Warrantless cellphone tracking is legal, federal court rules

via technolog.msnbc.msn.com

On Tuesday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that law enforcement officials don’t need a warrant to track suspects via cellphones. Attorneys argued to overturn Skinner’s many convictions, citing that the GPS location information that led to the defendant’s arrest was obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. This didn’t wash with the majority of judges over the case, who voted in a 2-1 ruling.

What the Paul Ryan Plan Could Mean For Your Finances

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via forbes.com

With his selection of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan as his running mate, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has thrust the vision and ideas of Ryan onto the national agenda, including a fundamental restructuring of our tax and entitlement systems. Even if Romney doesn’t intend to enact Ryan’s Path to Prosperity in plan in its entirety, it can still serve to illustrate the general direction he would like to take the country. So what exactly are those ideas and how might they affect you?

Paul Ryan’s Bravest Moment

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via businessinsider.com

A lot of politicians talk a good game about principles and guts, but very few take risks that really jeopardize their careers.

But Paul Ryan has guts. In October 2008, while the economy was cratering, Paul Ryan stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and encouraged his colleagues to do something incredibly unpopular: Pass TARP, the bailout scheme that helped save the economy.

He was one of only 20 Republicans to vote yea on the measure, which barely passed after failing the first time around.

Here’s his impassioned speech.

Google Lays the Smack Down on Torrent Sites in Search Results

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via gizmodo.com

Next week Google will begin censoring sites for which it receives a large number of copyright removal requests by reducing their Google site rank across their entire domains.

Google’s Transparency Report reveals that some sites used for torrenting pirated content receive more than 100,000 complaints a month. While Google has refused the requests of organizations like the RIAA to stop listing these sites altogether, it’ll be effectively doing the same thing by pushing them down in your search results. Yes, censorship. And it won’t do a lick to stop piracy.

U.S. Blows $400 Million an Hour

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via businessweek.com

If you harbor any doubts about how dysfunctional Washington has become, add two books to your reading list: “Bailout” by Neil Barofsky and “Red Ink” by David Wessel.

Each describes a federal government incapable of taking steps vital to America’s future. And each leaves you wondering if the system is too broken to mend.

Start with “Bailout,” Barofsky’s angry memoir of his stint as the special inspector general policing the $700 billion bank bailout Congress passed after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

These 20 Advanced Military Projects Will Change Your Life

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via businessinsider.com

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) gets a ton of funding to develop the science and technological future of the military.

This is the agency responsible for GPS, the internet and stealth planes. They’re the real deal.

We looked at their active projects to find the ones that might have massive civilian implications if they eventually produce real-world tech.

Last round, we focused on the Defense Science Office and their Information Innovation Office. This time, we’re looking at DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office, which is researching the next age of computing technology.

Romney Responds to Obama’s Crazy Statement about Business Owners

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via foxnews.com

Mitt Romney hammered President Obama on the stump Tuesday over the president’s recent comments on the relationship between government and business, saying his opponent wants Americans to be “ashamed of success.”

The Republican presidential candidate seized on Obama’s gaffe Friday in which he suggested businesses owe their success in large part to government investment and said to business owners, “you didn’t build that.”

Romney, speaking to a crowd outside Pittsburgh, worked the comments into his campaign theme that Obama represents a big-government approach harmful to business. He called the comments “startling and revealing,” returning to them repeatedly throughout his address.

Hidden Government Scanners Will Instantly Know Everything About You From 50 Meters Away

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via gizmodo.com

Within the next year or two, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will instantly know everything about your body, clothes, and luggage with a new laser-based molecular scanner fired from 50 meters away. From traces of drugs or gun powder on your clothes to what you had for breakfast to the adrenaline level in your body—agents will be able to get any information they want without even touching you.

ACLU: Does The Government Think It Can Read Our Email?

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via techli.com

Apparently it does. The human rights watchdog filed a lawsuit against the federal government in June under the Freedom of Information Act with the hopes of determining to what extent and under what circumstances the government reads our electronic communications without a warrant.

In the ACLU’s own words: “While there is reason to believe this practice is widespread, there is much we don’t know about this government eavesdropping: when it happens, how often it’s done, who they’re watching, how long they monitor these communications, and what policies they have established regarding this monitoring. Through the lawsuit filed today, we hope to find out much more.”

For US youth, political action is online

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via futurity.org

The findings provide relevant insights on both the long-term political picture in America and the upcoming 2012 election.

The MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (YPP), under the direction of co-principal investigators University of Chicago political scientist Cathy Cohen, and Joseph Kahne, professor of education at Mills College, has unveiled the findings of the largest nationally representative study to date of new media and politics among young people.