Fascism

Hospital investors ‘sold’ on Obamacare

"Shares of U.S. hospital operators have been on a tear this year, on average posting triple the gains of the broader stock market, as investors tallied up the benefits of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform. They expect company earnings to strengthen as more Americans gain insurance coverage and hospitals lose less money treating the uninsured. The reform law has spurred consolidation among hospitals, and further merger activity could lift valuations. The biggest benefit from health reform is expected to be an influx of patients whose treatment will be paid for either through expanded Medicaid programs or from state-based exchanges." Continue reading →

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Electronic Updatable License Plates Could Flash “STOLEN” Or “UNINSURED”

"A small company in South Carolina is attempting to introduce electronic license plate's for the state's cars and trucks. The plates are fairly simple: an electrophoretic display that can display certain bold words when necessary, like 'STOLEN' or 'UNINSURED.' The benefits of an electronic license plate are interesting. If a driver is doing something wrong, something other drivers should know about, the DMV can beam a sort of scarlet letter message to the license plate over an included wireless connection, like your smartphone has. But there are a few issues; for one, who knows how secure this system is?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingElectronic Updatable License Plates Could Flash “STOLEN” Or “UNINSURED”

Verizon Files Patent for Creepy Device To Watch You While You Watch TV

"The company has filed a patent for a system designed to be used in the home to target advertisements at people. Using a combination of image and audio sensors, it would detect actions in your living room while you were watching TV. These sensors, deploying facial and profile recognition, would pick up 'physical attributes' like skin color, facial features, and even hair length, and also detect 'voice attributes' to help determine the tone of your voice, your accent, and the language you speak. Inanimate objects aren’t off-limits—the technology could also spot beer cans and wall art." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVerizon Files Patent for Creepy Device To Watch You While You Watch TV

How Bad Is The Surveillance State?

"Even more baffling to me is the reaction of some 'conservatives' who deny the scope of spying activities and, at once, minimizing the civil-liberties threat and justifying the activities as absolutely necessary and vital for the protection of the country. The truth is that the network television show 'Person of Interest' is much closer to reality than most people think – except for the fact that no one is actually using the mining of data to protect the lives of innocent American citizens caught in the crossfire. Let’s look at some of the hard, cold facts of today’s surveillance state." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Bad Is The Surveillance State?

Richard Retting, ‘Father Of Red Light Cameras In America’, Becomes A Paid Camera Lobbyist

"Retting is being paid to oppose the measure introduced by Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian (D-San Fernando Valley) that would mandate one extra second of yellow warning time at intersections that use red light cameras. The policy has been in effect in Georgia since January 2009 where it has resulted in a massive reduction in red light violations. The prospect has photo ticketing firms like Redflex worried, because the majority of Georgia cities that once used red light cameras dumped them after the law took effect and revenue dried up. Lasercraft, then the number one photo ticketing firm in the state, went out of business." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRichard Retting, ‘Father Of Red Light Cameras In America’, Becomes A Paid Camera Lobbyist

Twitter CEO defends ‘principled’ data gathering policy

"Twitter is holding to a 'principled' policy on national security data requests and will 'push back' in some cases to protect the privacy of its users, its chief executive said Wednesday. Dick Costolo, appearing at a forum at the Brookings Institution in Washington, declined to comment on whether Twitter had specific requests under the vast data-gathering program called PRISM made public this month. But he noted that Twitter has gone to court in certain cases to fight 'gag' orders and to allow users to be in informed of how their own data is used." Continue reading →

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‘How to Make Money Selling Drugs’

"'How to Make Money' is full of useful insights from people who know the drug trade well, including reformed dealers, ex-international smugglers, former cops, pundits, lawyers and government insiders. Interviewees include one-time dealer Freeway Ricky Ross, retired Baltimore cop-turned-activist Neill Franklin and rapper 50 Cent, who sold drugs as a 12-year-old orphan. The film’s emerging portrait of the drug war is of a relentless, historical cycle involving poverty, racism, addiction, corruption, political opportunism, local cops dependent on federal dollars, and a $50 billion, commercial prison industry profiting mightily by incarcerating lots of Americans." Continue reading →

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Ohio House Votes Overwhelmingly To Ban Traffic Cameras

"All red light cameras and nearly all speed cameras would be banished from Ohio under a bill that cleared the state House of Representatives Wednesday by a 61-32 vote. State Representatives Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) and Dale Mallory (D-Cincinnati) introduced the measure that would pull the plug on sixteen municipal automated ticketing programs currently in operation. 'Let's be candid about these cameras,' Maag said. 'Their main goal is to generate revenue and this is obvious for several reasons.' So far, residents in seven cities have circulated petitions and succeeded in overturning the decision of their city council to install red light cameras and speed cameras." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOhio House Votes Overwhelmingly To Ban Traffic Cameras

Here Come The “National Service” Peddlers

"WaPo's Michael Gerson feels a little edgy about Americans 'criticizing the National Security Agency as though it were enforcing the Alien and Sedition Acts.' You see, the serfs are not supposed to question, let alone have a problem with, having their every move monitored and watched by the State. So Gerson, looking for a panacea to this individualistic disease, suggests that 'National service can heal a divided nation.' Adding to Gerson's plea, there's also HuffPo who says 'That a year of full-time national service should become a civic rite of passage for all young Americans.' One must ask: Are the government schools not enough anymore?" Continue reading →

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The Land of the Blind: The Illusion of Freedom in America

"Consider how quickly the government’s attack dogs went from defending the NSA’s warrantless mass surveillance of Americans’ phone calls to targeting and punishing any and all parties involved in the 'leak' of sensitive information, including labeling Snowden a traitor, charging him with espionage and warning foreign governments against giving him refuge. President Obama has begun preaching about the need for Americans to 'trust' their government, insisting that the NSA’s surveillance is perfectly legal with no acknowledgment of the fact that the leak shed much-needed light on government corruption, illicit programs and treachery." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Land of the Blind: The Illusion of Freedom in America