Yearly Archives: 2013

Snapchat market value hits $800 million

"The startup behind a Snapchat application for sharing self-destructing smartphone photos and messages got a dizzying valuation on Monday in a new funding round. Reports that the company launched in late 2011 had raised $60 million from investors hit the Internet along with word that people are sharing more than 200 million ‘snaps’ daily. The startup said that it has been operating on a tight budget and will use the infusion of cash from investors to beef up its engineering team and server capacity. Snapchat has stirred controversy for its potential to be used to share risque pictures that are automatically deleted, like any ‘snaps,’ within ten seconds of receipt." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnapchat market value hits $800 million

How can you buy illegal drugs online?

"Imagine if there were an Amazon.com for drugs. That, roughly, is what the Silk Road, a mail-order drugs service hidden in the dark parts of the internet, tries to be. Many drug users cannot wait two or three days for delivery of their next hit. But it is all a lot easier than waiting for the man. The police may not agree. Still, there is probably less chance of a drug deal on the Silk Road turning into a murder scene, and customer reviews may be a better guide to quality—and so the risk of overdose and death—than a street-corner salesman’s patter. Buying a line online has never been easier." Continue reading →

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Southern California Cities Further Reject Red Light Cameras

"Embattled red light camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems has lost another contract. The Escondido, California city council voted unanimously Wednesday to allow the Australian company's right to issue near $500 tickets expire on December 12, and ticketing will cease even sooner. Councilmen were swayed by the $89,000 cost per intersection to run cameras compared to $2400 to coordinate signal timing and $5000 per year to add protected left-hand turns. Escondido loses $177,000 a year on the program while Redflex and the county and state governments profit from it. That turned out to be too high a financial cost for other city officials who otherwise support photo ticketing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSouthern California Cities Further Reject Red Light Cameras

NY’s SAFE Act Imperils Yet Another Victim

"David Lewis is a librarian who lives in Amherst, New York, and owns several pistols. He once swallowed some anti-anxiety medication -- allowing cops to grab his guns pursuant to the SAFE Act's cruel discrimination against people with 'mental-health issues.' Turns out cops had the wrong 'David Lewis.' ''I was extremely shocked and saddened and immediately just felt embarrassed knowing that someone had thought negatively of me and wrongly. I had absolutely no idea how this could have happened,' said Lewis...' He also 'hoped his health record would be confidential. 'It's not right. i always thought people could expect more privacy than that,' said Lewis.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNY’s SAFE Act Imperils Yet Another Victim

Papers Please: TSA-Style Checkpoints at UK Bus & Train Stations

"‘Airport-style’ security checkpoints are being rolled out at local bus and train stations up and down the UK after local pilot schemes conducted over the last two years were deemed a success by police. The checkpoints comprise metal detector arches, drug-sniffing dogs, police pat-downs and bag searches. The reason? To 'help people who use public transport feel safer.' Over the last couple of years more and more of these ‘security’ checkpoints have been quietly introduced at local bus and train stations across the UK under a number of pretexts that simply don’t bear scrutiny." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPapers Please: TSA-Style Checkpoints at UK Bus & Train Stations

Dealing with Cops These Days

"In a word – don’t. You are dealing with perhaps the worst possible tag-team combination: Someone with legal power over you who is held to a different – and far more lenient – standard than you are. A cop can: Commit assault with near-impunity. He can draw his firearm and point it at you – even shoot at you – without fear of life-altering consequences – such as a felony record for brandishing and reckless endangerment. He can rely on his cronies and the system to cover up or minimize his errors of judgment, even when they involve serious harm to innocent people such as yourself. His word will be treated as legal tender in court – while yours is considered suspect. His very person is anointed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDealing with Cops These Days

Arbitrary enforcement, secrecy, self-interest, and the loss of government legitimacy

"The drug war and the national security scandals have overlapped in so many ways, not the least of which is a growing sense of the erosion of the very foundation of legitimacy of government. There are laws you must follow, but we’re not going to tell you what they are, or our interpretation of what they mean, but you must follow them anyway, and we’re going to gag you so you can’t talk about these laws you must follow, and if you try to take it to court, we’re going to invoke national security and say that the courts can’t be allowed to discuss it, plus since it’s secret it doesn’t exist anyway." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArbitrary enforcement, secrecy, self-interest, and the loss of government legitimacy

UK’s former top drug official: Coke-head bankers caused financial crisis

"The former top drugs adviser to Britain’s parliament told UK newspaper The Telegraph on Sunday that risk-taking behaviors behind the financial crisis of 2008 were driven by excessive cocaine consumption by the world’s banking elite. Nutt was fired from his post as Britain’s top drugs adviser in 2009, after he criticized the government’s drug policies for inhibiting research into Schedule I substances like psilocybin, which Nutt has studies for its potential to alleviate symptoms of depression. At the time he’d said that consuming the unadulterated, pure form of the drug ecstasy is safer than riding a horse. Nutt was ordered to apologize for his statement on ecstasy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK’s former top drug official: Coke-head bankers caused financial crisis

Taxpayer Dollars Are Helping Monsanto Sell Seeds Abroad

"The US State Department has been essentially acting as a de facto global-marketing arm of the ag-biotech industry, complete with figures as high-ranking as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mouthing industry talking points as if they were gospel. The FWW report is based on an analysis of diplomatic cables, written between 2005 and 2009 and released in the big Wikileaks document dump of 2010. FWW sums it up: 'a concerted strategy to promote agricultural biotechnology overseas, compel countries to import biotech crops and foods that they do not want, and lobby foreign governments—especially in the developing world—to adopt policies to pave the way to cultivate biotech crops.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaxpayer Dollars Are Helping Monsanto Sell Seeds Abroad

5 GMO Myths Busted

"Every year, a greater and greater percentage of our food supply sources back to genetically modified ingredients. Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, DuPont and the other biotech giants have made GMOs into a multi-billion dollar industry and unsurprisingly have launched one of the largest pr campaigns in the history of the food industry to convince the public that their products are safe, healthy and beneficial. Let's examine five of the main claims of this PR campaign and see how they stack up to reality." Continue reading →

Continue Reading5 GMO Myths Busted