| Supporters of libertarian Republican Ron Paul shouted down former Vice President Dick Cheney at a conservative conference Thursday, in a sign of a growing foreign policy rift on the American right. Cheney had appeared on the first day of the 2011 |
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An anonymous reader writes "As the technology used to fuel democracy protests in Egypt continues to evolve, Whisper Systems, the company founded by well-known security researcher Moxie Marlinspike, just released encrypted calling and text messaging applications into Egypt to help keep protesters safe from surveillance." Read more of this story
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| WASHINGTON - Leading Egyptian dissident Mohamed ElBaradei proposed Thursday that a three-person national unity government succeed President Hosni Mubarak and his deputy, and steer Egypt to democracy. In an interview with Foreign Policy Magazine, ElBaradei said the US-backed transition process led by Vice President Omar Suleiman will fail to take the country to democracy unless [...] |
| The head of the National Rifle Association came out swinging Thursday against a wave of gun-control legislation proposed in the wake of the Tucson shooting, saying that government policies and media sensationalism -- rather than lax gun laws -- were to blame for the tragedy. "If Tucson told us anything, it told us this: government [...] |
| Hugh Pickens writes writes "CNN reports that the California Supreme Court has ruled that retailers in California don't have the right to ask customers for their ZIP code while completing credit card transactions, saying that doing so violates a cardholders' right to protect his or her personal information, pointing to a 1971 state law that prohibits businesses from asking credit cardholders for 'personal identification information' that could be used to track them down. 'The legislature intended to provide robust consumer protections by prohibiting retailers from soliciting and recording information about the cardholder that is unnecessary to the credit card transaction,' the decision states. 'We hold that personal identification information ... includes the cardholder's ZIP code.' In her lawsuit, Jessica Pineda claimed that a cashier at Williams-Sonoma had asked for her ZIP code during a purchase - information that was recorded and later used, along with her name, to figure out her home address by tapping a database that the company uses to market products to customers and sell its compiled consumer information to other businesses."Read more of this story |
| An anonymous reader writes "What is cancer? It's not an invader; it's spawned from our own bodies. And it bears striking resemblance to early multicellular life from 1 billion years ago. This has led astrobiologists and cosmologists Paul Davies and Charlie Lineweaver to suggest that cancer is driven by primitive genes that govern cellular cooperation (abstract), and which kick in when our more recently evolved genes that keep them in check break down. So, far from being rogue cells that mutate out of control, cancers are actually cells that revert to a more ancient level of programming, like booting in Safe Mode. The good news is this means cancers have only finite variation. Once we figure out the ancient genes, we'll know how it works. It's unlikely to evolve any new defense mechanisms, meaning curing cancer might be not quite as mammoth a task as commonly thought."Read more of this story |
| AndyAndyAndyAndy writes "After it was exposed that American firm Narus had sold Egypt the Deep Packet Inspection equipment used to spy on and censor its citizens, the US House Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing where Reps. Chris Smith and Bill Keating 'grilled Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg on the sale of this Internet spying technology to an Egyptian Internet provider controlled by the Mubarak regime.' It seems there is now a push for stronger controls and monitoring for technology exports 'that would provide a national strategy to prevent the use of American technology from being used by human rights abusers.'" Several readers have noted that Hosni Mubarak has now stepped down as president of Egypt. Control of the country's affairs has been passed to the high council of its armed forces, which has some journalists and bloggers worried.Read more of this story |
| It's only fitting to outsource my lede to Sultan al-Qassemi, one of the leading Twitter chroniclers of Egypt's revolution. Vice President Omar Suleiman just announced, 'Mubarak has resigned. He has delegated the responsibility of running the country to the Supreme Military Council.' Don't even bother to try following Egypt on Twitter right now. Using the social networking service that allowed the world to follow the uprising in real time is like drinking from a firehouse. |
| America's military and intelligence agencies have spent more than $125 million in the last three years on computer models that are supposed to forecast political unrest. But if any of these algorithms saw the upheaval in Egypt coming, the spooks and the generals are keeping the predictions very quiet. |
| How much information can the world transmit, process, and store? A pair of researchers have tasked themselves to find out by tracking the changes in 60 different analog and digital technologies, from newsprint to cellular data, for a period of more than 20 years. |
| The US House of Representatives voted Thursday night to clear the road for an extension of controversial provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act. The final vote was 248 to 176, largely along party lines. Just 4 Republicans voted against the extension, while only 15 Democrats voted for it. Under the House bill, the act would [...] |
| A former employee of Fox News called the company a "propaganda outfit" that is determined to undermine the Obama administration and Democrats. "I don't think people would believe it's as concocted as it is; that stuff is just made up," the employee, whose name was kept anonymous, told the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters. [...] |
| Report claims Chamber hired firm hacked by 'Anonymous' WASHINGTON - Lobbyists for the US Chamber of Commerce have been working with firms to develop methods to deceive and discredit the Chamber's most vocal progressive opponents, according to documents obtained by ThinkProgress. Lee Fang of the liberal blog reports that the Chamber and its hired firms [...] |
| When Raw Story investigative reporter Brad Jacobson published his report on how 2 million dangerously mentally ill people are missing from America's national gun register, Russia's largest news network took notice. Appearing on Russia Today's The Alyona Show, he told the interviewer that gun laws in the states have become "extremely porous" thanks to a [...] |
| ZURICH - Switzerland has frozen assets possibly belonging to Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down as president of Egypt Friday after 30 years of rule, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said. "I can confirm that Switzerland has frozen possible assets of the former Egyptian president with immediate effect," spokesman Lars Knuchel said, declining to specify [...] |
| WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama said Friday the people of Egypt had spoken after history moved at a "blinding pace," and called on the now-ruling military to ensure a transition towards "genuine democracy." "The people of Egypt have spoken -- their voices have been heard and Egypt will never be the same," Obama said [...] |
| Top U.S. intelligence officials have raised concerns about the growing vulnerability the United States faces from cyberwarfare threats and malicious computer activity that CIA Director Leon Panetta said "represents the battleground for the future." "The potential for the next Pearl Harbor could very well be a cyber-attack," he testified on Capitol Hill Thursday before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. |
| On America's News HQ Fox News set the stage for their reaction to Mubarak's decision to step down by proclaiming by supporting freedom, that American people have gone Marxist. Fox contributor, Michael Scheuer said, "Americans seem to be increasingly Marxist in their absolute faith in democracy for people who have never had any experience with the process." |
"We Were a Stalin-esque Mouthpiece for Bush" -- Fox News Insider. "It is their M.O. to undermine the administration and to undermine Democrats," says the source. "They're a propaganda outfit but they call themselves news." [link]
Chamber of Commerce caught red-handed scheming to entrap SEIU, ThinkProgress, others by leaking fake stories to them and then slandering them. In a fair world, this would get 100 times the press of "ClimateGate" [link]
| DrJimbo passes along this quote from Groklaw: "The White House is asking us to give them ideas on what is blocking innovation in America. I thought I'd give them an honest answer. Here it is: Current intellectual property laws are blocking innovation. President Obama just set a goal of wireless access for everyone in the US, saying it will spark innovation. But that's only true if people are allowed to actually do innovative things once they are online. You have to choose. You can prop up old business models with overbearing intellectual property laws that hit innovators on the head whenever they stick their heads up from the ground; or you can have innovation. You can't have both. And right now, the balance is away from innovation."Read more of this story |
| The device delivers burn-like sensations but does not damage nerves or skin. |
A "tall, beautiful and chic" Chinese female operative, who held an Australian passport, appears to be behind Taiwan's most serious espionage scandal in almost half a century, according to news reports. Continue reading → |
| Egyptian people in London describe their jubilation at the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, with about 200 gathering at the country's embassy and in Edgware Road. |
| Global share markets climb and the price of oil falls after Hosni Mubarak steps down as president of Egypt. |
| Pakistani police says a US citizen in custody over the deaths of two men in Lahore is guilty of murder, in a case fuelling tensions with Washington. |
| US President Barack Obama says the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is the beginning of Egypt's transition to democracy, not the end. |
| Police proposals to shut down web domains believed to be used by criminals are to debated in public. |
| Bolivian President Evo Morales abandons a public event in the face of a food protest by miners throwing dynamite. |
| Egypt has a "precious moment of opportunity" to move towards "civilian and democratic rule", David Cameron says after Hosni Mubarak resigns. |
| Scientists in Iceland are warning that another volcano looks set to erupt and spew out an ash cloud that would dwarf the eruption last year of Eyjafjallajokull. read more |
| Opinion: The army is in charge in Egypt - and the army is not democracy. read more |
| Saudi Arabia and other allies scramble to reassess domestic and foreign policy. read more |
| Die Konjunktur hängt vom Ölpreis ab und umgekehrt. Dieses Wechselspiel wird immer gefährlicher. Anleger ziehen die Konsequenzen |
| Es weht ein frischer Wind durch die Redaktionen in Ägypten. Seit kurzem berichten auch Journalisten amtlicher Medien kritisch über die Regierung von Präsident Husni Mubarak. Die Journalisten möchten kein Sprachrohr mehr von der Politik Mubaraks sein |
| Bulgarien: Die Zeitung hatte in den vergangenen Wochen mehrere Mitschnitte von Telefonaten von Regierungsmitgliedern, darunter von Ministerpräsident Boiko Borisow, veröffentlicht. Die Regierung erklärte, die Aufzeichnungen seien fingiert. |
| In den dichtbevölkerten Küstenregionen Perus gehen die Süßwasserreserven zur Neige. Dennoch entstehen in dem südamerikanischen Land immer mehr Agrarflächen, die große Mengen an Wasser benötigen. Doch Experten warnen eindringlich vor den Folgen des exportorientierten Landwirtschaft für Mensch und Umwelt |
| Steigende Lebensmittelpreise waren ein maßgeblicher Grund für den Ausbruch der Volksaufstände in Ägypten und Tunesien. Doch welche Faktoren tragen zur Explosion der Nahrungspreise hauptsächlich bei? |
| ie Europäische Union will bei importierten Futtermitteln einen Anteil von 0,1 Prozent genmanipulierter Pflan- zen erlauben. Eine striktere Regel bezeichnet sie als nicht mehr praktikabel. Umweltverbände halten dies für vorgeschoben und laufen gegen die Aufweichung der Normen Sturm |
| Druck wird ausgeübt, um die Abreise zu beschleunigen. Denn Berichte über regimetreue Schlägertrupps sind nicht erwünscht. Von Martin Durm, ARD-Hörfunkstudio Kairo ....Eine Massenflucht aus dem Hotel oder eine Massenhysterie, hervorgerufen durch eine zugegeben sehr unübersichtliche Situation am Tahrir-Platz. Dort liegt das Hotel, aus dem die meisten Journalisten aus Kairo berichten. Dort spielten sich am Morgen in der Lobby Szenen ab, die ein wenig an Saigon im Frühling 1975 erinnerten, kurz bevor dort die Vietcong-Truppen einmarschierten. Trauben von Journalisten vor der Rezeption, Kofferberge, Metallkisten, Amerikaner, Briten, Franzosen.......... .....Draußen auf der Straße sind Typen unterwegs, die machen mir Zeichen, dass sie mir die Kehle durchschneiden wollen.Wenn hier 200 von denen reinstürmen, werden die wenigen Soldaten in der Lobby davonlaufen.`Schüsse, Maschinengewehrfeuer - es mag zynisch klingen, aber der 25-stöckige Hochhausblock mit seinen Balkonen bietet uns Logenplätze....... ........Aber wem dient es, wenn Journalisten jetzt in Massen aus Kairo abreisen? ......Es sind Leute wie die Universitätsprofessorin Leila Sueifi. Sie steht wieder mit Zehntausenden auf dem Tahrir-Platz..... |
| Vier deutsche Atomreaktoren, die soeben durch die Laufzeitverlängerung weitere 18 Jahre an Menschengefährdungszeit gewonnen haben, sind nach dem Gutachten eines Instituts für Sicherheits- und Risikowissenschaften mit "schwerwiegenden Konstruktionsmängeln" behaftet, die "durch keinerlei Nachrüstungsmassnahmen ausgegeglichen werden können." |
| Die Androhung der Amerikaner, Ägypten die jährlichen 1,5 Milliarden Militärhilfe zu streichen, führte zu den Rücktrittsankündigungen des Diktators. Dann allerdings erhielt er den Anruf eines alten Freundes. Der 86-jährigen Königs Abdullah von Saudi-Arabien erklärte sich klipp und klar dazu bereit, künftig für die Summe aufzukommen |
| Raymond Davis handelte schnell, als ihn in Lahore zwei Männer verfolgten: Er zückte seine Waffe und schoss die beiden nieder. Nun droht deswegen die pakistanische Regierung auseinanderzubrechen |
| Nach umfangreicher Berichterstattung über die Unruhen in Ägypten ist die Ausstrahlung des britischen Senders BBC im Iran gestört worden. Seit Donnerstagabend sei die Übertragung des persischen TV-Angebotes unterbrochen, teilte die BBC am Freitag in London mit. Satelliten-Techniker hätten eindeutig herausgefunden, dass die Störung aus dem Iran komme |
| Russland tritt laut dem Vizeaußenminister und Sonderbeauftragten des russischen Präsidenten für den Nahen Osten Alexander Saltanow gegen jegliche ausländische Einmischung in Ägypten auf |
| Kommentar - Sprachwandel, schneller als die Revolution erlaubt: Binnen weniger Tage wurde Hosni Mubarak vom honorigen Staatspräsidenten zum Diktator. Seltsam ist das schon |
| De facto ist Ägyptens Präsident weg, das Land regiert nun sein Vize Suleiman. Doch ändern wird das zunächst wenig. Die Opposition wird geeint und zügig verhandeln müssen |
| Dakar, 11.02.2011. Das katholische Hilfswerk Misereor, die Menschenrechtsorganisation FIAN und das Netzwerk Afrika Deutschland verurteilen den weltweiten Ausverkauf von fruchtbarem Ackerland auf Kosten der lokalen Bevölkerung. Alleine im Jahr 2009 wurden über 50 Millionen Hektar Ackerland im Süden verkauft oder verpachtet, um dort Nahrungsmittel oder Agrartreibstoffe für Industrieländer anzubauen. Siebzig Prozent dieser Flächen befinden sich in Afrika. Dieses sogenannte Land Grabbing verschärft Hunger und Armut weiter. Die Regierungen der Zielländer und jene der Investoren, sollten endlich entschlossen gegen diese menschenrechtswidrige Praxis vorgehen, fordern die Organisationen. |
| Mit Spannung wird in Algerien der für diesen Samstag geplante Protestmarsch erwartet. Die Organisatoren wollen ihn trotz eines Demonstrationsverbots starten lassen. Doch Busse und Laster voller Sicherheitskräfte rollen bereits in die Hauptstadt |
| Kommentar - Der Abgang Mubaraks ist ein historisches Ereignis. Die Erschütterungen dieses politischen Bebens am Nil werden die gesamte Region erfassen. Sie werden all denen in der islamischen Welt Auftrieb geben, die auf mehr Freiheit und Selbstbestimmtheit setzen. Sie sind ein Warnsignal für all die feudalen Herrscher und Despoten, die ihren Bürgern die Freiheiten vorenthalten, die sie selbstherrlich für sich selbst beanspruchen |
