Category: Uncategorized

All that Big Brother talk has ‘1984’ sales spiking- MSN Money

On By peanutgallerynhIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

All that Big Brother talk has ‘1984’ sales spiking- MSN Money.

Even though many people consider Orwell’s vision paranoid, it turned out that the British spy agency MI5 had tracked the writer from 1929 until he died in 1950. 

President Barack Obama on Friday defended the NSA program, saying he believes the government had “struck the right balance.” But pointing to the threat of war or terrorism as a justification for spying concerned Orwell. 

“He could see that war and defeating an enemy could be used as a reason for increasing political surveillance,” Shelden said. “You were fighting a never-ending war that gave you a never-ending excuse for looking into people’s lives.” That sounds as much like today’s real world as the fictional one Orwell was conjuring in 1949.

As unconnected as they seem, I swear those three paragraphs came one after another.

Senator says intel chief was not forthcoming

On By peanutgallerynhIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Senator says intel chief was not forthcoming

One of the staunchest critics of government surveillance programs said Tuesday that the national intelligence director did not give him a straight answer last March when he asked whether the National Security Agency collects any data on millions of Americans.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called for hearings to discuss two recently revealed NSA programs that collect billions of telephone numbers and Internet usage daily. He was also among a group of senators who introduced legislation Tuesday to force the government to declassify opinions of a secret court that authorizes the surveillance.

Good on ya, Wyden!

In Praise of My Mom the Female Breadwinner – The Daily Beast

On By peanutgallerynhIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

In Praise of My Mom the Female Breadwinner – The Daily Beast

Salient Points:

Of women who either support their families or earn more than their partners, only 37 percent are married mothers.

Women out-earn their husbands in only 15 percent of married households with children.

Maternal employment is associated with higher achievement.

Stupid, sappy, cop-out personal paragraphs that try and take most it back at the end of this article do not affect any of these items.

How Jeroo Billimoria Is Turning Poor Kids Into Savers – The Daily Beast

On By peanutgallerynhIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

How Jeroo Billimoria Is Turning Poor Kids Into Savers – The Daily Beast

C&YFI’s goal is to make financial education and savings accounts universal for kids completing primary school in the future, and to reach 100 million children in 100 countries through educational campaigns by 2015. As Billimoria puts it: “If you teach a child to save and give them access to savings, you’re reshaping the whole financial economy.”

hmmm