![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
One post more - 17 February 2010
Feb. 18th, 2010 08:21 amGreetings, populists, papists, and the infallible! A suggestion for a tax on speculative financial transactions, named after the legendary figure who robbed the rich and redistributed to the poor.
A reminder from the Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics Department - the way you word a question impacts the responses to it - people favor openly gay and lesbian people serving in the military, but favor homosexuals less.
A column on the prevalence and lack of action regarding bullies in the lives of schoolchildren. From that point, the Actually Looking Out For The Children Department offers some perspective on the prison-like nature of schools and the problems that happen when the teachers or administrations are either indifferent or actively encouraging the hostility and the prison environment.
Also of professional and personal interest, Christopher Handley, charged with possession of prohibited material for his collection of adult-oriented manga depicting potentially underage sex, was sentenced to six months in prison, a very good deal considering he could have been given 15 years as a maximum. For the reasons why this is a horrible precedent to set, and why icky speech should be defended as a matter of principle, Neil Gaiman still holds pre-eminent place. This is tempered by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
krinndnz, who points out icky speech carries deviant connections with it, and no matter how hard or how sound the argument is, people will always vote down someone they consider deviant, and especially so if those deviants are sexual. Thus, Gaiman and Krinn are both right - it is worth fighting for because the decision is an erosion of free speech, but anyone taking up the cause should know they are most likely to lose, because the opposition can invoke Moral Outrage, THINK OF THE CHILDRENS, and "kiddie porn" any time they damn well please, and it will look like it to the casual eye enough for it to stick.
Furthermore, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games began in interest. We hope that all nations in the world hear the call to the sport and to the truce that should be. Some of the athletes competing are from climates you wouldn't think produce winter sports. That said, remember that "athlete" means "one who competes for an athlon", where "athlon" is "prize", and thus, there is always an athlete somewhere.
Speaking of athletic competitions, a remix of the Dodge Super Bowl advertisement to show the female side of the equation.
And, finally, a need to set a DVR or something - President Obama will deliver the undergraduate commencement address at the University of Michigan on May 1.
Internationally, a good question to ask of the upcoming world - how much reuse is plagarism and how much is a fair use remix? An author, now finalist for a book prize, took some of her material wholesale from another book. Too much? Not according to some of the judges, who, while noting the work isn't clean, still think it has great appeal and should be recognized.
On more serious matters, Xe, nee Blackwater, has been accused of hiring a prostitute on the United States taxpayer's dime, along with a subsidiary corporation accused of double-billing the government for travel expenses, as part of systematic fraud for the last two years. Excessive force, a founder that believes the company are Crusaders, and now accusations fleecing the government for more money than already-huge contracts. What is it going to take, if these latest accusations are substantiated, for Blackwater to have its license rescinded, its contracts canceled, and the company assets seized?
The BBC runs a three-part series on women in the military, including a colonel and mother of four, a member of the mixed-gender IDF arguing that women should take on the dangerous roles, too, and the account of a victim of sexual assault while in service to her country, and the people working in the military to prosecute and make those crimes more serious.
Techniques utilized by Wall Street to mask their obligations were also used by several European governments to mask their debts. When the house of cards comes tumbling down, suddenly everyone can see the lack of a real support structure.
Last out, another Taliban leader captured, this one apparently the "shadow governor" of a region of the country.
Domestically, security theater strikes again - Arabic-language flashcards were sufficient for the TSA to detain a student and question him as a potential terrorist for several hours. Because any interest in the Arabic language is clearly only for the purposes of becoming a terrorist. Remind me again what languages our intelligence specialists are really hurting on? And why we conitnue to let clowns like the TSA put us through ridiculous, after-the-fact processes in the name of national security and our safety? Despite this, he was questioned by seven agents before they were finally able to determine what should have been obvious - he wasn't a threat. On a different front, Vice President Biden tore into his predecessor's continued insistence that when they handled a terror suspect the same way, it was somehow different and better.
A group in Michigan, the Thomas More Law Center, has filed suit claiming the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr Hate Crimes Act is an affront to their religious freedom, an attempt to silence their dissent to the "homosexual agenda", thus criminalizing First Amendment protected speech and thought, and that homosexuals shouldn't get special status as a protected class. Okay, let's explain this one with pretty pictures and small words. Hate crimes cover actions. Religious freedom covers beliefs. We do not stop you from believing any damn thing you want. We do stop you from acting on those beliefs if they would be harmful to the people around you. Believe that homosexuals are hell-bound sinners who deserve to be beaten or forcibly put through conversion "therapy" all you like. You can talk all you like about those beliefs, in public, at the pulpit, in your family gatherings Take action on those beliefs, like, say, going out and beating a homosexual, and we will arrest you and prosecute you for hate crimes. For an entity claiming to be a law center, they're not exactly well-versed in it. And they're also claiming that the Shepard beating was about money and drugs, despite the confession of one of the attackers that it was all about finding a homosexual to beat. If you would like to read the complaint itself, The Thomas More Law Center helpfully provides you with a 27-page PDF. Stupid, stupid rat creatures. Although, one thing is in their favor - they're not known for assaulting members of the press.
The Bank of North Dakota, the nation's only state-owned bank, seems to be working out fairly well in the recession - enough that other states might be thinking of emulating it. It's certainly a better alternative than robbing three banks for enough money to pay one's mortgage, with the intent of paying it back, but as you can see, desperation drives people to do crazy things.
The company behind the FreeCreditReport.com website, Experian, is being sued for deceptive practices, claiming that the service doesn't tell them in an obvious enough manner they're signing up for a $15/month credit monitoring service before they can get their legally-mandated credit report. This was coming, it was just a matter of when. Let's see how the ruling shakes out.
In technology, A patch from Microsoft causes some users to go straight to the BSOD. Some call this an improvement on the OS.
More vindication that people do not read the signs on the Internet, and tend to browse by searching, figuring the top result of the search is the place they were searching for, even when it's a totally different website address and site. Apparently, The Internet is Hard. So we should simplify for them.
Elsewhere, Laser-based weaponry successfuly defeats ballistic missile, funding available for new construction of nuclear power plants, and The White House needs to hire a social media manager. Could you Tweet for the President?
Google take a page from the Livejournal playbook and roasts music blogs with no warning nor ability to make archival copies, basically destroying a large swath of the Web - this from the people who prefer to retain everything. I'm guessing it had something to do with a DMCA complaint somewhere, but the notices and messages are pretty deliberately vague. Google is also feeling evil with a refusal to release the demographic data of their employees, joining four other companies in their refusals.
In the opinions, here's one of my own, after presented with this P.O.S. regarding the shooter at the University of Alabama's Dungeons and Dragons gaming - really? Tabletop gaming is still considered some sort of factor in motivating someone? Because people who can imagine, and who have the vehicles for their imagination are automatically suspect? What the hell? Go do some real police work and some real journalism.
Last for tonight, even the undead celebrate a day about hearts, and the advantages geeks have over other potential mates, a piece from the past made good again.
A reminder from the Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics Department - the way you word a question impacts the responses to it - people favor openly gay and lesbian people serving in the military, but favor homosexuals less.
A column on the prevalence and lack of action regarding bullies in the lives of schoolchildren. From that point, the Actually Looking Out For The Children Department offers some perspective on the prison-like nature of schools and the problems that happen when the teachers or administrations are either indifferent or actively encouraging the hostility and the prison environment.
Also of professional and personal interest, Christopher Handley, charged with possession of prohibited material for his collection of adult-oriented manga depicting potentially underage sex, was sentenced to six months in prison, a very good deal considering he could have been given 15 years as a maximum. For the reasons why this is a horrible precedent to set, and why icky speech should be defended as a matter of principle, Neil Gaiman still holds pre-eminent place. This is tempered by
krinndnz, who points out icky speech carries deviant connections with it, and no matter how hard or how sound the argument is, people will always vote down someone they consider deviant, and especially so if those deviants are sexual. Thus, Gaiman and Krinn are both right - it is worth fighting for because the decision is an erosion of free speech, but anyone taking up the cause should know they are most likely to lose, because the opposition can invoke Moral Outrage, THINK OF THE CHILDRENS, and "kiddie porn" any time they damn well please, and it will look like it to the casual eye enough for it to stick.Furthermore, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games began in interest. We hope that all nations in the world hear the call to the sport and to the truce that should be. Some of the athletes competing are from climates you wouldn't think produce winter sports. That said, remember that "athlete" means "one who competes for an athlon", where "athlon" is "prize", and thus, there is always an athlete somewhere.
Speaking of athletic competitions, a remix of the Dodge Super Bowl advertisement to show the female side of the equation.
And, finally, a need to set a DVR or something - President Obama will deliver the undergraduate commencement address at the University of Michigan on May 1.
Internationally, a good question to ask of the upcoming world - how much reuse is plagarism and how much is a fair use remix? An author, now finalist for a book prize, took some of her material wholesale from another book. Too much? Not according to some of the judges, who, while noting the work isn't clean, still think it has great appeal and should be recognized.
On more serious matters, Xe, nee Blackwater, has been accused of hiring a prostitute on the United States taxpayer's dime, along with a subsidiary corporation accused of double-billing the government for travel expenses, as part of systematic fraud for the last two years. Excessive force, a founder that believes the company are Crusaders, and now accusations fleecing the government for more money than already-huge contracts. What is it going to take, if these latest accusations are substantiated, for Blackwater to have its license rescinded, its contracts canceled, and the company assets seized?
The BBC runs a three-part series on women in the military, including a colonel and mother of four, a member of the mixed-gender IDF arguing that women should take on the dangerous roles, too, and the account of a victim of sexual assault while in service to her country, and the people working in the military to prosecute and make those crimes more serious.
Techniques utilized by Wall Street to mask their obligations were also used by several European governments to mask their debts. When the house of cards comes tumbling down, suddenly everyone can see the lack of a real support structure.
Last out, another Taliban leader captured, this one apparently the "shadow governor" of a region of the country.
Domestically, security theater strikes again - Arabic-language flashcards were sufficient for the TSA to detain a student and question him as a potential terrorist for several hours. Because any interest in the Arabic language is clearly only for the purposes of becoming a terrorist. Remind me again what languages our intelligence specialists are really hurting on? And why we conitnue to let clowns like the TSA put us through ridiculous, after-the-fact processes in the name of national security and our safety? Despite this, he was questioned by seven agents before they were finally able to determine what should have been obvious - he wasn't a threat. On a different front, Vice President Biden tore into his predecessor's continued insistence that when they handled a terror suspect the same way, it was somehow different and better.
A group in Michigan, the Thomas More Law Center, has filed suit claiming the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr Hate Crimes Act is an affront to their religious freedom, an attempt to silence their dissent to the "homosexual agenda", thus criminalizing First Amendment protected speech and thought, and that homosexuals shouldn't get special status as a protected class. Okay, let's explain this one with pretty pictures and small words. Hate crimes cover actions. Religious freedom covers beliefs. We do not stop you from believing any damn thing you want. We do stop you from acting on those beliefs if they would be harmful to the people around you. Believe that homosexuals are hell-bound sinners who deserve to be beaten or forcibly put through conversion "therapy" all you like. You can talk all you like about those beliefs, in public, at the pulpit, in your family gatherings Take action on those beliefs, like, say, going out and beating a homosexual, and we will arrest you and prosecute you for hate crimes. For an entity claiming to be a law center, they're not exactly well-versed in it. And they're also claiming that the Shepard beating was about money and drugs, despite the confession of one of the attackers that it was all about finding a homosexual to beat. If you would like to read the complaint itself, The Thomas More Law Center helpfully provides you with a 27-page PDF. Stupid, stupid rat creatures. Although, one thing is in their favor - they're not known for assaulting members of the press.
The Bank of North Dakota, the nation's only state-owned bank, seems to be working out fairly well in the recession - enough that other states might be thinking of emulating it. It's certainly a better alternative than robbing three banks for enough money to pay one's mortgage, with the intent of paying it back, but as you can see, desperation drives people to do crazy things.
The company behind the FreeCreditReport.com website, Experian, is being sued for deceptive practices, claiming that the service doesn't tell them in an obvious enough manner they're signing up for a $15/month credit monitoring service before they can get their legally-mandated credit report. This was coming, it was just a matter of when. Let's see how the ruling shakes out.
In technology, A patch from Microsoft causes some users to go straight to the BSOD. Some call this an improvement on the OS.
More vindication that people do not read the signs on the Internet, and tend to browse by searching, figuring the top result of the search is the place they were searching for, even when it's a totally different website address and site. Apparently, The Internet is Hard. So we should simplify for them.
Elsewhere, Laser-based weaponry successfuly defeats ballistic missile, funding available for new construction of nuclear power plants, and The White House needs to hire a social media manager. Could you Tweet for the President?
Google take a page from the Livejournal playbook and roasts music blogs with no warning nor ability to make archival copies, basically destroying a large swath of the Web - this from the people who prefer to retain everything. I'm guessing it had something to do with a DMCA complaint somewhere, but the notices and messages are pretty deliberately vague. Google is also feeling evil with a refusal to release the demographic data of their employees, joining four other companies in their refusals.
In the opinions, here's one of my own, after presented with this P.O.S. regarding the shooter at the University of Alabama's Dungeons and Dragons gaming - really? Tabletop gaming is still considered some sort of factor in motivating someone? Because people who can imagine, and who have the vehicles for their imagination are automatically suspect? What the hell? Go do some real police work and some real journalism.
Last for tonight, even the undead celebrate a day about hearts, and the advantages geeks have over other potential mates, a piece from the past made good again.
