Hasta La Gadget!

Seymour Hersh found himself in the middle of an F-5 shitstorm this week after breaking his biggest blockbuster story of the Obama Era, debunking the official heroic White House story about how Navy SEALs took out Osama Bin Laden in a daring, secret nighttime raid in the heart of Pakistan.

According to Hersh’s account, OBL was given up by one of his Pakistani ISI prison wardens—our Pakistaini allies had been holding him captive since 2006, with backing from our Saudi allies, to use for leverage. Hersh’s account calls into question a lot of things, starting with the justification for the massive, expensive, and brutal US GWOT military-intelligence web, which apparently had zilch to do with taking out the most wanted terrorist in the world. All it took, says Hersh, was one sleazy Pakistani ISI turncoat walking into a CIA storefront in Islamabad, handing them the address to Bin Laden’s location, and picking up his $25 million bounty check. About as hi-tech as an episode of Gunsmoke.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

BEIJING (AP) — China and the United States budged not a bit Saturday over Beijing’s assertive development in disputed parts of the South China Sea, with Foreign Minister Wang Ji politely but pointedly dismissing Washington’s push for a diplomatic solution to ease tensions.

Wang and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stressed the importance of dialogue to resolve competing claims in the waterway. But neither diplomat showed any sign of giving ground over Chinese land reclamation projects that have alarmed the United States and China’s smaller neighbors. The U.S. and most members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations want a halt to the projects, which they suspect are aimed at building islands and other land features over which China can claim sovereignty.

“We are concerned about the pace and scope of China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea,” Kerry said. He urged China to speed up talks with ASEAN on guidelines for handling maritime activity in disputed areas.

The goal is to help “reduce tensions and increase the prospect of diplomatic solutions,” Kerry said.

“I think we agree that the region needs smart diplomacy in order to conclude the ASEAN-China code of conduct and not outposts and military strips,” Kerry told reporters at a news conference with Wang.

Wang indicated that while China was prepared to talk, it would not back down on the construction that, he said, “is something that falls fully within the scope of China’s sovereignty.”

“The determination of the Chinese side to safeguard our own sovereignty and territorial integrity is as firm as a rock, and it is unshakable,” he said.

“It has always been our view that we need to find appropriate solutions to the issues we have through communications and negotiations that we have among the parties directly concerned with peaceful and diplomatic means on the basis of respecting historical facts and international norms. This position will remain unchanged in the future.”

Wang added that the differences between China and the U.S. could be managed “as long as we can avoid misunderstanding and, even more importantly, avoid miscalculation.”

The Chinese claims and land reclamation projects have rattled the region where South China Sea islands and reefs are contested by China and five other Asian governments. Activities have led to clashes, accompanied by nationalistic protests and occasional serious diplomatic implications.

The U.S. says it takes no position on the sovereignty claims but insists they must be negotiated. Washington also says ensuring maritime safety and access to some of the world’s busiest commercial shipping routes is a U.S. national security priority.

China has bristled at what it sees as U.S. interference in the region and wants to negotiate with the ASEAN countries individually, something those much smaller nations fear will not be fair.

In one disputed area, the Spratly Islands, U.S. officials say China has reclaimed about 2,000 acres of dry land since 2014 that could be used as airstrips or for military purposes. The U.S. argues that man-made constructions cannot be used to claim sovereignty.

Obama administration officials have declined to comment on reports that it may deploy military assets, or that it is considering a demonstration of freedom of navigation within 12 nautical miles of the islands’ notional territorial zone. But they have said many of the features claimed by China in the disputed Spratlys are submerged and do not carry territorial rights, and said that China cannot “manufacture sovereignty.”

Despite the clear disagreements over the South China Sea, Kerry and Wang said they were on track to make progress in other areas, notably on climate change, the fight against violent extremism, and preparations for the next round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in June and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington in September.

They expressed pleasure with their cooperation in the Iran nuclear talks, their solidarity in trying to denuclearize North Korea and combat diseases such as the deadly Ebola virus.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Paul Pierce was in true Paul Pierce form Friday night in the Washington Wizards’ Game 6 against the Atlanta Hawks.

Down by three, 94-91, in the last seconds of the game (and trailing in the series 3-2), Pierce launched a shot from the corner and drained it, seemingly leading to overtime. The crowd erupted and the impossible seemed possible.

But the NBA vet, who struck lightning with a game-winning buzzer-beater earlier in the series, couldn’t make magic once again. A review of the play showed Pierce didn’t quite get the shot off before the buzzer and Washington went from elation to dejection and elimination from the NBA Playoffs.

So close. Yet so, so far.

Wizards fan watch a replay of the shot.

It is a painful way to go out and The Washington Post’s sports front page really says it all:

#DCsports spring ends with thud. @washingtonpost @PostSports Thursday cover off #Wizards loss to #Hawks #PAULPIERCE pic.twitter.com/n8ozLJG8dc

— Dan Worthington (@danWorthington) May 16, 2015

Just how down was Pierce after the game? So much so that he raised doubts as to whether he’ll even return next year.

“It’s probably going to be the hardest thing I ever have to do is put the game down, but I know that time is coming one day and [I’m] not sure if it’s this year or next year,” Paul told reporters after the game. “So, I’ll sit down and talk to my family and figure things out.”

The Hawks will now face off against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Game 1 tips off on Wednesday.

Could this really be the last time Pierce walks off the court?

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

While we were all busy arguing whether our cellphones could affect planes, one security researcher was busily hacking into aircraft and potentially gaining access to engine control. An ill-advised tweet got infosec specialist Chris Roberts barred from a United flight last month, after he joked about tinkering with aircraft systems like passenger emergency oxygen control. Turns out, so documentation submitted … Continue reading

Zwier Spanjer became Internet famous back in January when he uploaded a video of himself saving his brand new and expensive quadcopter from falling into a ditch after its battery died. It’s hilarious to watch, but it could have ended horribly. Michael Pick fears the same thing could happen to his quadcopter so he came up with SmartChutes, an automatic parachute deployment system for lightweight multicopters.

SmartChutes supports multicopters that weigh up to 4 lbs. and comes with a carbon fiber mount. When its gyroscope and accelerometer sense that the multicopter is in free fall or has tilted by more than 90º, SmartChutes will automatically deploy its 36″ parachute within 350ms, reducing the risk of damage from impact and hopefully giving you time to go catch your precious copter.

If you have any concern about the SmartChute throwing off the balance or stability of your quadcopter, not to worry. Its creator says that it’s so light that drones can easily compensate for the tiny bit of added weight.

Because SmartChutes has its own sensor and battery, it will work even if your multicopter’s own battery runs out or if it goes out of your remote control’s range. And you can force SmartChutes to activate by making your multicopter go into freefall.

Pledge at least $130 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a SmartChutes unit as a reward. Note that the images and video show Michael’s working prototype; he estimates that the final version will be 30% smaller.

[via Digital Trends]