State-Smashing

Edward Snowden And The Disruption Of Government

"What I want to focus on in this post is not Snowden himself, but what he represents, and what this may mean for governments and peoples over the next few decades. I believe we are in the midst of a centuries-long shift of power from state entities to the people those states have traditionally governed. What exactly the result of this evolution will be I don’t know, but I believe 'the State' as we know it has a limited lifespan and what replaces it, while perhaps imperfect, will be an improvement in terms of peace and prosperity. It can be explained in part by examining the research and teachings of noted icons of the business world Clayton Christensen, John Boyd, and Sun Tzu." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEdward Snowden And The Disruption Of Government

Out of a Spy Movie: How Glenn Greenwald First Met Edward Snowden In Person

"The source had instructed his media contacts to come to Hong Kong, visit a particular out-of-the-way corner of a certain hotel, and ask — loudly — for directions to another part of the hotel. If all seemed well, the source would walk past holding a Rubik’s Cube. So three people — Glenn Greenwald, a civil-liberties writer who recently moved his blog to The Guardian; Laura Poitras, a documentary filmmaker who specializes in surveillance; and Ewen MacAskill, a Guardian reporter — flew from New York to Hong Kong about 12 days ago. They followed the directions. A man with a Rubik’s Cube appeared." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOut of a Spy Movie: How Glenn Greenwald First Met Edward Snowden In Person

Speed Cameras Tear Apart Ohio Town

"The village of Elmwood Place, Ohio can no longer perform all the functions of local government, thanks to speed cameras. Four of the village's six councilmen have resigned over the way automated ticketing machines are used, and without a quorum village can no longer take any actions it faces a court contempt hearing on Tuesday. The controversy began in September 2012 when the village allowed Optotraffic to begin issuing $105 tickets using a portable speed camera with a 40 percent cut of the revenue going to the private company. Tickets were being issued at a rate that would have generated $2 million per year, or over $1000 per resident." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpeed Cameras Tear Apart Ohio Town

Exclusive New Adam Kokesh Arrest Footage; Calls For Orderly Disbandment Of Washington

"Adam's arrest in Philadelphia as never seen before with multiple camera angles and exclusive footage that shows him clearly being targeted and pulled out of the crowd WITHOUT assaulting anyone!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingExclusive New Adam Kokesh Arrest Footage; Calls For Orderly Disbandment Of Washington

Local hero? Man tweets DUI checkpoint locations

"Increasingly, social media has allowed real human beings to contact other real human beings in order to avoid being randomly stopped and having their breath searched. Sennett Devermont has turned checkpoint alerts into what he believes is a public service. Devermont, a co-founder of the dating site site DateUp (later sold to IAC) and various other ventures, has created the superhero name Mr. Checkpoint, and his site works hard to ensure that his followers receive text alerts as soon as the information comes to him. His Twitter feed now has more than 43,000 followers, who hang on his every revelation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLocal hero? Man tweets DUI checkpoint locations

Tor: The Onion Router

"With the ever expanding surveillance systems being employed in the United States and around the world, the ability to use the internet anonymously is becoming increasingly important, especially for activists, or anyone who is not okay with your Search Engine provider, ISP (Internet Service Provider) and your government knowing everything about your internet use. Here, I will go into brief detail about the technical aspects of Tor, give reasons why you should use Tor and finally guide you through the installation of the Tor browser and how to contribute to the network by setting up a relay." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTor: The Onion Router

Don’t Make it Easy for Governments to Compile Your Digital Dossier – Part II

"The Onion Router (Tor) was originally a research project of the US Naval Research Laboratory and was developed as a third generation anonymity software. Today, the Tor Project is an open source application and is used worldwide by private citizens, the military, journalists, law enforcement officers, and activists. Tor is arguably one of the most anonymous Internet anonymizers available. As the above diagram illustrates, users, via a Tor client, make a random connection to the first of three remote servers. The remote servers can be operated by anyone – virtually anywhere in the world. The three servers, also known as nodes, are encrypted." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDon’t Make it Easy for Governments to Compile Your Digital Dossier – Part II

Tories begin defecting to Nigel Farage’s UKIP over ‘loons’ slur

"Local Conservative party campaigners, including the chairman of one constituency association, will this week pledge their support for Nigel Farage after one of David Cameron’s allies described grassroots Tories as 'mad, swivel-eyed loons'. Six members of the Tory group on Merton council in south London are quitting. One, Richard Hilton, who has been acting chairman of the local Conservative association, said he would join Ukip because the insult was 'the final straw'. Lord Howe, the former chancellor, claimed Mr Cameron was 'losing control' of the party to growing euroscepticism." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTories begin defecting to Nigel Farage’s UKIP over ‘loons’ slur

German Anti-Euro Party a Growing Challenge for Merkel

"Though the German left is splintered among three, or even four, parties, the right is a monolith. There is the CDU, its Bavarian wing known as the Christian Social Union, and its favorite coalition partner, the Free Democrats (FDP). But this election year is different. With the birth of the anti-euro party Alternative for Germany (AfD), Merkel is facing competition from within her own clientele. Furthermore, though her preferred strategy has been that of maintaining complete silence about the AfD so as not to lend it credibility, there are many in Merkel's party who disagree with that approach. And they are increasingly giving voice to their displeasure." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerman Anti-Euro Party a Growing Challenge for Merkel

IRS Scandal: And They Shall Eat Their Own …

"These three scandals in particular represent the power of what we often call the Internet Reformation. While scandals have always beset Washington, the breathtaking rapidity with which these blossomed and expanded may be indicative of how modern communication undermines damage control and resists minimization. And, yes, I would tend to believe the third reason – the power of the Internet itself – is driving the rapidity and evolution of these scandals. It is not enough anymore to claim executive privilege while attempting to conceal abuses of political privilege." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS Scandal: And They Shall Eat Their Own …