Oh Ommm
A live-feed interview with Edward Snowden and the American Civil Liberties Union at SXSW (the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference) in Austin Texas, March 2014.
Using technology for the enlightenment of the world. As opposed to the way the NSA uses it.
(Audio is not great quality because of how many proxies they had to use to stream the video.)
And a bit of practical advice to go with it: Encryption Works: How to Protect Your Privacy in the Age of NSA Surveillance
The book McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld painted a chilling picture of the influence of organized crime on global politics and policies.
And the simultaneous fall of the Iron Curtain and deregulation of international currency markets played a significant role in enabling the Russian crime lords in particular to go global in a big way.
Are they pulling the strings in the Ukraine? Read more here:
“Semyon Mogilevich, one of FBI’s most wanted people, identified as real power behind billionaire owner of Ukrainian-based RUE” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-russian-mafia-gas
A piece on Semyon Mogilevich here: http://www.ibtimes.com/worlds-most-powerful-mobster-you-probably-never-heard-980488
Dude did a map of the education background of all the world’s leaders.
click to enlarge
Surprise – US likes lawyers. But so does Russia. ‘Economics/Business’ also well represented. Strange though, doesn’t seem to be many from the ‘Art/Film/Music’ category.
Map compiled by ‘Mareyv’ on Reddit for Mapporn http://www.reddit.com/user/mareyv
Here in BC, our provincial ‘Liberal’ government redefined democracy by sitting the legislature just 39 days out of the last 569.
Federally, the Harper government redefined hypocrisy by gagging scientists and gutting environmental protection, and then claiming their approval of the Northern Gateway Spill-line was ‘science-based.’
Internationally, a homophobic Russian dictator became the most powerful man in the world. And Japan introduced a new Secrets Act that says what is secret is a secret, but exposing those secrets can lead to ten years in prison. (George, are you watching this?)
Meanwhile, the president of Uruguay drives a 1987 VW Beetle, uses the official palace as a homeless shelter, and donates about 90% of his salary to local charities.
And the fine folks at Playground Builders reach into war-torn darkness and make the world a better place one joyful child at a time.
It’s a weird and wonderful world. And if you don’t think we can lose what we’ve got, you’re not paying attention. Now, if only our taxes were subsidizing people like Playground Builders instead of Enbridge.
One of my favorite charities is Playground Builders. They build playgrounds for children in war-torn areas of the Middle East, providing safe places for children to play. They always use local people in the building process, providing much-needed jobs and injecting money into the local economy. And their own administrative costs are bare minimum. (I know the founder and members of the board of this organization.)
If you feel inclined to donate, a benefactor is matching all funds up to $50,000, but only until midnight December 31st. So your $10 would become $20. You can learn more here: http://www.playgroundbuilders.org/what-we-do
Great way to start a new year!
A recent study suggests a link between high sexual drive and intelligence. Basically, if you stay up late, use drugs, have blue eyes, big boobs, and enjoy a lot of slap- and-tickle, you might be a candidate for Mensa. (The ‘the high IQ society’.)
The expansion of Shell Canada’s Jackpine oilsands project will destroy 8,500 hectares of wetland and have an irreversible impact, says Canada’s environment minister.
But she’s not too concerned. In fact, Ottawa thinks the project is in the public’s interest.
And how will the public be compensated for this loss of 8,500 hectares of irreplaceable wetlands?
Shell Canada is buying us 730 hectares of … former cattle pasture. And you know what we’re gonna find there.
If you can stomach it, more here.
Japan just passed a new Special Secrets Bill.
The rules?
More here: http://tinyurl.com/n8bty93
Coincidentally (??), this – “Highest Radiation Level Ever, Lethal In 20 Minutes, Recorded Outside Fukushima Reactor”
More here: http://tinyurl.com/kSeejno2xs
*Thanks to Tyler Durden of ZeroHedge for the heads-up: http://tinyurl.com/kjvehvgfor
The PISA evaluation of global education systems was just released.
The testing assessed the competencies of 15-year-olds in reading,
mathematics and science (with a focus on mathematics).
The results?
Asian countries took the top 7 places. (Canada was 13th out of 65, down 3 spots since 2009. The US ranked 26th.)
See the rankings here
Try some of the questions here:
http://www.cbc.ca/day6/blog/2013/12/05/amanda-ripley/
Read more here:
http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results.htm
Kids giving themselves a time-out … using exercise and breathing techniques to calm their minds when they sense they’ve become hyper … putting themselves to bed early in order to be well-rested at school the next day … what an inspirational approach. Kudos to all involved. This is the kind of thing that can change the world.
Listen to Karin Wells documentary on CBC radio’s The Sunday Edition here: http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/documentaries/2013/12/01/draft-documentary-how-is-your-engine-running/