Once you’ve opened an email or your Facebook account, you’ve provided your personal information to a third party. The government can then ask that third party—Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Friendster, or whatever—for your information, and they don’t necessarily need a warrant. The Constitution protects you from unreasonable search and seizure by the government. It doesn’t stop third parties from sharing personal information you willingly give them. Likewise, there’s no warrant needed to acquire the IP addresses—unique …

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People are beginning to feel like rats in a cage as Israel pummels the tiny territory with missiles and steps up preparations for a possible ground invasion.

The Israeli Defence Forces struck 200 targets overnight; tanks and troops are massing on Gaza’s borders; up to 75,000 reservists are being called up. The immediate area around Gaza has been declared a closed military zone.

The psychological impact on Gaza’s population of the current offensive is as much a …

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The country’s biggest retail chain might get hit where it hurts on Black Friday.
Walmart employees protesting low wages and skyrocketing insurance premiums are planning a wave of protests across the country through next week’s unofficial shopping holiday.
Organizers say a thousand store protests are planned in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Minnesota and dozens of other places.
“With so many Americans struggling to make ends meet and Walmart taking in $16 billion in profits and …

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Today, the people of Gaza suffer from a brutal blockade that has lasted for more than 6 years and isolation that has lasted for more than 20 years. Israel strictly controls imports into Gaza and exports are virtually non-existent. Palestinian life is so controlled by Israel that the Israeli government even sets policies on the minimum number of calories needed to prevent malnutrition. Access to the sea – one of their main sources of livelihood …

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Palestinian leaders like Yasser Arafat were credited with skillfully courting international media during the first Intifada to highlight the Palestinian struggle and help sway public opinion.

But the newest technologies, including Twitter and YouTube, have been embraced particularly by the Israeli government, which has perhaps waged an unprecedented social media PR campaign as the conflict escalated this week.

The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has established a presence on nearly every platform available. It launched a Tumblr account …

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(Reuters) – BP Plc will pay $4.5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to felony misconduct in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 workers and caused the worst U.S. offshore oil spill ever.

The settlement includes a $1.256 billion criminal fine, the largest such levy in U.S. history, the oil company said on Thursday. Wall Street analysts said the deal will allow BP to focus again on oil production.

One U.S. senator from Louisiana said he …

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Ireland’s near-total ban on abortion has come under renewed scrutiny amid an outcry over the death of a woman who was denied a termination.

Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist, died of blood poisoning at Galway University hospital. She had turned up at the hospital a week earlier, but was denied a medical termination and, according to her husband, was told: “This is a Catholic country.”

The death intensified pressure on Ireland’s Fine Gael-Labour coalition to legislate and …

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GAZA — Israel on Wednesday launched one of the most ferocious assaults on Gaza since its invasion four years ago, hitting at least 20 targets in aerial attacks that killed the top military commander of Hamas, drew strong condemnation from Egypt and escalated the risks of a new war in the Middle East.The Israelis coupled the intensity of the airstrikes with warnings to all Hamas leaders in Gaza to stay out of sight or risk …

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Nearly nine million Californians – almost a quarter of the state’s residents – live in poverty under a newly devised federal standard, making the state’s rate by far the highest in the nation.

The stunning number will fuel California’s perpetual political debate over the state’s “safety net” of health and welfare services, which have been reduced sharply due to budget deficits. With voter approval of new taxes, advocates for the poor are demanding that some of …

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Israel has launched the start of a new war on Gaza “that will continue and grow,” pounding the blockaded area with an aerial assault including multiple airstrikes on Wednesday.

Israel has named their new war: “Operation Pillar of Cloud” – a Biblical reference to the Divine cloud that protected the Jewish people.

The IDF, (Israel Defense Forces), tweeted Wednesday: “All options are on the table. If necessary, the IDF is ready to initiate a ground operation …

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