30 November 2012

Internet Freedom at stake in Dubai at WCIT

What upcoming event has the potential for the greatest negative impact on the future of the internet? The upcoming WCIT conference where the ITU (a UN agency) is going to attempt to take control of the internet and allow countries like Russia and China destroy internet freedom. Read more below--and to take action go to Take Action – Google: "A free and open world depends on a free and open web."


Euro MPs: Do not let the ITU take control of the internet | ZDNet: "The ITU is hosting the World Conference on International Communications (WCIT) in Dubai between 3 and 14 December. -
The European Parliament warned the revisions would be a mistake and urged EU member states to reject changes to international telecommunications regulations (ITR) in place since 1988. "Some ITR reform proposals being presented by the ITU member states would negatively impact the internet, its architecture, operations, content and security, business relations, internet governance and the free flow of information online," Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake and other lawmakers said in the motion for resolution. In addition, "the ITU, or any other single, centralised international institution, is not the appropriate body to assert regulatory authority over either internet governance or internet traffic flows," lawmakers said. At the moment, large, primarily US-based organisations such as ICANN and IANA have oversight of parts of the internet.
In advance of the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), the European Parliament has issued a resolution stating that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) should not have control over the web. The ITU is a United Nations agency responsible for telecommunications. It works to establish worldwide standards, coordinate shared global use of the radio spectrum and improve telecommunications infrastructure. December's WCIT has been organised to bring together governments from all over the world to renegotiate the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs), first signed in 1988. Since 1988, communications have changed enormously, and the ITU wants to make sure that its regulations cover the internet effectively. As outlined in our guide, more than 100 organisations including Google, have raised concerns about the event, believing that the ITU should stick to covering telecommunications and not encroach on the web. However the ITU argues that telecommunications is defined as "any transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wired, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems", which implies that the internet might also be covered.Source: The European Parliament opposes ITU control of web (Wired UK)

UN summit may usher in more Internet regulations
CNET
"We want to maintain a platform of a free and open Internet as a platform for free expression," Patrick Ryan, an attorney at Google, said at a forum organized by Stanford Law School here yesterday afternoon. Google has organized a new campaign to draw ...

Google, Government Reps Warn Against Internet Regulation ...
By Eric Johnson
Internet regulation is dangerous. Really, really dangerous. At least for those who like the Internet as-is.
AllThingsD

Google Fires a Rare Public Salvo Over Aggregators
New York Times
BERLIN — Google's imprint on daily life is hard to ignore in Europe, where it reportedly has 93 percent of the Internet search market, more than in the United States. Yet when it comes to its lobbying of lawmakers, Google prefers a low profile. That ...

U.K.'s First 4G Network, EE, Increases Data Limits By ~60% On Some Price ...
TechCrunch
The U.K.'s first — and currently only — 4G network, run by carrier EE, has announced it is increasing the size of the data caps on some of its mobile broadband tariffs by around 60 percent, while keeping its pricing structure the same. The network ...

TechCrunch

Why I support the Internet Radio Fairness Act
The Hill (blog)
As a musician with Break of Reality, an independent music group, I would very much like to have my voice heard with regard to the Internet Radio Fairness Act. Internet radio has provided tremendous exposure for my band, Break of Reality, an independent ...

Mediator Joins Contentious Effort to Add a 'Do Not Track' Option to Web Browsing
New York Times
The idea was to work out a global standard for “Do Not Track,” a computer browser setting that would allow Internet users to signal Web sites, advertising networks and data brokers that they did not want their browsing activities tracked for marketing ...

ZTE unveils the smallest 4G LTE datacard available
SlashGear
ZTE has announced the launch of its MF823, a small dongle it touts as the smallest 4G LTE data card currently available. The little white unit has already launched in Kazakhstan, of all places, and is heading for Europe and Asia “soon.” The press ...

1-In-5 Internet Users Always Read Privacy Policies, But That Doesn't ...
By Chris Morran
Though everyone is always saying “You've got to read the fine print,” most of us don't do it. According to a new study, only 16% of Internet users claim to always read privacy policies of the sites and online services with which they share their ...
The Consumerist

General Electric Pitches an Industrial Internet
By MIT Technology Review
General Electric has a new name for where it thinks its business is headed: the “industrial Internet.” The term, coined inside GE's R&D division, reflects the company's hope that adding more sensors to machinery will result in a deluge of data ...
Mashable!

Darrell Issa proposes 2-year ban on Internet legislations, will appear ...
By Cory Doctorow
Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA) has pretty good credentials as a friend of the Internet, being one of the early Congresscritters to stand up to SOPA and PIPA (though there's the little matter of sponsoring a corporatist bill to limit open access for ...
Boing Boing

Industrial Internet Will End Downtime, GE Hopes
Wall Street Journal
In General Electric Co.'s vision of the future, the company will be able to fix or replace its products before they break. In that world, airlines will receive notices from GE many miles before a jet-engine part is likely to fail, railroads will be ...

A New Way Around China's Internet Filters
Wall Street Journal (blog)
A key method for circumventing China's Internet filters, virtual private networks have come into the crosshairs of the government lately. During the 18th Party Congress earlier this month many faced blockages and more recently China Digital Times has ...

Wall Street Journal (blog)

more technology news below



28 November 2012

Reviewers say Nokia Here Maps for iOS Worse Than Apple Maps


Nokia Here Maps for iOS Worse Than Apple Maps: Reviewers
eWeek
Nokia's Here maps are lousy to the point of making Apple Maps for iOS 6 seem not so bad, suggest early reviews. Nokia has invested billions in mobile mapping, so when Apple bungled its Maps app in iOS 6, it seemed a golden opportunity for Nokia—with...

eWeek

New In Minecraft: 1.5 Redstone Update
GameSpot
MINECON 2012: Analogue redstone, better minecarts, and a host of bug fixes make up the latest Minecraft update. One of the biggest cheers at this year's Minecon came from the announcement of version 1.5, which--as Mojang studio lead Jens Bergensten ...

Damian Dinning explains Nokia departure, joining Jaguar Land Rover
SlashGear
Yesterday we heard that Damian Dinning, who served as the head of Nokia's camera and imaging department, was leaving the company. He'll be ending a 9 year tenure on November 30, but when this announcement was made, there will still a few mysteries...

SlashGear

Tracking Mars: Curiosity Makes Its Mark on the Red Planet
Wired
Since Curiosity landed on mars on Aug. 6, the rover has traveled hundreds of feet over the Martian surface. In the process, it has tracked up the sandy, dusty terrain, leaving tire marks, scoop divots, Morse code and one tiny piece of itself behind. Unlike the ...

Wired

Climate summit's 2015 goal
Sydney Morning Herald
IT IS an annual ritual: nearly 200 nations sit down at the end of each year for two weeks of glacially paced negotiations to stop global warming. Meanwhile, leading scientific and economic bodies warn that time is fast running out to cut greenhouse gas ...

Travelogue: Area leads way in texting law violators
Delaware County Daily Times
The no-texting law in Pennsylvania has been in effect since March 8, and according to numbers listed by AAA Mid-Atlantic, the region that has had the most drivers ticketed for texting while driving is . . . the five-county Philadelphia region. In the first six months ...

Lauded climate-change documentary "Chasing Ice" comes home to Boulder
Denver Post
Posted: 11/25/2012 12:01:00 AM MST. Birthday Canyon in Greenland during the filming of "Chasing Ice." The film follows National Geographic photographer James Balog across the Arctic. (James Balog, Extreme Ice Survey). Stage, Screen & In Between Blog ...

Fossil Rhino Skull Discovered In Volcanic Ash, 9.2-Million-Year-Old Rhino ...
PlanetSave.com
A 9.2 million years old fossilized rhino skull has been discovered buried in volcanic ash. Fossils preserved in volcanic rock are very rare, and account for less than two percent of the world's known specimens. 20121124-161021.jpg. The specimen was ...

Review: Gift guide to smaller tablets
Rapid City Journal
NEW YORK | The tablet computer is without a doubt the gift of the season — just like it was last year. But if you resisted the urge in 2011, now is the time to give in. This season's tablets are better all around. Intense competition has kept prices very low, making ...

The MacBook Air – As Important As Air?
Solar Panels News
Apple has released its newest version in the line of ultraportable computers, The MacBook Air. The Apple MacBook Air 11.6 inch is loaded with the latest third-generation 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core processor with Turbo Boost technology up to 2.6GHz, ...

Wii U expected to be sold out through March
Geek
If you are planning on waiting until you can just walk into the store and pick up a Wii U, you'll probably have to wait at least until March. The console is expected to remain sold out, with customers likely to still be lining up outside the door for new shipments ...

Refurbished iPhone 5's Available from AT&T at $149 for 16GB, $249 for 32GB ...
Latinos Post
Apple is known for charging a premium price for its flagship iPhone series of smartphones, but customers who are willing to pick up a refurbished version of the iPhone 5 are in luck. At AT&T's official website, those who opt for a two-year contract with the ...

What we missed: 'Black Ops II' update, 'Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney' trailer ...
StickSkills
Since our staff is responsible for covering pretty much everything related to the video game industry on a daily basis, it can be tough to post all the stories we think our readers would like to see. Videos go unwatched, new release dates are missed and silly ...

StickSkills

Double Fine adds 'Brazen' prototype to Amnesia Fortnight rewards
Joystiq
Double Fine's internally developed and externally funded Amnesia Fortnight game jam soldiers on, and as is always the case with Humble Bundle promotions, an additional reward has been added for those that donate above the current average.

Will Apple Lead or Follow in the Future Glass Projects Market?
Patently Apple
Last month we posted a report titled "Apple, Google & Others Preparing for the Coming Glass War." Today, we follow through on that report by taking a deeper look at this emerging trend that could very quickly be the next "iPad" in terms of sheer market impact.

Can't wait for the new iMac to arrive? Try a $540 Chinese clone… or not
Today's iPhone
Dang, Chinese clone-makers are getting seriously good at copying Apple. Check out the computer above, designed and manufactured by “Mr. Hong”, it features a 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution display, 4GB RAM, i3 dual core processor and a 500GB hard ...

Jupiter out all night. Venus, Saturn, Mercury before sunrise
EarthSky (blog)
The coming weeks are an awesome time to look for planets! The chart at the top of this post shows the planets Venus and Saturn closest together in the east before dawn on Monday, November 26. The planet Mercury is crawling into view now, too, in the ...

Tablet display shipments jump, top laptops in October
CNET
Tablets are on a tear. Shipments of tablets are catching up to laptops a lot faster than anticipated only a few months ago. Brooke Crothers. by Brooke Crothers. November 24, 2012 12:50 PM PST Follow @mbrookec. The $199 Nexus 7 has been a catalyst in ...

Science news that's good for Lonesome George, bad for new car smell
Globe and Mail
Lonesome George, the late reptile prince of the Galapagos Islands, may be dead, but scientists now say he may not be the last giant tortoise of his species after all. Researchers say they may be able to resurrect the Pinta Island subspecies by launching a ...

Globe and Mail

Google's 'gallery for everyone' lets you take over Times Square, say thank you for...
Engadget
What would be a neat trick to round off a perfect holiday with friends, family, and -- if you're lucky -- some bargain-priced tech? How about getting your smug, contented face up on the screens in Times Square? Not got the big corporate budget? No worries, as ...

Why It's Bad News That Otellini is Retiring From Intel
Forbes
Intel Corp. (INTC) chief executive officer Paul Otellini surprised investors by announcing that he will retire next May at the annual meeting – almost two years ahead of expectations. He said he will oversee an orderly transition as the board considers both ...

Just in time for Christmas! The brain-powered helicopter offering genuine blue ...
Daily Mail
The makers of a brain-powered helicopter are hoping to fundamentally change the way we think about toys. San Francisco company Puzzlebox are billing the 'Orbit' as both an entertaining novelty item and an educational tool. They believe the project can ...

Daily Mail

Toyota Prius has low theft rate
Detroit Free Press
As if there weren't enough practical reasons to buy a Toyota Prius hybrid, here's another: It's apparently so dorky that thieves won't steal it. The National Insurance Crime Bureau says despite its popularity, the Prius has a much lower theft rate than other cars ...

Instagram: 10M photos shared on US Thanksgiving Day
GMA News
Photos of turkeys and pies and everything about Thanksgiving Day – more than 10 million of them – dominated photo sharing service Instagram on the important American occasion. In a blog post, Instagram said this was a "record usage" as Instagrammers ...

Suits bulk of 32″-sixty five” Liquid crystal display LED Plasma HDTV flat panel ...
Venice Life Magazine
The reduced profile mount MF601B is appropriate with LED, Liquid crystal display, Plasma TVs and other flat panel shows measuring amongst 32 and 65 inches. Supports all VESA mounting specifications up to 600×400 and several odd dimensions ...

iPhone 5 camera to scream and shout about by Will.i.am
Phones Review
The iPhone 5 has been another smash hit for Apple since its release in September but before it released we discussed wanted features for the next iPhone on several occasions and one thing that many people wanted was an improved camera. When the...

Phones Review

Holiday gifts: Techie picks for the health nut
USA TODAY
Holiday gifts: Techie picks for the health nut. Alice Truong, Special for USA TODAYShare. Comments. Here are ideas for the fitness buff, or couch potato who needs a push. Budget selections too. Jawbone Up. The Jawbone Up. (Photo: Alice Truong for USA ...

Posted in: 3DS, DS, DS Games, DS News, News, Nintendo News, Wii, Wii ...
Gamersyndrome
This is a regular update that we have here at Gamer Syndrome, detailing for you the latest updates on Club Nintendo offers and free goodies. The Basics: For those of you that don't know, Club Nintendo is a service that Nintendo offers, somewhat similar in ...

Court Orders Apple to Disclose HTC Deal Details to Samsung
JDJournal.com
On Wednesday, Judge Lucy Koh ordered that Apple produce a full unredacted copy of the settlement agreement between Apple and HTC “without delay” to Samsung, subject to Attoneys-Eyes-Only conditions. The order is part of post trial arguments following ...

PlayStation 4/Xbox 720 Augmented Reality Wanted? - Unscripted Access ...
The Gamer Access
Nintendo's Wii U launch, PlayStation 3 creeps on worldwide sales of Xbox 360, rumors of Xbox's augmented reality, and much more gaming news and nonsense that listeners have come to expect with Unscripted Access. The Gamer Access is back again with ...

LG: LTE in the Nexus 4 is an evolutionary leftover
SlashGear
The LTE modem discovered in the Nexus 4 is an evolutionary leftover akin to an appendix or tailbone, LG has explained, dashing any hopes of a firmware update unlocking future 4G capabilities. Interest was raised when teardowns of the latest Nexus ...

SlashGear

'Black Ops 2' Tops 11M Units Sold In First Week, No Signs Of Call Of Duty ...
Forbes
Call of Duty Black Ops 2 sales were lower in the game's first week than Modern Warfare 3, but it's too early to worry about gamer fatigue. I'm not sure that any video game boasting sales of over 11 million units globally in its first week can exhibit signs of ...

Forbes

Motorola Droid Razr MAXX HD 4G will continue with the sale price through ...
Technology Bloom News
The Motorola Droid Razr MAXX HD has received a retail price reduction this holiday shopping season at online retailer Amazon. The internet retailing giant has reduced the retail price of the best-selling Razr MAXX HD to $149 on contract, and that price is ...

Technology Bloom News

Vita discounts coming to US PSN next week
Computerandvideogames.com
Next week's US PlayStation Store update will bring with it discounted prices on 10 PS Vita games, Sony has said. PlayStation Network Screenshot Little Deviants, Reality Fighters, Hot Shot Golf: World Invitational, MLB 12: The Show, Reality Fighters, Wipeout ...

Disney has taught a humanoid robot to play catch, juggle - doesn't look like Arnie ...
TweakTown
Here I am thinking we're getting closer to the end of the Mayan long-count calender, and the world won't end - but now Disney have taught one of their humanoid robotic subordinates how to play catch and juggle with human participants.

TweakTown

Black box, right on time: Vodaphone enters the tablet wars
Daily Mail
The Christmas race for iPad Mini killers has just hotted up, but is Vodafone's tablet up to the job? Lenovo's laptops are usually big, black rectangles that look like Soviet-era cars from the Eastern Bloc – like they should be accessorised with a sticker saying, 'My ...
 
Daily Mail

All Wii U games to come with Stars Points
Everybody Plays
It seems that not a week can go by without some sort of financial crisis, grave statistic or global dilemma cropping up in the news. And with the 'dire economic climate' of recent years threatening to rear it's head again and Christmas fast approaching, it can ...

more technology news below



26 November 2012

Google Maps Indoor Floor Plans Hit the Web

Google Maps' Indoor Floor Plans Hit the Web
PC Magazine
However, a few shoppers might have also been taking up Google on its brand-new implementation of a well-known feature. Specifically, Google's recent introduction of its indoor maps – via GoogleMaps, of course – into the browser-accessible version of ...

Apple targets Galaxy Note 2, S3 Mini in latest court request
CNET
The last round of tit-for-tat additions to the list of gadgets covered by the case included Apple'siPhone 5, Samsung's Galaxy Note 10.1, and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone in conjunction withGoogle's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS. The U.S. model of the ...

Swallowing Rain Forest, Cities Surge in Amazon
New York Times
PARAUAPEBAS, Brazil — The Amazon has been viewed for ages as a vast quilt of rain forest interspersed by remote river outposts. But the surging population growth of cities in the jungle is turning that rural vision on its head and alarming scientists ...

New York Times

New Google Internet service, rolling out in Kansas City, is satisfying Web ...
New York Daily News
... cable network has been set up like telephone lines. Google's technicians can connect customers' houses to the fiber optic cables, which contain thin glass threads that enable the transmission of one gigabit per second of data, reported Business ...

New York Daily News

Microsoft commits to Surface with Windows RT for at least four years
ZDNet
Apple's original iPad, released in early 2010, no longer qualifies for iOS updates, security or otherwise, and it's barely 2-1/2 years old. Similarly, anyone who buys a Google Nexus 10 has no idea how long it will receive updates. The same is true for ...

Samsung's Galaxy Note II Infringes Patents, Apple Says
Bloomberg
Apple has said that Samsung products running on the new Android “Jelly Bean” operating system, and other products running on the “Ice Cream Sandwich” system should be added to the case, according to filings in San Jose federal court in California ...

Review: Nexus tablet showcases Google media play
Winston-Salem Journal
In addition, Google and Microsoft have dived in with their own tablets, providing more choice. Posted: Saturday, November 24, ... For the past year, Google has been trying to challenge Appleand Amazon by selling digital content. The Play store is ...

Will Apple's Rebound Continue?
Forbes
Second, Apple' low valuation, in comparison to another competitor in the smartphone and the tablet market, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG). Apple trades at a forward (Sept 2014) PE of 9.85,while Googleat forward PE of 14.40(Dec 31, 2013). A few words of ...

Microsoft push for worker visas raises concerns, exposes loopholes
The Seattle Times
But others, including Amazon, T-Mobile, Expedia and Nordstrom, have dozens of H-1B workers on their payrolls. Microsoft is among the nation's heaviest corporate users of H-1B visas, accounting for 10 percent of its U.S. workforce of 57,400. The company ...

Google Makes A Pre-Holiday Marketing Push For Chromebooks With New ...
TechCrunch
Just like Google, Microsoft featured a Windows 8 booth in the middle of Times Square earlier this month and also rented out a number of billboards. Only Google, however, got somebody to propose to his girlfriend using its hybrid online/offline campaign.

Apple Adds Six More Samsung Devices to Ongoing Patent Lawsuit ...
By Joann Pan
Apple motioned to add six more Samsung devices to its patent lawsuit. ... Leading up to the second lawsuit between Apple and Samsung, both tech giants are adding to their respective lists of patent-infringing products from the other side.
Mashable!

Today's Amazon Lightning Deals include Halo 4 with $20 Amazon ...
By Mike Suszek
Today's Amazon Lightning Deals include Halo 4 · Amazon has a handful of fresh Lightning Deals scheduled for today, including a deal that nets you Halo 4 along with a $20 Amazon gift card and $10 in Amazon Instant Watch credit. The earlier ...
Joystiq

Microsoft Stays Mum on 7.8
By Alex Wilhelm
When Microsoft told the lot of them that it was moving from the old Windows Phone software platform to a shared core with Windows in Windows Phone 8, and that all the phones it had sold previously were headed right for the penalty box of ...
The Next Web

Apple asks court to include Galaxy S III with Jelly Bean, Galaxy Note ...
By Richard Lawler
As usual, Apple thought Friday night on a holiday weekend was the perfect time to push some more paper through in its ongoing patent lawsuit against. ... Google Android 4.1. </a>. Google Android 4.1 thumbnail image ...
Engadget

more technology news below



23 November 2012

Take Action for Internet Freedom - Do not let the ITU take control of the internet

Take Action – Google: "“A free and open world depends on a free and open Internet. Governments alone, working behind closed doors, should not direct its future. The billions of people around the globe who use the Internet should have a voice.“"

Euro MPs: Do not let the ITU take control of the internet
ZDNet
Summary: As the ITU gears up to push for powers to regulate the internet, the European Parliament votes to oppose the move, saying it would harm the flow of information online and stifle innovation. Ben Woods. By Ben Woods | November 23, 2012 -- 13:11 ...

8 Essential Black Friday Apps
InformationWeek
Braving the Black Friday crowds? Don't even think of leaving the house without these applications on your smartphone. By Eric Zeman · InformationWeek. November 23, 2012 08:06 AM. 10 Great Windows 8 Apps. ( click image for larger view and for slideshow) ...

Three will sell the Google Nexus 4 from 13 December
Inquirer
NUMERICAL MOBILE OPERATOR Three has revealed that it will soon be selling the Google Nexus 4, once O2's exclusivity ends. Three has told The INQUIRER that it will start selling the Nexus 4 from 13 December. It has also revealed that that its pricing will...

Inquirer

Super-Earths' magnetic FORCE FIELDS could harbour ALIEN LIFE
Register
A geo-boffinry study has found that super-Earths could have oceans of liquid metal and magnetic shields that protect life on their surfaces. Artist's impression of the planetary system around HD10180. The heat and pressure inside planets bigger than Earth but ...

Has Curiosity discovered organic compounds on Mars? (pictures)
CNET
NASA has made a potentially huge discovery on Mars via Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, NPR reported this week. SAM is the rover's on-board set of chemical analytics tools, tasked with identifying organic compounds -- the ...

FCC plans to make Twitter, mobile networks disaster proof
Register
The Federal Communications Commission is to have a series of talks around the US to figure out how to stop mobile network outages during natural disasters. A quarter of cell towers on the East coast were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Sandy late last ...
WIMP-seeking detector flooded
Register
A South Dakota-based dark matter experiment has taken a large step towards go-live, with a detector lowered into its water tank ahead of observations beginning next year. The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector was delivered in July.

Five smart Apple iPhone solutions for the connected home
Computerworld (blog)
As Apple's [AAPL] iOS evolution shows, consumer electronics is evolving, the devices we use everyday are becoming more portable and more advanced, and the distinctions between different gadgets are disappearing: Here's five solutions which suggest the ...
Apple discounts iPads, Mac laptops 8%-10% for 'Black Friday'
Computerworld
Computerworld - Apple today cut Mac laptop prices up to 10% and iPad prices as much as 9% during its typically tightfisted one-day "Black Friday" deals. But some resellers again offered more aggressive discounts. Apple's sale reduced Mac laptop prices by ...

Ariane rocket ready to do battle
BBC News
Europe's Ariane 5 rocket has established itself as the dominant force in the satellite launch market. The big European vehicle throws up everything from three-tonne TV satellites to the 20-tonne ATV space truck used to resupply astronauts on the ISS.

BBC News

Google Working on Open Alternative to Apple's AirPlay
Tom's Hardware Guide
The news arrives after YouTube revealed the first implementation of this beaming technology last week. The tech can wirelessly send video from the YouTube app installed on Android-based smartphones and tablets to Google TV devices. Apple's AirPlay ...

Dogs learn language differently than humans
TG Daily
While many dog-owners may marvel at their pet's human-like ability to understand new words; research by scientists at the University of Lincoln, UK, suggests that dogs learn words in a fundamentally different way to us. Dogs have long been thought to learn ...

TG Daily

NPD says Black Friday will be the catalyst for tablets to pass notebook shipments ...
SlashGear
Black Friday is here and if analysts over at NPD are accurate, shopping today will be the catalyst to push tablet shipments above notebook shipments in North America. If this prediction comes to pass, it would be the first time tablets passed notebook ...

Apple Has To Tell Samsung How Much Money It's Getting From HTC For Patents
Business Insider
Apple has to reveal how much money its getting from HTC in a patent settlement to Samsung, a judge ruled. Apple settled all patent litigation with HTC two weeks ago. They also entered into a ten-year licensing agreement. The terms of their deal were never ...

Business Insider

An Improbable Thanksgiving Day Rally In RIM Stock: Should You Now Feast Too?
Forbes
New CEO Thorsten Heins debuts the BlackBerry 10 smartphones at a conference in California. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife). The best deals these days, it seems, must be snatched well before the clock strikes midnight on Thanksgiving. So, right ...

Wii U – Shigeru Miyamoto gives us a tour of Nintendo's new console
The Guardian
In 2006, Nintendo announced the Wii. Everyone laughed at the name, then everyone laughed at the crazy TV remote-style controllers. Then everyone stopped laughing, and there was an odd silence from industry analysts and pundits, who simply didn't know ...

The Guardian

Australian scientists undiscover small Pacific island
SlashGear
With the modern age of satellite mapping and Google Maps, you might expect that the map of Earth's landmass, including islands, around the globe is correctly and accurately mapped. However, it appears that errors in mapping do occur as evidenced by a ...

SlashGear

Starwatch: Get cold, hard look at skylights
Post-Bulletin
Without a doubt we're entering the best stargazing season of the year. Unfortunately, it's also the coldest season of the year. I call it the great trade-off of stargazing. On those warm summer nights, when you look forward to checking out the universe, two major ...

Post-Bulletin

First Drive: 2013 Ford C-Max Energi
Automobile Magazine
We know you try to get the most out of life in every aspect. When it comes to cars, you've bought Toyotas. Please take a look at our new C-Max Energi. In fact, we suspect that you've already done some research, and it would inevitably have led you to us.

Microsoft Gives Windows 8 Away for Free by Mistake
eSecurity Planet
Give the company an e-mail address, and they'll send you a valid product key. By Jeff Goldman | November 22, 2012. Share. A Reddit user recently disclosed a relatively straightforward method of upgrading to Windows 8 Pro for free. "Microsoft currently ...

eSecurity Planet

Mozilla kills 64-bit Firefox browser for Windows despite lots of users
SlashGear
This is rather odd. Mozilla has reportedly discontinued the 64-bit version of Firefox for Windows. The 64-bit version of the browser was available for Windows computer users in testing. The announcement was made by Mozilla via one of its Google Groups ...

Hacker Found Guilty for Exposing iPad Security Flaw
eSecurity Planet
Hacker Andrew Auernheimer, 27, was found guilty earlier this week of conspiracy to access a computer without authorization and fraud in connection with personal information, for his involvement in a 2010 AT&T breach that exposed 114,000 iPad owners' ...
eSecurity Planet

Nissan unveils revamped LEAF EV in Japan
Automotive Business Review
Nissan has unveiled a revamped version of its LEAF electric vehicle in Japan equipping it with new powertrain. The new vehicle is claimed to give a 12% more mileage and will be 30% more compact and 10% lighter than earlier model, while the vehicle will ...

Review: Nokia Lumia 920 is big, bold, and beautiful
PCWorld
Amber covers Windows Phones,mobile tech, bags, apps and accessories, and loves all manner of gadgets. In her non-tech time she takes too many pictures of her cats, watches zombie movies, crochets, and plans out her next tattoos. More by Amber Bouman ...

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 to get Jelly Bean and Premium Suite upgrade
CNET
Samsung's stylus-equipped tablet, the Note 10.1, will be getting a Jelly Bean upgrade very soon. Beside the OS upgrade, which is already on its flagship S III handset, the company will also be improving some of the features unique to the tablet, which it calls...

CNET

Making the most of your hybrid
The Province
Manufacturers of gas/electric hybrid vehicles boast of fabulous fuel economy and cash savings at the pump. The truth is that, while all are capable of living up to the fuel hype, achieving the same really depends on the way the cars are driven. We are now ...

Icy dwarf planet Makemake lacks atmosphere
Deutsche Welle
A rare moment of alignment with a distant star has given researchers a chance to test some theories about a miniscule, icy planet not all that far (relatively speaking) from Pluto. The results came as a surprise. Like a B-list nightclub mid-week, Pluto's tiny sister ...

Deutsche Welle

NZ joins anti-whaling court case
The Australian
THE New Zealand government has decided to have its say in the International Court of Justice case Australia has brought against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully says the process is called an intervention, which ...

Facebook Moves Away From User Votes on Policy
Wall Street Journal
On Wednesday the social network announced several updates to its governing policy that ultimately could limit its user community's ability to overturn policy decisions. In a blog post written by Elliot Schrage, Facebook's head of communications, the company ...

Google Adds Indoor Maps to Web Browsers as Black Friday Nears
eWeek
In the wake of Apple's iOS 6 mapping application debacle, Google's trusty maps application, Google Maps, now seems more indispensable than ever, and on Nov. 21 the search engine giant expanded a feature that allows users to take a peak at the interior ...

eWeek

Take a guided tour of a space station
NEWS.com.au
WELCOME to space. This is probably the closest any of us will ever get to hanging out in space. In this incredible video, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams takes you on a guided tour of the International Space Station. With her hair floating around her head, she ...

Facebook banks on default https for safer data transfer
Sin Chew Jit Poh
Facebook is improving the security of its data transfers thanks to HTTPS. Photo courtesy: AFP RELAXNEWS/ cloki/shutterstock.com. (Relaxnews) - Facebook is transferring all the accounts of its US users to the safer HTTPS protocol. Up until now, users had to ...

Sin Chew Jit Poh

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Tortoises having Genes Alike George Found
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Illegal stores: Mass. judge agrees with Tesla
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Jaguar Confirms XFR-S for LA Debut
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DMC developer diary features the voice of Dante
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Chasing Ice: A New Documentary Melts a Climate Change Skeptic's Heart
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California Literary Review

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21 November 2012

Ron Paul - farewell address to Congress

"The internet will provide the alternative to the government/media complex that controls the news and most political propaganda. This is why it’s essential that the internet remains free of government regulation." - Ron Paul
This being Thanksgiving Day in the US, and 2012 nearing its end, we thought it appropriate to post the farewell address of Ron Paul below and note his unwavering stance in favor of internet freedom--

Transcript: Ron Paul’s farewell address to Congress | WashingtonExaminer.com: Below is the transcript of Ron Paul’s farewell address to Congress:

"This may well be the last time I speak on the House Floor. At the end of the year I’ll leave Congress after 23 years in office over a 36 year period. My goals in 1976 were the same as they are today: promote peace and prosperity by a strict adherence to the principles of individual liberty. It was my opinion, that the course the U.S. embarked on in the latter part of the 20th Century would bring us a major financial crisis and engulf us in a foreign policy that would overextend us and undermine our national security. To achieve the goals I sought, government would have had to shrink in size and scope, reduce spending, change the monetary system, and reject the unsustainable costs of policing the world and expanding the American Empire. The problems seemed to be overwhelming and impossible to solve, yet from my view point, just following the constraints placed on the federal government by the Constitution would have been a good place to start. In many ways, according to conventional wisdom, my off-and-on career in Congress, from 1976 to 2012, accomplished very little. No named legislation, no named federal buildings or highways—thank goodness. In spite of my efforts, the government has grown exponentially, taxes remain excessive, and the prolific increase of incomprehensible regulations continues. Wars are constant and pursued without Congressional declaration, deficits rise to the sky, poverty is rampant and dependency on the federal government is now worse than any time in our history. All this with minimal concerns for the deficits and unfunded liabilities that common sense tells us cannot go on much longer. A grand, but never mentioned, bipartisan agreement allows for the well-kept secret that keeps the spending going. One side doesn’t give up one penny on military spending, the other side doesn’t give up one penny on welfare spending, while both sides support the bailouts and subsidies for the banking and corporate elite. And the spending continues as the economy weakens and the downward spiral continues. As the government continues fiddling around, our liberties and our wealth burn in the flames of a foreign policy that makes us less safe. The major stumbling block to real change in Washington is the total resistance to admitting that the country is broke. This has made compromising, just to agree to increase spending, inevitable since neither side has any intention of cutting spending. The country and the Congress will remain divisive since there’s no “loot left to divvy up.” Without this recognition the spenders in Washington will continue the march toward a fiscal cliff much bigger than the one anticipated this coming January. I have thought a lot about why those of us who believe in liberty, as a solution, have done so poorly in convincing others of its benefits. If liberty is what we claim it is- the principle that protects all personal, social and economic decisions necessary for maximum prosperity and the best chance for peace- it should be an easy sell. Yet, history has shown that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians which are rarely if ever fulfilled. If authoritarianism leads to poverty and war and less freedom for all individuals and is controlled by rich special interests, the people should be begging for liberty. There certainly was a strong enough sentiment for more freedom at the time of our founding that motivated those who were willing to fight in the revolution against the powerful British government. During my time in Congress the appetite for liberty has been quite weak; the understanding of its significance negligible. Yet the good news is that compared to 1976 when I first came to Congress, the desire for more freedom and less government in 2012 is much greater and growing, especially in grassroots America. Tens of thousands of teenagers and college age students are, with great enthusiasm, welcoming the message of liberty. I have a few thoughts as to why the people of a country like ours, once the freest and most prosperous, allowed the conditions to deteriorate to the degree that they have. Freedom, private property, and enforceable voluntary contracts, generate wealth. In our early history we were very much aware of this. But in the early part of the 20th century our politicians promoted the notion that the tax and monetary systems had to change if we were to involve ourselves in excessive domestic and military spending. That is why Congress gave us the Federal Reserve and the income tax. The majority of Americans and many government officials agreed that sacrificing some liberty was necessary to carry out what some claimed to be “progressive” ideas. Pure democracy became acceptable. They failed to recognized that what they were doing was exactly opposite of what the colonists were seeking when they broke away from the British. Some complain that my arguments makes no sense, since great wealth and the standard of living improved for many Americans over the last 100 years, even with these new policies. But the damage to the market economy, and the currency, has been insidious and steady. It took a long time to consume our wealth, destroy the currency and undermine productivity and get our financial obligations to a point of no return. Confidence sometimes lasts longer than deserved. Most of our wealth today depends on debt. The wealth that we enjoyed and seemed to be endless, allowed concern for the principle of a free society to be neglected. As long as most people believed the material abundance would last forever, worrying about protecting a competitive productive economy and individual liberty seemed unnecessary. This neglect ushered in an age of redistribution of wealth by government kowtowing to any and all special interests, except for those who just wanted to left alone. That is why today money in politics far surpasses money currently going into research and development and productive entrepreneurial efforts. The material benefits became more important than the understanding and promoting the principles of liberty and a free market. It is good that material abundance is a result of liberty but if materialism is all that we care about, problems are guaranteed. The crisis arrived because the illusion that wealth and prosperity would last forever has ended. Since it was based on debt and a pretense that debt can be papered over by an out-of-control fiat monetary system, it was doomed to fail. We have ended up with a system that doesn’t produce enough even to finance the debt and no fundamental understanding of why a free society is crucial to reversing these trends. If this is not recognized, the recovery will linger for a long time. Bigger government, more spending, more debt, more poverty for the middle class, and a more intense scramble by the elite special interests will continue. Without an intellectual awakening, the turning point will be driven by economic law. A dollar crisis will bring the current out-of-control system to its knees. If it’s not accepted that big government, fiat money, ignoring liberty, central economic planning, welfarism, and warfarism caused our crisis we can expect a continuous and dangerous march toward corporatism and even fascism with even more loss of our liberties. Prosperity for a large middle class though will become an abstract dream. This continuous move is no different than what we have seen in how our financial crisis of 2008 was handled. Congress first directed, with bipartisan support, bailouts for the wealthy. Then it was the Federal Reserve with its endless quantitative easing. If at first it doesn’t succeed try again; QE1, QE2, and QE3 and with no results we try QE indefinitely—that is until it too fails. There’s a cost to all of this and let me assure you delaying the payment is no longer an option. The rules of the market will extract its pound of flesh and it won’t be pretty. The current crisis elicits a lot of pessimism. And the pessimism adds to less confidence in the future. The two feed on themselves, making our situation worse. If the underlying cause of the crisis is not understood we cannot solve our problems. The issues of warfare, welfare, deficits, inflationism, corporatism, bailouts and authoritarianism cannot be ignored. By only expanding these policies we cannot expect good results. Everyone claims support for freedom. But too often it’s for one’s own freedom and not for others. Too many believe that there must be limits on freedom. They argue that freedom must be directed and managed to achieve fairness and equality thus making it acceptable to curtail, through force, certain liberties. Some decide what and whose freedoms are to be limited. These are the politicians whose goal in life is power. Their success depends on gaining support from special interests. The great news is the answer is not to be found in more “isms.” The answers are to be found in more liberty which cost so much less. Under these circumstances spending goes down, wealth production goes up, and the quality of life improves. Just this recognition—especially if we move in this direction—increases optimism which in itself is beneficial. The follow through with sound policies are required which must be understood and supported by the people. But there is good evidence that the generation coming of age at the present time is supportive of moving in the direction of more liberty and self-reliance. The more this change in direction and the solutions become known, the quicker will be the return of optimism. Our job, for those of us who believe that a different system than the one that we have had for the last 100 years, has driven us to this unsustainable crisis, is to be more convincing that there is a wonderful, uncomplicated, and moral system that provides the answers. We had a taste of it in our early history. We need not give up on the notion of advancing this cause. It worked, but we allowed our leaders to concentrate on the material abundance that freedom generates, while ignoring freedom itself. Now we have neither, but the door is open, out of necessity, for an answer. The answer available is based on the Constitution, individual liberty and prohibiting the use of government force to provide privileges and benefits to all special interests. After over 100 years we face a society quite different from the one that was intended by the Founders. In many ways their efforts to protect future generations with the Constitution from this danger has failed. Skeptics, at the time the Constitution was written in 1787, warned us of today’s possible outcome. The insidious nature of the erosion of our liberties and the reassurance our great abundance gave us, allowed the process to evolve into the dangerous period in which we now live. Today we face a dependency on government largesse for almost every need. Our liberties are restricted and government operates outside the rule of law, protecting and rewarding those who buy or coerce government into satisfying their demands. Here are a few examples: Undeclared wars are commonplace. Welfare for the rich and poor is considered an entitlement. The economy is overregulated, overtaxed and grossly distorted by a deeply flawed monetary system. Debt is growing exponentially. The Patriot Act and FISA legislation passed without much debate have resulted in a steady erosion of our 4th Amendment rights. Tragically our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression, with no complaints from the American people. The drone warfare we are pursuing worldwide is destined to end badly for us as the hatred builds for innocent lives lost and the international laws flaunted. Once we are financially weakened and militarily challenged, there will be a lot resentment thrown our way. It’s now the law of the land that the military can arrest American citizens, hold them indefinitely, without charges or a trial. Rampant hostility toward free trade is supported by a large number in Washington. Supporters of sanctions, currency manipulation and WTO trade retaliation, call the true free traders “isolationists.” Sanctions are used to punish countries that don’t follow our orders. Bailouts and guarantees for all kinds of misbehavior are routine. Central economic planning through monetary policy, regulations and legislative mandates has been an acceptable policy. Excessive government has created such a mess it prompts many questions: Why are sick people who use medical marijuana put in prison? Why does the federal government restrict the drinking of raw milk? Why can’t Americans manufacturer rope and other products from hemp? Why are Americans not allowed to use gold and silver as legal tender as mandated by the Constitution? Why is Germany concerned enough to consider repatriating their gold held by the FED for her in New York? Is it that the trust in the U.S. and dollar supremacy beginning to wane? Why do our political leaders believe it’s unnecessary to thoroughly audit our own gold? Why can’t Americans decide which type of light bulbs they can buy? Why is the TSA permitted to abuse the rights of any American traveling by air? Why should there be mandatory sentences—even up to life for crimes without victims—as our drug laws require? Why have we allowed the federal government to regulate commodes in our homes? Why is it political suicide for anyone to criticize AIPAC ? Why haven’t we given up on the drug war since it’s an obvious failure and violates the people’s rights? Has nobody noticed that the authorities can’t even keep drugs out of the prisons? How can making our entire society a prison solve the problem? Why do we sacrifice so much getting needlessly involved in border disputes and civil strife around the world and ignore the root cause of the most deadly border in the world-the one between Mexico and the US? Why does Congress willingly give up its prerogatives to the Executive Branch? Why does changing the party in power never change policy? Could it be that the views of both parties are essentially the same? Why did the big banks, the large corporations, and foreign banks and foreign central banks get bailed out in 2008 and the middle class lost their jobs and their homes? Why do so many in the government and the federal officials believe that creating money out of thin air creates wealth? Why do so many accept the deeply flawed principle that government bureaucrats and politicians can protect us from ourselves without totally destroying the principle of liberty? Why can’t people understand that war always destroys wealth and liberty? Why is there so little concern for the Executive Order that gives the President authority to establish a “kill list,” including American citizens, of those targeted for assassination? Why is patriotism thought to be blind loyalty to the government and the politicians who run it, rather than loyalty to the principles of liberty and support for the people? Real patriotism is a willingness to challenge the government when it’s wrong. Why is it is claimed that if people won’t or can’t take care of their own needs, that people in government can do it for them? Why did we ever give the government a safe haven for initiating violence against the people? Why do some members defend free markets, but not civil liberties? Why do some members defend civil liberties but not free markets? Aren’t they the same? Why don’t more defend both economic liberty and personal liberty? Why are there not more individuals who seek to intellectually influence others to bring about positive changes than those who seek power to force others to obey their commands? Why does the use of religion to support a social gospel and preemptive wars, both of which requires authoritarians to use violence, or the threat of violence, go unchallenged? Aggression and forced redistribution of wealth has nothing to do with the teachings of the world great religions. Why do we allow the government and the Federal Reserve to disseminate false information dealing with both economic and foreign policy? Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? Why should anyone be surprised that Congress has no credibility, since there’s such a disconnect between what politicians say and what they do? Is there any explanation for all the deception, the unhappiness, the fear of the future, the loss of confidence in our leaders, the distrust, the anger and frustration? Yes there is, and there’s a way to reverse these attitudes. The negative perceptions are logical and a consequence of bad policies bringing about our problems. Identification of the problems and recognizing the cause allow the proper changes to come easy. Too many people have for too long placed too much confidence and trust in government and not enough in themselves. Fortunately, many are now becoming aware of the seriousness of the gross mistakes of the past several decades. The blame is shared by both political parties. Many Americans now are demanding to hear the plain truth of things and want the demagoguing to stop. Without this first step, solutions are impossible. Seeking the truth and finding the answers in liberty and self-reliance promotes the optimism necessary for restoring prosperity. The task is not that difficult if politics doesn’t get in the way. We have allowed ourselves to get into such a mess for various reasons. Politicians deceive themselves as to how wealth is produced. Excessive confidence is placed in the judgment of politicians and bureaucrats. This replaces the confidence in a free society. Too many in high places of authority became convinced that only they, armed with arbitrary government power, can bring about fairness, while facilitating wealth production. This always proves to be a utopian dream and destroys wealth and liberty. It impoverishes the people and rewards the special interests who end up controlling both political parties. It’s no surprise then that much of what goes on in Washington is driven by aggressive partisanship and power seeking, with philosophic differences being minor. Economic ignorance is commonplace. Keynesianism continues to thrive, although today it is facing healthy and enthusiastic rebuttals. Believers in military Keynesianism and domestic Keynesianism continue to desperately promote their failed policies, as the economy languishes in a deep slumber. Supporters of all government edicts use humanitarian arguments to justify them. Humanitarian arguments are always used to justify government mandates related to the economy, monetary policy, foreign policy, and personal liberty. This is on purpose to make it more difficult to challenge. But, initiating violence for humanitarian reasons is still violence. Good intentions are no excuse and are just as harmful as when people use force with bad intentions. The results are always negative. The immoral use of force is the source of man’s political problems. Sadly, many religious groups, secular organizations, and psychopathic authoritarians endorse government initiated force to change the world. Even when the desired goals are well-intentioned—or especially when well-intentioned—the results are dismal. The good results sought never materialize. The new problems created require even more government force as a solution. The net result is institutionalizing government initiated violence and morally justifying it on humanitarian grounds. This is the same fundamental reason our government uses force for invading other countries at will, central economic planning at home, and the regulation of personal liberty and habits of our citizens. It is rather strange, that unless one has a criminal mind and no respect for other people and their property, no one claims it’s permissible to go into one’s neighbor’s house and tell them how to behave, what they can eat, smoke and drink or how to spend their money. Yet, rarely is it asked why it is morally acceptable that a stranger with a badge and a gun can do the same thing in the name of law and order. Any resistance is met with brute force, fines, taxes, arrests, and even imprisonment. This is done more frequently every day without a proper search warrant. Restraining aggressive behavior is one thing, but legalizing a government monopoly for initiating aggression can only lead to exhausting liberty associated with chaos, anger and the breakdown of civil society. Permitting such authority and expecting saintly behavior from the bureaucrats and the politicians is a pipe dream. We now have a standing army of armed bureaucrats in the TSA, CIA, FBI, Fish and Wildlife, FEMA, IRS, Corp of Engineers, etc. numbering over 100,000. Citizens are guilty until proven innocent in the unconstitutional administrative courts. Government in a free society should have no authority to meddle in social activities or the economic transactions of individuals. Nor should government meddle in the affairs of other nations. All things peaceful, even when controversial, should be permitted. We must reject the notion of prior restraint in economic activity just we do in the area of free speech and religious liberty. But even in these areas government is starting to use a backdoor approach of political correctness to regulate speech-a dangerous trend. Since 9/11 monitoring speech on the internet is now a problem since warrants are no longer required. The Constitution established four federal crimes. Today the experts can’t even agree on how many federal crimes are now on the books—they number into the thousands. No one person can comprehend the enormity of the legal system—especially the tax code. Due to the ill-advised drug war and the endless federal expansion of the criminal code we have over 6 million people under correctional suspension, more than the Soviets ever had, and more than any other nation today, including China. I don’t understand the complacency of the Congress and the willingness to continue their obsession with passing more Federal laws. Mandatory sentencing laws associated with drug laws have compounded our prison problems. The federal register is now 75,000 pages long and the tax code has 72,000 pages, and expands every year. When will the people start shouting, “enough is enough,” and demand Congress cease and desist. Liberty can only be achieved when government is denied the aggressive use of force. If one seeks liberty, a precise type of government is needed. To achieve it, more than lip service is required. A government designed to protect liberty—a natural right—as its sole objective. The people are expected to care for themselves and reject the use of any force for interfering with another person’s liberty. Government is given a strictly limited authority to enforce contracts, property ownership, settle disputes, and defend against foreign aggression. A government that pretends to protect liberty but is granted power to arbitrarily use force over the people and foreign nations. Though the grant of power many times is meant to be small and limited, it inevitably metastasizes into an omnipotent political cancer. This is the problem for which the world has suffered throughout the ages. Though meant to be limited it nevertheless is a 100% sacrifice of a principle that would-be-tyrants find irresistible. It is used vigorously—though incrementally and insidiously. Granting power to government officials always proves the adage that: “power corrupts.” Once government gets a limited concession for the use of force to mold people habits and plan the economy, it causes a steady move toward tyrannical government. Only a revolutionary spirit can reverse the process and deny to the government this arbitrary use of aggression. There’s no in-between. Sacrificing a little liberty for imaginary safety always ends badly. Today’s mess is a result of Americans accepting option #2, even though the Founders attempted to give us Option #1. The results are not good. As our liberties have been eroded our wealth has been consumed. The wealth we see today is based on debt and a foolish willingness on the part of foreigners to take our dollars for goods and services. They then loan them back to us to perpetuate our debt system. It’s amazing that it has worked for this long but the impasse in Washington, in solving our problems indicate that many are starting to understand the seriousness of the world -wide debt crisis and the dangers we face. The longer this process continues the harsher the outcome will be. Many are now acknowledging that a financial crisis looms but few understand it’s, in reality, a moral crisis. It’s the moral crisis that has allowed our liberties to be undermined and permits the exponential growth of illegal government power. Without a clear understanding of the nature of the crisis it will be difficult to prevent a steady march toward tyranny and the poverty that will accompany it. Ultimately, the people have to decide which form of government they want; option #1 or option #2. There is no other choice. Claiming there is a choice of a “little” tyranny is like describing pregnancy as a “touch of pregnancy.” It is a myth to believe that a mixture of free markets and government central economic planning is a worthy compromise. What we see today is a result of that type of thinking. And the results speak for themselves. American now suffers from a culture of violence. It’s easy to reject the initiation of violence against one’s neighbor but it’s ironic that the people arbitrarily and freely anoint government officials with monopoly power to initiate violence against the American people—practically at will. Because it’s the government that initiates force, most people accept it as being legitimate. Those who exert the force have no sense of guilt. It is believed by too many that governments are morally justified in initiating force supposedly to “do good.” They incorrectly believe that this authority has come from the “consent of the people.” The minority, or victims of government violence never consented to suffer the abuse of government mandates, even when dictated by the majority. Victims of TSA excesses never consented to this abuse. This attitude has given us a policy of initiating war to “do good,” as well. It is claimed that war, to prevent war for noble purposes, is justified. This is similar to what we were once told that: “destroying a village to save a village” was justified. It was said by a US Secretary of State that the loss of 500,000 Iraqis, mostly children, in the 1990s, as a result of American bombs and sanctions, was “worth it” to achieve the “good” we brought to the Iraqi people. And look at the mess that Iraq is in today. Government use of force to mold social and economic behavior at home and abroad has justified individuals using force on their own terms. The fact that violence by government is seen as morally justified, is the reason why violence will increase when the big financial crisis hits and becomes a political crisis as well. First, we recognize that individuals shouldn’t initiate violence, then we give the authority to government. Eventually, the immoral use of government violence, when things goes badly, will be used to justify an individual’s “right” to do the same thing. Neither the government nor individuals have the moral right to initiate violence against another yet we are moving toward the day when both will claim this authority. If this cycle is not reversed society will break down. When needs are pressing, conditions deteriorate and rights become relative to the demands and the whims of the majority. It’s then not a great leap for individuals to take it upon themselves to use violence to get what they claim is theirs. As the economy deteriorates and the wealth discrepancies increase—as are already occurring— violence increases as those in need take it in their own hands to get what they believe is theirs. They will not wait for a government rescue program. When government officials wield power over others to bail out the special interests, even with disastrous results to the average citizen, they feel no guilt for the harm they do. Those who take us into undeclared wars with many casualties resulting, never lose sleep over the death and destruction their bad decisions caused. They are convinced that what they do is morally justified, and the fact that many suffer just can’t be helped. When the street criminals do the same thing, they too have no remorse, believing they are only taking what is rightfully theirs. All moral standards become relative. Whether it’s bailouts, privileges, government subsidies or benefits for some from inflating a currency, it’s all part of a process justified by a philosophy of forced redistribution of wealth. Violence, or a threat of such, is the instrument required and unfortunately is of little concern of most members of Congress. Some argue it’s only a matter of “fairness” that those in need are cared for. There are two problems with this. First, the principle is used to provide a greater amount of benefits to the rich than the poor. Second, no one seems to be concerned about whether or not it’s fair to those who end up paying for the benefits. The costs are usually placed on the backs of the middle class and are hidden from the public eye. Too many people believe government handouts are free, like printing money out of thin air, and there is no cost. That deception is coming to an end. The bills are coming due and that’s what the economic slowdown is all about. Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. It is the tool for telling the people how to live, what to eat and drink, what to read and how to spend their money. To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. Granting to government even a small amount of force is a dangerous concession. Our Constitution, which was intended to limit government power and abuse, has failed. The Founders warned that a free society depends on a virtuous and moral people. The current crisis reflects that their concerns were justified. Most politicians and pundits are aware of the problems we face but spend all their time in trying to reform government. The sad part is that the suggested reforms almost always lead to less freedom and the importance of a virtuous and moral people is either ignored, or not understood. The new reforms serve only to further undermine liberty. The compounding effect has given us this steady erosion of liberty and the massive expansion of debt. The real question is: if it is liberty we seek, should most of the emphasis be placed on government reform or trying to understand what “a virtuous and moral people” means and how to promote it. The Constitution has not prevented the people from demanding handouts for both rich and poor in their efforts to reform the government, while ignoring the principles of a free society. All branches of our government today are controlled by individuals who use their power to undermine liberty and enhance the welfare/warfare state-and frequently their own wealth and power. If the people are unhappy with the government performance it must be recognized that government is merely a reflection of an immoral society that rejected a moral government of constitutional limitations of power and love of freedom. If this is the problem all the tinkering with thousands of pages of new laws and regulations will do nothing to solve the problem. It is self-evident that our freedoms have been severely limited and the apparent prosperity we still have, is nothing more than leftover wealth from a previous time. This fictitious wealth based on debt and benefits from a false trust in our currency and credit, will play havoc with our society when the bills come due. This means that the full consequence of our lost liberties is yet to be felt. But that illusion is now ending. Reversing a downward spiral depends on accepting a new approach. Expect the rapidly expanding homeschooling movement to play a significant role in the revolutionary reforms needed to build a free society with Constitutional protections. We cannot expect a Federal government controlled school system to provide the intellectual ammunition to combat the dangerous growth of government that threatens our liberties. The internet will provide the alternative to the government/media complex that controls the news and most political propaganda. This is why it’s essential that the internet remains free of government regulation. Many of our religious institutions and secular organizations support greater dependency on the state by supporting war, welfare and corporatism and ignore the need for a virtuous people. I never believed that the world or our country could be made more free by politicians, if the people had no desire for freedom. Under the current circumstances the most we can hope to achieve in the political process is to use it as a podium to reach the people to alert them of the nature of the crisis and the importance of their need to assume responsibility for themselves, if it is liberty that they truly seek. Without this, a constitutionally protected free society is impossible. If this is true, our individual goal in life ought to be for us to seek virtue and excellence and recognize that self-esteem and happiness only comes from using one’s natural ability, in the most productive manner possible, according to one’s own talents. Productivity and creativity are the true source of personal satisfaction. Freedom, and not dependency, provides the environment needed to achieve these goals. Government cannot do this for us; it only gets in the way. When the government gets involved, the goal becomes a bailout or a subsidy and these cannot provide a sense of personal achievement. Achieving legislative power and political influence should not be our goal. Most of the change, if it is to come, will not come from the politicians, but rather from individuals, family, friends, intellectual leaders and our religious institutions. The solution can only come from rejecting the use of coercion, compulsion, government commands, and aggressive force, to mold social and economic behavior. Without accepting these restraints, inevitably the consensus will be to allow the government to mandate economic equality and obedience to the politicians who gain power and promote an environment that smothers the freedoms of everyone. It is then that the responsible individuals who seek excellence and self-esteem by being self-reliance and productive, become the true victims. What are the greatest dangers that the American people face today and impede the goal of a free society? There are five. 1. The continuous attack on our civil liberties which threatens the rule of law and our ability to resist the onrush of tyranny. 2. Violent anti-Americanism that has engulfed the world. Because the phenomenon of “blow-back” is not understood or denied, our foreign policy is destined to keep us involved in many wars that we have no business being in. National bankruptcy and a greater threat to our national security will result. 3. The ease in which we go to war, without a declaration by Congress, but accepting international authority from the UN or NATO even for preemptive wars, otherwise known as aggression. 4. A financial political crisis as a consequence of excessive debt, unfunded liabilities, spending, bailouts, and gross discrepancy in wealth distribution going from the middle class to the rich. The danger of central economic planning, by the Federal Reserve must be understood. 5. World government taking over local and US sovereignty by getting involved in the issues of war, welfare, trade, banking, a world currency, taxes, property ownership, and private ownership of guns. Happily, there is an answer for these very dangerous trends. What a wonderful world it would be if everyone accepted the simple moral premise of rejecting all acts of aggression. The retort to such a suggestion is always: it’s too simplistic, too idealistic, impractical, naïve, utopian, dangerous, and unrealistic to strive for such an ideal. The answer to that is that for thousands of years the acceptance of government force, to rule over the people, at the sacrifice of liberty, was considered moral and the only available option for achieving peace and prosperity. What could be more utopian than that myth—considering the results especially looking at the state sponsored killing, by nearly every government during the 20th Century, estimated to be in the hundreds of millions. It’s time to reconsider this grant of authority to the state. No good has ever come from granting monopoly power to the state to use aggression against the people to arbitrarily mold human behavior. Such power, when left unchecked, becomes the seed of an ugly tyranny. This method of governance has been adequately tested, and the results are in: reality dictates we try liberty. The idealism of non-aggression and rejecting all offensive use of force should be tried. The idealism of government sanctioned violence has been abused throughout history and is the primary source of poverty and war. The theory of a society being based on individual freedom has been around for a long time. It’s time to take a bold step and actually permit it by advancing this cause, rather than taking a step backwards as some would like us to do. Today the principle of habeas corpus, established when King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215, is under attack. There’s every reason to believe that a renewed effort with the use of the internet that we can instead advance the cause of liberty by spreading an uncensored message that will serve to rein in government authority and challenge the obsession with war and welfare. What I’m talking about is a system of government guided by the moral principles of peace and tolerance. The Founders were convinced that a free society could not exist without a moral people. Just writing rules won’t work if the people choose to ignore them. Today the rule of law written in the Constitution has little meaning for most Americans, especially those who work in Washington DC. Benjamin Franklin claimed “only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.” John Adams concurred: “Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” A moral people must reject all violence in an effort to mold people’s beliefs or habits. A society that boos or ridicules the Golden Rule is not a moral society. All great religions endorse the Golden Rule. The same moral standards that individuals are required to follow should apply to all government officials. They cannot be exempt. The ultimate solution is not in the hands of the government. The solution falls on each and every individual, with guidance from family, friends and community. The #1 responsibility for each of us is to change ourselves with hope that others will follow. This is of greater importance than working on changing the government; that is secondary to promoting a virtuous society. If we can achieve this, then the government will change. It doesn’t mean that political action or holding office has no value. At times it does nudge policy in the right direction. But what is true is that when seeking office is done for personal aggrandizement, money or power, it becomes useless if not harmful. When political action is taken for the right reasons it’s easy to understand why compromise should be avoided. It also becomes clear why progress is best achieved by working with coalitions, which bring people together, without anyone sacrificing his principles. Political action, to be truly beneficial, must be directed toward changing the hearts and minds of the people, recognizing that it’s the virtue and morality of the people that allow liberty to flourish. The Constitution or more laws per se, have no value if the people’s attitudes aren’t changed. To achieve liberty and peace, two powerful human emotions have to be overcome. Number one is “envy” which leads to hate and class warfare. Number two is “intolerance” which leads to bigoted and judgmental policies. These emotions must be replaced with a much better understanding of love, compassion, tolerance and free market economics. Freedom, when understood, brings people together. When tried, freedom is popular. The problem we have faced over the years has been that economic interventionists are swayed by envy, whereas social interventionists are swayed by intolerance of habits and lifestyles. The misunderstanding that tolerance is an endorsement of certain activities, motivates many to legislate moral standards which should only be set by individuals making their own choices. Both sides use force to deal with these misplaced emotions. Both are authoritarians. Neither endorses voluntarism. Both views ought to be rejected. I have come to one firm conviction after these many years of trying to figure out “the plain truth of things.” The best chance for achieving peace and prosperity, for the maximum number of people world-wide, is to pursue the cause of LIBERTY. If you find this to be a worthwhile message, spread it throughout the land."


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