Documentary About the Failure of McDonald’s in Bolivia
December 26th, 2011I’m lovin’ it.
Via: Global Post:
It’s the country that turned its back on McDonald’s.
The fast food giant added the traditional llajwa sauce to its classic patties, but still Bolivians weren’t conviced.
So after five years, McDonald’s closed its eight branches and left the country in 2002.
Now a new documentary, “¿Por qué quebró McDonald’s en Bolivia?”, explores why McDonald’s failed. Filmmaker Fernando Martinez focuses on social and cultural aspects to explain the company’s lack of success. “Culture beat a transnational, globalized world,” he said.
Minding Your Mitochondria: Dr. Terry Wahls Cured Her Worsening Multiple Sclerosis with Diet
December 24th, 2011This is one of the most astonishing videos that I have ever seen. Please consider sharing this through your networks.
Via: TEDxTalks / YouTube:
Dr. Terry Wahls learned how to properly fuel her body. Using the lessons she learned at the subcellular level, she used diet to cure her MS and get out of her wheelchair.
Related:
Cryptogon Reader’s Family Member Has Multiple Sclerosis
Cryptogon Readers Send Contributions in December
December 24th, 2011Some of Cryptogon’s heavy lifters have been out in force. Thank you.
Eileen $100
CM $100
MS CA$50
CM €10
AF $100
For Bloggers at Risk: Creating a Contingency Plan
December 24th, 2011Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Therefore, all bloggers–whether well-connected or just starting out–should consider creating a plan in the unfortunate event they are detained. That said, there are numerous resources bloggers can use to stay informed when other bloggers in their country are detained, harassed, or surveilled; when their government is monitoring phone conversations or Internet activity; and when detainees are being compelled to give up information, such as passwords, to authorities.
With that in mind, EFF together with Global Voices Advocacy have created a set of questions to consider. This list is by no means exhaustive, but should offer a starting point from which bloggers can develop their own contingency plans.
Research Credit: noncompliant
Smoke Screening
December 23rd, 2011Note: This article assumes the absurd, mainstream dogma about 9/11. Hold your nose if you click through.
Via: Vanity Fair:
As you stand in endless lines this holiday season, here’s a comforting thought: all those security measures accomplish nothing, at enormous cost.
…
As we came by the checkpoint line, Schneier described one of these aspects: the ease with which people can pass through airport security with fake boarding passes. First, scan an old boarding pass, he said—more loudly than necessary, it seemed to me. Alter it with Photoshop, then print the result with a laser printer. In his hand was an example, complete with the little squiggle the T.S.A. agent had drawn on it to indicate that it had been checked. “Feeling safer?” he asked.
Finland Finds 69 Patriot Missiles, Declared as ‘Fireworks’, on China-Bound Ship
December 23rd, 2011Unnamed German government source claims: Nothing to see here.
Via: Washington Post / AP:
A shipment of 69 surface-to-air missiles impounded by Finnish authorities was a legitimate delivery from Germany to South Korea, a German official said Thursday.
The announcement came after Finnish authorities seized the Patriot missiles and 160 tons of explosives on a British-registered cargo ship and detained two Ukrainian crew members on suspicion of violating weapons export laws.
Police said the missiles didn’t have the right transit documents and the explosive picric acid wasn’t properly stored on the M/S Thor Liberty, which docked in Kotka, southern Finland, on Dec. 15.
A spokesman for Germany’s Defense Ministry said the missiles were an official shipment that was fully declared and had all necessary clearings from German authorities.
“Those patriot guided missiles are from the Bundeswehr’s stocks and have been shipped to South Korea” according to an intergovernmental treaty, he said, declining to be named in line with government policy.
He said no explosives were part of the shipment and he didn’t have any information on that part of the impounded cargo.
Finnish officials said the explosives were destined for China. Markku Koskinen, the director of traffic operations at the port of Kotka, said they were deficiently packed in wooden boxes on open pallets and would be moved to metal containers in line with rules on the maritime transport of explosives.
“We will do that as soon as the customs inspectors allow us to,” Koskinen told The Associated Press. “Otherwise, the shipment of explosives was legitimate and can continue on its way to China as soon as it’s safely packed.”
The ship sailed from the north German port of Emden on Dec. 13 and was en route to China, Finnish officials said. It docked in Kotka to pick up a cargo of anchor chains and an old paper machine.
Finnish officials impounded the cargo Wednesday and launched an investigation. Detective Superintendent Timo Virtanen said the ship’s captain and first mate were detained.
“The missiles did not have the appropriate transit papers,” Virtanen said. “We are questioning all the other 11 crew members who are also Ukrainians.”
Klaus Kaartinen, spokesman for the National Bureau of Investigation, said Finnish police and customs would continue their investigation into the cargo.
“Even if the missile cargo is a legitimate shipment, from a Finnish point of view the law has probably been broken because it was not properly declared,” Kaartinen said. “Also, the explosives were stored improperly.”
U.S. Formally Declares End of Iraq War; Baghdad Explosions Kill at Least 63
December 22nd, 2011Panetta declared the war over. And then…
Via: Washington Post:
More than a dozen explosions in Baghdad on Thursday killed at least 63 people — the first major violence in Iraq since the U.S. completed its troop pullout.
At least 194 people were reported injured in the two-hour spate of bombings, said officials at the Ministry of Interior, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The violence comes just days after the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq, and in the midst of an ongoing governmental emergency in which sectarian rifts and ethnic tension threaten to rip apart the country’s fragile ruling coalition.
Local Cops Ready for War With Homeland Security-Funded Military Weapons
December 22nd, 2011Via: Daily Beast:
Like Fargo, thousands of other local police departments nationwide have been amassing stockpiles of military-style equipment in the name of homeland security, aided by more than $34 billion in federal grants since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a Daily Beast investigation conducted by the Center for Investigative Reporting has found.
The buying spree has transformed local police departments into small, army-like forces, and put intimidating equipment into the hands of civilian officers. And that is raising questions about whether the strategy has gone too far, creating a culture and capability that jeopardizes public safety and civil rights while creating an expensive false sense of security.
BlueHost: $2.95 Per Month [???]
December 22nd, 2011Update: The $2.95 Special Is Over
Well, that didn’t take long.
—End Update—
I have no idea what’s happening over at BlueHost right now, but the site is saying $2.95 per month for the hosting package that includes unlimited storage, bandwidth, domains, etc. This is the same plan that I use to host Cryptogon and my other sites.
$2.95, really?
Even if you don’t know anything about websites, or have any desire to run one (or several), if you sign up for a year of hosting, BlueHost will pay me $90. You read that right, believe it or not. You pay about $35 for a year of hosting, BlueHost pays me a $90 commission.
Chances are, you don’t believe this, but here’s what I think is happening: To survive in the webhosting business, companies need to get blood on their knuckles. The competition is just savage. I think that’s what’s happening here. Anyway, you win by getting a ridiculously good hosting package for $2.95 per month, and I get $90.
Click this link to sign up for hosting with BlueHost and earn Cryptogon $90.
If you’re wondering if shared hosting is suitable for your small business or your clients’ small businesses, check out Cryptogon’s traffic and keep in mind that this site is dynamic (making continuous use of mysql and loading off site content). In other words, BlueHost likely offers plenty of hosting power for your small business at a fraction of what you’re paying now.
Here’s Cryptogon’s uptime (widget is live) on the same hosting package that you can get for $2.95 right now:
It’s hard to believe, but there it is.
TSA Screenings Aren’t Just for Airports Anymore
December 21st, 2011Via: Los Angeles Times:
The Transportation Security Administration isn’t just in airports anymore. TSA teams are increasingly conducting searches and screenings at train stations, subways, ferry terminals and other mass transit locations around the country.
“We are not the Airport Security Administration,” said Ray Dineen, the air marshal in charge of the TSA office in Charlotte. “We take that transportation part seriously.”
