By The Electronic Frontier Foundation

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today withdrew from the Global Network Initiative (GNI), citing a fundamental breakdown in confidence that the group’s corporate members are able to speak freely about their own internal privacy and security systems in the wake of the National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance revelations.
EFF has been a civil society member of the multi-stakeholder human rights group since GNI was founded in 2008 to advance freedom of expression and privacy in the global information and communication technologies sector. While much has been accomplished in these five years, EFF can no longer sign its name on joint statements knowing now that GNI’s corporate members have been blocked from sharing crucial information about how the U.S. government has meddled with these companies’ security practices through programs such as PRISM and BULLRUN.

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Posted on October 11, 2013

Ghost Cards For Ghost Trains

Vent away.

Activating your #Ventra Card is easy! Simply visit our website, enter your Card number, douse your hair in gasoline and light it on fire!

— Ventra Chicago (@chicagoventra) October 7, 2013

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Posted on October 8, 2013

A Beachwood Special Report

* Due to furloughed conductors, CTA trains now driving themselves.
* Due to suspension of call center contracts, 311 operators will no longer stand by.
* Chicago Police now not responding to 911 calls from home.
* Federally funded portion of Rahm Emanuel’s f-bombs temporarily suspended.
* State and city will no longer be able to keep up with its pension contributions.

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Posted on October 7, 2013

By Raymond Bonner/Special to ProPublica

Over the past several months, the Obama Administration has defended the government’s far-reaching data collection efforts, arguing that only criminals and terrorists need worry.
And the nation’s leading internet and telecommunications companies have said they are committed to the sanctity of their customers’ privacy.
I have some very personal reasons to doubt those assurances.

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Posted on October 4, 2013

By Kara Brandeisky/ProPublica

Northwestern University’s journalism school boasts of its prowess in preparing students for prestigious careers – but it also serves as a pipeline for unpaid internships.
At Medill, students pay $15,040 in tuition for the privilege of working full-time jobs as unpaid interns. During their mandatory quarter in Journalism Residency, as it is known, students work full-time at news organizations such as CNN Documentaries, Self and WGN Chicago.
But instead of paying interns, employers pay Medill $1,250 for every student placed. In turn, students receive academic credit and a small stipend from the university for relocation expenses, ranging from $600 to $1,200. The most generous stipend amounts to just $2.72 an hour – far below the federal minimum wage.

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Posted on October 2, 2013

By Theodoric Meyer/ProPublica

Authorized by Congress, the CIA has started sending weapons to Syrian rebels. But under a legal definition of terrorism adopted by the U.S. government after the Sept. 11 attacks, those same rebel groups are considered terrorist organizations.
The designation could prevent some of the more than 2 million refugees who have fled Syria from coming to the United States, even if they haven’t actually taken up arms against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Groups that appear on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations have long been banned from entering the U.S. But two antiterrorism laws, the Patriot Act and the Real ID Act, also bar members of armed rebel groups that aren’t specifically designated as terrorist organizations.
The provisions, sometimes known as terrorism bars, apply to all armed rebel groups – even ones the U.S. is actively supporting.

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Posted on September 30, 2013

Curated By The Beachwood High-Speed Trading Affairs Desk

Animated for your enjoyment.

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Posted on September 26, 2013

By The Electronic Frontier Foundation

At the 24th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday, six major privacy NGOs, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, warned nations of the urgent need comply with international human rights law to protect their citizens from the dangers posed by mass digital surveillance.
The groups launched the “International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance” at a side event on privacy hosted by the governments of Austria, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The text is available in 30 languages.

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Posted on September 24, 2013

By Voices for Illinois Children

This week, the U.S. Census Bureau confirmed that income inequality in the United States remains at record levels. In 2012, the top 5 percent of households received 22 percent of all income in the country – a share that has climbed steadily over the past three decades. Prominent economists have shown that income inequality is now greater than it was in 1928, the eve of the Great Depression.
An important new documentary, Inequality for All, explores the causes and consequences of growing economic inequality. Opening on Friday, September 27, Inequality for All features Robert Reich, professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration. The film won the Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Documentary Film at the Traverse City Film Festival.
Trailer:

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Posted on September 23, 2013

By Cora Currier/ProPublica

The U.S. spent roughly $25 billion last year on what’s loosely known as security assistance – a term that can cover everything from training Afghan security forces to sending Egypt F-16 fighter jets to equipping Mexican port police with radiation scanners.
The spending, which has soared in the past decade, can be hard to trace, funneled through dozens of sometimes overlapping programs across multiple agencies.
There’s also evidence it’s not always wisely spent. In Afghanistan, for instance, the military bought $771 million worth of aircraft this year for Afghan pilots, most of whom still don’t know how to fly them.

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Posted on September 18, 2013