“This notion that the children belong to the state, that their education must be provided for by the state … is inimical at every step to liberty.” – J. Gresham Machen As the battle against Common Core continues in Michigan this week during the Ominbus budget bill talks, Common Core pusher former Florida Gov. Jeb …
"Google is planning to develop high-speed wireless networks in sub-Saharan Africa with the help of high-altitude balloons that can transmit signals across hundreds of square miles. The internet search giant wants to connect one billion more people to the internet in emerging markets such as Africa and south-east Asia, and is ready to team up with telecoms firms and equipment providers to build networks that will improve speeds in cities and bring the internet to rural areas. Google is considering a mix of technologies, broadcasting signals from masts, satellites and even remote-controlled balloons known as blimps." Continue reading →
"Cuba will expand limited public access to the Internet next month by opening up another 118 places where people on this communist-run island can surf the Web for a fee, authorities said Tuesday. Set to start June 4, the extension takes advantage of an undersea fiber-optic cable from Venezuela and will gradually be rolled out further — but not to homes, according to a Communications Ministry resolution published in the Official Gazette and local media. There are now more than 200 public Internet rooms in hotels on the island that sell connection cards that cost between $7 and $10. Post offices also provide access to email." Continue reading →
"Developers in Argentina have begun receiving letters from Google informing them that 'Google Play will no longer be able to accept payments on behalf of developers registered in Argentina starting June 27, 2013.' The change applies to both paid apps and apps that use in-app purchases. The move appears to be related to new, restrictive regulations the Argentine government has imposed on currency exchanges, which The Telegraph detailed this past September. Twitter has quite a few developers complaining about the changes, but it's not clear how many people will be affected." Continue reading →
"Linden Lab has updated Second Life's Terms of Service regarding Linden Dollars, the world's official currency, in a way that will impact third party sites which exchange L$ for real money or other virtual currency, including Bitcoin. In the new Terms of Service, however: '[T]o better protect Second Life users against fraud, the updated Terms of Service make it clear that trading of Linden dollars (L$) on exchanges other than the LindeX, Second Life’s official L$ exchange, is not authorized or allowed.' The given reason seems strange on its face, because Second Life users have been able to exchange Linden Dollars for real currency on third party sites since 2004." Continue reading →
"The news comes four days after libertyreserve.com inexplicably went offline and newspapers in Costa Rica began reporting the arrest of the company’s founder Author Bodovsky, 39-year-old Ukrainian native who moved to Costa Rica to start the business. As noted by the BBC, many users — principally those outside the United States — simply viewed the currency as cheaper, more secure and flexible alternative to PayPal. But according to the Justice Department, Liberty Reserve enabled the use of its services for criminal activity by offering a shopping cart interface that merchant Web sites could use to accept Liberty Reserve as a form of payment." Continue reading →
"A leading association that counts Chanel and Dior as members urged the authorities to take action on the climate of insecurity which it said could keep cash-flush tourists away. France’s luxury industry makes a large portion of its profits from tourism, particularly from the newly rich from emerging countries such as China, where a rising middle class likes to splash out when travelling abroad. The Chinese embassy recently reported an increase in the number of complaints regarding muggings and other thefts on their nationals, who are known for carrying big sums of cash, making them prime targets for criminals." Continue reading →
"Parents and volunteers have been patrolling the streets of Stockholm’s immigrant-heavy suburbs to help quell riots that have raged for almost a week, serving as a successful deterrent to troublemakers and winning praise from police. 'They have helped a lot in reducing the unrest,' Stockholm police spokeswoman Karin Solberg told Swedish news agency TT. Sweden has since the 1980s had a network of volunteers called 'Nightwalkers', usually made up of parents who walk the streets of their own suburbs in groups on weekend nights, talking to youngsters and simply making their presence known." Continue reading →
"While the Stockholm riots keep spreading and intensifying, Swedish police have adopted a tactic of non-interference. 'Our ambition is really to do as little as possible,' Stockholm Chief of Police Mats Löfving explained to the Swedish newspaper Expressen on Tuesday. Swedish parking laws, however, continue to be rigidly enforced despite the increasingly chaotic situation. Early Wednesday, while documenting the destruction after a night of rioting in the Stockholm suburb of Alby, a reporter from Fria Tider observed a parking enforcement officer writing a ticket for a burnt-out Ford." Continue reading →
"The murder of soldier Lee Rigby has provoked a backlash of anger across the UK, including the attacking of mosques, racial abuse and comments made on social media. Eleven people have been arrested around Britain for making 'racist or anti-religious' comments on Twitter following the brutal killing in Woolwich on Wednesday. The incident has also prompted a huge increase in anti-Muslim incidents, according to the organisation Faith Matters, which works to reduce extremism. Before the attack about four to eight cases a day were reported to its helpline. But the group said about 150 incidents had been reported in the last few days, including attacks on mosques." Continue reading →