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Daily Archives: August 13, 2014

Extensive interview of Edward Snowden – Wired

James Bamford, via Wired“..Snowden will continue to haunt the US, the unpredictable impact of his actions resonating at home and around the world. The documents themselves, however, are out of his control. Snowden no longer has access to them; he says he didn’t bring them with him to Russia. Copies are now in the hands of three groups: First Look Media, set up by journalist Glenn Greenwald and American documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, the two original recipients of the documents; The Guardian newspaper, which also received copies before the British government pressured it into transferring physical custody (but not ownership) to The New York Times; and Barton Gellman, a writer for The Washington Post. It’s highly unlikely that the current custodians will ever return the documents to the NSA…Some of the revelations attributed to Snowden may not in fact have come from him but from another leaker spilling secrets under Snowden’s name. Snowden himself adamantly refuses to address this possibility on the record. But independent of my visit to Snowden, I was given unrestricted access to his cache of documents in various locations. And going through this archive using a sophisticated digital search tool, I could not find some of the documents that have made their way into public view, leading me to conclude that there must be a second leaker somewhere. I’m not alone in reaching that conclusion. Both Greenwald and security expert Bruce Schneier—who have had extensive access to the cache—have publicly stated that they believe another whistle-blower is releasing secret documents to the media.”

Broker-Dealer Finance and Financial Stability – Speech

“In a speech in New York, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren called for a comprehensive re-evaluation of the regulation of broker-dealers (intermediaries that effect transactions in securities), given the lessons of the financial crisis. “Broker-dealers played a dramatic role during the crisis,” said Rosengren. Given their dependence on unstable, short-term funding, “broker-dealers can… Continue Reading

Macroprudential frameworks: (too) great expectations?

Macroprudential frameworks: (too) great expectations? Contribution by Mr Claudio Borio, Head of the Monetary and Economic Department of the Bank for International Settlements, to the 25th anniversary edition of Central Banking Journal, originally published on 5 August 2014. “Macroprudential frameworks are a welcome response to the Great Financial Crisis. As long argued by the BIS, a stronger… Continue Reading

Highlights from Folger Shakespeare Library’s Release of almost 80,000 Images

“Folger Shakespeare Library announced yesterday (12th August 2014), that they have released the contents of their Digital Image Collection under a Creative Commons Share-Alike (CC-BY-SA) license – basically meaning that the images are free to re-use for any purpose as long as you credit the Folger Shakespeare Library as the source and share under a similar license.… Continue Reading

Project Gutenberg offers 46,483 free ebooks to download

“Project Gutenberg offers over 45,000 free ebooks: choose among free epub books, free kindle books, download them or read them online. We carry high quality ebooks: All our ebooks were previously published by bona fide publishers. We digitized and diligently proofread them with the help of thousands of volunteers. No fee or registration is required, but if you find Project… Continue Reading

Research Finally Revealed – Chemical Ingredient in Colgate Total Linked to Cancer

Bloomberg – “The chemical triclosan has been linked to cancer-cell growth and disrupted development in animals. Regulators are reviewing whether it’s safe to put in soap, cutting boards and toys. Consumer companies are phasing it out. Minnesota voted in May to ban it in many products. At the same time, millions of Americans are putting it in their mouths every… Continue Reading

Fields Medal mathematics prize won by woman for first time in its history – Guardian

“Maryam Mirzakhani, who was born and raised in Iran, has been awarded the highest honour a mathematician can attain.‘The more I spent time on maths, the more excited I got’ The maths of Avila, Bhargava, Hairer and Mirzakhani explainedAlex Bellos: Prizes for maths that few of us can grasp“ Ian Sample, Science Editor – The… Continue Reading

Reducing the Budget Deficit: Overview of Policy Issue

Reducing the Budget Deficit: Overview of Policy Issues. Marc Labonte, Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy. August 7, 2014. “The federal budget has been in deficit (i.e., spending has exceeded revenues) since 2002, and deficits were significantly larger from 2009 to 2012 than in any other year since World War II. As a result, the federal debt held by the… Continue Reading