Disappointing Unsealing Decision in Aaron Swartz CaseThe public lost another battle in the U.S. v. Aaron Swartz case, this one over transparency. On May 13, 2013, the U.S. District Court judge handling the prosecution sided with the government, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and JSTOR and refused to make public any information in the case that any of these three entities wished to keep under seal.
Schneiderman Delays Suit Against BofA, Wells FargoBy Shayndi Raice New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is delaying his lawsuit against Bank of America and Wells Fargo over violations of a landmark mortgage settlement. Schneiderman announced his intention to sue two weeks ago with much fanfare, including a press conference with New York homeowners and appearances on MSNBC and CNBC.
Ceiling suspended: US takes on $300bn in new debt after hitting $16.7 trillion – RT BusinessAmerica’s ticking debt bomb has been reset. Washington has suspended the debt ceiling, setting a date, and not a concrete dollar sum as a deadline, an unprecedented first in US history. Citing ‘extraordinary measures’, the US Treasury has further delayed tackling America’s debt, and will wait until Labor Day, September 2nd, to revisit the burgeoning crisis.
Chris Hedges: Rise Up or Die – TruthdigRise Up or Die Illustration by Mr. Fish By Chris Hedges Joe Sacco and I spent two years reporting from the poorest pockets of the United States for our book “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.”
Is Obama Worse For Press Freedom Than Nixon?President Barack H. Obama’s outrageous seizure of the Associated Press’s phone records, allegedly to discover sources of leaks, should surprise no one. Obama has relentlessly pursued leakers ever since he became president. He is fast becoming the worst national security press president ever, and it may not get any better.
Federal Reserve: rising inequality jeopardizes economic recovery – RT USAA top ranking member of the United States Federal Reserve cautioned economists this week that growing inequality within the US was worsening the odds of a quick return to the conditions of the pre-recession days.
California Sues Chase Over Debt Collection Practices on Credit Cards | LowCards.comCalifornia Attorney General Kamala Harris filed an enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase last Thursday, alleging that the bank used illegal debt collection methods, such as robo-signing, against approximately 100,000 California credit card consumers from January 2008 through April 2011. “Chase abused the judicial process and engaged in serious misconduct against California credit card borrowers,” Attorney General Harris said.
Assets on the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet:
Wells Fargo sued on claims it wrongfully litigated California man to death – RT USALarry Delassus’ heart stopped on December 19, 2012 during a court hearing against Wells Fargo, the bank that had for two years demanded he pay more than ten thousand dollars of his neighbor’s late property taxes and is now being sued for wrongful death.
California cops defend phone confiscations as video of ‘constant bashing’ emerges – RT USAMounting pressure from national media and the local community still has not convinced California police to offer any explanation for why they confiscated cell phone video taken by witnesses who say eight or nine officers beat a helpless man to death.
Bitcoins, Wikileaks, 3D printers, PGP and the gov’s battle against informationThe U.S. government has a hard enough time parrying foreign threats like terrorist groups and hostile nations but it’s the unfettered distribution of information in the form of software that could pose the greatest threat of all. In the past few years we’ve seen the emergence of Wikileaks, Bitcoins and 3D printers – paradigm busters that resist regulation or control by outside forces.
Urge NYT Public Editor to Investigate Biased Reporting on Venezuela & Honduras | NYTimes eXaminerSource: NYTX The following petition, signed by over a dozen experts on Latin America and Media including Noam Chomsky and Greg Grandin, was sent today to Margaret Sullivan, Public Editor for The New York Times. Join the campaign below.
Spying on The Associated PressThe Obama administration, which has a chilling zeal for investigating leaks and prosecuting leakers, has failed to offer a credible justification for secretly combing through the phone records of reporters and editors at The Associated Press in what looks like a fishing expedition for sources and an effort to frighten off whistle-blowers.
Dept. of Homeland Security freezes accounts between Dwolla and bitcoin exchange Mt. GoxIn the first governmental action against bitcoins, the Department of Homeland Security served the Dwolla mobile payment service with a court order requiring it to immediately cease all account activities with the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. Dwolla has complied with this order.
Shackles, masks and nasal tubes: Gitmo revises force-feeding techniques (PHOTOS) – RT USAHunger strikers being force-fed at Guantanamo Bay must wear masks over their mouths while being shackled to a restraint chair for up to two hours.
The Melon Headband Launches On Kickstarter To Track Your Brain Waves And Mental FocusTracking oneself is all the rage, with devices like the Nike Fuelband, Jawbone Up, and Fitbit Flex enabling users to monitor their physical activity over time. But what about tracking your mental concentration? A device from a startup called Melon aims to help users monitor and improve their focus..
This story keeps getting censored. Originally in an AP feed, it was quickly removed.
In this link, it was originally titled: “BP and Shell raided over allegations of petrol price-fixing”
‘Limp-wristed and lettuce-like’: MP attacks inquiry into BP and Shell petrol price-fixing allegationsA Tory MP has attacked the Office of Fair Trading inquiry into petrol prices as “limp-wristed and lettuce-like” in the wake of price-fixing allegations and has led calls for a probe.
