New "Greenhouse" Plug-In Exposes Corporate Political Pay-Outs

It's been a running joke for some time that American politicians should wear advertising logos, a'la racecar drivers, to indicate which corporations they are shilling for.  Despite this idea not yet rising to prominence, now, there's an easier way to tell who (and how much) has been paid to play in politics.

Usually when teenagers say "Greenhouse", weed is somehow involved.
Surprisingly, not this time.
(Image courtesy welikeit.fr.)

Mining And Shining: Updated SPACE Act Passes Congress, Bound For The Stars

Many people believe that America's space program would be greatly augmented if only we could find a space-based resource to mine for materials and subsequently sell.  Well, we haven't had a gold rush for the red planet yet, but now some new guidelines for being a space prospector are in place...

Thar's gold in them thar hills!  Well, at least, minerals in them thar asteroids.
(Image courtesy ibitimes.com.)

Federal Appeals Court Rules NSA Wiretapping Illegal; NSA Turns Up The Volume, Puts Hands Over Ears, Says "La La La"

Of course, all privacy-prone American citizens have known this for some time:  the NSA's phone-call compendium is unnecessary, unaffiliated with capturing ANY terrorists EVER, and is overall downright creepy.  Thankfully, today, a federal appeals court ruled it illegal.

They listen to everything, but this is the only thing they need to hear.
(Image courtesy alan.com.)

Congressional Vandals Blocked from Wikipedia

As the old saying goes, there is no distinctly criminal class in the United States, except for the Congress.  BBC reports that the US Congress IP address space has been banned from making edits on Wikipedia for repeated acts of intellectual dishonesty and digital vandalism.  Perhaps they should be arrested under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and sentenced to decades in prison.  Excerpt:

Wikipedia administrators have imposed a ban on page edits from computers at the US House of Representatives, following "persistent disruptive editing".

The 10-day block comes after anonymous changes were made to entries on politicians and businesses, as well as events like the Kennedy assassination . . .

Edits from computers using the IP address belonging to the House of Representatives have been banned before, following similar acts of vandalism . . . Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, told the BBC that the incident did not surprise him, and vandalism has "always gone on and it always will".

Politics And Pay: "Greenhouse" App Turns Up The Heat On Lobbyist Loot

Our system of capitalism now allows the flow of money as a means of free speech, and some of our politicians have been hearing it loud and clear. With lobbyists spending devastatingly large amounts to get their way with politicians (and the overall system widely unchecked by their constituents), it is a great breakthrough that now, thanks to an app by 16-year-old Nick Rubin, we can monitor the money.

The app, called Greenhouse, was conceptualized when Rubin was doing a class project on corporate personhood. This was Rubin's entrance to the rabbit hole of American oligarchy. "What concerns me is the sheer amount of money being pumped into the system because there really is a lot," Rubin told vice.com. "During the development of Greenhouse and looking over these numbers and seeing how much is being donated—it’s really scary."

Rubin maintains that he simply wants "a system that works", and that Greenhouse is a nonpartisan resource. Bickering over individual parties' perceived superiority doesn't change the fact that both sides take massive money to enact legislature. As the Greenhouse motto states, "Some are red. Some are blue. All are green."

Greenhouse is designed to be simple enough for people of all ages to use, and Rubin hopes the information it offers will compel more involvement and positive change in the world we are allowing to be shaped. He wisely states that, "I really do believe that increased transparency will help fix the problem. Easy access to data empowers voters to make better decisions. Once people are informed, they will reject elected officials who are motived by money instead of principles."

The first step to fixing problems is identifying them, and the moral morass of Washington likes to make that difficult. The Greenhouse app should hopefully spread some light on the problems, making informed opinions grow to help nourish our sometimes-sickly political system.

Fuel, food, pills and bills:  some of the notably lucrative crossovers between industry and politics.

Is Congress Planning a Major Assault Against Data Privacy and Digital Rights in April?

Tech Dirt reports on a new bill proposed in the House that would expand the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984 (CFAA):

So, you know all that talk about things like Aaron's Law and how Congress needs to fix the CFAA? Apparently, the House Judiciary Committee has decided to raise a giant middle finger to folks who are concerned about abuses of the CFAA. Over the weekend, they began circulating a "draft" of a "cyber-security" bill that is so bad that it almost feels like the Judiciary Committee is doing it on purpose as a dig at online activists who have fought back against things like SOPA, CISPA and the CFAA. Rather than fix the CFAA, it expands it. Rather than rein in the worst parts of the bill, it makes them worse. And, from what we've heard, the goal is to try to push this through quickly, with a big effort underway for a "cyberweek" in the middle of April that will force through a bunch of related bills. You can see the draft of the bill here . . .