False Sense Of Security

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

Sales Of Public Data To Marketers Can Mean Big $$ For Governments

"Spokesperson Andrew Cole confirms the Secretary of State sells business information for monetary amounts ranging from $200 to $12,000, depending on frequency and amount of information requested. The Secretary of State also sold voter registration information — including names, addresses and political party affiliation of voters — for $58,000, last year. The Denver Clerk and Recorder made $32,000 last year selling home sale data. It happens in college, too. The University of Colorado Boulder buys names from the SAT for 33 cents each and names from the ACT for 34 cents each. CU sells student information to private meal plans and storage companies for $15,000 a year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSales Of Public Data To Marketers Can Mean Big $$ For Governments

U.S. and China announce cybersecurity collaboration amid hacking dispute

"China and the US, which are embroiled in a bitter dispute over hacking, have agreed to set up a cybersecurity working group, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday. 'All of us, every nation, has an interest in protecting its people, protecting its rights, protecting its infrastructure,' he told reporters on a visit to Beijing. 'Cybersecurity affects everybody,' he said. 'It affects airplanes in the sky, trains on their tracks, it affects the flow of water through dams, it affects transportation networks, power plants, it affects the financial sector, banks, financial transactions. So we are going to work immediately on an accelerated basis on cyber.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. and China announce cybersecurity collaboration amid hacking dispute

Have You Heard the One About the Fiat Money Printing Central Banker?

"Here’s the abstract from a new paper in the October 2013 issue of Economic Inquiry: 'During their meetings, the members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) make monetary policy, but they also make each other laugh. This article studies the amount of laughter elicited by members of the FOMC during their meetings. The study finds that a member elicits more laughter if he or she expects higher inflation, other things being equal. This finding suggests that members may use humor to cope with the threat of inflation. (JEL E52, E58, C23)' They use humor. One wonders what savers and pensioners use." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHave You Heard the One About the Fiat Money Printing Central Banker?

What If the U.S. Didn’t Have a Military Establishment?

"The Constitution doesn’t say that the U.S. MUST have an army, navy, air force, national guard, a CIA, and NSA, or a surveillance and intelligence apparatus. What would happen if the U.S. didn’t have these forces? Almost nothing would be lost by Americans, including protection because these forces do not protect us. The U.S. would no longer project power overseas. The war on terror would dissipate. The U.S. engagements in foreign wars over turf, resources, foreign protectorates, corporations, pretexts, insults, freedom of travel, open sea lanes and travelers would decline. We’d find other ways to settle problems. The U.S. foreign policies would change." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat If the U.S. Didn’t Have a Military Establishment?

How to Fix the Army: Sack All the Generals

"Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, a seasoned Army colonel who has already earned a reputation for being something of a whistleblower by tracking leadership failures from the field in Afghanistan, describes a system where underserving leaders 'received prestigious medals, promotions to higher ranks, and plum follow-on jobs; others retired and went to work for defense contractors, often with companies that had profited from the failed acquisition effort.' Davis worries about the decade of the Army and Marine Corps obsessed with counterinsurgency and small-unit warfare while a 'a new generation of Chinese military leaders has deepened its understanding and application of conventional warfare.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow to Fix the Army: Sack All the Generals

The Case for Restraint in Yemen

"Historical trends exhibit the danger that newly poised al Qaeda affiliates are posing to American safety, rivaling or even eclipsing the original sects in place before U.S interventions. These militant groups have primarily local interests, and are best left alone if the United States wants to avoid making new enemies or to attenuate existing plotting against U.S. targets. Yet instead, the U.S continues to form 'partnerships' with often questionable factions to fight terrorism, many times resulting in the exchange of one extremist government for another. This policy can incite blowback." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Case for Restraint in Yemen

U.S. tech sector feels pain from NSA PRISM revelations

"An industry group, the Cloud Security Alliance said last month that 10 percent of its non-US members have cancelled a contract with a US-based cloud provider, and 56 percent said they were less likely to use an American company. A separate report this month by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, or ITIF, a Washington think tank, said US cloud providers stand to lose $22 billion to $35 billion over the next three years due to revelations about the so-called PRISM program. Daniel Castro, author of the report, says a loss of trust in US tech firms could lead to 'protectionist' measures that hurt the fast-growing cloud sector." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. tech sector feels pain from NSA PRISM revelations

Man on Ecstasy parties in his underwear for hours on Angela Merkel’s empty jet

"Once on board, he stripped down to his underwear, punched buttons in the cockpit, sprayed fire extinguisher foam in the cabin and danced on a wing. Police received an alarm at 8:40 p.m. when Volkan T. was in the cockpit, but he wasn’t apprehended until nearly 12:30 a.m. when a police dog bit him on the leg. The man led a combined force of civilian police, Bundeswehr soldiers and private security guards on a merry chase around the Airbus 319 aircraft, which is also used by other high-ranking German officials like President Joachim Gauck. The plane was loaded with eight tons of fuel and could technically have taken off had someone with expertise been at the controls." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan on Ecstasy parties in his underwear for hours on Angela Merkel’s empty jet

German chancellor Angela Merkel to make campaign stop in Dachau

"Angela Merkel will become the first German chancellor to visit the former Nazi concentration camp Dachau as she steps up warnings about the far-right threat while campaigning for a third term. In her weekly podcast, Merkel on Saturday warned ahead of the visit that Europeans must remain vigilant against Holocaust deniers and right-wing extremists. Merkel will hold a campaign rally the same evening in the town of Dachau ahead of a Bavarian state poll and the German general election next month. [A recent Neo-Nazi murder trial] exposed serious failings of the German security services, which had focused their investigation almost entirely on Germany’s large Turkish community." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerman chancellor Angela Merkel to make campaign stop in Dachau