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Big Brother is coming to get you!!
Big Brother is coming to get you!!
U.S. Web-Tracking Plan Stirs Privacy Fears By Spencer S. Hsu and Cecilia Kang Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, August 11, 2009 The Obama administration is proposing to scale back a long-standing ban on tracking how people use government Internet sites with "cookies" and other technologies, raising alarms among privacy groups. A two-week public comment period ended Monday on a proposal by the White House Office of Management and Budget to end a ban on federal Internet sites using such technologies and replace it with other privacy safeguards. The current prohibition, in place since 2000, can be waived if an agency head cites a "compelling need." Supporters of a change say social networking and similar services, which often take advantage of the tracking technologies, have transformed how people communicate over the Internet, and Obama's aides say those services can make government more transparent and increase public involvement. Some privacy groups say the proposal amounts to a "massive" and unexplained shift in government policy. In a statement Monday, American Civil Liberties Union spokesman Michael Macleod-Ball said the move could "allow the mass collection of personal information of every user of a federal government website." Even groups that support updating the policy question whether the administration is seeking changes at the request of private companies, such as online search giant Google, as the industry's economic clout and influence in Washington have grown rapidly. Two prominent technology policy advocacy groups, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Electronic Frontier Foundation, cited the terms of a Feb. 19 contract with Google, in which a unnamed federal agency explicitly carved out an exemption from the ban so that the agency could use Google's YouTube video player. Contract Terms The terms of the contract, negotiated through the General Services Administration, "expressly waives those rules or guidelines as they may apply to Google." The contract was obtained by EPIC through a Freedom of Information Act request. "Our primary concern is that the GSA has failed to protect the privacy rights of U.S. citizens," EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg said. "The expectation is they should be complying with the government regulations, not that the government should change its regulations to accommodate these companies." Cindy Cohn, legal director for Electronic Frontier Foundation, called the contract "troubling." "It appears that these companies are forcing the government to lower the privacy protections that the government had promised the American people," Cohn said. "The government should be requiring companies to raise the level of privacy protection if they want government contracts." The episode recalls a dispute in January when critics complained that a redesigned White House Web site featured embedded Google YouTube videos -- depicting events such as the president's weekly address -- that used tracking cookies. The White House and Google later reassured users that they had stopped collecting data. But the current ban on cookies, according to senior OMB officials, applies only to federal agencies and not third parties. That means that a visitor to http://www.whitehouse.gov, for example, isn't tracked by the government, but information about a user who clicks on a YouTube video on the site could be tracked by Google, according to a source at the company with knowledge of the partnership with the Obama administration. Google spokeswoman Christine Chen directed broader questions to the government, but said in a statement that the White House use of YouTube "is just one example of how government and citizens communicate more effectively online, and we are proud of having worked closely with the White House to provide privacy protections for users." GSA and White House officials would not answer questions, releasing only a statement by OMB spokesman Kenneth Baer that said the administration is committed to protecting users' privacy. "That is why when we asked for public comment on a new cookie policy, we specifically identified privacy considerations as a main area of focus," Baer wrote. In a May 28 letter responding to EPIC's public records request, Zachariah I. Miller, a GSA presidential management fellow, said "...GSA and the rest of the Government do take personal privacy seriously and apply all existing privacy statutes and regulations in this area." Similar to Online Stores Vivek Kundra, the government's chief information officer, and OMB official Michael Fitzpatrick, wrote in a July 24 blog posting that the policy review is intended to improve customer service by allowing agencies to analyze how people use their sites and to remember individual visitors' "data, settings or preferences." Such use is similar to online stores' creation of personalized "shopping cart" services that have won wide public acceptance. The pair proposed that if the change is made, visitors be clearly notified that tracking technologies are being used and allow them to opt out without penalty. For technologies that track users over more than a single Internet session, known as "persistent identifiers," there would be higher levels of privacy safeguards, they said. EFF and another group, the Center for Democracy and Technology, have said that the time has come to expand privacy safeguards to new tracking technologies. At the same time, they say that the cookie ban might be too broad, keeping the government from improving its services for the public. |
China jails "Sexting" cell users
China mobile users face jail for sexy texts Aug 11 05:20 AM US/Eastern Mobile phone users in central China could face jail for sending unwanted erotic text messages while in the north, one local Communist Party branch has held 480 meetings on the problem in the past month. Henan province has announced that firing off just one such message could see the sender slapped in detention for up to five days, the China Daily reported on Tuesday. Three messages could result in 10 days behind bars and a fine of 500 yuan (73 dollars), the English-language newspaper reported. The province's legal office announced the new penalties to address the growing problem of unwanted and inappropriate text messages in a country with more than 600 million mobile phone users, it said. "I'm totally for the rules. It's uncomfortable to get dirty text messages from male friends and even more gross when they are from strangers," Zhang Kai, 26, told the daily. "But I'll take them as jokes and reply if they are from my female friends," said Zhang, whose gender was not given. Henan is not the first province to tackle the problem. Liaoning in the northeast passed a regulation earlier this year that such messages could be part of a sexual harassment charge, the paper said. In a similar move, Communist Party members in Shenze county, in Hebei province, will be punished for sending text messages with "inappropriate" content, the People's Daily said. "Obscene information not only harms the people's soul but harms the people's morality as well," it quoted the party rule as saying. Offenders would face an unspecified punishment and the worst ones would be named and shamed in the media. Since July 10, Shenze party officials have held 480 meetings to discuss the harmful effects of obscene messages, a degree of dedication that has been questioned by the public, the People's Daily said. "It's not necessary to hold 480 meetings on this. This is an enormous waste of administrative resources," an Internet user named Han Haoyue was quoted as saying. |
Charlotte police blame the Internet for rise in rape cases
Police blame internet for increase of rapes
Posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 Charlotte police blame the Internet for rise in rape cases By Christsopher D. Kirkpatrick | Charlotte Observer CHARLOTTE ? Reported rape is up 16 percent in Mecklenburg County this year, fueled by the popularity of Internet dating and online classifieds offering sexual services, Charlotte police and experts say. In the past, (rapists) would have to hunt and stalk,? said Sgt. Darrell Price, who's in charge of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's sexual assault unit. ?Now, all you have to do is (get on the Internet), and she's waiting for you at a hotel room.? Officials also say a higher percentage of victims each year are coming forward to report rape. Nationally, the number of rapes reported to police has increased by 30 percent since 1993, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a nonprofit advocacy group. Greater media coverage, including attention from Oprah Winfrey, is lessening the shame and social stigma of being a victim, says Brandy Redmile Stephens, victim services director for Charlotte's United Family Services. The nonprofit has been seeing more victims lately, but she couldn't say how many more. It's getting easier for them to understand that it's not something they should keep a secret,? she said. ?They're more informed.? In North Carolina, a new state law that passed this year allows victims to provide medical evidence anonymously and free before deciding if they want to call police. To be effective, medical evidence needs to be collected within 72 hours of an assault. In the past, victims without medical insurance might have paid $800 or more for an ambulance, emergency room and for a doctor or nurse to collect the evidence, Stephens estimated. The state-run N.C. Rape Victims Assistance Program now reimburses a medical staff up to $1,000. Medical professionals also used to require the victim to report the rape to police before they would collect evidence. So victims who had financial concerns or were too traumatized missed their chance to provide forensic evidence and regretted it later, Price said. Now, they can decide later if they want to file a police report and still preserve evidence, he said. ?It gives the victim much more power,? he said. Read the full story at CharlotteObserver.com. |
That's just awesome, I love when the Charlotte area gives all of us NC residents a good name. Between this and that crazy dumb blond on Big Brother, the world is going to think we're the host of the remake of Deliverance.
-SRD |
German jailed for life over Nazi massacre in Italy
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) ? A court jailed a 90-year-old former German army commander for life Tuesday for ordering a massacre of Italian civilians in 1944, in one of Germany's last major Nazi war crimes trials.
The court in the southern city of Munich convicted Josef Scheungraber for the murder of 10 people in a mass killing that ultimately claimed the lives of 14 villagers in Falzano di Cortona in Tuscany. Descendants of the victims sat in the courtroom as the verdict was read, embracing and brushing back each other's tears as they heard the sentence. The Nazi troops gunned down a 74-year-old woman and three men in the street on June 26, 1944, with Allied troops just a few kilometres (miles) away. The soldiers then forced 11 males aged between 15 and 66 into the ground floor of a farmhouse which they then blew up. Only the youngest, Gino Massetti, survived, but with serious injuries. Six decades later and an old man himself, Massetti testified during a previous trial in Italy. "Josef Scheungraber was the only officer in the company" of soldiers who carried out the murders in retaliation for an attack by Italian partisans that killed two German soldiers, presiding judge Manfred Goetzl said. Scheungraber, who was the commander of Gebirgs-Pionier-Bataillon 818, a mountain infantry battalion, had been charged with 14 counts of murder and one of attempted murder. He was convicted of 10 murders -- for the killings in the farmhouse -- but acquitted over the shootings due to a lack of evidence. "They were without any doubt civilians, farmers and the sons of farmers," Goetzl said, adding that the German soldiers had been driven by "vengeance, hate and rage against partisans who killed two of their soldiers." Scheungraber, dressed in a traditional Bavarian jacket, is hard of hearing and walks with a cane but appeared alert and in good health as he listened to the verdict against him. "This is a very important judgement for our families and for our loved ones who cannot be here," said Angiola Lescai, 60, who lost a grandfather and an uncle in the massacre. "It also sends a message for the future -- that certain things must not be allowed to happen and in the end, when they do, someone bears personal responsibility." "For 65 years, we have been waiting for truth and justice," Mayor Andrea Vignini said earlier, adding that many of the victims' families had moved away from the town because they could not bear the memories of the massacre. The prosecution had demanded a life sentence for Scheungraber, who had spent the decades since the war in the sleepy Bavarian town of Ottobrunn, running a woodworking shop and taking part in marches in memory of fallen Nazi soldiers. His defence attorneys called for his acquittal, citing contradictions in witness testimony 65 years on. They said they would appeal the sentence, which will likely only be heard next year. Until then, Scheuengraber will remain a free man. The chief Nazi hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff, underlined the importance of such trials, even decades after the war. "The victims of Falzano di Cortona are just as deserving today that their killers be punished as they were in 1944," he said in a statement. Scheungraber had pleaded his innocence throughout the 11-month trial, telling the Munich court that he handed the 11 males over to the military police, after which he "never heard what happened to them". He had been sentenced in absentia in September 2006 to life imprisonment by an Italian military tribunal in La Spezia. The La Spezia court has tried several former Nazis in absentia but none had been brought to justice, with Germany as a rule not extraditing its citizens without their consent. His trial was expected to be one of the last cases in Germany dealing with atrocities of the Nazi era. One other case pending is that of John Demjanjuk, a 89-year-old Nazi death camp guard deported in May from the United States who has been charged with accessory to the murder of 27,900 Jews. Last month he was declared fit to stand trial. Code:
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How is this hurting anyone???
 Suit: Women's clothes cost him job. Thomas said that she was forced to send Brant home one day because he was wearing ?Daisy Dukes.? ?Go home, I told him. But I didn?t fire him then,? she said. Brant denies ever wearing Daisy Dukes. ?The same clothing that I wore when I was hired, was the clothes they complained about,? he said. PHILADELPHIA. Daniel Brant wears women?s clothes because he says they better show off his feminine features. ?I think if you?re a masculine man and you have nice arms, then you wear a tight shirt and emphasize your arms,? he said. He wore high heels when he cut hair at the Chop Shop salon on the campus of Temple University because ?when you?re cutting someone?s hair you need to reach the top of their head." But according to a federal discrimination lawsuit the 25-year-old filed late last month, he was fired from the salon for dressing in women?s clothes. Brant says in the suit that the salon stopped sending male clients to him because he was ?too flamboyant? and that he was cut from five days a week to one after he was sent to work at the salon?s location on South Street. ?It really got to a point that I really had no choice,? he said of the suit. ?You can?t treat people like that in the workplace ever. This was something that was completely unfair.? The salon?s owner, Kathy Thomas, refutes Brant?s claims, saying that he was fired after he referred a client looking to get her eyebrows waxed to another shop. Both Brant and Thomas said that Chop Shop?s wax station was closed that day. "That's why he was fired," she said. "His story sounds good and newsworthy, but this has nothing to do with how he dressed." |
What do you expect??
It's like letting Al Queda off the bus on Main St. Des Moines, Iowa.
Officials see rise in militia groups across US Aug 12 12:09 AM US/Eastern By EILEEN SULLIVAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Militia groups with gripes against the government are regrouping across the country and could grow rapidly, according to an organization that tracks such trends. The stress of a poor economy and a liberal administration led by a black president are among the causes for the recent rise, the report from the Southern Poverty Law Center says. Conspiracy theories about a secret Mexican plan to reclaim the Southwest are also growing amid the public debate about illegal immigration. Bart McEntire, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told SPLC researchers that this is the most growth he's seen in more than a decade. "All it's lacking is a spark," McEntire said in the report. It's reminiscent of what was seen in the 1990s?right-wing militias, people ideologically against paying taxes and so-called "sovereign citizens" are popping up in large numbers, according to the report to be released Wednesday. The SPLC is a nonprofit civil rights group that, among other activities, investigates hate groups. Last October, someone from the Ohio Militia posted a recruiting video on YouTube, billed as a "wake-up call" for America. It's been viewed more than 60,000 times. "Things are bad, things are real bad, and it's going to be a lot worse," said the man on the video, who did not give his name. "Our country is in peril." The man is holding an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, and he encourages viewers to buy one. While anti-government sentiment has been on the rise over the last two years, there aren't as many threats and violent acts at this point as there were in the 1990s, according to the report. That movement bore the likes of Timothy McVeigh, who in 1995 blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City and killed 168 people. But McEntire fears it's only a matter of time. These militias are concentrated in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and the Deep South, according to Mark Potok, an SPLC staff director who co-wrote the report. Recruiting videos and other outreach on the Internet are on the rise, he said, and researchers from his center found at least 50 new groups in the last few months. The militia movement of the 1990s gained traction with growing concerns about gun control, environmental laws and anything perceived as liberal government meddling. The spark for that movement came in 1992 with an FBI standoff with white separatist Randall Weaver at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Weaver's wife and son were killed by an FBI sniper. And in 1993, a 52-day standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, resulted in nearly 80 deaths. These events rallied more people who became convinced that the government would murder its own citizens to promote its liberal agenda. Now officials are seeing a new generation of activists, according to the report. The law center spotlights Edward Koernke, a Michigan man who hosts an Internet radio show about militias. His father, Mark, was a major figure in the 1990s militia movement and served six years in prison for charges including assaulting police. Last year, officials warned about an increase in activity from militias in a five-year threat projection by the Homeland Security Department. "White supremacists and militias are more violent and thus more likely to conduct mass-casualty attacks on the scale of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing," the threat projection said. A series of domestic terrorism incidents over the past year have not been directly tied to organized militias, but the rhetoric behind some of the crimes are similar with that of the militia movement. For instance, the man charged with the April killings of three Pittsburgh police officers posted some of his views online. Richard Andrew Poplawski wrote that U.S. troops could be used against American citizens, and he thinks a gun ban could be coming. The FBI's assistant director for counterterrorism, Michael Heimbach, said that law enforcement officials need to identify people who go beyond hateful rhetoric and decide to commit violent acts and crimes. Heimbach said one of the bigger challenges is identifying the lone-wolf offenders. One alleged example of a lone-wolf offender is the 88-year-old man charged in the June shooting death of a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. ___ |
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Because you've seen it all right??
SI Burkini Issue
 Paris pool bans Muslim woman in 'burqini' swimsuit Aug 12 09:13 AM US/Eastern Paris pool bans Muslim woman in 'burqini' swimsuit A Paris swimming pool has refused entry to a young Muslim woman wearing a "burqini," a swimsuit that covers most of the body, officials said Wednesday. The pool ban came as French lawmakers conduct hearings on whether to ban the burqa after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the head-to-toe veil was "not welcome" in secular France. Officials in the Paris suburb of Emerainville said they let the woman swim in the pool in July wearing the "burqini," designed for Muslim women who want to swim without revealing their bodies. But when she returned in August they decided to apply hygiene rules and told her she could not swim if she insisted on wearing the garment, which resembles a wetsuit with built-in hood. Pool staff "reminded her of the rules that apply in all (public) swimming pools which forbid swimming while clothed," said Daniel Guillaume, an official with the pool management. Le Parisien newspaper said the woman, identified by her first name Carole, was a French convert to Islam and that she was determined to go to the courts to challenge the decision. "Quite simply, this is segregation," the paper quoted her as saying. "I will fight to try to change things. And if I see that the battle is lost, I cannot rule out leaving France." The newspaper ran a photo of the woman sporting her three-piece "burqini" which she said she purchased in Dubai during a recent holiday. "I bought it thinking that I could enjoy swimming without having to uncover myself," she said. Local mayor Alain Kelyor said "all this has nothing to do with Islam," adding that the "burqini" was "not an Islamic swimsuit, that type of suit does not exist in the Koran," the Muslim holy book. France, home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority, has set up a special panel of 32 lawmakers to consider whether a law should be enacted to bar Muslim women from wearing the full veil, known as a burqa or niqab. The country has had a long-running debate on how far it is willing to go to accommodate Islam without undermining the tradition of separating church and state, enshrined in a flagship 1905 law. The burqa debate in France has drawn chilling warnings from Al-Qaeda that it was ready to "take revenge for the honour of our daughters and sisters." Communist MP Andre Gerin, who heads the National Assembly's burqa commission, called the "burqini" ridiculous and said pool administrators were right. "We can't allow this. This is proof that there is a political agenda behind such dress," Gerin told Le Parisien. |
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Judge: Microsoft Banned from Selling Word in the US
August 12th, 2009 | by Pete Cashmore Welcome to the world of surprising patent lawsuits. A Texas judge ruled Tuesday that Microsoft cannot sell Word – yes, Microsoft Word, the cornerstone of Microsoft Office – in the United States. Toronto-based i4i Inc won an injunction against Microsoft regarding the company’s XML patents. In the words of i4i, the injunction “prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML”. Microsoft has been given 60 days to comply, reports Seattle PI. The injunction reads: Microsoft Corporation is hereby permanently enjoined from performing the following actions with Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft Word 2007, and Microsoft Word products not more than colorably different from Microsoft Word 2003 or Microsoft Word 2007 (collectively “Infringing and Future Word Products”) during the term of U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449: 1. selling, offering to sell, and/or importing in or into the United States any Infringing and Future Word Products that have the capability of opening a .XML, .DOCX, or .DOCM file (“an XML file”) containing custom XML; 2. using any Infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML; 3. instructing or encouraging anyone to use any Infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML; 4. providing support or assistance to anyone that describes how to use any infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML; and 5. testing, demonstrating, or marketing the ability of the Infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML. This injunction does not apply to any of the above actions wherein the Infringing and Future Word Products open an XML file as plain text. Needless to say, Microsoft won’t pull Word off the market. The company has said it plans to appeal, and i4i actually sells XML products for Word, making that company reliant on the ecosystem. An agreement will be reached: probably one involving Microsoft signing a big check. |
Woman to marry fairground ride
A 33-year-old church organist from Pennsylvania is planning to marry a magic carpet fairground ride. Amy Wolfe claims to have objectum sexuality, a condition that makes sufferers attracted to inanimate objects. She has been 'courting' the attraction, an 80ft gondola ride called 1001 Nachts, for a decade. According to the Daily Telegraph, Wolfe travels 160 miles to visit the attraction up to 10 times every year. It is estimated she has taken approximately 3,000 rides since first visiting the theme park at the age of 13. "I love him as much as women love their husbands and know we'll be together forever," she said. "I was instantly attracted to him sexually and mentally. "I wasn't freaked out, as it just felt so natural, but I didn't tell anyone about it because I knew it wasn't 'normal' to have feelings for a fairground ride." Wolfe sleeps with a picture of the ride on her ceiling. She also carries its spare nuts and bolts around in a bid to feel closer to the machinery. "I'm not hurting anyone and I can't help it," she added. "It's a part of who I am." After the wedding she plans to change her name to Amy Weber, in honour of the manufacturer of the attraction. |
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Paul Reubens revives Pee-wee Herman for new stage show
The red bow tie. The form-fitting gray suit. The white loafers. Oh, and that laugh. Pee-wee Herman is back and his creator, Paul Reubens, is overjoyed ? and more than a little nervous too.
"'?ve put part of him away for a long time, but part of him has always been here with me,? the soft-spoken actor said from his home in L.A. "I think it will be like riding a bike ? which is not a bad analogy for Pee-wee, by the way." But he added: "I have some fear that he won?t be funny after all this time. I don?t want to ruin it." After a hiatus of close to 20 years, Reubens announced Monday that he would be playing Pee-wee in a new stage show at the Music Box @ Fonda in Hollywood, with tickets going on sale today. The production, titled "The Pee-wee Herman Show" and set to run Nov. 19-29, is a reimagined version of the actor?s original theatrical show of the same name that began at the Groundlings Theatre in 1981. It played at the Roxy in L.A. for five months in the early ?80s and helped bring Pee-wee national recognition, including an HBO special and the 1985 film "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," directed by Tim Burton. The show will feature the same story line as the original: Pee-wee, a nerdy man-child with a colorful menagerie of anthropomorphic friends, is granted a wish to learn to fly but gives the wish away, much to his eventual regret. Reubens said he has revised parts of the story to include new songs as well as characters from his popular CBS television series, "Pee-wee?s Playhouse." In one notable change, a character played on stage by the late comic actor Phil Hartman has been replaced with another character. "I didn't want to be looking at someone else playing Phil's part," Reubens said. Among the characters familiar from the TV series that will appear on stage will be Pee-wee's talking chair, Chairry, and his friend Pterri the pterodactyl. "It has a lot of new material and a lot of old material," Reubens said. "I felt that doing this show so many years later and having the TV show in between " people are going to ask, "Where's the talking chair?" So I've added characters from the TV series to the show." "Pee-wee's Playhouse" aired on CBS in 1986-91 and helped broaden Pee-wee?s appeal among children. (The character also appeared in "Big Top Pee-wee," the poorly received 1988 follow-up to "Pee-wee's Big Adventure.") Though it's ambiguous as to whom the new stage show will be geared, Pee-wee's enduring cult status is part of the reason that producers Jared Geller and David Foster approached Reubens two years ago about resurrecting the character. "Pee-wee appeals to such a great cross-section of ages," said Geller. "The character is so honest and surreal. It's one of those things that speaks to individuals who feel they may be different from everyone else." Reubens, who is also one of the show"s producers, said he hoped the show would lead to an even bigger resurgence in all things Pee-wee. "Honestly, I have a movie script that?s based on my CBS TV series, and I thought this would be a great way to get that made," he said. Since the heyday of the Pee-wee franchise, Reubens' career has been a roller-coaster ride of legal fiascoes and tentative attempts at a comeback. In 1991, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure after he was arrested in Florida in an adult movie theater. In 2002, he was charged with possessing child pornography because of images in his art collection, ultimately pleading guilty to a misdemeanor obscenity charge in 2004 in exchange for a lighter sentence. "I don't think those events have an appropriate place in discussion of the new show,? Reubens said. "I'm sure people will be discussing it, but I won't." The actor has spent the last 10 years mostly in guest-star roles on television, like his recent stint on NBC?s ?30 Rock? as a buffoonish member of a royal European family. He has also acted in a handful of prestigious indie films, including ?Blow? and the upcoming ?Life During Wartime? and ?Nailed.? Now 56, Reubens said that returning to Pee-wee after such a long sojourn in the showbiz wilderness has given him ample time for reflection. ?It is ironic to be on this end of it all and to be redoing it,? he said. ?I?ve never said how old Pee-wee is. People attach their own age to him. I never decided myself. ?I?m glad people will be 20 to 30 feet away from me on stage,? he said. ?I?m trying to work out a system where people with bad vision sit in front. I think it will work.? -- David Ng Code:
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Even the Chinese are into it
Even the Chinese are into it
China officials shown at Thai transvestite show Aug 14 03:48 AM US/Eastern Chinese officials on a "study visit" to Thailand have triggered outrage after photographs of them at a transvestite show were posted on the Internet. In one of the photos published in the Beijing News Friday, an official from Luzhou town in the southwestern province of Sichuan is shown dipping into his pocket for money to give to a transvestite performer. "Going to see transvestites in Thailand is normal, the problem is whose money they used to go!" one angry Internet user said in a posting. Following the publication of the photos, the town authorities ordered an investigation of the five people who took part in the "study visit" in 2004. According to the newspaper, the visit took place as part of an MBA programme for several Luzhou officials in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The Communist Party secretary of Luzhou promised to investigate the affair and said civil servants who had broken the law and regulations would be punished. Official overseas trips by local civil servants are regularly criticised on the Internet and in the Chinese media as being holidays in disguise. |
Elmore County man gets 30 years for child porn
Posted by Associated Press August 11, 2009 3:49 PM WETUMPKA -- A 21-year-old man, who told Montgomery police during a job interview that he possessed child pornography and had sex with an underage girl, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. Circuit Judge Ben Fuller sentenced Max D. Hinton of Deatsville on Monday after his conviction of second-degree rape, sodomy , enticing a child for immoral purposes and producing and possessing child pornography. The girl testified the two had consensual sex when she was 15 and he was 17. But a person younger than 16 in Alabama can't legally consent to have sex, and the judge voiced outrage over the child pornography involving girls as young as 6. There was no explanation why Hinton mentioned the pornography in his job interview, which prompted an investigation and his arrest. |
Man accused of having sex with his car An Albuquerque man faces indecent exposure charges after police say children saw him simulating a sex act with his car in a grocery store parking lot. Danny Brawner, 46, was indicted on two counts of aggravated indecent exposure and one count of indecent exposure for the July 28 incident in the parking lot of the Smith?s Food and Drug store on 101 Coors Blvd. NW, according to a news release from Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg?s office. Witnesses told police they saw Brawner ?humping? his car?s trunk while swinging his arms in the air and shouting. His pants were around his ankles, witnesses said. An officer said he found Brawner asleep next to his car. The officer woke him up and arrested him. The officer said Brawner appeared to be intoxicated. I really hope to God that he was intoxicated because, frankly, if you?re pulling your pants down at a grocery store parking lot and humping your car trunk in broad daylight as a SOBER activity, you really shouldn?t continue to be alive. Also, I fail to see how it?s ?simulating sex??in my eyes, once the pants come down, the simulation part has totally stopped and it has become full-on game time. Which is how I lay claim to having slept with tens of thousands of women. Yes, it might not have been sex in the truest sense, but the pants were down, there was yelling and I left crying and unsatisfied. If that?s not sex, I don?t know what is. |
British sniper describes moment he shot Taliban commander... from TWO KILOMETRES away
A British sniper killed a Taliban leader with the longest-ever fatal bullet shot in Afghanistan - from nearly TWO KILOMETRES away. Corporal Christopher Reynolds, 25, camped on the roof of a shop for three days as he waited for the perfect conditions to shoot the terrorist commander. He calculated the range, wind and trajectory before pulling the trigger - and the bullet flew 1,853 metres before hitting the target in the chest. The warlord, known as 'Mula', is thought to be responsible for co-ordinating several attacks against British and American troops since the outbreak of war in 2001. Cpl Reynolds, of 3 Scots, The Black Watch, who has already killed 32 rebel fighters, has now been credited with the longest kill in Afghanistan at 1.15 miles away. The incident happened last week during heavy fighting in the town of Babaji in Helmand Province. Today he told how the Taliban chief slumped into the arms of a stunned colleague after being hit by the 'lead sleeping tablet'. Cpl Reynolds, a father-of-one, said: 'We were in a bazaar for days in some very heavy fighting and had taken up a position on a shop roof to observe the surrounding area. 'From the first few minutes after we landed, we came into contact with the enemy. 'We were taking fire all the time. We were observing down the valley and I saw a group of five Taliban. 'I identified one straight away as the commander because I watched him through the scope and when he spoke on the radio, the other one would do what he said. 'I saw that he had a weapon, an AK47. We did all the calculations for range, wind speed and all that. 'I have to admit the first round landed next to him. We were so far away that he didn't even realise he was being shot at. 'We changed our aim and when I took into account different factors like the trajectory of the bullet, my gun scope was actually aiming at the top of a doorway. 'I fired and the bullet went off, coming down and hitting him in the chest. 'He dropped straight away into the arms of a fighter behind him. The guy just panicked and dropped the leader and ran away. 'He had been given a lead sleeping tablet. I was quite proud of that shot - it is the longest recorded kill in Afghanistan.' Cpl Reynolds, who has been in Afghanistan since March, was camped with spotter Lance Corporal David Hatton when they noticed Mula walk into range. In the ensuing battle, an Afghan sniper was taken out by one of Cpl Reynolds' comrades - who fired a state-of-the-art Javelin missile launcher. L/Cpl Hatton, 20, from Castlemilk, in Glasgow, said: 'We had been in position for three days when he made that shot. I was the spotter on that job and I was giving him the information about the target. 'He did a top job that day - but we are all sick about him going on about it and telling us what a great shot he is.' Cpl Reynolds, of Dalgety Bay in Fife, Scotland, is on his first tour of Afghanistan but has previously served in Iraq. His wife Becca, 29, who lives in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, with their three-year-old son Joshua yesterday hailed her husband a hero. She said: 'I was ecstatic when I found out what he had done. I thought it was fantastic, not only for him but for the whole of Black Watch. 'He said he keeps on going on about it and everyone over there is telling him to shut up. 'He is on patrol at the moment but I speak to him about once a week. 'This is his first time in Afghanistan. he has been there since March and has been in Iraq before as well. 'He has got his screwed on and really takes his job seriously. He loves it.' Code:
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Thats pretty amazing but I couldn't imagine being 20 and having killed over 30 people. I just turned 23 and I have only killed a few so far. He has the upper hand of being Glasweigan of course, they start well young!
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Obama Retreats
Obama Retreats
  White House appears ready to drop 'public option' By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer ? 51 mins ago WASHINGTON ? Apparently ready to abandon the idea, President Barack Obama's health secretary said Sunday a government alternative to private health insurance is "not the essential element" of the administration's health care overhaul. The White House indicated it could jettison the contentious public option and settle on insurance cooperatives as an acceptable alternative, a move embraced by some Republicans lawmakers who have strongly opposed the administration's approach so far. Officials from both political parties reached across the aisle in an effort to find compromises on proposals they left behind when they returned to their districts for an August recess. Obama has been pressing for the government to run a health insurance organization to help cover the nation's almost 50 million uninsured. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the White House would be open to co-ops instead of a government-run public option, a sign Democrats want a compromise so they can declare a victory on the must-win showdown. "I think there will be a competitor to private insurers," she said. "That's really the essential part, is you don't turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing. We need some choices, we need some competition." Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said co-ops might be a politically acceptable alternative as "a step away from the government takeover of the health care system" that the GOP has assailed. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate's budget committee, pushed the co-op model as an alternative, saying it has worked in other business models. As proposed by Conrad, the co-ops would receive federal startup money, but then would operate independently of the government. They would have to maintain the same financial reserves that private companies are required to keep to handle unexpectedly high claims. Republicans say a public option would have unfair advantages that would drive private insurers out of business. Critics say co-ops would not be genuine public options for health insurance. Meanwhile, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he would return to the bargaining sessions to find a bipartisan solution to a health care problem that has long vexed Washington. "I'm always ready to go back to the bargaining table," Hatch said. "Heck, I've probably helped pass more bipartisan health care legislation than anybody I know." That legislation, however, seemed likely to strike end-of-life counseling sessions. Former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin has called the session "death panels," a label that has drawn rebuke from her fellow Republicans as well as Democrats. Even so, Sebelius said the proposal was likely to be dropped from the final bill. "We wanted to make sure doctors were reimbursed for that very important consultation if family members chose to make it, and instead it's been turned into this scare tactic and probably will be off the table," she said. "And that's not good news for the American public and not good news for family members." Sebelius spoke on CNN's "State of the Union" and ABC's "This Week." Shelby and Conrad appeared on "Fox News Sunday." Hatch was interviewed on "This Week." |
Suicide
Murder fugitive found dead in B.C. hotel room Updated Sun. Aug. 23 2009 10:15 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff A former reality TV contestant wanted in the brutal murder of his ex-wife has been found dead, the RCMP said Sunday evening, ending an intense manhunt that spanned both sides of the border. Ryan Jenkins' body was found in a hotel room in Hope, B.C., which is about 100 kilometres northeast of Vancouver. Police say the death is the result of an apparent suicide. "At this time, the investigation into the circumstances of his death is continuing, but preliminary evidence suggests that he took his own life," said RCMP Sgt. Duncan Pound in Vancouver. Meanwhile, sources told CTV's Alberta Bureau Chief Janet Dirks that Jenkins, a former real estate developer, hanged himself in his motel room. Jenkins, 32, had been charged by U.S. authorities with first-degree murder in the death Jasmine Fiore, a 28-year-old former swimsuit model. Fiore's mutilated body was discovered last weekend stuffed into a suitcase in a Los Angeles-area dumpster. Investigators on both sides of the border had asked for assistance from the public in their search for Jenkins, who is suspected of strangling Fiore and reporting her missing the evening of Aug. 15, then fleeing. Police suspected that Jenkins had likely snuck back into his home country by car, boat and on foot. Police didn't say how long Jenkins' body had been in the motel room. There had also been a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Jenkins and Fiore met in Las Vegas in March and married soon afterwards. Fiore's mother said her daughter had the marriage annulled, but no court documents have been found to prove that claim. The couple, who had a rocky relationship, had reportedly reconciled recently. Disturbing details Fiore's body was discovered in Buena Park, a city about 32 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles. Her teeth and fingers had been removed, apparently in an effort to keep authorities from identifying her. Investigators used the serial numbers on her breast implants to identify Fiore, said Farrah Emami, a spokesperson for the Orange County district attorney's office. Fiore was a model who worked in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, working gigs such as being bodypainted at parties. Jenkins had been a contestant on VH1's recent reality show "Megan Wants a Millionaire," which the network cancelled on Friday. In Calgary, Jenkins' former fiancee Paulina Chmielecka said she never saw a violent side of him. "The guy was a great guy, as far as I knew he was very happy," she told CTV. "In our relationship, we had our fights -- everyone does -- but I would never say, 'Well, he could have murdered someone.' There's no way." |
Anger at UK file-sharing policy
Internet service providers (ISPs) have reacted with anger to new proposals on how to tackle internet piracy.
The government is proposing a tougher stance which would include cutting off repeat offenders from the net. UK ISP Talk Talk said the recommendations were likely to "breach fundamental rights" and would not work. Virgin said that "persuasion not coercion" was key in the fight to crack down on the estimated six million file-sharers in the UK. TalkTalk's director of regulation Andrew Heaney told the BBC News the ISP was as keen as anyone to clamp down on illegal file-sharers. "This is best done by making sure there are legal alternatives and educating people, writing letters to alleged file-sharers and, if necessary, taking them to court. But introducing measures to simply cut people off will not work, he said. "Disconnecting alleged offenders will be futile given that it is relatively easy for determined file-sharers to mask their identity or their activity to avoid detection," he added. There are also concerns that the method of identifying offenders using the IP address of a specific machine may punish those who share a web connection. A spokeswoman for Virgin Media was concerned that a "heavy-handed, punitive regime will simply alienate consumers". It was also concerned about the costs of implementing such a system. Listening carefully Originally the Digital Britain report, published in June, gave Ofcom until 2012 to consider whether technical measures to catch pirates were necessary. However, according to a statement from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills released on Tuesday, that timeframe is now considered "too long to wait". Stephen Timms, minister for Digital Britain, explained the change of heart. "We've been listening carefully to responses to the consultation this far, and it's become clear there are widespread concerns that the plans as they stand could delay action, impacting unfairly upon rights holders," he said. It proposes that internet service providers (ISPs) are obliged to take action against repeat infringers and suggests that the cost of tracking down persistent pirates be shared 50:50 between ISPs and rights holders. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills denied that it had changed its position since the publication of Digital Britain and said that the recommendations were open to consultation. "We are simply adding new ideas to the table that could potentially make the whole system more flexible and provide a quicker way to bring in technical measures," it said in a statement. 'Disproportionate' ISPs have repeatedly argued that it is not their job to police the web. The Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) said it was "disappointed by the proposal to force ISPs to suspend users' accounts". "ISPA and consumer groups consider disconnection of users to be a disproportionate response, a view that was recently supported by the European Parliament," it said in a statement. Global issue However, the u-turn has been welcomed by some. BPI, which represents the recorded music industry in Britain, welcomed the government's decision. "'Digital piracy is a serious problem and a real threat to the UK's creative industries," it said in a statement. "The solution to the piracy problem must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive." Countries around the world are grappling with how to control internet piracy. In the US, student Joel Tenebaum was last month ordered to pay $675,000 (?412,000) to various record labels after admitting downloading 800 songs. In May, the French parliament passed legislation which would see a new state-agency sending warning letters to file sharers. If they are caught three times, they will be cut off. There have been protests against similar proposed legislation in Australia and New Zealand. It is estimated that half of all the traffic on the net in the UK being content that is shared illegally. The UK government has set a target of reducing the problem by at least 70% in the next few years. The games industry has already begun a clampdown of those illegally sharing videogames and the methods it uses would broadly be similar to those the music and film industry would rely on. It uses a third body anti-piracy firm to identify alleged file-sharers and a court order is sent to the relevant internet service provider, forcing it to reveal the identity of the person behind the IP address. Some 6,000 letters have been sent out by law firm ACS Law on behalf of firms such as Reality Pump and Topware Interactive who own video games Two Worlds and Dream Pinball respectively. Some 20 users have come forward to say they have been wrongly accused. All face fines of up to ?665 or threat of court action. |
Police Brutality?
Police brutality? or just the greatest fucking brutal take down slam in history?
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Content, Pictures and Download links visible to registered users only. Posted by The Oregonian August 25, 2009 10:29AM $25 million dollars. That's the price tag on a civil claim filed by the family of an innocent man who has been in a coma since being tackled by a deputy in May. The seattlepi.com's Seattle 911 blog has news of the suit on behalf of the Edmonds man, who hasn't woken up since he was slammed into a tile wall by a 26-year-old sheriff's deputy who thought he was chasing an assault suspect through downtown Seattle. Christopher Harris, 29, was knocked into a coma at the end of a May 10 pursuit in Belltown. Harris had inexplicably run from two Metro Transit police officers who were incorrectly told that Harris was involved in a robbery at a convenience store at Second Avenue and Bell Street. He was overtaken and shoved headfirst into a wall. Sim Osborn, the family's attorney, and Harris' wife, Sarah Jorgenson, held a news conference Tuesday. They allege that the officer, Deputy Matt Paul, used excessive and unnecessary force when he shoved Harris headfirst into a wall at the Seattle Cinerama Theater at Fourth Avenue and Lenora Street. |
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Content, Pictures and Download links visible to registered users only. Seriously. That's like running from a bear. It just draws their attention and makes them think that you're running for good reason. That said, this is sad. The cop did what he was trained to do and that's take down a fleeing suspect ensuring the safety of himself and bystanders. The guy just had the misfortune of hitting the wall at that billion to one angle which snapped his head and neck in that way it just isn't meant to go. But $25 million is ridiculous. |
Coming to America soon????
Britain taking away the internet
Illegal downloaders in Britain may lose Web access (AP) ? 1 day ago LONDON ? The British government says people who illegally download music and films could have their Internet connections cut off. Treasury Minister Stephen Timms says the move would allow "swifter and more flexible measures" to clamp down on piracy. The plans announced Tuesday include blocking access to download sites and temporarily suspending users' internet accounts. The announcement drew criticism from some groups, but those representing the music industry were pleased. The Open Rights Group ? which aims to raise awareness of digital rights ? said any suspension would "restrict people's fundamental right to freedom of expression." But the British Phonographic Industry called it helpful in the fight against piracy. |
Hidden side of "Cash for Clunkers"
Hidden side of "Cash for Clunkers"
08/24/2009 9:41 PM Some Surprised By 'Clunker' Tax Posts The Cash For Clunkers program is adding to the activity at treasurers' offices all around South Dakota. First, people were asking for proof of ownership, so they could show they owned their vehicle for a full year, allowing them to cash it in. Now, they'll be returning to register their new vehicle. And when they do, new owners need to bring every bit of paperwork provided to them by their dealer. "That means they need their title, their damage disclosure, their bill of sale and the dealers have 30 days to get that to them," Minnehaha County Treasurer Pam Nelson said. But many of those cashing in on the clunkers program are surprised when they get to the treasurer's office windows. That's because the government's rebate of up to $4500 dollars for every clunker is taxable. "They didn't realize that would be taxable. A lot of people don't realize that. So they're not happy and kind of surprised when they find that out," Nelson said. For now, the biggest impact of the program hasn't hit this office yet, as most of the paperwork is still in the hands of the dealers. But Nelson expects to see move activity in her office in the next month. "I'm anxious to see what it's going to be like. I have no idea how many people we're going to see. Hopefully the dealers can process their paperwork in 30 days," Nelson said. And that's when the line at this office will give some indication of how many cars the government program moved off of local lots. Nelson adds that if you did recently purchase a vehicle, ensure your dealer gets you the paperwork in time because if they don't you could pay extra interest and penalties. Shawn Neisteadt |
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Content, Pictures and Download links visible to registered users only. Justice? Tax payers cash at work protecting the civil interests of a private company. Fucking madness. ISP's shouldn't be the cops of the net. The net is suppose to be a free moving access for all, not a 1984 Orwell's net or the great firewall of China's net. Last time I checked we were in the free West. :mad: [/rant] |
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Content, Pictures and Download links visible to registered users only. Look at it as the "carrot and stick" approach. First you are given the capability to speak out and then once you are lulled into a sense of security the government comes for you since they have been tracking you all along. 9/12/09 |
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Content, Pictures and Download links visible to registered users only. Questions About the Cash for Clunkers Tax Rules There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the taxability of the cash for clunkers credit. The Drudge Report today reported, ?Surprise, Tax on ?Cash for Clunkers? Rebate? while linking to an article from South Dakota referencing the sales tax rules specific to that State. So what?s the answer? Is there really a tax on the Cash for Clunkers credit? It really depends on what you mean by tax and where you live. Federal Income Tax If you?re talking about federal income taxes, then the answer is no. As a consumer, you won?t owe taxes to the Federal government for the credit you received as a result of the Cash for Clunkers trade-in. The official program website, Cars.gov is very specific about this. See this excerpt from their FAQs: ?Is the credit subject to being taxed as income to the consumers that participate in the program? NO. The CARS Act expressly provides that the credit is not income for the consumer.?There are some complex rules on how a business must treat the sale of the clunker. For more on those rules, visit Cash for Clunkers Business Tax Rules. State Sales Tax But what about individual state sales tax rules? Yes, some States are including the Cash for Clunkers credit in the price of the vehicle when they are calculating the State?s sales tax due on the purchase of the vehicle. Therefore, in effect, there is a tax levied on the $4,500 Cash for Clunkers credit. It?s just not an income tax. It?s a state sales tax. Got it? Here?s more from the official website, Cars.gov: ?Do I have to pay State or local sales tax on the amount of the CARS program credit? MAYBE. The question of whether a consumer must pay State or local sales tax on the amount of the CARS program credit depends on the sales tax law of each State or locality. Consumers should review the law of their respective States or consult a tax advisor to answer this question.?With that in mind, I?ve put together two lists: (1) States that charge tax on the Cash for Clunkers credit, and (2) States that do NOT charge a sales tax on the credit. States Charging Tax on the Clunkers Credit
States Charging NO Tax on the Clunkers Credit
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Content, Pictures and Download links visible to registered users only. We'll have to wait and see on this then. Cash for clunkers was setup to destroy local american car dealerships so the Govt. can run the dealerships once they go belly up just like they are running GM and Chrysler. It's called FASCISM! |
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Content, Pictures and Download links visible to registered users only. check your meds pred :p |
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Molecule photographed for the first time!
   Single molecule, one million times smaller than a grain of sand, pictured for first time By Claire Bates Last updated at 7:39 PM on 28th August 2009 It may look like a piece of honeycomb, but this lattice-shaped image is the first ever close-up view of a single molecule. Scientists from IBM used an atomic force microscope (AFM) to reveal the chemical bonds within a molecule. 'This is the first time that all the atoms in a molecule have been imaged,' lead researcher Leo Gross said. The delicate inner structure of a pentacene molecule has been imaged with an atomic force microscope The researchers focused on a single molecule of pentacene, which is commonly used in solar cells. The rectangular-shaped organic molecule is made up of 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms. In the image above the hexagonal shapes of the five carbon rings are clear and even the positions of the hydrogen atoms around the carbon rings can be seen. To give some perspective, the space between the carbon rings is only 0.14 nanometers across, which is roughly one million times smaller than the diameter of a grain of sand. Textbook model: A computer-generated image of how we're used to seeing a molecule represented with balls and sticks 'If you think about how a doctor uses an X-ray to image bones and organs inside the human body, we are using the atomic force microscope to image the atomic structures that are the backbones of individual molecules,' said IBM researcher Gerhard Meyer. A 3D view showing how a single carbon monoxide molecule was used to create the image using a 'tuning fork' effect The team from IBM Research Zurich said the results could have a huge impact of the field of nanotechnology, which seeks to understand and control some of the smallest objects known to mankind. The AFM uses a sharp metal tip that acts like a tuning fork to measure the tiny forces between the tip and the molecule. This requires great precision as the tip moves within a nanometer of the sample. 'Above the skeleton of the molecular backbone (of the pentacene) you get a different detuning than above the surface the molecule is lying on,' Mr Gross said. This detuning is then measured and converted into an image. To stop the tip from absorbing the pentacene molecule, the researchers replaced the metal with a single molecule of carbon monoxide. This was found to be more stable and created weaker electrostatic attractions with the pentacene, creating a higher resolution image. Enlarge IBM researchers Nikolaj Moll, Reto Schlittler, Gerhard Meyer, Fabian Mohn and Leo Gross (l-r) stand behind an atomic force microscope Photo taken by Michael Lowry Image courtesy of IBM Research - Zurich The experiment was also performed inside a high vacuum at the extremely cold temperature of -268C to avoid stray gas molecules or atomic vibrations from affecting the measurements. 'Eventually we want to investigate using molecules for molecular electronics,' Mr Gross said. 'We want to use molecules as wires or logic switches or elements.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...#ixzz0PcaapkOq |
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Maury Povich is the only person who can settle this!
Macaulay Culkin is dad of Blanket By DAVID WILLETTS in Los Angeles Published: Today ACTOR Macaulay Culkin is the mystery dad of Michael Jackson's son Blanket, it was claimed last night. The Home Alone film star is said to have donated sperm to help Jacko create his seven-year-old offspring - real name Prince Michael II - with an unknown surrogate mum. The two celebrities became firm friends after Culkin, now 29, shot to fame as a child in the 1990 box office smash. Mystery ... rumours surround identity of Blanket's biological dad Rex Features He went on to star alongside Jackson in the video for his hit song Black or White in 1991, regularly visited the singer's Neverland ranch, and took the witness stand to defend him at his 2005 child molestation trial. One source said: "It is well known Jackson and Macaulay shared a unique bond. "Now rumours are spreading like wildfire that Macaulay, who Jackson nicknamed Mack, is actually Blanket's biological dad." Close pals say Jacko, who died aged 50 at his Los Angeles home in June, is not the natural dad of Blanket, his brother Michael, 12, or their 11-year-old sister Paris. Fevered speculation gripped the US after repeated claims that a "well-known Hollywood actor" donated the sperm for Blanket. Silence ... Macaulay Culkin Now sources close to Jackson say the Thriller star asked Culkin for the donation to help him complete his "perfect" family. The source added: "This isn't just chitter-chatter, even Culkin suspects he's Blanket's father. "So many names have been mentioned as prospective dads, and this is probably the wackiest yet. "But Jackson and Culkin were best friends. He was one of the few people Jackson really trusted and Mack never let him down. "Really, Jackson idolised him - that's why he asked Mack to donate sperm. "Deep down, I think he always wished Mack was his son. Creating Blanket was the next best thing." Culkin - godfather to Jacko's other two children - has told pals he will not comment in public out of loyalty to his late pal. Helped by fertility experts and skin specialist Dr Arnie Klein, Jackson is said to have stockpiled the ingredients to genetically engineer three "perfect" kids. Klein is said to have given sperm for the elder two, while actor Mark Lester has claimed HE is Paris' dad. Yesterday Jacko's brother Marlon appeared to confirm the star did not conceive his children naturally. He said: "Those were Michael's kids - regardless of where they came from." Jackson will be buried on Thursday in a gold-plated coffin in the Hollywood Hills. Culkin was unavailable for comment. d.willetts@the-sun.co.uk |
Obama to control the Interwebs
Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet.
They're not much happier about a revised version that aides to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, have spent months drafting behind closed doors. CNET News has obtained a copy of the 55-page draft of S.773 (excerpt), which still appears to permit the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a so-called cybersecurity emergency. The new version would allow the president to "declare a cybersecurity emergency" relating to "non-governmental" computer networks and do what's necessary to respond to the threat. Other sections of the proposal include a federal certification program for "cybersecurity professionals," and a requirement that certain computer systems and networks in the private sector be managed by people who have been awarded that license. "I think the redraft, while improved, remains troubling due to its vagueness," said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, which counts representatives of Verizon, Verisign, Nortel, and Carnegie Mellon University on its board. "It is unclear what authority Sen. Rockefeller thinks is necessary over the private sector. Unless this is clarified, we cannot properly analyze, let alone support the bill." Representatives of other large Internet and telecommunications companies expressed concerns about the bill in a teleconference with Rockefeller's aides this week, but were not immediately available for interviews on Thursday. A spokesman for Rockefeller also declined to comment on the record Thursday, saying that many people were unavailable because of the summer recess. A Senate source familiar with the bill compared the president's power to take control of portions of the Internet to what President Bush did when grounding all aircraft on Sept. 11, 2001. The source said that one primary concern was the electrical grid, and what would happen if it were attacked from a broadband connection. When Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced the original bill in April, they claimed it was vital to protect national cybersecurity. "We must protect our critical infrastructure at all costs--from our water to our electricity, to banking, traffic lights and electronic health records," Rockefeller said. The Rockefeller proposal plays out against a broader concern in Washington, D.C., about the government's role in cybersecurity. In May, President Obama acknowledged that the government is "not as prepared" as it should be to respond to disruptions and announced that a new cybersecurity coordinator position would be created inside the White House staff. Three months later, that post remains empty, one top cybersecurity aide has quit, and some wags have begun to wonder why a government that receives failing marks on cybersecurity should be trusted to instruct the private sector what to do. Rockefeller's revised legislation seeks to reshuffle the way the federal government addresses the topic. It requires a "cybersecurity workforce plan" from every federal agency, a "dashboard" pilot project, measurements of hiring effectiveness, and the implementation of a "comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy" in six months--even though its mandatory legal review will take a year to complete. The privacy implications of sweeping changes implemented before the legal review is finished worry Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. "As soon as you're saying that the federal government is going to be exercising this kind of power over private networks, it's going to be a really big issue," he says. Probably the most controversial language begins in Section 201, which permits the president to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" if necessary for "the national defense and security." The White House is supposed to engage in "periodic mapping" of private networks deemed to be critical, and those companies "shall share" requested information with the federal government. ("Cyber" is defined as anything having to do with the Internet, telecommunications, computers, or computer networks.) "The language has changed but it doesn't contain any real additional limits," EFF's Tien says. "It simply switches the more direct and obvious language they had originally to the more ambiguous (version)...The designation of what is a critical infrastructure system or network as far as I can tell has no specific process. There's no provision for any administrative process or review. That's where the problems seem to start. And then you have the amorphous powers that go along with it." Translation: If your company is deemed "critical," a new set of regulations kick in involving who you can hire, what information you must disclose, and when the government would exercise control over your computers or network. The Internet Security Alliance's Clinton adds that his group is "supportive of increased federal involvement to enhance cyber security, but we believe that the wrong approach, as embodied in this bill as introduced, will be counterproductive both from an national economic and national secuity perspective." Code:
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Content, Pictures and Download links visible to registered users only. If you know how to restore dude to his pre brickwalled nature for less than $25M, be a sport and drop the family a note. |
Carefull, I made my own thread on this since it's about shutting down this site and got raped anally for it. :(
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Content, Pictures and Download links visible to registered users only. Priceless! |
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