Posted by Frans De Waals on
Ted Talks
This delightful video shows Capuchin monkeys reacting to unfairness and inequity when one gets compensated with cucumber bits for doing a task and another with the much better pay rate of a grape. We can all relate.
From a TED Talk by scientist Frans De Waals:
Posted on August 5th, 2013
Open Technology Institute
This short video from the Open Technology Institute features community broadband projects: Brooklyn, Detroit, and Dharmasala.
Posted by Active Voice/NAMAC on August 12th, 2013
What’s the cost of the so-called “free” services we use online every day? What do you gain and what do you give up when you accept the Terms and Conditions of your favorite app? And why should you care?
In this online discussion: documentary filmmakers, media activists and tech workers talk about what we give up and why it matters.
Brought to you by Active Voice and NAMAC.
Posted by Tracy Rosenberg on August 19th, 2013
Huffington Post
Update 9/9/2013 – Here is a brief blog entry on the Stop Watching Us coalition meeting with Nancy Pelosi’s SF District office on August 26th.
Stop Watching Us also met with Representative Mike Thompson in the North Bay. Read an account of that visit by Anna Givens in the North Bay Bohemian newspaper.
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Talking About Spying with Nancy Pelosi’s Office
When Edward Snowden’s revelations about the scope and extent of NSA surveillance activities started breaking on the pages of the U.K. Guardian, it was a wake-up call for Internet freedom activists that many of our worst suspicions had come true.
As the flow of stories continued, both in the pages of Guardian and now in many other media outlets including the Washington Post, Der Speigel, the NY Times and Pro Publica, the American public grew more and more convinced of government over-reach and an overly loose interpretation of the Bill of Rights. These perceptions crossed partisan dividing lines and reached 75% of the population. Half a million people signed a petition at http://www.stopwatching.us demanding an end to the programs. Continue reading Talking About Spying With Nancy Pelosi
Posted by on September 13th, 2013
New America Foundation
Often disparaged as “Obamaphones”, the Lifeline program (which was actually started during the Reagan administration) provides subsidized communication services to low-income people, enabling critical safety, health and job search services.
This DC panel (heavily populated by Californians, including Sacramento congresswoman Doris Matsui and CA Public Utility Commissioner Catherine Sandoval), deconstructs the myths about Lifeline and defines why we all need to care about affordable communications for all.
Here in California, the Public Utilies Commission is overseeing Lifeline modernization and recently fought off an attempt from legislators in Sacramento to gut the Lifeline update.
Posted by
The Internet Archive
A terrific compilation by the Internet Archive of 700+ clips on surveillance, spying and the Snowden revelations. A huge help for anyone writing about the NSA.
*Chrome/Safari browsers only*
The experimental, Chrome and Safari only, library launches today with more than 700 chronologically ordered television citations drawn from the Archive’s television news research service. The TV quotes can be browsed by rolling over clip thumbnails, queried via transcripts and sorted for specific speakers. Citation links, context, connections to source broadcasters and options to borrow can be explored by following the More/Borrow links on each thumbnail.
Posted by Ajit Pai on December 20th, 2013
Federal Communications Commission
In case anybody was wondering, new Republican FCC commissioner Ajit Pai had astonishingly warm words for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) duringa meeting with their telecom task force.
Pai began his effusive greeting with “I am honored to be with you today to give the keynote address at this meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Task Force on Communications and Technology. It isn’t every day that a group comes to Washington, DC to advocate for a vibrant free market, limited government, and
federalism. In fact, it’s kind of like the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling coming to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. But I am proud to stand beside you in fighting for these cherished principles”.
In truth, it’s not at all like the Coalition Against Legalized Gambling coming to Las Vegas, but if you’d like to read the rest of Pai’s comments, they can be found here.
For more on ALEC, listen to this NPR discussion on documents recently leaked to the UK Guardian.
Posted by Tracy Rosenberg on January 10th, 2014
Huffington Post
Meet Prisoner A: Incarcerated at Soledad Prison in California for a botched armed robbery committed in the thrall of an expensive drug addiction, Prisoner A is 3 years into a 10-year sentence. Committed to rehab and clean and sober for two years, A tries to keep in regular touch by telephone with two people: the aunt who raised him from a toddler in Oakland, CA and his 8-year old son, who has relocated with his ex-wife and her new husband to Oregon.
Calling his aunt, thanks to 2008 CA legislation, is free of commissions (often called kickbacks). A monthly 15-minute call to keep in touch is affordable, even for a financially-challenged senior, at a price of about $7 per call. Continue reading A Tale Of Two Prisoners
