Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
Australia Outlaws Warrant Canaries
March 27th, 2015Via: BoingBoing: The exceptionally broad new surveillance bill lets the government do nearly unlimited warrantless mass surveillance, even of lawyer-client privileged communications, and bans warrant canaries, making it an offense to “disclose information about the existence or non-existence” of a warrant to spy on journalists.
Some of Tesla’s Papers Remain Classified by U.S. Government
March 25th, 2015This is from 2013. Via: National Geographic: 5. Many of Tesla’s inventions were classified. When Tesla died in 1943, during World War II, the Office of Alien Property took his belongings, Alcorn said. Most of his things were later released to his family, and many ended up in the Tesla Museum in Belgrade, which opened […]
Royal Family Member Was Investigated as Part of Paedophile Ring Before Cover-Up, Ex-Cop Says
March 24th, 2015Via: Independent: A member of the Royal family was claimed to be part of a suspected paedophile ring under investigation by police in the late 1980s, a former police officer has said. The former Metropolitan Police officer says he was told by a detective sergeant that the investigation into the ring, which was also claimed […]
Wife of Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz Takes Leave from Goldman Sachs
March 24th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: Heidi Cruz, a managing director at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in Houston, has taken an unpaid leave from her private wealth-management job to help with her husband’s campaign for the U.S. presidency, a person familiar with the matter said. Ted Cruz, 44, a Republican senator from Texas, said on Twitter early Monday morning […]
“Pentagon Loses Track of $500 Million in Weapons, Equipment Given to Yemen”
March 24th, 2015Another U.S. arms drop to ISIS/al-Qaeda. Via: Washington Post: The Pentagon is unable to account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen, amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials. With Yemen in turmoil and […]
France Decrees New Commercial Buildings Must Be Partially Covered in Plants or Solar Panels
March 20th, 2015Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — While I’d be thrilled to see more commercial buildings with plants and solar panels on top of them, I’m not so thrilled with the strong arm legislation used to get there. On the overall scheme of things, green rooftops and solar panel systems would be […]
Google’s New Facial Recognition System
March 19th, 2015Via: Fortune: New advances in facial recognition are a step forward for an artificial intelligence technique called deep learning. “I never forget a face,” some people like to boast. It’s a claim that looks quainter by the day as artificial intelligence research continues to advance. Some computers, it turns out, never forget 260 million faces. […]
Change We Can Believe In: U.S. Sets New Record for Denying Federal Files Under Freedom of Information Act
March 18th, 2015Via: Guardian: The US has set a new record for denying and censoring federal files under the Freedom of Information Act, analysis by the Associated Press reveals. For the second consecutive year, the Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them under the open-government legislation. The government took […]
Putin Puts Troops on Full Alert in Snap Western Russia Drills
March 16th, 2015Via: Bloomberg: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops placed on full combat readiness in snap drills in western Russia, as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned the country was facing new threats to its security. Some 38,000 troops, 41 warships, 15 submarines and 110 aircraft are involved in the exercises, Shoigu said on Monday, according to […]
France to Keep 10,000 Troops on Streets
March 16th, 2015Via: Russia Today: As the threat of attacks by Islamist extremists remains high in France, President Francois Hollande has decided to continue the deployment of 10,000 troops on the streets across the country. “The threat of terrorist attack against our country remains high. The head of state has decided to maintain the level of the […]
