Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
The Private Jets of African Dictators and Other Heads of State
August 30th, 2010No shark tanks? Via: Telegraph: This year Brighton’s international photography festival has been curated by British photographer Martin Parr, and, rather than plump for well-known headline names, he has decided to showcase the work of obscure or niche practicioners. Among the most left-field on the shortlist is Nick Gleis, who photographs the pimped up private […]
DoJ Terrorism and Criminal Extremism Terms and Concepts Guide
August 30th, 2010According to the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, here are some terms “criminal justice professionals” are likely to encounter during terrorism and extremism investigations. These terms below are intermingled with all of the Nazi and international terrorist groups. Precious metals are big trouble. Man, you’re a nutcase several different ways if you’re into gold and silver. […]
U.S. Wasted Billions in Rebuilding Iraq
August 30th, 2010This AP piece is maddening. It states, “More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted,” and then, “That amount is likely an underestimate.” Likely an underestimate? HAHA. I like Call the Politburo, We’re in Trouble: Or what about the US Embassy in Baghdad, that 104-acre (42 hectares), almost three-quarters-of-a-billion-dollar, 21-building homage to […]
The Kochtopus
August 28th, 2010Polemical essays can be worth reading, as long as one understands that the author’s goal is to push his or her rat poison, by showing you how bad that rat poison is over there. With this caveat in mind, you’re all set to feast on the tidy reality offered by a strongly polemical piece. I […]
Top 7 Insane Homeowners Association Rules
August 26th, 2010How is “No clotheslines” not on the list? Via: The Week: The astonishingly restrictive ways of homeowners associations (HOAs) came under scrutiny this month when a Sussex Square, Virginia, HOA demanded that a 90-year-old World War II vet remove an unapproved flag pole from his front yard. After receiving support from members of Congress, and […]
The U.S. Government Can Attach GPS Transmitter to Your Vehicle, Track Your Movement; No Warrant Necessary
August 26th, 2010Absolute maniac fascism. Via: Time: Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn’t violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own […]
Steve Jobs Is Watching You: Apple Seeking to Patent Spyware
August 24th, 2010Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation: It looks like Apple, Inc., is exploring a new business opportunity: spyware and what we’re calling “traitorware.” While users were celebrating the new jailbreaking and unlocking exemptions, Apple was quietly preparing to apply for a patent on technology that, among other things, would allow Apple to identify and punish users who […]
India: Police Arrest Researcher Who Showed E-Voting Machines Are Not Secure
August 24th, 2010Via: Freedom to Tinker: About four months ago, Ed Felten blogged about a research paper in which Hari Prasad, Rop Gonggrijp, and I detailed serious security flaws in India’s electronic voting machines. Indian election authorities have repeatedly claimed that the machines are “tamperproof,” but we demonstrated important vulnerabilities by studying a machine provided by an […]
Republican Candidate for New York Governor: Turn Prisons Into “Dormitories” for Welfare Recipients
August 23rd, 2010Via: AP: Republican candidate for governor Carl Paladino said he would transform some New York prisons into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they could work in state-sponsored jobs, get employment training and take lessons in “personal hygiene.” Paladino, a wealthy Buffalo real estate developer popular with many tea party activists, isn’t saying the state should […]
Philadelphia Requires Bloggers to Pay $300 for Business License (Not The Onion)
August 23rd, 2010Via: NBC: Taking a step closer to an eerie Orwellian state where creativity is crushed in the name of “the greater good,” the city of Philadelphia is demanding that bloggers pay $300 for the privilege of writing on the Internet. This $300 “business privilege license” is for all local bloggers – even the ones that […]
