Hillary on Net Freedom: Tear Down This Firewall | Danger Room | Wired.com

Wow. This is great. If she really means it and knows what she’s saying. I hope that’s the case. If it is, she’s kind of redeemed herself in my eyes.

… Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reached back to Winston Churchill — and to Ronald Reagan — in arguing for a future in which access to networks and information is a basic human right.

In a deliberate reference to Churchill’s 1946 “iron curtain” speech, Clinton warned that “a new information curtain is descending across much of the world,” even as network technology spreads. And she echoed Reagan’s 1987 challenge to Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, as she called for governments to lift the electronic barriers to communication. “Virtual walls,” she said. “are cropping up in place of visible walls.”

via Hillary on Net Freedom: Tear Down This Firewall | Danger Room | Wired.com.

Alwaleed Backs James Murdoch as News Corp. Successor (Update2) – BusinessWeek

“What? You don’t have gold in your jumbo jet?”

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the billionaire Saudi investor, said his choice to succeed Rupert Murdoch at the head of News Corp. is son James Murdoch.

“If he doesn’t appoint him, I’ll be the first one to nominate him to be the successor of Mr. Rupert Murdoch,” Alwaleed said in an interview on the Charlie Rose program, to be shown tonight. Alwaleed held a 7 percent stake in News Corp. as of an Aug. 20 proxy statement.

via Alwaleed Backs James Murdoch as News Corp. Successor (Update2) – BusinessWeek.

Norway spiral: A rocket scientist explains the mystery / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com

Remember those weird spirals over Norway?

http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/v/1996

No, they aren’t portals to the dinosaurs.

Norway spiral: A rocket scientist explains the mystery / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com.

Saudi Girl, 12, Married Off To 80-Year-Old Man | AHN

Dude, WTF?

Saudi women’s rights advocates are outraged after a 12-year-old girl was sold by her father into marriage with an 80-year-old man.

A Saudi father, whose name has not been released, sold his 12-year-old daughter to his 80-year old cousin for the equivalent of $22,600. The elderly man, who lives in the city of Buraidah, stands accused of raping the girl after the wedding. He has previously married three other young girls.

via Saudi Girl, 12, Married Off To 80-Year-Old Man | AHN.