Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
Watchdog Report Says NSA Program Is Illegal and Should End
January 23rd, 2014Captain Obvious checking in on Cryptogon this morning. Via: New York Times: An independent federal privacy watchdog has concluded that the National Security Agency’s program to collect bulk phone call records has provided only “minimal” benefits in counterterrorism efforts, is illegal and should be shut down. The findings are laid out in a 238-page report, […]
Army Studying Replacing Thousands of Grunts with Robots
January 21st, 2014Via: Military Times: During remarks at the Army Aviation Symposium in Arlington, Va., on Jan. 15, Cone quietly dropped a bomb. The Army, he said, is considering the feasibility of shrinking the size of the brigade combat team from about 4,000 soldiers to 3,000 over the coming years, and replacing the lost soldiers with robots […]
Files Show Chicago Archdiocese Hid Decades Of Child Sex Abuse
January 21st, 2014Via: CBS: For decades, those at the highest levels of the nation’s third-largest archdiocese moved accused priests from parish to parish while hiding the clerics’ histories from the public. In some cases, abuse by priests happened while there were in seminary school before they were ordained. In other instances, priests were promoted, despite knowledge of […]
Chinese Bootcamps for Internet Addicts
January 21st, 2014Via: news.com.au: CHINA is the first country to label internet addiction a clinical disorder. But instead of shutting the laptop and going for a stroll, in China there are guarded boot camps intended to deprogram hooked teens. … This addiction and social detachment is striking nationwide concern across China, so to stamp it out the […]
Ukraine Tracks Protesters Through Cellphones
January 21st, 2014Via: New York Times: The Ukrainian government used telephone technology to pinpoint the locations of cellphones in use near clashes between riot police officers and protesters early on Tuesday, illustrating that techniques that can be used to target commercial information can serve law enforcement as well. People near the fighting between riot police and protesters […]
Syria: Senior War Crimes Prosecutors Say Photographs and Documents Provide ‘Clear Evidence’ of Systematic Killing of 11,000 Detainees
January 21st, 2014Via: Guardian: Syrian government officials could face war crimes charges in the light of a huge cache of evidence smuggled out of the country showing the “systematic killing” of about 11,000 detainees, according to three eminent international lawyers. The three, former prosecutors at the criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone, examined thousands […]
The Brazilian Ranch Where Nazis Kept Slaves
January 21st, 2014Via: BBC: It’s well known that pre-war Brazil had strong links with Nazi Germany – the two were economic partners and Brazil had the biggest fascist party outside Europe, with more than 40,000 members. But it was years before Maciel – thanks to detective work by history professor Sidney Aguilar Filho – learned the grim […]
Poll: U.S. The Biggest Threat to World Peace in 2013
January 20th, 2014Via: Gallup: WIN/Gallup International, the leading global association in market research and polling, has today published, in collaboration with The BBC’s Today programme, the results of its annual End of Year Survey which explores the outlook, expectations, hopes and fears of people from 65 countries around the world. … US is considered to be the […]
Rich Chinese Flee China
January 19th, 2014Via: CNBC: A new report shows that 64 percent of Chinese millionaires have either emigrated or plan to emigrate—taking their spending and fortunes with them. The United States is their favorite destination. The report from Hurun, a wealth research firm that focuses on China, said that one-third of China’s super rich—or those worth $16 million […]
Marines Investigate Photos from Iraq that Reportedly Show Troops Burning Bodies
January 18th, 2014I wonder how many Americans have ever heard of the Highway of Death? Via: CNN: The Marine Corps is working to determine the authenticity of photos published by TMZ.com that purport to show Marines burning the bodies of what appear to be Iraqi insurgents. The celebrity and gossip website said it has 41 photographs believed […]
