Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
Terrorist ‘Pre-Crime’ Detector Field Tested in United States
May 28th, 2011This is the most hilariously unworkable Magic 8 Ball boondoggle that I’ve ever heard about. In the annals of grant swindling, this one has to take the cake. Via: Nature: Planning a sojourn in the northeastern United States? You could soon be taking part in a novel security programme that can supposedly ‘sense’ whether you […]
Why Are Spy Researchers Building a ‘Metaphor Program’?
May 26th, 2011Via: The Atlantic: A small research arm of the U.S. government’s intelligence establishment wants to understand how speakers of Farsi, Russian, English, and Spanish see the world by building software that automatically evaluates their use of metaphors. That’s right, metaphors, like Shakespeare’s famous line, “All the world’s a stage,” or more subtly, “The darkness pressed […]
U.S. Runs Surveillance Operations Based on Secret Interpretations of Patriot Act
May 26th, 2011Via: Wired: You may think you understand how the Patriot Act allows the government to spy on its citizens. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) says it’s worse than you’ve heard. Congress is set to reauthorize three controversial provisions of the surveillance law as early as Thursday. But Wyden says that what Congress will renew is a […]
Texas Legislature, Federal Government Clash Over Airport Pat-Down Bill; Texas Backs Down After Feds Threaten to Ground Flights
May 26th, 2011Via: NPR: Texas lawmakers and federal agents came to a dramatic showdown last night, over a bill that would have prohibited Transportation Security Administration agents from conducting intrusive pat-downs. The Department of Justice circulated a letter that told the politicians if they went through with HB 1937, the TSA would cancel flights out of Texas. […]
For Any Obama Zombies That Remain
May 26th, 2011Via: TruthDig: The liberal class, which attempted last week to discredit the words my friend Cornel West spoke about Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, prefers comfort and privilege to justice, truth and confrontation. Its guiding ideological stance is determined by what is most expedient to the careers of its members. It refuses to challenge, […]
China: Prisoners Forced to Play Video Games to Earn Credits That Prison Bosses Exchange for Real Money
May 26th, 2011Except for the forced physical labor part, this sounds strangely similar to the lives of many IT workers I used to know. They would sell digital game shit on eBay to make extra money, but these men and women (yes, women) really just lived to play video games. Gaming was a sort of digital drug […]
U.S. to Store Passenger Data for 15 Years
May 26th, 2011Via: Guardian: The personal data of millions of passengers who fly between the US and Europe, including credit card details, phone numbers and home addresses, may be stored by the US department of homeland security for 15 years, according to a draft agreement between Washington and Brussels leaked to the Guardian. The “restricted” draft, which […]
USDA Fines Missouri Family $90k for Selling Rabbits Without a License
May 26th, 2011Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent by Harvey A. Silverglate Via: Yahoo News: It started out as a hobby, a way for the Dollarhite family in Dixa, Mo., to teach a teenage son responsibility. Like a lemonade stand. But now, selling a few hundred rabbits over two years has provoked the […]
A Fifth of Russia’s State Defence Spending Is Stolen Every Year
May 25th, 2011Putin the Apostle? Via: Calgary Sun: A fifth of Russia’s state defence spending is stolen every year by corrupt officials, dishonest generals and crooked contractors, Russia’s chief military prosecutor said in an interview published on Tuesday. President Dmitry Medvedev says endemic corruption is holding back Russia’s development, but anti-bribery groups say the problem has become […]
U.S. Government Seeks CIA Leak Source on Iran Nuclear Sabotage Plan, Subpoenas Reporter
May 25th, 2011Via: International Press Institute: The International Press Institute (IPI) today expressed concern at the United States government’s attempt to force a New York Times reporter to disclose his source of information about a Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) effort to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program at the end of the Clinton administration. The newspaper reported yesterday that […]
