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Showing posts with label censorship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label censorship. Show all posts

Saturday, November 23

Free DOCUMENTARIES: 97% Owned, Locally Abundant, Girl Killers, Right to Remain Silent, Unpublished NYT Video, Inside the KGB, Wall Street Code, Bitcoin, Feral Children, Robot Revolution, Bumfights.


View documentaries on our website  http://www.dustcircle.com

97% Owned

97% Owned looks at the economic and financial systems from a UK-perspective and explains the inner-workings of the banks and how money is made.


Locally Abundant

Along with interviews of the farmers themselves, this film includes segments by David Suzuki, and information on ‘factory farms’ and why the use of synthetic additives like fertilizers are hurting the people consuming the food.



Girl Killers

Nearly thirty percent of Indians live in poverty and for women this economic position brings a life of animosity. The parents of the bride must give a dowry which often renders them bankrupt. As a result female infanticide is a common and established practice. The girls that are not killed are practically enslaved, forced to break stones or sell their bodies to support their existence. But now the women are defending themselves by forming associations which offer help in education, savings and loan arrangements.


















The Right to Remain Silent
The film covers the mass arrests of nearly 2000 peaceful protesters during the cop 15 in copenhagen (environmental meeting), whilst following effected activists and discussing the wider ramifications of the growing trend around the world of criminalizing protests.


The Video The New York Times Didn’t Want You To See
(Max) Blumenthal explained how The New York Times commissioned the 11-minute video, but after the paper’s editors saw it, refused to publish it.


Inside the KGB: Terror of the Soviet Union

The Committee for State Security, more commonly known by its transliteration “KGB” was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 until its collapse in 1991. The committee was a direct successor of such preceding agencies as Cheka, NKGB, and MGB. It was the chief government agency of “union-republican jurisdiction”, acting as internal security, intelligence, and secret police. Similar agencies were instated in each of the republics of the Soviet Union aside from the Russian SFSR and consisted of many ministries, state committees and state commissions.

The Wall Street Code

From the makers of the much-praised Quants: the Alchemists of Wall Street and Money & Speed: Inside the Black Box. Now the long-awaited final episode of a trilogy in search of the winners and losers of the tech revolution on Wall Street. Could mankind lose control of this increasingly complex system?

Bitcoin: Bankers’ Worst Fear

A short documentary on the effects of the newish but controversial currency known as Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a distributed peer-to-peer digital currency that functions without the intermediation of any central authority. The concept was introduced in a 2008 paper by a pseudonymous developer known only as “Satoshi Nakamoto”.


Wild Child: The Story Of Feral Children

Interesting documentary which examines the myth and reality behind some of the most famous cases of feral children, who have been discovered around the World. There’s some fascinating footage of kids who have allegedly been brought up by all sorts of animals, and we also hear about some of our traditional stories relating to children who have grown up primarily in the company of other living creatures. This film attempts to make us think about our place in the animal kingdom – What exactly does it mean to be a human being? Is nature or nurture more important for our conditioning? – but it also exposes the reality that many of the children who have been found to be growing up in the ‘wild’, have often run away from an abusive situation at home.


Robot Revolution: Will Machines Surpass Humans

The NHK documentary, “Robot Revolution : Will Machines surpass humans” features Honda ASIMO, Hubo, Big Dog from Boston Dynamics, Baxter from Rethink Robotics, Nextage and other humanoid robots. Since the Fukishima nuclear disaster, development of humanoid robotics and the artificial intelligence used in them has accelerated dramatically.


Bumfights: A video too far

In 2002, six American teenagers released one of the most shocking and degrading videos ever made. Set in the skidrows of Las Vegas and San Diego, the film featured homeless people and addicts fighting each other and performing extreme stunts. Acts they were paid to perform by those who were filming them. It scandalised America, but despite a horrified public reaction, the video sales were phenomenal.


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Sunday, January 20

20.Jan.2013 - The Videos: 1/2 Million Iraqi Children Killed, Criminalizing Pregnancy, Freedom to Connect, Poverty in America, Scientology's Child Labour Camp, Cambodian Walmart Workers Expose Abuse, Surveillance Strategy, Fighting in Syria

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500,000 Iraqi children killed
The Clinton-Obama camp is fine with that


Criminalizing Pregnancy: As Roe v. Wade Turns 40, Study Finds Forced Interventions on Pregnant Women


Freedom to Connect: Aaron Swartz (1986-2013) on Victory to Save Open Internet, Fight Online Censors


Dr. Cornel West: Poverty in America



Scientology’s “Child Labour Camp” In Australia



ISRAEL SOLDIERS ARREST PALESTINIAN MOTHER AND 18 MONTH OLD FOR TRYING TO VISIT THEIR OWN PROPERTY



Cambodian Walmart Workers Expose Abuse at Factory



Surveillance Strategy Is ‘Privileged and Confidential,’ FBI Says

Video appears to show Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiites fighting in Syria


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Tuesday, September 4

4.Sept.2012: The Serious Revolt Option, Stealing the Election, Conservatives Ignore Facts, Work Getting Worse, Global Climate Disaster, RNC Lies, Rape and Pregnancy, Mitt Romney's Tax Avoidance, No Accountability for Torturers, Police State, Green Bank, Area 51 Secrets, Corporations and the Founding Fathers, Civil Rights, Did Jesus Die?

To many who are new to DUSTCIRCLE.COM, the site is now in Digest mode. 
Instead of random posts of articles printed elsewhere, I am now posting a Digest which includes Title, Excerpt, and a Link. The digest layout is a brief note from me (like here), a list of articles mostly grouped by publication source, starting with the most interesting article (to me, anyway). 
Following the list of articles, I post video news near the bottom. Following those, I usually post a Band of the day. This issue, I will be posting the Documentary of the Day. 
Additionally, on the main site, I plugged the Google widget, so you can follow me through Google. Enjoy! 
- Steve :)
Why Chris Hedges Believes That Serious Revolt Is the Only Option People Have Left

Hedges discusses his new book "Days of Destruction Days of Revolt."
http://www.alternet.org/books/why-chris-hedges-believes-serious-revolt-only-option-people-have-left


Stealing the Election

Ohio is a crucial state in the November election. And Romney isn't doing well enough there to win. The following analysis may have come from Karl Rove:


Is the Right-Wing Psyche Allergic to Reality? A New Study Shows Conservatives Ignore Facts More Than Liberals

More evidence that conservatives tilted their views of the facts to favor their moral convictions more than liberals did, on every single issue.
http://www.alternet.org/right-wing-psyche-allergic-reality-new-study-shows-conservatives-ignore-facts-more-liberals



Ten Big Lies Paul Ryan Keeps Repeating That the Corporate Media Refuses to Push Back On

A remarkably dishonest campaign is getting even worse, with no accountability from the TV networks.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/ten-big-lies-paul-ryan-keeps-repeating-corporate-media-refuses-push-back

Low Benefits, Temporary Jobs -- Work Is Getting Worse ... But Hope for Labor Rights Is Emerging from a Surprising Place

A special Labor Day interview with domestic workers organizer Ai-Jen Poo, one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2012.
http://www.alternet.org/labor/low-benefits-temporary-jobs-work-getting-worse-hope-labor-rights-emerging-surprising-place

It's Eerie -- The Global Climate Disaster Is Happening Right Now... and Humanity Is Just Pretending It's Not Happening

We are going to pay a terrible price for this charade.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/its-eerie-global-climate-disaster-happening-right-now-and-humanity-just-pretending-its


Paul Ryan's Absurd RNC Lies

David Brooks, in conversation with Gail Collins, explains that all that lying was really not Paul Ryan's fault

Former Abortion Provider Says Climate Now More Dangerous than When He Performed Illegal Abortions

Today's political climate, on the other hand, is so emotionally charged and dangerous, he had stopped talking about his past all together.

AlterNet Radio: Amanda Marcotte and Glenn Greenwald on the Julian Assange Affair

This week on the AlterNet Radio Hour, a look at the stand-off over Julian Assange, whom Sweden wants to answer to allegations of sexual assault. 

Here We Go Again: Maryland Congressman Says ‘Few Pregnancies’ Result From Rape

Another House Republican is raising eyebrows for suggesting that women who are raped are less likely to become pregnant — just weeks after Rep. Todd Akin (R-MS) sparked controversy for his “legitimate rape” remark.

Matt Taibbi: Romney's Secret? Greed, Debt and Forcing Others to Foot the Bill

 new article by reporter Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone sheds new light on the origin of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s fortune, revealing how Romney’s former firm, Bain Capital, used private equity to raise money to conduct corporate raids. Taibbi writes: "What most voters don’t know is the way Mitt Romney actually made his fortune: by borrowing vast sums of money that other people were forced to pay back. 

Mitt Romney's Tax Avoidance Weakens Bonds of American Society

itt Romney's income taxes have become a major issue in the American presidential campaign. Is this just petty politics, or does it really matter? In fact, it does matter - and not just for Americans.

A Major Failure by Washington 
In spite of intense efforts by the US and Israel to deter attendance at the Tehran meeting – backed by a wave of western media attacks on the conclave – over 150 nations and international bodies attended.

No Accountability for Torturers
The Obama administration has closed the books on prosecutions of those who violated our laws by authorizing and conducting the torture and abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody. Last year, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that his office would investigate only two incidents, in which CIA interrogations ended in deaths. He said the Justice Department “has determined that an expanded criminal investigation of the remaining matters is not warranted.” With that decision, Holder conferred amnesty on countless Bush officials, lawyers and interrogators who set and carried out a policy of cruel treatment.

8 Ways to Improve Society Without the Political Process
The worst thing about this whole situation is that these so called “authorities” maintain a monopoly on problem solving, meaning they are really the only ones who are allowed to solve problems. Thus over time people begin to believe that those in authority are the only ones who are actually capable of solving problems, when in reality, they are no more qualified than anyone else.

The New Normal: Travels Through the Police State
I’m pretty sure I have just experienced the most disproportionate reaction to a protest in a supposedly democratic society ever, at least since labor organizer Mother Jones faced off all by herself with one hundred members of the National Guard around a century ago. As someone who has personally been fairly actively attending protests since the early 1980′s, and as a student of the history of social movements that happened before my time as well, it seems difficult to put what just happened in Florida into some kind of relevant context, but I’ll just share my own story of the past week in north Florida and attempt to make sense of it, for whatever that’s worth.

Have Censored Websites Broken Any Law?
Bigmother has not been around for 28 years now. But she sure is watching over us. She died before the internet happened, yet her devotees celebrate her by blocking websites.

Alleged UK visa blacklist for human rights offenders concerns Russia officials
Russia's Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko [official website] asked the British government [press release] on Monday to confirm or deny the existence of a visa blacklist for Russian officials linked to the the 2009 death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky [JURIST news archive], after a British newspaper reported that the British embassy in Moscow has implemented the "Magnitsky list" to flag entry of the officials for human rights reasons. 

Fears About Shariah Law Take Hold In Tennessee

In Tennessee, an incumbent in the U.S. House found herself on the defensive after being called soft on Shariah law, the code that guides Muslim beliefs and actions. And the state's governor has been forced to explain why he hired a Muslim.


Green bank ready to commit £3bn to environmental firms

Officials preparing the launch of the Green Investment Bank are understood to have met with a number of businesses about committing cash to a number of environmentally friendly schemes, such as recycling plants.

Visit Israel at your own risk, warn many Western countries

The latest travel advisory warns tourists that Israel periodically conducts military operations in the West Bank and Gaza with no prior notice, and advises travelers to avoid demonstrations.


Palestinian farmers fighting to survive

A member of the Ein Al-Beida Agricultural Union, which represents 70 farmers in the area, Foqaha said a combination of harsh Israeli restrictions on Palestinian farmers, Israel’s near total control of resources, and neglect on the part of Palestinian authorities has made Palestinian agriculture in the West Bank almost impossible.

Area 51 UFO ‘secrets’ to be revealed by Las Vegas Smithsonian Institute

The National Atomic Testing Museum announced  the event,  scheduled for September 22, to reveal the men’s personal stories that propelled  them to write books and lead their own investigations outside, as well as  inside, the military.

Red States Are The Real Welfare States



What The Founding Fathers Thought About Corporations

Citizens United. This is the 2010 Supreme Court case that shocked America, influenced an election, and reversed over 100 years of campaign finance laws. In this case, corporations were declared as people and as such declared to have the same rights as people do. It also opened the doors for corporations to pour unprecedented amounts of campaign donations into elections, and what’s more, these donations can be totally secret. Corporations can now literally and legally buy elections and shape the government like never before in our nation’s history.



Rep. John Lewis, Civil Rights Icon, on the Struggle to Win–and Now Protect–Voting Rights in U.S.


Documentary of the Day: 

  "Did Jesus Die?"

Religion|Buy the DVD|Add to Playlist|59 mins
This film investigates the variety of stories surrounding the New Testament account of the crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, interview historians, theologians and historical researchers. This exploration of the latest theories about what really happened to Jesus 2000 years ago discovered some amazing possibilities.
Steve Dustcircle can be found at: http://www.dustcircle.com
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Friday, July 20

Freedom = Censorship?


Verizon's motto: 'We Rule the Air.' (photo: Verizon)

By Timothy Karr, Media Citizen
14 July 12
rsn 

hink you have the right to speak freely via cellphones, websites and social media? Well, the companies that provide you with access to the Internet don't.
The framers drafted the First Amendment as a check on government authority - not corporate power. But whether we're texting friends, sharing photos on Facebook, or posting updates on Twitter, we're connecting with each other and the Internet via privately controlled networks.
And the owners of these networks are now twisting the intent of the First Amendment to claim the right to control everyone's online information.
Right before the Fourth of July, Verizon filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that expressed this intent in no uncertain terms. The brief was part of the telecom company's bid to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's Net Neutrality rules, which prohibit carriers from blocking or discriminating against Internet users' content.
In the brief, Verizon argues that the First Amendment gives the company the right to serve as the Internet's editor-in-chief.
The First Amendment "protects those transmitting the speech of others, and those who ‘exercise editorial discretion' in selecting which speech to transmit and how to transmit it," the company's attorneys wrote. "In performing these functions, broadband providers possess ‘editorial discretion.' Just as a newspaper is entitled to decide which content to publish and where, broadband providers may feature some content over others."
By "content" Verizon means all digital communications that cross its wires, from photographs of your cousin's backyard barbeque to YouTube videos of human rights violations in Syria.
Verizon filed its brief quietly just before the July Fourth holiday, but it has caught the attention of the Internet freedom community like a skunk under the back porch.
This is not the first time Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have suggested that they have a First Amendment right to stifle speech online. AT&T argued in 2010 that its role is similar to that of an editor who selects content and speaks - and that it is not merely a conduit for the communications of others.
This defense of corporate censorship is no idle threat but a pretext for a full-scale takeover of the Internet - a move that first requires killing off any consumer protections that stand in the way.
We live in a time when growing numbers of people watch television programs, listen to music, create videos and share photographs via Internet connections provided by private entities.
A 2011 report from European Digital Rights states that ISPs and other technology companies are fast becoming the information cops of the world. The report paints a picture of an emerging "censorship ecosystem" fueled by private entities that often work hand in glove with governments.
This collusion serves both corporate and political interests. ISPs are seeking new authority to interfere with user traffic, including limiting access to the content of competitors like Netflix or shutting down the accounts of users they charge with sharing too much media. Governments are demanding that access providers help them filter and police the Internet - and that they do so under a veil of secrecy.
The most dangerous threats to free speech today lie at this intersection between corporate and political power. While businesses might do many things better than governments, our government is at least by definition directly accountable to the American people. So when Verizon claims the right to decide who gets free speech on the Internet, it's making this claim as a benevolent despot, not as a representative democracy.
The framers of the U.S. Constitution could not have foreseen a time in which technology allowed more than a billion people to communicate via mobile phones connected to the World Wide Web. Nor could they have envisioned a world in which companies like Verizon, AT&T and Comcast wield more authority over our free speech than a British monarch.
And yet the First Amendment has survived to this day in defense of democracy's most consequential right. People on both the left and right value freedom of speech. Just days after Verizon filed its brief, a diverse coalition of more than 1,000 groups and Internet dignitaries joined together behind a Declaration of Internet Freedom that establishes freedom of expression as its first principle.
But popular consensus behind free speech on the Internet is running headlong into media giants like Verizon that want to suppress open Internet culture.
Any claim that the First Amendment protects corporations - and not people - is absurd. And it shows just how far some companies are willing to go to control 21st century communications.
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Sunday, May 27

How the Web is Killing Faith



(apple)Last year, Christian apologist Josh McDowell made a remarkable claim about the Internet, stating that “the abundance of knowledge, the abundance of information, will not lead to certainty; it will lead to pervasive skepticism... the Internet has leveled the playing field [giving equal access to skeptics].”
He said that like it was a bad thing. 
It’s not hard to see why McDowell is afraid, though. Open access to knowledge -- the ability to fact check your pastors and imams and rabbis -- is a death knell for religion as we know it, and the Internet is only hastening the process.  (I focus on Christianity in this piece because it has the largest Web presence in the United States.)
It wasn’t long ago when statements made in a pulpit were simply assumed to be true.  Now, a child with an iPhone in the pew can find ample evidence contradicting whatever the men of God are saying.  That “true story” your pastor is telling?  Snopes.com debunked it long ago.  Gay marriage is destructive, he says? Thousands of YouTube videos made by gays and lesbians in love -- as well as other Christians -- can attest otherwise. Evolution is a liberal conspiracy? TalkOrigins.org will show you how to respond to every argument on the Creationist side.  Abstinence-only sex education is working? Not according to the new scientific study you just read.
View Photo Gallery: Despite their negative reputations among many Americans, atheists tend to be very ethical and high-achieving, argue Gregory Paul and Phil Zuckerman in an opinion piece in The Washington Post.
It’s not only the abundance of information creating nightmares for church leaders. It’s the simple fact that, with a lack of physical buildings in which to meet, atheists tend to congregate online.  Until the Internet came along, we didn’t have a space where we could talk about our (lack of) religious beliefs but between blogs, podcasts, and social media sites, atheists have thrived in the age of the Internet.  
All the evidence -- and quite a bit of the commentary you read online -- is in our favor and, unless a church forces members to exist in complete isolation from the rest of society, it’s inevitable that they’re going to be exposed to the evidence contradicting their own beliefs one way or the other. It may have been possible to “protect” Christians from opposing viewpoints before the Internet but it’s hard as hell to do that now.  Perhaps even more importantly, it’s easy to find other who disagree with what your pastor may be saying.
Sure, the Internet is a great place to find a church or hear a sermon -- but for every site informing you about a church’s location, there’s a forum with a negative review of the same place.  You can post a sermon online, but others will post responses and rebuttals to it.  You can blog about Jesus all you want, but anonymous commenters will quickly poke holes in your faulty logic for everyone to see.
Church used to be a one-way street. The pastor fed you information and that was that.  The Internet upended that model and gave people the opportunity to talk back.  Now, they can weigh their own arguments on matters of faith with that of people who disagree. Many Christians won’t go actively searching for dissenting views, of course, but what about doubters? What about young Christians who aren’t sure they accept what the church teaches them? They’ll be able to come to their own conclusions and they won’t necessarily be the same ones their parents and pastors want them to adopt.
This is why atheists love the Internet. We can tell Christians the emperor’s not wearing any clothes. We can question the dogma they’ve simply accepted all their lives. We can expose religious frauds. We can explain the many unfortunate consequences of unquestioned belief. The Internet is blind faith’s worst nightmare.
The genie’s not going back in the bottle. Religious leaders should be very afraid.
Hemant Mehta blogs at The Friendly Atheist.
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Tuesday, November 23

The 19 Senators Who Voted To Censor The Internet

via Techdirt

[Reprinted List from TechDirt]

* Patrick J. Leahy -- Vermont
* Herb Kohl -- Wisconsin
* Jeff Sessions -- Alabama
* Dianne Feinstein -- California
* Orrin G. Hatch -- Utah
* Russ Feingold -- Wisconsin
* Chuck Grassley -- Iowa
* Arlen Specter -- Pennsylvania
* Jon Kyl -- Arizona
* Chuck Schumer -- New York
* Lindsey Graham -- South Carolina
* Dick Durbin -- Illinois
* John Cornyn -- Texas
* Benjamin L. Cardin -- Maryland
* Tom Coburn -- Oklahoma
* Sheldon Whitehouse -- Rhode Island
* Amy Klobuchar -- Minnesota
* Al Franken -- Minnesota
* Chris Coons -- Delaware

More about this can be found at:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101116/10554811889/coica-back-up-for-a-vote-this-week-so-universal-music-ramps-up-astroturf-campaign.shtml

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20023238-38.html?tag=cnetRiver

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101121/23584311958/why-voting-coica-is-vote-censorship.shtml

http://www.publicknowledge.org/files/docs/LawProfCOICA.pdf
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