FBI Plan to Expand Hacking Powers Moves Forward

A judiciary panel on Monday quietly approved a rule change that would increase the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s surveillance powers, despite concerns over privacy and constitutional rights. The Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules voted 11-1 to modify a rule that gives federal judges more flexibility in approving search warrants for electronic data. If passed, it will allow judges to approve …

Among the “Conspiracy Theory” Theorists

The University of Miami’s College of Arts and Sciences and Political Science Department held what was likely the world’s first official academic Conference on Conspiracy Theories from March 12th to 14th. The event was attended by 45 social scientists, historians and philosophers, including this author, who was initially uncertain whether he had been invited as a colleague or specimen. The estrangement and …

Silicon Valley: Wealth Redistribution, 1 Percent-Style

The Puente de la Costa Sur community center sits at the end of a quiet street in Pescadero, an isolated farming town of about 5,000 nestled amid green hills just inland from California’s Pacific Coast. It’s a beautiful, lively place to be at sunset, right before the kids will be picked up from day care. Rita Mancero is the petite …

Google’s New Algorithm Will Only Show You ‘What They Say Is True’

While most of us have been busy thinking about net neutrality, guess what Google has been doing. The leading search engine has decided to change the criteria it uses for ranking content on the internet, so that content will no longer be ranked by popularity, as it has been since the beginning. The new ranking system will instead use what it has …

6 Ways Big Pharma Exploits Our Worst Fears to Hook America on Drugs

Long before the Internet and direct to consumer advertising, the medical profession tried to reassure people about their health concerns. Sure, fatigue and headaches could be a symptom of a brain tumor; sure, a cough could be a symptom of lung cancer—but most doctors tried to assuage, not sow, fear.  Remember “take two aspirins and call me in the morning”? …

How American “Free Enterprise Capitalism” rips us all off

Eight of the biggest U.S. technology companies added a combined $69 billion to their stockpiled offshore profits over the past year, even as some corporations in other industries felt pressure to bring cash back home. Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Google Inc. and five other tech firms now account for more than a fifth of the $2.10 trillion in profits that …

Surveillance Valley: Why Google Is Eager to Align Itself With America’s Military Industrial Complex

The following is an excerpt from Yasha Levine’s ongoing investigative project, Surveillance Valley, which you can help support on KickStarter [3]. Oakland, California: On February 18, 2014, several hundred privacy, labor, civil rights activists packed Oakland’s city hall. It was a rowdy crowd, and there was a heavy police presence. The people were there to protest the construction of a citywide surveillance center …

Breaking: Google gives new meaning to “Orwellian” — Becomes Ministry of Truth

“…if all records told the same tale — then the lie passed into history and became truth.”(1984, George Orwell) The New Scientist has the stunning story (2/28/15, “Google wants to rank websites based on facts not links,” by Hal Hodson): “THE internet is stuffed with garbage. Anti-vaccination websites make the front page of Google, and fact-free ‘news’ stories spread like wildfire. Google …