Archive for June, 2013
U.S. Agencies Said to Swap Data With Thousands of Firms
June 14th, 2013Via: Bloomberg: Thousands of technology, finance and manufacturing companies are working closely with U.S. national security agencies, providing sensitive information and in return receiving benefits that include access to classified intelligence, four people familiar with the process said. These programs, whose participants are known as trusted partners, extend far beyond what was revealed by Edward […]
Chipotle Becomes First U.S. Restaurant Chain to Voluntarily Label GMOs
June 14th, 2013Via: Natural News: The recent decision by Whole Foods Market to label all genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) sold in its stores by the long-off date of 2018 looks silly and almost meaningless compared to the right-now policy of fresh food chain Chipotle, which is officially the first and only major U.S. food supplier to voluntarily label […]
U.S. Says It Will Give Military Aid to Syria Rebels
June 14th, 2013For the first time, no less. Via: BBC: The US is to supply direct military aid to the Syrian opposition for the first time, the White House has announced. President Obama made the decision after his administration concluded Syrian forces under Bashar al-Assad were using chemical weapons, a spokesman said. Ben Rhodes did not give […]
Syria Death Toll at Least 93,000, Says UN
June 13th, 2013Via: BBC: At least 93,000 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the conflict, according to latest United Nations figures. This represents a rise of more than 30,000 since the UN last issued figures covering the period to November 2012. At least 5,000 people have been dying in Syria every month since […]
Companies Scramble for Consumer Data; Don’t Have to Pay Much
June 13th, 2013Via: Financial Times: Corporate competition to accumulate information about consumers is intensifying even as concerns about government surveillance grow, pushing down the market price for intimate personal details to fractions of a cent. Over recent years, the surveillance of consumers has developed into a multibillion-dollar industry conducted by largely unregulated companies that obtain information by […]
The Cyberwar Industrial Complex
June 13th, 2013Via: Wired: In short, despite the sequestration, layoffs, and furloughs in the federal government, it’s a boom time for Alexander. In April, as part of its 2014 budget request, the Pentagon asked Congress for $4.7 billion for increased “cyberspace operations,” nearly $1 billion more than the 2013 allocation. At the same time, budgets for the […]
NIKKEI 225 DOWN 6.4%
June 13th, 2013Via: Bloomberg: Japanese stocks plunged, with the Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average entering a bear market at the close, as the yen rose to its strongest against the dollar in two months. All shares on the gauge fell for the second time this year. All 33 industry groups declined on the broader Topix index, which […]
‘Digital Blackwater’: Meet the Contractors Analyzing Your Private Data
June 12th, 2013Via: Salon: From Narus, the Israeli-born Boeing subsidiary that makes NSA’s high-speed interception software, to CSC, the “systems integrator” that runs NSA’s internal IT system, defense and intelligence, contractors are making millions of dollars selling technology and services that help the world’s largest surveillance system spy on you. If the 70 percent figure is applied […]
Britain: Workers Take 6% Pay Cut Over the Last Five Years
June 12th, 2013Via: Guardian: Britain’s workers have suffered more financial pain since 2008 than in any five-year period of the modern age, according to research by a leading tax thinktank that shows employees have sacrificed pay to keep their jobs. Describing this downturn as the longest and deepest slump in a century, the Institute for Fiscal Studies […]
On Technology Eliminating Jobs: ‘This Time It Might Be Different’
June 12th, 2013Via: MIT Technology Review: Given his calm and reasoned academic demeanor, it is easy to miss just how provocative Erik Brynjolfsson’s contention really is. Brynjolfsson, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and his collaborator and coauthor Andrew McAfee have been arguing for the last year and a half that impressive advances in […]
