04.24.12

Obama Targets Technology In Human Rights Abuses

"Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama announced Monday that he has signed an executive order allowing new sanctions against companies that enable Syria and Iran to use technology such as cell phone monitoring to carry out human rights abuses.

"The order is part of a broader strategy intended to strengthen the administration's ability to prevent atrocities, including creation of an Atrocities Prevention Board, Obama said in somber remarks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.

" "These technologies should be in place to empower citizens, not to repress them," Obama said of the measure, which targets the Syrian and Iranian governments, as well as companies that provide them with high-tech equipment to use against their own people."

Mexican Immigration Is Actually Moving Backwards

"A new study says that for the first time since the Great Depression, there may be fewer Mexican immigrants coming into the United States than there are moving from the United States back to Mexico. According to the Pew Research Center, the net migration between the U.S. and Mexico over the last five years was essentially zero, and the downward trend suggests that flow of both legal and illegal immigrants may have actually reversed back toward Mexico.

"There are many possible reasons to explain the decline, but the most obvious one would seem to be the struggling U.S. economy, which has cost millions of available jobs, particularly in construction and in the South, where recent immigrants generally thrive. There have also been big increases in enforcement, deportations, and border security, although the report also says that arrests of illegal immigrants trying to cross the border has actually plummeted by nearly 75%. Whether that's because fewer people want to come here or they just don't think it's worth the risk is hard to pin down, but the number of folks willing to take the chance is definitely declining.

"Given the continued hysteria over illegal immigrants and how demographic shifts might change the country in the future, many Americans might be shocked to learn that the shift is actually heading in the other direction. There have been several state laws just within the last couple of years that were passed on the premise that illegal immigration was out of control, even as the population of Mexican immigrants is apparently lower than it has been in decades. (Some might argue that the news laws are responsible for that, but the trend was clearly in place even before they were passed.) The Supreme Court will actually hear arguments this week about the harsh Arizona law that has been at the center of the debate for the last couple years, but this new evidence may put the crackdown in a new light, since the problem it was intended to resolve may not actually exist."  from Dashiell Bennett @ The Atlantic Wire

Stress Rises on Social Security

"Social Security and Medicare, the government-run health plan for senior citizens, are together the largest U.S. public benefit programs and account for one-third of the federal budget. The programs' costs are projected to grow rapidly because of the aging U.S. population and, in Medicare's case, the rising cost of health care....

"Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Obama administration would seek to work with Congress to come up with a long-term solution to repair the solvency of the disability trust fund but didn't offer specifics. "The best thing to do is a long-term solution," he said....

"Social Security's worsening outlook comes from a combination of higher cost-of-living adjustments pushing benefits up and lagging wage growth holding down tax revenue.

"In recent years, the Social Security disability rolls have soared, as many Americans with mental and physical health problems sought to enter the program and others with less severe issues applied because of a scarcity of work."  from Damian Paletta @ The WSJ

Call for Growth to Counter German Push for Austerity

BERLIN — "With political allies weakened or ousted, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s seat at the head of the European table has become much less comfortable, as a reckoning with Germany’s insistence on lock-step austerity appears to have begun.


" “The formula is not working, and everyone is now talking about whether austerity is the only solution,” said Jordi Vaquer i Fanés, a political scientist and director of the Barcelona Center for International Affairs in Spain....


"From trading floors to polling stations to the streets of cities across Europe, the message appears increasingly to be that countries cannot cut their way to fiscal health. They need growth, too. In recent months, powerful voices have joined the chorus, including those of the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, and Italy’s prime minister, Mario Monti. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has called repeatedly for Europe to defer budget cutting in favor of some form of stimulus spending.

Pressured by the presidential campaign, even Mr. Sarkozy, once Ms. Merkel’s most prominent ally, has begun to talk of the need for growth."  from Nicholas Kulish @ NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/24/world/europe/call-for-growth-puts-pressure-on-german-led-austerity.html

Review: 'History of Space Photography'

"The gallery at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena is also on hand — albeit it coincidentally — to mark the passage of government near-exclusivity in space exploration. A large exhibition chronicles "The History of Space Photography" through May 6....

"Guest curator Jay Belloli worked with several consultants from the nearby Jet Propulsion Lab. (JPL, founded at Caltech and affiliated with NASA, has 23 spacecraft and 10 instruments conducting active missions, according to its website.) Belloli and his team selected 150 noteworthy images, most from the last 50 years of space exploration, and added three video projections that feature various celestial animations....

"The show includes classics, such as Edward Hubble's 1923 telescopic photograph verifying the existence of galaxies beyond our own Milky Way. Astronaut John Glenn's 1962 color photograph taken from the window of his orbital spacecraft is a kind of drive-by tourist snapshot on steroids (it shows the Georgia coastline). "The History of Space Photography" offers total visual fictions too, since images made from cameras performing digital scans gathered over time (sometimes many minutes) are composites; color is also always malleable and print size is arbitrary...."  from Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times Art Critic

View Slide Show

Bright purple crab discovered in Philippines

Four new species of crab that sport some wild colors have been discovered near the Philippine island of Palawan. 

From Our Amazing Planet: link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47158113/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.T5bQh6tYvdU

04.04.12

iBrain: A Mind Reading Machine

The iBrain is part of a new generation of portable neural devices and algorithms intended to monitor and diagnose conditions like sleep apnea, depression and autism.


The iBrain is part of a new generation of portable neural devices and algorithms intended to monitor and diagnose conditions like sleep apnea, depression and autism. Invented by a team led by Philip Low, a 32-year-old neuroscientist who is chief executive of NeuroVigil, a company based in San Diego, the iBrain is gaining attention as a possible alternative to expensive sleep labs that use rubber and plastic caps riddled with dozens of electrodes and usually require a patient to stay overnight.

“The iBrain can collect data in real time in a person’s own bed, or when they’re watching TV, or doing just about anything,” Dr. Low said.

Why the Coming Patent Crisis is Inevitable



 "At some point in the future, a company is going to skip the settlement and use the courts to shut down a popular and universal feature on the Web's top domains, simply because it has a patent that says it came up with the notion first. It will be a shock that reverberates all the way to the U.S. government and the World Trade Organization.

I suspect a patent crisis is both necessary and inevitable. The reason is simple: there isn't enough political will or pressure to institute massive patent reform without a crisis to rally around."




GSA chief gone: fallout continues in wake of lavish expense

"Tangherlini said in a letter of introduction to GSA employees that the agency was taking some immediate action "to ensure that our customers maintain their faith in our services." Those measure include a review of planned conferences and meetings that involve travel or substantial expenditures of public funds and the cancellation of a number of conferences that only or primarily involved staff, he said in the letter."

Groupon Sued by Shareholder over Financial Revisions

" "Groupon's internal controls were so poor and inadequate that Groupon's reported results were not reliable," shareholder Fan Zhang alleged, according to Bloomberg review of the complaint filed in federal court in Chicago....The lawsuit comes a day after reports that Groupon's revision of its first set of financial results as a public company had attracted the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, although the commission has reportedly not yet elected to launch a formal investigation of the company."

Big Society Fund Launches with £600m to Invest

"Big Society Capital has £600m, of which the majority comes from unused cash in bank accounts that had been dormant for more than 15 years.  The fund will back social enterprises that prove they can repay an investment through the income they generate.  "This is about supplying capital to help society expand," said Prime Minister David Cameron."

Facebook Counters Yahoo's Legal Action with a Lawsuit

"In its lawsuit, Yahoo claimed that Mark Zuckerberg's company's "entire social network model" was based on its technology, and infringed its rights to innovations involved in messaging, privacy controls, advertising, customisation and social networking.

Facebook is preparing for initial public offering on a stock market that could value Facebook at $100bn (£64bn).  Yahoo, which has struggled in recent years against competition from both Facebook and Google, has a market value of $18.3bn.  On Wall Street, Yahoo shares fell 28 cents on Tuesday to close at $15.18."

FSA Fines JP Morgan Banker Ian Hannam for Market Abuse

"One of the City's top bankers, Ian Hannam, has been fined £450,000 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for providing inside information to a prospective client.  Mr Hannam has resigned as chairman of Capital Markets at JP Morgan Cazenove, and is appealing against the decision.  A former captain in the territorial SAS, he said the FSA's conclusion was wrong and he had acted with integrity.

The FSA said that while Mr Hannam had not deliberately set out to commit market abuse, his failings were serious because of his experience and senior position at JP Morgan.  It claims he disclosed inside information in two emails sent to a prospective client towards the end of 2008."

Europe Opens Patent Investigations Into Motorola Mobility

"BRUSSELS — The European Union’s competition office on Tuesday opened two antitrust cases against Motorola Mobility for possibly abusing its patents following complaints by two rivals, Microsoft and Apple.

The cases are the latest stage in what has become a full-blown battle over the ownership of essential technologies that help power mobile and gaming devices, a fight that has engulfed Google and virtually all the other major players in the industry."

The Met, the ‘Ring’ and the Rage Against the Machine

"Peter Gelb has both raised expectations and invited criticism by calling Robert Lepage’s $16 million production of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle for the Metropolitan Opera revolutionary. He used the word again in a recent interview at his office, as he spoke of the “trials and tribulations” of executing Mr. Lepage’s “superhuman,” technically daunting concept in a repertory theater “against amazing odds.”

"...But Mr. Gelb, the Met’s general manager since 2006, has been living it, attending every stage rehearsal and “complaining bitterly,” he said, about the persistent clankiness of the so-called machine, the 45-ton set of movable planks that dominate the production.He could be right....But for many people, making the set a character is the problem. The machine imposes itself and distracts us from Wagner’s music drama."

Bryn Terfel and Deborah Voigt in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2011 production of “Die Walküre,” on the machine, the 45-ton set of movable planks.



So, is this statistical debate over whether the poverty line is too high or too low missing the real issue?

What Does India’s Poverty Line Actually Measure?

Jean Drèze, an economist and former member of the National Advisory Council, certainly thinks so. “What is really shocking is not that the official poverty line is abysmally low, but that even with that abysmal benchmark, so many people are below it,” he told us. “The belated discovery that it is impossible to have a dignified life on the official poverty line draws our attention to the appalling living conditions of the Indian poor.” Taking a position diametrically opposed to Mr. Bhalla and Mr. Panagariya, Mr. Drèze argues, “The message about the terrifying nature of ‘hidden poverty’ in India has been somewhat lost in the din of the recent debate.”

NEW ORLEANS — Rarely has a national title seemed to yield so little to celebrate. The starting five for the champion Kentucky Wildcats — a mix of freshmen and sophomores — are expected to enter the N.B.A. draft, and never again play for the college they ever so briefly attended....

"Mark Emmert, the president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, had already expressed regret that the N.B.A.’s so-called “one-and-done” rule allows universities to recruit athletes who show little interest in getting an education.

Arizona Law to Censor the Internet

"...The rule is actually enforced by the N.B.A., which has no plans to change it. It was put in place in 2005 as part of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, after teams spent years investing in athletic but unproven teenagers who were jumping straight to the N.B.A. from high school. Some, like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, turned into stars. Others flopped.

"Technically, the rule does not force talented players like Kentucky’s Anthony Davis to go to college, but it states that they must be one year removed from their graduating high school class to be eligible for the N.B.A. draft. Academics have criticized the rule and the N.C.A.A. has complained, but neither had the power to make any changes. Even a former Kentucky president, Lee T. Todd Jr., has expressed uneasiness with the situation, one which can give players little incentive to attend class, let alone excel academically, after a certain point in the season."

"First Amendment rights group Media Coalition, which represents the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, the Association of American Publishers and other related groups, says the bill is not only a violation of the First Amendment, but is so far-ranging as to be preposterous.


In a letter to the governor, the coalition said while government can criminalize speech "that rises to the level of harassment, and many states have laws that do so," Arizona's legislation:


... takes a law meant to address irritating phone calls and applies it to communication on web sites, blogs, listserves and other Internet communication. H.B. 2549 is not limited to a one to one conversation between two specific people. The communication does not need to be repetitive or even unwanted. There is no requirement that the recipient or subject of the speech actually feel offended, annoyed or scared. Nor does the legislation make clear that the communication must be intended to offend or annoy the reader, the subject or even any specific person."

Failing to provide Facebook password gets teacher's aide fired

“(Superintendent Colby) asked me three times if he could view my Facebook and I repeatedly said I was not OK with that,” Hester told WSBT.


In a letter to Hester from the Lewis Cass ISD Special Education Director, he wrote “…in the absence of you voluntarily granting Lewis Cass ISD administration access to you[r] Facebook page, we will assume the worst and act accordingly.


Hester is currently on unpaid leave, collecting workman's compensation while legally battling the school district. "I stand by it," Hester told WSTB News. "I did nothing wrong. And I would not, still to this day, let them in my Facebook.  And I don’t think it’s OK for an employer to ask you.”

Getting Personal About Aung San Suu Kyi

SOPA Watch

Here’s a news bit that I am watching with interest, and suggest you do the same: the passing of  SOPA.  

Here is a break down of the bill from Wikipedia:

"The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R. 3261, is a billthat was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill expands the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrightedintellectual property and counterfeit goods.^[2] Now before the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the Protect IP Act.^[3]

The bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who requests the court orders, the actions could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a felony. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.^[4]

Proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market and corresponding industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws especially against foreign websites.^[5]Opponents say that it infringes on First Amendment rights, is Internet censorship,^[6] will cripple the Internet,^[7] and will threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech.^[8]"

CNET has complied a FAQ article about SOPA, from which this was taken:

"How would SOPA work? 

It allows the U.S. attorney general to seek a court order against the targeted offshore Web site that would, in turn, be served on Internet providers in an effort to make the target virtually disappear. It's kind of an Internet death penalty.

 A service provider shall take technically feasible and reasonable measures designed to prevent access by its subscribers located within the United States to the foreign infringing site (or portion thereof) that is subject to the order...Such actions shall be taken as expeditiously as possible, but in any case within five days after being served with a copy of the order, or within such time as the court may order."

Here is the first problem I see with this act: they are presenting this as protection of intellectual property, etc. However, this overlooks that reality that linking to other sites is a vital part of doing business online, no matter what your business is.  As long as proper credit is given,  being able to share links is NOT considered a violation of any one’s rights.   It is standard Internet protocol to include a link to the original posting in your post, where ever it occurs.  Example: this link goes to the original article, as well as acknowledging the post author:  Anonymous will react if SOPA is passed:  Will tag the internet with protest messages  By Dave Neal  Thu Dec 22 2011, 10:21  If SOPA passes, we as individuals are limited to sharing information in so many ways.  That frightens me.

The second problem, and most urgent in my thinking, is that both governments and big business is VERY threatened by the ability of people to organize and protest via the Internet.  Bank of America having to back down from charging users to use debit cards is one recent example.  

I recently read an interesting article about a panel designed to inform government workers about the group Anonymous 

(Mr. Washington Goes to Anonymous; presented by The Alantic). A recent panel held at The Brookings Institution, one of DC's oldest think tanks, was a response to hacktivism.  According to the panel literature, 

"Radical online activism is a new public-policy challenge, with groups such as Anonymous being described as everything from terrorist organizations to freedom fighters "

Whether you agree or disagree with Anonymous, the ability to organize on line is considered "a new public-policy challenge", i.e., THREAT.  If the powers that be are threatened by them, it also follows that they are also threatened by the ability of people to communicate and organize in large numbers.  I don’t know how you feel about that, but that kind of thinking by people in charge sure scares me. SOPA seems to be a way for government to get a tighter control on freedom of expression and the ability to act.

Some informative links about SOPA:
FAQ: How SOPA Would Affect You
      On-line Piracy Laws Must Preserve Web Freedoms


FIGHT THE BLACKLIST! A Toolkit for Anti-SOPA Activism

         What's Wrong with SOPA: a one page printable

Bullying vs. Harassment Definitions

Bullying offers little legal recourse for victims, but state and federal laws set criminal penalties for harassment and allow victims to sue school districts that fail to prevent it.

"Schools are going to hear the word 'harassment' differently than they are going to hear the word 'bullying,' '' she said. "If a parent comes in and says, 'Look, my kid is being harassed because of her sex,' that is going to carry more weight than saying, 'My kid is being bullied.'"

Bullying is only part of problem | StarTribune.com

Adoption Industry Dupes Families and Bullies Activists

DEC 21 2011, 7:19 AM 

As the "searchers" who track down adopted children's histories increasingly uncover stories of fraud, corruption, and worse, these specialists are facing threats and even violence

Graph taken from the website: 

http://www.tinyspark.org/podcasts/adoption/ 

"The adoption industry has become so lucrative and so strong, especially in rural parts of the country, that many people who've raised questions about the process say they've faced intimidation and harassment from the industry."

Finding Fernanda, by Erin Siegal

The book unfolds amid the highly politicized landscape of Guatemala’s adoption industry, a multi-million dollar trade that was both highly profitable and barely regulated. Children have been stolen, sold, and placed as orphans in corrupt international adoptions to well-intentioned Western parents ever since the industry began in the 1980s, during the country’s civil war. Both the governments of Guatemala and the United States repeatedly proved unwilling and incapable of regulating the baby trade. Until now, no book has tackled the pervasive human rights violations in international adoption in detail— abuses that continue today in countries around the world that send children abroad in adoption.

India Seeks Censorship of Social Media Sites

According to a New York Times report, the issue escalated when derogatory comments were left on Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi’s Facebook page. Kapil Sibal, India’s acting telecommunications minister, called the posting of such content “unacceptable”, although little insight has been offered into why Facebook controls to monitor user comments were not utilized

Marks of insecurity in the name of national security.

India Seeks Censorship of Facebook, Google and Other Social Media Sites | Divanee - South Asian news and entertainment

What does this say about our society???

High Integrity, Moral Decency Has Cost Idiot Man Millions | The Onion - America's Finest News Source


‎"It's as though he's operating under some kind of intangible but deep-seated conviction that being a fair, decent human being is somehow more valuable than making a quick buck."