Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
Battle for the California Desert: Why is the Government Driving Folks off Their Land?
August 29th, 2011No mortgage: Check. Not paying utility companies: Check. Agenda 21? In any event, this definitely isn’t a new phenomenon. Twenty years ago, I knew people who were playing cat and mouse with code enforcement nonsense way, way further out in that bone dry wasteland than Antelope Valley, which is a built-up metropolis compared to what […]
Pentagon Has Paid $720 Million in Late Fees for Storage Containers Since 2001
August 29th, 2011Via: USA Today: The Pentagon has spent more than $720million since 2001 on fees for shipping containers that it fails to return on time, according to data and contracts obtained by USA TODAY. The containers — large metal boxes stowed on ships and moved from port on trucks — are familiar sights on bases in […]
Artist’s Depiction of a Bank on Fire Drew Attention L.A. Police
August 29th, 2011Via: Los Angeles Times: Alex Schaefer’s depiction of a Chase branch going up in flames drew the attention of L.A. police, who asked if he was a terrorist. He said the work was a metaphor for the havoc banking practices have caused the economy. Standing before an easel on a Van Nuys sidewalk, Alex Schaefer […]
Cisco and Abuses of Human Rights in China
August 25th, 2011Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation: What responsibility do corporations have to consider human rights when making business deals? Are companies that build and market equipment for the purpose of surveilling and censoring pro-democracy activists in authoritarian regimes culpable when those activists are imprisoned or tortured? Do companies bear a special responsibility if they customize products to […]
Britain Will Take in Billions of Pounds from Taxes on Swiss Bank Accounts
August 25th, 2011Via: BBC: A UK government minister has defended a deal with the Swiss that could capture tax of up to £5bn but keep bank account holders’ identities secret. Undeclared money held by UK taxpayers in Swiss accounts will be taxed for the first time, at up to 34% of the total. Treasury minister David Gauke […]
Cheney Says He Urged Bush to Bomb Syria in ’07
August 25th, 2011Ahh, so that’s who Obombya is channeling… Via: New York Times: Former Vice President Dick Cheney says in a new memoir that he urged President George W. Bush to bomb a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor site in June 2007. But, he wrote, Mr. Bush opted for a diplomatic approach after other advisers — still stinging […]
British Government Discusses Riots with Social Media Firms
August 25th, 2011Via: CBC: Executives from Facebook, Twitter and Canadian BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. are meeting the British government and police Thursday in the wake of the riots to discuss how to prevent social networks from being used to plot violence. Police and politicians claim young criminals used Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry’s simple and largely […]
New York Police Department Runs Intelligence Operations Outside Its Jurisdiction with Help and Personnel from CIA
August 24th, 2011This week in The Land of the Free… Via: AP: In New Brunswick, N.J., a building superintendent opened the door to apartment No. 1076 one balmy Tuesday and discovered an alarming scene: terrorist literature strewn about the table and computer and surveillance equipment set up in the next room. The panicked superintendent dialed 911, sending […]
How to Get $12 Billion of Gold to Venezuela
August 24th, 2011I think the more immediate and pressing matter will be: How to Get $12 Billion of Gold in the First Place. Dear Leader Chavez doesn’t actually believe these banks actually kept all of Venezuela’s gold on hand, does he? He can’t be that stupid. So, I see this as a pretty cunning bit of economic […]
New York: Judge Says Warrant Required for Cell Phone Location Data
August 24th, 2011Good news? Maybe, a little. It would be better if we had amnesia affecting our knowledge of MAIN CORE, Mark Klein, Russell Tice and official, on-the-record admissions from NSA about position tracking via cell phones. *sigh* Via: Ars Technica: In recent years, the courts have struggled to decide whether the government needs a warrant to […]
