U.S. surveillance erodes its leadership in Internet freedom

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Internet freedom has declined in the United States over the past year as a result of its surveillance policies, reflecting a trend that appears to have caught on worldwide, according to a recently released study.

The study [PDF], conducted by Freedom House, gauged Internet freedom in 60 countries by tracking obstacles to access information online, limits on content, and violations of user rights. Among the issues cited in the report are government agencies' outright blocking of specific Internet content, surveillance measures, and legal and violent repercussions taken against those who use the Internet to criticize governing or religious bodies.

Iceland was the top-ranking nation on the list, which may not come as a surprise considering its recent role as a safe-haven for controversial Internet whistleblowers. Edward Snowden, for example, has recently expressed a desire for refuge in the country.

Estonia was the second-ranked country on the list (down from first last year), followed by Germany and the U.S., both of which received a score of 17 on Freedom House's scale of 1-to-100, which assigned points for higher rates of violations of Internet freedom. Australia, France, Japan, Hungary, Italy, and the UK round out the top ten.

Despite its relatively high ranking, the U.S. showed a significant decline in overall Internet freedom as a result of the revelations of its surveillance capabilities and their impact on the global Internet, Freedom House explained.

"While there is no evidence that the NSA surveillance programs were abused to suppress political speech, they have drawn strong condemnations at home and abroad for their wide-reaching infringements on privacy," the report says. "Since many large technology companieswith millions of users around the worldare based in the United States, the NSA was able to collect information on foreigners without having to go through the legal channels of the countries in which the targeted users were located."

However prevalent this trend may be in the U.S., it is also a sign of a much broader movement among international governments of all kinds. In 35 out of the 60 countries examined, Freedom House marked increases in the sophistication of communications monitoring technology, the scope of the people monitored, and the enactment of laws enabling the government to spy on its citizens.

Russia, for example, has increased its surveillance capabilities significantly since the Arab Spring began in late 2010, going as far as legalizing the government's wiretapping of opposing political parties, the report says.

The report also included the caveat that the problem is likely more common than its research reflects.

"There is a strong suspicion that many of the remaining 25 countries' governments have also stepped up their surveillance activities, though some may be better than others at covering their tracks," the report says.

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U.S. surveillance erodes its leadership in Internet freedom

Meridian Freedom Project debuts Monday

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MERIDIAN A project designed to open doors for Meridian students will be announced Monday.

The Meridian Freedom Project is a year-round after-school program for middle school and high school and high school students in the Meridian Public School District. Slated to open in June 2014, the program seeks to build a corps of academically capable, socially conscious and mentally disciplined young leaders in Meridian.

"We're replicating the Sunflower County Freedom Project (SCFP) and will be the first affiliate of that project," said Anna Stephenson, who serves as program development director of the Meridian Freedom Project (MFP).

In 1998, Sunflower County Freedom Project founders and Teach For America alumni Chris Myers-Asch, Shawn Raymond and Gregg Costa set out to establish a program to create more pathways to college for their students in Sunflower County. Fifteen years later, 100 percent of the students completing the Freedom Fellowship, a six-year-commitment to the Freedom Project, go on to attend four-year colleges and universities across the country.

As SCFP's first expansion site of the newly formed Freedom Project Network, the Meridian Freedom Project will allow for future Freedom Projects. MFP will honor the legacy of the Meridian Freedom Schools at its opening during summer 2014, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer '64. The Freedom Projects are led by Teach For America Alumna who returned to their roots to teach in the Mississippi and Arkansas Delta. SCFP Executive Director Vaish Shastry is from Pine Bluff, Ark., while both of Stephenson's parents are native Mississippians, her father, a native of Meridian.

"I am thrilled to help grown the Freedom Project in Meridian," Stephenson said. I have seen the power it has on Freedom Fellows in Sunflower, and I cannot wait to watch it transforms the lives of our Meridian students."

According to Stephenson, the idea behind MFP is "to create another opportunity for kids to find a pathway to college." The project's success is attributed to its dedication to providing year-round rigorous core academic support, arts enrichment, health and fitness training, character development and educational travel. Freedom Fellows those who participate in the project live by four LEAD principals: Love, Education, Action and Discipline. By practicing these principles of the Freedom Project, participants become leaders in their schools and communities.

Support for the MFP began with Parents for Public Schools graduates who traveled to Sunflower in 2012 to tour the program. According to Stephenson, they were immediately hooked. The MFP Board Amy Elliott, chairman; Dr. Bill Scaggs, president emeritus of Meridian Community College; and Flo Bradley, CEO of FloBradley.com established an administrative collaboration with The Montgomery Institute.

"Observing the young people engaged in Sunflower as they live the LEAD principles is a 'game-changing' experience," Scaggs said. "They demonstrate remarkable self-respect and optimism, as well as a couple of old fashioned characteristics: grit and gumption!"

The Meridian Freedom Project is geared to students in grades sixth through 12th in the Meridian Public School District, beginning with those in grades sixth through eighth and progressing with them until they graduate from high school.

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Meridian Freedom Project debuts Monday

Dana White: 'Cris Cyborg Committed Professional Suicide'

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Cristiane Cyborg Santos signed her entire career away the moment she ever decided to join forces with Tito Ortiz, according to UFC President Dana White.

The unending, venomous feud between Ortiz and White has enough layers to warrant its own TV series.

Unfortunately for Cyborg, its all about being on the wrong side at the wrong time. White straight up refuses to do business of any kind with Ortiz, who recently started his own management company.

After the end of his UFC tenure, Ortiz struck up a deal with longtime friend and attorney George Prajin and created Primetime 360 Entertainment & Sports Management Inc., which represents professional athletes and artists in the entertainment industry.

Cyborg, who is arguably the best womens MMA fighter on the planet, was the first major MMA star to align with Ortiz, a move White chalked up as professional suicide.

She literally committed professional suicide. The dumbest guy in the sport, literally, the dumbest guy in the sport, who has destroyed his own career, She has him guide her career. It makes no sense, White said during a UFC 168 press stop in Brazil, according to MMAWeekly.com.

Initially, the UFC was willing to work with Cyborg.

The promotion was willing to pick up Cyborgs tab while she competed in Invicta and gradually worked towards dropping to 135-pounds, which is the only weight class for women currently in place in the UFC.

Unfortunately, the reigning Invicta featherweight champ hasnt been able to make the 135-pound mark, and according to doctors, via MMAWeekly, it would be a significant health risk if she tried. With the weight drop out of the question, Ortiz rejected the UFCs offer and asked for Cyborg to be released from her contract.

The UFC obliged and Cyborg continued her career with Invicta.

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Dana White: 'Cris Cyborg Committed Professional Suicide'

Sydney's cleanest beaches downgraded

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AAP Some of Sydney's prime swimming spots have had their water quality ratings downgraded.

Pollution on Sydney's beaches is not due to job cuts or untreated waste water being pumped into the ocean, Sydney Water says.

The latest State of the Beaches report released on Sunday found that the water quality at formerly top-ranking beaches has dropped over the past year.

While 81 per cent of swimming locations reviewed across the state achieved very good or good gradings, only eight Sydney beaches are rated as very good - down from 15 last year.

The NSW opposition blamed the drop in water quality on job and budget cuts at Sydney Water.

It also pointed to a record number of bypasses at waste-water treatment plants.

"We are returning to the bad old days when it was unsafe to swim on the beaches due to overflows," opposition water spokesman Walt Secord said in a statement.

"The O'Farrell government cannot blame rain as NSW has experienced its warmest January to September period on record. NSW has had its mildest winter in more than 150 years."

But Sydney Water rejected the comments, saying they were untrue.

"The Beachwatch 2013 Report released today shows that 37 out of 38 ocean beaches in Sydney were graded as good or very good, despite a wet summer in 2012/13, which is an outstanding result," Sydney Water said in a statement.

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Sydney's cleanest beaches downgraded