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Mr Snowden continued to insist that individual NSA analysts have great scope to access communications of Americans and foreigners, directly contradicting the assertion that “nobody is listening to your telephone calls” by President Barack Obama. “The reality is that … Americans’ communications are collected and viewed on a daily basis on the certification of an analyst rather than a warrant,” he wrote. “They excuse this as “incidental” collection, but at the end of the day, someone at NSA still has the content of your communications. “And it gets saved for a very long time – and can be extended further with waivers rather than warrants.” He was damning of Mr Obama when asked why he waited to release the documents as he previously said that wanted to tell the world about the NSA programmes since before he became president. “Obama’s campaign promises and election gave me faith that he would lead us toward fixing the problems he outlined in his quest for votes,” he responded. “Many Americans felt similarly. Unfortunately, shortly after assuming power, he closed the door on investigating systemic violations of law, deepened and expanded several abusive programs, and refused to spend the political capital to end the kind of human rights violations like we see in Guantánamo, where men still sit without charge.” He was scornful of statements by intelligence chiefs that the programmes he has unveiled have helped thwart terror plots. “Bathtub falls and police officers kill more Americans than terrorism, yet we’ve been asked to sacrifice our most sacred rights for fear of falling victim to it,” he said.
Edward Snowden: US won’t be able to cover up by murdering me (via Telegraph UK)
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The problem for marketers is that some users set their browsers to reject cookies or quickly extinguish them. And mobile phones, which are taking an increasing chunk of the Web usage, do not use cookies. To combat the cookie’s flaws, advertisers and publishers are increasingly turning to something called fingerprinting. This technique allows a web site to look at the characteristics of a computer such as what plugins and software you have installed, the size of the screen, the time zone, fonts and other features of any particular machine. These form a unique signature just like random skin patterns on a finger. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has found that 94% of browsers that use Flash or Java – which enable key features in Internet browsing – had unique identities. […] The head of online advertising for a major company said the decay of cookies over time, the growth of mobile phones and different kinds of portable devices and Apple ’s default settings all make fingerprinting the key for future online advertising. Yet he knows that embracing fingerprinting in public could potentially damage his company’s reputation, so he asked that neither he nor his firm be identified. “At the end of the day, there isn’t really a legal case against it, there isn’t really a privacy case against it. It’s really a PR thing. What are you going to do when the Wall Street Journal decides to write a nasty article about the practice?” he says. “If you don’t want anybody to know anything you’ve done online, don’t go online. If you are going to create murder, don’t research your weapons on Google .
The Web Cookie Is Dying. Here’s The Creepier Technology That Comes Next (via Forbes)
Shabazz Palaces — “An Echo From the Hosts That Profess Infinitum”
YORUBA AFRICAN ORISHAS: These are the gods & goddesses of the IFA Religion which originated in Nigeria West Africa. Due to the slave trade the religion spread to Brazil, Cuba, The Caribbean and several other areas around the globe. There are over 400 Orishas however, approximately 20 key deities are still readily known and worshipped.
An Orisha (also spelled Orisa or Orixa) is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba religious system. (Olodumare is also known by various other names including Olorun, Eledumare, Eleda and Olofin-Orun). This religion has found its way throughout the world and is now expressed in practices as varied as Candomblé, Lucumí/Santería, Shango in Trinidad, Anago and Oyotunji, as well as in some aspects of Umbanda, Winti, Obeah, Vodun and a host of others.
These varieties or spiritual lineages are practiced throughout areas of Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, Togo, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela among others. As interest in Yoruba religion system grows, Orisha communities and lineages can be found in parts of Europe and Asia as well. While estimates may vary, some scholars believe that there could be more than 150 million adherents of this spiritual tradition worldwide.
(by Nok-ind / full gallery)
Snoop Dogg Reincarnated {trailer}
(Source: youtube.com)
A lot of people balk when you mention Ye on your best rapper list … a lot of fans … I feel like it’s more that [people who pay attention to] celebrity crowd … I think he’s a really incredible emcee … When I brought him on the road with me it wasn’t cause I wanted his beats, which I did, it wasn’t because he was my friend, I didn’t even know him like that, I brought him on the road cause he was nasty, he was nice wit it. And not only was he nice with it. He spent every waking moment practicing and trying to get better … He wakes up, he writes rhymes, he says the rhyme to whoever wants to listen and he keeps improving on it. He asks for advice, that’s what he does … He always strives to be the best and to him it is about technique … When he talks about being able to write a song like ‘All Falls Down’ in 15 minutes [because of] hanging out with people like myself and Dead Prez, he’s telling you more about himself than about us … He’s telling you about his technique … He’s like I’m so talented as an artist, my technique is so ill, that once I hang out with these guys I’m influenced to do what they do but I can do it in 15 minutes.
Talib Kweli on Kanye West via MTV
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I Self Devine / “Justice”
(Source: youtube.com)
![“I feel like I’m going to be here forever […] Even without me [here], my music is gonna live forever. I love making music, there’s nothing on this earth I’d rather do. Whether putting it out through myself or working with another artist, it’s an honor and privilege to be in the music industry and I’m taking full advantage of it” -FUTURE](http://24.media.tumblr.com/ad28c24a712978e255050d06ff0f2463/tumblr_mogf7upMVL1r901i4o1_250.jpg)
“I feel like I’m going to be here forever […] Even without me [here], my music is gonna live forever. I love making music, there’s nothing on this earth I’d rather do. Whether putting it out through myself or working with another artist, it’s an honor and privilege to be in the music industry and I’m taking full advantage of it” -FUTURE
The Staple Singers / “Freedom Highway” (1965) {written by Pop Staples for Selma March}
(Source: youtube.com)
4 days ago - 1
1 Mavis Staples / “I Like The Things About Me” (new version!) {she rocked this in Prospect Park last night, from new album One True Vine}
(Source: youtube.com)
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1 Question: Is it important for you to be teaching film at an HBCU?
Gerima: Where else would I go, my brother? There’s no place else I would be. I would go completely mad or become irrelevant if I were to go to a white school, because I can’t let go of race. It’s my daily reality. In fact, more than the political, I think that cultural racism is the center of our twenty-first century struggle. And so, yes I do travel to schools; I lecture white students. I’m a novelty in many of those universities. But if I insist on staying and working in those universities every day, I will be stoned to death. I feel more at home at an HBCU. The students are precious, and I still have a lot of work to do there.
my past, present, and future: Haile Gerima on teaching at an HBCU
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