Resistance

Edward Snowden Receives German Whistleblowing Award

"My gratitude belongs to all of those who have reached out to their friends and family to explain why suspicionless surveillance matters. It belongs to the man in a mask on the street on a hot day and the women with a sign and an umbrella in the rain, it belongs to the young people in college with a civil liberty sticker on their laptop, and the kid in the back of a class in high school making memes. All of these people accept that change begins with a single voice and spoke one message to the world: governments must be accountable to us for the decisions that they make. Decisions regarding the kind of world we will live in. What kind of rights and freedoms individuals will enjoy are the domain of the public." Continue reading →

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WikiLeaks’ ‘CableGate’ Server Up for Auction on eBay

"Server geeks and conspiracy theorists wanting to own a little piece of history have a shot at owning the actual server that was at the center of a political firestorm after WikiLeaks used it to release more than 250,000 secret U.S. embassy cables in 2011. Until yesterday the server was on display in a museum within the Thule Brunkow Ridge data center owned by Swedish hosting company Bahnhof, from which WikiLeaks rented the Dell pizza-box server in 2010. Bahnhof – which refers to itself as a Free Speech ISP – doesn’t say why it took the server down from its pedestal and put it up for sale, but does promise the money will go to non-profit free-speech organizations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWikiLeaks’ ‘CableGate’ Server Up for Auction on eBay

Mind Readers Crack Open New Tech Market

"Based in Israel, Beyond Verbal lives up to its name. The company has created technology that focuses not on what a person says, but how they say it. It goes 'beyond verbal,' using voice signals (such as intonation and modulation) in order to gauge the mood, feelings and emotions behind a person’s words and get a true representation of what they really think. It’s no gimmick, either. The Beyond Verbal team is made up of scientists, psychologists and neurologists who’ve worked on perfecting the Emotions Analytics technology since 1995. Over that time, they’ve conducted tests on 60,000 people in 27 languages to ensure that the technology works across the board." Continue reading →

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‘Putin in drag’ artist seeks asylum in France

"A Russian artist said Thursday he has fled to France and is applying for asylum after police seized his painting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in women’s underwear. Police on Tuesday raided an exhibition in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg, which next week hosts the G20 summit, and confiscated works including a painting of Putin in a strappy nightie and Medvedev in a bra and skimpy knickers. The artist, Konstantin Altunin, 45, said by telephone from Paris that he had requested political asylum and was now gathering the necessary documents. The exhibition also included paintings of Lenin and Stalin." Continue reading →

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Putin: Edward Snowden ‘condemned himself to a rather difficult life’

"'You know, I sometimes thought about him, he is a strange guy,' ex-KGB spy Putin said in an interview with state-run Channel One television. 'How is he going to build his life? In effect, he condemned himself to a rather difficult life. I do not have the faintest idea about what he will do next,' Putin said. 'Well, it’s clear we will not give him up, he can feel safe here. But what’s next?' Putin said. 'And maybe some compromises will be found in this case.' Putin said while US special services consider Snowden a traitor 'he is someone with a completely different frame of mind and considers himself to be a fighter for human rights.'" Continue reading →

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Boston mayor says he would ‘blow up’ Detroit, defuses situation with apology

"Boston Mayor Tom Menino apologized this week after saying that he would like to go to Detroit and 'blow up the place.' In an recent interview with The New York Times, Menino had been asked how he would handle Detroit’s bankruptcy if he were mayor. 'I’d blow up the place and start all over,' Menino said. 'No, seriously, when it takes a police officer 90 minutes to answer a call, there’s something wrong with the system. Forty percent of the streetlights are out, most of the buildings are boarded up. Why? Inaction, that’s the problem — leadership.'" Continue reading →

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6 cutting-edge bank alternatives

"Tired of plain-vanilla banks and bucks? A fleet of upstart companies and even old ones with new offerings are betting yes. Offerings range from innovations, such as virtual currencies, to older ones, such as company credit unions, that can save you money. 'Most places these days want to be one-stop shops,' says Robert Laura, president of Synergos Financial Group in Howell, Mich. Meanwhile, banks are dinging people with ATM fees or overdraft protection. Laura warns buyers to beware. Watch out for limited services or high fees. Not every alternative money source may be for you. Some are works in progress. That said, here are six banking alternatives on the rise." Continue reading →

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Germans Hide Cash in Diapers as Swiss Secrecy Crumbles

"With Swiss banks the target of an international crackdown against tax evasion, Germans who avoided taxes by keeping money in Switzerland are bringing wads of cash home and hiding it in odd places. The customs districts bordering Switzerland turned up 20 million euros of undeclared cash last year. In the Bavarian border town of Lindau, where officers once caught a man with 25,000 euros stuffed inside a gingerbread house, 2 million euros of undeclared bills were discovered last year. German border agents also hunt for stacks of papers that point to secret accounts. 'To hold a binder with lots of bank statements, that’s quite a good feeling,' said Georg Kruegers, a German customs officer." Continue reading →

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USA Is #5 in World Economic Competition

"The World Economic Council in Davos, Switzerland has released its list of nations’ ranking in terms of competitiveness. As always, Switzerland is on top. That’s what peace can do for a nation. Also limited central government, respect for property rights, and low crime. Here are the top nations. At the bottom, also as always, are mostly African tribal units that are euphemistically called nations." Continue reading →

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Matt Drudge Breaks Up With Republicans, Joins Libertarians

"Matt Drudge, the founder of the enormously popular conservative news aggregator DrudgeReport.com, tweeted today that since there are no real differences between Democrats and Republicans the only two real political parties are Authoritarians and Libertarians. 'It's now Authoritarian vs Libertarian,' Drudge tweeted. 'Since Democrats vs. Republicans has been obliterated, no real difference between parties...' Drudge also asks his followers why anyone would still vote Republican. 'Who are they?!' he asks. 'Raised taxes; marching us off to war again; approves more NSA snooping.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMatt Drudge Breaks Up With Republicans, Joins Libertarians