The Freedom Watch

Muslim leaders urge ‘decisive action’ against Syria

"The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday condemned alleged poison gas attacks in Syria, blaming the government and calling for 'decisive action' in response. The world’s largest grouping of Muslim nations 'stressed the need to hold the Syrian government legally and morally accountable for this heinous crime and to bring its perpetrators to justice'. The OIC called on the UN 'Security Council to discharge its duty of preserving international security and stability, taking a unified position against this monstrous crime and its perpetrators.'" Continue reading →

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Chemical Weapons in Syria? Who Cares!

"It does not matter whether or not Obama gets Congressional approval for the strike. It does not matter whether 50 percent plus one in Congress vote in favor of an attack on Syria. It does not matter whether some form of chemical weapons were used in the war in Syria. It does not matter who used them if they were indeed used. it does not matter whether the Saudis are demanding that we overthrow Assad. It does not matter whether the Turks are demanding we overthrow Assad. It does not matter whether the Israelis demand that we overthrow Assad. What matters is that there is no grounds for the US to make war on Syria. It has not attacked us; it does not threaten us. On the contrary..." Continue reading →

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How Will White House Find Legal Grounds to Bomb Syria?

"Obama is already breaking the UN charter by shipping arms to rebels, by training them, and by introducing covert CIA and mercenary operatives into Syria. He has already made the US an outlaw nation. Perhaps having already crossed the Rubicon of illegality, he doesn’t care if he advances further into that territory. Perhaps he feels that he can sell an aggressive attack on Syria on the basis of its being defensive and his being in the right. But since America is not threatened, there is no such rationale on the basis of defense possible." Continue reading →

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Rand Paul: Syria lacks security connection

"Sen. Rand Paul said the U.S. has 'no clear national security connection' to the war in Syria and called for a debate in Congress over possible military action in the country. The Kentucky Republican — who has been an outspoken advocate against military action in Syria — said in a statement the U.S. should 'condemn' the use of chemical weapons and determine who deployed them. But the decision of whether the conflict demands U.S. action should come from Congress, he added, not President Barack Obama. 'The war in Syria has no clear national security connection to the United States and victory by either side will not necessarily bring in to power people friendly to the United States,' Paul said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRand Paul: Syria lacks security connection

A Real and Lasting Peace

"Seems as if supplying Syrian rebels with arms just isn’t enough. The US government and its Western allies are about to unleash direct military force in the small Middle Eastern country. We have heard the drumbeat of war for a long time – now as early as Thursday bombs may start falling on Syria. Instead of regime change, we are told, US military forces just seek to 'send a strong message' to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to stop (apparently) using chemical weapons. A humble, non-interventionist, foreign policy is no good — to be humanitarian we must bomb other populations." Continue reading →

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How New Zealand banned software patents without violating international law

"What do you do when you’re a small country with a technology industry convinced that innovation requires the banning of software patents, but you’ve signed an international treaty that in theory obliges you to make software patentable? If you’re New Zealand, you simply declare that software isn’t an invention in the first place. In 1998, the head of the UK Patent Office commented that European law says that a piece of pure software is not technically an invention. In New Zealand, a poll of the members of the Institute of IT Professionals revealed that 94% were in favor of banning software patents. In India, courts have upheld that country’s ban on software patents." Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Tucker: Canada: Land of the Freer?

"With QuickBt, consumers are buying bitcoins and then transferring them to merchants. No harm, no real money exchange as traditionally defined, no sneaky financial trickery. It's just business, and the Canadian regulators have said: it's not our business. Meanwhile, just south of the border, regulators are putting the fear of government into every conceivable crypto-currency merchant. Congress is issuing warnings. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is exacting fees. The feds are driving services out of existence. It's so bad that Bitcoin advocates are reduced to Stockholm-like begging: 'Please regulate us as soon as possible.'" Continue reading →

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NJ: Text Recipients Can Be Held Liable In Texting-And-Driving Accidents

"Drivers in New Jersey were left stunned, after state Appeals Court judges found that when a driver is texting and causes an accident, the recipient of the texts can also be held liable for negligence. As CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez reported Tuesday night, the decision stemmed from a 2009 accident where a 17-year-old girl texted a friend just before that friend crashed his pickup truck into a Morris County couple on a motorcycle. A state Appeals Court ruled 'that a person sending text messages has a duty not to text someone who is driving if the texter knows, or has special reason to know, the recipient will view the text while driving.'" Continue reading →

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Bitcoin offers privacy—as long as you don’t cash out or spend it

"Using special algorithms, the researchers were able to associate large numbers of seemingly anonymous bitcoins addresses with certain major services such as exchanges and payment processors, said Sarah Meiklejohn, a doctoral candidate in computer science at UC San Diego, who assisted in the research. For example, they linked more than 500,000 Bitcoin addresses with Mt. Gox, a popular exchange in Japan where users buy and sell bitcoins. 'We saw a lot of people deposit into Silk Road directly from their Mt. Gox address,' Meiklejohn said. In those cases, law enforcement would have minimal work to obtain the name of a user if they presented a legal order to Mt. Gox." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin offers privacy—as long as you don’t cash out or spend it

American anti-virus mogul McAfee warns Canadians about government spying

"As an anti-virus software tycoon at the head of McAfee Security, he says his early clients ranged from the CIA to the American navy and air force. 'The first six years of McAfee, 90 per cent of our income came from the government. The First Gulf War I donated $40 million worth of software to the U.S. Army,' he says. McAfee said intelligence officials were worried that encryption technology would get out of the U.S. and into the wrong hands. McAfee also says the growth of electronic currencies like Bitcoin is unstoppable, despite efforts by governments to curb their use. 'It will be everywhere and the world will have to readjust. World governments will have to readjust.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerican anti-virus mogul McAfee warns Canadians about government spying