Author and activist Noam Chomsky said that the congressional controversy over extending unemployment benefits is evidence that American politics has descended into madness.
“The refusal to provide very minimal living standards to people who are caught in this monstrosity — that’s just pure savagery,” Chomsky said during an interview with HuffPost Live. “There’s no other word for it.”
Chomsky is a leading American intellectual known at first for his academic work in the field of linguistics. He has since become an influential activist and progressive political thinker.
The future of search may not just be about Google and Bing. In the future of search, believe it or not, there are going to be a lot of people like you and me who will be providing much more helpful information guidance to specific requests than Google could ever do. I know this sounds probably unrealistic to you, but I think there are now many good indications that this likely going to happen much sooner than you expect. One of the key reasons why, human beings will start to reclaim this highly valuable search territory, is the fact that in the last few years we have slowly but deeply surrendered our ability to evaluate, decide and select what is “real” to Google's own algorithms, in ways that can only be detrimental to us.
The press conference held by Jordan’s Ambassador to the UN to introduce Jordan’s presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of January 2014 included a surprise proposal that distinguished it from the usual tradition of announcing the program of work for the Security Council for the month.(1)
The surprise was the announcement of an Open Debate planned for the Council meeting on January 29.
This is much more serious than one guy with a history of disruptive journalism calling out the man. Two weeks ago in NSA Spies, Brazil Shuns Boeing, Selects Saab we saw a U.S. defense contractor lose a $4.5B fighter fleet upgrade due to the NSA’s clumsy spy games. This comes after a steady flow of negative news about U.S. communications and cloud vendors, and the world has not yet begun to digest the shocking revelation that the NSA can intercept new computers and other devices in transit in order to ‘root’ them.
Kudos to Owl — one of over 25 contributing editors — for the top post. We are well over 1,200,000,000 total visitors, and with over 11,000 subscribers receiving every post via email digest, appear to be comfortably established as a reliable source of public interest information.
Of particular note is the sites value as a permanent reference source. Roughly three quarters of our daily visitors are connecting to past posts, some dated 20 years back. As this site contains contributions from over 800 authorities on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), public intelligence (decision-support), and all-source intelligence reform, it is less of a Blog and more of a constantly updated archive.
We have stopped doing RECAPs. Instead we have shifted to @ Phi Beta Iota. WordPress search works well with simple terms.
We salute our kindred spirit, Federation of American Scientists, for whom we gladly provide a constantly updated catalog of Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports.
Freelance journalists have traditionally been on their own when it comes to pitching story ideas, invoicing for payments and staying safe. But a growing number of new communities and platforms want to help freelancers thrive in the media marketplace.
Here are five that launched in 2013 that are worth checking out in the new year:
1. Storyhunter has an ambitious mission: to help freelance video journalists tell the world’s most important, untold stories. In addition to providing editorial support, Storyhunter handles sales and distribution, to allow journalists to spend their time making videos. The site is open to talented producers, editors, videographers and documentary filmmakers, who must apply to be part of the network. Storyhunter.tv.
2. Assignmint offers a free online workflow system, which aims to streamline freelancers' work process from pitch to payment. On the site, freelance journalists can arrange assignments and contracts, set up editorial calendars and deal with invoices, pitches, contract information, expenses and payments. Assignmint.com
3. NewsModo is a platform where freelancers worldwide can sell their stories and pick up assignments, and editors can buy written content and multimedia. Separate from the assignment process, freelancers can upload their own content and set their own prices for it. Newsmodo.com.
4. PitchMe is an online one-stop shop where freelancers can pitch stories, negotiate with editors and get paid on time. The whole process—including pitching, sending messages, signing contracts, filing articles and receiving payment— takes place on the platform. PitchMe.org
5. Frontline Freelance Register is an independent entity supported by London's Frontline Club Charitable Trust. The register provides community and financial support to reporters who cover conflicts without the backing of news outlets. It is open to all freelance print, photo, digital, radio and video journalists reporting in conflict zones or outside their own countries. Frontlinefreelance.org.
Jessica Weiss, a former IJNet managing editor, is a Buenos Aires-based freelancer.
Noam Chomsky: AMERICAN Politics Has Descended into MADness, Pure Savagery
