Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
The FBI’s Secret Rules
January 31st, 2017Via: The Intercept: For example, the bureau’s agents can decide that a campus organization is not “legitimate” and therefore not entitled to robust protections for free speech; dig for derogatory information on potential informants without any basis for believing they are implicated in unlawful activity; use a person’s immigration status to pressure them to collaborate […]
Not The Onion: Cambridge Scientists Consider Fake News ‘Vaccine’
January 24th, 2017Via: BBC: The appearance of fake news on websites and social media has inspired scientists to develop a “vaccine” to immunise people against the problem. A University of Cambridge study devised psychological tools to target fact distortion. Researchers suggest “pre-emptively exposing” readers to a small “dose” of the misinformation can help organisations cancel out bogus […]
Wyoming Wants to Ban Sale of Electricity from Large Scale Wind and Solar Projects within State
January 22nd, 2017Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Christian Science Monitor: While renewable-energy use has grown substantially over the last few years, the regulatory environment remains volatile. Some states have worked hard to stimulate renewable energy, supporting infrastructure projects and offering incentives to consumers who install home solar arrays. But others have […]
Obama Expands Surveillance Powers on His Way Out
January 13th, 2017Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation: With mere days left before President-elect Donald Trump takes the White House, President Barack Obama’s administration just finalized rules to make it easier for the nation’s intelligence agencies to share unfiltered information about innocent people. New rules issued by the Obama administration under Executive Order 12333 will let the NSA—which collects […]
Facebook: Building 8
January 12th, 2017Wikipedia: Transcranial Pulsed Ultrasound: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is undergoing research to develop a helmet that could control the minds of soldiers through the use of TPU. It would have the potential to control a soldier’s stress and anxiety levels with the click of a remote controlled button.[5] Sound waves would target specific […]
China Has Wealth of Data on What Individuals Are Doing at a Micro Level
January 11th, 2017Most of what sounds grim about this situation in China is the same in the U.S. Via: CBC: Living in China, it’s safe to assume pretty much everything about you is known — or easily can be known — by the government. Where you go, who you’re with, which restaurants you like, when and why […]
Bitcoin Slides as China’s Central Bank Launches Checks on Exchanges
January 11th, 2017Via: Reuters: China’s central bank launched spot checks on leading bitcoin exchanges in Beijing and Shanghai, ratcheting up pressure on potential capital outflows and knocking the price of the cryptocurrency down more than 12 percent against the dollar. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said its probe of bitcoin exchanges BTCC, Huobi and OKCoin was […]
Terror Suspects Could be Forced to Wear Electronic Tags Under Radical Proposal from German Justice Minister
January 9th, 2017Do you get it yet? Do you see what becomes possible when they create the problem in the first place? If you think this would just be used on “Islamic extremists,” read the statement from Heiko Maas carefully: “The use of ankle tags should not be only available for convicted criminals after release from prison, […]
Obama Quietly Signs The “Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act” Into Law
December 27th, 2016Via: ZeroHedge: Long before the “fake news” meme became a daily topic of extensive conversation on such discredited mainstream portals as CNN and WaPo, H.R. 5181 would task the Secretary of State with coordinating the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors to “establish a Center for Information […]
150 Filmmakers Ask Nikon and Canon to Sell Encrypted Cameras
December 14th, 2016Yeah, well, then you’d have the old rubber hose cryptanalysis issue to contend with. Via: Wired: Nearly all smartphones today encrypt their storage by default, and encrypted storage software for PCs is free and reliable. But cameras, even the ones in the hands of photojournalists and documentary filmmakers capturing sensitive images and video, still don’t […]
