Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
iPads Banned from Cabinet Meetings Over Surveillance Fears
November 6th, 2013Oh yeah, China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan. *wink* In other news: NSA Can Access Data on All Smartphones Via: Telegraph: The securities services fear foreign intelligence agencies have developed the ability to turn mobile devices such as phones and tablets into bugs without the owner’s knowledge, allowing them to eavesdrop on confidential meetings. iPads were […]
FBI Seeks Video Recognition Technology to Automatically ID Suspects
November 5th, 2013Via: Nextgov: The FBI is weighing the use of video recognition technology to quickly identify suspects, even if all the camera has captured is a perpetrator’s limp or fraying blue baseball cap. Think of it as automated police lineups for the YouTube generation. While investigators manually scoured video to identify the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, […]
Security Check Now Starts Long Before You Fly
November 4th, 2013Via: New York Times: The Transportation Security Administration is expanding its screening of passengers before they arrive at the airport by searching a wide array of government and private databases that can include records like car registrations and employment information. While the agency says that the goal is to streamline the security procedures for millions […]
U.S. Nuclear Upgrade Over the Next Decade: $350 Billion to $400 Billion
November 4th, 2013Via: Reuters: The U.S. nuclear arsenal needs a multi-billion dollar overhaul in the coming decade to ensure the weapons’ safety and effectiveness, defense officials said on Tuesday, despite warnings from arms control groups that the effort is unaffordable and unnecessary. Assistant Defense Secretary Madelyn Creedon told a panel in the U.S. House of Representatives that […]
Obamacare Open Thread
November 4th, 2013Do we need an Obamacare open thread? Here it is, just in case.
Three Guys Built a Better Healthcare.gov
November 3rd, 2013Via: The Atlantic Wire: The Affordable Health Care act rollout was an unmitigated disaster thanks in large part to a cluttered website that both didn’t work and was offensively ugly. Maybe things would not have gone so poorly if HealthCare.gov looked something like this. No one knows the resources that went into building HealthCare.gov, but […]
Last Year President Obama Reportedly Told His Aides That He’s ‘Really Good At Killing People’
November 3rd, 2013Via: Business Insider: This will not go over well for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner. According to the new book “Double Down,” in which journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann chronicle the 2012 presidential election, President Barack Obama told his aides that he’s “really good at killing people” while discussing drone strikes. Peter Hamby […]
Alleged LAX Gunman Had ‘New World Order’ Conspiracy Theory Tract
November 2nd, 2013Update: Picture of LAX Shooter? [NSFW] — Via: NBC: The man who allegedly killed a TSA worker and wounded three others at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday had anti-government literature in his possession outlining an alleged conspiracy to create a single global government, law enforcement sources tell NBC News. The sources, who spoke on […]
Son of Blackbird: SR-72, Mach 6 Reconnaissance and Strike Drone
November 2nd, 2013I wonder if everyone in the U.S. will be on food stamps by the time this thing takes to the air: Food banks across the country, stretched thin in the aftermath of the recession, are bracing for more people coming through their doors in the wake of cuts to the federal food stamp program. Food […]
Slow and Steady Progress Toward Lethal Autonomous Robots
October 31st, 2013This piece is a good summary of what’s happening in the field of military robotics. I’m pretty sure that all of the systems here have been covered separately on Cryptogon. Via: Vocativ: There are important differences between drones, landmines, and “killer robots” — the more serious term being “fully autonomous weapon,” or “lethal autonomous weapon” […]
