Technocracy

India’s falling GDP growth, financial inclusion and likely impact on Gold

"Governments have urged public sector banks to take up financial inclusion as a top priority and several initiatives have been taken to take banking to the door steps of the rural households. The lack of a well-developed banking system with sufficient penetration in rural areas could be a major reason for people to invest their savings in gold coins and jewellery. But the introduction of Aadhaar (universal identification system), and linking payment of subsidies through Aadhaar linked bank accounts could in course of time force people to think of alternatives to investing in gold, if they are found to be providing risk free returns." Continue reading →

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John Whitehead: Turning public schools into forts

"As surveillance cameras, metal detectors, police patrols, zero-tolerance policies, lockdowns, drug-sniffing dogs and strip searches become the norm in elementary, middle and high schools across the nation, America is on a fast track to raising up an Orwellian generation — one populated by compliant citizens accustomed to living in a police state and who march in lockstep to the dictates of the government. With every school police raid and overzealous punishment that is carried out in the name of school safety, the lesson being imparted is that Americans — especially young people — have no rights at all against the state or the police." Continue reading →

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New Hampshire Town Sues Over Meter Feeding

"A group of residents in Keene, New Hampshire thought the city was gaining a bad reputation for its predatory parking meter enforcement and decided to do something about it. The organized an effort to regularly feed coins into the meters so that other residents and visitors could avoid having an expensive ticket slapped on their windshield. Instead, they receive a card telling them that Robin Hood and the Merry Men have 'saved you from the king's tariff.' As a reward for their generosity, the city is suing the Robin Hooders for civil conspiracy to interfere with a contract. A hearing on the case is scheduled for August 12." Continue reading →

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Enforcement of immigration laws could be making human trafficking tougher to detect

"The threat of arrest and deportation is a common tool traffickers use to control their victims, experts say. Even those immigrants who arrive on a legitimate work-related visa have become trafficking victims. These visas usually bind the worker to an employer, who can hold that requirement over their head and even become their trafficker. 'If employment ends, then so does visa status,' says Avaloy Lanning, a senior director at Safe Horizon, a New York-based victim's services agency. 'The trafficker uses that against them, [saying], if you run then you're going to be illegal, then immigration is going to pick you up, arrest you and deport you.'" Continue reading →

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The American Surveillance State Is Here. Can It Be Evaded?

"On any given day, the average American going about his daily business will be monitored, surveilled, spied on and tracked in more than 20 different ways, by both government and corporate eyes and ears. Whether you’re walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, you can be sure that some government agency, whether the NSA or some other entity, is listening in and tracking your behavior. Erected in secret, without any public input, these surveillance programs amount to an electronic concentration camp which houses every single person in the United States today." Continue reading →

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European Court Backs Journalist Harassed Over Speed Camera Criticism

"Ilze Nagla's prime-time Sunday television news program infuriated the Ministry of the Interior with coverage of the bungled photo enforcement procurement that became a national scandal. The government wanted details of the contract to operate 160 speed cameras to be kept secret. The deal was handed to the German firm Vitronic, which would take a 35 percent cut of the tickets. At 9:30pm on May 11, 2010, Nagla's home was ransacked by a plain-clothes police officer who pushed his way through her door. Two other officers joined in the search of her residence, taking her laptop, hard drives, memory cards and flash drives." Continue reading →

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R.I.P. Garry Davis (1921-2013)

"The world has lost a true visionary. Davis renounced his US citizenship in 1948, proclaiming himself a citizen of the world. He went on to advocate for global, rather than national, governance, and founded organizations to that end. Since 1954, the World Passport that Davis devised and issued has facilitated crossings of some 180 national borders, and has has saved tens of thousands of lives. as bearers and their families used it to flee conflict zones and genocides. Garry’s legacy lives on, both in the ideals he articulated and in the lives and descendants of the people his 'fake' passports saved." Continue reading →

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The Chilling Effects of License-Plate Location Tracking

"Location tracking has far-reaching implications for the way we live, even if we don't think we've done anything wrong. Our recent report, 'You Are Being Tracked,' shows that automatic license plate readers allow law enforcement to track every car on the road, not just those relevant to an investigation. This type of widespread tracking endangers our rights of protest and association and has the potential to reach deep into our lives and alter our daily decision making. Once your location information is collected and stored by a third party, you have lost control over it, and there is no way to know whose hands it will end up in." Continue reading →

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EU planning to ‘own and operate’ spy drones and an air force

"The European Union is planning to 'own and operate' spy drones, surveillance satellites and aircraft as part of a new intelligence and security agency under the control of Baroness Ashton. The controversial proposals are a major move towards creating an independent EU military body with its own equipment and operations, and will be strongly opposed by Britain. The use of the new spy drones and satellites for 'internal and external security policies', which will include police intelligence, the internet, protection of external borders and maritime surveillance, will raise concerns that the EU is creating its own version of the US National Security Agency." Continue reading →

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UK Porn Filter: Censorship Extends Beyond Pornography, But One ISP Is Fighting Back

"One U.K. ISP, TalkTalk, already has 'The HomeSafe System,' which was singled out for praise by David Cameron when announcing the new policy. It gives another good idea of the kind of Internet censorship the British government is looking to implement. HomeSafe is actually operated by Huawei, a Chinese company that both the U.K. and the U.S. accused of having close ties with the Chinese government. The U.S. has branded Huawei a threat to national security. ISPs will be able to use whatever filter system they like, so many may not choose to be associated with Huawei. Others are refusing to take place in the filters at all." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUK Porn Filter: Censorship Extends Beyond Pornography, But One ISP Is Fighting Back