Police violence in Madrid

Spain's police state has spiraled out of control as riot police were running throughout the streets beating everyone in sight, men and woman, young and old.

Since September 25th the masses of Spain, no longer being able to feed themselves or their families, have risen up against the government to protest further budget cuts and massive tax increases, a situation so dire it threatens their very survival.

There was well over one hundred thousand people marching in Madrid as part of the “Surround the Congress” action called by the indignados movement. The mission was one and one only: Surround the congress and demand the resignation of the current government. As soon as demonstrators got anywhere near the congress they were stopped by barriers over 6 foot tall and a contingent of around 2000 police officers most of them in riot gear.

As people felt trapped some started to take down some of the barriers and breaking to the other side of the fencing. This seemed to give the police the green light to use as much force and brutality as they deemed necessary to stop people breaching the barrier line.

Indiscriminately, police charged men, women, children, and older people that in some cases weren’t even able to escape quick enough from the violent police. Police didn’t take too long to use rubber bullets and about 28 people got injured with at least one of them in serious but not life threatening condition. Another 22 people were reported to be arrested.

At some stage the streets of Madrid resembled a total war zone with both sides engaging in violence even though demonstrators noticeably did so in pure self defense.

New Sony Playstation 3 Model revealed

 

Rumoured for some time now, Sony has announced today at its pre-TGS press conference that it will be releasing a new model of the PlayStation 3.

The new model is 25% smaller and 20% lighter than the current PS3 (itself a redesign from the original version), and will come in two flavours: 250GB and 500GB. It'll also be available in two colours, white and black.

The black console will be out on in Japan October 4, while the white model will be out on November 22. In the US, the 250GB model will be out on September 25, and will include Uncharted 3 and a $30 "digital content" voucher for DUST 514 (a free-to-play game). It'll cost $270.

There'll also be a 500GB bundle including Assassin's Creed III that'll go on sale in the US on October 30. No price on that one yet.

Interestingly, in PAL territories, there won't be a 250GB model. Instead, alongside the 500GB version will be a PS3 including just 12GB of flash memory.

by Kotaku

Are China and Japan about to go to war?

The world is abuzz with the rising tensions between China and Japan in the East China Sea, where the two are quarreling over the energy-rich Senkaku Island chain (known as the Diaoyu Islands in China).

Complicating the issue is a similar dispute between South Korea and Japan over another energy rich island chain in the East Sea/Sea of Japan, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea.

Add this to the already tense territorial relationship between various states in the Asia-Pacific region which include the Philippines, Thailand, India, and Vietnam, and it is no wonder many are discussing the prospects of outright military conflict erupting in the region. But despite the rhetoric and saber rattling, the prospects for conflict are less than those who sell the news would have you believe.

Most troubling to observers are the anti-Japanese demonstrations that have been flaring up across China and a naval "show of force" by the Chinese navy into Japanese controlled waters. But it is important to keep this all in perspective. China’s economy is slowing and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is preparing for a change in leadership. What’s more, the CCP has been at the receiving end of a lot of criticism in the wake of the Gu Kailai murder trial and its revelation of wide-spread corruption by her husband, Bo Xilai, a high-ranking CCP official. There is also the bizarre case of the son of another high-ranking CCP official, Ling Jihua, who died after he crashed his Ferrari while naked and in the company of two women.

Kate Middleton Topless Photos: Palace Seeks Ban

An Italian gossip magazine owned by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi published a 26-page spread of topless photos of Prince William's wife Kate on Monday despite legal action in France against the French magazine that published them first.

Chi hit newsstands on Monday, featuring a montage of photos taken while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were on vacation at a relative's home in the south of France last month. They included the 14 pictures published by the popular French magazine Closer, which like Chi is owned by Berlusconi's Mondadori publishing house.

But the Chi spread ran the whole sequence of photos as the couple sunbathed on a terrace, including one shot of the princess putting sun cream on her backside that didn't appear in Closer.

The couple is hitting back hard against the publication of the images, which William's St. James's Palace called a "grotesque" invasion of their privacy.

Google rejectes request to remove online video that mocked Muhammed

Anti-American Islamists have used the video as an excuse to attack U.S. interests abroad this week even though al-Qaeda and other more sophisticated and organized terrorists are most likely behind the attacks. The U.S. Ambassador and a former Navy SEAL were among the Americans who have been murdered by violent mobs.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the White House had asked Google to consider if the video violated Google’s terms of service. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama are trying to blame the attacks on the video to deflect from their foreign policy and intelligence failures. 

Google said it was censoring the video in countries like Egypt, Libya, India, and Indonesia in compliance with the laws of those countries. 

"We've restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia, as well as in Libya and Egypt, given the very sensitive situations in these two countries," Google said in a statement. "This approach is entirely consistent with principles we first laid out in 2007."

America does not have such laws, and Google's rejection of the White House's request for censorship is evidence of how different America's values are from those of other countries, especially when it comes to freedom of expression.

Freedom of speech versus blasphemy  

Tension often exists between political freedom, particularly freedom of speech, and certain examples of art, literature, speech or other acts considered by some to be sacrilegious or blasphemous. The extent to which this tension has not been resolved is manifested in numerous instances of controversy and conflict around the world.

Although many laws prohibiting blasphemy have long been repealed, particularly in the West, they remain in place in many countries and jurisdictions. In some cases such laws are still on the books, but are no longer actively enforced.

The issue of freedom of speech versus blasphemy cannot be seen in isolation from the role of religion as a source of political power in some societies. In such a society, to blaspheme is to threaten not only a religion, but also the entire political power order of the society, and hence, the official punishments (and popular responses to blasphemy) tend to be more severe and violent.

Sex statt Telekom iPhone-5-Hotline 

 

Telekom-Kunden bekamen eine Info-SMS mit der Bestell-Hotline für das iPhone 5. Doch statt beim Kundenberater landen sie unter der Nummer bei einer Sex-Hotline.

In der SMS für Premium-Kunden war zu lesen: „Sichern Sie sich jetzt Ihr iPhone 5. Lösen Sie Ihr Premieren-Ticket bis 18.9. ein und steigern Sie die Chance einer der Ersten zu sein“, berichtete „Newsecho.de“. Die angegebene kostenlose 0800-Rufnummer war jedoch falsch. Bei der angegebenen Rufnummer wurde eine Null vergessen. Dies soll inzwischen korrigiert worden sein.

iPhone 5 wird Verkaufsschlager

 

Auf Twitter beschweren sich Telekom-Kunden über lange Warteschleifen. Auch die langsame Bestellwebsite wird dort kritisiert. Laut Domagala kommt es beim Internetauftritt zu längeren Wartezeiten, da dieser momentan überrannt würde. „Wir bedauern das sehr und sind dabei das abzuarbeiten. Wir bitten aber auch um Verständnis, da wir momentan den zehnfachen Ansturm an Besucherzahlen verzeichnen.“

Natürlich wird beim neue iPhone wieder vom Start weg künstliche Verknappung betrieben. In den USA war der Ansturm zum Beginn der Vorbestellungen am Freitag so groß, dass das Kontingent nach einer Stunde vergriffen war. Auch bei Vodafone in Deutschland läuft der Vorverkauf „hervorragend“.

The Wii U Hits North America on
November 18th, Starts at $299

 

At a special event today in New York City, Nintendo announced the follow up to the hugely successful Wii console will be available on Sunday, November 18th.

The new console will be backwards compatible with all the games and accessories of its predecessor.

More than a year after Nintendo first showed the system to the public, the company has revealed that the North American launch date for the Wii U. Two of configurations will be available, with a Deluxe Set model with a 32 GB of memory and a Basic Set version with 8 GB.

The deluxe set comes in black and will cost $349.99 and the white basic set will cost $299.99.

Nintendo unveiled the "Nintendo TVii" app

 

The app, which runs as a "second screen experience" on the game pad, is personalized to each member of the household, with a separate set of recommendations and favorites for each profile. It connects not only to streaming services from Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, but also also to a user's TiVo and live TV. In addition to movies and television, it also promises features for sports fans.
Ideally, the Wii U then becomes a tool to connect all of a user's TV and streaming services into one centralized location, and of course also features social tools like friend recommendations and (optional) connections to Twitter and Facebook.

Nintendo TVii charges no monthly fee and comes bundled with every Wii U.