Hasta La Gadget!

On Jan. 7, people around the world woke up to the news that militants had attacked the Paris headquarters of a French satirical magazine, killing 12. By Jan. 8, you would be hard-pressed to find someone with access to the Internet, newspapers or any media sources who didn’t know the name “Charlie Hebdo” or the now iconic image of the red pencil. On Jan. 11, the offices of German tabloid “Hamburger Morgenpost” were firebombed after they reprinted the “Charlie Hebdo” cartoons. These incidents are merely symptoms of a growing global problem: suppression, censorship, and punishment of news organizations and ongoing threats to freedom of the press.

The horrifying events at “Charlie Hebdo” are unique in their particular circumstances, but they are not unique in their targets. Many journalists face daily threats and intimidation for simply doing their job — reporting the news. A French organization, Reporters Without Borders, compiles the annual World Press Freedom Index, ranking countries by the amount of liberty afforded to home media organizations. Some of the results from 2014 are predictable: North Korea comes in second-to-last at 179 and Russia at 148. However, those who subscribe to the idea that America is the “model democracy” might be surprised to see the U.S. at 46, below many other democratic nations and its allies. Even in countries where freedom of the press is supposedly guaranteed to its citizens, journalists continue to be targeted.

Russian journalists have been attacked for coverage of the Ukraine conflict that did not align with the government’s stance, and jailed for publishing anti-corruption blogs, interviewing Siberian autonomy activists and spreading “gay propaganda.” The British intelligence organization GCHQ forced “Guardian” editors to destroy their hard drives after publishing information leaked by Snowden; they have been spying on journalists, reading their emails and placing investigative journalists on their threat lists. Turkey jailed the most journalists in 2012-2013 and is currently prosecuting 70 for their coverage of the alleged corruption in Erdogan’s cabinet. By now, most are familiar with the actions taken against Edward Snowden after his whistleblowing here in the U.S., but that was, just like the Paris massacre, in no way an isolated incident. Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange were both investigated after the Wikileaks release of classified information, with Manning now serving the second of 35 years in prison. New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed for 85 days after refusing to reveal confidential sources to government officials. The current administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers than all the previous administrations combined.

The carnage at “Charlie Hebdo” was particularly shocking not only because of its brutality and abruptness, but also because it personified the increasing number of attacks on journalists. There have been 1110 journalists killed since 1992 and 404 forced into exile since 2009. The number of imprisoned journalists has steadily increased from 81 in 2000 to 221 in 2014. While Western nations claim to be champions of free speech and press, their actions speak much louder than such declarations. Since the “Hebdo” attack, the French government has put 100 people under investigation for “speech supporting terrorism,” revealing a double standard in its recent free speech demonstrations.

Hate speech of any kind is abhorrent, but we cannot condone or even revere some forms and outlaw other forms. Once censorship begins, it is difficult to decide when to put on the brakes. Certain groups, usually those in power, inevitably get more protection than others. The line between satire and hate speech is defined by the side of it you happen to be standing on. What one person considers their religious belief might be deeply insulting to the next. What a blogger sees as crucial efforts to reveal corruption might be seen as treasonous by the state.

So, why journalists? Why is the right to hold the metaphorical pencil so consistently investigated, jeopardized, and censured? Because journalism can inform. Journalism can teach, reveal, and inspire. Journalism can expose the truth, add a human face to any story and connect people from across the globe. Journalism holds the power of knowledge, which has the potential to create outrage, ignite movements and break down oppressive regimes. Gorbachev agreed that electronic communication and media democratization were factors in the democratization of the Soviet Union. North Korean citizens are slowly becoming more and more aware of the brutality, coercion and surveillance committed by its government, mostly due to an increased awareness of the outside world as we know it. The increase in globalized media and the democratization of media through the Internet has increased the power of journalists and citizen journalists to spread information rapidly, effectively, and powerfully. The subsequent crackdown by governments in recent years should not be surprising but expected; when you feel your grip on power slacken, you grip tighter.

We must not forget that while the French massacre was, and this goes without saying, horrific and unjustifiable in its own right, it is not rare or unexpected in its targets. The fight for freedom of the press does not stop here, with several solidarity marches and many empty words from its leaders. All nations, Western or otherwise, should be held accountable for their constant assaults on this essential liberty.

This tax season, Walmart is luring shoppers into stores with cash — their own cash.

The retail giant is offering people the chance to pick up their state and federal tax refunds in cash at its stores across the country, it announced on Tuesday.

The program, called Direct2Cash, is the first of its kind at any retailer, according to Walmart. In order to use it, customers must get their taxes done by a participating tax preparer, including some in Walmart stores.

Typically, tax filers get their refunds either through a check or a direct deposit to their bank account. But those options create problems for the so-called “unbanked” — the 10 million U.S. households that don’t use banks.

“Leveraging our size and scale to take on big challenges and create better ways to serve our customers is something we’re always working on,” Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of services for Walmart U.S., said on a conference call with reporters announcing the program.

The service won’t necessarily be free: Though Walmart will charge nothing for it, participating tax preparers can charge up to $7 for helping with Direct2Cash, Walmart said. And tax preparers often charge a fee for preparing and filing returns. Right now, the Walmart cash option isn’t available to e-filers or people who file themselves.

Still, it will be cheaper than many other options. Unbanked Americans, who are likely to be low-income, often rely on expensive check-cashing services or borrow against expected refunds at “usurious” rates, according to Mehrsa Baradaran, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law.

“Walmart is definitely doing more for the unbanked than the government at this point,” said Baradaran — adding that, ideally, a government entity not motivated purely by profit, such as the Post Office, would offer this service.

Of course, the service also benefits Walmart, which has been struggling in recent years as shoppers increasingly turn to the internet and smaller, urban stores for their needs.

It fits with the retailer’s mission to be a one-stop shop for basically everything. Shoppers can already cash checks, get their taxes prepared, see a health-care professional or get their hair done inside Walmart stores.

By offering the unbanked a cheap way to get their refunds in cash, Walmart can lure these people into its stores, where they might want to spend that cash.

Walmart could use the traffic. Until its most recent quarterly earnings report, Walmart U.S. had gone nearly two years without an increase in sales at stores open at least a year, an important retail metric.

Tax-refund time is typically a good one for Walmart and other retailers who cater to low-income customers, because shoppers often use the extra income to make big purchases they may have been putting off. Walmart executives blamed a less-than-stellar first quarter in 2014 partly on delayed and reduced tax refunds.

“It’s always a good thing, we believe, to have customers in our stores that have a jingle in their purses and in their wallets,” Eckert said. “That’s something we like to see.”

We live in the Age of Authority where the highest value is placed on expertise, being know-it-alls, and masters of the universe. In this era of achievement obsession, great emphasis is placed on knowledge over wisdom and on information over truth. We look down our noses at amateurs, feel judged when others call us “beginners,” and view starting over as a form of failure.

Yet, life is a never-ending series of stops and starts, expansion and shrinkage, progress and regress, venturing forward full of hope and falling back in perplexity. In spite of our longing for fixed outcomes, we know that existence is two-steps-forward-one-step-back and that uncertainty rules this realm. We’re also aware, if we are honest, that persevering in spite of setbacks, and starting again when we have been stopped, is precisely what tests our mettle as human beings.In Samuel Beckett’s famous words, “I must go on. I can’t go on. I’ll go on.” This declaration of hopeless hope mirrors our struggle as imperfect creatures on an imperfect planet, wired to strive for more experience and hunger after more life.

Even when we’re knocked to the ground and stripped of the will to go on, when the odds of succeeding are piled against us, when we look behind at our mountains of failure and wonder why we bother proceeding in a world where nothing lasts forever; even then, in the toughest of times, a mysterious spirit will rise up to save us, reminding us that life is for the living and that we owe it to ourselves to keep moving forward, to not give up, to not waste this precious incarnation.

There’s a beautiful poem by Stan Rice that captures this primal experience. “I was lost,” Rice begins,

and sang my broken down songs in
the hell of the hour.
Then in my heart moved an oar,
And I was found by a breeze from a
Door in the sea of forms
And I was rowed to the cherry trees
On the shore.
Selah Selah

In moments of darkness when all may seem lost, we’re saved by this miraculous oar that rows us toward the beauty of life, for no other reason than it is there. The inexplicable will to live, to taste existence even when it’s bitter, is our sacred mandate. This echoes Mallory’s classic response on being asked, “Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest?” “Because it’s there,” he said, simply. In our daily lives, the impulse to restart our journey — again and again, in all kinds of weather — mirrors this eternal sentiment. Why do we continue to strive for our dreams? Why do we keep struggling on the path of joy? Why do we rise from our figurative ashes — over and over, in spite of the damage — and continue flying toward the light? Because we can. Because life is short. And because it is there.

This power to begin again is a cornerstone of many spiritual traditions, from the homespun Christian wisdom of William Hickson (“If at first you don’t succeed, Try, try, try again”), to ancient Vedanta (“Take it back to its starting place — the mind — again and again”), to Zen Buddhism (“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.”) In fact, all spiritual practice calls on the ability to meet each present moment of life anew, with fresh eyes and a tender heart; to “be here now,” as Ram Dass teaches, engaging intimately with our lives in an attitude of surrender and openness; courage, too, and enlightened desire. As my friend Sharon Salzberg likes to say about meditation, “Each time we remember that we have forgotten — that our attention has strayed — is a moment of enlightenment.” On the cushion and off, this principle is all important. Each time we begin again, leaving the past and its regrets behind, that is a moment of awakening. The more we practice starting over, the more resilient, creative, and empowered we become. We see risk and failure as enlightening steps rather than mistakes to be avoided. We dive into the stream of life and stop clutching, endlessly, at the shore.

So ask yourself, how do you respond to starting over? To the idea of being, forever, a beginner? Do you view each day as a fresh start, an opportunity to wake up, savor your life, experiment, explore, and grow? Or do you see your life as a kind of Groundhog Day, with each day blurring into the next, repeating itself, and locking you into sameness? What is your attitude toward risk and mistake making? Do you wear your losses lightly and wisely or drag them behind you like unwieldy garbage, limiting the present by belly aching over the past? Do you believe in the power of starting over or view this as a childish illusion? How do your feelings about being a beginner affect energy and your morale?

Years ago, I talked to the late great novelist Peter Matthiessen about his Zen practice. “I’ve been sitting for 25 years,” he told me. “I’m just a beginner.” Matthiessen wasn’t being coy or ironic; he wasn’t faking false humility or downplaying his own development. He was stating an undeniable fact about what it means to be a seeker. As seekers, we know that we never arrive. We’re aware that there is always more practice. We’re not trying to be masters of the universe. We much prefer being works in progress. We relish the fact that there’s room to grow. We’re happy just to keep on looking.

Walking at night can be refreshing as well as terrifying. If the moon and stars aren’t out to give you any light and you aren’t in an area with street lamps, things can seem dark and scary awfully fast. It’s at this point that you start becoming tense, wondering what every rustle of leaves or distant wind blowing through the trees might be, rather than what they are.

Being able to see our surroundings can rid us of much of that fear, but only having a single beam of light from a flashlight to lead your path doesn’t always work. You want the light to be in front of you, but to also illuminate your peripheral vision so your mind can’t cook up what might be there. The Nightlighter will provide you with the same mental comfort as a nightlight in your room did when you were young. This is a dual flashlight that has a forward-facing beam as well as one facing downward. Both use super-bright LEDs to make a wide-angle beam.

The oval design makes it easier to carry for longer periods of time, and it’s made of a polymer that can withstand regular use. You don’t have to use both lights at the same time, as the switch will allow you to use either one separately or together. You will need 3 AA batteries, and it will cost you $19.95. The color is not specific, so don’t spend the money hoping for green as there’s a chance you may end up being stuck with something else.

Available for purchase on firststreetonline, found via redferret

 
[ The Nightlighter – see and be seen copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Firefox 35 is out with improvements large and small. If you’ve never tried out Mozilla’s alternative web browser, or you’re tempted to come back to it after a break, here are 10 software tips that will make your experience with Firefox all the more productive and rewarding. You can download the latest version of the application from the official site.

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