Author Archives: James Yardley

Why We All Love Ron Paul

Posted on by

Libertarian prospective Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has stolen the hearts and minds of the internet and much of America, with his straight talking honest approach to politics. And I confess even as an outside observer from across the pond Ron has won me over too.

How has Ron done this? Simple, he’s done absolutely everything a politician shouldn’t. Ron has been consistent and honest, he never changes his views no matter public opinion, he’s willing to stand up against his party (he was strongly against the patriot act for example,) he’s upset the mainstream media and he supports policies seemingly suicidal to any presidential bid. Pro-cannabis, Pro-gay marriage, pro-peace with Iran. This is a man seeking the Republican presidential nomination. However the biggest reason we love Ron is he wants to take power away from government and give it back to individuals.

But it’s the way that Ron defends his policies, with passion, intelligence and common sense which really wins you over. He forces you to challenge your own ideas. You realise, he has in my eyes at least, things about 95% right.

Everyone knows the American political system is broken. Power is now concentrated within such a small political elite. Two people were president from the same family within 10 years for goodness sake. The corporate lobbyists control the political process, everything is bought with dollars. The SOPA act is a great example of this. And the mainstream media is very obviously controlled by various corporate interest groups. Is the US even a democracy anymore? It certainly doesn’t look like the land of the free from here and something needs to change.

Ron Paul stands against the status quo. He wants to take power from away from this small elite and give it back to the people. His voting record backs this up. We love him for it, The media hate him for it and we love him all the more.
It has been shocking and fascinating to watch the media attack him. First they tried to ignore him (see Daily show sketch above) Next they tried to smear him with an obviously ridiculous racism claim. Now they are trying to pretend a victory for him in the first and often crucial Iowa caucus will be irrelevant. That’s not to mention the extremely hostile interviews.

Whatever you think of Ron Paul you can’t help but respect him. I hope he wins in Iowa. It will be fascinating to watch his and the internets on-going battle with the mainstream media as events unfold.

LAST CHANCE TO SAVE THE INTERNET – US Plans to Censor the Internet with Protect – IP Bill

Posted on by

Protect IP gives the government the power to force internet providers to cut off access to infringing domains. Ostensibly this is to protect the entertainment industry but it paves the way for complete internet censorship. The bill will tamper with inner workings of the internet itself.  It gives companies the power to sue blogs, forums or search engines for providing illegal links. It paves the way for complete censorship. Ordinary people could go to jail for five year for just posting a single copyrighted link. Nothing could be more against free speech. I appeal to everyone who reads this. We together have a duty to defend this incredible tool. People think the internet is safe. They think it can never be changed. DON’T BELIEVE IT. It can be controlled and it will be if we let it.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

We at Frost are strong advocates of internet freedom. We reported on the G8 summit in May when governments met to discuss internet regulation. Governments be they democracies or tyrannical regimes fear the internet and they want to control it. Governments have been scared by the Arab spring, they’ve been scared by occupy Wall street and now they’re moving to take control.

It was always just a matter of time before our governments tried this. At the moment almost know one is aware this is happening. The internet needs YOU. Spread the word, tweet, facebook, blog, talk, share if you’re a US citizen please follow the instructions below

It takes just 2-3 minutes to help

1)      Go to https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

2)      Select your state and zip code

3)      Fill out the very basic information

4)      Make sure to include PROTECT IP (S. 968)/SOPA (HR. 3261)

5)      Write your opinion

Here is the actual bill http://leahy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/BillText-PROTECTIPAct.pdf

Some other good articles

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110712/12371715059/rep-anna-eshoo-silicon-valley-thinks-protect-ip-is-about-immigration.shtml
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/protectip_docs
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2011/1115_cybersecurity_friedman.aspx
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110510/13285714230/son-coica-protect-ip-act-will-allow-broad-censorship-powers-including-copyright-holders.shtml
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67985.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2011/11/11/the-case-for-the-protect-ip-act-and-dns-filtering/

Markets Collapse on Greek Referendum

Posted on by

Markets across Europe have fallen heavily following the news that Greece will hold a referendum on the latest bailout plan. Eurozone leaders had agreed to write off 50% of Greek debt but the deal may now not go ahead. A no vote will probably lead to a disorderly Greek default and Greece leaving the Euro. That could lead to severe financial contagion across Europe. Worryingly opinion polls in Greece suggest a No vote is probable. The vote is unlikely to take place until January potentially creating months of uncertainty for the markets. That uncertainty could damage confidence throughout the world.

The FTSE is currently down 3.5% while the Dax was down almost 6%. The French bank Societe Generale was down 17%. Credit Agricole was down 13%.

A confidence vote on the Greek government is due to take place on Friday. Many in Greece are now calling for early elections.

Bitter US Cuts UNESCO Funding After YES Vote for Palestinian Seat

Posted on by

The United States is cancelling all funding for the UN Cultural body, UNESCO, after they granted full membership to the Palestinians. The vote was greeted by cheers and celebrations. 107 countries voted in favour, and just 14 voted against. This is just the first of many UN agencies the Palestinians wish to join.

The vote will be seen as heavy defeat for the US which had been lobbying heavily against Palestinian membership. The vote emphasises the increasing impotence of the West, as the balance of power shifts. Whilst the US, Canada, Germany and of course Israel voted against (the UK abstained), emerging countries such as China, Russia, India, Brazil, South Africa as well as many Arab states voted in favour.

But the US still has serious power to weld and its reaction will be immediate. A $60 million due next month will now be withheld along with all future payments. A strict law passed in the 1990s bars the US giving funding to any UN body that admits the Palestinians as full members before a peace deal is reached. The US now fears becoming increasingly isolated.

A vote is expected in November at the UN Security Council on granting full membership of the UN to the Palestinians.

French Investor Could Save Full Tilt

Posted on by

Full Tilt has said it has received an offer to buy it from French investment company Bernard Tapie. The deal could mean more than $300 million currently owed to players could be paid back.

However the deal will only happen if the company can resolve its legal problems with the US government.

The investor Bernard Tapie is best well-known for owning German sportswear company Adidas for a few years in the 1990s
In June the poker world was stunned when Full Tilt was shutdown worldwide after it had its channel island gambling licence suspended. Federal prosecutors accused Full Tilt of being a giant Ponzi scheme.

This was especially shocking as the site is predominantly owned by some of the most famous poker players in the world including Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer.

The site is alleged to have paid $444 million in players money to board members leaving it owing far more money than it has.

Full Tilt was first sued by the US government in April. Although initially Full Tilt argued that players accounts were segregated from operating activities. It has subsequently been discovered that they were drained regularly.

Anonymous: Damaging The Vital Cause Of Internet Freedom

Posted on by

Anonymous – the radical decentralised online community ostensibly associated with the goal of ‘free speech’ – has caused controversy by issuing a statement sympathising with the UK riots.

It is yet another example of action by the organisation that damages the vital cause of internet freedom. A cause which the organisation claims to defend.

The Anonymous collective has become increasingly prominent. It is most famous for its DDoS attacks which bombard a target webserver with so many requests that it is forced to shut down. The Mastercard and Visa websites have been victims.

Frost readers will know how much I believe in the freedom of the internet and it pains me to see the cause tarnished in this way. It was always wrong for Anonymous to take criminal action. Their actions only give governments further justification to clamp down on the internet further. This is now more the case than ever following their recent statement.

For a supposedly decentralised community, the comments on the UK riots were pretty categorical, worryingly and obviously so. There is an elite within Anonymous that has its own agenda. http://pastebin.com/V00tbr01

The comments can only be interpreted as seeking to incite a revolution, saying: ‘Your politicians mask the extent to which a significant section of society is stuck in an impoverished way of life with little hope for the future.

“It is time to take a stand and realise that solutions will not be found in today’s corrupt political landscape.”

Anonymous called for people to join them in a day of action on October 15th. Although Anonymous made clear it did not condone the violence, it was sympathetic to the rioters. It suggested the riots were as a result of political anger and resentment. Let’s get real here. These riots had no political point (save perhaps the initial riot in Tottenham), and everybody knows that. These riots were about self-gratifying violence and greedy opportunism.

Anonymous will point to the government response to the riots, potentially regulating and controlling social media sites. They will argue this makes it a legitimate target. Undoubtedly, the government is disgracefully jumping on the riots as an excuse for further regulation. No one truly blames twitter for the looting.

That doesn’t mean anarchy is the answer. It doesn’t make it right to incite a revolution. Internet regulation doesn’t have anything to do with anti-cuts protests or unions and it doesn’t mean ‘justice is only for the wealthy’. You have gone beyond your remit, Anonymous.

A revolution might sound romantic, but we only need to look back a few years to see the true horror they bring. They also never end in free speech.

Potential Revolutionary Cure For Viruses In Development

Posted on by

Researchers at the MIT Lincoln laboratory have developed a potentially revolutionary cure for viruses. http://www.ll.mit.edu/news/DRACO.html

The technique known as DRACO (for Double-stranded RNA [dsRNA] Activated CaspaseOligomerizer) works by targeting and killing off infected cells while leaving unaffected cells unharmed. DRACO simply differentiates between virus and animal cells because viruses have a longer double stranded RNA (dsRNA).

Initial tests of DRACO have been very successful. DRACO proved effective against all the 15 types of viruses it has been tested on. In tests, DRACO was found to be non-toxic to mice and managed to save mice injected with lethal doses of H1N1 influenza.

The idea for the DRACO technique is thought to have come from plants. Plants use a similar technique to defeat viruses by killing off infected cells. Developer Dr. Rider admittedthat more extensive testing is needed, but added: “DRACO has the potential to revolutionize the treatment and prevention of virtually all viral diseases, including everything from the common cold to Ebola.”

Public and Police Fury as Rioters Walk Free

Posted on by

Angry members of the police and public today accused the courts of being too lenient on rioters as many were simply allowed to walk free.

According to the Evening Standard, Deputy Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said officers ‘were disappointed by some of the early sentences’. It was feared the lenient sentencing would have a further impact on police moral, already severely damaged by phone hacking corruption allegations and criticism of the recent rioting not to mention budget cuts.

An example of an offender who walked free was an 18 year old who admitted stealing two Burberry T-shirts. A magistrate gave him a verbal slap on the wrist telling him, ‘don’t get in trouble again’, before letting him walk free. Many lives have been destroyed by these violent thugs and yet as usual the British legal system appears to side with the criminal. The offender who was allowed to walk free was told by magistrates,’ he had a bright future’. The courts obviously haven’t considered the futures of the thousands of small business owners who have had to helplessly watch as years of their work was torn apart.

The short sentencing is yet another example of a culture which this country has been sowing in its youth for many years. The idea that your actions have no consequences. You have no responsibility and you can do what you want.