News Items

Watch a 12 Year Old Egyptian Prodigy Break Down Political Manipulation on Video

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This is apparently from late last year, but it is simply a stunning video. This young kid somehow grasps concepts that the vast majority of people can’t seem to comprehend, at least certainly not in these United States. With young kids like this there is great hope for the future. I wish Egyptians all the … Read more

If Flying into the UK, Your Phone Can Be Seized and Data Downloaded Without Suspicion

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The next time you fly into Heathrow, you may want to guard your phone with your life. That, or erase all the personal data you don’t want to fall into the hands of some nosey bureaucrat. Incredibly, officers can seize your phone and retain its data for “as long as necessary” without reasonable suspicion. From The Telegraph:

Officers use counter-terrorism laws to remove a mobile phone from any passenger they wish coming through UK air, sea and international rail ports and then scour their data.

The blanket power is so broad they do not even have to show reasonable suspicion for seizing the device and can retain the information for “as long as is necessary”.

Data can include call history, contact books, photos and who the person is texting or emailing, although not the contents of messages.

Mr Anderson said: “Information downloaded from mobile phones seized at ports has been very useful in disrupting terrorists and bringing them to justice.

Here we go again, the state claims it can do anything as long as they swear they are protecting you from some phantom enemy.

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The Inside Bitcoins Conference is Almost Here – July 30th in NYC

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It’s only two weeks away and I am getting excited about attending my first ever Bitcoin conference in NYC on July 30th. Bitcoin has held a spot in my psyche ever since I first heard of the crypto-currency a couple of years ago and learned of the motivation behind its creator. It’s been amazing to … Read more

The Most Ridiculous 30 Seconds of News You’ve Ever Seen

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This is so crazy I almost can’t believe it happened. In its reporting of Asiana Airlines flight 214’s frightening crash landing at San Francisco airport, bay area television station KTVU identified the pilots of the plane as: Captain Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Li Fuk, and Bang Ding Ow. This happened on air. … Read more

Privacy Focused Storage Device “Plug” Raises Over $350,000 on Kickstarter in Five Days

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I’m not sure that the NSA would find great interest in analyzing my life and conversations. However I do like the idea of being protected and of having control. And I love the idea that Plug can bring this control back to non-geek people.

– Severin Marcombes, CEO of Cloud Guys, maker of “Plug”

One of the most exciting trends to have emerged in 2013, is the explosion of extremely smart, privacy focused entrepreneurs creating products that will ultimately free us from the oppressive, centralized state humanity has been forced to live under for so long. Whether we are talking about the efforts of Kim Dotcom, DuckDuckGo, Xmission, or Cloud Guys, this trend is hear to stay and makes me extremely optimistic about the future.

Every single macro trend I see on the planet at the moment seems to be pushing us toward decentralization, such as Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies, 3D-printing, alternative media and crowd funding sources such as Kickstarter. The future looks very bright once we forever shed the shackles of centralized power and brute force. From the Huffington Post:

Support for a data-storage device that could potentially combat the government’s data-collection surveillance program known as PRISM has skyrocketed online. In just two days, the developers have received more than $200,000 in donations via Kickstarter.

As I mentioned, this number is now up to $365,000. The initial goal was $69,000, which was achieved in 12 hours.

Plug is a small USB adapter that can store and transfer all content without the need for the Cloud or third-party services. The device, which has been in development for two years, was created by the brains at Cloud Guys Corporation, a start-up company based in Colorado.

Go Colorado!

With Plug, all storage is private, and files are not uploaded to the Cloud, the group explains. No external company is involved, and nothing is sent to a server. Communication between devices is encrypted for added security, and website developers can use Plug for storage.

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Montana Passes Sweeping Anti-Government Spying Bill

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What is so interesting about Montana’s House Bill 603, which passed overwhelmingly the state Senate by a 96-4 margin, is that it was passed in April, or several months before Edward Snowden’s NSA revelations. Talk about some foresight. Hopefully, we will see many more such bills sweep across the nation, as “change” will have to be done at the local level. The central government in D.C. is hopelessly corrupt and I don’t see that changing. We must just decentralize away from the District of Criminals on our own. From the Atlantic Wire:

Privacy advocates, behold the Montana legislature and House Bill 603, a measure that requires the government to obtain a probable cause warrant before spying on you through your cell phone or laptop. HB 603 was signed into law this past spring, effectively making Montana the first state to have an anti-spy law long before anyone heard of Edward Snowden. To be clear, HB 603 passed the state Senate overwhelmingly by a vote of 96-4 in April and was signed into law on May 6.

At the time, the law might have seemed extraneous, or even paranoid. But knowing what we know now, the law seems prophetic. The law is pretty straightforward—the government can’t spy on Montanans through their electronic devices unless they obtain a warrant:

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There are Over 50,000 SWAT Team Raids Annually in America

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Yesterday, Salon published a fantastic interview with Radley Balko, author of a new book, Rise of the Warrior Cop. The interview focused on the fact that the number of SWAT team raids has soared from a few hundred annually in the 1970’s to more than 50,000 per year by 2005. To make matters worse, most of these raids are focused on non-violent crimes.  Radley identifies three main forces behind this disturbing trend. The “war on drugs,” the national overreaction to 9/11, and the creation and massive funding behind the Department of Homeland Security. Moreover, once these SWAT teams are in place, the individual police departments feel pressured to use them in order to justify their existence. More from Salon:

Radley Balko’s new book, “Rise of the Warrior Cop,” details how America’s police forces have grown to look and behave more like soldiers than neighborly Officer Krupkes walking the beat. This new breed of police, frequently equipped with military weapons and decked out in enough armor to satisfy a storm trooper, are redefining law enforcement.

Since 9/11, the newly formed Department of Homeland Security has distributed billions in grants, enabling even some small town police departments to buy armored personnel carriers and field their own SWAT teams.

Once you have a SWAT team the only thing to do is kick some ass. There are more than 100 SWAT team raids every day in this country. They’re not chasing murderers or terrorists. For the most part they go after nonviolent offenders like drug dealers and even small time gamblers. As you’d expect when there is too much adrenaline and too much weaponry, there have been some tragedies.

Balko talked to Salon about the decline of community policing, the warrior cop mentality, why so many dogs get killed by police. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

There are several levels of militarization. The rise of SWAT teams nationwide, the number of annual SWAT deployments in the U.S., has gone from a few hundred in the ’70s, to 30,000 per year in the early ’80s, to 50,000 in 2005. That’s 100, 150 times a day in this country you have these heavily armed police teams breaking into homes, and the vast majority of times it’s to enforce laws against consensual crimes.

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German Artist Faces Criminal Charges for Projecting Kim Dotcom Image on U.S. Embassy

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In case you missed it, last Sunday German artist Oliver Bienkowski projected a giant image of Kim Dotcom on the U.S. embassy in Berlin coupled with the phrase “United Stasi of America.” The entire thing lasted about 30 seconds and was extremely good natured and humorous. However, it seems German “authorities” don’t appreciate being out-Stasied by the … Read more

Another Reason Why CNBC is Dying

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A couple of days ago there was an excellent article on Zerohedge discussing the continued ratings death spiral at CNBC. While it may be tempting to blame it all on Andrew Ross Sorkin, who Matt Taibbi described as “a shameless, ball-gargling prostitute for Wall Street,” there are plenty of examples to point to. Another notable example … Read more

DARPA Unveils “Atlas”: A 6 Foot Tall Humanoid Robot

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Earlier this year I highlighted DARPA’s Argus, the world’s highest resolution video surveillance platform.  Well it appears DARPA has a new toy it wants to introduce you to.  It’s named Atlas and it is a 6-foot, 2-inch-tall humanoid robot. Coming for your taxes in 2020!  From The Verge: It’s not quite Terminator, but it’s not that far … Read more