The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
Copyright Monopoly: Happy Yule, everybody! In our series of reminders about important talkbacks, we’ve come to the reminder that the act of hunting for people who share culture and knowledge online violates their fundamental human rights, as doing so wiretaps private communications.
Continue reading “Rickard Falkvinge: File-Sharing Hunt Violates Human Rights (Per European Court)”
The Year Hacktivists And The Government Went To War
Gerry Smith
Huffington Post, 20 December 2013
“Taken together, the lesson appears to be that computer hacking for social causes and computer hacking aimed at exposing the secrets of governing elites will not be tolerated,” Ludlow wrote.
Diversity Chronicle, 5 December 2013
For the last six months, Catholic cardinals, bishops and theologians have been deliberating in Vatican City, discussing the future of the church and redefining long-held Catholic doctrines and dogmas. The Third Vatican Council, is undoubtedly the largest and most important since the Second Vatican Council was concluded in 1962. Pope Francis convened the new council to “finally finish the work of the Second Vatican Council.” While some traditionalists and conservative reactionaries on the far right have decried these efforts, they have delighted progressives around the world.
Thanks for sending the NYT article John. I am lucky to have arrived here in India just as the rolling series of local elections took place – and based on the NYT article, it is worth mentioning this to you.
All of India is electrified by the impressive win in the state of Delhi of the AAP, the anti-corruption party. I have been surprised reading the newspapers that what everyone is excited about is that a third party founded on principle could win anything. (Local elections are sometimes won by 3rd parties if they are ethnically/religiously oriented, in the areas where these groups are majorities).
Like the US, the assumption has been that India will never go for a third party, this despite it being a parliamentary system. How this plays out in terms of governing remains to be seen, BUT the AAP won on its stand and promise to fight corruption, attracting both the middle class (which usually supports the liberal Congress Party) and the poor (who tend to support the conservative BJP). Both parties are widely seen as hopelessly corrupt.
Maybe there is a lesson here for a smaller democracy, ours (India has 1.2 billion people, and 750 million registered voters!) As the NYT article showed, people don't see themselves as Centrists, and are divided on so many issues. But we are surely sick of the US style corruption, which is in the popular mind focused on weal financial regulations.
Hope all is well and holiday cheer to you and Margo,
Evelyn
Only four percent complete massive open online courses: setback or growing pains?
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have relatively few active users, and user engagement falls off dramatically, especially after the first one to two weeks weeks of a course. Ultimately, only a handful of users persist to the course end.
That's the gist of a recent study from a University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) study. The study's authors, Laura Perna and Alan Ruby, analyzed the movement of a million users through sixteen Coursera courses offered by the University of Pennsylvania from June 2012 to June 2013.
Continue reading “SmartPlanet: 4% Completion Rate for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)”
This is the latest in a trend that I have been writing about for almost 20 years: the over-medication of children. The treatment of children in the United States in so many ways is one of the most depressing things about our culture.
Are too Many Kids Taking Antipsychotic Drugs?
Consumer Reports
This is the latest in a string of reports concerning an international trend that holds profound implications for our future. Once again we are being told that the way we order the world is out of balance. We place profit ahead of wellness.
Countdown: Sperm Counts in Freefall
The Economist (U.K.)
Here is the latest on the American Gulag at the Federal level. It is a shameful story.
Government Watchdog: We Have a Growing Federal Prison ‘Crisis'
ANDREW COHEN – The Atlantic
There seems little doubt that 9/11 was maneuvered to achieve some things while suppressing others. But, as usual, over time the truth leaks out. This is a conservative site, but the claims made in this report are documented.
Inside the Saudi 9/11 Coverup
PAUL SPERRY, Hoover Institution Media Fellow – New York Post
We believe that America is a level playing field where hard work assures advancement, and that upward mobility is a fundamental American cultural trait. It is a lie as this report spells out. If you can't tell yourself the truth, you can't do much.
United States Is Now the Most Unequal of All Advanced Economies
ERIC ZUESSE – Popular Resistance
Watch and weep
Dear Alison,
When you think about it, Santa Claus and the NSA have a lot in common—both can tell when you’ve been sleeping and know when you’re awake…
So our civil liberties elves here at the ACLU decided to make an NSA version of that classic holiday tune, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” taking a cue from Santa’s own secret surveillance program. And as one of the more than 35,000 supporters who signed our petition to Congress to rein in the NSA, we want you to have the first peek at the hysterical new music video!
This new video is the perfect way to show your friends that while Santa’s spying operation may be magical, the NSA’s is very real—and why we should all care.
There’s already good legislation pending in the House and Senate—we just need to get as many people as possible to stand with us and push Congress to pass it now.
Enjoy the video, and most importantly, make sure you share it with your friends and family so they can join in the fun and stand with us to make unlawful NSA surveillance a thing of the past (just like those old holiday jingles).
Thank you for your all your support this year,
Anthony for the ACLU Action team
