What I find most troubling about all this dangerous bullshit from RFK jr and his ilk is that it distracts from the very real ways in which the pharmaceutical industry is harming us. Why not focus on real problems, like price gouging, ignoring diseases that aren't profitable, and so on?
I seem to have somehow made Twitter a lot better by simply blocking Elon and about ten other MAGA accounts. All I see now is anti-Elon, anti-Trump, and similar stuff. It's great! Assuming I'm not the only person experiencing this, it may have come to Elon's attention that people are able to use Twitter without ever seeing his hateful crap, which annoys him. Hence the change?
I'd like to see stats on this. My suspicion is that female cops are more likely to be thrown under the bus than their male counterparts. Not excusing what she did at all, but Tim's "every so often they get it right" framing got me wondering.
"JUSTICE BARRETT took no part in the consideration or decision of this case." I don't know whether that means she's in some kind of probationary period, the other justices are freezing her out, or she just opted out of this case.
These clueless bureaucrats should talk to their own military leaders. Ask them how they would feel about having a back door in the encryption used for battle communications systems. Sure, those systems likely use proprietary encryption, which would never be intentionally crippled, but I think it's a useful perspective.
It's helpful to remember that no matter how badly he screws everyone (except his corporate pals), Pai is guaranteed an extremely lucrative corporate job once he's done at the FCC. With the fox running the henhouse, it's somewhat surprising to see Pai making any kind of effort to justify his actions.
It's easier to understand SESTA from the point of view of legislators and their friends. From their perspective, the main problem with prostitution and sex trafficking is when it's visible: on the streets, in various publications, and on web sites. They apply pressure on law enforcement to push sex workers off the main sreets, and push for laws that prevent sex-related ads from appearing in publications and on web sites that they visit. If they can't see it, it's not a problem.
If they're not willing to talk about the methods they used, and that means the accused go free, what good are those methods? Why bother with them at all if they can never produce results?
The same warning has been plaguing one of my clients, who hosts web sites on his own server. As with most ordinary Internet connections, his is assigned a WAN IP dynamically, and because of that, it's listed in the SORBS DUHL blacklist. When someone tries to post a link to one of his sites on Facebook, they get that warning. He's also unable to post his own site URLs in his profile, but in this case the URL is fully rejected. Using an URL shortener gets around the problem, but it looks weird. I've opened a support ticket with Facebook, suggesting they review this policy.
It shouldn't surprise anyone that cops kill citizens. After all, when they're on the job, they have the means and opportunity to do so at all times. All they need is a motive, which helpful citizens provide by merely being annoying. This has always been the case with armed authorities. But it's only in the past few years that we've come to realize just how common it is, and that's only because of video evidence. Still, for every incident recorded on video, there are probably a hundred that go unnoticed.
If there's any chance at all that some corporation's profits will suffer as a result of a new law or other change, that corporation and all of its stooges in government will fight it to their last breath. From their perspective, there is no other option. Even if it makes absolutely no sense.
Don't forget that a lot of police work is really boring and annoying. Which means that cops look for any chance to do something more fun, including kicking in doors, brandishing weapons, and yelling a lot. Good times.
As long as uninformed people let lawyers talk them into these idiotic lawsuits, it will keep happening. Lawyers are, after all, just trying to find business. Unless we can find a way to punish lawyers for engaging in this kind of behaviour, we can expect it to continue.
Anyone who is a CEO or holds any other senior management post at (almost) any corporation is - first and foremost - someone who can lie with a straight face. Someone who can lie so convincingly that they can make you question your grasp on reality.
Tim obviously didn't want to go there, but I will. I think that the most likely explanation for her unwillingness to provide data is simply that she has none, and the numbers she talked about ($30K, millions) came out of her ass. If those numbers had any basis in reality, she would have provided them. It's not that I don't sympathize, but based on her statements, I have serious doubts.
Assuming they ever pull their collective heads out of their asses and stops wasting money on copy protection, it's going to take EA a long time to regain any customer goodwill lost by years of abuse. People who wouldn't normally download pirated games will do so simply out of spite. Allowing their games to be easier to pirate is still EA's best long-term strategy, but in the short term, they are going to lose more to piracy than your average game publisher, even after they smarten up.
What I find most troubling about all this dangerous bullshit from RFK jr and his ilk is that it distracts from the very real ways in which the pharmaceutical industry is harming us. Why not focus on real problems, like price gouging, ignoring diseases that aren't profitable, and so on?
Possible motive
I seem to have somehow made Twitter a lot better by simply blocking Elon and about ten other MAGA accounts. All I see now is anti-Elon, anti-Trump, and similar stuff. It's great! Assuming I'm not the only person experiencing this, it may have come to Elon's attention that people are able to use Twitter without ever seeing his hateful crap, which annoys him. Hence the change?
Someone should run the numbers
I'd like to see stats on this. My suspicion is that female cops are more likely to be thrown under the bus than their male counterparts. Not excusing what she did at all, but Tim's "every so often they get it right" framing got me wondering.
Re: Re: Re: Pleasant surprise!
Ah. Thanks for clearing that up.
Re: Pleasant surprise!
"JUSTICE BARRETT took no part in the consideration or decision of this case." I don't know whether that means she's in some kind of probationary period, the other justices are freezing her out, or she just opted out of this case.
Ask their military
These clueless bureaucrats should talk to their own military leaders. Ask them how they would feel about having a back door in the encryption used for battle communications systems. Sure, those systems likely use proprietary encryption, which would never be intentionally crippled, but I think it's a useful perspective.
Pai's motivation
It's helpful to remember that no matter how badly he screws everyone (except his corporate pals), Pai is guaranteed an extremely lucrative corporate job once he's done at the FCC. With the fox running the henhouse, it's somewhat surprising to see Pai making any kind of effort to justify his actions.
It's easier to understand SESTA from the point of view of legislators and their friends. From their perspective, the main problem with prostitution and sex trafficking is when it's visible: on the streets, in various publications, and on web sites. They apply pressure on law enforcement to push sex workers off the main sreets, and push for laws that prevent sex-related ads from appearing in publications and on web sites that they visit. If they can't see it, it's not a problem.
I don't get it
If they're not willing to talk about the methods they used, and that means the accused go free, what good are those methods? Why bother with them at all if they can never produce results?
Likely explanation
Whoever pushed for this probably has a relative who owns a local security business.
Facebook needs to review their policy on what constitutes 'unsafe'
The same warning has been plaguing one of my clients, who hosts web sites on his own server. As with most ordinary Internet connections, his is assigned a WAN IP dynamically, and because of that, it's listed in the SORBS DUHL blacklist. When someone tries to post a link to one of his sites on Facebook, they get that warning. He's also unable to post his own site URLs in his profile, but in this case the URL is fully rejected. Using an URL shortener gets around the problem, but it looks weird. I've opened a support ticket with Facebook, suggesting they review this policy.
No surprise
It shouldn't surprise anyone that cops kill citizens. After all, when they're on the job, they have the means and opportunity to do so at all times. All they need is a motive, which helpful citizens provide by merely being annoying. This has always been the case with armed authorities. But it's only in the past few years that we've come to realize just how common it is, and that's only because of video evidence. Still, for every incident recorded on video, there are probably a hundred that go unnoticed.
It's simple, really...
If there's any chance at all that some corporation's profits will suffer as a result of a new law or other change, that corporation and all of its stooges in government will fight it to their last breath. From their perspective, there is no other option. Even if it makes absolutely no sense.
The real reason this happens so often
Don't forget that a lot of police work is really boring and annoying. Which means that cops look for any chance to do something more fun, including kicking in doors, brandishing weapons, and yelling a lot. Good times.
Followup article
She's posted a followup, and it sure doesn't sound like satire. Maybe Tim's article should be posted after all.
http://thoughtcatalog.com/tanya-cohen/2015/01/why-do-americans-reject-human-rights-when-the-whole-world-embraces-them/
Not going to change any time soon
As long as uninformed people let lawyers talk them into these idiotic lawsuits, it will keep happening. Lawyers are, after all, just trying to find business. Unless we can find a way to punish lawyers for engaging in this kind of behaviour, we can expect it to continue.
The most important requirement for becoming a corporate executive
Anyone who is a CEO or holds any other senior management post at (almost) any corporation is - first and foremost - someone who can lie with a straight face. Someone who can lie so convincingly that they can make you question your grasp on reality.
The simplest explanation
Tim obviously didn't want to go there, but I will. I think that the most likely explanation for her unwillingness to provide data is simply that she has none, and the numbers she talked about ($30K, millions) came out of her ass. If those numbers had any basis in reality, she would have provided them. It's not that I don't sympathize, but based on her statements, I have serious doubts.
Making matters worse for EA...
Assuming they ever pull their collective heads out of their asses and stops wasting money on copy protection, it's going to take EA a long time to regain any customer goodwill lost by years of abuse. People who wouldn't normally download pirated games will do so simply out of spite. Allowing their games to be easier to pirate is still EA's best long-term strategy, but in the short term, they are going to lose more to piracy than your average game publisher, even after they smarten up.
Keanu took a pay cut to get Pacino hired
Interestingly, Keanu paid big bucks to have the privilege of being blown away by Pacino in that movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keanu_Reeves#1990s