 The report appears to reflect the reasoning behind the latest in a number of policy moves by the Chinese government to push US information technology companies' products and services out in favor of Chinese alternatives. Bloomberg News reports that the People’s Bank of China and the Chinese Ministry of Finance have begun asking banks to replace IBM servers with Chinese-built hardware. The hardware swap is part of a trial program that is ostensibly part of an overall review of the nation’s financial systems security. But it is also seen as retribution for the US Department of Justice’s indictment of five Chinese military officers for alleged commercial cyber-espionage—and as a reaction to the evidence of spying on Chinese networks by the National Security Agency provided by documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. This is the latest in a series of moves by the Chinese government to reduce the dependence on US companies’ information technology products. China’s State Internet Information Office announced last week that it would institute a security review program to screen all information technology products for potential backdoors and other threats. Previously, the Chinese government’s procurement center blocked the installation of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system as part of a bulk purchase of “energy-efficient” computers, citing security and energy consumption. And on May 25, the Financial Times reported that the government ordered state-owned businesses to stop doing business with US consulting companies over concerns that consultants could be spying for the US government. Duncan Clark, the chairman of the Beijing-based financial analyst firm BDA China, told Bloomberg, “Security trumps everything. China doesn’t need the US companies in the way it did for the last few decades.” IBM has already been facing declining sales in China. Last October, it reported a 22 percent decline in sales in China—and a 40 percent drop in hardware. At the time, IBM cited a new Chinese economic development plan and the slowdown of the Chinese economy. Cisco also saw drops in China. But there was also speculation that the drops were in part a reaction to the releases last summer of NSA documents that revealed NSA cyber-espionage efforts in China. In December 2013, The Louisiana Sheriffs' Pension and Relief Fund filed a shareholder lawsuit in Manhattan's US District Court, citing IBM's alleged cooperation with the NSA's Prism as the cause for a more than $12 billion decline in the company's market value. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/china-cites-us-for-unscrupulous-spying-wants-ibm-out-of-banks/ |
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7 Dead in "Mass Murder" Drive-By Shootings Near UC Santa Barbara
 http://youtu.be/sbv5Vpa-B-0EDIT: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4fd_1400921453A gunman in a black BMW opened fire on crowds of people Friday night in a Southern California seaside town near UC Santa Barbara, killing six people and injuring seven others in what investigators described as a "mass murder" rampage. The gunman was later involved in at least one shootout with sheriff's deputies and died of a gunshot wound to the head, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said at a Saturday morning news conference. He could not confirm whether the gunshot was self-inflicted. Seven victims were hospitalized and at least one of them had undergone surgery for life-threatening injuries, Brown said. Details regarding the other victims' conditions were not immediately available. Officials confirmed nine crime scenes across Isla Vista, but no shots were fired on the university's campus http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/shooting-isla-vista-uc-santa-barbara-260505021.html---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...Randomly killing people while driving his BMW because he was still a virgin at 22... Even more reasons for carrying a concealed weapon...
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At least five times this month, a Pakistani bureaucrat who works from a colonial-era barracks in Karachi, just down the street from the former home of his country’s secularist founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, asked Twitter to shield his compatriots from exposure to accounts, tweets or searches of the social network that he described as “blasphemous” or “unethical.” All five of those requests were honored by the company, meaning that Twitter users in Pakistan can no longer see the content that so disturbed the bureaucrat, Abdul Batin of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority: crude drawings of the Prophet Muhammad, photographs of burning Qurans, and messages from a handful of anti-Islam bloggers and an American porn star who now attends Duke University. The blocking of these tweets in Pakistan — in line with the country-specific censorship policy Twitter unveiled in 2012 — is the first time the social network has agreed to withhold content there. A number of the accounts seemed to have been blocked in anticipation of the fourth annual “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” on May 20. This censorship comes as challenges to Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy law have become increasingly deadly, amid a flurry of arrests, killings and assassination attempts on secularists. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/world/asia/twitter-agrees-to-block-blasphemous-tweets-in-pakistan.html?_r=1 |
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"To protect and serve" Published on May 19, 2014 A Chicago police officer hit a handcuffed, kneeling woman in the head, while another shouted racially charged comments at her and threatened she’d be murdered during a raid of a West Side tanning salon. And the whole disturbing scene was captured on video, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. Filmed by a security camera during a Chicago Police vice raid at the Copper Tan and Spa in Noble Square last summer, the video appears to show one cop smack 32-year-old salon manager Jianqing “Jessica” Klyzek in the head with an open hand as she is on her knees, handcuffed. Another large officer yelled at the 110 pound, 5-foot-2 Klyzek — a naturalized U.S. citizen who emigrated from China — “You’re not f------ American!” The officer then ranted at a screaming and hysterical Klyzek that “I’ll put you in a UPS box and send you back to wherever the f--- you came from,” before warning her the spa’s owner “will f------ kill you . . . You’ll be dead, and your family will be dead.” The video was released to the Sun-Times after Klyzek sued the cops and the city last week, accusing the officers of a hate crime, excessive force and attempting a cover-up by framing her. While the video shows Klyzek as an uncooperative and unhinged arrestee, and is not as clear-cut as the notorious footage of off-duty cop Anthony Abbate beating a barmaid in 2007, it likely sounds unwanted echoes for police brass. “I cannot imagine Supt. Garry McCarthy can face the citizens of this city and defend these officers’ actions,” said Klyzek’s attorney, Torreya Hamilton, who is calling for the officers to be fired. “This city was built by immigrants, and in 2014 we’re treating them like this?” Hamilton added. Police spokesman Adam Collins said the Independent Police Review Authority is investigating. “The alleged comments, if true, are reprehensible and completely intolerable in our police department,” Collins said. “We have codes of conduct that apply to officers, and if the allegations are proven accurate appropriate action will be taken.” Initially accused of an aggravated battery of the officers, as well as ordinance violations, a bruised Klyzek was quickly cleared by Cook County Judge Paul Pavlus, who found no probable cause for her arrest. Police then tried again. They pursued charges, and Klyzek was indicted for aggravated battery, alleging she scratched and punched officers on July 31, 2013, during the raid of the business in the 1000 block of North Milwaukee. That charge was also thrown out after prosecutors saw the video, the lawsuit states. The raid was prompted when an undercover officer was allegedly offered a sex act by a masseuse in a back room, according to a police report. The video shows plainclothes police march in through the front door, followed by uniformed officers, and attempt to apprehend an apparently confused Klyzek in the salon’s lobby. “What happened?” Klyzek asked before becoming hysterical. During a prolonged struggle she then yelled “f--- you” and “I want my lawyer,” while one officer cried, “She bit me,” and another shouted, “Guys, she scratched me!” At one point an officer said, “Can I just Tase her? F--- it. I can Tase her 10 f------ times.” Temporarily subdued and kneeling, cuffed with her hands behind her back, she was screaming but appeared to be offering no physical resistance when an officer identified in the lawsuit as Frank Messina then smacked her in side of the head from behind. Moments later another audibly angry officer — alleged in the lawsuit to be Gerald Di Pasquale — ranted that Klyzek is not a citizen and will be sent back to “wherever the f--- you came from” in “a UPS box” or killed by the salon’s owners. A fellow officer is then heard to say, “Hey Gerry, stop talking to her!” Officers appeared to have spotted a security camera but were unable to seize the video because it was recorded off-site, according to the complaint.http://youtu.be/JtHDzMl7984http://www.suntimes.com/27487657-761/lawsuit-chicago-cops-physically-verbally-abuse-woman-on-video.html#ooid=UzcDF5bTp2DHapZLgjPf2RmbDVRp9ml4
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 [...] Then there are also questions about what "whiteness" in Japanese animation and gaming really reflects; the short of it is, Japanese viewers tend to identify with characters that appear white (pronounced eyes, blonde hair, etc.), but in the case of Nintendo characters, at least the color has been consistent, with few-to-no cultural overtones to clarify its application. Whatever the reason for white characters, they quickly became a trend in games like Super Mario Bros. (all white), The Legend of Zelda (all white), Kid Icarus (all white), or Metroid (one character eventually revealed to be white and female). There were occasional exceptions, such as Mike Tyson in his self-titled Punch-Out!! game for the NES. Series hero Little Mac spent that game fighting a veritable United Nations of stereotypes. The Indian fighter, Great Tiger, wore a prominent turban and carried a tiger pelt. King Hippo, who hailed from a tropical isle, didn’t stray far from the facial design of Donkey Kong. (The game’s African-American trainer had a limited in-game bio, but it made sure to point out his status as a recovering alcoholic.) http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/05/op-ed-its-time-for-nintendo-to-move-beyond-white-characters/----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It will never end. Give it up! ...To the pink mafia and to the race baiting mafia Nintendo! Now! |
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http://youtu.be/-dbfXp8_qjoGabriel Diaz might not look the part of an Aryan Nazi fighting for the master race, but don’t let appearances fool you — he’s an out and proud National Socialist. “I am. I’m a National Socialist – what you guys call a Nazi. I am. I’m a believer of it,” the New York City-based cab driver told CBS New York. And he doesn’t just tell the media about his beliefs. He likes to wear a swastika armband while on the job driving around local citizens. This hasn’t pleased his bosses and he is currently suspended after numerous complaints about his armband were filed with the Taxi and Limousine Commission and the Anti-Defamation League. But this cabbie, who is of Dominican-background, offers no genuine apologies for his armband or his beliefs, and is rather displeased with having to say sorry for his actions. “If a Muslim can drive a cab wearing a turban, if a homosexual can walk around with a big rainbow flag, why can’t a person like me wear a Nazi armband?” Diaz explained to the New York Daily News. http://dailycaller.com/2014/05/17/meet-the-dominican-nyc-cabbie-who-is-also-a-nazi/
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EDIT: new image   Judge Abbas Khalifa asked Ibrahim whether she agreed to return to Islam. After she said, "I am a Christian," a charge of apostasy was declared and the death sentence was handed down, according to judicial sources, quoted by Reuters. "We gave you three days to recant, but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death," the judge told the woman, AFP reported. The woman had also been charged with adultery for marrying a Christian man.
Amnesty International said the woman was raised as an Orthodox Christian, her mother's religion, because her father, a Muslim, was reportedly absent during her childhood. Outside the courthouse, around 50 people protested the decision, holding placards that read "Freedom of Religion." Islamists celebrated the court decision, chanting "God is Great." Sudanese activists condemned the decision and called on the Sudanese government to uphold the freedom of belief for all people. "The details of this case expose the regime's blatant interference in the personal life of Sudanese citizens," Sudan Change Now Movement, a youth group, said in a statement. The embassies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Netherlands released a common statement expressing "deep concern" about the court proceeding, urging the North African country of almost 31 million people to respect the religious freedom of its citizens, AFP reported. The high-profile case comes at a time of severe economic and political hardship for the government of President Omar Hassan Bashir, which suffered a major setback in 2011 when South Sudan, the country’s main oil supplier, seceded and formed its own sovereign state. Amid the grinding economic downturn, Bashir ordered stringent austerity measures that prompted violent protests that led to the deaths of dozens of people. http://rt.com/news/159176-sudan-court-woman-christianity/ |
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People can ask Google to delete sensitive information from its Internet search results, Europe's top court said on Tuesday. The case underlines the battle between advocates of free expression and supporters of privacy rights, who say people should have the "right to be forgotten" meaning that they should be able to remove their digital traces from the Internet. The ruling by the Luxembourg-based European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) came after a Spanish man complained to the Spanish data protection agency that an auction notice of his repossessed home on Google's search results infringed his privacy. The case is one of 180 similar cases in Spain whose complainants want Google to delete their personal information from the Web. The company says forcing it to remove such data amounts to censorship. "If, following a search made on the basis of a person's name, the list of results displays a link to a web page which contains information on the person in question, that data subject may approach the operator directly and, where the operator does not grant his request, bring the matter before the competent authorities in order to obtain, under certain conditions, the removal of that link from the list of results," the judges said. "An Internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing that it carries out of personal data which appear on web pages published by third parties," they said. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/13/eu-google-dataprotection-idUSL6N0NZ23Q20140513---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Would this right apply beyond private companies? |
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 Badawi, 31, has a long history of run-ins with the Shariah-compliant legal system. In 2008, he was arrested on apostasy charges, but he was released a day later. In 2009, Saudi officials banned him from leaving the country and froze his bank accounts. Concerning his current sentence, Badawi's wife said, "This is terrible news and I'm absolutely shocked and devastated by it. How is it possible they could take a sentence that was already so harsh and make it even harsher? Ten years in jail and 1,000 lashes? That's unimaginable. I'm extremely scared for my husband." Philip Luther, a director at Amnesty International, the leading human rights NGO, said: The decision to sentence Raif Badawi to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes is outrageous. He is a prisoner of conscience who is guilty of nothing more than daring to create a public forum for discussion and peacefully exercising the right to freedom of expression. The authorities must overturn his conviction and release him immediately and unconditionally. Raif Badawi is the latest victim to fall prey to the ruthless campaign to silence peaceful activists in Saudi Arabia. The authorities seem determined to crush all forms of dissent through every means at their disposal, including imposing harsh prison sentences and corporal punishment on activists.The Middle East director of Human Rights Watch said of the 2012 charges, "Badawi's life hangs in the balance because he set up a liberal website that provided a platform for an open and peaceful discussion about religion and religious figures." An Amnesty International spokesperson commented on those initial 2012 charges, as well: "Even in Saudi Arabia where state repression is rife, it is beyond the pale to seek the death penalty for an activist whose only 'crime' was to enable social debate online." In 2013, Badawi was convicted of the same charges, but he chose to appeal the measure. The appeals court upgraded his original sentence from 7 years in prison and 600 lashes to the new verdict of 10 years and 1,000 lashes. An anonymous source told CNN that Baradawi will likely appeal the new sentence, as well. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/05/08/Saudi-Blogger-Gets-10-Years-1000-lashes-267k-fine-for-Insulting-Islam---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Can he pay his way out? Is there any organizations helping him? What a sad situation. |
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Russia has drafted a program for colonization of the moon, and plans to send the first expeditions to build a permanent lunar base in 2030, the Russian Izvestia daily said Thursday, citing an official document. "The moon is a space object for the future exploration by terrestrial civilization, and a geopolitical competition for the Moon's natural resources may begin in the 21st century," said a report on a potential lunar program prepared by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Roscosmos space agency and Moscow State University. The program aims to build an inhabited moon base and testing ground by the middle of the century, which would allow mineral extraction on Earth's only natural satellite. The project calls on developing a range of long-distance space technology to ensure the country can explore the moon independently from foreign partners. Earlier proposals for lunar exploration focused on strong international cooperation, as it was believed no single country could afford interplanetary projects on its own. Russia will plan separate three- or four-year-long lunar projects for the next 16 years, according to the plan. The first four will take place between 2016 and 2025 and will focus on defining the physical and chemical composition of the moons south pole, where the future base will be sited. Space roundtrips are scheduled for 2028-30, and manned lunar exploration for 2030-40. The first stage will cost the government 28.5 billion roubles ($800 million), Izvestia said. Previous lunar expeditions, which started with the USSR's Luna program in 1959 and the US landing the first man on the Moon 10 years later, discovered aluminum, iron, titanium, rare earths and other minerals. http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140508/189666959/Russia-to-Begin-Moon-Colonization-in-2030--Report.html |
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 In our times, wrenching economic and technological change hardens life for the vast majority of Americans while an elite few prosper. Innovators like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg disrupt old industries, create news ones and …. We know how the Gilded Age ended – in a populist uprising against monopolies, sparked by muckraking journalists and harnessed by a trust-busting president named Teddy Roosevelt. Who will be our era's T.R.? Well, a leader needs a cause. A better question might be, what will be the modern-day trust – a force so destructive and distant and deeply engrained that a sleepy public is stirred to revolt? If history is a guide, our generation's Standard Oil, the populists' boogeyman, may be Comcast, Verizon and/or AT&T – the sprawling internet providers who, like Rockefeller and his railroad co-conspirators, could monopolize the price and quality of indispensable goods. Yes, net neutrality could be the issue that inspires a Tech Age political revolution http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/net-neutrality-s-death-could-spark-populist-revolt-20140506 |
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 According to the Wall Street Journal, the new law covers all works of art produced after July 1. Films with profanity will not receive state distribution licenses, keeping them out of theaters, and books will require warnings on the cover should they contain foul language. Public performances of theater works are prohibited from using swearing, and even certain bloggers considered mass media could be fined. The Journal notes that bloggers with more than 3,000 page views will be forced to adhere to anti-swearing legislation beginning in August. The definition of "blogger" is not entirely clear from the legislation, however, so it is unclear whether the law will apply to microbloggers on sites like Twitter or more extended posts on social media platforms like VKontakte. The law has triggered some outrage with those who see it as a return to Soviet values of limited speech and note that Russian language has a rich history of colorful language. The BBC notes that the Communist Party restricted artists in the Soviet Union from using "'decadent' Western fashions" and implored them to "stick to traditional values," whatever the Party deemed those to be. The legislation also leaves a mystery which words, exactly, will be targeted. New York magazine has some unrepeatable suggestions, which they note the Moscow Times reported the Institution of Russian Language at the Russian Academy of Sciences declared the cornerstones of Russian language profanity. Interestingly, despite the law apparently targeting art exclusively, New York notes that a spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture told the Moscow Times that "new strictures will be limited to pop culture and will not apply to matters of art: 'It will be up to the artistic director to decide what to do with swearing, whether to break the new law or not, we will not interfere in the process.'” The spokesperson added that the law was "not aggressive." http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/05/06/Putin-Signs-Law-Banning-Profanity-in-Film-Theater-Books-and-Music |
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