“If legal adults were treated like American teenagers, that government would be considered one of the most oppressive on Earth.”
Read more: http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/teenage-dystopia-the-cycle-of-oppression-and-resistance/
“The move comes months after China formally banned investments in initial coin offerings (ICOs), deeming the blockchain use case to constitute a form of illegal financing. Authorities there also shuttered online websites for crypto-trading, with the ‘Big Three’ exchanges closing this past fall. The new reports show that China is now targeting overseas websites catering to local users. According to the translation from SCMP, the actions are begin taken because ‘after the closure of the domestic virtual currency exchanges, many people turned to overseas platforms to continue participating in virtual currency transactions.'”
Read more: https://www.coindesk.com/report-china-cutting-access-to-overseas-crypto-trading-websites/
“Multiple exchange-traded securities that are also supposed to be bets on calm markets were halted Tuesday after losing the majority of their value overnight.”
“The next election season, already well underway here, will showcase a younger generation of Democrats that is more liberal and personally invested in standing up to President Donald Trump’s Washington than those leaving office. That means staking out the most liberal stance on issues such as single-payer health care in California, a highly expensive initiative that failed in the legislature last year. The push is in response to the uncertainty surrounding health-care revisions in Washington, but it is estimated to cost twice the state’s annual budget.”
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-Democrat-s-blueprint-for-the-election-12550853.php
“The First Circuit Court affirmed last week without a doubt that government promises aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.”
“It’s true that the federal government used to consist of three branches. Bu that quaint notion disintegrated when the federal government was converted to what is known as a ‘national-security state’ after World War II. Even though it was done without a constitutional amendment, that conversion effectively added a fourth branch of government to the federal government — the national-security branch, which consists of the NSA, the CIA, and the Pentagon. The addition of that fourth branch fundamentally altered the original three-branch concept, especially because the fourth branch quickly became the most powerful branch. The reason is because ultimately government is force, and the fourth branch is where the most force was concentrated within the new, altered governmental structure.”
Read more: https://www.fff.org/2018/02/05/america-military-nation/
“The FISA court has always done a dismal job of overseeing the vast surveillance regime it helped spawn. FISA provided a stamp of legitimacy for perpetual deceit and perhaps the worst trampling of constitutional rights in American history. Regardless of the outcome of the current brawl, Washington must radically decrease secret surveillance of the American people.”
“Out of the 351 cases in which the Innocence Project used DNA to exonerate wrongfully convicted defendants, flawed forensic evidence contributed in nearly half. Many Americans, especially those who think shows like Forensic Files and CSI accurately represent real life, believe that forensic evidence presented in criminal trials must be valid. But we have known for years that many forensic evidence techniques are highly subjective and unreliable.”
Read more: https://fee.org/articles/imagine-being-locked-up-in-prison-because-of-bad-forensics/
“S.B. 315 would criminalize simply accessing a computer, app, or website contrary to how the service provider tells you, even if you never cause or intend to cause harm. A violation under S.B. 315 would be classified as ‘a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature,’ punishable by up to $5,000 and 12 months in jail.”
Read more: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/02/georgia-must-block-flawed-computer-crime-bill
“When it comes to repair, farmers have always been self reliant. But the modernization of tractors and other farm equipment over the past few decades has left most farmers in the dust thanks to diagnostic software that large manufacturers hold a monopoly over. In this episode of State of Repair, Motherboard goes to Nebraska to talk to the farmers and mechanics who are fighting large manufacturers like John Deere for the right to access the diagnostic software they need to repair their tractors.”