Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
Bitcoin As a Law Enforcement/Natsec Honeypot?
October 16th, 2013Via: Easy Questions Are Boring: Paranoia appears to be the order of the day, given what we know about the NSA and GCHQ thanks to Edward Snowden. Absent from the stories so far is any mention of Bitcoin. I find this odd – Bitcoin is the most cypherpunky of all crypto technologies, after all. I […]
GCHQ Accused of Monitoring Privileged Emails Between Lawyers and Clients
October 15th, 2013Via: Guardian: GCHQ is probably intercepting legally privileged communications between lawyers and their clients, according to a detailed claim filed on behalf of eight Libyans involved in politically sensitive compensation battles with the UK. The accusation has been lodged with Britain’s most secret court, the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT), which examines complaints about the intelligence […]
Fort Benning: Companies Demo Armed Robots for Ground Combat
October 15th, 2013You know why they chained the weapon to posts in the ground, right? *chortle* See: ED209 Malfunction Via: Computerworld: A weaponized robot acting as a member of a squad of U.S. soldiers fighting on the battlefield is no longer science fiction. They may not be two-legged, humanoid robots yet, but with wheels or tracks they […]
In Big Win for Defense Industry, Obama Rolls Back Limits on Arms Exports
October 15th, 2013Via: ProPublica: The United States is loosening controls over military exports, in a shift that former U.S. officials and human rights advocates say could increase the flow of American-made military parts to the world’s conflicts and make it harder to enforce arms sanctions. Come tomorrow, thousands of parts of military aircraft, such as propeller blades, […]
The Russia Left Behind
October 15th, 2013Via: New York Times: A few times every day, the high-speed train between St. Petersburg and Moscow barrels through the threadbare town of Lyuban. When word gets out that the head of Russia’s state railway company — a close friend of President Vladimir V. Putin — is aboard, the station’s employees line up on the […]
NSA Collects Millions of E-mail Address Books Globally
October 14th, 2013Via: Washington Post: The National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The collection program, which has not been disclosed […]
U.S. Intelligence Assets Present During Torture and Murder of DEA Agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena
October 13th, 2013How this appeared on Fox News is a mystery to me, but it’s worth saving. Via: Fox News (mirror): The details of the case are not new. However, those involved in investigating the case, have until now remained silent about the role U.S. intelligence assets played in Camarena’s capture and Quintero’s escape. “Our intelligence agencies […]
Audio Announcement at George Bush Intercontinental Airport
October 13th, 2013Via: Police State USA: “You are also reminded that any inappropriate remarks or jokes concerning security may result in your arrest.”
Shocker: Arms Industry Shills Pressed for Military Intervention in Syria
October 13th, 2013Via: Public Accountability Initiative: During the public debate around the question of whether to attack Syria, Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser to George W. Bush, made a series of high-profile media appearances. Hadley argued strenuously for military intervention in appearances on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and Bloomberg TV, and authored a Washington Post op-ed […]
Ghoulish Corporate Fascism and the Cost of Pharmaceuticals
October 12th, 2013In the piece below, “Market competition among pharmaceutical companies,” means a market failure situation with cartel pricing. Via: New York Times: Thanks in part to the $250 million last year spent on lobbying for pharmaceutical and health products — more than even the defense industry — the government allows such practices. Lawmakers in Washington have […]
