goals."
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-02...rrency-war
8. Obama signs sweeping US budget cuts into effect
The cuts - known as the sequester and drawn up two years ago - will take $85bn (£56bn) from the US federal budget this year. Last-ditch talks at the White House to avert the reductions before Friday's deadline broke up without agreement. The IMF has warned the cuts could slow global economic growth.
The BBC's Mark Mardell in Washington says the cuts were designed to be so brutally painful that politicians would be forced to agree on a better way of balancing the books. However, as the midnight deadline loomed on Friday, Mr Obama and Republican congressional leaders still failed to agree on a way to avoid them. The two sides are at odds over the president's insistence on raising taxes as part of any plan for tackling the country's $16.6 trillion (£11tn) debt.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21638727