Author: The Freedom Watch Staff

This author has written 11091 articles

Robohand: How cheap 3D printers built a replacement hand for a five-year old boy

"Not too long ago, Liam had no fingers on his right hand. The South African five-year old was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome, which causes amputation of digits before birth. But since November, Liam has been using a series of prosthetic hands designed by two men living on opposite sides of the planet, using open source software and 3D-printing technology. Now, those two men—Ivan Owen in Bellingham, Washington and Richard Van As in South Africa—have published the design for Robohand, the mechanical hand prosthesis, on MakerBot'sThingiverse site as a digital file that can be used to produce its parts in a 3D printer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRobohand: How cheap 3D printers built a replacement hand for a five-year old boy

FCC chairman developing plan for free wireless Internet access

"The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is developing a set of proposals that would establish a public wifi network that blankets the country with a high powered signal anyone can access for free. Such a sweeping change would be years in the making, but companies lobbying for it say that universal Internet access could spark an explosion of innovation and help usher in a new age of prosperity. Networks of the type FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is envisioning would enable cars to communicate with one another to avoid accidents, bring millions of new devices online and truly make the Internet an unavoidable, ubiquitous part of everyday life." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFCC chairman developing plan for free wireless Internet access

Obama gets power to wage pre-emptive cyber warfare

"A secret internal review has concluded that President Barack Obama can lawfully engage in pre-emptive cyber attacks in the event that the U.S. faces an imminent threat, according to The New York Times. The legal guidance was key to rules the administration hopes to adopt in the coming weeks to govern cyber warfare operations. The Times added that those rules will classified similarly to the policies governing the nation’s drone warfare program. The president is only known to have launched one cyberwar operation, against Iran." Continue reading →

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Obama vows to watch U.S. financial industry to prevent ‘irresponsible behavior’

"President Barack Obama promised Saturday to watch the US financial industry to prevent what he called 'irresponsible behavior' as he defended his nominations to key financial watchdog agencies. The CFPB, set up under Obama’s 2010 financial regulatory law, has the power to protect consumers from predatory banking practices and hidden conditions on loans. It can also crack down on debt and credit agencies. 'It’s not enough to change the law — we also need cops on the beat to enforce the law,' Obama said, showcasing both nominations and urging the Senate to give both candidates a speedy approval." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama vows to watch U.S. financial industry to prevent ‘irresponsible behavior’

Banksters in Control: Dodd-Frank Helps JPMorgan Chase

"When President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill into law three years ago, he promised it would encourage healthy change and competition. 'This reform will help foster innovation, not hamper it. It is designed to make sure that everybody follows the same set of rules, so that firms compete on price and quality, not on tricks and not on traps,' Obama said. How is that working out? It turns out that in the view of the head of one of the biggest banks in the United States, Dodd-Frank is helping the big banks by making the cost of regulatory compliance so high that smaller rivals cannot compete." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBanksters in Control: Dodd-Frank Helps JPMorgan Chase

Elite Description Problem – Why the System Needs a Full Explanation

"The reason to create the modern nation-state is because the top power elites hide behind it, controlling society and economics and their will via mercantilism, the secret exercise of public rule to abet private interests. Modern citizens work for THEM even though they don't realize it. And they are not supposed to realize it. If we project this nation-state rule far enough, we begin to see the emergence of true neo-feudalism where a tiny group of globally recognized leaders run the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingElite Description Problem – Why the System Needs a Full Explanation

Who Was the Richest Person Ever?

"The fabulously rich triumvir Marcus Crassus’s fortune was estimated around the year 50 BCE at some 200 million sesterces (HS). Crassus’s annual income could be estimated at 12 million HS. Thus expressed, Crassus’s income was equal to the annual incomes of about 32,000 people, a crowd that would fill about half of the Colosseum. Let us fast-forward more closely to the present and apply the same reasoning to three American wealth icons: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Bill Gates." Continue reading →

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Court: Iceland doesn’t need to repay UK and Dutch depositors

"Iceland was entitled to refuse to pay immediate deposit guarantees to savers with failed online bank Icesave in Britain and the Netherlands, a European court said Monday. The ruling is the latest twist in a bitter dispute which has clouded negotiations on Iceland’s ambitions to become a member of the European Union. Deals to use tax-payer money to refund the Icesave debt have been twice rejected in referendums so the assets of failed parent Landsbanki are the only way Iceland can settle the row." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCourt: Iceland doesn’t need to repay UK and Dutch depositors

Peter Schiff: The Biggest Loser

"For the past few generations Switzerland has enjoyed some of the strongest economic fundamentals in the world. The country boasts a high savings rate, low taxes, strong exports, low debt-to-GDP, balanced government budgets, and prior to a few years ago one of the most responsible monetary policies in the world. These attributes made the Swiss franc one of the world's 'safe haven' currencies. Despite the fact that Switzerland was an island of economic health amidst a sea of problems, the reigning economic orthodoxy convinced Swiss leaders that their strong currency was a burden rather than a blessing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff: The Biggest Loser

The bacterium that lays tiny nuggets of gold

"Among the more peculiar organisms that inhabit our Earth exists a bacterium that turns water-soluble gold into microscopic nuggets of solid gold, scientists said Sunday. Chemists have often pondered why the germ Delftia acidovorans is frequently found on the surface of tiny gold nuggets. Its presence led scientists to speculate it may be creating the particles from soluble gold — ions of gold that are dissolved in water. But the puzzle was how D. acidovorans did this trick, as soluble gold is toxic. The answer lies in a molecule excreted by the microbe that both shields the organism and transforms the poisonous ions into particles." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe bacterium that lays tiny nuggets of gold