Vietnam mobs burn factories in anti-China protest

burned factory

Mobs burned and looted scores of foreign-owned factories.

This is an interesting turn. The one thing that the Chinese government cares about is their image, the China brand. They are super sensitive to criticism and push back, but how can you push back against spontaneous riots in other countries? And this outbreak had a double blow. The rioters attacked Taiwanese factories by mistake. This will tip the Taiwanese against unification with China, which China craves. In the past, the Chinese have rioted against Japanese products, and the Chinese government has used it to their political advantage. Now the situation is reversed. Will the riots spread to more cities and Asian countries? Will China back down to save it’s commercial reputation and foreign investments and markets?

 

 

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Creative Commons founder launches crowdfunding project to end America’s political corruption

voting_by_income

Larry Lessig, Creative Commons co-founder, believes the Internet masses can overcome political corruption in America. Lessig is crowdfunding political races in five congressional districts to elect representatives who will make campaign finance reform their political priority. His idea has already raked in $447,546 in 4 days.

 

 

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Waiting for patent reform is costing the U.S. billions of dollars

patent-reform

The U.S. economy has lost $1.1 billion  due to inaction on the issue during the Senate’s two week recess.

After almost three weeks of heated debate the Senate Judiciary Committee left for April Recess on the doorstep of an historic deal to curb the scurrilous practices of patent trolls.

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Code Academies Caught in the Government Sausage Factory

coders

Code academies have proliferated the higher education and vocational landscape over the past few years. They are posing big questions on the value of a formal four-year college computer science degree and answering consumer demand with a savvy proposition: come to us for an indispensable skill and we will line you up for a high paying job, without making you incur $100,000 in student loan debt.

 

 

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U.S. to give up remaining control over the internet

Icann

A screen shows a rolling feed of new generic top-Level domain names that have been applied for.

U.S. officials announced plans to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet last week., a move that pleased international critics but alarmed some business leaders and others who rely on the smooth functioning of the Web.

 

 

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UK government proposes regulations on making ‘three-parent embryos’

threeparentivf

Technique lets children avoid inheriting certain diseases – and give them genes from another woman besides mom.

Last week, the U.K. government issued proposed regulations that would allow researchers to try a new and controversial in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure in patients. The technique could allow women who are carriers of mitochondrial disease to have healthy, genetically related children. But it also transfers DNA from one egg or embryo into another, a form of genetic alteration that could be passed on to future generations. Altering the genes of human egg cells or embryos in IVF procedures is now forbidden in the United Kingdom.

 

 

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The roles of citizens in civic problem-solving and innovation

innovation

Local authorities are seeing tangible benefits from citizen innovation.

In numerous towns and cities across the world, citizens are having more of a say in sorting out civic problems. Through open innovation and crowdsourcing initiatives thousands of people are not only involved in identifying particular challenges such as pollution, poor water quality and graffiti, but also in designing and implementing the solutions.

 

 

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Feds are free to sell seized Silk Road bitcoins worth $25 million

Tibanne CEO Mark Karpeles At Mt.Gox Bitcoin Exchange And Bitcoin Images

The U.S. Marshals will likely auction off the Bitcoins.

The online drug bazaar, Silk Road, was taken down this past October by the feds.  Nearly, 30,000 bitcoins in Silk Road’s coffers was seized in the process.  Last week, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the Silk Road case, announced that a judge had signed off on a forfeiture order for those coins. That means they’re now free to get rid of the 29,655 bitcoins, worth about $25 million at Bitcoin’s current $850 value.

 

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Government agencies increasingly borrow border patrol drones for domestic surveillance

A predator drone

Border patrol drones are increasingly being borrowed by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies for domestic surveillance operations, newly released records show, a harbinger of what is expected to become the commonplace use of unmanned aircraft by police.

 

 

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2013 Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award has been given to Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden has been named the 2013 Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award winner in recognition of his quest to get the U.S. government to be transparent about the surveillance it is engaging of its citizens. It is worth noting that no government is being transparent in how it does surveillance so this issue is relevant to all countries.
 

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