Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
From Milk to Peas, a Chinese Food-Safety Mess
June 23rd, 2012Via: New York Times: There’s mercury in the baby formula. Cabbages are sprayed with formaldehyde. Gelatin capsules for pills, tens of millions of them, are laced with chromium. Used cooking oil is scooped out of gutters for recycling, right along with the sewage. Accounts of dubious or unsafe food in China are as mesmerizing as […]
Proposed HTTP Status Code for Censored Websites: 451
June 22nd, 2012Via: Guardian: Ray Bradbury’s fiction looks set to enter the structure of the internet, after a software developer has proposed a new HTTP status code inspired by Fahrenheit 451. Tim Bray, a fan of Bradbury’s writing, is recommending to the Internet Engineering Task Force, which governs such choices, that when access to a website is […]
G4S Chief Predicts Mass Police Privatisation
June 21st, 2012Via: Guardian: Private companies will be running large parts of the UK’s police service within five years, according to the world’s biggest security firm. David Taylor-Smith, the head of G4S for the UK and Africa, said he expected police forces across the country to sign up to similar deals to those on the table in […]
‘Checkpoint of the Future’ Takes Shape at Texas Airport
June 21st, 2012Via: USA Today: After checking their luggage, passengers would identify themselves not with driver’s licenses and paper boarding passes, but by scanning fingerprints or irises to prove they have an electronic ticket.
Obama Asserts Executive Privilege on Fast and Furious Documents
June 20th, 2012Via: CNN: President Barack Obama has asserted executive privilege over documents sought by a House committee investigating the botched Fast and Furious gun-running sting, according to a letter to the panel Wednesday from Deputy Attorney Gen. James Cole. The move means the Department of Justice can withhold the documents from the House Oversight Committee, which […]
NSA Claims It Would Violate Americans’ Privacy To Say How Many Of Us It Spied On
June 20th, 2012Via: Network World: How many Americans had their privacy violated via the NSA warrantless wiretap powers granted under the FISA Amendment Act of 2008? The NSA Inspector General said they can’t tell us as that would violate Americans’ privacy.
U.S. Plans Significant Military Presence in Kuwait
June 19th, 2012Imagine our shock. Via: AP: The United States is planning a significant military presence of 13,500 troops in Kuwait to give it the flexibility to respond to sudden conflicts in the region as Iraq adjusts to the withdrawal of American combat forces and the world nervously eyes Iran, according to a congressional report.
Britain: Communications Data Bill Authorises Collection of Information from the Outside of Physical Mail
June 18th, 2012Via: BBC: The Home Office says it has no current plans to force the Royal Mail to store data on all letters and postcards passing through its system. The provision is included in the government’s draft communications data bill, published this week. But the Home Office said the bill would just maintain existing powers relating […]
China Launches Its First Female Astronaut Into Space
June 17th, 2012Via: PC Magazine: China on Saturday launched its Shenzhou-9 spacecraft carrying three astronauts, including Liu Yang, the first Chinese woman to travel to space. The Long March-2F rocket lifted off successfully from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 6:37 p.m local time and the Shenzhou-9 capsule separated from its booster shortly thereafter […]
Chinese Buy London Metal Exchange in £1.4bn Takeover
June 16th, 2012Via: Independent: One of Britain’s last great independent financial markets has agreed to sell itself to China. The 137-year-old London Metal Exchange has agreed a £1.4bn takeover from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) after a nine-month auction process which saw bids from InterContinental Exchange, CME Group and NYSE Nasdaq. The deal will mean massive […]
