Woven Heaven, Tangled Earth detail
Welcome to Friday, kittens! We made it! Neither hacking attempts, nor lame-o hate mail, nor the NSA, GCHQ, or Royal Canuckian Mounted Police could stop us this first week of September. Having luxuriated in probably the first Labour Day I’ve had off since I graduated from high school, I have become a lean, mean, cyber news blogging machine. And I get to wake up on Sunday and do it all over again!
Where’s the last of that Summer Wine? I think I need it.
It is devoutly to be hoped that you, too, took Labo(u)r Day off, and that you gave your minions the holiday as well. Solidarity! At least when it comes to long weekends!
And now, the news:
As Promised, Facebook’s Privacy Checkup Has Arrived (re/code)
Telepathy NOW! Researchers send brain-to-brain message from India to France (circa)
Newly Revealed NSA Program ICREACH Extends the NSA’s Reach Even Further (EFF)
Claimed hacker behind iCloud nude photos theft says it took ‘months’ of planning to pull off heist (BGR)
Margaret Atwood, Futurist! Margaret Atwood’s new work will remain unseen for a century (TheGuardian)
Why Matt DeHart’s Story Matters: A Tale of Character Assassination, Torture and the Criminalization of Dissent (TheIndignants)
Semalt Hijacks Hundreds of Thousands of PCs for Massive Botnet (Techworm)
The CIA’s Mop-Up Man: L.A. Times Reporter Cleared Stories With Agency Before Publication (TheIntercept)
When Can the FBI Use National Security Letters to Go After Journalists? That’s Classified (FreedomOfThePress)
And last but very much not least, comes band Schemata Theory and their new song Courage is Contagious, titled after a Julian Assange quote. It features cameos from a certain Mister Snowden, as well as Assange, Aaron Swartz, Daniel Ellsberg and others. Thanks to some social media support from WikiLeaks, it’s had 20 times the average number of views for one of their videos. It can be downloaded for free as well.
They demand for you to trust in them
Protection over freedom
And so there is no need to question
Sedated by deceptionHowever then amongst the crowds
Are individuals who shout truth loud
Those in charge try to stamp out doubt
But it’s too late because…We’ve found you out
Now the truth has been unveiled
Courage is contagious
Refocus
Light up the worldOnce we know it cannot be unknown
Looking away is to condone
Minds conscious with conscience lead the way!
Dismantle global dismaySelf-preservationists outcry
With lie after lie after lie!
But there can be no more doubt
And no excuses because…We’ll take you on!
Knowing who you are and what you’ve done.
We are awake!
Unwilling to pay for your mistakesWe won’t stand down!
Mass fraud will sink you, and you will drown
We have the proof!
You kill the messengers, but not the truthWITH SPECIAL THANKS (CREDITS):
► Rally Against Mass Surveillance 2013 – Stop Watching Us (https://rally.stopwatching.us/)
► Edward Snowden 2013 interview – Laura Poitras (http://youtu.be/Q_qdnyEqCPk)
► Edward Snowden 2014 interview – NDR TV (https://archive.org/details/snowden_i…)
► Julian Assange at Occupy LSX – Alt Artist (http://ALTartist.com)
► Chelsea Manning Footage – I Am Bradley Manning (iam.bradleymanning.org)
► Stop Watching Us Rally 2013 – April Watters (http://youtu.be/ps8u9dprs1U)
► How the Government Tracks You – Mata-Wata, Evangeline Lilly, Fight for the Future, and Demand Progress (http://www.thensavideo.com/)
► Daniel Ellsberg at Pride 2013 – Maya Media (http://youtu.be/CNYTSwgfVfs)
► Aaron Swartz interview – War For The Web (http://www.warfortheweb.com)
Featured Image Woven Heaven, Tangled Earth by Katy Silberger on Flickr
Categories: Anonymous, Books, Botnet, Censorship, CIA, FBI, Futurism, Journalists, Matt DeHart, News, NSA, Technology, Weapons
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