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09 Dec 2010 10:19

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World: Anti-Corruption Day Study: People bribe other people a lot

Transparency International says that one in four people worldwide paid bribes to people for public services. We do this all the time! It’s fun! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Dec 2010 09:51

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World: Russia thinks Julian Assange deserves a Nobel Peace Prize

  • Public and non-governmental organisations should think of how to help him … Maybe, nominate him as a Nobel Prize laureate.
  • A source inside Dmitry Medvedev’s office • Offering Wikileaks the kind of head-scratching support that instantly suggests “ulterior motive.” While Russia’s at it, perhaps Russia can go in support of Liu Xiaobo at his Nobel Peace Prize ceremony tomorrow, in defiance of China. That’d really be helpful. This is just gibberish. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Dec 2010 20:48

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World: China’s Confucius Peace Prize: More like the WTF Peace Prize

  • Are you asking about the peace prize thing? Regarding this event, our answer is ‘no comment,’ because we know nothing about it. Nobody has ever contacted us on this issue, and we only have secondhand information from journalists.
  • Taiwanese politician Lien Chan’s office manager • Expressing befuddlement at the peace prize offered to their boss by the chinese government. This is strange, because the Confucius Peace Prize was awarded to Lein, along with a $15,000 prize, which he’s supposed to accept on Thursday. If Lein doesn’t want it, we’ll take it. Then, right there, we’ll give the money to the long-suffering spouse of jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Dec 2010 20:08

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Biz, World: Anonymous leaks Mastercard numbers; Mastercard sez they’re fake

Yo, Anonymous, this Mastercard thing was funny until you pretend to start publishing people’s credit card numbers. To quote Walter Sobchak, “OVER THE LINE!” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Dec 2010 10:22

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Biz, World: PayPal explains why they dropped Wikileaks so quickly

  • We have an acceptable use policy and their job is make sure that our customers are protected, making sure that we comply with regulations around the world and making sure that we protect our brand.
  • PayPal’s VP of Platform Osama Bedier • Explaining why his company chose to block Wikileaks. Simply put, they read the State Department’s letter to Wikileaks saying what they were doing was illegal, they decided to block the site on those grounds. Bedier also noted that he isn’t fazed by threats of an Anonymous DDoS attack: “One of the signs that you’re a successful payments company is that hackers start to target you,” he saild. “This case isn’t anything different.” This topic was unpopular with the European conference he was talking to, BTW. It’s also important to note that a letter from the State Department is not a legal decision. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Dec 2010 10:10

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World: Anonymous takes out MasterCard to avenge Julian Assange

  • action Wikileaks has lost a number of business ties in just a few days – including Amazon, PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard. Anonymous is upset. Don’t upset anonymous.
  • reaction Not long after MasterCard shut Wikileaks out of its payment mechanism, Anonymous did pulled out the DDoS card. Anonymous shut down MasterCard. Wow. source
  • » Yeah, but… : Not to downplay what our friends at Anonymous did, but nobody really goes to MasterCard’s Web site. If they really wanted to hurt them (not suggesting this – definitely not) they’d attack their payment-processing mechanism.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Dec 2010 09:59

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World: China clamps down before Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel award ceremony

  • 272 people harassed or jailed prior to the Nobel ceremony source
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07 Dec 2010 22:39

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World: The U.S. decides to let Israeli settlement deal fall through

  • That sound you hear is that of the U.S. dragging its tail between its legs. After attempting to making an offer to Israel to give them some fighter jets in exchange for a temporary delay of their building ambitions, the deal fell apart. The hope was that the delay would encourage Israel and Palestine to create firm borders, but in the end, the U.S. wouldn’t offer anything up to Israel in writing, and Palestine wouldn’t rekindle peace talks over a temporary settlement-building halt. The U.S. is playing down the diplomatic failure (which was kind of a bum deal anyway) and instead moving on to diplomatic talks between Israel and Palestine next week in the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, by the way, will be making a speech about the Middle East on Friday. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Dec 2010 21:38

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World: Sweden: Worst possible place for Julian Assange to have random sex

  • 53 rapes reported in Sweden for every 100,000 inhabitants source
  • history Sweden has some of the broadest, furthest-reaching sexual assault laws of any country in the world, partly due to a history that favors womens’ rights.
  • result Sexual assault cases are reported in Sweden more than anywhere in the European Union – and the culture encourages high degrees of equality in gender roles.
  • reaction “Sometimes we lawyers joke that soon you have to have a written permission before you can have sex,” said Bengt Hesselberg, a Swedish lawyer. LOL, funny guy.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Dec 2010 13:33

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World: Visa, Mastercard just made it really hard to donate to Wikileaks

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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