Monthly Archives: August 2013

Interview with Slashdot founder Rob Malda

"The stuff that’s interesting has as much to do with the technology as the information. I’m interested in the technology the government uses to spy on me. I’m interested in the fact of the anonymous file-sharing network that made the Manning stuff possible. That’s the stuff that gets to my soft, gooey center. The policy parts, I don’t feel like I have a say in that. I don’t have a voice there. I know what I want to see happen. But I don’t feel like I have a say or a voice so I choose to be interested in the technology and think about where that’s going to take us next. All that stuff never would have existed 20 years ago." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInterview with Slashdot founder Rob Malda

Out of the box: UPS Stores to offer 3D printing

"Stratasys will provide its uPrint SE desktop machines to six UPS Stores in America for a trial programme. These machines will allow customers to bring their designs to the store and have them printed out as objects—in much the same way as people take two-dimensional digital documents to the store and have them printed on paper. The uPrint machines can produce items in plastic in a range of colours and make bigger objects in finer detail than consumer-level 3D printers. UPS expects designers, entrepreneurs, start-ups and architects seeking models to be among its customers for 3D printing services." Continue reading →

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Goodbye Cable TV, Hello Google

"This diminutive device, nearly as small as a flash thumb drive, plugs right into your TV — through the HDMI port. It can stream video content wirelessly from the Internet to your TV using an Android or iOS device, or a PC or Mac, using Google’s Chrome browser, as a remote control. Chromecast could be a really disruptive product. According to a Sandvine report, YouTube and Netflix account for an estimated 49.4% share of all peak downstream Internet traffic in the U.S. Now with Chromecast, those users can steam that Internet traffic onto their TV’s easily. For a mere $35, Chromecast can turn any television into a player for streaming Internet video content." Continue reading →

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Mainstream Media Rule: Never Question the Warren Commission

"Does USA Today writer Jervis show any curiosity over the fact that Dr. Jones’ recollection of the condition of the back of JFK’s head was shattered contradicts the official U.S. military autopsy photograph that shows the back of JFK’s head to be intact? If he does, you certainly can’t tell it by reading the article. After citing Jones’ recollection that the back of Kennedy’s head had been shattered by a bullet, the article just blithely proceeds onward, with nary a mention of the problem. Unfortunately that’s pretty much standard procedure for reporters and commentators in the mainstream media who address the Kennedy assassination." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMainstream Media Rule: Never Question the Warren Commission

Atlanta High School Has A Rifle Range

"When the all new North Atlanta High School opens its doors Wednesday, students will have sparkling new facilities including an indoor rifle range. The range was built for the school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp and the rifle team. This isn’t the only on campus rifle range in Atlanta. A school spokesperson said the facility at NAHS is modeled after one already in use at Grady High School. According to Atlanta Public Schools, the program will have an instructor certified by the U.S. Army Cadet Command and the Georgia High School Athletic Association." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAtlanta High School Has A Rifle Range

Democratic anti-gun ‘guide’ urged using Trayvon Martin’s death to hit NRA, guns

"Newly uncovered Democratic anti-NRA talking points urge anti-gun advocates and politicians to hype high-profile gun incidents like the Florida slaying of Trayvon Martin to win support for new gun control laws. 'The most powerful time to communicate is when concern and emotions are running at their peak,' said the 80-page document titled 'Preventing Gun Violence Through Effective Messaging,' and produced by three Democratic firms led by the polling and research outfit Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDemocratic anti-gun ‘guide’ urged using Trayvon Martin’s death to hit NRA, guns

Serial Offender: Miami Fed. Prosecutor Called on Misconduct in Drug Cases

"Dr. Ali Shaygan has nothing to do with Colombian drug trafficking conspiracies, but his case is yet another example of Hoffman's prosecutorial overreach. Shaygan was charged with overprescribing narcotics as part of the federal government's campaign against prescription drug abuse, but later acquitted. After his acquittal, Shaygan won a $600,000 judgment, with the judge in the case finding the prosecutors' conduct in attempting to influence witnesses and deny potentially exculpatory evidence to the defense so 'profoundly disturbing that it raises troubling issues about the integrity of those who wield enormous power over the people they prosecute.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSerial Offender: Miami Fed. Prosecutor Called on Misconduct in Drug Cases

America’s Foster Care System: Test Lab For Big Pharma, Cash Cow For Caretakers?

"Of the more than 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system, it’s estimated that more than 50 percent are on some sort of psychiatric drug. Money is part of the reason. Foster parents are paid more to take care of a child with mental health issues. On average, a foster family earns about $17 a day for taking in a child who needs a basic level of care. But a child who is taking drugs such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiety medications or anticonvulsant medications is worth around $1,000 a day. And foster parents are not responsible for paying for the medicines, either, as they are covered by Social Security." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerica’s Foster Care System: Test Lab For Big Pharma, Cash Cow For Caretakers?

Veteran civil rights leader: Snowden acted in tradition of civil disobedience

"John Lewis, a 73-year-old congressman and one of the last surviving lieutenants of Martin Luther King, said Snowden could claim he was appealing to 'a higher law' when he disclosed top secret documents showing the extent of NSA surveillance of both Americans and foreigners. When it was pointed out to Lewis that many in Washington believed that Snowden was simply a criminal, he replied: 'Some people say criminality or treason or whatever. He could say he was acting because he was appealing to a higher law. Many of us have some real, real, problems with how the government has been spying on people.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVeteran civil rights leader: Snowden acted in tradition of civil disobedience

Four Centuries of Surveillance: From Privy Councils to FISA Courts

"Letters to or from England were carried by private ship captains, who often hung a bag in the local coffeehouse to receive letters for shipment. The price was generally a penny for a single letter and two pence for a double letter or parcel. In 1591 the Crown had issued a proclamation granting itself the monopoly of all foreign mail, and in 1609 the Crown’s proclamation extended its own monopoly to all mail foreign or domestic. The purpose of this postal monopoly was quite simple: to enable governmental officials to read the letters of private citizens in order to discover and suppress 'treason' and 'sedition.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFour Centuries of Surveillance: From Privy Councils to FISA Courts