The Cafe' [Think Tank]

Edward Snowden (Video still from The Texas Tribune)   Published time: March 10, 2014 18:10 Edited time: March 10, 2014 22:30 Speaking remotely from Russia on Monday, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden told attendees at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas that encryption is still a powerful deterrent against government surveillance. Nearly nine months to the day after he revealed himself to be the source responsible for a cache of leaked NSA documents, Snowden participated via video link in a conversation with two representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union to discuss encryption and surveillance at one of the largest tech conference in the United States. Snowden, 30, said he chose the SXSW Interactive conference to make remarks because the event attracts “the folks who can really fix things” on a technical level as ...

Though it might be hard to believe, Chrysler has ordered 93 original Dodge Vipers that were donated to schools and community colleges around the country for educational purposes to be destroyed. A handful of these rare American icons have already been crushed, as evidenced in the videos below, and it looks like Chrysler is determined to see the rest end up the same way. MUST SEE:  Transformers 4 Extended Trailer Released: Video Perhaps one of the rarest is this blue 1992 Viper pre-production unit with VIN #4, which was donated to South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, Washington. Yes, we’re talking about one of the very first Vipers to ever be built, and Chrysler wants it flattened like a pancake. This, despite it having an estimated $250,000 value and some of the most avid  car  collectors keen for it, including Jay Leno who reportedly had an offer for it turned down by Chrysler during the 1990s. South Puget Sound College Professor Norm Chapman...

Reuters / Amir Cohen Share on tumblr Tags Army ,  Conflict ,  History ,  Human rights , Israel ,  Politics ,  Protest ,  Religion A group of Israeli teenagers has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu declaring their opposition to being drafted into the military because of Israel’s policies surrounding West Bank settlements, which they view as “human rights violations.” The letter was signed by 50 teens and published on the Facebook page of an Israeli pacifist group called Yesh Gvul, which means  ‘There is a Limit.' “ The main reason for our refusal is our opposition to the occupation of the Palestinian territories by the army,”  the teenagers wrote, as quoted by AFP. The teenagers pointed out that the army plays a huge role in what Israel does in the West Bank, adding that it has a negative effect on both Palestinians and Israeli society. “There are actions that are considered war crimes according to in...

Flags fly at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels during a NATO ambassadors meeting on the situation in Ukraine and Crimea region, March 2, 2014 (Reuters / Yves Herman) Share on tumblr Trends Ukraine turmoil Tags Conflict ,  NATO ,  Politics ,  USA ,  Ukraine The US and NATO are ready to overlook the nationalism and racism of many of the groups that make up the Ukrainian opposition in Ukraine in order to have a pro-NATO and pro-US government installed in Kiev, foreign policy columnist Conn Hallinan told RT. The neoconservative view of the world is driving US and even European foreign policy in Ukraine. This includes a deliberately aggressive foreign policy that involves pushing NATO right up to the Russian border, explained Hallinan. “There is a bloc of political elites, economic elites in the US that pretty much have a kind of un-reconstructed view of the world that's really like the Cold War. And a group of them are neoconserv...

F-16 Fighting Falcon (AFP Photo) hare on tumblr The US is sending a dozen F-16 fighter jets and nearly 300 service personnel to Poland by Thursday as part of a training exercise in response to the crisis in neighboring Ukraine, the Polish defense ministry confirmed. The agreement to deploy US military forces in Poland was made between US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and Poland’s Minister of National Defense Tomasz Siemoniak during a telephone conversation on Sunday, March 9, 2014, according to a statement on the official website of the Polish Ministry of National Defense. "The squadron will number twelve F-16 planes and will transport 300 soldiers,"  Polish Defense Ministry spokesman, Jacek Sonta, confirmed to AFP. Initially, the training exercise was planned to be smaller but was increased and pushed forward because of the  “tense political situation”  in neighboring Ukraine, added Sonta. The ministry also said that the aim of sending th...

Screenshot from YouTube Share on tumblr Trends Ukraine turmoil Tags Conflict ,  Politics ,  Russia ,  Ukraine A Ukrainian presidential hopeful and his supporters has abducted a regional MP over his opposition to the coup-imposed government in Kiev. A video of the action shows the MP being roughed up by a group of men and threatened. Oleg Lyashko reported secretly going to the Lugansk region on Sunday night and detaining Arsen Klinchev, a member of the local parliament from the Party of Regions. "The scum Klinchev will answer for his crimes. We detained him and handed him over to law enforcement. I am sincerely grateful to everyone, who helped with this deed. The video is coming shortly. The fight goes on,"  Lyashko wrote on his Facebook page. The promised footage followed soon. In it Lyashko is seen entering the office, as Klinchev later clarified, of local General Vladimir Guslavsky with a group of half a dozen men, whose faces a...