Category: Politics

Government Military Politics

There may be nothing America can do to save Iraq

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As reported on The Verge. By Verge Staff  Growing ISIS insurgency threatens to pull Obama back into Iraq, but his options are limited Less than four years after the withdrawal of American troops, Iraq is once again descending into chaos and violence. Islamist insurgents from an al-Qaeda breakaway group have seized large swaths of northern Iraq, and are marchingtoward Baghdad. The unrest has inflamed deep-seated sectarian divides between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in Iraq, resulting in…

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Government Microsoft Politics

Microsoft resists US government demand to seize offshore emails

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As reported on Engadget. BY STEVE DENT Microsoft has filed a court challenge to a US government demand that it hand over emails from its data center in Ireland. That appears to be the first time a US corporation has opposed such an order, and Microsoft has been backed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and an amicus brief from Verizon. The US prosecutor heading the drug case in question said that if the objection succeeds, tech companies like Microsoft…

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Legal Politics

House votes to stop federal raids on legal medical marijuana states

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As reported on The Verge. By Jacob Kastrenakes Members of the House voted late last night to stop federal law enforcers from interfering with medical marijuana operations in states that have made them legal. The measure, which restricts funds from being spent on stopping states from implementing the legalized distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana, will now head to the Senate, which will have to pass it in order to put a final stop to DEA raids being conducted…

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Politics

Russia threatens to disrupt GPS navigation in tantrum over sanctions

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As reported on Engadget. BY DANIEL COOPER Russia threatens to disrupt GPS navigation in tantrum over sanctions   Hold onto your sat nav. The Russian government has just threatened to end cooperation with America on major space projects, including maintenance of the GPS system. The policy will also prevent NASA from accessing the International Space Station from 2020, as well as blocking the supply of components for America’s Atlas V rockets, which are currently vital for sending military…

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Politics

Gun control: the NRA wants to take America’s smart guns away

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As reported on The Verge. By Adrianne Jeffries The technology exists, but a New Jersey law has blocked sales nationwide On a recent Thursday night, Maryland gun store owner Andy Raymond set up a video camera in front of a wall of rifles and sat down with a bottle of whiskey and a cigarette. He rested his tattooed arms on the glass counter, which contained more guns, and leaned toward the camera. It was time to undo the…

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Business Politics

HANA Visionary Vishal Sikka Resigns From SAP

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As reported on TechCrunch. by Ron Miller This afternoon, SAP announced in a statement that Vishal Sikka, Executive Board Member for Products and Innovation, has resigned for personal reasons. The resignation was effective immediately. At the same time, SAP named a couple of new executive board members, including Robert Enslin and Bernd Leukert. The news could indicate some disarray or possibly a power struggle at the software giant, especially coming so close to itsSAPPHIRENow Conference, which is scheduled…

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Legal Politics

The FCC’s New Net Neutrality Rules Will Brutalize The Internet

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As reported on TechCrunch. by Alex Wilhelm Next St Google, AT&T, Verizon And Comcast Each Spent More Than $3M In Q1 Lobbying Congress The FCC will propose new net neutrality rules that at once protect content from discrimination, but also allow content companies to pay for preferential treatment. The news, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, would in fact create a two-tiered system in which wealthy companies can “better serve the market” at the expense of younger,…

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Politics Tech

Star Trek And The Politics Of Silicon Valley

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As reported on TechCrunch. by Danny Crichton icy All But Bans The Intelligence Community From Speaking To The Press Let’s get outside of the San Francisco bubble for a little while (trust me, there is oxygen here). I realize in a world saturated with protesters who have all the sophistication and menace of a shipful of Pakleds, it may seem like a protest in front of Kevin Rose’s home is the Biggest News in the Universe. It may seem…

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Government Politics

Then and now: life in a divided Ukraine

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As reported by The Verge. By Amar Toor As attention shifts toward Crimea’s referendum, Ukrainian activists look back on the months that changed their lives   In April 1977, Ukrainian activist Myroslav Marynovych was arrested by Soviet police. He was 28 at the time, and had become an outspoken advocate for human rights, working to raise awareness about ongoing violations in what is now Ukraine. In the eyes of the Soviets, though, his work threatened to…

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Funny Politics

Watch Seth Rogen’s hilarious and heartfelt Senate testimony on Alzheimer’s research

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As reported on The Verge. By Jacob Kastrenakes Even Seth Rogen acknowledges that most of us would expect his top political cause to be the legalization of marijuana. While giving testimony at a Senate hearing yesterday, Rogen took plenty of time to joke about his role in vulgar comedies and the perception of him as immature and lazy. But Rogen was actually there to speak on a cause far more important to him: Alzheimer’s research. Rogen delivered…

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