Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
New York Legislation Would Ban Anonymous Online Speech
May 23rd, 2012It’s time for some comedy. Via: Wired: Did you hear the one about the New York state lawmakers who forgot about the First Amendment in the name of combating cyberbullying and “baseless political attacks”? Proposed legislation in both chambers would require New York-based websites, such as blogs and newspapers, to “remove any comments posted on […]
Army Readies Its Mammoth Spy Blimp for First Flight
May 23rd, 2012Via: Wired: Sure, it took an extra year or so, but Northrop Grumman has finally penciled in the first flight of the giant surveillance airship it’s building for the U.S. Army. The Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle — a football-field-size, helium-filled robot blimp fitted with sensors and data-links — should take to the air over Lakehurst, […]
And Now… Software Will Allow a Single Professor to Deliver, ‘Meaningful Education to Hundreds of Thousands of Students at Once’
May 23rd, 2012In ten or twenty years, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the majority of paid work in companies, that is, work that isn’t done by machines, being done by these “certificate” holders. They’ll live in ever expanding slums, autonomously policed by RoboCops and drones. They’ll have fast Internet and there will be Superbowl commercials about […]
‘The Pentagon has a manual. Basically, it will only provide full cooperation to propaganda pieces.’
May 23rd, 2012Via: Vice: …the past few years have seen an explosion of high-profile cooperation between the armed forces and the movie industry. If the most powerful armed force in history isn’t winning in reality, it certainly is on the big screen. And like so many problematic aspects of late capitalism, the military-Hollywood complex has a grimly […]
Iraqi Military to Buy U.S. Drones to Monitor Oil Fields
May 22nd, 2012Via: The Hill: American military drones are returning to the skies above Iraq more than five months after U.S. troops withdrew from the country. But this time, the drones will be operated by members of the Iraqi navy and will provide overwatch for the country’s oil platforms off its southern coast, U.S. officials in Baghdad […]
Priest Claims Missing Teenage Girl Had Been Kidnapped ‘For Sex Parties by a Gang Involving Vatican Police and Foreign Diplomats’
May 22nd, 2012Via: Telegraph: A teenage girl whose disappearance in Rome has remained a mystery for 30 years was kidnapped for sex parties by a gang involving Vatican police and foreign diplomats, the Roman Catholic Church’s leading exorcist has claimed. Father Gabriele Amorth, who was appointed by the late John Paul II as the Vatican’s chief exorcist […]
U.S. Lets China Bypass Wall Street Primary Dealers for Treasury Orders
May 22nd, 2012This is very interesting. Via: Reuters: China can now bypass Wall Street when buying U.S. government debt and go straight to the U.S. Treasury, in what is the Treasury’s first-ever direct relationship with a foreign government, according to documents viewed by Reuters. The relationship means the People’s Bank of China buys U.S. debt using a […]
U.S. Congressmen Seek To Lift Propaganda Ban
May 20th, 2012Ah well, might as well make it official. Via: Buzzfeed: An amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on American audiences is being inserted into the latest defense authorization bill, BuzzFeed has learned. The amendment would “strike the current ban on domestic dissemination” of propaganda material produced by the State Department and the Pentagon, […]
Robert Reich to New College Graduates: ‘You’re F*cked’
May 20th, 2012I’ve excerpted what I think are the key sentences. Via: Robert Reich: So much of what was once considered “knowledge work” – the kind that college graduates specialize in – can now be done more cheaply by software. Or by workers with college degrees in India or East Asia, linked up by Internet. Related: The […]
Precrime Raid Uncovers Enemy Combatant Homebrewed Beer Plot
May 19th, 2012Via: CBS: Annusek was released Friday morning along with four others reportedly suspected of preparing molotov cocktails. At least one other detainee was released several hours later Friday. Kris Hermes, of the National Lawyers Guild said: “There is absolutely no evidence of molotov cocktails or any other criminal activity going on at this building.” A […]
