“Here’s a short story about how I became a real American: Someone whose debt is gonna take a few years to pay off. 28 months by current count.”
Read more: https://swizec.com/blog/how-i-got-boned-by-taxes-two-years-in-a-row/swizec/7582
“War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. All wars, and all decent people.”
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-the-last-nuremberg-prosecutor-alive-wants-the-world-to-know/
“April 2017 was another month of mass slaughter and unimaginable terror for the people of Mosul in Iraq and the areas around Raqqa and Tabqa in Syria, as the heaviest, most sustained U.S.-led bombing campaign since the American War in Vietnam entered its 33rd month.”
Read more: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/05/09/the-silent-slaughter-of-the-us-air-war/
“The 90-second video message from Sheriff Peyton Grinnell features a stern message to heroin dealers in his community, as he’s flanked by four deputies in body armor and black face masks, who stoically stare into the camera. Some people made comparisons to videos from the Islamic State, the terrorist group also known as ISIS whose propaganda often features masked men delivering fiery statements.”
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/florida-sheriff-drug-dealers-viral-video-2017-4
“Not content with having a fleet of insecure surveillance drones, the state of Connecticut wants a fleet of insecure weaponized drones. What could possibly go wrong?”
Read more: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2017/04/soon_youll_be_a.html
“If you think you’re immune from a scary exploit found in Intel’s Active Management Technology just because you’re a consumer, think again. The problem is, plenty of consumers use business-class hardware—and not just the fringe who’ll buy or inherit commercial-class laptops and workstations. Many budget PCs use chipsets, firmware, and motherboards that were designed for small business machines. These machines may be exposed to the exploit through Intel’s Small Business Advantage technology, which is is a scaled-down version of AMT.”
“That fancy new HP EliteBook laptop you just bought? It may be silently recording every keystroke, according to Swiss infosec firm ModZero. For what it’s worth, it doesn’t look like there’s malice here – just staggering incompetence.”
Read more: https://thenextweb.com/insider/2017/05/11/hp-is-shipping-audio-drivers-with-a-built-in-keylogger/
“U.S. Customs & Border Protection is becoming more adamant about examining the cell phones of some arriving travelers – including U.S. citizens – and now the American Civil Liberties Union is challenging that practice. The ACLU has taken up the case of a U.S. artist named Aaron Gach, who returned to the U.S. at San Francisco International from an exhibition in Europe, and was pulled aside by CBP officers and ordered to unlock his iPhone for a search of its contents. Gach resisted, but finally gave in when he was told that if he didn’t, CBP would keep his phone for an indefinite period.”
Read more: http://blog.sfgate.com/cmcginnis/2017/05/10/feds-searching-passenger-cell-phones-at-sfo/
“Speaking to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Alexandre de Juniac, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), questioned the efficacy of the ban, which prohibits electronics larger than a cellphone on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa. The regulations, prompted by reports that militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices in electronic gadgets, require that electronics larger than a cellphone, including laptops and tablets, must be stowed with checked baggage on U.S.-bound passenger flights.”
Read more: http://fortune.com/2017/03/28/trump-electronics-ban-iata-criticism/
“The rule is reportedly prompted by the difficulty of distinguishing plastic explosives from other components in electronic devices using an X-ray machine. But this explanation is baffling: a plastic explosive is every bit as dangerous in the hold of an airplane as it is in the cabin. What’s more, placing a plastic-explosive charge in a hardsided case densely packed with lithium-battery-equipped devices seems an especially dangerous measure. Travelers to and from affected airports will now face the risk of having their laptops and tablets stolen, having their confidential data leaked, and having their devices broken.”
Read more: https://boingboing.net/2017/05/11/something-must-be-done-there-i.html