Yearly Archives: 2013

Surveillance Self-Defense International [2010]

"The Internet remains one of the most powerful means ever created to give voice to repressed people around the world. Unfortunately, new technologies have also given authoritarian regimes new means to identify and retaliate against those who speak out despite censorship and surveillance. Below are six basic ideas for those attempting to speak without falling victim to authoritarian surveillance and censorship, and four ideas for the rest of us who want to help support them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSurveillance Self-Defense International [2010]

The FBI is allowed to operate in Canada

"Since the 1980s, the FBI says agents have been deployed hundreds of times around the world to investigate foreign crimes targeting US citizens, including to Athens, Greece in 2007 when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired into the US Embassy. The US and Greece aren’t adjacent, of course, and US authorities are less likely to be asked to intervene there than Canada, where both North American nations share more than 5,000 miles of border. And as the threat of terrorist attacks remains present and a desire for these units to team up grows too, new rules would ensure that it’s more than just the FBI that’s regularly racing back and forth across the border." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe FBI is allowed to operate in Canada

Redacted FBI Documents Show Plot to Kill Occupy Leaders If ‘Deemed Necessary’

"When the Houston Police department was asked about its knowledge of the plot, public affairs officer Keith Smith said it 'hadn’t heard about it' and directed future questions to the Houston FBI office. The obvious question to ask in attempting to determine the identities of the planners is this: Who has sniper training? A number of Texas law enforcement organizations received special training from Dallas-based mercenary company Craft International, which has a contract for training services with Homeland Security. The company was founded by a celebrated Army sniper who was killed by a combat veteran he accompanied to a shooting range." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRedacted FBI Documents Show Plot to Kill Occupy Leaders If ‘Deemed Necessary’

Mask ban: Canada’s veiled protesters face 10 years’ jail

"A new Canadian law forbids people from wearing a mask or covering their face during a riot or so-called 'unlawful assembly' in the country. The law carries a maximum ten-year sentence for anyone convicted of physically concealing their identity. The law does allow exceptions for those who are able to prove they have a 'lawful excuse' for concealing their face, such as for religious or medical purposes. The bill originally proposed imprisoning an offender for five years, but that sentence doubled to ten years after conservative lawmakers greeted the idea enthusiastically." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMask ban: Canada’s veiled protesters face 10 years’ jail

World’s largest pot shop can stay open in Oakland, judge rules

"A medical marijuana dispensary billed as the world’s largest cannabis store may stay open while the city of Oakland fights a U.S. government effort to shut it down or seize the property, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. There has been a tug-of-war in California between federal and local authorities over cannabis sold for purported health reasons. In February, Magistrate Maria-Elena James, the same judge who ruled on Wednesday, said the city had no right to intervene in a federal prosecutor’s civil-forfeiture action against the Harborside Health Center, which was featured on the Discovery Channel reality TV show 'Weed Wars.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWorld’s largest pot shop can stay open in Oakland, judge rules

Occupy Oakland protesters awarded $1 million over police brutality

"The payouts come in the wake of criticism from independent experts who said the police department was under-resourced and ill-prepared to deal with the protests. The lawsuits detailed how police reacted to the protesters when they tried to reclaim a camp which had been cleared earlier that day. Suzi Spangenberg and Sukay Sow said they were injured by flashbang grenades thrown by officers. Spangenberg, a 52-year-old seminarian was awarded $500,000 in compensation, while Sow, who suffered chemical burns to her foot, received $210,000." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOccupy Oakland protesters awarded $1 million over police brutality

Swiss government reveals ‘solution’ to settle US tax dispute

"The federal government revealed plans in Bern on Wednesday to settle a bitter dispute with Washington after lawmakers rejected a deal that would have halted US legal action against Swiss banks suspected of stashing cash for American tax dodgers. Rather than a blanket accord, Swiss banks will now have to apply on a case-by-case basis for government permission to cooperate with US investigators, Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said. The moves comes two weeks after the Alpine country's parliament shot down the controversial 'Lex USA' accord, which would have temporarily lifted Switzerland's long-sacrosanct banking secrecy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss government reveals ‘solution’ to settle US tax dispute

George Clooney Arrives at the Bank of England

"We wrote just yesterday about Mark Carney, the central banker from Canada who has arrived on the scene in Britain to take over the reins of England's central bank. The adulatory press coverage has been just what we expected, and even more so. We've already been treated to reports of how Carney took the 'tube' to work and in this video we learn that he arrived a full hour early to work. We are reminded once more that central banking is as much a public spectacle as an exercise of monetary power. Carney has obviously been picked because he is a man who seems relaxed even under the glare of publicity and comes across as confident but levelheaded." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGeorge Clooney Arrives at the Bank of England

Price of Lunch with Warren Buffett Crashes

"In recent years, last-minute bidding has regularly pushed the price to record levels. Last year's lunch for eight almost tripled in the final minute of bidding, closing at $3.46 million. With bidding nearing the $1 million mark by mid-afternoon Friday, expectations ran high that the lunch with the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO could cross $4 million for the first time. But as the auction closed at just $1,000,100, some attending the invitation-only countdown party at Restaurant Lulu in San Francisco could be heard speculating that a glitch must have occurred." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrice of Lunch with Warren Buffett Crashes

Report: Homeschooling Growing Seven Times Faster than Public School Enrollment

"Any concerns about the quality of education children receive by their parents can be put to rest by the consistently high placement of homeschooled students on standardized assessment exams. Data demonstrates that those who are independently educated generally score between the 65th and 89th percentile on these measures, while those in traditional academic settings average at around the 50th percentile. In addition, achievement gaps between sexes, income levels, or ethnicity—all of which have plagued public schools around the country—do not exist in homeschooling environments." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport: Homeschooling Growing Seven Times Faster than Public School Enrollment