Yearly Archives: 2013

Edward Snowden versus Jay Carney

"There is no doubt that Edward Snowden has created a huge public relations crisis for the Obama administration. The government appears to be not only stupid, but utterly impotent. Here we have this gigantic spying system, and it looks like the Keystone Kops. It cannot locate him. It cannot stop him. It revoked his passport. Nobody cares. Obama has remained silent on all of this. In his place is Jay Carney. Who in the world is Jay Carney? The implications of what Snowden has revealed are monumental. We have moved formally and legally into a police state. The only thing protecting us is the utter incompetence of the police state to enforce its will on people." Continue reading →

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Holocaust survivor and US tax fugitive Marc Rich dies at 78 in Switzerland

"Billionaire Marc Rich, who invented oil trading and was pardoned of a life sentence by President Bill Clinton over the then-biggest tax evasion case in U.S. history and busting sanctions with Iran, died on Wednesday from a stroke in Switzerland at 78. Rich fled the Holocaust with his parents for America to become the most successful and controversial trader of his time and a fugitive from U.S. justice, enjoying decades of comfortable privacy at his sprawling Villa Rosa on Lake Lucerne. Belgian-born Rich, whose trading group eventually became the global commodities powerhouse Glencore Xstrata, died in hospital from a stroke, spokesman Christian Koenig said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHolocaust survivor and US tax fugitive Marc Rich dies at 78 in Switzerland

Barclays faces pressure from Somali cash transfer firms

"Barclays is the last major British bank to still provide such money transfer services in Somalia. The letter signed by more than 100 researchers and aid workers states that its plan to close its account with Dahabshiil - the largest money transfer business providing services to Somalia - on 10 July will cause a crisis for the families that rely on the transfers. Abdirashid Duale said Barclay's decision could see money transfers pushed underground into the hands of 'unregulated and illegal providers'. The group estimates that almost three quarters of Somalis who receive funds from overseas use it to pay for basic food, education and medical expenses." Continue reading →

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Prepaid Card Can Be Funded by Bitcoins

"Bitcoin has been making huge strides in the news lately, with more stores and customers using it every day. The latest development in the Bitcoin world is a new prepaid debit card available in the United Kingdom. This card can be purchased with and funded by Bitcoins, and it can be used in stores like any other prepaid card. Surprisingly, the Bitcoins you put into the card do not come out as Bitcoins. They come out as Euros, British pounds and other forms of currency. This means that you do not have to only use it at stores that accept Bitcoins. You can use it anywhere MasterCards are accepted." Continue reading →

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States Put Heat on Bitcoin

"State regulators are warning virtual-currency exchanges and other companies that deal with bitcoin that they could be closed down if their activities run afoul of state money-transmission laws. According to people familiar with the situation, banking regulators in California, New York and Virginia in recent weeks have issued letters telling the companies that they need to follow the state rules or prove that the rules don't apply to them. Similar actions are expected from other states in coming weeks and months, according to people familiar with the matter. States typically require companies to put up a bond that could run as high as several million dollars." Continue reading →

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The Real New Hope for the Global Middle Class

"The idea is that if people protest loudly enough, monopoly government – Leviathan – shall oblige protestors by revealing its inner workings. We know this is possible because a worldwide transparency organization led by a former World Bank executive tells us it will be so. But we have another idea. Much that is going on in the world today is attributable to what we call the Internet Reformation. Around the world, the powers-that-be are struggling to contain its evolution and impacts. In our view, they probably will not be entirely successful. One can orchestrate protests and violence. But one cannot outrun the sociological impact of digital enlightenment." Continue reading →

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Der Spiegel: Public Must Fight against Prism and Tempora Surveillance

"The fact that the Americans and the British -- it is yet to be revealed who else participated -- have granted themselves this enormous power, without ever informing their own people, is a scandal of historic proportions. To the initiated, all the recent public debate about data retention, Internet privacy and the practices of Facebook and Google must have been downright amusing. The state, as it turns out, knew everything all along. The next weeks and months will show whether democratic societies across the world are strong enough to take a stand against the unlimited, totalitarian ambitions of Western secret services -- or not." Continue reading →

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Privacy groups push back against Sheriff’s Department license plate database

"The massive storage of license plate and vehicle data by law enforcement agencies across Southern California is sparking a debate over the privacy rights of citizens in their cars. On average, a cruiser equipped with an ALPR camera can collect data on 10,000 cars in a single shift, according to industry reports. A lawsuit filed by two privacy rights groups says each of the 7 million registered cars in greater Los Angeles has had its license plate scanned an average of 22 times since the program launched. The curation of so much information on personal vehicles has raised the ire of privacy groups, which are beginning to push back against the data mining efforts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrivacy groups push back against Sheriff’s Department license plate database

Object of Intrigue: Mickey Mouse Gas Mask

"About 1,000 of them were made by the Sun Rubber Company, each with glass eyes staring out from the cartoonish face connected to an air filter. Since chemical warfare never made it to the United States in World War II, they weren't used, but in England there was a British version that used bright red and blue colors to attract children. It was also called a 'Mickey Mouse' gas mask, although had nothing to do with the character. Instead the name was supposed to be part of the 'game' to get children to wear them." Continue reading →

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Juan Cole: Top Ten Ways US TV News are Screwing us Again on NSA Surveillance Story (Iraq Redux)

"US television news is a danger to the security of the United States. First, it is so oriented to ratings that it cannot afford to do unpopular reports. Second, it is so oriented toward the halls of power inside the Beltway that it is unable to examine government allegations critically. US television news was an unrelieved cheering section for the launching of the illegal and disastrous Iraq War. Now, corporate television news is repeating this shameful performance with regard to the revelations by Edward Snowden of massive, unconstitutional government surveillance of Americans’ electronic communications. The full failure to do proper journalism was on display on Sunday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJuan Cole: Top Ten Ways US TV News are Screwing us Again on NSA Surveillance Story (Iraq Redux)