Mainstream News

More modern monarchs choose not to rule until death

"Belgian King Albert, 79, became the latest to announce he will abdicate his throne, a little over a week after the emir of Qatar Hamad ben Khalifa Al Thani stepped down in favour of his son — a first for an Arab country. The abdication of queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in April was not a complete surprise, as both her mother and grandmother before her voluntarily gave up their crowns. However a decision by Pope Benedict XVI to step down that same month stunned the world. He was the first to resign the papacy — an elected monarchy — in some 600 years." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMore modern monarchs choose not to rule until death

Utah launches new federalism commission to push back Washington

"For too long Utah and other states have not exercised their sovereign powers in the face of the federal government’s growing reach into new arenas, according to leading members of a new state commission assembled to study and push back against federal authority. 'History has shown that if you concentrate power it was a fundamental threat to the rights of people and it was corrupting,' Senate Majority Leader Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, told the inaugural meeting of the Commission on Federalism. 'We have watched that happen for the last 50 years as the federal government has broadened its jurisdiction in a number of issues.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUtah launches new federalism commission to push back Washington

With Montana’s Lead, States May Demand Warrants for Cellphone Data

"The Montana Legislature this spring passed a location information privacy bill, which requires a search warrant for location information recorded by an 'electronic device.' There are exceptions to the warrant requirement, including when the cellphone is reported stolen or to respond to a cellphone user’s emergency call. Steve Bullock, the governor of Montana, signed it into law on May 6. The American Civil Liberties Union, which tracks cellphone tracking laws across the country, called it the first such state legislation. Over a dozen other states have eyed similar measures just this year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith Montana’s Lead, States May Demand Warrants for Cellphone Data

US sends Irish government arrest warrant for Snowden

"The Government has received a request from the US authorities to arrest fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden. The provisional arrest warrant received by the Irish Government from the US authorities is now being handled by the extradition Unit in the Garda’s crime and security branch based in Garda headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin. The warrant has been issued as a pre-emptive strike against any effort by Mr Snowden to evade the US authorities by flying from Moscow to Havana on a commercial flight that stops off at Shannon for refuelling. The warrant would enable the Garda to arrest Mr Snowden under the Extradition Act 1965." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS sends Irish government arrest warrant for Snowden

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says no country will have to leave eurozone

"Pushing her message of the need for greater fiscal discipline, structural reform and strengthened competitiveness, she said: 'All of us have to jointly become better, and for that we need European unity.' Merkel, who faces elections on September 22 in Europe’s biggest economy, has long championed fiscal discipline that has forced painful spending cuts in countries such as Greece and Spain. More recently she has focussed on the need to help the victims of the crisis, almost six million jobless under-25-year-olds, and repeatedly said that 'Germany will only do well if Europe does well'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel says no country will have to leave eurozone

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales threatens to close U.S. embassy

"Bolivia’s president threatened to close the US embassy as leftist Latin American leaders joined him in blasting Europe and the United States after his plane was rerouted amid suspicions US fugitive Edward Snowden was aboard. President Evo Morales, who has suggested the United States pressured European nations to deny him their airspace, warned he would 'study, if necessary, closing the US embassy in Bolivia.' 'We don’t need a US embassy in Bolivia,' he said. 'My hand would not shake to close the US embassy. We have dignity, sovereignty. Without the United States, we are better politically, democratically.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBolivia’s President Evo Morales threatens to close U.S. embassy

Delay in Obamacare requirement puts onus on the honor system

"Delaying the 'employer mandate' already means the government is giving up potential revenue next year, as businesses whose employees buy subsidized coverage on an Obamacare exchange would be fined $3,000 per person. In addition, without the reporting requirements of the employer mandate in 2014, 'the exchanges and the IRS will not be able to verify whether someone’s coverage is unaffordable' and thus whether the person is eligible for subsidies, said law professor Timothy Jost of Washington and Lee School of Law in Lexington, Virginia. That leaves it up to individual consumers to be honest about what they do, or do not, qualify for." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDelay in Obamacare requirement puts onus on the honor system

Estonia tells European Union to rely less on U.S.-based ‘cloud’ storage

"IT hub Estonia on Wednesday urged the European Union to rely less on US firms for 'cloud' data storage, amid tensions over claims of US spying and data surveillance. 'Recent months have proven once again that it’s very important for Europe to have its own data clouds that operate strictly under European legislation,' Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said in a statement. Dubbed E-stonia, the tiny state of just 1.3 million people is known for being a trailblazer in technology and is one of the most connected countries in the world. Tallinn is also home to the NATO cyber-defence centre." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEstonia tells European Union to rely less on U.S.-based ‘cloud’ storage

France revealed to be spying on its citizens’ phone calls, email and social media

"France’s external intelligence agency spies on the French public’s phone calls, emails and social media activity in France and abroad. It said the DGSE intercepted signals from computers and telephones in France, and between France and other countries, although not the content of phone calls, to create a map of 'who is talking to whom'. It said the activity was illegal. 'All of our communications are spied on,' wrote Le Monde, which based its report on unnamed intelligence sources as well as remarks made publicly by intelligence officials. 'Emails, text messages, telephone records, access to Facebook and Twitter are then stored for years,' it said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFrance revealed to be spying on its citizens’ phone calls, email and social media

Douglas Engelbart, inventor of computer mouse, dies at 88

"Engelbart arrived at his crowning moment relatively early in his career, on a winter afternoon in 1968, when he delivered an hour-long presentation containing so many far-reaching ideas that it would be referred to decades later as the 'mother of all demos.' Speaking before an audience of 1,000 leading technologists in San Francisco, Engelbart, a computer scientist at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI), showed off a cubic device with two rolling discs called an 'X-Y position indicator for a display system.' It was the mouse’s public debut. He never received any royalties for the mouse, which SRI patented and later licensed to Apple." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDouglas Engelbart, inventor of computer mouse, dies at 88