Network Archives

Use of Tor and e-mail crypto could increase chances that NSA keeps your data

"Using online anonymity services such as Tor or sending encrypted e-mail and instant messages are grounds for US-based communications to be retained by the National Security Agency even when they're collected inadvertently, according to a secret government document published Thursday. The document, dated July 28, 2009, bears the signature of US Attorney General Eric Holder. It's hard to read the documents and not be struck by the irony that use of these services may subject people on US soil to a much higher likelihood that their communications will be retained by an agency that's supposed to focus on foreign targets." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUse of Tor and e-mail crypto could increase chances that NSA keeps your data

New Details on Skype Eavesdropping; Program Started In 2009

"Reread that Skype denial from last July, knowing that at the time the company knew that they were giving the NSA access to customer communications. Notice how it is precisely worded to be technically accurate, yet leave the reader with the wrong conclusion. This is where we are with all the tech companies right now; we can't trust their denials, just as we can't trust the NSA -- or the FBI -- when it denies programs, capabilities, or practices. Back in January, we wondered whom Skype lets spy on their users. Now we know." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Details on Skype Eavesdropping; Program Started In 2009

Don’t Get Fooled Again — It’s Time to Dump Bonds Now

"The bond-market bust was a long time coming, if you’ve read my columns this year and last. But some investors — even big-time mutual fund managers — got caught flat-footed. Why? Just like real estate in the 2000s and tech stocks in the late 1990s, those bull markets were artificially extended for years, and those who got out early lost out on some of the biggest gains. But make no mistake. The real problem is what I’ve been harping on for several months: The bond market is a gigantic bubble, having been wildly inflated by too much cheap, easy money from the world’s central banks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDon’t Get Fooled Again — It’s Time to Dump Bonds Now

Bitcoin’s Big Bank Problem: Why Did Mt. Gox Halt US Payouts?

"The world’s best-known Bitcoin exchange stopped paying out customers in U.S. dollars Thursday. Mt. Gox didn’t exactly explain what was going on, though. It blamed an 'increased volume' of transactions, and said it would suspend U.S. cash withdrawals for two weeks as it sorted things out. The issue 'is with processing the sheer volume through our banks in Japan, which is causing a delay,' said Mt. Gox’s Thomas Glucksmann-Smith in an email message. 'We are currently attempting to improve our services for this. In the meantime USD deposits are unaffected as are other currencies.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin’s Big Bank Problem: Why Did Mt. Gox Halt US Payouts?

NYPD ‘Hunting Of Man’ T-Shirts Seen On On-Duty Officers In Queens

"On-duty members of the NYPD's Queens Warrant Squad were spotted outside a city courthouse last week wearing T-shirts imprinted with a Ernest Hemingway quote, that in the context of the officers' work, could be considered very disturbing: 'There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.' Tipsters, who passed along the photo below, told Gothamist and SocialistWorker.orgthat the cops had badges around their necks, and that words on the front of their T-shirts read, 'Fugitive Enforcement NYPD.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYPD ‘Hunting Of Man’ T-Shirts Seen On On-Duty Officers In Queens

Throwing children in prison turns out to be a really bad idea

"The United States still puts more children and teenagers in juvenile detention than any other developed nations in the world, with about 70,000 detained on any given day in 2010. And as it turns out, this is very likely a bad idea. A new paper by economists Anna Aizer and Joseph J. Doyle, Jr. offers strong evidence that juvenile detention is a really counterproductive strategy for many youths under the age of 19. Not only does throwing a kid in detention often reduce the chance that he or she will graduate high school, but it also raises the chance that the youth will commit more crimes later on in life." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThrowing children in prison turns out to be a really bad idea

Brazilian authorities face fresh protests against government corruption despite concessions

"Authorities in Sao Paulo and Rio, Brazil’s two biggest cities, canceled the transit fare hikes that had been the initial spark for two weeks of nationwide protests. But there is no sign that the movement, which has no political coloration and no clearly identified leadership, is about to lose steam. Initially ignited by the fare increases, the protest fed on widespread resentment at the billions of dollars the government is spending on the Confederations Cup, the World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. The demonstrators instead want higher funding for education and health and a cut in salaries of public officials, railing against rampant corruption within the political class." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrazilian authorities face fresh protests against government corruption despite concessions

This Graph Shows How Bad the Fed is at Predicting the Future

"Ben Bernanke and the Fed are out with their latest happy talk economic projections. They project the economy will grow by 2.3 to 2.6 percent, in real terms, in the fourth quarter of 2013 relative to the fourth quarter of 2012. That speeds up to 3.0 to 3.5 percent in 2014 and 2.9 to 3.6 percent in 2015. Unemployment also is projected to fall, hitting 5.8 to 6.2 percent in 2015, all while inflation stays below 2 percent. The chart put together by WaPo shows how abysmal the Fed's actual forecasts have been (and this is not counting the Fed missing the housing crash or the overall financial crisis)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThis Graph Shows How Bad the Fed is at Predicting the Future

Belgium opens beer temple in former stock market building

"Beer has always been one of Belgium’s biggest money-spinners but now Brussels is going a step further, announcing plans Thursday to open a temple to the amber nectar in its old stock exchange building. The 'Temple of Belgian Beer' project finds a use for the grand 19th century building near the Belgian capital’s famed Grand Place, which is fronted by corinthian columns and resembles a classical temple. The Brussels Bourse was abandoned by stockbrokers in 1996 after the computerisation of the financial markets and then became a site for temporary exhibitions." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBelgium opens beer temple in former stock market building