as of just now 8 blocs
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We're glad the Pussy Riot members were released, despite the political circumstances leading up to the Sochi Olympics. But we continue to remain baffled about why the >russians don't do more to demand greater democratic controls. Is it pride? Fear? Skepticism of democracy? American democracy is admitedly imperfect, but that doesn't mean they should not strive for something better than the stifling, dehumanizing, de facto authoritarianism of Putin.
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What a ridiculous waste of tax dollars by the NSA! We can only imagine the pricetag associated with these whimsical hyper-paranoid pursuits. At a time when Americans are in need of job training, when city infrastructure is in disrepair, when the cost of education has skyrocketed, the NSA's conduct is shameful.
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Now's the time to reform gun laws. This text message exchange between a father and his son during the Arapahoe High shooting is terrifying and heart-rending. There must be a better way forward, because the status quo is needlessly endangering our children. Regardless of what our politicians would have us believe, we believe it's possible both to respect the 2nd Ammendment and to bring sensible controls to gun ownership. (Even 69% of NRA members believe that gun show sales should be subject to criminal background checks.) We have to press our elected leaders about this, because our children should never have to text us about how well they're hiding from a school shooter.
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So Target disclosed that criminals somehow accessed credit/debit card information for as many as 40 million of its Black Friday retail customers. Alright, it's settled. We gotta go back to a cash-only society. But seriously, if you shopped in a brick-and-mortar Target store in between November 27 and December 1, double-check your transaction history. This is the the kind of thing that justifies having a positive brand image. The press coverage of it has been relatively light, but we wonder how such a breach would be reported if it were to happen to more divisive brands like Walmart.
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Congratulations to everyone involved with P4A (Project for Awesome) the annual YouTube tradition in which individuals upload fundraising videos to raise awareness of their favorite charities. It's supported by ProjectForAwesom
e.com, which hosts a voting contest to determine the 10 best videos. The winners get to split the proceeds from donations collected by the site, which has already surpassed its fundraising goal by 200% with $750,000 and counting! This kind of grassroots activism is what makes the Internet great! Reference -
The sky is falling!! Congress is actually gonna pass a budget without delay or chest-beating brinkmanship! And all it took was Boehner having a spine, and a couple experiments by the to prove the obvious. So kudos to Boehner's nascent spine, and a hearty, forceful pat on the back of the 113th Congress for meeting our minimum expectations. For once.
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We believe that the NSA mass data collection program is unconstitutional.
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We're excited to see more attention given to diversity in holiday representation.
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Congrats to the >chinese for their lunar landing! They join only us and the former Soviet Union in accomplishing a soft-landing on the moon. May humans continue to explore space in peaceful cooperation.
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I and other people of color (aka non white identifying) struggle with this daily. There is still a perception of a level of measure being applied to normative culture as it being set by white Americans. Even if hiphop and other powerful native cultures to the Americas like the various Latino cultures are increasingly influential. The images we see, that are advertised or the social norms we adopt are heavily influenced by the anglo-american. This largely has to do with who controls most of the wealth in this country, but also there is a psychology of all american people to normalize to this level of whiteness in order to avoid persecution or oppression by being outside of the larger society because of political, sexual, religious or vocational choices. "White America is desperately searching for its soul because it has for so long benefited from a belief that it is apart from the rest of us, blank of experience..."
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Kobe fully practicing!
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I think it may be time to surf the internet in privacy mode. "Today, an FBI agent can open an intrusive investigation with no reason to suspect criminal activity, and any resulting information can be kept for 20-30 years, even if it has no relationship to the investigation. Similarly, the FBI keeps so-called "suspicious activity reports" that are determined to have no relevance to terrorism – but may reflect Americans' constitutionally protected speech or other activities – for 30 years in a widely-accessible database."
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Rationally it doesn't make sense to do something like this. I'm wondering what the reasoning was. Are these recent cases all going to be explained away by psychosis or someone being chemically unstable ? When it happens in other countries it's considered revolutionary...or self-sacrafice to explain the human struggle.
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Is this all I have to look forward to for the upcoming season?
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Shutdown plurality voting! - Government shuts down, due to - Ideological fundamentalism in Congress, due to - Ideological fundamentalists voted into Congress by the American people, due to - Dysfunctional, big money, two-party political system generating few election options, due to - Widespread use of simplistic, poorly-representative, winner-takes-all, Plurality Voting system based on single-mark ballots, due to - It being used when the country was founded and now being ingrained in our culture, due to - Single-mark ballots being easy to tabulate by hand. Yes, in 2013, after landing rovers on Mars, sequencing the human genome, and creating a machine than can beat humans on Jeopardy!, Americans still use a simplistic system based on single-mark ballots and plurality voting because historically they were easier to count by hand! Fortunately the Constitution (and local and state law) can be changed. ;) That means it's actually on us. Do we want to move to more evolved, robust systems, such as Preferential Voting (ranked voting) or Proportional Representation (wherever possible), to create a more representative, satisfactory, efficient government? Or do we want to keep our 'merican gladiator system that produces ideological meatheads who'd rather fight on camera than solve problems? More info: - http://en.wikipe
dia.org/wiki/Pro portional_repres entation - http://en.wikipe dia.org/wiki/Sin gle_transferable _vote NGO worth checking out: http://www.fairv ote.org/ Reference -
Congress... You idiots.
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Codenamed Marina. A year's worth of metadata is collected from internet users whether or not they are of interest to the NSA. Think that metadata is harmless information? Think again.
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We believe >iranians want to peacefully coexist with us, despite the rhetoric and actions of t...
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"To gain relief from sanctions aimed at Iran’s support of terrorism, its nuclear program, and its human rights violations, Iran would have to undertake enormous reforms across the board. The Iranian government would have to prove that it has not supported terrorism in the past six months; it would have to release unconditionally all political prisoners in the country, end its human rights violations, and establish an independent judiciary; and it would have to assure the world that its nuclear program is designed only to provide peaceful nuclear energy. These are not changes that anybody expects to see in the short term from the current Iranian government, if ever."
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Three cheers for New Jersey!!!
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We believe >iranians want to peacefully coexist with us, despite the rhetoric and actions of their government in recent history. We only want the same, so we are cautiously optimistic about the recent developments. However, until we understand what has brought about this change, we will remain guarded and skeptical.
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We support those who use their time and talents for the public good. Code for America is an excellent example as they use technology to make governments more responsive. As an example, San Mateo County in California has one of the lowest rates of food-stamp participation in the country, due to a difficult application process. Changes in the process would require 18 agencies to overhaul their data-processing software. The participants want to create a program that would ask simple questions to applicants and use the answers to populate the complicated government form.
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The War on Terror encompasses a war of attrition on civil liberty. Two recent TSA stories show this. In the first, a person is held for 6+ hours by the TSA, guilty of having bed-bug spray on him, practicing an unfamiliar religion (Hindu) and being of color. <http://orenhazi.
com/defeated.html> In the second, an individual legally opt-out of the (arguably invasive) submillimeter body scan, only to stand waiting for a pat-down indefinitely. After 30 minutes, America one; the man subjected to submillimeter scan. <http://orenhazi. com/defeated.html> These stories should never have occurred, but they're mundane enough for us to simply accept them, maybe as necessary evils. To do so is to be desensitized to an inversion of power wherein the government does not serve its people, but the people serve their government. It's up to every individual to hold steadfast to a vision of a better possible world, despite the plethora of pernicious actions and policies encouraging us to let go. -
New or a rehash of the same old ? I'm hoping for something fresh and it just launched today. I will give it a week of steady watching, but some suspect it to be a more polished version of CNN... Al Jazeera English had an bias - but it's always nice to see an outside America or more critical perspective. This show will be funded by money from outside the US, but made by those who reside in the US. I hope a beneficial combination for those who are able to subscribe to this channel. They started off on a bad foot though, banning content basically from the other Al Jazeera networks around the world... america.aljazeer
a.com Reference -
The British government (aka the US’s very own Mini-Me) has taken to intimidating the *friends and family* of disruptive journalists! This appalling, abusive violation of free speech resembles the very worst from repressive democracies like Russia! So, when's our first gulag opening?
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>egyptians, what's the history behind the distrust between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian military? And do you believe that a political military is compatible with a pluralistic democracy? The >americans hope you find a way to build toward a sustainable peace quickly.
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True, NYC hasn't been this safe in decades. But it's worth nothing if everyday privacy and dignity are the cost.
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Apparently local law enforcement agencies use privileged data to trigger investigations. They then conspire to cover this up by fabricating a fake basis for the investigation. It's frustrating to think that the people that actually carry out these procedures daily believe they are doing it for the greater good. Their conception of liberty is so misguided and far from historical perspective, they don't realize they're destroying exactly what makes this country great. But capitalism has made convenience the dominant pillar of our culture. Corporations take care of our dreams, religions take care of our fears, and politicians take care of the dissent.
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OK, feedback for Michael. - Don't force these little boxes to scroll just to achieve consistent rows - it isn't worth the annoyance to the user - Instead try something like isotope.js - http://isotope.m
etafizzy.co/ - Would be good to support Github-flavored Markdown (or at least Markdown) - Make it more obvious how to add posts - I guess this is pedantic, but the plural of _vox_ is _voces_ - Don't pretend to be real New Yorker, you California boy ;-) - I am so proud of you for hanging in there with this project; you are a true patriot and citizen I'll try this on phone and tablet and report on those experiences later. Reference -
So the NSA has all this surveillance data of American citizens and other law enforcement agencies want to get their hands on it. We're not willing to applaud the NSA just yet for (allegedly) withholding that data. And we can't help but wonder how long it will be before all this infighting leads those other agencies muscle their way into telecom and ISP equipment to get their own piece of the action. We must continue to apply political pressure to end the madness. Those legislators that want to gut the NSA deserve our support!
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Stand Your Ground laws make no basic sense! It's illogical, unfair, unjust to hold that a person has a right to start a fight with another and, if the fight turns starkly in favor of the other, to then kill that person. Such laws need to be repealed!
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Why wouldn't one comment on something that is open to the public for review? I'm not surprised that this codes implementation has happened, it's just the lack of transparency bothers me. 'Vines wouldn’t say whether the agency’s work on Android and other software is part of or helps with Prism. “The source code is publicly available for anyone to use, and that includes the ability to review the code line by line,” she said in her statement. '
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If we are >americans-for-liberty do we trust companies that we send a lot of personal and real time information to - through paid or free services through contract - or is it because the government is storing this information in secret that our reaction is so averse? Has our relationships with private interest and government interest completely changed ? Which gives us more liberty ? https://medium.c
om/surveillance-state/a3f8a9988... "The state uses ever more advanced surveillance technology to watch us, and our own ever-greater use of personal technology makes it possible. On the other hand, technology has fundamentally destroyed the state’s ability to control our access to information, and exposed its bureaucracy to unprecedented scrutiny. This may be the death of privacy, but perhaps it’s also the death of secrecy and impunity. In that respect, fortunately, Orwell was wrong. Thanks to technology, Big Brother may be watching us, but we’re watching him too." Reference -
We the >americans-for-liberty believe that the NSA wiretapping program should be much more limited in scope, and that Snowden should not be prosecuted. http://www.youtu
be.com/watch?v=U fUi5C7WdrA Reference - ◀Follow up onImage
As much as we love Arrested Development, we just can't get that into the new stuff due to its...
originalI heard that the reason that they had to film the episodes in such a disjointed way came down to scheduling conflicts with the actors. The show couldn't get all the actors together for the episodes, so they used body doubles. Either way, it didn't really work for me and I hope they don't do that the next season. Show is still funny though...
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Hey >brazilians! What are the issues leading to your riots right now? What do you hope to change? Inquiring Americans want to know!
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When the branches of government collaborate to set a few well-placed wrenches in its innermost wo...
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In this new era of ubiquitous surveillance, we're considering simplifying the Blocvox sign-up/login page by removing that pesky password requirement.
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When the branches of government collaborate to set a few well-placed wrenches in its innermost works to break the mechanisms of public accountability, civil disobedience becomes a moral necessity. So, indeed, Edward Snowden /is/ a hero.
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As much as we love Arrested Development, we just can't get that into the new stuff due to its... disjointed development. Digital delivery holds the promise of bringing small time, lower budget productions to large audiences, but those productions also tend to be edgier, riskier, and more adventurous. Combine that edginess with the wide-open possibilities of the on-demand digital frontier, and you risk a level of self-indulgence that would make Lindsay Fünke blush. It's a match made in Sudden Valley. In the case of A.D., they started down the zany path of "watch 'em in any order" only to abandon that at the last minute. That sounds like something the Bluth family might do, and while we applaud the show creators' efforts to feel their characters, we wished they didn't. That ever-tumbling plot-orientation of yesterday's A.D. was replaced with an explosion of disconnected mini-biopics. They each go in their own direction and leave us not with a burning desire to find out WHAT THE HELL WILL HAPPEN NEXT?! but with a burning desire to shrug and shake our heads. Netflix, next time you take on a gifted show, make sure you don't let your new media strangeness mess with their mojo.
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Super major props from us in the blocvox-troopers to the good folks of the >soundcrowd for being the first new bloc of the re-launch!! *collective high-five!*
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How to Get the Best Features of iOS 7 Right Now http://lifehacke
originalr.com/how-to-get-the-best-featu..... 
I kept getting an error message and the page would crash when the reference page tried to load here, and a bunch of wingdings were in the summary area. Using Chrome...
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This breach of trust can't be overstated. The American government itself is guilty of moral treason. Game theory tells us we can't expect any entity to act but in their rational self-interest, but I am incensed all the same. One must only assume, therefore, that this exposure will not diminish surveillance, but drive it further beyond the sight and reach of the public. I do have faith however that Americans (and not just corporations) will use their freedom to protect their freedom, and strive to invent private means of communication that remain beyond the sight and reach of Big Brother.
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The Los Angeles Bird Watchers believes that large city centers should leave nature preserves for birds of all kind to rest and nest.
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A new front page... Lookin' Good!
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NBA Draft is tonight! Alot of buzz surrounding the Lakers too -- http://hoopshype
.com/rumors/tag/ los_angeles_los-angeles-lakers Reference - ▶In reply toImage
The new web page attachment feature allows us to show a summary of a webpage along with the vox, ...
originalWe love this new feature! It will heighten the political discourse and accountability throughout the land for decades to come! (This is an example of a "Reply" post, which encourages and supports long-lasting topical discussions between groups--all driven by democratic processes.)
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The new web page attachment feature allows us to show a summary of a webpage along with the vox, whenever we include a URL in the vox. The current implementation is rough, but it works. To attach a web page summary, simply include a URL in your vox... as you're typing, the site should detect the URL, and if it is able to create a summary, it will display the summary details next to the vox text box, where you can write comments about the referenced webpage. For example: No parliament means no representation. Looks like Egypt may be headed for a dictatorship.
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There's a new Photo upload feature, for those times when words won't suffice. Speaking of which, check out the trendy logo!
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Progress toward justice: George Zimmerman charged with second-degree murder!
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Is it in the works to have a profile type section where one can see all their own "voxes?" Similar to how twitter has it. Just curious... might be a nice idea to see a compilation of all the voxes you wrote.
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Students Protest Debt as Student Loan Debt Collectors Make a Billion http://www.commo
ndreams.org/head line/2012/03/26... Freedom isn't free..
