Arctic Ocean crossed without icebreaker
28 October 2014

The Arctic Ocean has warmed so much that a ship was able to cross it from the Atlantic to the Pacific without an icebreaker.

If this were the only effect of global heating, it would be great.

UK attack on the poor
28 October 2014

The UK attack on the poor has gone so far that poor people must steal food to eat — or steal more expensive things in order to get into jail.

People who are hungry are entitled to steal food.

Life under the rule of PISSI
28 October 2014

Some people in Mosul say that life under the rule of PISSI is a disaster even if you're not being singled out for punishment.

This suggests they would be glad to have the chance for a government that won't repress them. The problem is where that could come from.

Turning old camera phones into remote surveillance cameras
28 October 2014

A company wants to pay people to turn old camera phones into remote surveillance cameras.

How is this different from stationing a human there to count people? They couldn't afford to station humans full time in very many places. And if they argue that they don't or can't recognize individuals, what assurance do we have that they won't be recognizing individuals using the same technique 10 years from now?

I think it should be illegal to set up a camera looking for more than a short time at a place where the public is admitted, if it makes the video remotely accessible. Individuals, and especially the state, should have to get a court order before they can do this.

Voting by email
28 October 2014

New Jersey's emergency experiment with voting by email ran into various practical problems in addition to the fundamental ones you'd expect, and there is no way of knowing how many votes were lost.

It is amusing how the artificial concern with voter fraud, stoked to provide a basis for stopping poor and disabled people from voting, is not applied to internet voting.

Fear of Ebola
28 October 2014

Fear of Ebola elicits bizarre reactions.

Hoax news contributes to the panic.

Ironically, Ebola is being used to spread computer viruses. But they probably can't hurt you if you are running GNU/Linux.

When foreign fighters want to leave PISSI
28 October 2014

When foreign fighters want to leave PISSI, it holds them prisoner and threatens to kill them.

Meanwhile, when Britons who went to Syria to fight against Assad go home because they don't support PISSI, the UK puts them in prison.

Capturing and centralizing the internet
28 October 2014

Giant web site companies are capturing and centralizing the internet, so that now 30 companies generate half the traffic in the US. They are converting it primarily into a broadcast medium.

I almost never access those companies' sites. In my view, the only good use of the internet is what they don't do.

Fortunately there is still enough of that to make a big difference from what the world was like before the internet.

Unusual behavior on Amtrak
28 October 2014

On Amtrak, almost any unusual behavior is considered "suspicious" and is grounds for filing a report, perhaps arresting you, and perhaps stealing your money.

In practice it rarely happens to whites.

Least religious generation in US history
27 October 2014

The US millennial generation is the least religious generation in US history. Churches are shrinking, and in the long term, the theocratic Christian right-wing is going to get weaker.

In effect, this election is the Christian fanatics' last chance at grabbing political power, and if they get it, the only way they can hold on to it is by denying the vote to those who will later take it away from them.

Financial and technical "disruptions"
27 October 2014

Financial "disruption" and technical "disruption" work together to track more, control more, and charge more.

UK's university system
27 October 2014

The UK's university system remains better than the US system in one way: the payments made by graduates depend on their incomes.

My main motive for going to college was fascination for learning. I hardly thought about making money afterward; I assumed I would become a professor but I rarely thought that far ahead. It was easy in the US in the 60s and 70s to follow an artistic or scholarly fascination and let income take care of itself, because the US still allowed most people a share in its income.

We should not blame today's students for giving high priority to their careers after they graduate, but the fact that they do so is a disadvantage for society. It will change when we get rid of plutocracy.

Woman executed in Iran
27 October 2014

A woman in Iran was executed for killing a man that she said was trying to rape her.

I believe her claim, especially since there was no other plausible account of what happened.

Right to sue
26 October 2014

1/3 of the most popular US web sites make users give up the right to sue over various sorts of mistreatment.

States should be prohibit this practice, but until they do, people should refuse to use sites that try to escape justice.

Apple's random hardware address
26 October 2014

Apple announced that iThings would randomize the WiFi hardware address to protect privacy, but it tuns out to do this only in unusual circumstances.

UK proposes a vague law
26 October 2014

The UK proposes a vague law to imprison computer users that "damage national security", including whistleblowers.

It is idiotic to pass a law against "using computers to do XYZ". If XYZ should be crime, what difference does it make whether it is done with a computer, with a pen, or however it might be?

UK gov't spied on history professors
26 October 2014

The UK government spied on history professors who were members of the Communist party, even reading their mail, with no reason to suspect them of having anything but an opinion.

It spied on various academics and writers just because they agreed to a statement against nuclear weapons.

UK thugs repress protests
26 October 2014

UK thugs repress protests near Parliament to the point of arresting people for passing around bottles of water.

They are forced to hand over pizza boxes because the thugs say they might be useful for sleeping.

Gyroscopes in mobile phones
26 October 2014

Gyroscopes in mobile phones are so sensitive that they can pick up the sound of nearby voices. This allows apps to eavesdrop even if they are not allowed to use the microphone.

Note that this is a separate issue from conversion of phones into listening devices, which the NSA and other entities can do through the phone's universal back door. Thus, this facility doesn't make the phone more of a listening device than it was; but it does allow more parties to use it as a listening device.

Protect us from…what?
26 October 2014

The NSA has to listen to everything to protect us from…what?

(The part I'm referring to is the first 8 slides. After that comes very technical material.)

The Committee to Protect Journalists says that US government resistance to encryption endangers journalists.

That is true, but the first and broadest danger to journalists comes from metadata: tracking who talks with whom.

Prison for cartoon
26 October 2014

A man in the UK has been sentenced for prison for having a cartoon depicting a fictional child in some sort of sexual situation.

The advocates of this kind of censorship started by saying they were trying to protect real children from being abused in order to take their photos. Making such photos should be a crime, and is a crime, but that is no reason to prohibit possessing copies of the photos.

However, they have already gone far beyond that. No child was harmed in drawing the cartoon.

To criminalize possession of copies of anything published — no matter what it is — is oppressive, and leads to many other forms of tyranny.

Fanatics threaten activist with death
26 October 2014

An activist set up events for Malaysians to get used to petting dogs, and is now getting death threats from religious fanatics.

Islamist rebels in Egypt
26 October 2014

Islamist rebels in Egypt have a persistent campaign of attacking Egyptian soldiers.

These rebels deserve condemnation for seeking to impose the rules of their religion on everyone, which tramples their human rights.

However, when al-Sisi calls them "terrorists", that is a lie. Terrorism means attacking civilians; attacking soldiers or state institutions is rebellion.

Al-Sisi calls even peaceful opposition "terrorism".

US media exploiting Ebola
26 October 2014

US media are trying to exploit Ebola by spreading panic about anyone who might have come anywhere near it.

This is having political results already from politicians that want to look tough.

Americans interested in helping to treat sick people in Africa will now either (1) return home through some other place or (2) decide not to go.

These people should take precautions, but it isn't necessary to lock them up, costing them their jobs and perhaps making them homeless afterward.

CIA torture report delays
26 October 2014

Frustrated CIA Blames Torture Report Delays on Senators Who Want It To Be Intelligible.

The right thing for the senators to do is to publish what they see fit and tell the CIA to jump in the lake. And then start a new Church Committee investigation that will tear the CIA open from top to bottom. You can't stop its abuses while handling it with kid gloves.

Liberian burial rituals
26 October 2014

People in Liberia are clinging to traditional burial rituals to the point of killing their relatives and killing themselves.

They kill their relatives by denying them treatment for whatever disease they have. They kill themselves by washing and handling the bodies of the dead, some of whom died of Ebola.

They are acting like idiots, but they don't deserve the consequence that they are bringing on themselves.

PISSI chemical weapons accusations
26 October 2014

There are accusations that PISSI has used chemical weapons on a few occasions on a small scale.

I have to wonder: since Saddam Hussein destroyed his chemical weapons, how did any survive.

Fanatics demand punishment of journalists
26 October 2014

Muslim fanatics in Afghanistan demand the punishment of journalists who wrote an article that they believe criticizes their religion.

Shame on anyone whose religion includes believing people are not allowed to insult it.

Not enough jobs in the UK
26 October 2014

The UK government is classifying thousands of people with incurable degenerative diseases as "likely to be able to work again soon".

Even if some Britons only pretend to be disabled, why bother to "catch" them? There aren't enough jobs in the UK for all the people who are looking for work. There aren't enough jobs in the UK to start pushing wages up.

Urgent: Stop lobbying against solar power
26 October 2014

Everyone: tell the owners of Walmart to stop lobbying against installation of home solar power.

I think this is one additional reason not to buy from Walmart. I never get anything there.

Political control of South Florida
26 October 2014

Parts of South Florida want to split off from Florida and form a new state to get rid of the political control of global heating deniers. One more foot of sea level rise will destroy the water supply and sewage systems of South Florida.

Armed drones used for policing
25 October 2014

Armed drones used for policing could threaten human rights.

I agree, but there is one countervailing factor. Soldiers and thugs can use rubber-coated steel bullets and tear-gas canisters to kill by intentionally shooting them at people's heads. A drone operated by a human through remote control would not enable such accurate shooting.

"Sex offenders" forced to be homeless
25 October 2014

In Miami-Dade County, hundreds of people labeled as "sex offenders" are forced to be homeless because every available living space is covered by the areas where they are forbidden to live.

The US is extremely energetic about labeling people as "sex offenders" which means they are punished in many ways for the rest of their lives.

US atrocities in Viet Nam
25 October 2014

The US government has a PR campaign to cover up the atrocities in Viet Nam and make that unjust war appear glorious. It wants to bury the fact that atrocities by US forces were commonplace.

"You can't separate this effort to justify the terrible wars of 50 years ago from the terrible wars of today."

Manipulation of stock prices
25 October 2014

US corporations manipulate their stock prices by buying back shares. Some companies borrow money to do this, which over time puts the company in greater debt. Others are sitting on piles of uninvested cash and can do this without borrowing.

Rana Plaza factory collapse
25 October 2014

The survivors and relatives of the workers killed in the collapse of the Rana Plaza factories have only begun to get compensation.

What is really needed is an end to the business-controlled globalization that lets multinational companies make states such as Bangladesh compete to allow the worst exploitation of workers. Let's replace it with a new form of worker-focused globalization, in which countries legislate that "If you sell goods here, the factories that make them must pay and treat workers according to our standards, no matter where they are working."

UK wildlife habitat protection
25 October 2014

On land and now on sea, the organizations responsible for protecting wildlife habitat in the UK have become friendly with the industries that destroy it.

Russian media censorship
25 October 2014

Russian journalists must now operate from Latvia due to Russian media censorship.

Will we see Australian journalists operating from Indonesia due to Australian media censorship?

Misogyny
24 October 2014

The internet is crawling with misogyny, and any woman doing something controversial is likely to be attacked by posted threats of violence.

The examples cited in this article seem sick and twisted to me, but the worst thing I find in it is the assumption that women who are raped, or even seen semi-nude, have something to be ashamed of. That's the explicit assumption of the Indian rapists that make videos of the act, as well as their victim who was interviewed. She expects people to condemn and shun her if they know she was raped. People who do that are committing the most basic injustice.

We can see this attitude in the firing, by an elite Canadian high school, of a drama teacher because who made porn films in 1970. (She is now 73 years old.)

What, the administrators ask, will today's high school students think from knowing their teacher made porn 45 years ago? Perhaps "Older generations were just like us"? Or perhaps, "Our administration wants women to be weak and susceptible to misogyny"?

Herbicide
24 October 2014

Earthjustice and farmers have sued to block use of 2,4-D herbicide (best known as part of the toxic Agent Orange that the US dropped on Vietnam).

Energy
24 October 2014

The EU has adopted the target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.

It is an ambitious target, but it lacks firm measures to achieve the goal.

Meanwhile, Australia plans a new policy for boosting fossil fuel investment and holding back growth of renewable energy.

Wisconsin
24 October 2014

The Republican candidate for attorney general of Wisconsin wants criminal investigation laws changed to give politicians special privilege.

BBC
24 October 2014

The BBC presented a documentary accusing the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front of broad war crimes. In response, it proposes to ban the BBC in Rwanda.

That seems like a plea of guilty.

Selling Data
24 October 2014

Schools and hospitals in the US are selling data about the students and patients they are supposed to serve.

Online Avatars
24 October 2014

Civil liberties advocate opposes use of online avatars to catch sex offenders.

There are two issues here. First, the question of whether a person should face prosecution for a fictitious crime against a fictitious person. Second, supposing the answer is yes, there is the issue of entrapment, luring the person to commit the fictitious crime.

UK's Economy
24 October 2014

The UK's economy has experienced a structural change of low pay for workers, starting in 2003, and apparently permanent.

Now that the UK has more or less exempted the rich and multinational companies from tax, the tax burden falls mainly on workers. Thus, the low pay wipes out tax revenue. The rich and businesses must be put into the tax base.

Chicago Police Department
24 October 2014

Amid Shootings, Chicago Police Department Upholds Culture of Impunity.

Some killer thugs even get awards.

El Salvador
24 October 2014

El Salvador s Fight Against Gold Mine Will Be Decided in D.C.

These treaties do not deserve to be obeyed, only torn up. That's what the Salvadoran government should do.

Driver
24 October 2014

FTDI's proprietary driver for its USB-to-serial chips sabotages alternative replacement chips when it finds them.

The driver can be used for sabotage because it is nonfree software.

There is nothing whatsoever wrong with making other compatible chips, and it is wrong to call them "counterfeit" unless they are sold dishonestly.